Chapter Three

Disclaimer: I don't own the Gorillaz.
A/N: Chapter three is here! Buon appetite! 2D's POV.
"So," I said, stepping through the door and throwing my jacket and bag on the floor, "I think I found someone."

Murdoc actually lifted his head to look at me from the computer. Oh shit. "'ho is et, Dullard?" he asked, lifting an eyebrow too. Whoa, man. Calm down. Major movement on his part.

"Some girl called Noodle."

"Noodle, eh? 'Ow old is she?"

"Erm... Probably 14, 15, maybe 16. She didn' say."

"14? An' yer shure she can sing?"

"'Solutely. 'nd play guitar."

"Wheah is she?"

I shrugged. "At 'er house. She–"

"'er parents'?"

"'ers. She–"

"She 14 an' she got a 'ome?"

"I only guessed! She's young, that's all. Anyway," I plowed on, "she wasn't shure about coming 'ere directly, but I gave her our number and she'll call when she's ready."

Russel waddled over. "Who's calling?" he asked. Murdoc shrugged and went back to his PC.

Back to normal.

Three days later, I was getting nervous. She hadn't called. How much time do you need to decide to be in a band? But it wasn't the being in the band part, it was the shacking-up-with-three-disturbed-male-monkeys part.

So we waited. And, of course, when I went to go eat a banana or something (haha, that's so funny, right?), the phone rings. Russel picks up and I'm turning and mouthing for him to let me talk, and he goes, "Hello?"

"...Hello?" Noodle doesn't know who he is.

"Who is this?" Russel asks, 'cause he didn't know why I've been sitting at the reciever all day.

"Umm... Actually, I think I have the wrong number..."

"No, you don'!" I yelled, but Russel just goes "Ok," and hung up, and I was like, "No! I needed ta tawk ta 'er!" And I grabbed the phone and hit redial and prayed she pick up.

A click. "Hello?"

"..." I was waiting to hear her so much, I didn't hear her the first time at all.

"Hello?"

"...Hello, this Noodle?"

"The one and only."

"It's 2D."

You could hear her perking up on the other end. "Oh, hi! I tried calling you a minute ago... Did you give me the wrong number or something?"

"That was Russel. 'e lives 'ere, too."

"Oh, ok. So, about the singing thing... I can do it, and I'd love to... But I need a place to stay."

I paused. She wasn't afraid to stay with us if she was asking me, but did we have a place that wasn't full of shit? Well, probably. We had 49 rooms. I looked around. Yeah.

"Yeah," I said, "O' course. So when can ya come ova?"

"Today. I've been packing. I'll just take the bus over."

I made a noise that I didn't even try to. "Atchully..."

"...?"

"Tha' bus doesn't come up this way, 'nd so far as I know, it's a mile's walk to tha nearest station."

She paused, and I got afraid, 'cause she might be rethinking it. "Ok, cool," she agreed, "Give me the address."

I did, and she read me hers. "'ow 'bout I walk you 'ere," I offered, "So ya don't take a detour ta hell?"

Muds looked up at the word 'hell.'

She laughed. "Alright, I'll see you then."

I hung up and pulled on my jacket. Murdoc was eating some canned chicken and asked, " Oi, where ya goin', nob?"

And I shrugged and said, "Out. Can I borrow tha Winne?"

"No."

"Plea–"

"Nope."

"C'mon. Jus' this once."

"NO.

"I jus-"

"NO!

"Fine. Lovely friend ya are." And I left.

It was really nice outside, spring-ish. Everythiong was growing and all the lovely squirrels were out. Walking down the increasing slope was easy, but I'd be dying when it came to walk back up, especially with luggage.

We lived on a hill because of Muds. Well, kinda. He bought Kong Studios just because it was big and he was cheap. Later on, we made, what, maybe $500 grand at a concert, and he bought an Island. Not an actual island, but a Skyland, which is the real name for it, but it's just the Island to us.

