Secrets Told

Thanks to Defiant Vixen, licoricejellybean, and riceandXDs for reviewing!

Good news!! Remember that little plan Tracey came up with for him and Gary to tag along with Ash, Brock, and Misty? Well, that is now a fic of its own called Friends, Rivals, and Lovers and the first chapter is done and up! That's what took my update so long. : ) It's going to take place between this chapter and the end of this story (first chapter is actually immediately before this one), so it's sort of a side story, not a sequel. Check it out and let me know what you think! Suggestions for that one, as well as the prequel and sequel to this one, are more than welcome!

Anyone who has read my other major fanfiction knows that I love slipping in references to bands that I like (or dislike in a few cases *cough*Slayer*cough*) – major brownie points to the person that catches the Iron Maiden reference in this chapter! (Think album titles.)

Chapter Seventeen: Planning

Tracey looked up in surprise when he heard a soft knock on his open bedroom door. He had just left Gary's room no more than five minutes ago in a bit of a foul mood when his suggestion of a trip to Sinnoh had been met with rejection; begging Gary to at least think about it, he had left his boyfriend alone with Umbreon to reconsider. Now, mere minutes later, Gary was standing in his doorway with his arms crossed over his chest and a poorly-concealed scowl on his face. Raising his eyebrows in silent inquiry, Tracey wondered why Gary was here so soon – he hadn't had enough time to think it over and Tracey knew that.

"What do you want?" Tracey asked, trying not to sound as put out as he was currently feeling. He hugged Marill closer to his chest and scratched the pokemon behind its round ears, eliciting a content squeak even though he could tell that the mouse was confused about the palpable tension between the couple.

Gary sighed and uncrossed his arms to run a hand through his hair as he entered the room, stopping a few feet before the desk chair that Tracey was sitting in. "I'll go," he said flatly, his voice devoid of emotion.

A grin spread across Tracey's face when he heard his boyfriend's reply. "Really?" he asked, unable to keep the excitement out of his voice. Gary nodded and Tracey bounced up from his chair to throw his arms around him, effectively trapping Marill between them. An irritable squeak from the blue mouse caused them to pull back enough to give the little mouse more room as Tracey held him one-handed while tangling the fingers of his other hand in Gary's hair as he pulled his younger boyfriend closer for an intense kiss that made Marill squirm uncomfortably in Tracey's grasp.

Gary mentally smirked as he allowed Tracey's tongue to slip into his mouth and forced down a soft groan as the other boy's taste took over his senses. His arms pulled Tracey's body flush against him, unintentionally squishing Marill once more; Tracey drew back as his pokemon gave a small growl and kneeled down to set him on the ground to scamper out the door, presumably in search of Venonat or Umbreon to play with. Smiling up at Gary, Tracey barely had a moment to be amused by Marill's annoyance when Gary pulled him into another tight embrace, his lips crushing desperately against Tracey's. Utterly distracted by the sudden passion in the kiss, Tracey barely noticed as they made their way to his bed and was startled when he found himself on his back on the bed with Gary over him, still kissing him senseless.

Enjoying the feel of Tracey's body beneath his hands, Gary pulled back from the kiss just enough to allow his eyes to roam over Tracey's body, grinning as he noticed the bulge in his shorts. Obviously he wasn't the only one excited by this position.

"Well, I guess it's a good thing I came up here instead of Misty," Brock's voice sounded from the doorway suddenly, causing both boys to jump.

Tracey couldn't help but laugh as Gary lost his balance and nearly fell off the bed; looking over at their intruder, he quickly greeted his friend as he rested his hands on Gary's hips to steady him. He glanced up at Gary and saw sincere disappointment at the interruption reflected in his eyes. Grinning in amusement, he shook his head. "Almost had a repeat of that time your grandfather almost caught us back in… Was it March?" he commented. He could clearly remember a time that they had been in the same exact position, only to hear Professor Oak's voice worryingly close. Gary actually had fallen that time, leaving Tracey laughing on the bed too hard to help him up as the professor appeared in the doorway.

