Secrets Told

Once more, my apologies for a delayed update; school is the antichrist as it keeps me from writing. This chapter was sooo hard to write; it went through two or three different versions before I finally found something that worked. I was going to do just one chapter and end this at 20 but I decided to do a two chapter update for the end of this story.

Also, I have up the first two chapters of the prequel! It's called Secrets Kept and I hope that it is enjoyed. It's definitely going to be longer than this one but probably shorter than the monstrosity that Beyond the Walls is (hopefully it'll be far better than that one as well).

Thanks as always to licoricejellybean and Defiant Vixen for all of your reviews. Thanks to everyone who has read or reviewed this story – it honestly would not have made it this far without the feedback!

Chapter Twenty: Nervous

A sharp sigh escaped Gary as he dug through the clothes in his closet, trying desperately to find something to wear. Why was he suddenly so concerned about clothing, he wondered to himself as he debated between two t-shirts. With a groan, he tugged one on and irritably left his room; this was a situation that required his sister, as much as he hated admitting it. Today was special, though he doubted Tracey realized it as his boyfriend had always been bad with remembering dates. It was exactly one year since May had caught the two boys kissing in the hallway; one year since they had come out about their relationship. Not to mention several months had passed since Gary had told his grandfather that he was thinking of marrying the pokemon watcher.

Quickly heading down the hall to May's bedroom, Gary knocked on the door, not wanting a repeat of what had happened two weeks earlier when he had walked in on May and her boyfriend in a compromising position. After that particular event, he hadn't been able to look his sister in the eye, although he had to admit that her boyfriend was pretty hot. He shook those thoughts out of his head when said boyfriend opened the door and stepped aside for him to enter the room.

"I need your help," he declared simply, crossing his arms over his chest as he tried to ignore the smirk that formed on May's face.

"What could you possibly need my help with? You're gay, you could conquer the world if you wanted to!"

Ignoring the teasing remark, he uncrossed his arms and fidgeted slightly with the edge of his shirt. "How do I look?"

May smirked again. "Like yourself," she replied smoothly. At her brother's annoyed sigh, she stood from her bed and began to circle him, critically glancing over the black t-shirt and baggy jeans. "What's so special about today that's making you worry about clothes?"

Gary shifted his weight a bit awkwardly, knowing that she would be far too excited to keep it a secret if he did tell her. Then again, she had been far calmer and more mature in the past months since she had begun dating the long-haired guitarist who was currently leaning against the wall, watching amusedly. "Nothing in particular," he muttered.

May stopped in front of him and gave him a knowing grin that left him feeling a bit confused. "You're going to ask Tracey today," she said, never losing that smile. Gay could feel his stomach churn at her words. How did she know that? More importantly, how many other people had she told? Something must have shown on his face because May giggled softly and shook her head. "That's what the bracelet is for, right?"

"What bracelet?" Gary hissed sharply, even though he knew exactly what she was talking about. The one he had made for Tracey, similar to the sea glass necklace that he had made him well over a year ago. He had found another piece of cobalt blue sea glass at the beach and, a few weeks later, a dark green piece; Tracey and Gary's favorite colors, respectively. He had put them on a leather cord, intending for the bracelet to take the place of an engagement ring since Tracey wasn't materialistic enough to want an expensive ring.

May sighed and rolled her eyes at her brother's question. Instead of answering, she grasped his hand suddenly and led him out of the room and down the hall, back to his own room. "The one like his necklace!" she explained exasperatedly, heading towards his dresser and opening one of the bottom drawers.

"You went through my stuff?"

"Just because you're gay doesn't mean you have to go into the dramatics," May said cheerfully in response to the irritable question. "I was looking for something, a shot in the dark that you would have any really, and I found it," she explained, locating the bracelet and pulling it out as she closed the drawer again. "By the way, why do you two use condoms? It's not like you're going to get Tracey pregnant." May giggled at her own comment while Gary groaned and sank down on the edge of his bed with his face in his hands.

"You found it two weeks ago?"

"Yep, same day that you walked in on us."

Another groan escaped Gary. "Please, do not remind me."

