Chapter 6
The rest of the night went by as awkward as they’d left each other. Gamora, thankfully, showed up at dinner, but barely said a word to him. It’s not like her mood was unsurprising to Peter. He vividly remembers how Gamora had reacted to, sometimes accidentally, opening up to him.
So, he did what he did back then too; give her space.
Besides, this morning, Peter woke up in a much better mood than he has in a long time. Her words continuously run through his head, her confession having sparked a new hope inside of him. Gamora and him have always made a great pair, romantically and platonically. While Peter would be a liar if he’d say he doesn’t want to be in a relationship with Gamora, he’s currently focused on repairing – or, more accurately, recreating – that bond between them.
Following this, he decided he was going to ask Gamora if she’d like him to teach her how to drive a Terran car. He chooses to ignore the fact that he’s not particularly skilled at it – yet, he tells himself.
Gamora hasn’t come down for breakfast and he assumes she must’ve brought some rationbars. Right now, he hopes so, at least. Normally, he'd never want her to eat rationbars over actual, good food, but the last thing he wants is for her to not eat at all. He'll settle for rationbars in that case then. He knows how hard it was for her at first to get used to good food, compared to her usual dietary back with Thanos. Afraid of pushing her too far too fast, he doesn’t bring it up.
Peter hurriedly packed away the leftover pancakes that he’d originally made for her and moved up to her room. His grandfather had mentioned wanting to do some gardening today, which is how Peter ended up spending his morning helping him. Now, as his grandfather was taking a break, he’d asked to borrow the car for the afternoon.
Upon arriving at her room, he was met with complete silence from the other side. He hesitated before knocking, briefly wondering if she might still be asleep. But this is Gamora, and he hasn’t seen her actually sleep in until noon during the four years they’d spent together. Of course, they’ve totally stayed in bed together that long on multiple occasions – even longer than that.
So, regardless of the silence, she must be awake. His hand moves up to her door and he knocks. Loud enough for her to hear, but gently enough to refrain from startling her. “Gamora?”
She’s light on her feet, as always, and the time it takes for her to get to the door is just enough for him to visualize some memories of them dancing together. The handle moves, but the door remains shut. She’s holding herself back from him, he muses.
Peter tries to ignore the way that hurts, and continues, “Hey, are you up?” He says, deciding to play along with her act.
It takes a few seconds for Gamora to make a noise, and he receives nothing more than a grunt. He’s about to continue talking before he’s interrupted by the door swinging open.
“Why would I be… up?” Her expression looks bored, but she sounds confused and slightly intrigued.
Just for a quick moment, Peter allows himself to take her in. Respectfully, of course. She’s wearing a pair of pants he hasn’t seen before, meaning she must’ve gotten it after she joined the Ravagers. The boots are new too, but the same ones as when he’d seen weeks prior. The shirt is familiar, and he fondly remembers her telling him it’s the first article of clothing she’d ever bought for herself just because she’d liked it.
Her hair is the same as it has been for the past few days, and he immediately notices the remaining absence of her braid. Her eyes turn harsh, and he realizes she must’ve followed his gaze to her hair. He knows hair is important to Gamora, to her culture. It’s very intimate and over the years she’s shared more and more of it with him.
The Ravagers care about anything but privacy, which he figures means that she hasn’t had the chance to practice her rituals as she’s used to. He remembers her telling him that hair care should only be shared with close loved ones, and that there are multiple rituals for lovers to do regarding it – which he more than loved sharing with her.
His heart hurts at the thought that she hasn’t experienced the opportunity to care for it properly.
Yet, he reminds himself again.
He clears his throat and awkwardly looks around the room in an attempt to ignore Gamora’s piercing look. “Hey, uh, the weather is great today.” He points out.
Gamora looks at him skeptically, but seems to be in the mood to indulge him for now. She nods silently, eyes darting between him and the window behind her.
“I was thinking, only if you want of course, we could use my grandpa’s car today. I can teach you how to drive, if you want.” He stumbles over his words clumsily. He’s once again reminded of their relationship after they’d just met. The amount of times Peter had awkwardly invited her to do stuff together is lost on him, but he has some amazing memories of those moments.
