A/N: I'm sorry that it's been so long for me to update this! I went and watched Passengers (of all things) and it gave me inspiration to come back to this story. I hope that you all enjoy this and would love to know what you lovelies think!

Somehow they ended up exactly where they started: a bar.

Rather ironic considering the outcome but Nora figured, what the hell? They were already married. What else could possibly happen? Well, for starters, there was her ship. The one thing she adored the most: gone. To pay for a stupid wedding that shouldn't have even happened in the first place. So Nora sat in the same corner booth, with Peter, from the previous night. She'd been sulking in her beer for the past forty-five minutes, barely glancing up to look at Peter who kept the weight of his gaze fixed on her. Nora wished he would just look anywhere else.

"What?"

Her voice was dry and cracked under the use. She sounded like a cranky child. Nora's eyes flicked up to look into startling green and saw the laughter that equaled the smirk that tugged on his lips.

"You done pouting?"

Nora wanted to scoff, to continue to frown and be grumpy but, at the playfulness in his voice she ended up shaking her head. A smile tugging at the corners of her lips as her gaze fell down to look at the condensation that was smeared by her thumb. By the wide grin that blossomed on his face Nora knew he'd seen it too.

"I wasn't pouting."

Peter shot her a look: all raised eyebrows and eyes that sparked with mischief. Nora rolled her tongue around her mouth and leaned back against the booth. Her arms crossing as she looked him over before letting them drop back down to the table.

"If that was your happy face I'm gonna be honest here: I'm worried."

A chuckle left her with a hand coming up to cover her mouth. The beer settling warm in her stomach and making her nerves hum in relaxation. It was moments like these when Nora was able to remember how Peter was able to disarm a situation with his charm. Sure, there were probably times when it backfired, but for what Nora experienced it was the only thing that was keeping her going.

When she glanced back in his direction, Nora couldn't stop the nervous habit of her teeth biting down on her lower lip. Her weak attempt to play coy following it up as she watched Peter's eyes move down to focus on her lips. A sharp thought of, "Kiss her," resonated in her ears so loud Nora believed she was the one who spoke it, which was impossible. The thought was so strong her legs began to dance under the table in frustration at her resistance to close the space between them.

Nora gave a sharp shake of her head in an attempt to clear it of whatever weird jiju was going on between them. She grabbed her beer and brought it to her lips, immediately beginning to take one long pull after another until the only thing left in the glass was a streak of foam and air. When she placed the glass back on the table, Peter was looking at her, wide eyed and mouth hung open.

"I guess you were really thirsty."

"Why did you come here last night?"

The question was enough to pop his lips back together. His jaw flexing under the weight of words he struggled to choose carefully until his gaze dropped from hers and he angled himself to sit straight in the booth.

"I think you know why I was here last night."

"To find a warm body to keep you company for the night."

"It was more for the drinks. I heard they're exceptionally good in this bar."

"Peter-."

"What do you want me to say?"

"The truth. I'm a big girl, and nothing you say is going to hurt my feelings."

"It's...it's complicated."

"Why is it complicated?"

"She has reservations about being with me."

His voice was solemn as he spoke. All the playfulness that drenched his earlier demeanor slowly dissipated. The shield of sarcastic lines that creased his forehead diminished, as his shoulders seemed to set with a burden that must have felt like the world to him. Nora suddenly felt regret swimming in her chest at having pressed the issue. The look of agitation a disguise to hide the discomfort behind his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Peter. I shouldn't have pried."

"No, it's not your fault. It's mine. I go around making these stupid ass decisions, and then try and smooth talk my way out of them later. Usually, it works. This time…"

Nora didn't need for him to finish the sentence to understand what he tried, but was unable, to say. Sometimes the multiverse had a way of sneaking up on you when you least expected it. Of making changes in your life whether you were ready for them or not.

Without thinking, Nora reached out and placed a gentle hand on his arm. Her thumb stroking in soothing circles until Peter looked at her. She tried her best to give him a smile that offered comfort, but she felt so out of practice in actually giving it that she worried it came off more like a dog baring teeth.

"I know what I'm about to say is going to be one hundred percent lame-."

"Are you going to say what I think you're going to say?"

His words overlapped hers, but she didn't back down. Nora took a breath before she finished: "It's all going to be okay."

As soon as the words left her lips Peter let out a mirthless laugh and leaned back into the worn red leather of the booth. This time taking his time as he downed his beer before he even looked at her again.

"I did come here last night to find a one-night-stand. The reason for it is completely childish and it one hundred percent, guaranteed, makes me an asshole."

