『Chapter Twenty-One』
『the story of how they met』

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The group were standing around the table, Jace was sitting on the table with his legs crossed and trying not to lose his mind. He knew that there was no way in hell that he was going to avoid any of this, but there was a part of him that didn't want to tell them anything. There was the occasion that he'd look over to Kain who was shifting on his feet beside Jace and would look away anytime that Jace caught him looking. It was something that Jace tried to not focus on as much as he could.

"Hold up," Peter said. "You mean to tell me that you want your ex to stay here with us? After all the pain that you went through when you left him?"

Jace sighed. "Yes. Keep up."

They had been talking about how both Kain and Jace knew each other and why there was someone after Kain. Peter narrowed his eyes at Jace as they talked through all of it, like it was something that he hated as a collective whole, like this was something that he didn't want to happen. Jace tried to leave out that Kain's father also wanted him dead, he didn't want the others to worry about it. There was a small part of him that hated that he was talking about this, he wished that they could just accept it and move on, though he supposed that they had the right to know.

"You said that he was rich, how rich is wealthy?" Rocket asked. Of course this was something that Rocket would ask. There was a small part of Jace that wondered whether Rocket would try and go to Xopheila just to try and steal from it if it meant that he got money from it.

They had been floating around Zecon's galaxy for the past three hours. They hadn't had a set destination, so they thought it best to now start to ask questions about it. It was so that Jace could explain everything going on with Kain and why there was assassins after him, he'd also explained the past relationship that existed between him and Kain given that Peter kept mentioning it. It was one of the things that made Jace want to hit him.

"I'm next in line kinda rich." Kain answered, though he seemed to narrow his eyes at the raccoon. Jace had a feeling that Kain had never met a talking animal before, though Rocket never admitted that he was an animal. "Think of it as the wealth on Caline but times it by like a hundred thousand, and before any of you get any ideas—no you're unable to penetrate where the money is stored. Many have tried and all have been murdered. Xopheila are known to kill on sight when it comes to our possessions, especially wealth."

Even with all of the defences that Xopheila had, Jace wouldn't be surprised even if Rocket manage to steal from that planet. There was a small part of Jace that wanted to challenge Rocket into such a thing, though Jace knew that the others would argue against it. It was an interesting thought and one that entertained him more than he cared to admit.

"Then why give it up?" Drax asked. "Especially for an imbecile like Taylor."

Jace found himself narrowing his eyes at Drax, there was a part of him that felt offended by such a thing. He wasn't an imbecile, he might feel like one at times but that was something that he would never truly admit to anyone. The one thing that he hated in some way was for the others believing that he didn't try and make sure that Kain stayed there. As much as he knew that the society would've slowly crushed Kain, Jace hoped that when Kain got into power he'd change the rules. He knew how much Kain wished to rule to do such a thing.

"Actually, no can we back up for a minute," Gamora said. She looked at Jace for a moment as if she was trying to read Jace's thoughts, though at the same time she looked like she was done with all of this. "How did you two meet?"

"Yondu had a job for me which required me to steal from Xopheila, I didn't want to do it even after I got an invite to one of the balls that the planet has. I think the party was originally for Kain to find a partner, so it was an open invite.," Jace explained. "It was where I met Kain, I was hiding in his bedroom after he found me in there trying to steal, though I wasn't putting the effort into finding something valuable."

"He didn't call the guards, because I found a way to make him believe that I could give him what he wanted. He kept me hidden on Xopheila by disguising who I was, though Peter fucked that up for me and I ended up becoming Kain's knight or protector after saving him when I was on trial. We ended up dating and his father though us to be just friends—it wasn't until months later that we got caught. I was there for a year at that point though I broke it off because I thought it to be safer for him, though clearly not."

Kain then sighed. "I gave it up because I knew that I couldn't lie to my father, Jace planned to make himself the villain with a lie in hopes that my father would believe it. Though it was the one thing that I couldn't bring myself to do, I cared too much, despite how much Jace hurt me when he left. When I didn't lie to cover Jace up, my father ran me off my planet, he didn't like the thought that I wouldn't give heirs if I ever sat the throne. I've been trying to get jobs on other planets to try and get enough to survive and get on the other side of the galaxy before my father's spies could follow and find me."

Gamora fell silent then and for a moment, Jace wondered what she thought. Don't get him wrong, there had always been a part of Jace which was somewhat scared of Gamora, though despite anything he felt—Jace always thought that her opinion mattered the most. He found himself valuing Gamora's judgement the most, feeling as if it was the only thing that mattered to him. He knew that it was stupid, but he felt like that her thoughts were the only thing that mattered.