Peter grins at the intrigued look on her face. Gamora has always been open and eager to learn new things and it’s just another thing he loves so much about her. She’s considering his offer, he can tell, and feels delighted at her nodding.
“Alright.” She says, “Will the vehicle be available? Did your grandfather give you permission to use it?”
“Totally! I just asked him and he said it was fine.”
“Okay,” Gamora agrees, “Were you thinking now?”
Peter nods, “Yup!”
Gamora doesn’t reply this time, but she moves back into the room. She doesn’t close her door and Peter feels his heart skip a beat at that. It may seem small to anyone else, but it’s quite a grand gesture of trust for her. He remembers how protective Gamora used to be of her personal items in the beginning – or more like lack of personal items. Some basic clothes and hygiene stuff was about it. A luxury for her would be hair products and jewelry.
Allowing him to look into her room like this, as her personal items are on display, is a big thing. And it doesn’t go lost on him. Gamora had opened up to him before, including yesterday. Even if it was small and merely a slip up, she still said it. Peter knows Gamora is many things but a liar.
Now, again, she’s revealing a side of her no one gets to see. His heart swells and he’s struck by the overwhelming emotions of this moment. Taking her out on his home planet would arguably be a sufficient gesture in return, but he wants to do more. Something so personal that she has to know how much she means to him, how thankful and open he is for anything she’s willing to share with him.
For now, he’s taking her out on that drive she wanted. He has to start somewhere.
“I’m ready.” Gamora announces as she walks out of the room. He’d been too lost in thought to actually pay attention to whatever she was grabbing, but the unmistakable and familiar sword now attached to her hip says enough. She never goes out unarmed, Peter knows this.
He doesn’t comment on it, but he knows barely anything can go unnoticed by Gamora. Before he can confirm this, however, he turns away, unsure what her reaction to him noticing her Godslayer would be.
She quietly trails after him, neither of them say anything. There’s no tension between them now. Gamora seems relaxed, whether it’s because of her sword or him he doesn’t know. Maybe a bit of both, he allows himself some hope.
The both of them greet his grandfather before moving out. The car is a very old model, one like he remembers from the last time he was on Earth. He doesn’t remember if it’s the same one he and his mother used to borrow from his grandpa, but he has a sense it might. It’s dark red and his grandfather had mentioned it’s in the best state it has been in years ever since Peter has been taking care of it.
In a way, it had vaguely reminded Peter of the Milano. Perhaps it’s the way he patched it up himself, or maybe even the slight color match between them. It also kept him busy, another very welcomed distraction.
“So, this is her.” Peter gestures at the car with a proud smile on his face, eyes on Gamora.
“Her?” She asks, voice mostly amused.
His grin widens, “Well, of course! In honor of my other ships.”
Gamora hums, “Does… she have a name then? Like your other ships?”
Peter can tell she’s just indulging him, but it still makes his heart rate speed up. The fact that she’s even willing to do that for him makes him happy. What only fuels this is the way she somehow knows about the way he names his ships. He knows for a fact that he’s never told her this before, so his best guess is Nebula told her.
He tries to keep the giddiness hidden in his voice, “Yeah! McVie is her name. What do you think?”
“I think it is rather useless to name a vehicle.” She deadpans, but also gives a nod of approval.
Peter laughs at that. She’s told him that before, in the exact same way as she has now. Every resemblance of an old memory sends a thrill down his spine. Reminders of how Gamora is very much here, alive, in front of him again are some of the rare moments he doesn’t feel haunted by his memories, but blessed.
He can tell Gamora wants to get going, she’s glancing through the car’s window with even more interest than before. No one is as patient as Gamora can be – only if she has to – but currently she’s more reserved than anything. Her attempts to not come across as eager would probably fool anyone who isn’t him, but he pretends along with her.
He does a little jog up to the car, opening the door for her, “After you.” He says.
Gamora looks a little wary, most likely because of him, but does as he says. She slowly gets in the car and he sees her eyes glance over the controls. She works quickly, but efficiently.
