This face.

This face is the face of somebody in pain. Emotional, mental pain. The face of self hatred and regret. It was hurting him to push Quill and the others away, by being a jerk and cruel to them. It hurt him inside to say and do all of those awful things he did. But it »

« was for the best, in his mind. It was so he never had any close connections with them. So the pain he went through would be as minimal as possible, for both him and everyone he came in contact with. Deep down he's never wanted to hurt anyone. But he wasn't created just to be »

« nice. He was created by cold, heartless beings who neglected and traumatized him for most of his life, becoming a product of their disgusting actions. He never wanted to be hateful and hurt others, and deep down inside of him he knew that about himself. Rocket never asked to »

« be created the way he was, yet there he stood. He hated himself, and yet for as long as he could remember, he embraced those awful traits. It was the only thing keeping him going in life, it's how he coped, to live. And for the longest time, that's how he was. And when Groot, »

« Peter Quill, Gamora, Drax, and Mantis showed up in his life, he kept his macho facade up as usual and yelled and bit and clawed and shouted and hurt them to drive them away, thinking about how he was going to move on like he always did. But. . those people. . . they hit him »

« differently. He had gotten too close and attached. So he cranked it up to eleven and started to be just plain wicked and careless, almost getting everybody killed /twice/. Making it personal with Quill, making fun of him and his dad and calling him an orphan. That shit /hurt/ »

« Rocket to say, so much, but he went on because that was the only thing he knew how to do. Then he would either die from his own recklessness or they would all just leave and he would be back to normal mean ol' Rocket, he thought.

He was wrong.

That's why ᴛʜɪs face. . . »

« /this/ face. . is so important. It's the face of somebody relieved. The face of kindness, and forgiveness. Of passion and love, a tight bond. The face that tells you yeah, maybe there is a fucking God somewhere out there. It's so important because that's when he was taught »

« the most valuable thing he could of ever heard.

You can always find a family somewhere, that way instead of hurting, you can be healing now.

You can rest easy, and be yourself.

You can be safe now. . . you can be okay.