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:

"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."

Chapter 5: Momentz

It had been a full week since the incident and 2D still had not emerged from his room. In that time, the poor singer had tried to think of anything that might help his situation. Noodle's confession had really caught the man by surprise. It wasn't that he wasn't flattered by it (he was actually still in disbelief that she'd actually admitted it – he'd seriously thought he'd been imagining things before), in fact if he was about ten years younger he'd have jumped at the chance to be with her. She was everything anyone would want in a girl as far as he was concerned. She was sweet, loyal, and frankly one of the best friends he'd ever had. She never judged him for his short comings and always seemed to have his back. He also loved her passion and tenacity. She'd always been somewhat of a spitfire when it came to getting what she wanted and now he had to add drop dead gorgeous to his list.

That kiss… It had been such a surprise and yet so electrifying. He couldn't believe that she would choose him of all people. It only seemed to fuel the desire that had been lurking in the corners of his subconscious. Suddenly all of those moments that she had hugged him just a bit longer and wanted to spend time with only him came to the forefront of his mind. The clothes, the flirting, and everything had been to impress him. No one had ever tried to do those things for him before. Then she'd even gone so far as to say she loved him. An unwelcome shiver ran down his spine each time he remembered the conviction in her voice and the sincerity in her sparkling green eyes as she'd said it. He'd wanted so bad to return her sentiments, to reach out and hold her close and tell her about how amazing he truly thought she was.

But the fact of the matter was that he wasn't her age and that he shouldn't be thinking of her as anything more than his best friend or maybe a close sister. Reality was a horrible thing and it was weighing down heavily on his lanky shoulders threatening to squash him under its mighty weight. Even if he didn't want to, he knew that he needed to be responsible and try and sway Noodle's fixation before it became something worse. A relationship with her was just a pleasant dream. In reality it would put the whole band and all of their hard work at risk. He remembered back to a time when Noodle had been afraid to lose her family because she had protected herself from an awful situation. He'd told her that they would never think down on her for something like that. But in this case, he knew it would be something entirely different. Not only would Russel and Murdoc be against it, but he was pretty sure the media and the rest of the world would put their two cents in too. Not only would it be brought up that the three had raised her since she was ten, but they would also put her in a bad light in lines of stability for dating someone who was obviously so messed up in the head that he normally coasted through his days on a high. He didn't even want to imagine the horrible things they'd call her.

No, she'd be ruined. Their lives were too on blast to risk it. He never wanted to see that pain in her eyes again. Being with him would do more harm than good, even if his heart would now probably always yearn for it. It just wouldn't be healthy. She needed someone who was smarter than him. She needed someone who would be able to fight for her and keep her safe. She needed someone who she could depend on. He knew that he would never be able to be those things. Years from now she might even resent him for his lifestyle no matter how hard he would try to please her. He just wasn't made of the stuff he felt she needed. Cognitively, he felt like a joke or a bad rerun stuck on repeat. Strength and Stu Pott just weren't meant to be in the same sentence. He used to take near-daily beatings from their band leader; who'd want to be tied to that? Sometimes his mind was so jumbled he didn't know his head from his arse. He couldn't rightly live with himself if he knew that he was just forcing her to watch him deteriorate before her eyes. He had too much baggage that he didn't want to weigh her down with. He loved and cared about her too much for that.

But what should he do then?

He flopped backwards on his bed with an unhappy sigh and stared at the stained ceiling. Hurting her unintentionally was the last thing he wanted to do, so that only really left one option. It made him cringe even as he thought about it: he'd have to help her find a boyfriend. The thought was nauseating to his already weak stomach. He thought about what it would be like to see her with her arms wrapped around another man. It would be completely unbearable. He knew that he would hate it, but what other choice did he have? He'd sacrifice anything for her happiness; even his remaining sanity.

He kicked a few empty pill bottles from his bed as he twisted his body around on its side and looked around at his messy floor boredly hoping for some inspiration. He didn't really expect to find much, his room had always been notoriously messy. Some of it was to do with his poor eyesight, but the majority was plain old-fashioned laziness. When he was done with something he would simply toss it on the ground in hopes of maybe finding it later. There were all kinds of goodies littering the un-vacuumed floor. Piles of clothes were a given, but there were also things like empty spray paint cans he never got rid of, magazines, video game cases, a golf club, medicine, and crumpled posters. His dark eyes landed on one in particular that was nearby depicting the silhouettes of people dancing on a wild technicolored dance floor. He stared at it blankly for a while until an idea formed in his mind.

