Secrets Told

A quick note – remember in chapter 18 Tracey's Furret (which he gets in FRaL, I swear I will begin working more on that story soon!) appears for the first time in here? He shows up again in this chapter… Just letting you know so you're not like "wtf did that come from?".

Final chapter!

Chapter Twenty-one: Beginnings

The weather was not exactly cooperating. It wasn't necessarily foul weather; it was simply overcast and a bit windy, the latter being an unappreciated aspect on a sandy beach. Despite this, it was rather nice at the beach; the dreary sky had kept away bathers, leaving the shore nearly deserted with only a small handful of surfers on the waves. Part of Gary wished he was out on the water with the two friends that he could see from shore, the waves were rough from the incoming storm system but that always made surfing more fun. No doubt the waves would be even more rough the next day and Gary knew for certain that he would be out there, undoubtedly earning a few injuries that Tracey would be fussing over that night.

The couple was walking quietly, hand-in-hand while their pokemon played in the sand ahead of them. The sight of the animals running around together brought a serene smile to Tracey's face but he didn't feel particularly at ease – Gary was being too quiet for comfort. He seemed tense, as if something was weighing on his mind, and he had barely spoken since leaving the house; not to mention Tracey was still curious about the reasoning behind May's behavior back in Gary's bedroom. Tracey had to force down a soft sigh as he caught his boyfriend gazing out at the stormy water again; it was something that Gary did when something was on his mind and Tracey felt waves of uneasiness flow through him every time he did it.

Finally, he grew tired of wondering what his boyfriend's issue was and slipped his hand out of Gary's – a move that seemed to hardly register with the younger of the two until Tracey pushed him playfully.

"Snap out of it!" he exclaimed when Gary cast a confused look his way.

Gary smiled slightly in response. "Am I annoying you?" he asked as he pushed his boyfriend back.

"No; you're just acting weird," Tracey replied with a quiet laugh, reaching down to scratch Umbreon behind the ears as she bounded up to him with Marril on her back. Gary frowned slightly at that and, though he quickly hid it, Tracey noticed. "What's wrong?"

The only immediate response his question received was a shake of the head as Gary appeared to think about something for a moment. "How am I acting weird?" Gary asked him suddenly, sounded a bit irritated. First the weather wasn't as cooperative as he had hoped and now something in his behavior had alerted Tracey… He almost felt as though the plans were starting to crumble around him. He shook those thoughts out his head as quickly as they had appeared and took a deep breath – it wouldn't do any good to get annoyed over this. It wasn't as though the plans were ruined; it just meant that it was windy and Tracey suspected that something was up. No big deal.

"You're tense, like you're worried about something."

Forcing a smile, Gary turned to face Tracey and placed his hands on Tracey's hips. "What could I possibly be worried about?" he asked, allowing a teasing lilt to enter his voice.

Hearing the light tone of his voice relaxed Tracey a bit and he smiled. "I don't know; you tell me," he replied, mimicking Gary's teasing tone.

This time Gary's grin was true as he pressed a kiss against Tracey's lips. "Maybe I'm just having second thoughts about moving away for school in August," he reassured him, kissing him once more before pulling away slightly. "Or maybe I'm planning on doing something and I'm worried about your reaction." Gary gave Tracey an enigmatic smile and turned to continue walking, leaving his boyfriend standing by himself for a moment as he tried to figure out what he meant.

Tracey frowned as he watched Gary continue walking, pausing to pet Marril as the mouse squeaked cheerfully at him, wondering what on Earth his boyfriend could have meant by his last statement. His tone had remained light and teasing, though his eyes had been serious not only when he had said the latter bit, but also when he mentioned school. Part of Tracey wondered if Gary was thinking of going somewhere other than Saffron City for school in August while another part of him wondered something else that made his stomach flip. Could that plan possibly include a question that he had been hoping the boy would ask sometime soon? Or was there something else going on, something that he had overlooked sometime in the past few months? Either instance could explain May's behavior, which kept popping back into Tracey's thoughts.

He noticed Gary pause a few yards away and hurried to catch up while Gary waited patiently for him with an unreadable expression. Their exchange seemed to have cheered Gary up a bit as his eyes held a touch of mirth although the rest of his expression was entirely impassive.