Though, Peter is sure she’s never quite seen controls like this before. Earth’s technology is really a couple of centuries behind compared to the rest of the galaxy. He quickly moves over to the other side of the car and climbs in beside her.
“Alright, seat belts first.” Instead of doing hers for her, as he’s done a few times when they were flying together, he lets her watch him as he does it for himself.
Gamora looks confused, but does it anyway, “How fast are we going to go? I was under the impression Terran vehicles did not go that fast.”
“Yeah, you’re right. They really don’t go that fast, especially compared to what we’re used to from, y’know, our ships.” He explains, “But also, Terrans don’t have your physique. A car crash like this could totally kill them.”
Her eyes widen, expression now alarmed, “Should I be worried?”
Peter considers teasing her for the way she either overestimates what they’re about to do or underestimate his physical abilities, but refrains. While guarded, Gamora sounds genuinely concerned for him. So, he opts to reassure her instead, “Nah, trust me. We definitely won’t be going fast.”
Gamora nods, “Alright, then. Show me how to do this.”
“Well, first– oh, shit” He fumbles in his pockets and grabs the key he’d forgotten to give her before, “The key. Uhm, just put it in– oh yeah, right there.”
Peter can tell she is listening to him, but clearly doesn’t hesitate testing her own thoughts out. He doesn’t mind, he’d gladly let her try to figure it out on her own. Gamora is super smart, so he knows she totally could. Still, it feels like right now she’d still appreciate him telling her about it, even if she did manage to figure it out already.
Just wanting her to be comfortable and for this to be a nice thing for them, he continues, “Okay, perfect. Now, just keep your left foot on the clutch. That’s the one all the way to the left.” He vaguely points at it.
“Alright, now just turn the key–” He waits for the engine to start before continuing, “And there you go! Car started!”
“We are still not moving.” Gamora says dryly, though he doesn’t miss the flash of pride in her eyes.
Peter laughs, “Right, okay. Next is the stick shift, this thing–” He gestures between them, “So, one, two, three–”
“I can count, Quill.”
A flush appears on his face, “Right, uhm–” He clears his throat, “We won’t be doing anything crazy today, as I said, so you’re only gonna need 1 up until 3.”
“Uh,” He awkwardly leans over and points down at the pedals, “Break and gas.”
He looks up at her from his position, only to find her curiously peeking at him. Her eyes widen slightly, it’s such a miniscule reaction that could only ever come from Gamora – from someone who’s been trained to watch her every step. He smiles softly, “Looks like we’re ready.”
Peter moves back into his seat properly, “Alright so, just go to – they’re called gears by the way – gear one. Like you just grab the stick and–”
Gamora yanks the stick with such a force that Peter actually fears for the car, she could undoubtedly pull it right out if she wanted to. He squeaks in surprise, hands flying around for the stick, desperately trying to get a hold on it, “Maybe, I’ll just switch gears for now.” He says sheepishly.
She grunts at him, annoyed, and he expects her to snap at him after. It remains quiet however, and he feels his heart drop when he looks over at her. Gamora looks embarrassed, even a bit sad almost.
It can be hard for Gamora to moderate her strength, Peter knows this. Plus, his explanation clearly wasn’t detailed enough. He wants to apologize to her, to tell her he knows she didn’t mean to – but she’s not telling him any of this. She’s keeping quiet. The very thing that caused problems between them is how he read her every move and reacted to it. Peter can’t just pretend he doesn’t recognize her looks, or the way she’s feeling, but he can give her the space to learn how to be comfortable with sharing those emotions with him again.
So, for now, Peter simply smiles reassuringly at her, “That’s how I learned it as well.”
She doesn’t really believe him, he can tell, but she decides to go along with it. Her right hand moves away from the stick shift and onto the steering wheel. She looks at him expectantly, awaiting further instructions on how to drive.
“Now, just press the gas with your right foot, while you let your left foot slowly come back up.” He’s hesitant about the next part, but she definitely won’t be as quiet about her embarrassment if he lets it happen again, “Both of those very slowly. Terrans are very fragile.”
The attempt at a joke is ignored by her, attention fully on the car now. “You’ll do great.” Peter encourages.
