Secrets Told

Thanks to Virgo Writer, Defiant Vixen, and licoricejellybean for reviewing!

I'm in the process of starting a side-story about Tracey and Gary going to Sinnoh with Brock, Misty, and Ash; it won't really be a sequel but will take place between some of the chapters and will probably be pretty short. Any ideas for that particular fic would be highly appreciated since I would love to make it adventurous and fun! If you have any ideas for it, please just review or send me a PM - I'm open to any suggestions!

Chapter Fifteen: Understanding

Gary sighed as he moved away from the wall outside the entrance to the living room; he hadn't exactly been surprised by the reactions this particular surprise had yielded. Brock's calm support had been the most expected of all three, given the young man's perpetual big-brother persona, and Misty's opposition to him dating Tracey was a reaction that Gary had pinned as rather likely. Of course, he knew that the redhead was just concerned for the well-being of one of her close friends – it was kind of sweet, in an obnoxious older-sister way. Still, it had irritated him immensely; he knew he was a good boyfriend and he had always made a sincere effort to be the best boyfriend possible.

It was Ash's response that had surprised Gary – when he had realized that the trainer was in the room with the other three, Gary hadn't been sure of what to expect from him – yet, despite having no true expectations, he had been surprised. Standing outside of the room, quietly eavesdropping, not daring to leave in case Tracey should need his support, he had been shocked when he heard Ash speak so quietly and thoughtfully. The way his former rival had stood up for him against the fiery girl had actually touched him. People could believe what they wanted but Gary was no longer an untouchable eleven-year-old and Ash's defense of his highly valued relationship with Tracey, despite all of the issues between Gary and Ash himself, had earned the younger boy innumerable brownie points. Gary couldn't deny that the action had meant a lot to him.

Now that he could hear the conversation turning to a topic other than Tracey's choice of lovers, Gary felt free to head upstairs for a shower and perhaps a long nap. He had checked in with his grandfather in the lab before heading off to find Tracey, opting to leave the room for the ensuing conversation only because he knew how short-tempered his exhaustion could make him; the last thing he wanted to do was make the situation worse for his boyfriend by being a grouch.

After a shower that rivaled May's in length, he laid down on his bed without bothering to dress and fell asleep almost immediately. As much as Gary loved the research trips he often went on with the professors his grandfather was friends with, the nature of the trips took a toll on him – the past three weeks had been nearly non-stop work from before the crack of dawn, straight through the day, and into the night. Inadequate sleep, physical exhaustion, and the affects of spending so much time in the sun drained him and he didn't wake until a knock sounded several hours later. Still in a sleepy daze, it took Gary a minute to realize that the sound was coming from the other side of the wall behind his bed. Instinct formed from prior experience told him that it was Tracey in his own bedroom on the other side of the wall as their bedrooms were next to each others' with their beds against the same wall. Slowly waking up, he could hear voices from Tracey's room; apparently his boyfriend had retreated to his bedroom to hang out with his friends, most likely meaning that May and her friends had taken over the living room while he had slept.

"Three weeks apart and your boyfriend decides to sleep instead of spend time with you?"

"Misty, research projects take a lot of work – especially the ones in the field; he's exhausted," Tracey's voice softly defended, the sound of his voice eliciting a small smile as Gary sat up in bed and peered around his room to see that it had darkened considerably.

"We're exhausted too but –"

Gary stopped listening at the beginning of Misty's argument, having already grown sick of hearing it. He climbed out of bed, quickly pulled on a pair of baggy jeans and a t-shirt, and started to head towards the bedroom door before pausing for a moment. Heading instead towards the worn backpack that he had tossed next to his desk, Gary pulled out a small object wrapped in newspaper and contemplated giving it to his boyfriend now rather than later. He usually gave any gifts to Tracey in private as those moments were special and could be ruined so easily by the presence of other people, but if letting the other three see him give this little souvenir to his boyfriend then maybe the girl would back off a bit.

Tracey looked up with a smile when Gary entered the boy's bedroom a few short moments later, he was sitting on the middle of his bed while Misty and Ash sat on the floor playing with Pikachu and Marril, and Brock sat at the desk, talking to Tracey about something to do with pokemon. The little water mouse immediately bounced over to Gary and leapt up into his arms, squeaking joyfully the whole time, causing Ash and Brock to laugh while Tracey grinned and Misty kept her attention on Pikachu.

"Seems like Marril really likes you, Gary," Brock observed, looking pointedly at Misty as though he were silently commenting that the pokemon wouldn't act that way if Gary was a poor partner for Tracey.

