A/N: It's 9:35am, I lost an entire night of sleep writing this, and my stomach hurts. You guys better love it!

Disclaimer: I don't own Gorillaz.

The four of them sat in the waiting room of the ER, waiting for Murdoc's name to be called. Each of them were being gawked at by the various people who made up the 2am Thursday night ER waiting room. Noodle supposed they did look a bit odd to anyone who'd never seen, nor heard of, the Gorillaz. A small Japanese girl with purple hair whose bangs curtained her eyes, a tall, stick-like man with spiky blue hair and black eyes, a Satanist with green skin and two different colored eyes, and a very large black man with white eyes. You certainly didn't see that every day, especially all together.

"Erm…Mr. Niccals?" A small brunette with too-thick glasses called out from behind the counter. Murdoc stood, one hand still holding his nose, and stumbled over. "'bout bloody time." He mumbled, while the mousey-looking girl stared up at him. "We, uh, have a room for you now, but unfortunately, only one of your, um, friends are allowed back with you at a time."

Murdoc groaned. "'ey lards!" "Yea?" Russel called, not wanting to get out of his chair. It was hard enough for him to get in it. "I wan' yeh ta' come back wit' me."

Russel cocked an eyebrow. "Why?" Murdoc rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Ain' it obvious? Yeh're big an' black. No one will botha me wit' yeh aroun'."

"What about the new nurses?"

He shrugged. "If they look anything like four-eyes here," he said, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder to the girl sitting behind the counter, "they ain' worth it." The girl's nostrils flared in anger, and her eyebrows knitted together. "Excuse me, sir. I'm four feet away. I can hear you." Murdoc shrugged. "Yeh say that like I care. Now abou' tha' room?" Her eyes turned into slits as she glared at him, before finally pointing to the right. "Room 402. Please, do hesitate to call if you need anything." He tried to snort, but instead clutched his nose harder and yelled out a string of profanities.

Russel heaved himself off the chair, sighing. Before leaving to join Murdoc, he turned to 2D and Noodle. "I'll come out when he's all settled in. Ya'll gonna be alright?" 2D laughed. "Yew know we will be, Russ. Now hurry before Murdoc gets 'imself inta' more trouble." Russel nodded slightly, and left.

Noodle tipped her head back. "How long do you think he'll be in the hospital?" 2D shrugged. "Dunno. Wot time is it?" he asked, glancing around and not seeing any clocks on the walls. She picked her head back up and dug into her pocket, pulled out her phone, and flipped it open. "It's…oh?" He glanced at her. "Wot?" Noodle closed her phone and gripped it between her hands. "Nothing." She smiled tightly. "Luv?" He asked, in a slightly worried tone.

"It's 2:38" she guessed blindly. "Oh…" He answered skeptically. He looked at her a few seconds longer before closing his eyes and sighing. Noodle's eyes never left her cell phone. However, due to her bangs covering them, 2D couldn't see her eyes unless he or Noodle moved them. His eyes opened again when he heard soft clicking sounds. Curious, he looked around, before realizing the sound was coming from his direct left. It was Noodle, with her phone open, and…texting? She never did that. "Noods?"

Her head snapped up, and she smiled slightly. "Yes?"

"Yew're textin'." She glanced down, pressed a button, and snapped her phone shut. "Not anymore." 2D had been watching her screen, and noticed the message was oddly long, but she'd hit "send" before he could actually read any of it. "Yew neva' text." She shrugged a bit. "You don't know everything I do and don't do." She mocked, sticking out her tongue. 2D smiled widely. Acting odd or not, she was always so adorable, and his heart sped up.

Noodle giggled. "Goodness, 'D. If I didn't know better, I'd think you were jealous." This actually surprised him. He wasn't the jealous type. At least, he didn't think so. Until she brought it up. Now that he thought about it, he was, actually, a bit jealous. There they were, just him and Noodle, and she'd rather text someone than talk to him. Didn't she just confess her love for him a few hours ago? He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on. He shoved his hand into his pocket, and withdrew a big transparent orange bottle, with a white lid and a white label wrapped around it. He swiftly twisted the cap off, dumped a few painkillers into his palm, and popped them into his mouth. He swallowed and closed the bottle at the same time. He shoved the bottle back in his pocket, closed his eyes, and tipped his head back. During all this, he heard three sounds: clicking, silence, and a quiet vibration. Over and over. Who was Noodle texting? And at this hour? 2D heard rustling from Noodle, and opened his eyes. "Luv, anythin' wrong?"

