Work Text:
The house was dead silent.
Despite no one else being in the building, you quietly kicked your heels off and slumped to your bathroom to take the makeup off your face. A couple friends had dragged you out to the bars tonight, in hopes of getting you out of the hole you'd buried yourself in for the past few months.
He'd done it again. Stopped calling, stopped messaging, stopped caring. It'd been three months since you'd last heard his voice. One day he'd just disappeared. At first, you worried something had happened to him, until you started seeing him in interviews and the new music video his band had made. He looked different, but he still screwed you over just the same.
Of course, 2D never got around to giving you Noodle's number, so you couldn't track him down. The only thing you could do was pick yourself up to try and move forward. Easier said than done, when you were still so caught up in thoughts of blue hair and black eyes. Breathy little laughs rattled around your head like nuts and bolts, making it hard to focus on anything, anymore.
Martin was a patient man, and had shouldered the brunt of the work with your investments, but you knew there was only so far he'd be willing to go. That's why you agreed to go out tonight, you needed to get your shit together again after 2D had kicked it all over the place.
The following morning, the first thing you did was go through your closet and throw away that fucking jacket he'd left here the second time he showed up, spouting love and empty promises. It was blue, with white trim and red stripes here and there. You faintly recognized it from one of the music videos he'd shown you when he was years younger.
When you roughly yanked the leather from the hanger, you held it up and leveled it with the strongest glare you could muster. Maybe it would be able to reach that blue idiot, wherever he was screwing around at right now. Your fists clenched in the worn material, and you dropped them to hang at your sides, the jacket clutched in your left fist.
You couldn't do it. Despite feeling so abandoned and used, you couldn't just throw away the only tangible evidence that he existed in the same space as you. With shaky hands, you carefully hung it back up and shoved it into the farthest corner of your closet to forget about. With a final slam of your closet doors, you collapsed back on your bed.
2D was a menace, a fucking moron. You felt bad for calling him that in passing before, but you truly felt it, now. No wonder he got his ass beat by Murdoc so much. Twenty years with him had to be taxing. Immediately, you felt bad for thinking that. You knew 2D, enough to know how his brain worked. Just because he was forgetful didn't mean he deserved to get roughed up by that little green goblin.
You went about the day with a renewed sense of purpose, mostly out of spite. It was time to stop crying and pining over someone that didn't give any shits about you. You could be happy without 2D. You had to be, because he obviously wasn't coming back, this time. Last night, your friends had been happy that you started to come back out of your shell a bit.
They knew about 2D, and all the bullshit you've been through since he first helped you bring your groceries in. At first, they were supportive of the relationship... Until he dropped all lines of communication. His phone number no longer worked. Getting ghosted fucking sucked.
"Thank you, have a great day!"
"Thanks, you too," You waved off the cashier's cheerfulness and tucked the handles of your grocery bag into your elbow. The dish soap bottle was almost empty, and you needed to pick up more shampoo, so you'd ducked down to the shops to get more. It was sunny outside, but you could see the clouds looming off in the distance, promising rain for the night.
Regretting your decision to walk, you ducked around people on the sidewalk in your hurry to get home. Sometimes you wondered why you lived in the city, until you remembered that you disliked the countryside even more. You couldn't win anywhere, honestly.
Pausing for just a second, you whipped your head around. You could've sworn you'd heard your name. Humming and shaking your head, you continued on your way home. Probably was just a coincidence. Or your mind was playing tricks on you.
Until you heard it again.
Stopping once more, you whipped around and finally caught sight of someone frantically walking around people in your direction. Your heart stopped, then started pumping again with a ferocity you didn't think was healthy. You knew that blue hair, even if you couldn't quite see their face around the people.
Spinning on your heel, you power-walked away with a bit more force in your steps. Your heart was begging you to turn around and talk to him, but your bitter mind had won instead. Fuck that guy. Prick.
"Please! W-Wait, please!" He was close enough for you to really understand him, now. You cursed whatever gene gave him those spider-like legs. One of his steps had to be two of yours.
His steps were loud in your ears, and you grit your teeth in irritation. Why couldn't he just get the hint? Why was he so desperate to talk to you now!? His large hand curled around your elbow, and you snapped as he turned you to look at him, "Don't fucking touch me! Don't even fucking look at me!"