The car slowly starts moving, sputtering a bit at what Peter suspects must be her taking her left foot off the clutch too slowly – or perhaps not enough gas. He’s only been on Earth for a few weeks okay?
It doesn’t matter, though, because, “You’re doing it!” He exclaims.
Gamora smiles bashfully. Her focus is still on the car, but the quite shy expression on her face tells him she’s heard him. “It’s not that hard.” She says, voice strained.
She still is a terrible liar, even if she managed to fool him once. Peter is determined to not allow her to undermine her own achievements, no matter how small they are. Whether it’s driving a Terran car or taking down the High Evolutionary, Gamora is the most amazing person he’s ever met and he has never shied away from telling her that.
“That’s not true! You just did it in one go, that’s amazing Gamora!” Before he can continue, he remembers they’re actually driving now, and he should probably give her some directions before she drives straight into their neighbor’s house, “Turn left here. There are no houses on this street.”
While Gamora is still clearly mindful of her strength, she turns the wheel so far and so abruptly it nearly sends them crashing into the house on the corner. Peter yells, voice pitched way higher than he’d ever admit having the ability to, and moves to take over. Of course, Gamora wouldn’t be Gamora if she wouldn’t recover quickly in any situation, so she quickly steers back onto the road.
Unfortunately, now both their hands are pulling on the wheel and Peter’s yelling doesn’t seem to bring any sort of calmness to them. Gamora snaps at him to let go, but Peter doesn’t hear her over his own voice.
Normally, Gamora could easily overpower him, but that could possibly send them flying out of the car at this point. Peter yanks at the wheel, just as Gamora takes her hands off it and they drive straight into the field, “Gamora! Break!” He screams and he thanks whoever might be out there that he’s next to someone like Gamora right now as she breaks hard.
It’s silent for a bit, aside from Peter’s heavy breathing and Gamora’s slightly louder breathing than usual. He’s not sure what he expects her to do, but he’s not taking his chances and prepares for her to get mad at him. She would be right too, he was the one who interrupted her driving. He only wanted to help, though. This is a disaster.
He curses at himself. He just wanted this to be a nice thing for them to do together, something to distract them from the tension that’s been between them ever since last night. So much has happened to them, both separately and, in a way, together, that he knows it’s not suddenly gonna be as easy together as it always was.
But did this really need to happen?
After a long beat of silence, Peter finally gathers the courage to look at her. He prepares himself for that typical Gamora glare she has whenever she’s seriously pissed off, but instead he watches her stifle her laughter.
A smile breaks out on his face right away, “What?” He asks, laughter bubbling in his chest.
“I guess the seatbelts were a nice touch.” She snickers.
Peter can’t help but burst into laughter. “What the hell just happened?” He manages between laughter, absolutely delighted when he hears hers get louder as well.
“Hey, that was you! I had it under control!”
It only makes him laugh harder, he can’t even continue their argument right now. He loves when Gamora gets like this, playful arguments and teasing remarks always remind him most of the early stages of their relationship. Not that it ever left.
“Terrans are fragile!” She exclaims, laughter loud, “The wheel turned so fast! Don’t tell me this is actually hard for you?"
“Of course not! It’s supposed to be easy, Gamora! Also I’ll have you know for Terran standards I am very strong!” He flexes his arm jokingly, very pleased as it seems to work and Gamora starts laughing harder.
His laughter dies down just a little, completely enthralled by the image of her right now. She’s laughing, loudly and freely, her body is shaking from it. She’s completely unguarded right now and as beautiful as ever.
It takes her a while to notice his eyes on her, even though it’s merely a few seconds, it’s long for Gamora. The look on her face is soft, and for the first time she doesn’t seem bothered by the admiration he’s sure is visible on his face.
Still, he would never want her to be uncomfortable or become weirded out with him, so he averts his gaze.
Gamora’s voice is still gentle when she speaks, “You can drive back now, or wherever you wanted to go.”
“Huh?” Peter has been so preoccupied with his thoughts to register Gamora moving to get out of her seat, “Wait, what? You were doing great! It's only been like a few minutes!”
