〘 :*¨༺ 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 ༻¨*: 〙

"You asshole!"

ᴠᴏʟᴜᴍᴇ : ▮▮▮▮▮▮▯▯▯

" i had all and then most of you
some and now none of you
take me back to the night we met "

TWENTY-TWO DAYS.

Twenty-two days they had been in the Milano, floating out in space. Blake had spent every one of those twenty-two days in Ellie's room, staring at the void that was her side of the bed. Nebula and Tony, but mostly Nebula, would bring him his food every day. (Who knew Nebula could be the caring type?) Nebula tried and failed to convince him to do something, anything to help or keep his mind off of what had happened. He refused in sullen silence, making whoever was at the door sigh and walk away.

His eyes had stayed red even though he couldn't shed any more tears. He always had a headache and his throat was coarse and dry. He lay on top of the sheets of Ellie's bed, one of her blue jackets permanently clutched to his chest.

On day eight Blake deemed himself worthy to eat a meal. He knew that Nebula had rationed their food and water supply so they could last in space a little longer. He also knew that Nebula never wasted his food that he didn't eat on days prior so he never felt bad about it. If he were to be honest, he didn't want to eat in the hopes that he could join Ellie in the afterlife, away from his pain and suffering.

But there was also her voice in the back of his head to keep him from doing something he could regret later. She was always there to coax him back, keep him tethered to his sanity.

On day twenty-two Nebula informed the grieving boy that the ship's oxygen was going to run out the following morning. As usual, she didn't receive a reply. No nod of his head, no sound, no twitch, no signal of any kind that he even heard her words. No, the only reply she got was his back that faced the door of the room, the movement of his breathing, and the freshly eaten plate in her hand was the only indication that Blake Quill was even alive.

Blake had heard her though, oxygen would cut out and that would be it. He found peace in that fact, getting to see his beloved again under circumstances out of his control. And with this fact he didn't hear Ellie's voice in the back of his head, to tell him to keep moving forward.

When night approached, Blake had shut his eyes, burying his face into Ellie's pillows. He was at peace with her scent filling his senses. He was disturbed from his peace with the ship shook before moving as if the jets had suddenly turned on.

Startled, the boy sat up. How could the ship be moving?

He stumbled out of the bed, Ellie's jacket staying in his grasp. He walked over to the door and scrambled for the button that slid the door open.

"Nebula!" he called, his voice so rough that he coughed right after his short yell. His throat was sore from the lack of both water and not using his voice in almost twenty-three days.

He gripped onto the wall, his legs weak from not using them in so long and malnutrition. His muscles had slimmed down and could see bones in some areas of his body at how skinny he had become.

"Blake?" She said in shock as she came around the corner of the hall. She had never expected to see him moving again.

"What's going on?" He asked, hand rubbing his throat.

She put a hand on his shoulder, not sure if she should help stabilize him. "We've been saved, Blake. They're taking us to Earth...where Rocket is."

He looked over at the part-metal woman, her hand now removed from his shoulder.

"Rocket's alive?"

⭒☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆⭒

ROCKET RAN WITH the rest of the Avengers, his heart in his throat. Not everyone knew who had survived Titan and Rocket never thought quickly enough to ask after Natasha had informed him about the Milano being found and brought to Earth. He only held out hope as he watched the Milano land in the grass back to the Avengers facility.

Cara Danvers landed the ship and the stairs to the opening unfolded with a short hiss.

Rocket waited as Nebula came out of the ship helping a man he didn't know. She stopped just at the bottom of the steps, Steve Rodgers coming to help Tony the rest of the way to his wife Pepper Potts.

The raccoon's heart sunk, wanting more people to come out of the ship, for Ellie to come out of the ship. But all that followed the robot woman was a skinny man, which Rocket barely recognized as Blake.

His breath caught in his throat, watching no one else follow. His small legs begged to give away as he rushed over to Nebula and Blake, looking desperately between the two.

"Blake," Rocket called, finally reaching them at the steps of the ship. Nebula looked over at Blake, who shallowly took breaths of the fresh air he was now surrounded with. The teen sucked in his lips, tears flowing down his stained cheeks. Blake didn't know he had enough hydration in him to even cry anymore.

"Blake." Rocket called more sternly, making the boy finally look over at the raccoon whose heart was quickly breaking.

Rocket's sadness waved into anger, from both being ignored and the truth of what happened.

"You said you would keep her safe!" Rocket growled, running at Blake and pushing the boy. Everyone's attention drew to them, what was left of the Avengers watching from the sidelines. Nebula quickly acted, catching Blake before he could fall to the ground in his weak state. "You promised! And now she's gone!" Rocket yelled through a tight throat and tears.

"You asshole!" Blake heaved, pushing himself up and away from Nebula's grip. "You think I didn't try everything to keep her safe! For twenty-three days, all I can think about is how it should've been me instead of her, or at least the universe could have the fucking decency to take me too." Blake threw his arms out. This was when Rocket had realized the blue jacket that Blake's fist clenched onto. "So if you want to kill me Rocket...kill me. Put me out of my agonizing misery 'cause I've been begging since the love of my life floated out of my arms in a cloud of dust."

Rocket was silent, his chest puffing and stuttering to hide the crumbling feeling inside of him.

Blake sighed and sat down on the steps of the Milano. His adrenaline and anger faded, letting his walls break down once again, tears he didn't know he could still produce flooding his vision. The boy's lips stumbled out a sob. He quickly covered his face with Ellie's jacket, his shoulders shaking as he rocked himself back and forth slightly.

Rocket clenched his jaw, swallowing hard. Slowly, he sat next to the broken boy on the steps, carefully placing his paw on his back.

Nebula sat down next to them, silently looking out into the grassy field. Rocket patted her hand with his own before Nebula opened her palm to him.

There, the last three remaining Guardians sat, with heavy hearts and thankful for the little companionship they had left.