2D's face looked heartbroken, but it was nothing compared to how you'd felt these past months. It wasn't even a drop in the ocean of it, "Just fuck off! Fuck off to wherever you crawled out from, you slimy little prick!"
You yanked your arm from his limp grasp and stormed home again. You thought he'd finally gotten it through that empty head of his, until his footsteps came up behind you again and he started speaking, "Please, p-please just listen to me. I have to explain, please, love."
You spun around to tell him off for looking at you, until you realized that his gaze was firmly locked above your head, following your wishes. Jesus Christ, what a... well, you didn't even know, at this point.
"I don't have to listen to anything you say, 2D."
"You don't, b-but I'm askin' you. Please, just... lemme speak, and then if you don't like it you c-can... I dunno, punch me."
"I'll never hurt you, 2D. As much as I really, really want to," You stared at his chest, before turning on your heel. Why were you entertaining his idiot whims? Maybe closure. He was offering an explanation for his disappearance, and you at least deserved to know what happened.
2D followed you to your house, and into the living room where you dropped your bag on the coffee table. You'd rearranged the furniture, thrown away half your shit and got new stuff. Anything to make it feel less like there was a person missing that should have been there. 2D awkwardly sat on one end of the couch, and you took the other, sitting as far away from him as possible.
"Alright, spill, then. I deserve that much."
"You deserve way more than that, but I-I don't think you want that from me, anymore," 2D's hands fell to his lap, and he picked at the skin around his nails anxiously. You stared him down, uncaring if it was making him uncomfortable. It was time to get on with it.
"I-I didn't purposely stop talkin' to you. I tried to... Well, I should prob'ly tell you that Murdoc knew we was still talkin', and he'd been a bit fucked up and smashed the hell out of my phone. I-I didn't have your number memorized, and I never gave you Noodle's, and-and we were in Japan so I couldn't get back here and... I'm so sorry, love. I-I didn't mean to, I just... please, I'm so sorry."
2D had devolved into outright tears and quiet sobs at this point, his elbows on his knees and his hands covering his face completely. The tension in your shoulders fell, and you rubbed a hand down your face to stall for a moment, "So Murdoc smashed your phone, you lost my number, and didn't think to... I dunno, email me? Why didn't you give me Noodle's number?"
"I don't know! I'm sorry, please, I'm sorry. I din't... I'm a moron, I'm a big idiot with nothin' in his head. If you wanna kick me out right now I'll go, but I-I just had to try because I love you so much. I din't wanna lose you... you make me feel important, like I'm not some waste of space and I'm worth somethin'. You're... y-you're my favorite, remember?"
You sighed into your hand over your mouth before dropping both to your lap. You shifted your hands a few times before relenting and moving down the couch to pull 2D into your arms. His head burrowed in the crook of your neck, nose brushing against your jawline like he'd done so many times that month you spent together.
"Why do you do this to me, 2D? I just... You promised you wouldn't do this again, but here you are."
"I'm so sorry. I'll say it a million times if I have to, I'll sing it from the rooftops and carve it into a monument-"
"Just... 2D. This is your last chance. I'm not going to get hurt like this again," 2D's sharp intake of breath indicated that he understood that you'd allowed him back into this. His arms looped around your waist and pulled you against him tightly.
"I-I won't promise, because I did that last time and I broke it... but I'll do my best. I'll do everythin' possible in my power to make it right again," With a sigh, you pressed a kiss to his temple and stared in front of you at the wall, wondering why you'd gotten yourself into this mess again, after you'd just returned to a semblance of your old self.
"Don't you have band stuff to do?"
"Not really. We just finished up the tour, and Murdoc can handle the rest of things. I don't really care, I was more focused on makin' things right with you," 2D was sprawled across the couch, and you were sitting on the floor at the coffee table, working on some documents on your laptop. 2D had been here for a handful of days, and he spent most of those asking how he could make it up to you. Needless to say, your house was spotless and your yard immaculate. You had somehow managed to wrangle a back massage out of him, too.
"Well, that's good, I guess." Sometimes you couldn't keep your bitterness in check. 2D had made a valiant effort, but sometimes you couldn't bury your irritation, and it bubbled out to take a stab at the man on your couch. 2D tried to keep the smalltalk going, but you only managed a few short words or answers to him. In fact, not much had been said on your end for the past few days.