What if he took Noodle to a club?

Tons of fun people went to clubs. Maybe if he took her there she would meet people her own age and realize what a mistake she was making. She might even meet someone there while she was at it. As for him, he could just sit at the bar and drink himself away to his misery until he wouldn't be able to remember the horrible reason why he'd brought her there in the first place. It was a win-win situation. A crazed grin was making its way to his face and the more he thought about it, the more it seemed like something that could work. "Yeh, that's it!" he said to himself, suddenly jolting himself from his bed and swiftly exiting his room for the first time in days.

She was in the kitchen when he found her drinking some oolong tea with a depressed frown on her face. He hesitated a moment before building up his resolve and approaching her. "N-Noodle?" he winced a bit at how weak and timid his voice sounded. She didn't really seem to notice as her eyes widened and she spun around in her chair to face him.

"Uh," he paused, looking at her hopeful, expectant eyes. "I wos thinkin' we haven' really gotten to explore an' have some fun since we moved here and afta' the other day…. I just kinda' thought it might be fun teh get ou' and do somefing," he tried to explain. Her hopeful smile was getting wider and he realized he needed to hurry and backtrack a little so she wouldn't get the wrong idea. "I-I mean, no' like a date or anything coz li' told you I dun think tha's a good idea. But yo' my lil love an' I still want to spend time wif you," he finished, biting his lip anxiously.

She narrowed her eyes a little at him and took a small sip of her tea. "So," she paused, looking over his crumpled appearance a moment before continuing. "You'd like to take me out for a night of fun but it isn't a date," she repeated to let him know that she understood. She chuckled to herself a moment before standing and abandoning her half empty cup to walk toward him. When he nervously backed up a step, she smirked and grabbed him by the collar playfully to prevent him from moving away any further. "If that's what want, we'll go. But I know what you are trying to do," she said in a low teasing voice before letting him go and walking away.

He stood there temporarily petrified for a moment before shaking himself out of his stupor. "I mean it, Noodle! Jus' as friends!" he shouted back at her retreating form before quickly covering his mouth when he realized he'd said it loud enough for the whole house to hear. He decided not to stick around to find out if anyone heard and quickly returned back to his room for safety.

Later that night, 2D found himself entering a noisy upbeat nightclub with Noodle trailing slightly behind him. He was having a very hard time not glancing back at her every five seconds or so due to her provocative choice of outfit. She was wearing a skin-tight backless black little number that showed off a small little Kanji tattoo she had on the back of her right shoulder. When had she even gotten a tattoo? 2D gulped as he tried not to imagine what else the naughty axe princess had been hiding from them. It was obvious that she had just as much of a plan going into this as he had, but he needed to keep his resolve if this was going to work.

He winced a bit at how loud the music was as they headed toward the back of the club where the bar was. He'd known it was going to be horribly loud and had tried to plan accordingly by taking his headache medication in advance. So far, it wasn't really helping much as the thumping of the base seemed to reverberate through his mind like a jack hammer. The flashing lights and lasers weren't a big help either due to his poor eye sight. This was one of the reasons why he always went immediately to the bar in places like this. It was the only safe place for someone like him otherwise he'd be liable to get lost or swallowed by the thick crowd. Luckily it was so busy here that no one had recognized them yet. He was hoping to keep it that way.

"There it is, just ahead!" Noodle shouted beside him, pointing at some empty barstools. She grinned and grabbed him by the arm, practically dragging him there so that no one would steal the seats. "This place is great!" she exclaimed over the loud music as they ordered their drinks.

"Yeah, s'okay," 2D replied, a little less enthusiastically before gratefully taking the beer that was offered to him by the bartender. He was still trying very hard not to look at her. He knew that if he made eye contact he'd be sunk. "Order whatchu want, my treat."

"Cool," she said, though he could tell by her clipped tone that she was starting to get annoyed with him for ignoring her. He listened as she ordered a Kamikaze and then saw her turn toward him out of the corner of his eye. Still he refused to look at her.

"So, if this how you're going to be all night?" she questioned him with a frown, leaning a little closer to him as she tried to force him to look at her.

"I dun know what you mean, I'm just sittin' ere like I always do," he said in a disinterested voice. "I've always enjoyed the bah ere."

