Chapter Ten

Disclaimer: I don't own Gorillaz.

A/N: Generally, the memories will be short, but this one's medium. I didn't get a lot of reviews for the last chapter, maybe the reviewers tried that pressure point thing that I told them not to and died? Well, here's another one.

June

"Noodle, have ya eva thought of plantin' a garden?"

It's a new month, by the name of June. The weather becomes more humid by the day. Noods and I have been going out for a month and a week. I keep track on my calendar with a heart and a line going through each day. Muds just thinks I'm dating someone. He doesn't notice our moods have changed from down and depressed to euphoric.

Good for him.

We were on the Island again when I asked her this. She wore black shorts and knee-high black boots and an obnoxiously purple shirt with pink writing on it that blared - "DON'T MAKE FUN OF THIS COLOUR." Yup. She knew.

"Gardening? I've done it before, why?" she asked. She was sitting in my lap, and up until now, allowing herself to be hugged.

"Tha's a lotta space up 'ere," I said, motioning around, "'Ow'd ya like it if I gave ya a garden ta take care of?"

"Really? That'd be awesome. Could I come up here everyday, d'ya think?"

"Sure."

"You'd let me do that?"

"Yah, why wouldn't I?"

"I'd be up here without you."

"...So?"

"It's our spot! Did you forget?"

I paused. "Is tha'a hint aw summfink?"

"No, I just wanted to know whether you could resist following me or not." She grinned.

"Wha' kinda question is that?"

"Can you?"

"O' course."

"No, you can't."

"Yes I can!"

"Try it."

"Ok, I will." And with that, she turned and ran towards the lighthouse. 'Stay put, D,' I told myself, as I watched her skip inside. I sit tight, practically forcing myself to grab the grass. Why is this so hard? Give her some freedom! You've always let your other girlfriends go out by themselves... But then, look what's happened to them.

I hear laughter floating from the window and up the stairwell as I 'casually' walk inside.

She is halfway up the rusted metal spiral staircase, grinning down triumphantly, perched up in the deep windowsill. The rotors of the windmill creaked slowly outside, carelessly, but the sound had been magnified in here.

"Sucker," Noodle laughs, but the whirring wooden gears catch her attention and she looks up. We watch them, and even to this day, I am not sure what keeps them turning - there was not a breeze to be seen and still it went. Solar power? Maybe. But it was all wooden and brick. That was the secret of it... And where this piece of land had come from. It was a rarity in our world to have something this clean and taken care of.

"Can I go up there?" Noods asked, cautiously, and I didn't blame her. It looked like it would crumble in any minute, and I would've thought so myself, had I not been there before.

"Yeah," I said, "Jus' don get too close ta it. Ya don wanna get caught an' loose an amm."

We climbed up, the noise a loud churning and creaking, and we reached the to of the stairs and sat on the platform. Into one wall was another dirty window covered with dead bugs and dirt and grime. The platform was big enough for about four people to lay on. Noodle stared out the window, squinting.

"It's so nice out," she comments, "Where does Murdoc go on a day like this?"

"In the Winnebago."

"No..." She stared at me in disbelief.

"Yup."

"He can't..."

"He does."

"That's disgusting! Days like this one don't always come by!"

"Ya can't talk sense ta Muds. Theah's neva been a sussessful attempt."

"Maybe I'll try, then. Talk sense to the fool and he'll call you foolish, maybe, but talk sense with a fist and maybe he'll be more open minded."

"Using force?"

"I'll have to."

She rubbed her arm. I watched her. "Wha' makes ya so strong?" I asked, a question that had been on my mind for some time now.

Noodle shrugged, but her eyes said something else entirely. "I guess I just... am." She rolled up her sleeve and flexed her muscle. There was almost nothing there, but she grabbed my shoulder and I could feel that wasn't true.

"I guess dislocationing me shoulda'll teach me not ta mess wit you," I said, sharp pain twisting and whipping through my bones. It was all I could do not to gasp or scream.

Noodle let go and grinned apologetically.

"Oh, crap, I'm sorry! Didn't mean to hurt you!" She rubbed the sore spot, which lessened the pain, and I could feel the embarrassed heat from her face. "I can't believe I just did that..."

"Noods, what're ya hidin?"

The question sprung out from me like water from a broken hose. I had meant it as a joke, but the silence that fell told me I had touched on something.

She glanced at me, pressed three fingers to my head, and lay me down. Her actions were rushed, and she was nervous. "I think the pain's making you a little weird," she said, "You lie down. No more talking."

"Noodle..." I protested. I wasn't crazy! The pain was gone, why would that even make me think strange. "Noodle, I jus'..."

She stared at me, the whirring gears turning behind her.

"In time, 2D-cha', in time..."

We sat there, or, I layed there, neither of us knowing what to do.

I got up, propping myself on my elbows. She was zoning out, staring off into some place that didn't exist to me... I wanted her back.

"Is summ'fink wrong?"

It took her a while to respond. She seemed to be coming out of a sleep. She mumbled something in Japanese then turned to me.

"No, no. Nothing's wrong, I just... I was just wondering."

"'bout what?"

"Things."

"Wha' things?"

"Like, if I should kiss you."

I had thought she was joking.

And then she leaned foward on top of me and kissed me, pressing herself on me, and I knew she had been planning this and was going to all along, but didn't, and I thought, "Let us live in our wrongness if we are happy," and I kissed her back. And some people would say it's disgusting because we're both ordinary people (who maybe aren't so ordinary) who love each other very much, and they could tell me to go back to one of my old girls or Paula or find someone new, but I wouldn't.

And now this was between me and Noodle and there was no regretting and I'd never go back to Paula and I'm done thinking about her because I've wasted enough of my life and mind on her and it's done. Look what she's done to me, and look how Noodle's fixing it.

And plain and simple, that's that.