Chapter Text
"G'mornin'."
Your head snapped up and thudded against the raised trunk of your car. With a groan, you rubbed the injured spot and turned around, forgetting your groceries for just a minute. Behind you was one of your new neighbors. You hadn't had the chance to meet any of them besides the woman, who was rather pleasant.
You'd seen this man before briefly, there were glimpses here and there in the two months that they'd lived there. The bright smile on his face slowly slipped as you stared at him longer, still rubbing your sore head. His hair was blinding blue in the morning sun, but his black eyes were even more distracting. Black?
"Uh... good morning," You finally responded, and his smile came back again, a little more sheepish. The hand he pulled out of his pocket was large, long fingers gesturing to the bags in your car.
"D'you need help? One trip's better than two, right?" You spared a glance to the bags behind you and gave him a short nod. With hands like his, he was easily able to take the rest of the bags you couldn't carry on your own... and to shut the trunk of the car as well. He was right, you would've heaved all these bags in on your own in one go, as long as you didn't have to make another trip outside.
Up the cement stairs of your porch, you struggled to unlock the door and kicked it open when you succeeded. Your home was narrow and small, but it had three floors above. You had a moderate amount of money to your name, and still more coming in from various investments you'd made after coming in to the original lump sum. You easily were able to afford the place on your own.
The man followed you in the kitchen and gently set the bags on the floor like you directed. He hovered for a minute as you started putting things away, and only spoke up when you regarded him with a confused look. Why was he still here? "My name's 2D, by the way. I'm one of your neighbors."
"Strange name. I know, I've met Noodle already. She came 'round to borrow the password for my Wi-Fi."
"I was wonderin' where she was gettin' it from!" Realization dawned on 2D's face, and as he spoke you could easily see his missing front teeth. He lacked a lisp, you noticed as he rambled on about something with the Wi-Fi. Apparently they owed money to the internet provider for the area and couldn't get them around to hook it up, yet.
"D'you wanna stay around for lunch?" You piped up, interrupting him. Despite his sudden introduction, he was a likeable guy. You supposed he had to be, to live with someone as polite and sweet as Noodle. His blue head bobbed up and down enthusiastically, and he plopped down at the table in the middle of your kitchen.
"Make yourself at home, then," You called over your shoulder as you finished putting groceries away. It was redundant though, considering he was already slouched at your table and not-so-subtly looking at the papers strewn across it. Most of it was earnings reports from the aforementioned investments. Real estate, businesses, stocks... Investing your money was the first thing you'd done when you Grandfather passed away and left you everything.
You were determined to never work another day in your life.
You dropped a plate with two grilled cheese sandwiches on it in front of 2D, and set yourself down across from him with food of your own, "So what do you do, then? You know what I do, obviously."
2D at least had the grace to look sheepish as you gestured to the sheets across the table that he'd been snooping through. It didn't matter, you were proud of what you'd managed to accrue. You had time to pursue your hobbies and tend to the spice garden in your front window boxes.
"Oh, I-I'm in a band. With everyone else in the house," 2D clarified, and you nodded before asking if his music was on Spotify. At the mention of it, his face brightened and he dug a battered smartphone out of his pocket. Within minutes, the basic music app was playing something you hadn't heard before.
"This one's called Andromeda," He said over the persistent drum beat and quiet bass. You propped your chin your palm and listened intently until the vocals kicked in. Your eyes shot up to him in wonder – how on Earth does a beautiful voice like that come out of this Cockney fucker? At your reaction, his lips spread into a grin, and you could tell it boosted his ego.
"This is you?"
"Yeah. 'Course it's me, Murdoc sounds like someone steppin' on a cat when he sings," You had no clue who Murdoc was, and 2D must've realized it, "Murdoc's our bassist. Russel does drums, but he's a little... incapacitated right now, so he mostly just directed someone else to play."
He went on to explain other things about his band – How they'd been pretty big a few years ago, and were working on a comeback. The song he'd shown you was the first time anyone outside the band had heard it, so you needed to keep it under wraps. No need to run around and tell everyone that Gorillaz was working on a new album.
Something about 2D was enthralling – either the way his hands moved when he talked, the slow blinking of his dark eyes, the expressive movement of his eyebrows... you didn't realize that it had been hours until his phone rang on the table. Across the screen, a picture of a sneering man with sickly green skin flashed, with the name Murdoc.
2D looked panicked and stood, not bothering to answer it. With a profuse flurry of apologies, he explained that he needed to get back home. You called your phone number after him as he left, and you briefly hoped he actually remembered it. You lived next door, so either way you would see him again.
That night, your brain rattled with thoughts of blue haired musicians with eyes like black holes.
Two months later, after messaging back and forth and many lunches here and there, you got the first red flag that something wasn't quite right over in that house next door.
At 2AM, your phone started to ring incessantly. You tried to ignore it, but whoever it was called two more times. On the third attempt, you finally picked up and groaned for them to go away, that you were tired. The shaking voice on the other line snapped you awake in an instant.
"C-Can you let me in? I need help," 2D in distress was something you hadn't witnessed before, but now that you had, you went into high alert. Hanging up on him and pulling on a pair of shorts and a huge t-shirt, you thundered down the stairs and swung the door open.