"I know I messed up, but things ain't gonna get better if you don't make an effort, too," 2D spoke after a long while of silence. Your fingers froze over the keys, and you looked up at him slowly. Did he really just say that?
"Are you serious right now? 2D, I don't think you understand how upset I am. How badly you hurt me."
"I understand, love. I do, b-but forgiveness is a two-way street. You gotta try and move past it too," You propped your elbows on the table and buried your face in your hands. Unfortunately, he was right. You had been rather chilly to him, and had put no real focus on warming up again. You peeked through your fingers to meet 2D's earnest gaze.
Carefully, you crawled over to sit in front of the couch, and laid you head against it so you was face-to-face with him. It was a bit awkward when you both held that eye-contact for a few beats, but you finally cracked and slumped against the sofa, "I... I'm sorry. I'm just... it's hard, because I love you too, and I feel abandoned still."
"I won't abandon you again, love. We can fix this."
"When will you guys be working on a new album?"
You were on the couch with 2D, curled up together as the morning just started to creep between the buildings. 2D let out a quiet sigh and drummed the fingers of his free hand against the back of the couch. The other was curled tightly around your back, holding you against his chest while he sprawled face-up.
"I dunno. We normally take a few years hiatus between albums. It's what we've always done, we usually only come back together when Murdoc runs out of money after going on a bender. Hopefully that bastard won't blow it all this time and I'll have some peace."
"Let's not hold our breath," I sighed, and 2D's hand tightened against my upper arm for a moment before relaxing.
"He's like Beetlejuice, if we say his name too much it'll summon him."
2D wasn't lying when he said it would be a long hiatus. He'd been back for over half a year now, and things were finally starting to swing back into normalcy. Sometimes he had to duck out to do some work, but he always came home at the end of the day. One time it was even with flowers, which you proudly displayed on the kitchen table.
He'd managed to worm his way back into your bed without you realizing it. At first you were irritated when you'd go to sleep alone and wake up tangled in his ridiculously long limbs, but it always faded away when his eyes would open and he'd look at you like you were the one who hung all the stars in the sky.
"Mornin', sweetheart," He sighed happily, closing his eyes again and obviously relishing the feeling of being with another person. You rolled to your side and tucked an arm under your pillow, the other coming to rest across his bony and scarred chest.
"Wanna just stay in bed today?" One of his eyes cracked open at your words, and a sinister smile spread across his lips. The expression on his face made your heart jump, and you committed it to memory. Jesus Christ.
"What'll we do in bed?"
"Mmm... I can think of a couple things," You teased, curling your fingers into his chest lightly before running it downward. 2D arched into your touch, a content sigh slipping through his lips. Before you could continue to tease him, he rolled over to be on top of you and hurriedly pressed a few sloppy kisses to your neck and bare shoulders.
When he got to your ear, you could feel his hot breath wash over and give you goosebumps. 2D inhaled to speak, and you prepared yourself for something absolutely dirty,
"Can we watch the Evil Dead?"
That little prick.
You rarely fought each other, and even when you did, it smoothed over fairly well.
It was in the throes of a yelling match that you crossed your arms tightly over your chest and stomped up the stairs to the room you now shared. He'd gone to a friend's last night to help with some tracks they were working on. That's well and good, except he didn't come home until this morning.
He'd always come home before midnight, or at least shot you a text with his new phone if he wasn't, but the two of them had been drinking and 2D had passed out. He was an adult, and you didn't want to control his life, but after the shit he's pulled the past two times, you'd think he would've understood how frightened you were at the prospect of a third time.
2D apologized, but didn't seem to think it was that big of a deal, which sent you into a fury and the two of you devolved into arguing from there. In your head, you had a million hurtful things you wanted to say, things that would sting the both of you painfully. Instead, you curled in on yourself and just walked away from the situation. Before you got to the top of the final set of stairs, you could hear 2D's steps coming up behind you.
Hurriedly, you slammed the bedroom door and locked it. You needed a bit of distance right now, before you really do something you'll regret immediately afterward. 2D knocked quietly, and his voice sounded weak when he asked to be let in. You didn't answer, opting instead to snatch your laptop from the foot of the bed and do a bit of work to distract yourself from your anger.
