2D would admit that the past week was a bit strange. From hanging out with Murdoc after school to dodging Rachel's questions.
"Why does he pick on you so much?"
2D would just shrug. "Who knows? That guy is a whacko."
"Why do you hang out with him after school sometimes?"
"Extra credit, obviously."
2D didn't hide that fact that he liked to hang out with Murdoc. When people asked, he said it was harmless and he liked having a friend from England; and that was the truth, honestly. He liked having someone with that connection. Mina hasn't lived in England enough to understand. Murdoc and 2D can joke about things people here in American wouldn't understand. Even stuff he can't joke with Russel and Noodle about.

2D shakes away any thoughts as he looks up at the clock. It was just about ready for him to get back from his lunch break. He packs up his bag and sets it in the corner before making his way out the door and to the front. He smiles at the cashier as he clocks back in and then heads to an aisle to resume whatever he was doing. Including helping the one or two customers coming in once or twice; He hated slow days.
"I think this will go well with your dinner," 2D says, holding up a CD. "There aren't any vocals and it'll make the atmosphere romantic." The customer thanks him for his recommendation and 2D just smiles. He doesn't mind; he loves showing people difficult music.
"Do you have anything for me?" A woman's voice says behind him. "I'm kind of picky." Overwhelming fear settles over him and his stomach dropped. Dread fills him to his core as he slowly turns, meeting the gaze of the one person he never wanted to see ever again. Paula.

He felt weak in the knees as she smiles up at him with her ruby lipstick. It wasn't the kind of weak knees you get when someone you love kisses you or when you're in love; it's the fearful kind. Like you feel as if you'll throw up at any moment.
"Paula," 2D softly.
"Aww baby, you don't look so happy to see me."
2D wanted to yell at her; he wanted to scream. No, he wanted to run. Far away, into Murdoc's arms. 2D frowns when he thinks about that; that's inappropriate.
"Don't frown, baby," Paula says. "You should be happy to see me."
"I'm not...your baby," 2D manages out. She purses her lips and touched 2D's arm; he flinches.
"Come on, don't be like that."
2D takes a deep breath and manages a very weak smile. "I'll...I'll be right back, Paula."
Without another work, he goes to the back room and presses his back to the door. His stomach knotted up as he falls to the floor and tries his hardest not to cry. His hands shake as he pulls out his phone and goes to the first person on his mind. He brings the phone to his ear and closes his eyes tightly.

It took a few moments but Murdoc finally picked up on the fifth ring.
"What?!" The voice on the other side sounded angry and impatient.
"M-M..." 2D sniffs.
"What?" Murdoc asks again, seemingly confused. "Who is this?!"
"M-Murdoc," 2D croaks out.
"Faceache?" Murdoc groans. "why the fuck are you call me so early?"
2D frowns and looks at the time. "It's ten-thirty in the morning," He mumbles.
"What the fuck you want?!"
It hurts as he tries to swallow the knot in his throat.
"P-please help me," 2D lets out. "C-can you...Can you pick me up?"
"What? why?" Murdoc sounded more angry than confused.
"Please..." 2D lets out a whimper before choking out a sob and covering his mouth. There are a few moments of silence on the other line before his teacher finally speaks up.
"What the fuck happened?"
2D shakes his head and looks up at the ceiling. He has More than four hours left and He wasn't sure if he could deal. Not with Paula suddenly appearing like that. They hadn't talked since the accident.
"J-just come...come get me. I'm..I'm working."
Murdoc lets out a sigh as there's a sound of shuffling.
"Fine, I'm puttin on my boots. Be there in a sec," Murdoc says. "You fuckin' owe me."
2D hangs up without another word and slowly gets up. He wipes his eyes and takes a deep breath before going back out and forcing a smile.
"H-hey," 2D greets when Paula approaches him again. She puts her hands on his arms and smiles as well.
"I'm happy to see you, Stuart," She chuckles and looks him up and down. "You look...different. Hotter."
He fiddles with his pants and nods slowly. "Now that your parents aren't down your throat with that dainty suit crap," She says. "Your parents finally stopped being stuck-up assholes?"
2D admits he didn't miss it but he didn't exactly like people bad-mouthing his parents.
"T-they.." He trails off, not wanting to start anything. He just didn't want to start a fight with her, as they always did; they ALWAYS fought over his parents.
"You still making music, Stu?" Paula asks. "Will you play me something sometime?" She leans in close to his ear. "Or play with me again?"
2D felt his knees buckle again. Not from the way she said it, but what she said. As if none of the past had even happened.
"Do you even feel bad?" 2D manages.
"What?" Paula backs up a bit.
"My eyes...don't you feel bad about my damn eyes?"
"Mistakes happen, Stu," She says. "I had no idea that'd happen."
2D glowers darkly at her. "And James?"
Paula looks away and crosses her arms. "That...wasn't a mistake."
Of course it wasn't. "We dated since then. Until He left me for some model," She laughs at that. "Ironic, huh?" 2D tries to feel sympathy for her, but he doesn't. He doesn't feel anything. Except for anger, fear, sorrow; everything he felt back then.
Paula sets her hands on 2D's cheeks and pulls him in close. "Let's forget all that, okay? Let's start over, baby."
2D felt sick as she presses her lips to him. It wasn't familiar like he thought it'd be.
He goes to pull back but it suddenly grabbed by the arm and jerked away. "Ow!" 2D cries, the force of the pull hurting his shoulder.
"We're leavin," Murdoc growls gruffly.
"What the fuck? Who are you?!" Paula angrily asked. No, demanded.
"None of your fuckin' business, woman."
Murdoc drags 2D out of the store, seeming pissed even when he lets his student go.
"What's your deal?! I haven't gotten laid in over two weeks and you-"
2D interrupts him by yanking the car door open and getting inside. He stares at Paula through the window, watching as she looks back and watches them carefully. 2D looks away when she catches his eye.
"Just drive," 2D mumbles.
Murdoc opens his mouth to say something but 2D interrupts him.
"Please," He says softly, giving him a desperate look. He lets out a sigh and slowly nods.
"Fine."