Outside, 2D stood shifting from foot to foot. Something dark was blooming across his cheekbone, and you realized that it was a bruise. His lip was split, and his hand was clutching his left side tightly. You ushered him inside and to the bathroom, making him sit on the edge of the bathtub while you tried to find a first aid kit in the cupboards.
"What the fuck happened, 2D?" You asked, spinning around with a bottle of peroxide and an old hand towel. It was hard to see his pupils, but you knew they were directed over your shoulder at the tiled wall, refusing to look you in the eye. You sighed quietly and doused the corner of the rag in the peroxide so you could wipe at the split lip.
"Murdoc," Was the only thing he said as you wiped at his mouth. It had to sting, but he made no indication of it. Murdoc did this to him? Why the hell would he do that? You voiced your question and 2D waited until you were finished cleaning the split in his lip before speaking, "I looked at him wrong, I dunno. He's been on some shit lately. He's always been a mean ol' bastard, but somethin' really set him off tonight."
"That's fucked up, 2D. You should leave," You advised as you gestured with your index finger for him to take his shirt off. With some grunting, he managed to get it over his head and you could see the extent of the damage to his ribs. Bruising was spread across there, too. He also had some shallow scrapes, but they weren't bleeding anymore so you wiped them down with the peroxide again and put a few band-aids on them.
"Can't. Don't want to, either. It's... I-It's nothin' I'm not used to, really. Been dealin' with his shit for almost twenty years now, probably gonna deal with it for twenty more."
"That's so shitty," Your only answer came out as a quiet mumble, and you stood back to admire your handiwork. There wasn't anything you could do for the bruising, but everything else looked like it would do, "D'you want some painkillers? I probably have some Hydrocodone for a surgery I had a while back. Just don't tell anyone I gave it to you."
"No! No, I-I'm good. Sorry, I just... I used to use that real bad and I've been clean for a long time now. Don't wanna relapse. It's not so bad, I'm just shaken up, yeah," 2D's face looked panicked at the thought of even touching the painkillers, and you held up two hands placatingly to appease him.
"Okay, okay. No painkillers. Do you wanna go back to your house? I have a futon couch in one of the rooms upstairs, if you don't wanna," Mentioning the possibility of staying under your roof soothed 2D's fidgeting immediately. It was strange, that he stayed around Murdoc for so long, even while being abused like this. Especially if he was going to jump at the chance of staying somewhere else for the night.
You lead 2D up to the guest room across the hall from your own, and gestured grandly for him to enter. The couch was already unfolded, since your parents had come to visit a few months ago and you hadn't bothered to fold it back up, yet. You dug a few spare blankets and pillows out of the closet to give to him, and the little blanket nest he made was adorable.
"I'm just across the hall, and the bathroom is down one floor on the left side, remember? Let me know if you need anything, alright?" 2D nodded slowly, and on an impulse you bent down to kiss him on the forehead, "G'night, 2D."
2D's eye and cheek were a mix of yellow and purple when he stumbled into the kitchen the following morning. His lip was swollen as well, but that didn't stop him from giving you a tired smile as he dropped to the table. You set a cup of coffee in front of him, and as an afterthought you dropped a straw into it so he wouldn't hurt his lip even more.
"Mmm, you're too good to me," He sighed as he drank, leaning back in the wooden chair precariously. You looked over your shoulder at him from the stove, where you were scrambling eggs for an extremely simple breakfast. That got put in front of him too, and you sat across with a hard look.
"2D, I don't know why you want to stick around over there, but come over here if you need to get cleaned up, okay?" You didn't want to think about how many times he'd taken care of his own injuries before he got the nerve to come ask for help. You desperately wanted this sweet man to get out of there, but it was a lost cause.
If 2D had resigned himself to it for the past twenty years, a few words from his neighbor wasn't going to do much.
"Okay. Like I said, you're too good to me. I just hope you never have to meet Muds."
"Do you think he'd do the same thing to me?" You asked before taking a long drink of your coffee. You had some actual work today – paperwork with the bank, and some emails and forms to go over upstairs in your little home office. 2D froze mid sip and shook his head slowly.
"Worse, he'd hit on you."
Martin, the man who helped you invest widely at the beginning, prattled to you on the phone as you mulled over the monthly report forms he'd sent you. You were losing money on some of these, and he was trying to come up with ideas on how to turn it around. Honestly, you couldn't be less interested.
2D had gone back home when you had to leave for the bank, and you briefly thought of going to the level below to clean up the futon and fold it back up. As you set your pen down to do so, you heard yelling from next door. Y'know? Better leave it, for now. Might be used again... soon.
Your phone call ended with Martin almost an hour later, and you were relieved. He could talk a brick wall to death, if he tried. A few floors below you, you could heard a steady knocking on your door, and more yelling. That didn't sound good. Closing your laptop, you trotted down to the entryway and opened the door.
The man in front of you couldn't be anyone other than Murdoc – 2D had described him in depth. His black t-shirt was hanging off one shoulder, revealing a handful of hickies and more sickly green skin. You stood there awkwardly as he stared you down, barely noticing 2D standing a few steps below, wringing his hands in worry.