Noodle beamed. "Nope. Nothing at all." He picked his head up and scanned her hands. "Where's yer phone?" She wiggled a bit in her seat and leaned to the left, exposing her back pocket, which she patted. "Right here." "Done textin'?" She nodded. "Yes." She closed her eyes and leaned her head against 2D's arm, causing them both to blush. Noodle had definitely become bolder now that she knew her feelings. She figured she'd be shy. But, of course, she was completely relaxed around him. It wasn't until a few minutes later that Noodle remembered her injured elbow; it hit the armrest between her and 2D, and she hissed out in pain. 2D's head turned in her direction, alarmed. "Luv? Wot's wrong? Wot hurts?"

Noodle pulled up the right sleeve of her shirt, revealing a blood-stained forearm and a badly scraped elbow. "Damnit!" she cursed under her breath. She'd been so caught up in Murdoc and texting that she'd completely forgotten when her elbow and the floor became good friends back in Kong. 2D's eyes widened and he gasped. "Luv! Yer elbow! We need ta' fix it!" She laughed. "'D, it's okay. It's stopped bleeding, apparently. My arm just needs to be rinsed off, and my elbow needs a little Neosporin and a good bandage." 2D shook his head slightly. "No! Yew're broken!" Noodle laughed again and stood up. "I'll be right back. I'm going to the little girl's room to wash up."

Noodle had been too busy laughing when she stood to hear the clatter of her phone falling out of her back pocket and landing on the hard plastic chair. "Luv!" 2D called. She was halfway across the room and waved her hand. "Give me fifteen minutes!" she called back.

2D slumped against the seat. She knew how he worried. He closed his eyes, but only for a few seconds. A loud plastic-on-plastic vibration made him snap open his eyes, which immediately darted to the seat next to him. It was Noodle's phone, vibrating and lighting up. 2D reached over and picked it up, looking at the outer screen. "NEW TXT MSG" was in big bold letters. His curiosity got the better of him, and he flipped open Noodle's little phone. The screen gave him two options: "View later", or "View now". Hesitating for only a second, he selected "View now". The message was from Ben, and read:

"I can't wait any longer"

2D's eyebrows knitted together. Wait for what? How long had he been waiting? Most importantly, who the hell was Ben? 2D glanced up. No sign of noodle. Curious and slightly irritated, he did something he normally wouldn't have done. He invaded Noodle's privacy, and read all her texts. He scrolled all the way to the bottom of list in the inbox, and read the first message. Then he read the bottom – and first sent – outbox message, and read the conversation.

Ben: What are you doing?
Noodle: I'm in the ER. I accidentally broke my friend's nose, and he's getting it taken care of.
Ben: Oh. You still wanna come over tomorrow night?
Noodle. Of course! I miss you.
Ben: What about 2D?
Noodle: Don't worry. He has no idea.
Ben: You're tricky.
Noodle: I know. Good thing I'm a good liar, too.
Ben: Yea. You sure he won't find out?
Noodle: Have some faith in me, Ben. You're hurting my ego.
Ben: Sorry. Just paranoid.
Noodle: He won't find out about us. I don't like lying to him, but it's necessary.
Ben: Will you ever tell him?
Noodle: Eventually. I'll have to.
Ben: When?
Noodle: Not for a while. After we're done.
Ben: You're not gonna tell the others, are you?
Noodle: No way.
Ben: Promise?
Noodle: Promise.
Ben: And you'll for sure come tomorrow?
Noodle: Yes. Just calm down and wait.
Ben: K.

2D felt a number of emotions: rejection, fear, anger, betrayal. She'd admitted her love for him hours ago, and now she was texting this…Ben? The conversation looked extremely suspicious. It she lied about saying she 'loved' 2D, what else was she lying about? How the hell could she do something like this to him? What was he to her? A convenience, because he was always around? Was she going to pretend she had feelings for him, use him, then go back to her precious Ben at the end of the day? He didn't notice he was crying until he saw tears steadily landing on Noodle's phone. He wiped the screen against the sleeve, drying it off. He snapped it shut and put it back on her seat. He wiped the tears off his face, and blinked hard a few times. He prayed his nose wasn't red and his eyes weren't bloodshot. When his vision was completely unblurred, he saw a head with an unmistakable shade of purple hair headed straight toward him. He lowered his head; his vision blurred again, tears of hurt threatening to fall, and he bit his lip to resist screaming at the girl he was in love with. Noodle plopped down on her chair, making an odd squeaking sound as she sat on her phone. "Oh, did my phone fall out of my pocket?"