"So, which is it?" Tracey asked when he reached the other boy. "School or a plan?"

A small smirk curved Gary's lips as he took Tracey's hand again. This wasn't part of the original plan but if Tracey was going to go along with this…

"You tell me," he replied simply. He had to force down a grin when Tracey rolled his eyes at this response - the older boy should have known that Gary would have thrown his word chose from earlier back at him, after all, it was something Gary often did just to annoy him.

Tracey studied his expression for a moment, taking in the playful but apprehensive gleam in his eyes, before scanning his boyfriend's body language for any clues. A brief moment of thought reminded him that thoughts of school very rarely made Gary stressed or tense in any way, yet the way he was crossing his arms rather tightly across his chest showed that he was quite tense. "You're planning something," Tracey said softly. Gary nodded slightly in response but said nothing. "Are you going to elaborate on that at all?"

"Eventually." Gary shot him a grin that only confused Tracey further.

"What is with you today, Gary?" Tracey finally asked in exasperation.

Instead of replying verbally, Gary gave him another playful shove that Tracey countered heartily and in no time the two boys were pushing each other in the sand and laughing. Suddenly Tracey found himself pinned down with Gary leaning over him, a mischievous grin curving his lips as he gazed down at him. Slowly, the grin faded into a slight smile of content while his eyes softened considerably. It was a transition Tracey had seen many times and would never grow tired of seeing; the words that nearly always followed it always warmed him to the core. A second later Gary leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to Tracey's lips, their noses brushing as he pulled away.

"I love you," Gary whispered softly.

Tracey laughed softly – he knew that was coming. "I love you too," he whispered back, sitting up just enough to kiss Gary again. A small sigh escaped him as the kiss was swiftly deepened and he tangled his fingered in Gary's hair, grasping the brunette strands when his younger lover tried to pull away a minute later. "Going to tell me what your plan is?"

Rather than giving him an answer, Gary leaned down and began pressing kisses against his throat, causing Tracey to squirm slightly. He couldn't help but mentally smirk as Tracey groaned softly and grasped his hair more tightly – he knew every possible way to make the other boy melt and this was one of his favorite methods. Finally, he pulled back again, this time moving his mouth to Tracey's ear, speaking lowly in a way that made Tracey shiver slightly. "I had fun with you last night," he murmured.

Tracey squirmed under him, forcing down another groan as he remembered the promiscuous activities of the previous night. "You tend to when we have sex," he muttered in response, trying to ignore the way his body was reacting to their position. He was simply too curious about what this plan of Gary's was to focus too much on how much he was longing for his boyfriend's touch on other places of his body.

"You know… I would love to do that every night," Gary paused, taking the opportunity to nip at Tracey's earlobe, eliciting a noise that sounded very much like a whimper from his boyfriend. He pressed his lips to Tracey's in a quick kiss and pulled away before the older boy could deepen it. "For the rest of my life," he added softly.

Tracey could feel his mind going blank as he felt more kisses being scattered across his skin. "It was that good?" he murmured, his eyes sliding closed in pleasure. A soft laugh reached his ear as Gary pulled away again, causing Tracey to groan in disappointment.

"You completely missed the point, Trace."

Tracey's eyes slowly opened and he gazed up at Gary with a touch of confusion. Slowly, he sat up and Gary moved so that they were sitting across from each other in the sand. Marril took advantage of their distance by jumping into Tracey's arms, squeaking happily as its trainer pet its head absently while trying to decipher what Gary had just said. Once more, the pokemon watcher was stumped by the researcher's behavior.

"Gary… What…?"

Gary shook his head amusedly. He couldn't help it – it was incredibly rare that he managed to bewilder Tracey like this and he happened to love the puzzled expression on his face. He opted to take a moment to take in the adorable expression before pushing on.

"Tracey…" Suddenly, his voice died away, his confidence abandoning him as his eyes lowered to his trembling hands in his lap. What had happened, Gary wondered briefly; his confidence had been there for the past fifteen minutes or so. Why had it suddenly faded? He was distracted for a second as Umbreon sat next to him and nudged his shoulder with her nose, as though telling him to just get it over with; at the same time, Tracey's Furret crawled into his lap, nuzzling his hands sweetly. The close proximity of the two pokemon immediately comforted him and calmed him down enough to lift his gaze and meet Tracey's eyes. "I'm asking you to marry me," he finished quietly.