"That's not what I mean and you know it," she growled. "You invite me here to hang out under the pretenses that you don't want it to be a date but you still want to spend time with me. Then you refuse to even give me the time of day? Why am I even here, Stu?"

At her biting tone, he furrowed his brows angrily and finally turned to look at her with a scowl on his normally carefree face. "Oh, don' you dare try to play victim ere, Noodle. I tol' you this wasn't a date an' you still dressed li' that!" he said in frustration as he gestured to her very revealing outfit. "How c'n I properly hang ou' wif you when yeh playin' all these games? I know you did it the fuck wif me and guess wot? It's not workin'!" he said childishly. Secretly he was more pissed that her plan was working. He was nearly getting dizzy from how hard he was forcing himself not to ogle her in her full glory. He had a mission to accomplish, damn it!

"Is that what you think? You selfish prick!" she sneered, downing her drink quickly and slamming it back onto the bar as she stood with a huff. "I came here tonight because I wanted to spend time with my best friend. But I guess he's not here because he was too busy being a whiny bitch to hang out with me. You don't want me here? Fine! Fuck it. I came here to have fun. I don't need you to do that," she trilled hot headedly before stomping off to the dance floor.

2D gave a great sigh as he watched her go, maybe staring at her ass a little longer than he meant to. It had been his plan all along to piss her off so that she'd go and make new friends, but it still made him feel horrible. Even though she hadn't said it, he knew that he was slowly crushing her by treating her this way. But his Noodle was a strong one. He knew she'd eventually be okay.

"Rough night, man?" a loud voice boomed beside him as a big beefy hand clapped him on the shoulder in an over-friendly manner that could only be described as distinctly American. 2D turned to look at his new companion blankly, the cogs in his mind stalling a moment as he tried to shift his thoughts back in order. Suddenly something seemed to click and his face began to reanimate as a huge gap-toothed grin split his face.

"Maseo!" he greeted the large black man enthusiastically. Maseo was one third of the American hip-hop group De La Soul. 2D had always loved working with the three Brooklyn men. They were always so down to earth and talented. They had been featured in several songs over the years that had been extremely successful to the band and were a welcome force every time they visited. "Wha' are you doin' ere? Las' I heard, you guys were back in 'Merica workin' on a new album."

"Maaaaan, Don't Murdoc tell you all nothin?" he laughed uproariously before taking a swig of his drink. "Jus got done meeting with him on yo' new album. He's got some ideas brewin' again."

"Nah, Muds dun tell us much, 'cept maybe Russel. Dun like it when we blurt stuff on accident," he explained conversationally. "But you guys are gonna feature again? Tha's great!"

"Yeah man, should be 'aight," Maseo agreed with a smile as he continued sipping his brew with vigor. "Trugoy and Posdnuos should be here in a couple of days and then we'll talk beats," he promised.

"Excellent," 2D nodded, swinging his legs a bit as he finished his beer. For the moment he was carefree and distracted. However, that small reprieve vanished as soon as the next question came out of his friend's mouth.

"But what was that before? Was that Noodle, man? She looked pissed."

"Yeah," the singer groaned before looking bck out to see Noodle dancing extremely provocatively with some Italian looking guy that had blonde highlights. He felt jealousy boil through him at how close their bodies were meshing. It seemed like she was doing all she could to make it as suggestive as possible to retaliate against him. Almost on cue, her wild eyes made contact with his and she flipped him off with a smirk of victory. Then her attention was taken away from him again as she accepted an offered drink from her new dance partner. 2D made a sound of disgust as he turned back to Maseo with a perturbed look on his face. "We had a bit ova disagreement," he said, not caring to elaborate.

To his surprise, the American merely laughed and shook his head. "She's just growing up is all. She was bound to be a rebellious one with all that spark she's got. I bet she's been givin' Russel a run for his money. I know how tight a leash he tries to keep her on, but that baby-girl is gonna need to fly soon befo' she does somethin' crazy."

"I guess," 2D said absently as he looked back over in that general direction. His heart suddenly stopped when he realized she wasn't there. He didn't see the irony of her disappearance and his plan. Instead, he felt a horrible uneasiness in his stomach as his dark eyes frantically searched the strobing room for any signs of her. "Shit," he swore as he stood, looking around every which way he could.