The eye roll he gets from her is familiar and makes him smile. She looks conflicted for a short while and Peter finds he has to work really hard to refrain from reaching out to her. He’s about to ask her what’s wrong, but she beats him to it,
“Raincheck?” Her voice is small and uncertain, probably because Gamora is unsure about her usage of the word. She’s gotten more comfortable using his terms over the years, and even when she makes a mistake Peter finds her adorable.
His face lights up and his smile is so wide his cheeks hurt, “Yeah! Yeah, of course!” He says enthusiastically, mostly over her using a term he’s taught her not too long ago. The worry and sadness he felt moments prior at her leaving have melted away quickly. If anything, he’s just more excited to continue teaching her how to drive over the next few days. His heart rate picks up the the thought of Gamora staying here, with him, for longer.
The relief on her face makes him feel all warm inside. It’s such a soft and genuine look on her that fits so well, something he knows had been hard for her to accept for a long time. Perhaps she never fully accepted it, but right now she’s definitely nowhere near even acknowledging it.
“Always.” He adds, voice soft. It’s important to him she knows that, even though she was probably mostly unsure about using the word the correct way, he needs her to know that she never has to worry about saying no to him.
She nods, a little awkward but grateful, and gets out of the car. Peter follows, but waits for her to arrive by his side. She looks puzzled, probably as to why he’s not moving.
He does what he did for her before they left too, except this time the door is already open. Still, he gestures for her to sit and is once again rewarding with that exasperated yet affectionate eye roll. He hopes it’s still affectionate, at least.
They both settle before Peter starts the car again. “Alright, so.. back home?” He waits for Gamora to nod and moves to drive off. “I would like to show you something, if that’s okay?”
Gamora hums, “That’s okay.”
She agreed to his idea and even gave him a little smile. Best day ever!
If you’d ask him, he’d definitely blame his usual Gamora-nerves for driving slightly adequate at best. Still, it’s decent and will get them safely back to his grandpa’s house. The car runs smoothly and his steering might be a little wobbly, but nothing too bad. Peter might tend to go out of his way to impress Gamora, but he’d never actually put her in a situation where she might get hurt.
They’re taking a slight detour, just because Peter is really enjoying this moment between them and thinks she is as well. He’s not sure if Gamora notices, but if she does she doesn’t comment on it. Speaking of Gamora, he glances to the side to see how she’s doing, only to be met with her looking at him jaw slacked and slightly offended.
“What?” He sputters out, voice full of confusion. Has he somehow managed to offend her? Maybe she did notice the detour? Still, he doesn’t see how that would be insulting to her in any way.
Peter nearly squeaks as he feels Gamora poke him in the chest with her finger, “You are a liar!”
“What!” His voice is loud, now completely lost. His head keeps turning between looking at her and the road, which he realizes isn’t impacting his driving positively.
“You said you were good at this!”
It takes a few seconds for his brain to catch up and he bursts out laughing then, feeling absolutely giddy. “I am good at this! Look at how amazing I am at driving!” He exclaims and moves the wheel back and forth a little on purpose.
“Best pilot in the galaxy.” She mutters. Her attempted glare fails to come across as such by her teasing tone and the smile tugging at her lips.
Now it’s Peter’s turn to gasp in offense -- not genuinely, of course, but he adores these teasing arguments way too much to let it go so quickly. “Gamora!” He exclaims, heart fluttering when he manages to get a giggle out of her, “I’m not the one who nearly crashed into the neighbor’s yard–”
“Ow, ow! Gamora” His laughter also betrays his facade as her hand swats at his arm. It doesn’t hurt, he barely even feels it. Clearly earth’s cars have severely damaged her perception of his -- and all Terran's -- strength, up to a point where she thinks this would count as hitting him playfully. Still, he knows she’s worried about underestimating her own strengths in moments like these, so he doesn’t tease her for it.
Peter has missed this so much. Gamora was – is – his best friend in the whole galaxy, regardless of the fact that they had started dating quite quickly after meeting each other. She’s his favorite person ever. There’s no one else he confides in, laughs with, sometimes even cries with, like her. They dance, he tells her stories about his mom, she tells him about her home world.
