She's My Collar

By: KKM

Disclaimer: I do not own the Gorillaz or any related characters/songs. Gorillaz are © Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett.

Last Time:

"Let's not let it ruin our night," he felt her mumble against his lips as he pulled her closer to him. "I still haven't given you a proper thank you and we were rudely interrupted yesterday, after all," she hissed in that seductive little voice of hers as she slowly began to move downwards.

That night the Murdoc looked out of the window of his Winnebago in confusion. He could have sworn he'd heard a howling somewhere in the darkness. He looked over at the several empty bottles scattered around his living space. Perhaps it was time to lay off the rum again. He shrugged and made for the vodka instead with a clever grin.

Chapter 10: The Apprentice

2D gave a small groan of pain as he hobbled toward the kitchen. After catching up with Murdoc last night, he'd decided against going back to the warmth of Noddle's bed. He knew that because of his injuries she probably wouldn't have joined him and then he'd have felt bad about displacing her after such a stressful night. However his talk with Muds had lightened his spirits a little. While he didn't think the older man was fully on board, he had at least tried to give the singer the benefit of the doubt. He'd appreciated how casual Murdoc had tried to be as they talked on the porch last night. It gave him the confidence boost he needed to face Russel.

The sweet smell of pancakes tickled at his nose alerting him that the bigger man was already up. He paused in front of the door and took a long shaky breath before gently pushing it open with one of his large gangly hands. He let out a small sigh of relief when he realized that Russel's back was to him giving him a few moments to gather his wits as he quietly sat in his usual seat at the table fidgeting worriedly as he waited for the other man to take notice.

And notice he did.

Russel turned around with a big stack of pancakes and then paused dead in his tracks as his blank eyes took in the singer's bruised and battered appearance. He shifted his weight on his feet awkwardly a moment as if mentally weighing his options and then nodded to himself before walking toward him and placing the food on the table. Instead of tidying up like he normally would have before eating, he went ahead and sat down across from the other man watching as 2D's eyebrows scrunched up in anxious confusion.

"Look, D-Dawg I'm sorry man," he apologized sincerely, cringing as he took in all the cuts and bruises. His friend's already damaged eyes looked even more swollen and pitiful than they had last night. Russel had always liked 2D and had never really enjoyed seeing the fragile man in harm's way. "I don't pretend to like or even understand how the hell this all happened, but I admit I prolly reacted a lot worse than I could've. Noddle-gurl told me all 'bout how you tried to do the right thing fo' her and I appreciate that n'shit but she's still my little gurl. You know?" he tried to explain.

2D gave a small sniffle (his nose wouldn't stop running now that it was so swollen) and tried to offer Russel what he hoped was a very serious look. "I'd neva 'urt her," he promised. "I love her an' I'd do anyfing for her," he promised. Then he swallowed with a nervous frown and sighed. "I'm sorry too, Russ. Neva' did li' lying to either of you. I jus' didn' know wot teh do. But at leas' it's all out in tha' open now."

"Yeah, man. Better this way than if we'd actually caught you," he said with a snort as he started doling out pancakes to each plate. "Then I'd have had ta' kill you," he smirked in a low voice. 2D eeped a bit, but then let out a laugh when he saw the amused look on the drummer's face. The other man was only taking a piss at him, however 2D was smart enough to realize that there was some truth behind his words. It could have all been a lot worse than it had been.

A few minutes later they were joined by Noodle and Murdoc. If they'd been surprised by the relative peace at the table, they didn't mention it. It seemed like both parties were more interested in trying to pretend that everything was normal. However, eventually when they'd all had their fill and everyone was sitting around the table in awkward silence, they realized they'd have to broach the subject once again.

Russel was the first to break the silence as he looked between the two pensively and set down his silverware with purpose as he verbally muddled through his thoughts. "I get how you all got togther, but one thing's been botherin' me," he admitted, pursing his lips. "Last night, Noods mentioned that while this was the first time you guys were together, it wasn't the last time. Soooo, did something happen? Did you guys have a falling out at some point?"