2D stares at the ocean in silences as Murdoc puts the car in park. He sees his teacher let out a sigh and lean back, staring at him expectedly.
"Well?"
2D down at his hands quietly.
"No, you owe me this time," Murdoc growls. "Whatever happened back there, you need to tell me. You called me on a Saturday, at 10 in the morning. I was expecting a certain lady-friend and-"
"Her name is Paula," 2D interrupts.
"What?"
2D shrugs his shoulders. "Her name is Paula and she's the reason my eyes are like this.
Murdoc narrows his eyes. "What are you talkin' about?"
2D takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. He wasn;t sure if he was honestly ready to tell anyone about it but figuring how much trouble he's been giving Murdoc lately, he figured he deserved it.
After a few minutes of silence, he speaks up.

"I got into a real bad car crash- my girlfriend at the time, Paula, was driving and I was in the passenger seat." He says. "I recently found out she was cheating on me with my best mate, James." He shakes his head as he sniffs. "We were driving back from a cabin her parents own- it was supposed to be a nice get-a-way before I go to America.
An hour from town and I told her I wanted to break up- I mean..." he huffs. "I found the bitch fuckin' my mate in OUR cabin bed. She told me it was because she was just sad and needed to be comforted. Told me I wasn't there for her- choosing America over her,"
2D laughs dryly and rubs his eyes. "I was forced to this country! I had no choice- I wanted to stay and be with her, so bad...so bad, with every bone in my fucking body." He grabs his bag. He unzips it and pulls out an old notebook, handing it to Murdoc. He watches as his teacher slowly looks through it, seeming hesitant.
2D sniffs and motions at the book. "We fought on that road- all night long. She didn't even want to stop at a hotel or a rest stop...my eyes were growing heavy though. I finally...I just snapped and told her to just shut up- to just shut up and let me think." Murdoc looks over at him, seeming unsure what to do, "She got so mad; she has a horrible temper. She just started to scream at me and slapped at my face. I was already tired and she just made it worst."
2D stares out the front window again. He wipes his tears on his sleeves, suddenly opening the car door and taking a step out into the empty parking lot. Murdoc slowly steps out as well, making his way to the hood of the car and take a seat. He looks at a page in the notebook. "I tried to get her to pay attention to the road- I screamed and shouted but by the time she looked onto the road...the car was out of control," 2D stands beside Murdoc by the hood. He lets out a shaky sigh. "The car slammed into a pole and I had gotten launched from my seat; my face slammed against the hard concrete road.
My whole body was in pain- so much unbearable pain; she, of course, had absolutely no...she had no scratches or anything." 2D covers his head, "I got landed with an 8-ball fracture also known as a hyphema."

He stares at the floor and tries to choke back tears but they just kept falling. He covers his face as he sobs loudly. "S-she...she just, She can't..." 2D looks up at the beach with blurry vision. "She can't come back and do this to me! She can't fucking do this to me!" He falls to his knees and haunches over, hugging his own body. He began to shook with each sob, his heart aching the same it did on that day. Murdoc slowly gets off the car and sets the notebook down, staring down at his student. He mumbles something under his breath and looks around. When seeing there was no one around, he grabs 2D's arm and grumbles. "Get up, kid." 2D stands up slowly but the tears don't stop. Murdoc pulls him close and wraps his arms around the kid. He sighs when 2D grabs onto the back of the teacher's jacket, letting him cry into his chest. He was always uncomfortable when comforting people- he usually just always walked away. Parts of him did want to drive off but another part of him felt drawn to the kid and wanted, more than anything, to stay. "2D..."
2D sniffs and looks up at him. "I'm.." he sighs and looks back down. "I'm sorry."

2D lets go and back up, leaning against the hood of the car.
"I...what should I do?" 2D asks, not directed to himself or even towards Murdoc. "I can't face her...not yet."
"Fuck her," Murdoc huffs as he lights a cigarette and hands it to his student before getting one for himself. "You're better than her, so you need to act like it."
"But I-"
"She's a cheating bitch who ruined your eyes," Murdoc says after a long drag. "You even wrote her a song, right?"
2D looks down at his feet. "Yeah, I'm a fucking idiot."
"Show me," Murdoc says and 2D looks at him oddly. "Play it for me."
"I can't, i..."
"No guitar?" 2D just nods and then he smiles and wipes his eyes one last time. "I have it recorded."
Murdoc shrugs and hands the notebook back to him. "Show me."
2D looks down at the book bashfully. Murdoc actually wanted 2D to play him something? Why?
"Okay."