Amongst the Stars // Peter Quill

Before They Save the Galaxy Again

Charlie spent a few hours in her underground hatch of the ship. She was popping little portions of space candy that Peter granted her for her birthday like they were drugs, because, in a few ways, they were. They reminded her of Earth; there was a similar taste to Jelly Beans, which she and Peter used to pop like pills during lunch. 

Going back to Earth could be a life, she knew. She would spent the rest of her life as a bit of a celebrity, considering she had been gone for twenty-something years and the return would be a miracle for her town, not to mention her family. She could imagine the looks on her parents faces when she showed up at their door. Heart attacks were a fair play, then bundles of everlasting love would be shoveled upon her. 

Charlie had wished more than once for a normal life again. Getting a taste of it, seeing her father, she almost wanted to take the chance again. She thought maybe it could be good for her to settle down and return for an easy remainder of her life. 

But something being good for her didn't mean it was what she wanted. She knew the risk of continuing to live in space with Peter; she was a pure human and didn't have the same defense that Peter or the others did. She wasn't Groot. If she was to die, that was it. Could she do that to Peter? Would it be better for him to know she was alive on Earth than watch her die in front of his eyes?

Charlie rolled over and shoved her face into her pillow. She screeched into the pillow over and over again, simply because it felt good. It felt good to relieve her frustrations in a way that wasn't words. Words were an expressive action that had no help to her at the moment. All thinking about it had done was make her go back and forth between what was good for Peter and what was good for herself. The end result was the same: she had no idea what to do.

A knock came from the door on her ceiling. 

Muffled, Charlie called, "Yes?"

"Can you meet Peter in front of the kitchen, please?" wondered Gamora. 

"I'll be there in a sec."

Checking her appearance in the mirror by the pull-down stairs, she fixed her hair into a ponytail and wiping her eyes so they appeared a little less red than before. She could do no better, simply due to the fact that she was too lazy to try. She needed to come to a decision about returning to Earth before she could move forward with anything else. 

Charlie grabbed the chain dangling from the hatch. She pulled the stairs down to the floor. She climbed the stairs and pushed open the hatch, coming face-to-face with the same space candy she was eating only a few minutes ago. Different colored pieces led away from the hatch. 

"Peter?" she called. 

There was no answer. 

Charlie followed the trail of candy. For the first time since the Guardians moved in, or were all sleeping at the same time, the ship was actually silent. Somehow, Peter managed to shut them up so the only sounds Charlie heard were her own footsteps patting along the floor of the Milano. 

"Peter?" called Charlie again. 

Again, the silence stood.

Charlie continued following the candy. A shadow on the floor came from the glow of a light. She stepped around the corner and felt her heart began to sew itself together again as soon as she raised her eyes from the ground. 

Peter turned and held up a finger when he saw her. He swiped his hair up and clenched the flowers in his hand tighter. He tried to look nice for her-- dressed in his nicest pants with an inside out white t-shirt and a black paper bow-tie stapled to the shirt. Standing straight, he offered a worried smile at his future wife.