Soon we had worked out the details of the next coming months. Murdoc and Russel would leave to continue traveling the globe in search of the best musicians, and Noodle and 2D would stay with me to keep writing songs, picking through our material to eliminate the tracks that wouldn't make it onto the album, and working with our other collaborators to find new sounds.
After my semester was over, 2D, Noodle, and I would fly to Europe for the summer. Of course, this was only a rough plan. Knowing Murdoc, he might suddenly get a musical idea and summon either, or both, of them at any moment.
To be honest, this was my worst fear. I had my biological family just a few hours away, and Brandon, and my friends at school who I was gradually becoming closer to; but Gorillaz had become my life. It was hard enough knowing I'd soon be without half of them for a few weeks, and the prospect of having all of them gone was almost a guarantee that the loneliness would swallow me up once again.
Eventually I realized I would need to tell my parents about this plan. Of course, I didn't tell them the whole story. I just let them know that I was going to Europe over the summer with some new friends to work on music, and that all the expenses would be covered. They were a bit shocked, but soon they realized that since I was an adult, and I wasn't asking for them to do anything for me, as long as I promised to stay safe they couldn't argue with my going.
I continued with school and my frequent visits with the band for a while, and soon the day came when Russel and Murdoc were to leave. There were hugs all around, and it felt like a huge turning point in our path together. The next time I would see them, my semester would be over, and we would be recording.
"Good luck, kiddo," Russel said, giving me a big bear hug, and Murdoc stood awkwardly until I reached out to wrap my arms around him, remembering the time he had helped me through that panic attack. He relaxed into the hug, patting my back.
"See ya later," he mumbled, looking at the ground in embarrassment.
Noodle attacked them both with affectionate hugs and goodbyes, and 2D casually but earnestly wished them luck on their journey as well. And then, it was just the three of us.
As the door shut behind them, 2D and Noodle looked at each other. I felt a bit awkward as she raised her eyebrows and giggled, then went to the stereo system and turned on the song Dare. Confused, I watched as they started dancing, singing, and jumping around, suddenly seeming completely carefree. Noodle grabbed my hand and pulled me off of the couch, letting me join in with their little celebration of god knew what.
After the song was over, we collapsed onto the couch, with me in the center, the three of us out of breath and laughing.
"What was that all about?" I finally asked.
Noodle laughed, "Could you imagine Russel doing that? Or Murdoc? No, of course not. So it's a little tradition of ours, when they're away. It's silly I guess, but we have to do something to relax. Especially since we aren't all together for now."
I felt touched to be included in their personal tradition, although admittedly I still felt a bit like an intruder to their obviously close friendship. I had just met them, and they had known each other, well, for more than half of Noodle's life anyways.
Noodle jumped up and found some more songs to dance around to, pulling us along with her. She was such a complex person- so demanding, but affectionate, protective, brooding, but still carefree. I was a little bit intimidated by her, to be honest, and felt a little bit of competition with her as the only two female members of the band, but I was looking forward to getting to know her better in the coming weeks.
Eventually, after at least an hour of dancing and singing, we were exhausted. Once again, I found myself settling down on the couch to spend the night, but then Noodle reminded me that there were now two vacant beds. Shuddering at the thought of Murdoc's bed, with his lack of personal hygiene, I chose to sleep in Russel's bed. It was not quite as messy as Murdoc's, but not as neat as I remembered Noodle's to be. Just right, I suppose.
Lying there, I felt a bit lonely. I could hear faint voices talking softly in the next room, and jealousy overwhelmed my body in a wave of anxiety which started to become a panic attack. In an effort to soothe myself, I picked up a pair of drumsticks from the night stand. Drumming absentmindedly on the bed, I remembered Russel's words of encouragement from when we had first met.
He had told me that we looked after each other, and that we were a family.
Soon I found myself knocking on 2D and Noodle's door, nervously holding Russ's blanket and pillow, and shakily asked if I could sleep on their floor for the night.
To my surprise, they didn't seem to think twice of it. Perhaps my distress was apparent on my face, or perhaps they chose not to question my request. Noodle insisted that I take her bed, while I insisted on taking the floor. She was hard to argue with though, so eventually I gave in and slipped into her sheets, which smelled freshly like laundry detergent and a hint of perfume.
"Thanks," I said, snuggling sleepily into the bed.
"Goodnight, love," 2D yawned. Next thing I knew, I was waking up in the morning, and with a jolt of surprise and happiness realized that I had made it through the night without any nightmares or panic attacks.
2D was snoring softly, and I could hear Noodle's bare feet padding around in the kitchen, and the gurgling of the coffee pot.
I sat up and stretched quietly, but 2D's eyes opened at my sudden movement, sleepily blinking at me in slight confusion. Then his face broke out in a smile. Feeling silly, I threw the pillow at him, and giggling, he threw it back in my face.
"I smell coffee," I whispered, and he nodded, getting out of bed. I looked away, blushing as he threw on a pair of pants over his pink boxers. We went out into the kitchen, to find Noodle scowling into her coffee.
It didn't take much time to figure out what she was unhappy about, as we soon realized that Russel wasn't around to make us breakfast as he usually did. And it was rather quiet without Murdoc's loud snores drifting in from the other room.
Quietly, the three of us sipped our coffee, and eventually Noodle went to the living room area and softly began strumming her guitar. 2D made his way over as well and started messing about on one of his keyboards. Having left my harp at my dorm this time, I went up next to 2D and started picking out some notes, using some of the music theory knowledge I was learning at school to find some tensions that sent shivers down my spine.
We kept playing until it was time for me to go to class, and then I sadly left, leaving them to continue making music and enjoying each other's friendship and company for the rest of the day.