Laced By Love

Chapter 12

"Wh- What... Happened?" Boston sat up, rubbing his eyes. "I think I fell asleep..."
"BOSTON!" Amber immediately embraced Boston happily, excited to see him alive and well.
"Oh, haha, hello my love!" He returned the hug. "Please be gentle. My chest kinda hurts."
"Yes, do be gentle. I just sewed him up." Kai added. "Nice to see you back, Boston."
"Kai? Denis? Fia?? What's going on? Why are you here? Why did you have to sew me up?!" Boston started to panic. He didn't remember much as to what happened before he passed out.
"Hey. Breathe. Breathe. Someone in the LBCA went a little psycho and cut you open, and me, Denis, Fia, and Amber had to go on a little rescue mission. That's all." Kai explained with an awkward smile.
"That's all?! That is kind of a big thing!" Boston got out of his embrace with Amber and stood. "You all came all this way to rescue me?"
"Yeah. We love you, dude, of course we would!" Denis replied cheerfully, his tail thumping on the ground.
"I- Thank you all so... so... much. God bless all of you." Boston took a moment before he realized something. With a sigh, he turned to face Kai. "Kai, I'm sorry. You were right. I was in danger..."
Kai shook his head. "No, no. You were right, too. You might've been in danger, but you didn't have to move back to the demon realm."
"What do you mean?" Boston kneeled to Kai's height to make better eye contact with him.
"You've made some great pals up here. And by pals I mean Amber." Kai smiled at Amber, who smiled warmly back at him.
"Ah... Amber..." Boston's face went white at the mention of her. "She's a darling, is she not?"
"Oh, yes. A very polite lady. I think I trust your judgment... But I am so, so deeply sorry for our little fight."
"Oh no no it's ok! I think I got a little carried away, myself. Again, thanks so much for coming to save me." There was a moment of silence before Boston opened his arms for a hug. "Hug?"
With a smile, Kai embraced his very tall friend.

After the hug, Denis audibly sighed.
"How much longer do I have to hold this guy down? Can't we hurry up and have Boston choose his punishment?"
"Oh yeah! So this is the guy who cut you open." Kai pointed to the leader, who was still being pinned to the ground with his hands forced behind his back. "We wanted you to decide on what you wanted done with him."
"Me? Gosh, I don't think I could decide that for a guy... I really don't care, just don't hurt him. And make sure he doesn't hurt anybody else." He looked over at the leader. "You don't plan to hurt anybody else do you?"
"W- Wait! You don't want to kill me or anything?? No mauling my face off or eating my flesh or-"
"No, no... I don't like hurting people. I just want to make sure you've learned from your mistakes and you can better yourself as a person." Boston smiled. "You have learned, haven't you?"
"I... guess so. Why do you forgive me? I've basically traumatized you!"
"Oh, trust me, I've gone through worse." Boston shrugged. "All that matters is that you're working on improving yourself and I hope you start to take the world with a grain of salt."
"So do I let him go or...?" Denis was starting to get a bit impatient with their conversation. "If you forgive him I kinda don't wanna hurt the guy by restraining him."
"You can let him go." Boston replied, his tail thumping on the ground happily.
Denis released the tension he had on the leader, and the leader stood up and straightened himself out. Everyone in the room kept a close eye on him as he started to approach Boston again.
"Chipston," The leader started formally with his hands behind his back. "I owe you a heartfelt apology for what I did to you."
"I accept!" Boston chirped, his ears perking up.
"I do request you give us permission to harmlessly examine you to gain more information on your species."
"Define... harmlessly." Boston gave the leader a cynical look.
"What Maxwell has been doing to you." The leader answered with a quick tip of his head.
"Hmm... Okay. That's fine." Boston smiled at the leader. "Hey, I'm proud of you. You're changing! It's not easy for someone to change!"
"Proud? Why... Thank you, Chipston. That is awfully kind of you." The leader bowed his head in respect.
"Yeah, of course!" Boston finished up with the leader and turned back to his friends. "So."
"Hold on!" Mr. Maxwell ran up to Boston.
"Oh. Mr. Maxwell." Boston's ears drooped as he greeted him in a saddened and betrayed manner.
Mr. Maxwell started to ramble, panicked. "Boston, I am so sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen! I just wanted to help my group members but I had no idea that this group was a government owned agency and- and-" He started to hyperventilate.
"Mr. Maxwell," Boston cut him off. "It's okay. I forgive you too. How could I hate my dearest father-in-law?"
Mr. Maxwell gasped. "You- You see me as... family?"
"Well of course. I'm dating your daughter, why wouldn't I? Besides, I've always seen you as a father figure."
Abruptly, Mr. Maxwell hugged Boston tightly.
"I love you." He whispered to Boston, rubbing his back affectionately. With a chuckle, Boston embraced it.
"I love you too."