Shooting a small glare at his boyfriend, Gary stood and straightened his clothes as he greeted Brock in a tone that indicated he wasn't too thrilled about his arrival.

"Ash and Misty are downstairs," Brock explained. "Did you talk to him yet, Trace?" he asked, referring to the Sinnoh trip. He and Tracey had spent the past week planning it out and he knew that Tracey had planned to discuss it with Gary today, though he wondered if they had gotten around to that conversation considering how… distracted they had been upon his arrival.

"Yep," Tracey grinned. "Gary's going to come with us."

"That's great; the more the merrier! I was actually hoping to go over our plans with Misty and Ash today – I'm sure Gary would like to hear about them too."

Tracey nodded, ignoring the imploring look that Gary gave him as he stood up to follow Brock downstairs to the living room. "Come on, Gary," he said cheerfully, shooting his boyfriend a smile.

"I'll be there in a minute," Gary replied grudgingly, following them out of the room and instead heading towards his own bedroom.

Brock glanced after Gary in confusion while Tracey simply shrugged his shoulders and led Brock downstairs. "He'll be a few minutes," Tracey explained dismissively, having been interrupted so many times that Gary's behavior didn't surprise him in the least. "In the mean time, let's tell Ash and Misty that we're coming too."

They reached the living room a moment later and Tracey saw that Brock had several maps laid out on the coffee table, along with the notebook that he had jotted down his and Tracey's plans for the two-week excursion. Telling the other two that Tracey and Gary would be joining them went over far better than Tracey could have imagined – Ash was visibly excited and seemed so happy that Tracey was joining them that Tracey wondered if he had even heard Brock say that Gary was coming along as well. Misty was happy by Tracey's planned presence but seemed a bit wary about Gary's though she accepted it at face value and didn't argue.

Brock had just begun explaining to the two youngest members of their group that he had planned a "special adventure" for the five of them since this would be his last journey with Ash and since it was likely to be Misty's final one as well when Gary showed up. Knowing the cause of that particular languidness in Gary's step, Tracey rolled his eyes as his boyfriend perched himself on the arm of the chair he was sitting on.

"Cold shower would have been faster," he muttered quiet enough that only Gary could hear him.

Gary laughed softly, eliciting a confused look from Misty as he leaned against the back of the chair. "What's the fun in that?"

"What's the fun in what?" Ash asked curiously, looking up from the map of the western Kanto region that Brock was going over.

"Don't ask," Gary and Tracey replied simultaneously while Brock gave them a knowing look and Misty muttered something about teenage boys.

Ignoring the confused expression that crossed Ash's face, Brock continued with his description of what their journey would be. Upon hearing the way Brock and Tracey had planned to travel west toward the Johto region, Gary groaned, knowing that there was a far shorter way to get there.

"Can't we just take the ferry there?" he complained, imagining how much shorter it would be to make the trek to Cerulean City and take a boat ride to Sunyshore City. That path would take about a week to get there, at most, Gary figured – far shorter than this ordeal that his boyfriend had planned. Much to his surprise, Misty spoke up as well.

"I hate to admit it, but I agree with Gary there… This way will take forever –"

"But we'll be going through all three of the mainland regions, Mist!" Ash spoke up excitedly. Pikachu squeaked in agreement and Gary rolled his eyes at the way the pokemon agreed with his trainer. Umbreon would have never agreed with him on an idea like this and Gary took pride in the fact that, although his faithful pokemon would still follow him, she wouldn't blindly agree to anything.

"That could take us a month though!" Misty exclaimed. "We would have to climb around Mount Silver and go through the mountains straight into Sinnoh to do that!"

Reviewing the geography of the continent in his head, Gary realized that she was right. Mount Silver formed the southern end of the same mountain range that Mount Coronet was a part of and that mountain range was rather dangerous and could take a week – or longer – to get through. With a few still-healing injuries from his trip to the Orange Islands, there was no way Gary was going to go through all of that. Adventure was more than welcome in his book but this was pushing it. "I am not going mountain climbing, Trace," he warned, turning to look down at his boyfriend while trying to ignore the way Tracey's hand was resting distractedly on his lower back.