2D simply nodded. She reached underneath her with one hand to retrieve it. She pressed a button on the side of the phone, the outer screen lighting up. "Damn, it's only 2:50…" sighing, she fidgeted and tucked her phone back into her pocket. 2D stood up abruptly, startling her. "'D? Where are you going?"

"Smoke." He answered coldly, half-running outside. Noodle only stared after him. What on earth was that about? Concerned, she got up and pushed her way past a group of loud, drunken teenagers who'd just stumbled in. The automatic door opened, and a gust of cold air rushed in and hit her in the face, ruffling her hair. Smoothing it back into place, she looked for 2D. A few more steps, and the unmistakable smell of his favorite brand of cigarettes hit her.

"2D?" she called. It was dark outside, except for a few scattered light posts throughout the parking lot. She squinted, scanning. "'D?" she called out again. She smelled him, but she couldn't see him. Sighing, she turned around, startled to see a floating red-ish orange dot. She blinked, and realized it was the cherry of a cigarette. Smiling, Noodle walked over to it. No one else would be outside of the ER at three in the morning smoking except for 2D and Murdoc, and the latter was inside currently being treated for a busted nose.

"You blend in pretty well out here in the shadows." Neither 2D nor Noodle could see each other very well, but Noodle felt around and leaned back against the wall when her fingers grazed the rough rocky texture. Staring at the cherry of 2D's cigarette, she got curious. "Mind if I have one?" He was silent for a moment. "Wot?" "Cigarette. I'd like to try one."

He glared, even though he knew she couldn't see. "Why? Yew've always 'ated 'em." She shrugged. "I want to try something new." 2D snorted. "Yea, yew're inta' tryin' new things now, huh?" Noodle pushed herself off the wall. "2D, what's the matter with you?" He took a long drag, and Noodle watched the cherry dance as he brought it to his lips, watched it burn brighter when he inhaled, and watched it dim again when he brought it back down. "Nothin'."

She sighed. "You are a horrible liar, Stuart. Now tell me what's wrong." No matter the tone, Noodle's voice always made his heart speed up and gave him butterflies. "Yew really wanna see wot it's like ta' smoke?" He asked after a few seconds. She nodded. "Yeah. I do."

He didn't move at first, but then he took another long drag, but didn't exhale. He dropped his cigarette, grabbed Noodle's arms, brought his face dangerously close to hers, and exhaled. She inhaled the smoke, only coughing a couple times. She felt light headed, but she knew it wasn't from the smoke. Her eyes were watching 2D's lips, or rather, what she could see of them. She raised herself up on her tip toes, and tipped her head back a bit.

2D froze. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening. Noodle melted his heart, made him blush, gave him butterflies and messed with his heart rate. And here she stood, her face inches from his, and obviously wanting a kiss. 2D bent down slightly, his chapped lips meeting her soft, innocent ones. Noodle's entire world disappeared, and all she could focus on was the blue haired man in front of her. Stuart Pot. Her eyes had closed, and she relaxed into his arms, which he had wrapped around her shoulders. It wasn't a deep kiss, and lasted no more than ten seconds. When 2D broke the kiss, Noodle was surprised at how heavily she was breathing, and how badly she wanted more. She looked down shyly, before 2D pulled her in for a hug. Noodle wrapped her arms around his waist, listening to his heartbeat, the speed of it matching hers. The two stayed like that for several moments, 2D's cheek resting on the top of Noodle's head, and Noodle listening to 2D's heart. Neither of them cared that their first kiss was outside a hospital at three in the morning.

Noodle took a breath to say something, but was interrupted by the sudden vibration of her phone in her pocket. She sighed, and unwound one arm from 2D's waist. She dug out her phone, and flipped it open. 2D could see Noodle's face in the light of her phone; she rolled her eyes and smiled a little. "Wot is it?" 2D asked, letting go of her. Noodle shook her head before shutting her phone. "Nothing. Just a text." "From?" "No one concerning you." She teased. "Same person as earlier?" "Maybe."

2D grabbed her wrist and unwound it from his waist, glaring. Wordlessly, he turned and walked back inside. Noodle stared at his retreating form, not sure how to feel. She looked back down at her phone, opened it, and scrolled through her contacts until she found Ben's name. She pressed the green button that would call him, and held the phone tightly to her ear, anxiously waiting for him to pick up.

Yes. Texting and cell phones. Because I'm cool like that. But really, I chose it because Gorillaz don't live in 1869. Why wouldn't they have phones and whatnot? I mean, damn. It's 2010. Get with the program. So basically I tried to make it modern. And because I couldn't think of anything else.

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