Yeah, he was stoned when he did it, but he did. And not just an ordinary Island, but one with a lighthouse once used for government testing on it. So we all bet it was radioactive or something, but it was safe. And since we were on a hill, whenever it would float by, we'd go up to the roof and could climb on if we wanted. And that was that.

When I reached the town, I picked out Noodle's apartment and went into the lobby, up like ten flights of stairs, and down the hall. There goes me, huffing and puffing. Yeah, I should quit smoking. But it isn't that simple, y'know?

I knocked on the door and I heard footsteps scurrying around and she called, "Just a minute!" So I waited for a few minutes and then she let me in, bending over and shoving her shirts into a suitcase and smiling.

"How're ya doing, love?" I asked, and she sighed and said, "Fine, I'm just about done." She stood up. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail and she looked at all the packing she had done.

"Ok, that's it," she said, picking up a bag.

I picked up the second bag and slung her backpack over my shoulder. I noticed she had left a ton of stuff in the room. "Wot about this?" I asked, motioning to the room. She shrugged. "Not mine. My landlords'."

And I wondered, where did she get this money from?

So we left, and she pulled the door closed behind her and we started walking. Out of the apartment, into the towns, the edge of town, the road. When we got near the edge of the dirt path, she asked me, "Who lives with you?"

"Erm... We got Russel and Muds, whose real name is Murdoc."

"Muds? Three for the PWIA."

I laughed. "Yeah, you wanna wotch out faw him. 'e takes a showa a month, is an ex–"

I stop. I'm scaring her. She is silent and staring at the ground. Of course I can't tell her Muds is now an ex-speed addict and sex obsessed girlfriend stealer. Of course I can't tell her I smoke, drink, gamble, cut, am beaten by Murdoc on a regular basis, and have anorexia. Of course I can't tell her Russel saw his friends killed and was possessed. I can't tell her all this and I almost did. I barely even know her. She'll be frightened off.

But we all have something to hide.

"Nevamind. It's up this way," I said, quickly, and she didn't press it any further. Seeing how weirded-out she was, I said, "So, ya aren't leavin' any family? 'ow old are you? Is Noodle really your name?"

"Wow, " she laughed, "Questions! I'm 15, and, no. I was raised by these nurses, but they weren't my parents. They let us choose our own names, and the only word I knew in English was Noodle. One day, they just handed me a card and told me to use it if I needed money and turned us out. And then... I can't really remember. I just... lived." She stopped, and there was an awkward pause. "But I'm happy with who I've become, so it doesn't matter..."

She seemed to be talking to herself, so I asked, "You 'ave siblings?"

She looked at the trail ahead. "Oh, not really. They were with me when the people took care of us, but we weren't related at all. Is 2D your real name?"

"Nah, I'm Stuart. Stuart Tusspot."

"I'll stick with 2D."

"Please do."

We stopped to take a breather, and when we began walking again, she asked, "Do you mind me asking why you live so far up here?"

"Muds bought it. It was cheap, and we needed it t' reach the Island."

"...Island?"

"Skyland."

"You have one!"

"Yeah, tha one with tha lighthouse."

Noodles' eyes were as round as grapefruit. "I've seen it!" she cried, "It's passed over a few times! That is so cool! Do you guys ever hang out up there?"

"Sometimes... It's nice t' go up when it gets too 'ot down 'ere. I can take ya up, if ya want. It's all good."

"That'll be our spot, then," she declared.

She was delighted. It was all over her face. Everything about her was readable, which could be good, or bad. We walked the rest of the way in silence, and I could see her thinking about sitting in the lighthouse and being on top of the world. When we reached the house, I kicked open the door and flung off my boots. Noodle stood, uncertain, and I motioned for her to come in, pushing aside piles of Mud's garbage.

"Don't worry, we don't use your room, it'll be cleaner than this."

She relaxed and came in. Anyone could tell three single males lived here just by looking in. I led her to her room and opened the door, 'cause that's polite. And she steps in and goes "Whoa..." like she's never seen a bedroom before. And she goes right in and sits on the bed and smiles and looks around again and says, "I'm gonna love it here."

And, me? I'm just happy to see her happy.

A/N: Review!