"Oh, come on. It can't be that bad."

"Oh ho! You willing to bet on that?"

Nora rolled her tongue around in her mouth as she gave Peter a once over.

"Yeah, I am."

"Alright. Well, you're going to want to lean in close for this, because you don't want to miss any of the good parts. I came here last night because this girl, my shipmate, who I've been trying to get to admit likes me and wants to be with me, told me she wouldn't give in to things like that because the idea, and me, were childish. So, what do I do to prove her wrong? I go to a bar to get laid and actually wind up getting married."

For a split second, it felt like all Nora could do was blink in his direction. Her brain successfully shut off as each bit of information took shape inside her head. "Wow," was the only thing she seemed capable to say.

The reaction earning an exaggerated eyebrow raise from Peter's direction as he chuckled, "Oh yeah. I said it was a plan: not a very good plan."

"You're an idiot."

Peter didn't seem the least bit offended by Nora's blunt words. He just nodded his head and took them with more grace than she'd ever seen a living soul do.

"Yup. Now it's time to pay up on that bet: you're paying for the drinks."

Nora was still too dumbfounded to argue, so instead, she nodded her head and waved for the waitress to bring them another round.

"Oh my god!" She blanched.

The sudden turn in his direction made Peter jump beside her. A quiet, "Jesus," escaping his lips as his eyes nervously roamed over her face.

"You inadvertently made me the other woman!"

"Whoa, now come on. First of all: she'd actually have to be my woman for their to even be another woman."

"Does she like you?"

The question left Peter fumbling around the next part of his rant. His jaw dancing around words he tried to rope together, but all he could see was the terrified agony written all over Nora's face. The instant he recognized it was the minute he wished a wormhole would appear and swallow him whole. It was the least worst thing that should've been allowed to happen to him for making such a look like that appear on her face.

"I told you, it's complicated."

"Situations are complicated: I'll give you that," Nora cut in. "But feelings, Peter. You can't lie about a feeling or say it's complicated. It is or it isn't there. So...for her: which is it."

Looking at Nora's face, Peter wanted to lie. It would've been the easiest lie he'd ever told. He was practically a master manipulator of words and destiny, but today destiny finally caught up with him. Today, looking into brown eyes with the purest flecks of gold he'd ever seen: Peter couldn't lie.

"She likes me."

Those three words seemed to hit her like a faze bullet to the chest. Her body sagging lifelessly back against the cushion, while her eyes drifted into a thousand yard stare.

A plea for forgiveness sat heavy on his tongue as he watched her struggle to regain her thoughts. He hadn't thought far enough ahead to wonder what would happen the minute Nora stepped back onto the ship with him. When he was forced to explain to one woman how he'd ended up theoretically bound for life with another. Peter suddenly felt buried by the weight of every shit decision he could've made; every single one he had made. As he looked at Nora now, his eyes scanning over her blank features, he just wanted to make it right.

It was a strange sensation to have with someone he barely knew. His past record with women would showcase he didn't necessarily have a heart of gold, or the best track record. It seemed like the more he tried to be better the more he mucked things up. Everything in him, however, begged him not to be that way with Nora. Every fiber of his being echoed his thoughts of reaching out to take her hand. To comfort her with a guided trace of his thumb along her cheek until it dipped lower to her chin. Just to inform her that he was going to do everything in his power to make it right.

Peter was completely lost in these thoughts that when a glass shattered on the floor, it caused them both to jump. A fight starting off in the corner making them both rise from their seats and head for the door, with Peter laying a protective hand on Nora's lower back. She stopped to leave behind a few credits too many for their drinks before stepping back out into street.

"Where do we go from here?"

It was such a simple question, but for Nora it felt anything but. She felt lost. She only realized after they'd been standing there for a couple minutes that she would have already been back to her ship by now. A ship she no longer had with no actual place to go. A part of her wondered if she was able to keep her composure, or the cool facade she'd been struggling to maintain was finally cracking. The only thing left were the clothes on her back and her bank account, and that was definitely not saying much.

As if he could sense her unease, Nora felt Peter move closer to her. A large hand reaching out to gently touch her arm to draw her attention to his position. The gesture an unnecessary thing, as Nora was constantly aware of him. The sensation of his hand resting on her arm sparked along her skin like an electrical current, and she wondered, for a split second, as she looked up at him if he could feel it too.

"We can head back to my ship. It's as much your home now as it is mine, I guess."

Peter's words held more significance than the carelessness he tried to portray. The way his Adam's apple bobbed in his throat under the weight of words he tried to swallow down. Words that weren't necessary as Nora felt, better than knowing, that he worried Nora would deny the truth. Whether she liked it or not, Peter's ship was her home. Peter himself was her home.