Tracey froze, his brain momentarily refusing to process what had just happened, and then suddenly, everything made sense. The strange quietness, the nervousness, even the way Gary had been so sweet to him over the past several days; it all fell into place as Gary nervously met his eyes and bit his lip, eagerly awaiting the answer. Not trusting his voice, Tracey cupped Gary's face in his hands and kissed him fiercely, hoping that his answer would be obvious enough.

The response must have been apparent because Gary was grinning when they separated and Tracey couldn't recall ever seeing him happier.

"That's what you were so nervous about?" Tracey asked teasingly. He laughed softly when Gary nodded his head a bit sheepishly. "How could I possibly say 'no' to you? Even though you didn't even get me a ring," he added with a playful glare followed by a pout for good measure.

"Actually," Gary began slowly, reaching into his pocket to pull out the bracelet he had placed there. "I did make you something…" Tracey smiled shyly, muttering something about having been joking when he made the ring comment while Gary fastened the sea glass bracelet around his left wrist.

"You spoil me," Tracey said lightly, admiring the piece of jewelry. It was perfect, he decided rather quickly. It seemed to suit him; it was simple but nice. It wasn't girly in the slightest bit, the pieces of sea glass were perfect because of how much he loved the ocean, and the two pieces were both of their favorite colors. Not to mention it matched the necklace that he still wore constantly.

"And you put up with me, so we're even," Gary countered smoothly, idly adjusting the bracelet.

Tracey glanced up at him and smiled; it was such a typical reply to come from the young man he had fallen in love with. "Are we going to keep this a secret?" he asked. His tone was light, almost teasing, but the question was serious. Of course their relationship was far from a secret by now but he wasn't entirely sure if Gary would want everyone finding out about this step up in their relationship so soon.

"Nah, I don't think May would let us. Besides, I think all of my secrets have been told by now."

They kissed again and Tracey was the first to pull away with a laugh. "Really now? What about your arachnophobia?"

Gary grimaced as his boyfriend wiggled his fingers at him, imitating a spider. If there was one thing Gary was ever picked on for, other than his sexuality by his sister, it was his squeamishness around spiders, even though he profusely denied any phobia. Tracey, of course, always saw through those denials. "Careful, Trace; just because I gave you a bracelet doesn't mean you can pick on me for things like that," he warned good-naturedly.

"No, I guess not," Tracey agreed, shifting Marril off of his lap and scooping Furret out of Gary's lap. He turned his attention back to Gary with a grin as the two pokemon began playing with Venonat and Umbreon. "But it does mean that I can do this," he continued, pushing his boyfriend quite suddenly so that Gary was lying on his back in the sand. Without giving him any time to be surprised by the unexpected action, Tracey quickly moved forward, straddling his boyfriend's waist to cover his lips with his own in a deeply passionate kiss.

Several moments passed while the pokemon played in the sand, seeming to ignore the way their trainers were kissing nearly frantically only a few feet away from them. Noticing that Gary's hands were coming dangerously close to the zip of his shorts, Tracey pulled away breathlessly.

"We should finish this at home before we get caught by one of your friends," he intoned softly.

Gary groaned but sat up with a small nod. "Think we have enough time before dinner for a quickie?" he asked cheekily, glancing at his watch for the time.

Tracey laughed as he stood and helped his boyfriend to his feet. "Of course we have enough time, Gary – we have the rest of our lives for that."

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::Author's Note::

I can't believe it's over! This has been my favorite story to write so far, which is kind of surprising considering it was supposed to be a serious coming-out one-shot but ended up as a full story. Thank you so much, everyone, for your feedback and your patience between updates. I should be continuing Friends, Rivals, and Lovers (the side-story for this one) sometime shortly, the prequel to this one is up and should be updated often. A sequel is in the future but I'm still working on it. : )

I'm hoping to work on a few more Tracey/Gary fics related to this story as well as a few that aren't related to this one. Hopefully a few more Palletshippy fics are in the future as well!

Once again, thanks!

~MetalPrincess13