"You okay, man?" Maseo asked in a concerned voice as he moved to stand too.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," 2D muttered as he turned to bid the other man goodbye. "Look, I gotta' go make sure she isn't gettin' into any trouble. I'll see you guys when you come teh the studio."

"Aight, man. It was good to see ya'," Maseo said as they briefly clasped hands and he watched the lanky blue-haired man try to navigate through the crowd. "Maaaaan, she gotchu pussy-whipped," he laughed to himself before returning to the bar to enjoy the rest of his night.

Meanwhile, out back of the nightclub Noodle was having a hard time focusing on what exactly was going on. One moment she'd been having fun trying to piss 2D off with her new friend as she swayed to the music and the next she'd found herself being dragged out into the slight chill of the night. What was really bothering her was the slight haze that seemed to be forcing its way into her mind. Her legs were slightly uncoordinated and her movements were feeling sluggish. When had she gotten drunk? As far as she could remember, she'd only had one drink.

"Le's go baaaack," she slurred, her Japanese accent becoming thick as she tried with all her might to stop the world from spinning. She tried to tug her arm from the man's grip, but her arms felt weak and sort of like noodly. "Haha, my arms are li' Nooooodles. Like my naaaame," she giggled as he tugged her along. Then she frowned, realizing they weren't heading back to the door yet. "Hey waaait, I wanna go baaaack. My friend is back theeeere. He might worry!"

"God, shut the fuck up before someone hears us," the man whispered in a harsh voice, tightening his grip on her arm as he tried to drag her deeper into the dimply lit alleyway.

Warning signs seemed to be going off somewhere deep in her mind as she tried to struggle harder against his force. "I said no! I wanna go back to Stuuu!" she shouted, now seeming to realize that she was in danger as she tried to kick him but failed miserably somehow. Had she been drugged? She just couldn't seem to get her body to cooperate all of the sudden.

"I said to shut the fuck up!" He drew back his hand as if to slap her before something hit him from behind causing him to fall forward in shock.

"I believe tha' lady said she wants teh go back in," 2D's angry voice rang through the alley. He was massaging his fist as he glared down at the man. He'd punched him as hard as he could when he'd seen what the man was about to do to his little love.

"What the fuck's wrong with your eyes?" The man spat, accidentally loosening his grip on the girl allowing her to break free.

"Stu!" Noodle shouted, staggering away from the man and nearly tripping as she ran to him. "I-I don' feel sho goo," she told him in a disoriented voice as she fell into him. He caught her with a concerned look on his face.

"The fuck?" he barely got the question out before he heard the man charging at them and quickly threw Noodle away from him with all of his strength as the man tackled him to the ground. He barely registered her shriek as she landed hard against the wall of the building. He was too busy trying to protect his face from the sudden onslaught of punches. The guy couldn't punch nearly as hard as Murdoc, but it still hurt! Wincing, he tried to concentrate as he looked over to the side and saw a pipe lying on the ground not too far away. Making a split decision, he suddenly reached out for it and before the guy knew what was going on, Stu had swung it with all his might causing it to connect with the side of his head with a sickening thump.

The man went limp and the singer shoved him off as he stood and dusted himself off. He glared down at the unconscious man and kicked him hard in the groin for good measure before spitting at him. "Fuckin' tosser," he snorted, then reached down to help his slightly unstable friend to her feet. He carefully cupped her face into his hands as he checked her over for any damage. Finding none, he sighed in relief before trying to help he walk.

"I'm sorrrrry," she whispered, still slightly afraid as she teetered beside him on her feet. She was having to lean very heavily against him in her current state.

"It's okay, Noods. I go' you," he promised, his face slightly bruised from the scuffle. "Let's just ge' the fuck outta' ere." He was still pretty hyped up on the adrenaline that had prompted him into action earlier and he didn't want to accidentally take his anger out on her. This had been so irresponsible of both of them! She should have known better to drink from someone else's shit and he should have been watching her better. Either way, he was going to have a nice long chat with her once whatever influence she was under wore off. He would make sure that something like this would never happen again.

A/N: Sooooo I dedicate this chapter to my cousin Rayven. She's become a die-hard fan of this stroy which I'm super proud of because as far as I know she's never really read any other Gorillaz stories. Every two days like clock-work I get this crazy text of WHERE IS MY CHAPTER!? So thank her for my diligence I suppose. _;

Hope you enjoy and thank you so much for the reviews/favs/follows! I'm glad that everyone seems to be enjoying it so far!