(Last chapter notice. This book does end of a cliffhanger for the third book to open. The third book is not written yet, though. (The first two were already done when I uploaded them again) so updates will not be very fast.)

-Oliver-

The next morning, we were awoken by Parker as he knocked on our open door. I knew he would wake us up early since I usually didn't get up right away. Just to keep the pattern going strong, I snuggled in a bit more against Ocar, milking the calm atmosphere for a few more minutes of dozing before forcing myself to wiggle free and sit up with a big yawn. My hair was definitely all over the place, but caring was the last thing I intended to do right then.

"Mm, shower," I mumbled sleepily, shaking my head to clear some of the clouds that insisted on trying to blur my vision and bring me back to sleep. Looking down at Ocar, I noticed him grinning up at me sleepily and chuckled.

"What are you looking at, ya weird whale?"

"Mine," he replied, his smile growing wider as he sat up and leaned forward, wrapping his arms around me from behind. It forced him to lean over a little since we were sitting next to each other on the bed, but he didn't seem to mind at all and instead used the movement to nuzzle at my neck.

"Oh? I don't remember signing anything saying I belong to a cocky whale."

There was a long moment of silence, and he stopped moving, his lips paused against my skin. Did I upset him by saying that? It probably wasn't the best idea, considering he didn't completely understand humans.

That made me begin to open my mouth in order to tell him that I was joking, but then he squeezed me gently and pressed his forehead against my right shoulder as he mumbled out, "Then I can belong to smart, cocky human?"

His words made my own catch in my throat.

"Ocar..."

I felt my heart stutter in my chest, and he must have felt it too because his arms tightened a little more. My face heated, and I squirmed until his teeth latched onto my ear, making me squeak.

Shit. Men don't squeak!

The sound would have normally turned off a guy, at least it was definitely embarrassing to me, but Ocar didn't seem to find it any kind of odd. In fact, I found myself on my back before I could even regain my composure. I didn't struggle, though, because Ocar wasn't forcefully holding me down. His right hand lay atop my left shoulder while his other one rested on the blanket to the right of my face. It wasn't close enough to quite be touching, but it did stop me from being able to look in that direction... to look away from him.

Since he obviously had the upper hand at the moment, I thought he might try to use it to his advantage. I was partly right, but when I finally focused enough to read his expression, he actually looked like he was super nervous! Just to prove my thought right, he flopped down onto me, making me grunt from the impact.

"Hey, Ocar? You okay?" I asked. His face was now hidden in the crook of my neck, breath misting over my skin, sending slight shivers down my spine every few seconds. He took a minute before pushing himself up just enough so that our faces were inches apart, his warm breath now fanning over my face.

"I am fine," he whispered, eyes looking everywhere but at my own.

"You look like you got caught with your pants d— uh, nevermind. Anyways, what's wrong?"

It took him several more seconds before he finally heaved out a frustrated sigh and pouted at me.

"I see Mellac and Jayson doing kissing, and even Parker and Callem."

My brows rose, a smile forming on my lips.

"You... want to learn how? There's nothing really special about it. You just press your lips against someone else's." I stated a little blandly. Not that I wasn't eying his lips at the moment or anything, but it really was a simple way of showing affection. Of course I knew that mers didn't do that, as Parker had told me a while ago. He had needed to teach Callem what it was, and then the goofball got addicted to doing it. With Ocar being so much more serious than Callem, I doubted he'd be too bad with excessive kissing.

"Is that all? It looks like it could be more, but then again, I guess it doesn't," he said, seeming a bit disappointed.

Welcome to life, bud. It's one big disappointment after another.

I didn't mean that when it came to literally everything, but everyone's going to go through crap. Hopefully we just get it out of the way earlier rather than later. That way we can grow from it, or in my leg's case, lose from it.

"Look, I'll show you."

I wasn't adverse to kissing guys, since my two friends... probably my only friends, were gayer than fruitcakes for two dolphins.

That sounds all sorts of weird.

Ignoring that thought, I grabbed a good fistful of Ocar's hair and yanked his head forward until our mouths crashed together. I didn't think it would mean anything to me. That I would feel anything, since I never felt anything. Well. Fuck. If a loud bang by our bedroom door hadn't sounded at that very moment, I might or might not have had a certain mer naked beneath the blankets. Well, he was already naked, but that just meant I wouldn't have had to remove anything to get to what I suddenly wanted.

Dammit.

Glaring, I turned my attention to Mellac's back, since he was now walking away as if he hadn't just interrupted something important. If he wouldn't kill me for it, I'd totally do that when he was about to get Jayson in bed.

As it were, we couldn't stay in bed all day.

"Time to get up, Ocar," I said, and I did just that after securing my prosthetic leg. Standing was a bit of a struggle, but I managed without falling. Ocar was in front of me after a minute, looking half asleep even as he knelt down and tugged my underwear off, then replaced them with a clean pair, followed by my loose black cargo shorts.

"Thank you," I told him, getting a sleepy nod from Ocar as he stood and got a white T-shirt over my head with a graphic I didn't care about on it. Once I was all dressed, I headed out of the room, letting him get into something. He probably didn't want to, but it was best to be wearing something when appearing in public. That was, at least if he wanted to be taken seriously.

When I stepped into the living room, I noticed everyone else was already up, including Hice. Wow. He was actually sitting on the couch and not killing or threatening anything. I wasn't sure how long he'd been there, but it had to be a record.

"Hey, guys," I mumbled awkwardly as I made my way to the kitchen and grabbed a piece of bread, not really feeling that my stomach could handle much more than that. As I nibbled at it, I made my way back to the living room, where Parker was just sitting down, keys in hand.

