Resurfacing wasn't a thing Noodle had ever tried before. On the other hand, being attacked and in Hell wasn't something she'd tried before either. And not going back didn't bother her at all. She stood beneath the staircase to 212 Wobble Street, trying to collect some guts to enter the house.
Come on you coward! Enter the damn house! You live there as much as anyone!
Doesn't a quick trip to Hell kinda change that?
Seriously? Like, really?
Am I having this conversation? Oh God. I'm losing it
Big time.
Shut up.
That's my girl.
After a quick conversation with her inner Noodle (like, really?) and making clear that she was a coward of epic proportions, she took the first step up the stairs. And then the next. And the next. Soon, she was standing just in front of the door. She pressed her ear against the door, but there was no sound on the other side. But, on the other hand, it couldn't be more than six in the morning. And knowing the guys well, they wouldn't be up for hours. Murdoc would probably sleep out a hangover, and Russell and 2D were just plain lazy.
She smiled over the memory of the boys, and stood up straight to look out on Wobble Street.
It was a warm morning, seeing as this was England in September, and the leaves had a nice brown/red color on them. Most of the houses were still dark, while a few early workers were out jogging, walking their dogs or delivering mail.
And then there was her.
A 21-year old Japanese girl who lived with 3 other guys in a house in the outskirts of London, whereas the one was a Satanist, the other permanently suffering from headache and the third just being… Well, a bloody giant. But it was her boys.
Idiotic, violent and sometimes really really annoying, but nevertheless hers.
She took a deep breath before opening the door to the house. Why didn't the guys lock the door at night? Idiots she thought, but at this time, it was rather lucky. A visit in Hell and you lose your house key. Just bad luck, don't you think? She praised the Lord that the door didn't make any noise when she closed it behind her, and went through the kitchen to the living room. She smiled as she saw that nothing had changed just a bit. The couch was still filled with just about everything but pillows and stuff, and was instead filled with clothing, plastic bags and notebooks. And if her eyes didn't mistake her, she spotted a pizza tray in there somewhere.
The rest of the room looked just as trashy as before. Only this time, it wasn't her things that filled the most. She let her eyes glance over every single detail in the room, and stopped by the little shelf where a picture was placed. She walked over to it, and held it in her hand, smiling. It was a picture of her, sitting in the couch with her guitar and a notebook in her lap, trying to write a song. She remembered the day that Russell had taken that picture. She also remembered running after him through the whole house for making him delete it. And he didn't. Bastard.
But what really surprised her was the little inscription on the frame itself. "Noodle; a sister and daughter to us all". She bit her lip and felt that tears were gathering in her eyes as she put it back into place. They'd created some sort of memorial spot for her, when they'd thought she was dead. She smiled and went through the living room to the rooms. She tip-toed through the hallway, careful not to wake anyone up in her quest to just reach her room and hide in there until breakfast. She stopped in front of a door right across where her own room was placed, and opened it silently.
She cursed vaguely when it made a shrieking noise the moment she pushed it open, just enough to stick her head into the room. She looked across the room to the bed, where a person was sleeping. She smirked as she heard him mumble something about a chicken roller skating and shook her head. That 2D. He never grows up.
She tip-toed a few steps further into the room, just to get a closer look of his face. It looked just at it used to. His hair was still blue, and he still had some scratches and an uneven nose. Just as before, Noodle thought, mentally slapping herself to prevent her from running her fingers through that very blue hair. She smiled, and bent down so that she was in eye-to-eye level with the sleeping 2D. "I'm back" she whispered, knowing that he couldn't hear her. She then rose, tip-toed out of the room and closed the door behind her with a soft smile on her lips. She then, finally, slipped into her own room and buried her head in her pillows, drifting off to sleep not two seconds later.
"Tell me, you guys didn't hear sumfink this morning, did ya?" 2D asked when both Murdoc and Russell were alive and seated in front of the TV in the living room. "What's the matter, Faceache, getting noias all of a sudden?" Murdoc asked viciously, grinning at 2D's puzzled look. Russell shook his head and took a lout sip of the coffee, not bothering to remove his eyes from the TV. "D, I ain't got noias dude, I SLEEP at night" he said, shaking his head.