Peter was too judgemental when it came to this entire situation because Peter knew everything that happened afterwards. It was Peter that dragged Jace from the edge when Jace thought that he wouldn't survive the breakup. It was Peter that comforted Jace when he felt as if he was going to shatter because of the breakup. It was Peter that supported Jace through all of the heartbreak more than anyone else, it was Peter who treated Jace as a brother who needed comfort. As much as Jace valued Peter's thoughts on the matter, this felt too important, more important than anything else.

As much as Jace wanted to trust both Drax and Rocket's input to this, there was a part of him that wondered whether or not they'd take this seriously. He wondered whether or not they'd care about any of this and wished to just continue with their lives rather than deal with any of this. He knew that there was a chance that he was overthinking all of this, but it was something that he couldn't help, he knew that there was a chance that none of this mattered to them, but it was still something that was important to him in some way.

Jace knew that having Kain here was going to be something that hurt, there was still a part of him that wanted nothing more than to have Kain here to know that he was safe. He knew that Kain managed to survive five years without Jace's help, he knew that there was a chance that Kain didn't need him, but there was still a part of Jace that wanted nothing more than to make sure that Kain was safe. After all, it was Jace's fault that Kain was in this situation.

If Jace was unable to protect Kain all those years ago, then he was going to make sure to protect Kain now more than anything else. And yet, there was still a part of him that wondered whether or not the other Guardians would be fine with Kain being here with them. Jace knew that there was a chance that Peter would have something to say, though that was something that he expected more than anything else.

"He could stay here with us," Gamora suggested after a moment. Jace felt the relief come over him as soon as he heard her say that. "I mean, Jace cares about him and like Jace said; Kain is in our protection now. We can't allow Kain's father to kill him."

"Then it's settled, Kain will stay," Jace said. He found himself straightening his back. "And if any of you have a problem with it—keep it to yourselves or I'm out."

He knew that there was a chance that he was being dramatic but that was something that he didn't really care much about. He wanted to protect Kain as much as he could, even if that means doing it himself. Even though he said that, Jace knew that Peter would still talk to him about all of this, not caring if there was a chance that Jace would leave. He knew that Peter was going to have an issue and he was dreading to have that conversation with Peter.

Jace found himself looking over at Kain to see the way that he rubbed his eye, the way that he smiled up at Jace. The others gave him a hard look, yet nothing else was said. Peter mumbled something about getting away from Zecon and to wherever—which meant that both Rocket and Peter walked towards the front of the ship, in the process, Peter gave Jace a look which was enough to know that he needed to seek Peter out to talk. Drax had gone to do his own thing.

Jace placed a hand over Kain's, giving him a small smile. Though his eyes caught Gamora who motioned for him to come with her. And he did as such. They had gone to the other side of the ship—near the doors, just for a little privacy. He wasn't sure why, but there was a part of him which was worried for what Gamora might have to say.

"You care about him a lot, but there seems to be more than what you're telling." Gamora admitted. "About the relationship."

Jace tilted his head slightly. "No, there's nothing more." His jaw clenched slightly as he looked towards where Kain was. There was a part of Jace which wondered whether or not Peter was going to tell Gamora anything about the relationship if she asked him about any of it. There was a part of him that wondered whether he should tell her everything, though that wasn't something he was ready to let in once more.

"You still have feeling for him," Gamora said. "It's obvious—the both of you are obvious."

Jace shook his head slightly. "I'm not obvious," he noticed the look on Gamora's face. "Am I?" He sighed. "I know."

"Jace, you look tired, get some rest. We'll wake you up when we next land." Gamora spoke, placing a hand on Jace's arm with a smile. "Also, I think Peter wants to talk to you."

Jace nodded. "Thank you, Gamora."

Both Gamora and Jace went their own way, though Jace quickly told Kain that he can lay down in one of the rooms that they have. He gave Kain the directions and told Kain that he'd join in a bit before making his way to where he knew Peter would be. It was the one thing that he was dreading more than anything. He knew that Peter was going to have more than an issue with all of this, he knew that Peter was going to hate the thought of that wound in Jace's heart being ripped open once more because Kain's here. He knew that was what Peter was going to say and that was something that he hated more than anything.

Jace felt the way that Peter grabbed his arm, making him pause in his tracks and turn to him. There was this look on Peter's face which was enough for Jace to know that he was going to be lectured. Jace wanted to turn the other way and take a nap rather than deal with any of this. God, this was the last thing that he ever wanted to deal with, though he supposed that this was what he deserved to some degree.