"Relax, guys," Brock spoke up in his ever-reasonable voice. "We planned it around the mountains – it's too dangerous and we would be cutting it too close to the time of the competition if we did that."

"We would miss the competition if we did that," Ash pointed out. Gary nodded at that; the opening events of the competition were three weeks from the previous day, which was Friday. Leaving on Monday would give them a couple of days in case anything delayed them.

"We're only traveling in Johto from New Bark Town to Blackthorn City," Tracey spoke up, causing Gary to look back down at him with an unreadable expression on his face. Gary was rather fond of the rather large city and the area surrounding it and Tracey knew that. He couldn't help but wonder if that was intentional or simple coincidence.

"Where are we going from there then?" Misty asked curiously, peering at a map of the Johto region.

"There's an overnight train that goes through the mountains to Jubilife City in Sinnoh," Brock explained.

Ash groaned loudly, obviously disappointed at the thought of taking a train instead of walking through the wilderness. While the young trainer whined under his breath, Gary peered at a map of the continent to see how long of a train ride this would be. Although it would shorten the trip considerably, he realized that Jubilife City was in western Sinnoh while they needed to be in the eastern part of the region. They wouldn't entirely avoid mountains by going this route and Gary wasn't particularly thrilled by this fact.

Almost as though he had read his mind, Tracey spoke up again. "We actually won't be in the mountains for that long," he assured Gary. "There's the tunnel through Mount Coronet – it cuts through the mountain, you know that." Gary glanced between his boyfriend and the Sinnoh map doubtfully, rather unconvinced by Tracey's words; no matter how many shortcuts they took, they would still have to trek across the region. He didn't bother pointing this out to Tracey, knowing rather well that he was smart enough to have figured this out by now. Something must have shown on his face because Tracey laughed softly and slipped his arm around Gary's waist, squeezing him playfully. "You just don't want to walk, do you?" he asked mirthfully, leaning against him.

Sensing a bit of tension between the couple, Brock held up a hand to prevent Gary from replying – he could tell that the researcher wasn't particularly keen on this entire idea. The fact that Gary had even agreed had, frankly, astounded Brock as he was certain the stubborn teenager would refuse. It was rather obvious that he was coming along to satiate Tracey's yearning for adventure and Brock had to admit that he found it rather endearing that the boy would put aside his own comfort and plans to do something that his partner was obviously dying to do. "There's another train that connects Oreburgh to Veilstone," he interjected, remembering a route he and Tracey had written down as a backup plan in case they ran behind on time. "We could always take that and then when would just have to cross that little peninsula; the Pokemon League is just across the bay from there."

"But if we do that, we miss out on Mount Coronet entirely –"

"I'm not complaining about that," Misty interrupted Tracey, earning an eye roll from Gary.

"What's the matter, Misty – got a fear of the dark?"

"Don't start," Tracey sighed, poking Gary in the ribs as he baited the redhead. "You two got along last night, can't you keep it up?" Gary pinched the bridge of his nose with a groan while Misty turned her attention back to Ash, who was pointing out different places on the maps to Pikachu. "I know you'd rather take the shortcuts, but is it too much to ask for us to do what I want for once?"

Guiltily, Gary averted his eyes from the other people in the room. He knew he was being a bit selfish but he couldn't help it – he had been raised as a rather spoiled child: it was simply in his nature! Still, it was rather obvious that this was bothering his boyfriend. He leaned over a bit so that he was closer to Tracey and pressed a kiss against his temple, barely pulling away as he spoke afterwards. "Can I talk to you for a minute in the kitchen?"

Tracey nodded and quickly excused himself and his boyfriend before allowing Gary to lead him out of the room. Once in the kitchen, Tracey wearily sank into a chair at the table while Gary opted to lean against the table next to him with his arms crossed. Just by glancing at his boyfriend, Tracey could tell that Gary was uncomfortable and he was willing to bet that the wall surrounding his lover was about to come down for a bit.

"I know you don't want to do this," Tracey said softly.

