Secrets Told

I think this is the longest I've gone without updating this fic! I've been working on the spin-off to this one (Friends, Rivals, and Lovers) as well as a Palletshippy oneshot (which should be up by my next update, hopefully). After this chapter, I'm only going to do two more so this fic will end at 20 chapters – kind of interesting considering my original idea was a oneshot. As I already said before, I'm planning on a prequel and a sequel but I would also love to do more with this couple both within and outside of this particular storyline.

Thanks, as always, to licoricejelybean and Defiant Vixen for reviewing!

A brief background on this chapter – in the last chapter, Tracey explained to Gary that he wanted to go through the Valor Lakefront with Gary and Ash and everyone so Gary promised to take Tracey there for his birthday. Also, Tracey's Furret will be explained in FRaL, I don't want to spoil that part of the story though… Also, Gary and Tracey's later conversation talks a lot about their conversation in chapter 7, when Gary mentions that he would like to marry Tracey one day.

Chapter Eighteen: Changes

Thunder rumbled loudly outside as a heavy rain splashed down the windows of the Sinnoh hotel room; it was quite cold outside, not quite unusual for mid November in this part of the region. Despite the weather, the room was quite comfortable with a fire burning in the small fireplace. Umbreon was curled up in front of the fire while Tracey's pokemon were scattered about the room; Marill perched on Gary's shoulders and happily squeaking despite the way Gary rolled his eyes at it, Venonat peering out the window, and Furret – the newest addition to the team – was burrowing under the blankets on the bed. The couple was sitting at a small table with a sketchbook and a pile of colored pencils between them while Tracey sat with his chin resting on his hand, gazing at Gary with a content smile as he watched the younger boy focus on his task.

The weather had been fine for the past three days and the trip had been wonderful – a lovely getaway that served as the perfect gift for Tracey's birthday. Unfortunately, the one day that was tainted with poor weather conditions happened to be Tracey's twenty-first birthday, though the boys really hadn't planned much for the day. The previous days had been rather filled with various activities that had made the rest of the trip fun, if not amusing.

On the first day, Tracey had decided to try ice skating on the frozen part of Lake Valor – something he had never done before, but he suspected he wouldn't be too bad at it considering he was actually quite good at inline skating. He had been right in his guess but Gary had spent more time falling than actually skating and had eventually given up and chose to play in the snow with Umbreon while Tracey continued skating. The rest of the day had been taken up by the several hours they spent alone in their room with the pokemon inside their pokeballs while the couple was more focused on each other than anything else. The second day had been more fun since they had decided to try snowboarding; Tracey had been decent enough to enjoy himself while Gary, being used to surfing, had been quick to catch on and ended up being rather good.

Having not expected the weather to turn, they had spent most of the third day indoors and now found themselves growing a bit antsy since they had been inside for the majority of two days. Bored, Tracey had turned to his sketchbook and proceeded to draw for an hour or so while Gary decided to sleep through one of the Alien films. After a late lunch, Gary had been more bored than ever and had resorted to doodling on scraps of paper with Tracey's colored pencils until his boyfriend decided to draw a complex picture of two dragons fighting for him to color. That had been well over an hour earlier and Gary was still intently focused on shading the picture with skill that had taken Tracey entirely by surprise.

Gary frowned slightly as he felt Tracey's eyes on him once more. "You're doing it again," he said with a slight smile, glancing up for a second as he switched colored pencils.

"Sorry," Tracey quickly apologized, blushing slightly as he ducked his head. "I can't help it."

"What's so fascinating about watching me color anyway?"

Tracey gave a small shrug in response. "I don't know, maybe the fact that you're absolutely adorable when you're concentrating on something?"

Gary said nothing in reply though Tracey noticed a small smirk appear on his face, causing Tracey to roll his eyes slightly. He hadn't meant to spark that typical arrogance by admitting the truth about why he hadn't been able to take his eyes off of his boyfriend for the past hour. It was true though; there was just something in the way he would bite his lip or shake his bangs out of his eyes that simply made Tracey smile because of how utterly cute it was. The way he would pause every so often and critically glance over his work was rather attractive as well.

Several moments passed in near-silence with neither boy speaking while the pokemon went about their business. The silence was eventually broken by Marill and Venonat when they decided to play once the water mouse figured out that Gary was too focused to give it any attention. Furret grew restless on the bed and came over to Tracey to curl up in his lap, relishing in the pets and scratches that he supplied the creature with. All the while, Gary continued to color while Tracey stared off into space, silently thinking, pondering the way things had been in recent months. Ever since May had caught them kissing in the hallway sometime in the early part of summer – was it late May or early June? He couldn't quite remember when exactly it had been but it was months ago now and, either way, he had noticed a definite change in his boyfriend during that time period.