"Marril and Venonat love Gary," Tracey told him as he gestured for Gary to join him on the bed. He gently pulled the water pokemon out of Gary's arms as the younger boy slipped between him and the wall, wrapped his arms around Tracey's waist, and pulled him against his chest while pressing small kisses against his neck. Tracey squirmed in his grasp and turned to give him a playful glare that caused Gary to smile; he loved seeing that expression on Tracey's face.

As Tracey turned back to his friends and settled in his boyfriend's arms, Gary slipped a hand into his pocket to pull out the small present just as Misty opened her mouth to voice a question that he was sure Brock and Ash were wondering about as well.

"What about Scyther?"

Tracey's muscles tensed slightly at the mention of his third pokemon and he felt Gary's embrace tighten while the brunette shot a glare at the redhead. Knowing that his boyfriend was glaring at his close friend, Tracey lightly ran a hand along one of Gary's arms until his grip slackened slightly and he lowered his head to place a gentle kiss against his cheek with a soft apology.

"Scyther died almost a year ago," Tracey replied softly, realizing now that he had never told any of his three friends. The atmosphere in the room immediately changed as the three offered sympathetic words that caused Tracey to smile a bit sadly. A moment later, Misty commented on how hard the death must have been on him and he nodded solemnly. "I don't know how I would've handled it if it wasn't for Gary," he admitted as he slipped one of his hands into Gary's.

Gary squeezed his hand gently, silently reassuring Tracey that he was there and would be there no matter what. He remembered that day clearly and could recall the fact that he had nearly told his grandfather about their relationship that night. Tracey leaned back against him and glanced up to meet his eyes sadly, something that made Gary's heart clench as he squeezed his hand again. The bedroom door opened suddenly and everyone looked up as May peered into the room with her normal cheerful smile.

"Wow, you guys sure seem happy today," she observed in a happy yet sarcastic tone. "Grandpa got a ton of pizza for dinner, so you'd better get downstairs."

Misty and Ash stood up slowly as she left while Brock simply stared after her until Misty hit him in the back of the head; Tracey started to stand but was pulled back down by Gary. "Go on, guys, we'll meet you in the kitchen in a minute," Gary said. Brock and Ash left with no problem but Misty lingered a moment longer until Ash led her out of the room by the hand.

"Are you alright?" Gary asked softly as he leaned back against the wall with Tracey still in his arms. His boyfriend nodded slowly with his eyes closed, giving Gary the distinct impression that the sudden mention of the old bug-type pokemon had upset him more than he was letting on. "You sure?" he pressed gently as Tracey turned in his arms and buried his face in his shoulder.

"I'm sure," Tracey muttered and kissed his neck. He couldn't help but laugh quietly at the slight shudder that went through Gary at the gentle contact, his neck was undoubtedly the most sensitive place on his body and Tracey knew that better than anyone else.

They stayed like that for a minute or two before Gary shifted his weight enough to pull out the newspaper-wrapped object that he had intended to give Tracey when he entered the room. "Hey," he said softly, gently pushing Tracey away from him so that he could see his boyfriend's face. "I found something for you down there." He put the small in Tracey's hands and couldn't help the shy smile that curved his lips – for some reason, he always worried whether or not his boyfriend would like the little presents he brought back for him.

"You spoil me," Tracey smiled, reaching up to lightly stroke Gary's cheek.

"Open it," Gary replied, turning his head slightly to kiss Tracey's hand.

Tracey turned his attention to the fairly small package and carefully turned it over in his hands, trying to figure out what it was before he opened it. It had been in Gary's pocket so that automatically eliminated anything fragile and it was too heavy to be a shark tooth or piece of coral. Unsure of what it could possibly be, he delicately pulled back the newspaper and gasped softly when he saw a chunk of glittering red – a Staryu core, or a piece of it, really. "Gary," he whispered in surprise as he ran his fingers over the smooth surface, careful to avoid the jagged edges where it had obviously been broken. "Where did you find this?"

"Between Mandarin and Sunburst Island. We had to dive to tag some of the Sharpedos but they got aggressive because of all the bait in the water so we went to the bottom until they calmed down. I found a bunch of other pieces next to a reef but, uh, there was a Tentacruel… Let's just say it's a good thing I had a dive knife with me." Tracey immediately glanced down at Gary's arms, scanning his skin for the tell-tale signs of stings, barely noticing as Gary shook his head. "It was my leg this time and it was over a week ago; doesn't even hurt anymore."

"How bad was it?"

