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:

She looked up at him with wide eyes and squeaked as she stole another kiss from him and grinned widely before exiting his room with a hop in her step. He stayed there and listened to her footsteps as she walked away only to bump into Russel who by now must've been done with his shower. He heard her greet him cheerily before their voices faded down the hall. His smile faded a little at the thought of Russel. What would he say if he found out his baby girl had just came from his friend's room? He shuddered at the thought.

Yes, 2D was comfortable and had accepted that he did indeed love Noodle, but he wasn't sure he'd ever be ready to tell the others. This caused his stomach to do an unpleasant flop as he slunk over to his bed to ponder his newest dilemma: How were they going to keep this a secret?

Chapter 9: Charger

They were in the cupcake phase. That awesome feeling you get when you're new to a relationship and you want nothing more than to be with that other person every waking moment of the day. When no one was looking, they'd make eyes at each other from across the table. No matter who was home they'd find ways to kidnap each other whether it was a quick make-out in the broom closet or a quick romp in the laundry room. Sometimes they'd text each other when the coast was clear, but most of the time they left it to fate as they'd play their little game of cat and mouse.

No one was the wiser. Murdoc knew that 2D was in a relationship with someone. From the way the singer was constantly smiling and always in a good mood, he figured that the younger man had took his advice and went for it. He still hadn't met the lass yet, but this was the happiest he'd seen his friend in a long time so he didn't push the subject so long as it wasn't becoming an issue that would affect the band. As far as Noodle, disappearing for hours at a time was quite normal. She'd always been a very independent woman and they all knew that she was more than capable of taking care of herself.

For now, their secret was safe.

A few weeks later Russel found himself whistling to himself as he meandered down the hallway. He too had started to notice his friend's new found happiness and had every intention of finding out more about 2D's secret new girlfriend. He'd questioned Muds about it, but the older man had simply shrugged and told him that he knew as little as the drummer did about her before belching loudly and heading to the kitchen for more beer. Russel had shook his head in disgust before smiling to himself and deciding to pay the singer a visit. If there was one thing Russel loved, it was talking about the honeys.

Pausing outside of the bedroom door, he rose his beefy fist and knocked twice. "Yo, D! I hear you gots some news fo' me, you ol' dawg!" He shouted cheerily through the door before stepping back a respectable distance to wait.

There was a frazzled squeak from the other side of the door before he heard something crash. Then he heard the sounds of 2D mumbling to himself as he seemed to be struggling to do something (probably getting dressed, Russel mused – it was kind of early…). Then the door opened a crack as the tall lanky man quickly darted out and kicked the door shut behind him before Russel could look inside.

"H-hi, Russ," 2D gulped, biting his lip a bit as he leaned back against the bedroom door as if he'd just escaped a dragon. Russel's milky white eyes passed over him taking in the other man's obvious anxiety as he trembled a little, some perspiration building on his forehead. Nothing out of the normal really. 2D was one weird cracker.

"Sup, my man?" Russel said good-naturedly as he quickly grabbed the nervous man by his shoulder and pulled him in for a surprise-noogie. 2D let out a help of horror as he tried to escape, flailing around helplessly. "Das whatchu get fo' hidin shit from me, maaan," Russel chuckled, watching as his friend's skin turned an unhealthy shade of gray. He released him and laughed, patting him merrily on his back causing 2D to stumble forward a bit. "Why didn' you tell me you hadda' hot new piece of ass? I had to find out from Muds!"

"Wait, wot-?" 2D asked slowly as he tried to catch his breath. His eyes looking blankly at the other man as he dared to believe that he was about to escape this situation unscathed.

"Yo new gurlfriend!" Russ exclaimed, smacking him upside the back of his head as if to jog his memory. "Well, out with it! Where'd you meet her? Is she fiiiiine?"

It suddenly occurred to 2D that Russ had no idea who his 'secret gurlfriend' was and he nearly sighed in relief. Instead he gave a big dopy grin and played along. "Yeah, she's 'ot," he said simply as he reached up to comb his now extra messy hair back from his face. In doing so, he accidentally revealed a fresh hickey that was right below his ear.

