Noodle didn't like that she couldn't communicate with her bandmates. Well, she could, but only with short words that were taught to her and hand gestures. But she couldn't actually talk to them. And she hated that.
Her bandmates fought a lot and she couldn't stop them with anything but frustrated shouting that they never seemed to pay attention to. Sometimes, he screams would even be misconstrued as angry and that would just cause even more shouting (and occasionally punching if Murdoc was drunk enough). She wanted to tell them to stop and focus, but her pleading didn't seem to have any effect.
She felt useless. It seemed that her only purpose in the band was to play the guitar. Her opinions didn't matter; she couldn't even say them! Her eyes began to brim with tears.
Her shaking knees finally gave out, Noodle wept uncontrollably into her hands, her small body shaking with each sob. She absently noted the newfound silence that filled the room.
"Noods?" 2D shrill voice squeaked nervously. "Wot's wrong?"
She felt strong arms pull her off of the ground. Her body sagged into the familiar embrace; she smushed her face into Russel's soft shoulder and shrivelled miserably. A soothing hand rubbed her back calmly.
"Hey, are you a'ight, baby girl?" He asked, a bit of a worried tone in his voice. Noodle could feel him tense when she shook her head defiantly. She didn't want to be treated like a child. It wasn't fair. She just wanted to be able to talk to her friends. Another violent sob escaped her, cause the men in the room to start in unison.
The three men exchanged a worried glance.
Hearing an exasperated sigh, Noodle felt thin arms wrap around her waist and pull her away from Russel. The young girl whimpered at the loss of protection and covered her wet face with her hands. Murdoc, settling her on his hip, prying her fingers away from her face.
"Oi, stop cryin'," He commanded, half-hearted smacking her wrist gently. Noodle glowered at him, face as red as a tomato and eyes too puffy to open all the way. The bassist huffed a soft laugh, smirking and wiping her tears away. "Stop cryin'," He said again, gentler this time. The guitarist noticed the tone of his voice changed - he had almost sounded scared. Noodle daggers dulled.
"We don't like to see our favourite guitarist cry!" Murdoc exclaimed, poking her in the stomach playfully. She cracked a small smile. "Do we boys?" He shouted, looking at the drummer and the keyboardist expectantly. Both men nodded enthusiastically. The bassist grinned at Noodle, sharp, gross teeth jutting out at different angles. "Gorillaz wouln't be Gorillaz without our absolutely perfect guitarrrrrrist, no!"
Shifting her on his hip, Murdoc thrust a hand out into a heroic pose to make the young girl giggle. "So, that means no more cryin'!" Eliciting a small chuckle out of the guitarist, the bassist kissed her forehead and nodded reassuringly at her. Noodle smirked at him, sniffing a bit before wiggling out of her grasp and landing gracefully on her feet.
Determined, she crossed her arms and looked seriously at her bandmates, causing them to shift awkwardly. "Friends," She demanded in lieu of a question, pointing to the three. "Yes?"
2D and Murdoc exchanged confused glances, not understand exactly what she meant. Of course she was there friend. Hell, she was like the three men's younger sister. 2D opened his mouth to respond with what was most likely a question, but instead cried out as he felt huge arms easily lift him off his feet.
Russel held both men close to him, grinning from ear to ear. "We three? 'course we are, baby girl." He laughed heartily as Murdoc raged against him and 2D stared at the bassist, bemused. "We're best friends!" The drummer said, fondly.
"Ye, Noods." 2D grinned his signature gape-toothed, prying his eyes away from Murdoc's fascinating furiousness. "We're a family. All of us."
Murdoc stopped struggling and gazed at 2D, surprised. He exchanged a glance with Russel, who looked at him, smirking. The bassist forced himself to give the young girl a grin, obviously still enraged and uncomfortable being so close to the other two men. But the comment about them being a family seemed to make the smile easier. Russel nodded at her, smirking. 2D just waved at her.
Noodle burst into a grin. Sprinting up to the trio, she joined the hug by squeezing herself between the three of them. All three men seemed to relax in her grasp, giving each other relived glances.
"Family." Noodle stated simply, tightening her grip around them.
Murdoc smiled, reached over, and patted 2D's head, impressed. Russel also winked at the keyboardist, giving him a thumbs up. 2D just beamed, excitedly. "Yeah, love. Family." The bassist confirmed, chuckling and messing up the guitarist hair.