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:

By now, Murdoc had calmed down somewhat, but his hands were now shaking a little bit. As tough an act as he put on, he absolutely hated that he was normally the cause of his family's pain. Noodle had always been special to him even though he wasn't the mushy type. She was completely on point when she'd said he'd feel guilty about all of this. In a way though he was glad it hadn't been brought up back then though. He knew his reaction would have been ten times worse. Wounds had still been fresh back then; it would not have been good.

"Well, like I said that was merely when I started to notice him more. I suppose after that, it developed into more of a one-sided crush. We grew much closer because of what we'd shared that day, but I don't think he knew at the time just how much I appreciated him for it. I really didn't get to try and pursue anything until after we were evicted." With that, she sat up straight. It was time to get the rest of it off of her chest.

Chapter 4: Saturnz Barz

"Hm, this will have to do," Noodle sighed critically as she looked over her outfit for a third time in the full-length mirror in the house they'd affectionately dubbed the 'Spirit House' shortly after moving in.

The home itself wasn't really haunted as far as she could tell. But shortly after they had moved in, one of the old light fixtures in the entryway had fallen from the ceiling nearly knocking their already brain-scrambled singer out in the process. 2D had been terrified considering the place already gave off an abandoned creepy vibe. The boys had found his reaction hilarious and played along with the gullible man as they successfully had him convinced that he'd somehow offended the old spirits within the house. While eventually the blue haired man caught on to their antics (Behind the scenes Noodle had taken pity on him and forced Russ to come clean and apologize. Murdoc to this day vehemently denies that he did anything wrong.), the name stuck. From that point on, anytime they referred to their new home it was as the Spirit House.

Currently, the young guitarist was trying to come up with a plan of action for the day. Over the past year or so, she had come to terms with the fact that she was growing feelings for her best friend. Each moment she spent with him, she felt like her feelings grew that much more obvious. He was always there when she needed him and always seemed to understand her in ways that no one else did. She had done a lot of thinking back and forth about what this could possibly mean both for her and for the band. In the end, she decided that it was worth the risk to be true to herself. Her main goal as of now was to try and get him to see her as more than just his best friend and it was proving to be very difficult.

The kicker was how to get his slower mind to understand her feelings without tipping off the other two. This would be especially challenging since 2D was not the most observant man in the world so she would have to be somewhat obvious. Most of the time he seemed to be in la-la land due to over medicating or just flat out not paying attention. She knew that thinking too hard about things made his migraines start acting up, so she really couldn't blame him much for his constant state of blissful unawareness. But it was beginning to frustrate her to no end! She had seen him in rare times of clarity whether it be because his mind was so focused on his music that the words seemed to flow out or because he'd taken an inhumanely long amount of time thinking out an issue presented to him. She knew that it would take a while, but she could penetrate that hard head of his; she was bound and determined.

Luckily for her, she didn't think she'd have too much trouble throwing the other two off of her scent. They hadn't even noticed the little things she'd been doing for the past few months to try and get the youngest man's attention, so why would they start now? Russel still viewed her as a daughter so much so that when she'd started changing her outfits to accent her body more she'd almost thought he would cry with how much he was going on about how his baby-girl was so grown up now. Murdoc was even more clueless about the whole thing. He had noticed her changes in appearance but had just shrugged it off figuring the fans would go wild for it. "At least now they won't mistake you for a boy," he'd cackled one morning. She'd punched him in the arm good for that one. He couldn't play his bass for over a week after that!

The only one who strangely hadn't commented was the man she'd been vying for. Every morning was the same. 2D would look up from his cereal, greet her with a toothless smile, and then go back to playing with his fruit loops as if they were the most fascinating things in the world. It was maddening! How could she be any more obvious?

No matter; today would be different. Even if he did ignore the signs at breakfast, she had a plan to show him exactly how she felt. There was no possible way he could mistake the signs this time. With a mischievous smile she sauntered out of the room and headed downstairs to breakfast like a cat on the prowl.