"You've been sneaking over here for her?" Murdoc's lip curled into a sneer as his eyes roamed you up and down. You refused to fidget under his gaze. He would gain no ground against you, not unless it came to physical blows. Your eyes flicked over Murdoc's shoulder to look at 2D, and he offered a sheepish wave and a forced smile.
"2D, want some dinner?" You leaned to the right to look past Murdoc more obviously, knowing it was going to grate on the nerves of the angry man. Well, at least you thought he was angry. It was hard to tell if that was just his face – constantly leering and lip curled. 2D's dark eyes frantically flashed between you and the back of Murdoc's head.
It took a few seconds for him to gather the nerve, but he ducked under Murdoc's arm and dashed into your house like his ass was on fire. Murdoc didn't realize what had happened until it was entirely too late, "Look. I don't know why you bothered to come over here, but you should leave."
"Not a problem, love," His anger melted in a sugary sweet tone, and he leaned one arm against the doorframe leisurely. 2D's words rang out in your head, and you knew what had happened before he even had the chance to work the strange magic 2D said he had, "I'll just head back over there, but you just come 'round if you get lonely in this big ol' house, yeah?"
"Not to worry, I'll come over and see 2D if I do," You swung the door shut, and didn't bother to see if it hit him. You hoped it did, secretly. The magic 2D mentioned made no appearance, or maybe you were so tangled up in 2D that you were immune to Murdoc's voodoo. Murdoc's treatment of the man in your kitchen was at the forefront of your mind any time you spared a thought his way.
"What the hell was that about, then?" You asked 2D as you came into the kitchen and took your usual spot across the table. 2D's hands tapped a beat on the table nervously, and he took a few seconds to really form an answer.
"Guess he found out that I'd been sneakin' over here... Wanted to see what the fuss was about? I think he thought we were havin' sex, and he wanted to take you from me."
That... made sense, actually. Unfortunately, you'd heard of Paula Cracker, and the handful of other girlfriends that 2D had over the years. Murdoc had only successfully had an affair with Paula, but he ran the rest off with his unwanted advances. With a quiet sigh, you reached across the table to pat 2D's hand gently and stood to get dinner ready.
"You might wanna stay here again tonight, Murdoc's probably pretty pissed that I invited you in and slammed the door in his face."
"You slammed the door in his face? Brilliant," His breathy little laugh danced around the room, no doubt thinking of Murdoc's face getting smashed by your door. You didn't have the heart to tell him that you didn't actually hear the door hit anything. Judging by the day this guy's had, you didn't want to ruin the small bit of happiness he'd found.
The only thing you could be bothered to make was a box of macaroni and cheese, but 2D always seemed grateful for any meal you provided for him. He must not eat very well over there, but judging by his roommates, you didn't doubt it. Noodle was sweet, but didn't seem inclined to share her meals with anyone else in that house.
2D slipped off to use your shower, he'd gone on a bit of a walk around town today and was complaining of being sweaty and gross. Not a problem, you told him. He knew where it was without your prompting – either by remembering last night, or by the fact that the floor plan of your house was nearly identical to his own.
Still a small amount of time off from actually needing to go to bed, you curled up on the couch and turned on some game show from America. 2D came down to you after a strangely long amount of time, but it might just have been dragging on from the boring program in front of you. 2D dropped to sit beside you, and you sat in silence before he spoke up, "So, did I tell you we're gettin' evicted?"
"What?" Your head swiveled to look at him, and he reached a long arm out to mute the television through the remote, repeating himself. The only noise in the room was the clock ticking on the wall. He was getting evicted? That meant your time with him was coming to an end. You knew it was anyway – They'd just finished their album and had tour dates planned. He'd be gone for months.
"Where are you gonna go?" You ventured, and he gave you a lazy shrug. Of course he didn't know, you were surprised he managed to find his way down the sidewalk to your house. You crossed your arms over your chest and leaned back to look up at the ceiling, "Am I gonna see you again?"
"Probably? I mean, you treat me nicer than anyone else. I like you, you're my favorite," You rolled your head to the side to look at him, and the two of you shared a strange smile at his words.
"You're my favorite, too, 2D. Just... promise you'll come 'round? Murdoc's right, it does get lonely here sometimes," 2D's head bobbed furiously, and he reached a hand out to you for a second before snatching it back like he'd been burned. You looked at him oddly before he reached out again and ran a few fingertips along the line of your jaw.
"I'll come 'round as much as I can. Y'know things are gonna be real messy with the touring, and the Interviews coming up-"
"Well, I'll be here cheering you on, I guess. Just let me know when things air, okay? I'll watch 'em all," 2D let out that sweet breathy laugh again and leaned forward to lay a kiss at the corner of your lips.
"I'll call you all the time, if you want."
"You better," 2D laughed again at your warning, and with interlocked hands the two of you unmuted the television and continued to watch the program.
The next morning, you watched out your front window as a rickety pick-up truck was loaded down with various objects from the house. 2D climbed into the passenger's seat, Noodle took the wheel, and you made eye-contact with 2D as they pulled away. You definitely weren't crying.