Murdoc gave Russel a sideways glance as he thoughtfully gnawed on a toothpick he'd found in his pants pocket. This same question had been rattling around in his mind too. His interested in the subject was further pipped as he returned his gaze to the couple across from him. Noodle had become pale and her hand was shaking slightly on the table top as she looked anywhere but at the three of them. Dents wasn't much better as his complexion had turned slightly green and he was giving his love a concerned look. Finally the tall man seemed to mentally say 'fuck it,' and covered her trembling hand with his whether they approved or not.

"Love, we 'ave to tell 'em. We promised," he whispered, trying to keep the conversation somewhat private. However the point was moot as everyone at the table could clearly hear him. "It'll be alright, they'll forgive you."

Her head snapped up at that giving him a look of sheer disbelief, but she hadn't taken her hand away like he thought she might. "They will be disappointed," she replied stiffly, also seeming keen to ignore their two companions. "I don't like remembering this part…" she trailed off, looking somewhat forlorn.

2D's eyes softened and he offered her a small smile of comfort before raising the back of her hand to his lips and offering a comforting kiss. "It'll be okay," he promised.

"Oh, fer fuck's sake. Jus' tell us already!" Murdoc interrupted impatiently, making them both jump. He was giving them both a decidedly sour expression as he continued. "This innit one o'those damn soap operas. We don' need all tha' mushy shit right afta' breakfast."

"Fine, fine!" Noodle ground out through gritted teeth as she eyes the older man in annoyance. "If you want to know so bad, we'll tell you. But don't say I didn't warn you that it was bad."

"Jus' get on wit it!" he replied rolling his multicolored eyes sarcastically. Russel stayed the silent spectator, watching each of them carefully.

2D couldn't take the heaviness of the room any loner and timidly cleared his throat. Once everyone's attention suddenly darted to him, he gave a nervous laugh that did nothing to disperse the growing tension. "Well, eh, you see. Fings weren't goin' quite teh way we'd hoped…"

2D gave a groan of frustration as he threw yet another wad of paper at the overflowing waste basket at the edge of his room. He was sitting at his warn out desk with half a dozen papers surrounding him with nonsensical lyrics all strung about. The wooden pencil he was tapping against the surface in agitation had seen better days. There were bite marks on the yellow painted wood in various areas and the eraser was but a smudged pink memory at the abused utensil's top.

He'd been at this for hours trying to write a song that was just barely at the tip of his conscious but to no avail. The words just would not come. He was too distracted and put out to fully put his hear into it. He sighed in defeat and pulled his phone out gazing into the light radiating from the small screen.

No new messages.

Typical really. The past few weeks he'd been getting fewer and fewer texts from his little love. She never really even called him much anymore. At first things had been going great. They'd had fun with their secret little dates and meet-ups. But then, like he'd feared, things had begun to change. The longer their charade went on, the more paranoid he'd become that the others would find out and in turn she'd grow annoyed with him to the point where she could barely stand to be in the same room with him.

They'd text each other little messages throughout the day. A cordial greeting was common. Sometimes it was just a bunch of loving nonsense. It almost always would include a time and a place to meet up and spend time together. But it wasn't really enough for either of them. They were slowly dying and they knew it, but neither wanted to admit it.

Last night they'd fought about it. It hadn't gone well at all. He'd told her that she was being childish and unrealistic. She'd called him insecure and told him that he needed to grow a pair. Then she'd stormed away from him and he hadn't heard from her since. He'd tried texting her plenty; empty words followed by even emptier promises. He knew that even after they'd make up, they'd only fight about it again later. He knew it would be no use to call her. He doubted she'd answer him anyway.

'I send a message, never call her,' he scribbled down on one of the tattered pieces of paper, then sighed in melancholy as he rested his cheek against the dirty surface of his desk in defeat. Would it always be like this? Would they always be at each other's throats? He loved her so much and would do anything for her, but it wasn't easy to purposely lie to his friends. She was always so closed off and unaffected by it. That just wasn't who he was. He was a worrier by nature.

With his body still hunched over the desk, he pulled his phone out one more time and began to type again listlessly. 'Plz ansr me, luv. Im sry about yesterday. I din mean it.'