Meanwhile 2D was downstairs sitting at the kitchen table staring intently at his morning cereal. They were fruit loops as expected, but today they didn't quite have their appeal. His bruised eyes were narrowed at them as if they might bite him instead of greet him with their usual sugary-goodness. Though to be honest cereal was the furthest thing from his mind.

Lately, he'd been under the impression that his medication might be messing with him. He was starting to see things that he wasn't really sure were there or not and it was internally freaking him out. He'd tried to ignore it. Hell, he'd even been popping less pills than his usual regardless of how bad his headaches were. In fact, he very much would've preferred his head to be a lot clearer than it was now because the most basic of things were becoming agony to his damaged mind. But he had to be sure on what was real and what wasn't because if he was wrong and it wasn't the pills talking, he'd have much bigger problems on his plate.

He really hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary until a few months ago. He'd began to notice some weird things about their youngest band member. She always seemed to be staring at him, sometimes he wasn't even looking at her but could feel it all the same. But when he'd look up suddenly or when they'd hang out she'd be perfectly normal. Then her clothes started changing. Gone were the baggy pants and tank tops and suddenly there were spaghetti straps and short shorts. Even her skirts seemed to be getting smaller. He couldn't help but notice that the change accented her slim figure quite nicely giving him views he'd never thought he'd ever see before. He probably could have ignored that bit the best he could if she hadn't gotten so damn touchy feely lately. She would pass by and touch his shoulder. Sometimes she would hug him just a bit too long to be appropriate.

He rather liked her hugs and he loved their friendship, but he was starting to have thoughts that he felt weren't as healthy about her. Like for instance how stunning she looked right now as he glanced up just in time to see her strut casually into the kitchen. His breath nearly caught in his throat; just what was she wearing? It was some sort of short sleeved sweater dress that was a light blue material. It was roomy enough at the top to leave some to the imagination, but bottom of it was skin tight and rose mid-thigh. She had a few of those strange waist belts that women sometimes wore to accent their figures. 2D'd never really cared for them before, but suddenly he found them to be a novel idea! But the part he liked the best was that she kept her old combat boots with it. They made her shapely calves stand out in contrast and gave her an edgy vibe. Once again, her beautiful emerald eyes were piercing him with that strange look she'd been throwing him lately.

His face began to feel warm, so he cleared his throat and returned his attention back to his cereal where he could safely ogle without the fear of getting slapped. Thank god no one could tell where his pupils were or he'd be a dead man every morning. This was Noodle, his little love. He couldn't help but feel embarrassed that his mind kept concocting these tantalizing images of her. It made him feel like some sort of dirty old man. Oh God, was he turning into Murdoc!?

"Morning, boys!" her cheery voice interrupted his frantic thoughts as she plopped down in front of him. 2D looked up again, somewhat startled. He'd forgotten that Russ and Muds were already in the kitchen with him. Russ had just finished making his own breakfast and was about to sit down himself. Murdoc had been somewhat silent all morning as he texted some girl he'd met the other night while absently sipping his morning vodka and orange juice.

"Mornin' Noods," he mumbled, a bit less cheery than normal. He was still feeling slightly perturbed that he was seeing her this way again. He'd thought for sure it was just his meds playing tricks on him! Damn.

Noodle cocked her eyebrow at his less than enthusiastic greeting, but shrugged and stole some toast from Murdoc's untouched plate.

"'Ey tha' was mine," he groused, pausing his texting momentarily to glare at her.

"You weren't even going to eat it," she retorted, rolling her eyes and sticking her tongue at him. Russel chuckled at her antics and continued shoveling his tasty meal into his mouth. Breakfast really was his favorite meal of the day.

"Woteva' girlie, do it again and I'll bite yeh little finga's off," he threatened, smiling wide enough to show his discolored sharpened teeth before returning his attention to his phone. 2D didn't even want to know what was going on in that little text-chat. He'd learned long ago to never snoop into Murdoc's personals. He'd wanted to bleach his eyes for weeks last time he'd seen the other man's browser history.