Though Gary had always been sarcastic, stubborn, and arrogant to an extent, the early part of their relationship had been filled with moments of doubt and fear. His insecurities constantly came up from beneath the arrogance that often served as a mask for what was really going on in his head. There were so many times that his signature confidence would fade away entirely as he would fret over how Professor Oak and May – the only family he really had – would react if they found out. The fear that his friends whom he had known since childhood would turn their backs on him had been nearly crippling. He could cover it up most of the time but didn't always try to when he was around Tracey. Tracey was his constant confidant and was always quick to offer comforting words, a sympathetic ear, or a much-needed hug.

A bit later in the relationship, only a few months before it had been forced into the open, it seemed as though Gary's nervousness about his family's acceptance had waned, perhaps as a result of his grandfather's nearly-never-ending patience or May's random assurances that she loved her little brother dearly. Gary had grown less uneasy and wasn't afraid to kiss Tracey when no one was looking as opposed to only behind a closed door. He had steadily become more and more bold with their affection until they had ended up making out in the hallway, only to be caught by May.

It had become clear to Tracey, only a month or two after coming out, that those days were gone. Of course, a primitive part of him was sad that the exhilaration of trying not to get caught was now gone from their intimate moments but the fact that they could simply be open about the entire relationship made him perhaps the happiest man alive. At least, that's what he had thought back then.

Now he was noticing subtle changes in his younger lover that made him even happier. Though still stubborn, Gary didn't argue quite so much with everyone around him – before, he would argue constantly, even with Tracey, and it could become incredibly annoying rather quickly. Only a few months later, the arguments were far less often and were only about half as long as they used to be. He was so much less childish now and didn't act as spoiled as he used to. Tracey had even noticed a new patience – as had been shown perhaps a half hour earlier in the way Gary simply rolled his eyes as Marill bounced around on him as he colored Tracey's picture; months ago, he would have scolded the little pokemon for the exact same thing.

Perhaps the change Tracey enjoyed the most was the new level of happiness exhibited by Gary. Granted, that teenage angst was essentially what had brought them together and the close moments triggered by it had strengthened the relationship exponentially, but it had always killed Tracey to see a loved one so down. This new happiness was so much more… fun. Gary was constantly cheerful around him – of course, cheerful for Gary was far less chipper than cheerful for Ash or Brock, but it was still a welcome change. There was a playful side to Gary that had started to come out more often and Tracey found himself absolutely loving the little play fights they would get into, as well as the banter that would go on between them.

The love that had been there from the start had been growing stronger and stronger and Tracey often caught himself losing track of time as he watched Gary or sat around daydreaming.

"I love you," he said, surprising even himself with the suddenness of the statement.

Another small smile appeared on Gary's face as he glanced up to momentarily meet Tracey's eyes, laughing softly when he saw the surprise in his eyes. "I love you too, though I get the idea you didn't mean to say that out loud."

Tracey laughed as Gary smirked slightly and shook his head. "I didn't mean to say it all really; it just came out…"

"Damn, Trace – make up your mind already. You're breaking my heart here; telling me you love me and then taking it back."

"Isn't this the part where you claim that your mother warned you about guys like that?" Gary raised his eyebrows slightly as he glanced back up at Tracey, who froze for a moment before slapping himself in the forehead. "That was an Ash-type screw up," he groaned. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it was a joke – you just caught me off guard."

"It's still not something you say to someone whose parents died when they were a kid."

Gary casually dropped the pencil he was using on the surface of the table and pushed the sketch book away from him with a shrug of the shoulders. "Not to sound cold, but I was three when it happened; I hardly remember my parents so it doesn't really bother me."

A small frown furrowed Tracey's brow as he pondered Gary's unexpected response. It was a subject that had never come up between them before and Tracey only knew about it because he had once asked Professor Oak why he was the caretaker of his grandchildren instead of their parents. "Yeah, but still… I don't know how I would ever deal with something like that happening, it's hard enough living this far away from my family." He frowned again as something else came to mind. "One day I'll have to drag you down to the Orange Islands," he declared.

"I've already been there," Gary replied dryly, reaching for the colored pencils once more. "Oh… You meant to meet your family?" he asked as he realized what a trip to the tropical islands implied

Tracey nodded, a grin spreading across his face as he noticed a slight nervousness in his boyfriend after the comment. "It would be fun. And it would be a pretty good idea considering what you said on the day that Ash came to Pallet." At Gary's confused expression, he pressed on. "In the back room in the lab? When I gave you the stitches? You did mean that, right?"

"Oh, that. Of course, I meant it!" Gary exclaimed with an indignant lilt to his voice that Tracey quickly picked up on.

"Sorry, I just wanted to double check that you were still serious about that because it would really suck if you changed your mind now."

"And why is that?" Gary asked, genuinely curious now.

"You've matured a lot since then," Tracey said simply. He left it at that as he stood up and carried Furret over to the bed where he laid down and flipped on the television.

Gary stayed in his seat at the table though he had paused in his coloring while twirling one of the pencils between his fingers. After only a moment of letting Tracey's words sink in, he stood and walked to the bed to stand in front of Tracey with his arms loosely crossed over his chest. "I guess we'll have to see what's going on during spring break then, won't we?"