"We're going to head out as soon as Ocar is ready. Hice actually went overnight while I watched his friend."

The hell? He did? How in the heck did he get back here then? There's no way they would have let him go.

"They let him go because they put a tracker on his leg and he's already chipped in a few places by Cal-Waves' system, which is now being used by the police. Even with those tools, they planned not to let him go, but he mentioned Fri was ill and after a cop came and checked, they finally said he could remain free to take care of his friend. Of course, if he decided to become hostile for any reason again, he would be detained or killed, if necessary."

I winced at the word kill, but I knew the cops were only doing what they had to. If Hice tried to kill any of my friends, I probably would shoot him too. Now he knows that humans aren't free passes to kill, but considering what I did for Fri, hopefully he doesn't see all humans as negatively as he had before. There was no time for another conversation to start up as Ocar joined us and we all headed out, taking Parker's truck, along with my own. Hice decided to come as well, though he chose to ride in the back of mine... much to everyone's relief.

The station seemed pretty busy when we arrived, and the amount of paparazzi already out front was a bit unnerving. When we slid out, Callem grabbed Kipper, much to the boy's dislike, and toted him inside, trying to shield him from all of the camera flashes. There weren't too many turned toward us, though, because Hice was the only one still naked, and boy was he making a scene. It probably helped a lot that he looked like a celebrity with his build and face. Beautiful image or not, he was definitely not happy about all the annoying cameras and people and literally shoved through them until he was inside behind us.

We had obviously been expected because not a second later we were rushed into a small courtroom off to the left side. I knew the main one was straight ahead, but it was nice to be in a smaller area. The doors were also barred, making it impossible for any of the annoying reporters I could hear storming the waiting area to get more photos.

Since we weren't going to be bothered, all of us walked to the front and took the seats we were directed to. The judge seemed to be quite bored, which I didn't doubt since his eyes had very obvious dark circles beneath them. I figured we wouldn't get a normal trial or jury since this wasn't a case that would likely ever come up again, or had been seen before.

Kind of like Parker, Jay, Callem, and Mellac's.

The system probably didn't know what to do since its normal rules didn't make sense to those who lived by different ones all their lives. When the judge just began reading off different documents, we settled in, knowing that we were in for a long bout of listening and not much discussion. They noted that Kipper was too young to be charged with any crimes first, though they did make sure that he understood any further offenses would lead to rightful punishments not resulting in prison sentences or death. Next, Jayson and myself were notified that we were not being charged, as no evidence was incriminating to the point of causing an indictment. Parker, however, didn't get off so easily since he had killed Mark. He was to be under house arrest for the next month and had to wear an ankle monitor like Hice.

He was also not allowed to have any weapons in his residence, which he didn't anyway, so that part didn't matter so much. Both Callem and Mellac were required to have tracking chips inserted, but besides that, no charges were filed against either of them. What caused all of us to suddenly wake up as the judge was reading his final verdicts, was the one that came when he spoke to Ocar. He flinched, and three cops had guns trained on him in a literal second. I would have fidgeted as well if I was sentenced to prison. It was because of what he had done to my leg, though I don't remember any of us telling of that situation. No doubt the director had managed to figure it out and was now trying to use it against us... But we couldn't argue when the judge said he had enough proof and the sentence would stand. I even tried to tell him that I didn't want to press charges, but he wouldn't hear it. The bastard.

While I was sitting, staring at Ocar as he did the same to me, both of us disbelieving, Parker questioned the judge about the director of Cal-Waves and what was to happen to him. He was only told that the information he wanted was confidential as officers began to lead Ocar toward a hall off to the side.

That son of a bitch paid his way out. I just know he did.

I wanted to be mad. Hell, I was. But I forced myself to fake a reassuring smile as I limped toward Ocar, who had managed to keep the three guards currently pulling on him from moving him the last few steps that would take him away from my sight. I stopped in front of him, my heart heavy in my chest. It was an odd, uncomfortable feeling that I'd never really had in my entire life. Like I was about to lose a part of myself.

"I haven't even gotten to really know you yet," I whispered, knowing that he could hear me, even over the commotion my friends were making behind me.

Ocar smiled, and it somehow looked genuine. When he leaned over, I expected him to kiss me, but instead he moved his mouth close to my right ear and calmly replied, "Take care of Hice's friend. Of your job. Of you." His grin stretched further, and I blinked several times, then sniffed once.

"I will be back for my cocky human doctor."

When he leaned back, I licked my lips and nodded.

"And I'll be here. I'll fight for you. I'll fix this. You don't deserve to be taken away."

His chest rose and fell with a deep breath, then he nodded and allowed the guards to force him through the doors and out of sight. I knew he was gone several minutes later when Parker's hand gently settled on my shoulder, but the sudden pressure made me snap. Tears filled my eyes as I stepped forward, nearly falling as I put most of my weight on my prosthetic leg and yelled.

"I promise I'll get you your freedom back! I don't fucking know how, but I love you and I swear you'll be out of there soon!" My voice quieted when Parker squeezed my shoulder and wrapped me in a hug from behind. I felt hollow as I stood there, panting and shaking.

Don't give up, Ocar. We won't give up on you. I won't. I'll help Fri and Hice. I'll get back into my job. My lips pursed, shaking. But you're the most important thing I really need back in my life.

-End

Book 3 to start hopefully sometime this weekend/slow updates.

Thanks for reading and tissues are on the table near the donuts.