2D sighed briefly, but then rested his head against the coffee table, trying to focus on the show on TV that didn't catch his interest. "I'm just gonna get sumfink to drink... Or sumfink" he murmured, rising from the table and walking into the kitchen.
The kitchen was probably the messiest kitchen in this part of London. The table was covered with plates, pizza trays and forks, knives and plates that REALLY needed to be washed. On the counter, next to the sink there was a little mountain of dishes that neither of the guys had bothered ever to take, and day by day it grew even bigger. Just typical guys. And he didn't want to get started on what was INSIDE the cabinets.
He walked over to the fridge, opened it, and grabbed a beer. He sighed, but ended up taking the beer after all.
"Drinking in the morning are we?"
2D nearly dropped the beer of surprise. He jumped, closed the fridge and turned around. Just there, on the opposite counter, sat Noodle, her legs swinging back and forth, while her eyes were fixed at 2D. She laughed briefly, jumping down the counter with the same fluid moves as she'd always possessed. She then walked over to him, winked and grabbed the beer out of his hand. "You know," she said, opening the cold drink "this stuff isn't good for you. You'll get like, liver-damages and shit". She then dragged the bottle to her mouth and took a large sip.
2D, who'd been standing there looking like an idiot, now finally remembered how to move and speak. He smiled widely, every inch of his body getting filled with some sort of warm fuzzy feeling.
He couldn't believe it. After all this time, she was here. With him. He was over all happy, and if it wasn't because he would likely fall and break something, he would jump around the house like a maniac. He looked at Noodle, like really looked at her, and hugged her tightly. He could tell that she was surprised by the gesture, but nevertheless she placed her arms around his neck, placing her head on his shoulder. "Hi Toochi" she whispered into the fabric of 2D's shirt. He smiled, and hugged her even tighter. "Hi Noods"
It seemed like forever when Noodle finally let go of 2D, still smiling. "I can't believe you're here luv" 2D said, never minding the fact that Noodle had just abducted his beer. She shrugged, and for a moment 2D saw the old and younger Noodle. The Noodle that had a funny hat and always wearing to different colors of socks when gliding through the kitchen and couldn't speak much English. The girl, hell, the woman that stood before him now was different in so many ways. She'd grown at least 4 inches, and her hair was a bit longer. It still had that purple color, and her eyes were still green. Only they looked like they'd experienced so much more. That wasn't so weird after all. Besides the fact that she was now only a few centimeters lower than 2D, she was more… women-ish. She got shapes; she no longer looked like a stick. She didn't wear the hat anymore. She wore the same striped t-shirt and shorts as she'd been wearing the day of the accident, and she looked good. "Toochi? Something wrong?" she asked in perfect English. She still had a little Japanese accent, but she'd definitely learned something. 2D looked down at his friend and shook his head. "Nah. And c'mon luv, we gotta go see Doc and Russ and tell 'em ur back". He then walked into the living room and cleared his throat. Before he got a chance to say anything, Noodle stepped up beside him, crossing her arms across her chest. "What is it with you guys and always watching TV? Jesus Christ" she said, laughing at both Murdocs and Russell's expressions that got more and more surprised the more they turned around and looked at her. Murdoc was the first to speak. He stood up, looking rather stunned as he looked from Noodles toes to her head, as if to make sure that it really was her. "Bloody hell. Noodle?" he asked, smirking. She nodded and gave him a hug. "Hi Doc" she said, smiling widely at her 'uncle's' reaction. She looked over at Russell who just stood in front of the couch, looking like someone had just told him the solution to the world's economic problems or the cure for cancer. "Russell-sama? It's me. I'm home" she said, shrugging and smiling.
Russell loosened up and embraced Noodle while laughing. He actually lifted her from the ground. "Whoa!" Noodle shrieked, but soon she laughed with him.
It felt right somehow, just to be back with them all. Yes, Murdoc was a violent motherfucker, but he acted like an uncle to her. Always full of advice, bad or good, and good enough on the bottom. Russell was still the brother he'd been since the FedEx crate. Big, warm and loving, like a teddy bear. And 2D… 2D was like a mixture of those two things. Caring and loving like a brother, good company and not so formal about her being the only girl in Gorillaz. Well, of course there was Paula, but she wasn't really spoken off anymore since Russell broke Murdocs nose.
My boys, Noodle thought. My own little family
