"Hello? Snap outta it!"
Gamora and Peter quickly snapped out of their gazes and turned their attention towards Rocket.
"Like I was saying, it's almost been weeks since our last mission; the time when Gamora almost got killed." Gamora turned away in embarrassment. "Listen, we're almost outta units, we need to find a job!" He shouted as he stood on top of the crate his was sitting on. Peter nodded and grabbed Gamora's hand.
"Remember, it's not your fault." He whispered into her ear. He stood up, still holding onto Gamora's hand. "Alright!" He shouted. "This is what we're gonna do; I haven't told you guys about it yet, but Nova Prime gave us a mission. I wanted to keep it on the DL until, I had the chance to talk to you guys."
Drax furrowed his brows in confusion. "What is a DL? Some type of table?"
Peter chuckled a little. "No, it means I kept it a secret."
Rocket threw his hands up in the air. "Oh, you kept another secret from us?" He crossed his arms, as Peter looked at him in confusion. "First, you don't tell us about your secret romance with Gams,-" Peter was about to say something when Rocket interrupted him. "Yeah, didn't think I'd notice that one, huh?" He tried to say something again, but Rocket held his hand out. "Now, you're keeping more secrets from us? What the hell happened to the 'we don't keep secrets from each other' deal, Quill?"
"Rocket, shut up! Peter and I were going to tell you guys about us, but we haven't really gotten around to it." Gamora said, as she looked at Peter.
"Furthermore, did you guys ever think about how we felt about this whole 'you two dating' thing?"
"Rocket-"
"Shut it, Drax." Rocket turned to Gamora. "If this retard ever hurts you, which we all know will happen, sooner or later, it will jeopardize the whole team!"
"Rocket! Will you stop thinking about yourself, for once? Have you ever thought that maybe Peter has changed?" Gamora finally snapped at him.
"No, people never change! And will you stop calling him, Peter? It's really annoying that you're the only one who calls him that."
"Screw you, Rodent." Gamora muttered under her breath as she left the living area. He winced at the name she called him.
"Gamora!" Peter called out after. "Way to go, Rocket." Rocket looked away. "Gamora, wait up!" He ran after her.
"I am Groot?" Groot asked placing a branch on Rocket's shoulder.
"What happened? What happened is that I screwed up." He walked over to the fridge, grabbed a bottle of wine and started to chug it. Drax walked over and sat next to him on the ground.
"Rocket, you need to apologize."
"Why? All I did was tell them how I felt." He said before finishing the bottle. Rocket started to grab another bottle, when Drax blocked him from the fridge. "Hey? What the hell, man?"
"Drinking will not help, my friend. It will only make manners worse. Do you ever think maybe Gamora is correct? I believe Quill makes her happy."
Rocket stopped trying to reach for the wine and slumped down to the ground. "Yeah, for now. Do you even remember what Quill was like, before we met him? When I first saw him, he was making goo-goo eyes with a pink lady."
"Krylorian?"
Rocket threw his hands up in the air. "It doesn't matter. If Quill hurts her, she'll leave. It won't be the same without her."
"That is not true, my friend." Drax put a shoulder on Rocket. "I can assure you they will keep their personal and profession lives separate from each other."
Rocket scowled. "Fine. I'll apologize." He stood up and pointed to Groot. "But, only because he'll hate me if I don't."
"I am Groot." Groot singsonged, as Rocket walk away.
"Shut up, Groot!" Rocket yelled from the hall.
Meanwhile:
"Gam!" Peter finally managed to catch up to her. He grabbed a hold of her arm, as she spun around.
"Peter, let go!" She spat through her teeth, trying to pull away from him.
"No!" He yelled. "I'm not letting go."
Gamora stopped pulling away from him, as a tear fell down her cheek. "Peter,-"
"What?" He whispered.
"Maybe...maybe,-"
"Gamora, what's wrong?"
"Maybe, Rocket is right." She finally blurted.
"Gamora, what are you talking about?"
"Maybe, this was a mistake." She whispered, with hurt in her voice. She looked up at Peter, who had the same amount of hurt in his eyes.
"Gamora, I-"
"No, Peter. You don't love me. You think you do, but you don't."
"I told you, you aren't like those other girls. I won't hurt you." Gamora didn't say anything. "This isn't about what Rocket said, is it?"
"It's not you i'm worried about, I trust you. It's Thanos I don't trust." She was silent for a moment. "Maybe, this whole thing was a mistake. I don't deserve happiness, I don't deserve Rocket, or Groot, or Drax. I don't deserve you." She didn't know she was sobbing until she felt the salty wetness on her cheeks.
"Don't say that. Gamora, I haven't heard you talk like this in a while. What's going on?"
"Peter, Nebula's back and she left me a message. It wasn't good either. For some reason, she went back to Thanos."
"What did she say?"
"She said it was either me or you. I told her it was me. I've been happy long enough Peter." She gave him a weak smile. "Thank you." She kissed him softly on his lips. "But, I can't bare the thought of her hurting you. I have to leave."
"Gamora, no. I won't let you." He grabbed her hand.
"You can't stop me, Peter." She let go of his hand and turned towards her cabin. "Drop me off at the next planet."
"No." He snapped. "I'm not letting you do this. I love you too much."
Gamora turned to him. "Well then, stop loving me." She entered her cabin and locked the door.
Peter turned around with tears in his eyes to see a very upset raccoon standing behind him.
"Pete, I-" Rocket watched Peter walk around him and enter the bathroom. His ears fell, as he walked back towards the living area.
Gamora slid down her door and wept into her knees. "What did I do to deserve this?" She whispered to herself. "Not only did I lose my family and my home, but I lost the only man, I ever loved." She stood up, walked over to her dresser and grabbed the data-pad off of it. She looked at it for a moment, before throwing it at the mirror in front of her, watching both of the objects shatter into pieces. Then, she did something she hadn't done in a while; she broke down in tears.
To Be Continued...