"Bad enough that I'm not going diving for awhile – don't worry about it, Trace, I'm fine. Here," he gently set the jewel down on the bedside table and stood up, pulling Tracey to his feet as he did so. "Go downstairs, I'll be there in a few minutes."

Instead of headed towards the door to leave the room, Tracey reached up to rest his hands at the back of Gary's neck, leaning in for a chaste peck on the lips as he did so. "Thank you," he whispered as he rested his head against Gary's shoulder afterwards.

Gary smiled slightly and slowly trailed a hand down Tracey's back until it rested at his hip. "It's nothing, Trace – you know I can't resist spoiling you."

"I actually wasn't talking about that but, while we're on the subject, that's got to be the best gift you've gotten me."

A small chuckle escaped Gary as he lightly touched Tracey's necklace. "Better than this?"

"A close second maybe," Tracey replied, reaching up so that his hand closed over Gary's against his chest. "I meant thanks for everything though; spoiling me, being with me… Listening from outside of the living room this afternoon –"

"I wasn't eavesdropping, I swear."

"You're full of it, Gary." The younger boy simply shrugged and flashed Tracey one of his signature smirks, making his boyfriend roll his eyes and shake his head with an adorable smile. "Either way, I still love you."

"I love you too," Gary replied warmly, pressing his lips against Tracey's for another kiss, this time less chaste than the last. "Let's go downstairs while there's still some food left."

They left the room and headed down the hallway towards the stairwell where they found Misty waiting on them. She quietly asked to speak with Gary, eliciting an amused laugh from Gary while Tracey gave her an imploring look before sighing and descending the stairs before them, hoping that they would at least be civil with each other. Misty waited until Tracey was out of earshot before leading Gary further down the hallway.

"You've certainly got Tracey wrapped around your finger," she began simply.

"The reverse is true as well," Gary pointed out flatly.

"Tracey's one of my best friends, Oak; hurt him –"

Gary cut her off with another amused laugh and leaned against the wall casually, crossing his arms as he did so. "I see where this is going – the overprotective big-sister speech. Please. I've heard my sister and her friends give it to every new girlfriend that each of my friends manages to get – trust me, I know it by heart."

Misty frowned at the derisive interruption and glared at the younger teenager standing in front of her. "You're an ass, Gary."

"And you're a bitch, so we're even. Kind of fitting if you ask me; Tracey's boyfriend is an ass while his best friend is a total bitch – it works out in the end, doesn't it? I mean, I know that Tracey and I have a damn good relationship, despite my being an 'ass,' as you so eloquently put it. I can only imagine it's the same with you two, to an extent, at least. So why don't you just spare me – and Trace – the bullshit and get over it."

Gary turned to leave Misty alone in the hallway but paused as she spoke up once more. "I mean it, Gary. Tracey's obviously head-over-heels for you, if you break his heart, I'm going to hurt you –"

"Ah, the big-sis spiel; I was wondering where you two were." Gary and Misty both looked up to find that May and two of her best friends had joined them in the hallway. "Careful, girlie, you might feel protective of Tracey but you are threatening my little brother. How about I give you a real older-sister speech?" the woman suggested. She fixed Misty with a calm expression that Gary had seen her wear many times before hitting him; he tended to refer to it as her calm-before-the storm look and knew that it was intimidating even to him. "First off, if my brother is stupid enough to screw up with Tracey, I will personally castrate him – which is a worse punishment than your scrawny rear-end can offer. Secondly, if you hurt my brother, you're going to be in a world of trouble because I won't stand for it. Got it?"

The two girls glared at each other for a moment before Misty nodded jerkily, shooting a final glare at Gary as she turned to join Ash, Brock, and Tracey in the kitchen. Gary grinned and shook his head once she was gone. "Well, I guess that proves we're related, huh?" he asked his sister jokingly.

May smiled and playfully swatted his arm with a resounding slap that made him wince in pain and scowl at her. "Don't get used to it, Squirt. I kind of owe you for outing you to half of Pallet so consider that little sermon my apology."

"Apology?" Gary echoed in disbelief, not quite sure if he was hearing his sister properly. "Don't waste your breath; I've never been happier now that I can be open with Tracey, there's no need for an apology. Though I've got to say, the best part of coming out was probably just seeing you put Misty in her place."

He grinned again and left the hallway to join his boyfriend in the kitchen. Maybe after everything May had said to her, Misty would be a little less disapproving of his relationship with Tracey; maybe they could even get along now that they had made it clear where they stood. Either way, he was looking forward to Ash and his two traveling buddies leaving so that things between him and Tracey could deepen and become more serious than they currently were.