He swallows the lump down his throat. No time, or use, to be getting emotional over old memories. If anything, this moment right here is one of the happiest he’s felt in a really long time.
The rest of the drive back to his grandfather’s house was filled with more laughter and teasing remarks. Once they’d made it back, they went up to his room right away for Peter to show her what he wanted to. He was so confident in it earlier this morning, but now he finds himself doubting if this is the right time after all. Worry fills his mind if he’s about to ruin this moment now, a moment where they’d been having so much fun together –- only for him to break it with sentiments.
But then he remembers how Gamora had opened up to him the day before, and how she had trusted him in a way she hasn't trusted anyone else. With that, he pushes his door open.
“So, uh, you remember the vinyls I told you about yesterday?” He points at them anyway, though he’s sure she remembers.
He’s proven right when he sees her face turn dark, most likely thinking about their argument from the previous day.
“Well… they’re important to me.” Even though he had prepared for this, he somehow finds himself lost for words at this moment. Mostly because he cannot read her currently and he has no idea how she’s going to take this.
For a moment he expects her to snap a remark at him, something along the lines of how it was obvious or how she could tell –- but she doesn’t. Instead, she’s looking at him curiously, seemingly interested to see where he’s going with this.
That’s good, he decides, and as much reassurance as he could get right now. “I brought them back from Knowhere with me to here. They’re important for me, because.. you– they were a gift from… Gamora.”
It’s uncomfortable and awkward talking with a distinction between them. Peter doesn’t want to say her again, but saying ‘you’ also feels wrong as this Gamora doesn’t remember ever giving him these. So, he settles on just her name. Clumsily so, but at least she’s aware he’s trying to make it clear he’s not separating them like that.
“She” Gamora corrects him, though it doesn’t have as much bite in it as usual.
His throat feels tight and his eyes burn, he can’t look at her right now. Her voice is small and if she’s resembling anything like it then he knows he won’t be able to stop the tears from falling. He wants to tell her this, and in order to do that he has to stay strong and continue talking. He lets her correct him, not about to argue with her right now, but he doesn't take it back.
“I haven’t listened to them yet.” He admits while taking the vinyl out of its protective plastic. He considered taking out either Fleetwood Mac, his favorite, or a song from his playlist for her, though he doesn’t want to push her right now. He decides on Bon Jovi, an artist she’s always liked. The music starts playing softly, “Up until now.” He finishes.
It’s really hard for him to ground himself right now, emotions surge through him, a mixture of grief and sadness but also happiness and love. “I couldn’t listen to it without– alone.”
“Oh.” She breathes and it’s only now that he’s aware of the small distance between them. Gamora had moved to stand beside him, shoulders bumping together. For once, she seems open and unguarded as he brings her up.
Finally, he allows himself a look at her. There’s a soft look on her face and her eyes are on him before he meets her gaze. She’s looking at him with emotion and he decides to possibly push his luck and reach out for her. His hand moves slowly, she breaks their eye contact to follow it, but doesn’t shake it off as the back of his fingers brush her cheek.
“But, you’re here now.”
A few tears roll down his cheek and he both feels, from his hand still on her face, and sees the way she gasps. It’s not the first time Peter has gotten lost in Gamora’s eyes. She might be the only person to ever make him forget about his music as it’s playing – no, he knows she is.
Gamora lowers her head, but with no intention to remove his touch. If he listens closely, he’s able to make out a few soft hiccups and sniffles. She’s not crying, yet, but has already shielded herself from his vision in case she does.
It’s such a gentle moment between them, the softest they’ve had yet. For a brief moment Peter considers asking her to dance with him, but decides against it. This is big enough, overwhelming for both of them, and the last thing he wants to do is ruin it.
Right now, it’s just them. Peter’s hand cradling her cheek as Gamora stays still in front of him. For her, he’ll even pretend to not feel the wetness on her cheek. For her, he’ll stay right here. Forever, if she wishes.
If you don't know if you should stay
If you don't say what's on your mind
Baby just breathe
There's nowhere else tonight we should be