"Daaaaaamn, man! Tha's what I'm talkin' about!" Russ laughed as he reached out and poked the love bite just to be an ass. 2D hissed as he slapped his hand against the offending bruise and his cheeks flushed pink at being caught. "Soooooo, when do we get to meet this mystery woman?"

"Hah! G oo' luck wi' that one, Lards," Murdoc belted as he rounded the corner to join them and wrapped his arm around 2D's other side so that they had him trapped between them as they continued down the hall. 2D sniffed the air a second and nearly gagged as he tried unsuccessfully to duck away from the green man's armpit. "I tried teh get this cunt teh tell me ova a week ago. Wouldn't tell meh shit!"

"And who would blame him," Russel muttered, rolling his glowing eyes sarcastically – not that anyone noticed. He winced as Murdoc leaned closer to 2D ignoring his protests and kicked him from behind.

"I heard that, fat ass!"

"Oh heeeeeeell naw," Russ glared as he started to give the older man what is commonly known as the evil eye. 2D saw this and blanched before somehow wrenching himself from their grips. He was not about to let them forget he was there before they started horsing around. Last time that happened he'd been out for over six hours after Russ had accidentally punched him when Murdoc had gotten in a lucky dodge. Murdoc had found it hilarious; 2D not so much.

"Now, now," 2D giggled nervously as he backed away from them. "Yeah, I do hava' girlfwiend but I'm no' ready to bring'er ova yet."

"S'cool man," Russel replied easily, leaning against the wall before glaring at Muds from the side. "Probably fo' the best with this moldy cracka' around."

"Wot tha' fuck!?" Muds scowled, obviously offended. He looked back at 2D with furrowed brows. "I'm not gonna' do nothin' if that's wot yer all worried 'bout. You don't believe tha' shit do yeh, Dents?"

2D struggled to find something to say without sounding too self-incriminating. It wasn't that he was worried that Murdoc would try to steal her. Quite the opposite, really. He was more concerned with the ass-beating that would occur after he found out. "Naaah, that's no' it." He replied. However the damage had already been done. He'd taken too long to answer.

Murdoc's face turned red with a strange combination of shame, embarrassment, and anger as he looked between the two. "I told you twats tha' would neva' happen again and I meant it, damn it!" he shouted at them before turning heel and stomping down the stairwell. Russel looked fairly unimpressed by the display, but 2D was horrified.

"Muds, wait!" 2D called after him, and was about to follow when one of Russ's strong hands grabbed his shirt stopping him from behind.

"Let him go, D," Russel warned, leaning away from the wall and crossing his arms. "If you bug him now with him bein' this agitated, you know you'll regret it." The bigger man's expression softened a little when he saw the worried expression on the blue haired man's face. "He'll be okay. It's Muds, he'll get over it.

"Yeah," Stu said slowly, still frowning as he listened to the door slam signaling the Satanist's dramatic exit. He remained there long after Russ had patted him on the shoulder and took his leave simply wondering how many times he'd hurt his friends the longer they'd keep this a secret. However, like most things, the thought left soon after and he continued on with his day.

The next night, 2D had planned a special date for Noodle. He'd cleaned up the old record room they'd found in the attic and set up a candlelit dinner on the old beat-up coffee table. They had enjoyed a light dinner of vegetable stir-fried ramen and some ohagi for dessert while listening to some of their favorite tunes. After that, they'd carefully climbed out the window so that they could enjoy the rest of their night on the roof.

Currently, they were both laid back looking up at the starry night. 2D was calmly smoking a cigarette as his other arm draped comfortably around Noodle who was resting against his chest with an indulgent smile on her face.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" she asked in a dreamy voice. It was rare to have a night with so few clouds in the usually dull English sky. Normally the gray overcast seemed to swallow up any natural beauty hidden beyond the horizon like a thick bowl of mushroom soup. But tonight the stars seem to glitter as far as the eye could see and the darkness of space seemed to glow with a pleasant rippling effect. The moon was the final and most prominent piece of the tapestry as it glowed brightly in full crescent.