"He's pretty sexy isn't he?" she teased, leaning against the dresser with the bracelet dangling from her hand. Gary glanced up to glare at her as her smile turned into a grin. "You know, he also has a big –"

"May!" Gary pushed himself up from the bed suddenly and snatched the bracelet away from his sister before she could finish her sentence. The door to the next room closed suddenly and the two siblings froze as the radio in that room turned on. "Tracey's done in the lab…" Gary murmured, turning the bracelet over in his hands.

May's smile faded as she noticed an uncharacteristic nervousness in her brother. Glancing over his clothes once more, she left the dresser to close the bedroom door and then headed into the closet, groaning when she saw how much of a mess it was. "Geez, Gary… What have you been doing – living in here?"

"Not for the past year."

Glancing through all of the shirts hanging up, May allowed a small smile of relief to curve her glossed lips. She loved that joking side of her brother far more than the serious side that she had been seeing all day, even before he had decided to start worrying about what to wear. After several moments of holding up various shirts and trying to remember which ones looked best on him, she finally staggered over the text books, clothes, and whatever other crap was on the floor to toss the red shirt in her hands to Gary. Catching the shirt easily, Gary gave May a quizzical look, wondering why she had picked out a different shirt when he knew that she always complained about the jeans he was currently wearing.

Rolling her eyes, May plopped down on the bed. "Red looks better on you and the shirt you're wearing now is just a bit too baggy for those jeans. It makes you look scruffy."

Gary shook his head at her words but obediently changed his shirt. "I thought you hated these jeans." May looked mildly confused at his comment so he pressed on. "You always complain about them."

An amused laugh escaped May at that. "Gary, you need to wear the right shirt with them! For a gay guy, you have no sense of fashion!"

"I happen to proud of that fact," Gary mused to himself.

May rolled her eyes again. "You would be." She smiled at the new outfit and nodded approvingly. "Very sexy… And straight-looking, though we could always do something with your hair to fix that," she mused. Frowning slightly, Gary ran a hand through his hair, purposely messing up the dark locks and making his sister laugh again before she sobered slightly. "By the way, I didn't tell anyone."

"No one else knows?"

"Only family." Ordinarily, the smile that crossed her face as she spoke would have made him suspicious but he barely gave it any notice.

"Well, there's a change," Gary replied, leaning against the dresser with his arms crossed over his chest. "Usually you can't keep your mouth shut."

May, to her credit, simply shrugged her shoulders slightly. There was no way to deny that she had been perhaps the most gossipy big mouth in Pallet Town at one point in time, though it was obvious to anyone that she had grown up drastically. That was also discounting the fact that she had actually told far fewer people about Gary and Tracey kissing than her brother realized. Despite Gary telling her only a short while after the drama had passed that he was grateful she had forced him out of the closet, she felt guilty about it, even now. He must've been able to sense that something was on her mind because he tilted his head to the side slightly, as though silently enquiring about what was wrong.

She shook her head and forced a small smile. "Sure you're ready for this?" she asked softly.

Gary nodded, slipping the bracelet into his pocket. He knew he was going to have to suppress his nerves and get it over with. "Of course… Just wondering how exactly I'm going to tell everyone afterwards."

"I could take care of that for you," May teased, forcing down a giggle at the expression the crossed Gary's face. He seemed almost fearful for a second before appearing thoughtful, as though he were thinking of taking her up on that particular offer.

Suddenly, the bedroom door opened and Tracey peeked in, appearing surprised to see May in his boyfriend's room. He paused in the doorway, taking in Gary's appearance and smiling slightly; though dressed casually, he was undeniably attractive and Tracey couldn't help but feel lucky to be involved with him. Still, he had to wonder why the twenty-year-old was wearing jeans when they had been planning on going to the beach.

"I thought you wanted to go to the beach?" Tracey asked, feeling a bit confused.

Gary nodded and stepped away from the dresser to approach his boyfriend, only to be stopped by his sister as she hugged him unexpectedly.

"Good luck," she whispered, pressing a quick kiss against his cheek before grinning and quickly leaving the room.

Shaking his head, Gary took Tracey's hand and led him out of the room and into the hallway, eager to get out of the house. Tracey trailed after him, feeling a bit confused.

"What's with May?" he finally asked, eliciting a soft sigh from his lover.

"She's losing her mind. Kind of sad, actually," Gary replied flatly. He knew Tracey could see straight through the sarcasm but it wasn't exactly as if he could actually tell him why May had behaved that way back in his bedroom.

--- --- ---