"If it was just us and I had some sort of control over where we were going and what we were doing, I would be alright with it… I agreed to go and I'm not going to go back on that but, Trace, didn't you even think about how dangerous it is to travel on those routes in Sinnoh?"

"Of course I thought about it, Gary! How stupid do you think I am?" Tracey snapped, sounding hurt. Gary immediately uncrossed his arms and reached out for Tracey's hand.

"I know you're not stupid," he replied quietly, gently rubbing the back of Tracey's hand with his thumb in a manner he knew his boyfriend loved. "It's just that you haven't traveled through those regions and I have –"

"You've only been on four trips to Sinnoh."

"I know that, and I've been injured each time in the mountains."

"You get injured all the time here though! That doesn't mean the lab is dangerous –"

"I'm not worried about myself, Tracey! I'm worried about you, dammit!"

Tracey paused, a retort on the tip of his tongue as Gary suddenly drew away from him and marched across the room to lean against a counter with his arms crossed again. It was easy to see that Gary was distancing himself as, Tracey knew, he usually did before opening up about something emotional. Immediately forgetting his reply, Tracey stood and moved across the room to stand in front of the younger boy. "What's wrong?" he asked, studying his boyfriend's eyes which were now so closed off. Gary dropped his gaze to the tiled floor, his confidence starting to fail him as Tracey stood before him. A bit confused by the sudden distance, Tracey lightly touched Gary's cheek, gently turning his head to face him. "Come on, what's bothering you?" he tried again, adding a teasing lilt to his voice that made Gary smile slightly.

"I'm afraid of something happening to you," Gary finally admitted after a moment.

"What could possibly happen to me with you four there?"

"A lot of things, especially on those mountain paths – rockslides, avalanches –"

"In August?" Tracey pointed out.

Gary shot him an imploring look as he replied. "Tracey, please… I don't have a good feeling about that area in Sinnoh. I know the train systems and the tunnels are safe but the paths… It's just that if something happened and you got hurt…"

His voice trailed off before he could say anything else but Tracey understood what he was getting at with little trouble. "We'll go a different way then, if you're so worried," he assured him gently. "If it bothers you this badly then we'll find a different way… It's just that the way Brock and I planned took us through the Valor Lakefront and it's supposed to be really pretty there; I thought it would be nice if we got a chance to be there together."

A small smile curved Gary's lips as Tracey finished softly with a light blush covering his cheeks. "Adventure and romance only go together in those crappy books that May reads all of the time, Tracey," he teased. Tracey blushed harder and smiled shyly, refusing to meet his eyes. "You really want to go to the lake that badly?" Tracey nodded and Gary laughed softly, wrapping his arms around Tracey in a tight hug. "Then why exactly would you want to go with Ash and Misty? That would kill any romance before it even started, don't you think?"

"I guess…"

"Oh, stop sounding so miserable!" Gary exclaimed, shaking Tracey by the shoulders a bit. "We'll go for your birthday – just us and the little furballs."

Tracey peered up at him with a look of disbelief. "Promise?"

Gary laughed again and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "Promise. I'll even pay the higher ferry ticket to take the Jeep over there so we don't have to worry about getting around up there."

A grin spread across Tracey's face as he hugged Gary tightly before pulling away after a moment. "And I'll plan something equally as good on your birthday – as long as you don't argue about the route anymore!"

"Change the mountain routes and I won't argue," Gary replied flatly, causing Tracey to smile again.

"Deal," he agreed, leaning forward to catch Gary's lips with his own in a sweet kiss that his boyfriend eagerly returned.

They headed back to the living room a few short moments later, both in much better moods than they had been in upon their arrival in the kitchen. As they sat back down in the living room, Tracey announced to Brock that they would be taking one of the backup paths that they had written down a few days prior. True to his word, Gary didn't argue anymore, staying quiet even when Misty deliberately baited him – though Tracey did catch a glimpse of the seething glare Gary had sent her way. Now, he thought to himself, all he had to do was get his friends to get along for that trip.

That was certain to be even harder than getting Gary to even agree to coming along.