"Whoops," Noodle's unapologetic voice cut through his thoughts as he looked up to see that she'd somehow gotten jelly all over her hand from the toast. She giggled a bit to herself and then leaned forward to dart her tongue out across the length of the back of her hand before sucking slightly on her forefinger. She closed her eyes a moment afterward as if to savor the flavor before opening them again to lock eyes directly with his. "I'm a little messy sometimes," she said softly before winking and going back to ignoring him for food.

2D nearly sputtered as he almost knocked his cereal over looking back and forth between the lot of them. Had Russ and Muds really not seen that!? It had just happened! Right in front of them! But no, now they were all giving him weird looks instead of acknowledging that sexy display that had just happened right under their noses.

"You okay, 'D?" Russ asked, his milky white gaze fixed on him in worry.

"Aw, ignore this ol' Tusspot!" Murdoc interjected, slapping 2D upside the head causing him to wince at the impact that reverberated through his skull. He gave a small whimper of regret that he had been so frugal with his pills this morning. "Aw, shut it. 'Din even hitcha' tha' hard," Murdoc said, standing from the table abruptly. "Anyways, I'm off. Got things teh do, birds teh fuck. Ta' lads," he paused and mock-bowed to Noodle, "and lady." Then he was off doing God knows what.

"What about you, Russel?" Noodle asked the big man curiously as she flicked a few crumbs from the table. "You sticking around today?"

"Nah, sorry. I've got stuff to do today, unfortunately," Russ replied, wiping his face with a napkin before collecting their dishes. "I'll be back tonight though," he promised with a smile as he started putting things away.

"That's okay! I found something really cool in the attic that I wanted to show Toochi anyway. We can hang out tomorrow," she told him with a smile, before turning back to her now frazzled friend.

"You did?" 2D asked her with a blank look on his face. He hadn't even realized they had an attic. Though this was an old house so he supposed that made sense. Come to think of it, did they have a basement too? He really hadn't had a chance to explore much even though they'd been settled in for a while. He'd been too busy getting back into the swing of things with the band and helping with new ideas for songs.

"Yeah, there's this super cool abandoned room up there. It's all seventies and stuff up there," she explained, bouncing in her seat excitedly. "But the best part is someone left their record player with all the records!"

"Really?" he asked, now equally as excited. He loved listening to old records. The sound was magnificent! The singers always sounded so nostalgic and heartfelt. Music back then really meant something to people in contrast with the garbage that was released in popular demand these days. That was one of the reasons why he fell in love with music in the first place – the freedom to express himself without the barriers of the world holding him back. He was sure that whatever they found up there would be inspiring to say the least.

"C'mon, let's go!" she exclaimed and she hopped ups and grabbed him by the sleeve practically dragging him from the room. "You'll absolutely love it!"

"Have fun, you two. Stay out of trouble!" Russ called after them, but by then they were already long gone from the kitchen.

Upstairs Noodle came to a stop as she looked up and pulled on a string that was hanging down from the ceiling. She stepped back a little as a small ladder slid down to become level to them. Above was a wooden panel in the shape of a square. She gave him a quick smile before hurrying up the ladder and revealing that the strange panel was really a trap-door. "Come on up, then," she ordered as she pulled herself up and disappeared through the opening.

Below, 2D was slightly shell-shocked. In Noodle's haste to get up the ladder, she'd apparently forgotten that she'd been wearing a mini skirt and had accidentally flashed the man her somewhat scandalous black lacy underwear. All thoughts left his mind a moment as he stood there with his mouth opened unable to move. He only came out of his daze when she shouted again, making him jump slightly before he tried to shake the image from his mind and followed her up.