"Are you being serious, Jace?" Peter lowly asked. "After how much you went through when it came to the breakup, you want to let him back in?"

"I can't let him die because of me." Jace snapped. As much as he knew that this was something that he should've expected, there was still a small part of him that was frustrated with the thought of this.

"I get that, okay, but you've tried so hard to move on." Peter stated. There was this sad look in his eyes. "You weren't okay when you broke up. And I get that you broke up with him for Kain's safety, but in the process you hurt yourself more than anything else."

"I know." Jace said. "I know. But right now, I can't be thinking about that because my plan failed him, what I thought was right failed him. I thought that by leaving him, it'd be safer for him, but I was wrong, and I hurt him and me in the process. I hurt the pair of us, and I ruined any chance that Kain had of getting the throne that he wanted more than anything. I'm surprised that he's even staying with us, I thought that there was a chance that he'd hate me for everything that I done to him."

Peter sighed, he placed a comforting hand on Jace's shoulder. "I understand, Jace. But please don't let this destroy you like it did before. I'm terrified that I won't be able to help you when you need it. You're my brother and I care about you more than anything, it's just I don't want Kain to be the cause of your pain once more."

As comforting as it is to know that Peter cared about him, there was still a small part of him that felt frustrated by all of it, knowing that there's a chance that he couldn't fully explain everything that he felt. "I know, but I owe Kain this. I owe Kain this protection even if it hurts me again."

In truth, Jace felt guilty over everything that he's done to Kain. There was a part of him that wished that he could go back in time and prevent himself from meeting Kain, not because he didn't love Kain but because he knew that Kain would've been better off without Jace's impact in his life. He wished that he never caused so much pain and destruction in Kain's life, knowing that all Kain wished was for the throne that was promised to him since birth.

He felt guilty because as much as he tried to make sure that he was seen as a villain, it was something that didn't work out. As much as Jace wished that Kain was okay, the reality of everything was something that hurt more than he thought that it would. He wished that Kain wasn't on the run from his father, he wished that Kain was safe, and to realise that Kain wasn't, was what made him feel worse than anything else. He wished that he never met Kain because it meant that Kain would've been safe from all of this.

Jace knew that it was a harsh thing to wish for given how much he thought about Kain and how Jace wished to save Kain from his father, but even still, it was something that he somewhat wished for. He loved Kain, he truly did, he knew that he couldn't stop loving Kain no matter how hard he tried, but at the same time he knew that he ruined Kain's life. And that was something that he couldn't forgive himself for no matter how much he tried.

"I'll do as much as I can to help you, Jace." Peter promised. "I promise. Just tell me what I can do to support you."

Jace sighed. He could tell that Peter didn't like this, he could tell that Peter didn't like the thought of Jace and Kain being together this closely. "I'll let you know when I need your help."

He couldn't let Kain know what he was feeling, he couldn't let Kain know everything that he felt, he couldn't tell the others that he was looking for the information about his mother. He couldn't let any of them know everything that he was doing and although he didn't need to keep any of this a secret, there was a part of him that knew that he didn't want to burden the others with everything that he was doing or planning on doing.

Peter smiled at him. "Okay. Just. . .don't do anything that's going to get you hurt."

Jace nodded. The pair of them departed from each other, knowing that there was nothing else that needed to be said. Though, there was a small voice in his head which told him that Peter would be checking in on him because of all of this. Not that he was against it, but Jace knew that he'd have to be careful about what he was doing. The last thing that Jace wanted was for Peter to worry about what he was doing.

Jace found himself going into one of the bedrooms on their ship. The ship had a handful of small bedrooms and Jace had one for himself. It was something that they all sorted out not long after they got their new ship. When he walked in, he found that Kain was laying on his bed, fast asleep. There was something about seeing Kain asleep which warmed everything inside of Jace and yet there was such pain when he looked at how he slept.

There was something about the way that Kain curled in on himself as he slept which hurt his heart more than he thought that it would. There was something innocent about Kain as he slept, something which made Jace realised that this was going to be harder than anything else. How could he act that he was fine when Kain looked like that? Maybe Peter was right, maybe there was a chance that he would get hurt once more and that was something that he wasn't sure he could deal with once more.

He sighed to himself. He found himself sitting on the chair in his room. He didn't want to sleep beside Kain, afraid that there was a chance that Kain wouldn't want to sleep beside him after everything that he done. He knew that it was best if he stayed on the chair until he was comfortable enough to sleep beside him.

"Sleep well, my prince." Jace mumbled. He shut his eyes. He needed to sleep.