Fia, Kai, and Denis all went back to the demon realm after knowing Boston was safe, and Boston and Amber decided on having a sleepover at the Maxwell's like they usually did. Another school night sleepover wouldn't hurt.

"Tell me more about what's going on between you and Avery, and we'll deal with it tomorrow." Amber inquired, dipping the cap of the nail polish into the container and prepping to paint Boston's claws. She grabbed one of his hands gently and started to brush the hot pink nail polish on Boston's black claws.
"Well, I dunno what all you wanna know. I told you most of it, and it was all just, he blackmailed me into breaking up with you." He looked up from Amber's work on his claws to make eye contact with Amber. "If it counts, he started to act all buddy buddy around me once he got what he wanted. He offered to take me to church."
"To church?! Don't tell me you accepted it." Another dip of the nail polish brush into the paint, and she went over the claw again. "Your claws are so hard to paint, they're so dark."
Boston giggled. "Yeah, it comes with black claws. You're gonna need a lot of paint. Anyway, yeah, he offered that. But um... I most certainly wasn't the smartest and I- accepted it."
"Baby! You can't- Why did you do that?!"
"I thought he was being genuine..." Boston tried to move his hand without knowing, since commonly he talked with his hands, but Amber held it still.
"Stop moving your hand while I'm tryna paint your nails!"
"Ahhh sorry, sorry!"
"Well. We need a plan, 'cause Avery trying to blackmail certainly didn't work." Amber blew on his claws to try to get the coat to dry.
"A plan?" Boston asked, tilting his head a little in confusion.
"Yeah! To throw him off. Because nobody, and I mean nobody messes with my boyfriend." She went ahead and started on the next coat.
"I- don't think I'm your guy for that. I'm not a revenge kind of guy, I'm more of a forgive and forget guy."
"I have an idea." She said with a slick smile. Boston got a worried look.
"What is it?" He asked anxiously, expecting a curiously cruel answer.
"We kiss right in front of him while you're a lacey. That'll throw him off for sure." She grinned. "Isn't that great?"
"What good will that do us? I mean I can just cancel the church plans-"
"Make him get a heartache, and make him give up on messing with us." She said immediately after Boston, slightly cutting him off.
"If it makes you happy, sure. But no physical pain! I don't like it when people get hurt."
"Yeah, yeah, I know... Honestly, I don't like it either. I hate blood." She shivered at the thought of it. "It didn't suck that bad seeing you bloody like that though. Your blood is... white...?" She questioned, unsure if what she saw was entirely right. Boston nodded.
"Yes, my blood is white." He cleared his throat. "Anyway, so, we're just going to kiss in front of him when he says something about my... little secret?"
Amber nodded to confirm. "That's right. Hey, I bet he'll make fun of you for your nails."
"Oh I bet he will. To be honest I kind of don't care. I wanna feel pretty, so what?" Boston joked, stifling a chuckle.
Amber laughed. "You're pretty enough without hot pink nail polish."
"Extra. Pretty." He clarified, sounding half serious and half joking.
"How about we get some makeup on you to add to the prettiness factor then? I've got some in my room~" She teased, pausing the nail painting.
"Oh no no, I can't wear makeup, it'll get under my scales." He cringed. "Causes a nasty infection that I do not want to live through again."
"Eww! Sounds nasty if you don't wanna live through it." She laughed, before she became serious again. "So to confirm, you are going to school as a lacey right?"
"Yeparooni! Who cares what others think, I have you~" He brought her close with an one armed hug. She giggled.
"And for as long as I live, I hope that you're with me through all of it."