"Woah," he gasped as he broke the threshold and crawled into the room. For a moment he simply looked around in amazement, his previous predicament temporarily forgotten. This room was cool. Posters littered the old wood paneled walls with everything from the Rolling Stones to The Who. It wasn't just posters either; there were old yellowing newspaper clippings depicting various old bands rocking out at live performances having the time of their lives. At one end of the room was a dusty old carpet divan that had seen better days, a battered up recliner, and an old wooden coffee table. At the other side of the room was one of the biggest record collections 2D had ever seen. They were all stacked neatly in wooden advertising crates that had been placed on top of each other to function like a giant bookshelf of sorts. There was a nice 1970s style sound system next to it with the most beautiful old record player 2D had ever seen.

He slowly came closer to the machine as he looked closely at it to see what kind it was. The record player was incased in a protective plastic case that was see through so that you could see all the nobs and the needle at the side as the main turn table looked good as new as if it was standing still with time. Stamped proudly on the device was the name Technics SL-1700. "My mom 'ad one o' these once," he commented absently as he carefully lifted the top up. A small cloud of dust circulated around him cauising him to sneeze a bit, but otherwise he was fine, enthralled with their new find. "S'really neat cuz teh a'm knows when tha' recor's done an' goes back teh the rest by itself," he told her dreamily as he inspected the needle to make sure it wasn't broken. "This one's a real beauty, love," he complimented, giving her a warm smile.

"I knew you'd like it," she smiled sweetly as she came closer hugging a record to her chest. She couldn't get over how adorable he was when he was passionate about something. She loved the way his face would light up and his cheeks would get those little dimples of his from the smallest pleasures. Even without any color to his eyes, it was easy to tell that they were shining in wonder. It was very charming and endearing. She nearly forgot what she was doing as she happily observed him.

"Whatcha' got there?" he asked her, knocking her back into reality as he held his hand out for the record.

"Oh!" she laughed to herself as she held it out to show him. "I found this up in one of the top crates. I'd never seen one in person before, so I was pretty excited to show you," she explained as he looked over the cover.

She had handed him a first edition of the Beatles' first album "Meet the Beatles." It had a picture of all four band members on the cover. They appeared to be standing in a very shadowed room because for the most part, you could only see half of their faces silhouetted in the old black and white photo. He very carefully removed the LP from the large sleeve and marveled at the fact that there were no scratches of any kind on it. "Let's listen to it," he said, tone dripping with guilty pleasure because if there was one record that they probably should not be playing for antiquities sake it was definitely this one. The two shared conspiring grins as he placed it onto the turn table and pressed a button that helped guide the needle in place.

The effect was immediate as the familiar guitar strokes filled the room in startling clarity followed by the familiar lyrics that they both knew by heart (as any true Brit should!). They both sang along joyfully as the words began.

"Oh yeah, IIIII tell ya somethin'

I think you'll understaaaand

Wheeen IIIIII say that somethin'

I wanna hold your haaaand!"

Noodle laughed joyfully and grabbed his hand as they began to dance together merrily throughout the room singing to their hearts content. Every now and then they would pause in their movement to face each other and shout their favorite parts before they'd go back to swinging each other around the room. She couldn't believe how much fun this was turning out to be! It was going even better than she imagined. She couldn't help but grin up at his flushed singing face. He looked so enthralled with the moment and completely in tune with the music. She hadn't seen him this relaxed and happy in years.

Finally, the song was coming to an end and if she knew anything, it was that their time was drawing to a close just as the last lyric was being sung. She knew it was now or never. So as 2D began to sing the final notes, she very gently pulled him closer and suddenly cut him off with a sweet kiss.

"I wanna hold your HaaaaAAaaaaAAaaannn- Mmmph!"

It was over as soon as it had begun, but 2D's eyes were now comically wide as he stared into her very serious and deliberate ones. The next song had started playing in the background, but neither of them were paying attention to it as they waited for the other's reaction still holding one another in a frozen dance position. Noodle's defiant expression slowly turned into a slightly worried one as the minutes ticked away and the singer still hadn't done anything but look at her dumbfounded.

"So it wasn't tha' pills?" he suddenly blurted rather stupidly, looking very bothered as he peered down at her.