At the thought Nora felt a hum of hysteria swell up in her chest. How in the hell, in less than a day, could she be feeling so complete with a stranger? Nora looked away from him and down at the band on her that glowed with a rose gold hue. She knew very well that whatever the celestial band was made of, it was the cause of all of this. The reason why it felt like they were two parts of a whole. The reason her body ached when he was too far away, and hummed in contentment when he was near.

Nora was trying to build up her resentment at the situation, until the touch of an all too familiar hand rested under her chin. The feeling sent a jolt through her as she allowed the gentle traces of his fingertips to prod her to look back up at him.

"It's going to be okay, Nora. We're going to figure this out. I promise."

Nora fell helplessly into his eyes; the blue and green tint mesmerizing, working their magic until she all but forgot how to breathe. She knew she needed to eject herself from beside him, but when she took her first step away from him her body radiated its disapproval. Her calves springing to life in a spasm that left her biting the inside of her cheek, only becoming easier to distance herself when her muscles grew numb from the tension. She ignored his questioning look as her arm swept out in front of her, ushering him to move forward.

"I'll follow your lead, Star-Lord."

Nora threw in his code name for good measure. A part of her betting that the mention of it would be enough to keep his curiosity from demanding answers to the questions that swam behind that pretty face of his. A smile upturned her lips when it did just that. Peter's eyes lighting up like a kid on Christmas as he took the lead.

The walk back to his ship was filled with silence. Nora's eyes flicking in his direction when she thought he wasn't looking, not realizing that Peter was doing the same. When they broke past the markets and into the docking bay she felt a sense of relief swell inside her at the sight of his Milano. A strange sense of feeling like she was home cradling her as she stepped inside and felt it's metal beneath her feet. It all made Nora feel grouchy at even thinking such a thing, when her baby was no doubt being stripped for parts while she casually looked around the hull.

It all felt homie: earth homie. A small smile tilting her lips as she took notice of the cassette player he'd ingrained into the ship like a second skin. A majority of it felt like every other ship, except not every ship had random assortments of fabrics and long strands of beads clustered around scarfs that were reminiscent of Freddie Mercury.

Nora was so immersed in looking at all the things she'd missed that morning, that she didn't notice Peter coming up behind her. His hand reaching out for her shoulder sparking her to let out a yelp. Nora attempted to turn to face him, but her feet tangled and she ended up beginning to fall instead.

Peter's eyes shot wide as he moved to grab her. His hands relocating to her waist to get a firm grasp on her as she collided into his chest. Nora's hands were splayed out and holding inches above his shoulders. Her eyes locked to the darkness of his shirt and struggled not to take notice of the hard muscle that caught her, or how the impact sent her body into overdrive.

Her blood was rushing and it reminded her of sweeping waves; currents that took hold of sailors like sirens that pulled them under. She tried to think past the heat that flared to life under his palms and how perfectly his fingers curved to her hips.

"Kiss her."

The words shattered through her chest and forced her to look up into that of startling green. Nora felt helpless as her eyes roamed Peter's face; breath catching when he moved a large hand up to cradle her face. She hadn't realized she was holding on to him until her fingers curled into the leather of his jacket; his scent enveloping her like a dense fog that tunneled her vision to his lips.

For a moment she could feel the urgency to connect her lips against his. In the way it surged in her veins and commanded she react as her muscles tightened at the demand.

It was Peter who reacted first. His head craning down to cover the expanse their height difference created like a chasm and, for a heartbeat, Nora felt her body erupted in excitement. The anticipation flying past reason as her feet pushed her up on her tiptoes just as bodies arrived into the main cabin.

"Hoooly shit!"

The voice had them both blinking at each other before she turned away from him to see who had arrived. Nora's sights landing on a...walking tree? It wasn't the strangest thing she'd ever seen in the galaxy, but while he towered in what should've been an ominous way, it's childlike eyes warmed to her in greeting. The other, what appeared to be a raccoon, and another man with grey skin and crimson design etched into his skin looked at them in pure teasing joy. When Nora's eyes landed on the woman, her skin reminiscent of grass in the spring, she had a good feeling it was Gamora. Her eyes murderous as she took in the both of them with their arms still wrapped around one another.

Nora moved to retract herself from him, when the man's eyes locked on her wedding band. His eyes lighting up as a bark of laughter left him.

"Ah ha! Peter, you're married!"

Nora didn't think it was possible for Gamora's eyes to hold anymore animosity than they already did. Until now.