Send.

Now all he could do was wait.

Outside the house, Noodle grunted in annoyance as her phone chimed again. She pulled it out for a moment and sighed. Six unread messages from Stu. As much as she loved him, he could be so dramatic. She rolled her eyes and responded quickly before pocketing her phone. 'K. Apology accepted. Busy now ttyl.'

She was currently stalking outside of Murdoc's Winnebago. She circled it once, satisfied that no rocking had occurred and no sounds could be heard before she chanced peeking into one of the grimy windows. As far as she could tell there was nothing but garbage and bottles in there. No Cortez and no Murdoc – perfect. Smirking to herself, she pulled out a hairpin and easily picked the lock before slipping inside.

She nearly gagged at the horrible smell, but that was to be expected. She shook her head and peered around trying to determine where the Satanist might store his personals. Lately Murdoc had taken the annoying habit of using and breaking all of her guitar picks with those annoyingly sharp nails of his and regardless of what he had to say on the matter he was going to pay for it! She checked his closets but found nothing but cobwebs there. She looked under his bed and cringed when she only found a bunch of dirty magazines and some crusty old condoms. Gross.

She stood up straight with a frown and tapped her chin as she looked around thoughtfully. Her slanted eyes paused when she spotted a rather used looking old pair of Cuban heels in the corner. She tilted her head to the side as she studied them. Murdoc did not spend money on his wardrobe often. As far as she knew, he always wore the same pair of shoes and hadn't gotten any new ones since they'd moved here. He'd have no reason to keep a second pair. She smiled suddenly and approached the the old smelly hunks of leather with caution.

"Found you," she muttered in satisfaction as she shook one of them and a wad of cash fell out. But then her eye brows rose up in surprise as a small bag of white powder followed. "Well now, what are you?" she asked to herself as she grabbed the small bag and dangled it in front of her eyes for a better look.

If there was one thing that Noodle took after Murdoc on, it was her penchant for trouble. She knew exactly what those little crystals were. Over the years she'd found that she enjoyed a little mayhem in her life from time to time and being a star at such a young age meant that she had seen her fair share of drugs throughout her lifetime. Hell, her bandmates had never kept their lifestyles a secret. No matter how much they had tried to keep her from it, it had been no use. Like with most young people, she had snuck away at some point to try it all.

Noodle was older now though. It had been a long time since she'd felt the rush of being on cloud nine. To be honest, she'd thought she was mostly done with that kind of fun, but with how stressful things had been lately, she suddenly found that she needed a release. She glanced back at the wad of cash and vicariously tossed it all back into the boot before pocketing her new find and leaving the Winnebago in mostly the same condition she'd found it in.

She knew Murdoc would probably be mad when he'd find that it was missing but at the same time she couldn't find it in herself to care. A part of her even thought he might be a little proud of how she'd easily stolen from him like a champ. It was a weird twisted thought, but then so was the man who'd helped raise her.

Once safely back in her room, she took the small bag out of her pocket and safely hid it under a loose floorboard under her bed. She vaguely wondered if she should tell 2D about it, but then shrugged the thought away as she flopped onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling. The knowledge would probably just worry him more. No, she'd wait for the perfect time when no one would be bothered and she could escape to sweet serenity.

If only she knew then just how poor of a decision that would become.

A/N: Hi, I'm back! Sorry about the delay. The next chapter will be extremely important to the story.

Fair warning, the next chapter will have drug use in it. For those of you that have listened to Humanz, you know that there are several mentions of cocaine usage so I felt that it was necessary to include it in here. As I'm sure you've noticed throughout this story I have tried to match the chapters with themes found in the CD as if the events that occurred inspired some parts of the songs. Some chapters have been more successful at that than others, but I will continue with this as planned.

I myself have never tried cocaine, but I will be researching it to make sure that the effects are realistic. So if you are someone who struggles with addiction, please be careful. I will try not to go into too much detail, but it will be enough so that there's no question as to what's going on. The next chapter will be Sex Murder Party.

By the way, congrats! You are now half way through the story! Whoo!