"No," she said slowly, arching one of her perfect eyebrows at him, "I've been trying to get your attention for months," she admitted to him as she stared down at their entwined hands as if they were the most interesting things in the world. "I thought you were ignoring me."

"You though' I was…" he trailed off, his face going lax again as he tugged his hand from her grasp and stepped away from her for a moment so he could try and think better. Damn his disorganized mind to Hell, nothing was making sense. Several thoughts were jumbled at the forefront of his mind and it was causing a horrible pressure to build. She'd thought he was ignoring her? Hell, he could barely look away from her. "What are yeh, doin' teh me, love?" he mumbled under his breath as his thoughts continued to run wildly through his muddled brain.

"I'm trying to show you that I want you," she stated firmly as she stepped forward and placed one of her hands on his cheek. The action forced him to look at her again and she could see the confusion and guilt reflecting in his dark gaze.

"But I can't," he said in a quiet voice, finding his reasoning somewhere deep in the crevices of his tattered mind. "S'not right, Noodle. I'm alo' older than you. I've not even really go' much of a brain left wit Mudz givin' me these dents an' all," he tried to explain to her as he once again tried to step away from her. A very nervous look was making its way to his face and while he didn't want to hurt her, he felt like he needed to get very far away from her before they would do something they would regret.

"I don't care, Stu," she said, using his real name as if to add emphasis on just how serious she was about the matter. "Fuck the rules. You make me happy. Why do you think I've never brought anyone over or never go on many dates? No one knows me like you do. I know you're not perfect, but neither am I. We are both damaged and we both need each other. I love you," she told him with steady confidence, never once breaking eye contact with him.

"L-love?" he stuttered, realizing just how deep they suddenly were. Weren't they just dancing and having fun minutes before? When had things become so heavy? His eyes softened as he looked deeply into her honest ones. He wanted so deeply to accept her confession with open arms. It was so honest and beautiful. It was causing a warm fuzzy feeling to seep through his lanky bones. But his heart was breaking at the same time, causing a painful friction within his being because he knew that he couldn't accept this. It would be irresponsible to tie her down to someone like him who was not only twelve years her senior but also mentally unstable. And the band, what would happen to the band. No, he couldn't let her throw away everything for him. He couldn't jeopardize her future like that.

"I'm s-sorry, bu' I can't," he told her, shaking his head. Even as he tonelessly told her know, he could feel his resolve trembling and he knew that if he kept looking into her now sad gaze he might crumble. "You deserve a nice youn' chap. Someone much betta' than me, lu- I mean, uh Noodle," he winced as he corrected himself, seeing the hurt she was carefully trying to mask reflect in her eyes. "I've um… I gotta go…" he squeaked before quickly hopping down through the hatch leaving her alone with the now haunting voices from the record playing behind her.

She stared at the spot he'd been standing in just moments before. Then sighed and turned around to stop the record. With a flick of a knob, the little arm returned to its rest just as he said it would. Then she smiled absently and touched her lips again, thinking about the kiss and his dazed expression. "Oh, Toochi. You only think you can escape me," she said with a private snicker to herself. "But I've got you right where I want you whether you know it or not."

A/N: Wow! Thank you all for the reviews, follows, and favs! You guys are awesome!

I actually have that same record player and album downstairs somewhere I just haven't used it in a suuuuper long time. I hope it still works, lol. I'm honestly not sure if they're as crazy about the Beatles in Britain as they are in America. We've practically immortalized them here. I remember when we held the 50th anniversary of the Beatles and Paul stood up for his speech and was like "Well, I didn't really realize we'd affected America this much…" I remember being kind of shocked about that because of how much influence the Beatles have on even the music that is made today. You can always find their undertones everywhere. It's always either them or MJ. We've even named a whole music era after them called the British Invasion. They started it and suddenly British bands were everywhere, lol (I'd also like to point out that I think it's freaking awesome that Ringo showed up in a Playboy Bunny shirt. Everyone else was in suits and he was like 'Ah, Fuck it.').

Anyways, let me know what you think!