"Hm?" 2D hummed, caught off guard by the sudden question. In all honesty, his eyesight was so poor that he really couldn't see the tiny details the cosmos had granted them with. If he narrowed his eyes just right he could see the brightest of the little white dots that were peppering the sky, but otherwise it all just looked dark with random smears of light to his damaged corneas. "Yeah, S'lovely," he replied after a while, blowing out a thick cloud of smoke before opting to look down at her beautiful carefree face instead.

She seemed to feel his gaze on her because she shifted her face upwards so that she could see him better and giggled. "Thanks for tonight, Stu," she said sweetly as she stretched her neck up and lightly kissed his jaw. Long after her lips had left, he could still feel the tingling current humming pleasantly in his mind.

"It wos nothin' really," he said, his cheeks turning a little pink from her praise. Then his expression clouded over a little and he looked away making her frown a little in concern.

"Toochi?" she asked, leaning up so that she was partially sitting as he continued looking away from her. "What is it?"

"S'nuffin' really," he repeated again, before his brows furrowed realizing that he'd already said that only in a different context. Sighing he finally met her eyes looking slightly disgruntled. "S'jus that I wish I coul' take yeh somewhere nice li' you deserve. I dun feel li' I'm doin' enough for you," he admitted quietly as he tossed the remains of his cigarette over the edge with a grunt.

Noodle offered him a sad smile in response. She knew the whole situation was bothering him more than he cared to admit. He wasn't used to having to hide things like she was. He wasn't used to not being able to do what he wanted without a care. It was beginning to wear on him, she could tell. "But I like our secret little dates," she said, trying to distract him as she ghosted her fingers over his chest. She could feel him stiffen a groan beneath her ministrations as he was fairly sensitive to touch she'd learned. However, before she could go much farther one of his large warm hands had captured her smaller one in a firm yet gentle grasp.

"I like 'em too, but I wish I coul' do more," he said simply. "Bu' I know I can't because Russ and Muds woul' neva allow this." She silently agreed with him as she rested her head against him again and shivered pleasantly as he started to run his fingers through her hair soothingly. "I 'ate lyin' teh them. Muds especially. I fink I really hurt 'em earlier when I wosn't able to tell 'em why I didn' want you near 'em. He finks I fink that he'll try teh sleep wif you like 'e did wif Paula," he practically spat the name. He hated anything that reminded him of her. He'd been so stupid back then… but that was neither here nor there. He sighed as he tried to clear his mind of the subject.

"He'll understand someday," she promised with a sigh of her own. She hated to see him so tormented by this. "Who knows, maybe if we told them I might not be as bad as you think. We could be completely wrong," she suggested, though even she could admit it was a weak argument. His silence told her that he also didn't think it was a good idea either. She scooted up a little bit so that she could lay level with him and leaned so close that it nearly gave her double vision as she looked into his large gazeless eyes. Up this close she could almost make out where his pupils should have been, but she couldn't tell for certain. "I don't want to lose this," she said before closing her eyes and pressing her lips against his in a meaningful kiss.

He didn't respond at first, but then his mind caught up to what was happening and he quickly closed his eyes and deepened it. His mind was growing fuzzy again and her lips seemed to be the only thing anchoring him to the moment. It was times like this when he reflected on just how much he loved and needed her. She was his rock; his voice of reason. The electric shock of her love felt like a lifeline rocketing through his body and soul. He wanted nothing more to meld into her loving embrace and forget all of his problems and worries, but that damn buzzing at the back of his mind just wouldn't leave him alone.

"Let's not let it ruin our night," he felt her mumble against his lips as he pulled her closer to him. "I still haven't given you a proper thank you and we were rudely interrupted yesterday, after all," she hissed in that seductive little voice of hers as she slowly began to move downwards.

That night the Murdoc looked out of the window of his Winnebago in confusion. He could have sworn he'd heard a howling somewhere in the darkness. He looked over at the several empty bottles scattered around his living space. Perhaps it was time to lay off the rum again. He shrugged and made for the vodka instead with a clever grin.

A/N: Hello again! Thank you for all of the nice reviews I've been getting. I really appreciate it! Hope you enjoyed this chapter because things are about to get rocky for our secret pair!