"I'm sorry. You're right, I was an idiot, I should've realized," Was all he said before a thud sounded at the door. In the middle of opening your laptop, you froze and looked in his direction. A sliding noise made it obvious that he had leaned against it and dropped to sit on the floor. You sighed quietly and shut your computer again.
You had no self-control when it came to 2D. None at all. It only proved so when you made your way to the door and carefully opened it. 2D looked up at you with a hopeful expression, and you held your arms out. He didn't hesitate to pull himself from the floor and wrap his arms around you, "I don't think sometimes, you know that. I'm sorry, sometimes things just get jumbled up in my head and I just-"
"2D, it's fine, alright? You're not an idiot. Just... try and stop to think about things for a sec, 'kay? I worry about you."
"I'll do better, love. I promise that much," He peppered kisses all over your face, breaking the somber mood and pushing you into laughter, "I love you, you're the only good thing I've got goin' for me."
"I love you too, 2D."
2D's arm curled around your waist as you hummed over two vinyl records in your hands, trying to decide between them. Honestly, you could afford both, but you liked to practice a bit of restraint sometimes. Even more so when 2D told you about Murdoc's lack of restraint when it came to money.
"Why don't you just get both?"
"I don't need both, I just need one. Which one d'you think?" You asked as his chin plopped to rest on your shoulder, looking between the two of them with an appraising eye. His free hand came up to pluck one out of your hands.
"This one. It's one of their better albums, in my opinion. Really has some good shit on it," With a nod, you returned the other vinyl to the rack and took the one from 2D. Under his arm he had a few of his own that he wanted, and at your gaze he eagerly showed them to you.
One of them was the album they'd released a year and a half ago.
2D had stuck around for an entire year, much to your surprise. You honestly expected Murdoc to turn up after the first few weeks, demanding 2D come back to slave over a new album. 2D explained that Murdoc was off on his little sabbatical, blowing his money and giving the rest of the band a bit of peace in the meantime.
After checkout, the two of you started your return back to the house. To any normal onlooker, 2D seemed to be completely at ease, but you knew better. His body language was something you spoke fluently. He walked a little faster, the line of his shoulders was a bit tighter, his grip on the shopping bag was white-knuckled.
He was anxious about something, but what?
As you rounded the corner to your street and started the final stretch, 2D stopped in his tracks and dug in his pocket. You turned to wait for him, and saw his long fingers holding out a ring, "Marry me?"
"What?" You blurted, and he nudged his hand closer to you, holding out the little silver ring, the diamond on top sparkling in the sun.
"Wanna marry me? I know I'm not the best catch in the ocean, honestly you could do way better, but I just... I love you, and you love me, so why not?" Your gaze shifted from his eyes to the ring and back again, trying in vain to grasp for words to respond with. You were drawing blanks. He wanted to marry you?
"I don't wanna beg, but I will if It'll make you say yes, love. You're the only person I wanna spend the rest of my life with. Wake up in the mornin', and drink coffee and sing songs, and watch horror movies and listen to you complain 'bout my laundry bein' everywhere-"
"Yes, 2D. Yes, yes, yes," You interrupted him, dodging the ring to swing your arms around his neck in a vice grip. His laugh was a wheeze, but he didn't push you off. Instead, he returned the embrace with just as much eagerness. Of course, it fit perfectly, and when you asked he said he honestly just guessed. Lucky little prick.
It was just after midnight when you woke up alone. Through the window curtains, you could see the faint light of headlights outside. Rolling out of bed, you pulled some shorts and 2D's shirt on and made your way downstairs to look for him. Rubbing your eyes, you looked out the window on the front door, and saw 2D speaking angrily with someone outside. Someone painfully familiar.
Murdoc.
Panicking, you swung the door open and startled the both men. Murdoc looked a little less greasy than he had before, but was still the gross little gremlin that had taken 2D from you the first time. Seems like he was back to do it again. Murdoc opened his mouth to speak to you, but instead swung his head to look at 2D, "You've got ten minutes."
What?
2D pushed you in the house and shut the door firmly behind him. You opened your mouth to speak, but 2D interrupted you, laying both of his hands along your jaw to make eye contact, "I'm so sorry."
"What are you talking about?"
"I... Murdoc."
"Are you leaving?" You breathed, and 2D hesitated before averting his eyes over your shoulder. Shakily, you brought your left hand up to grab his off your face, the ring there shining dimly in the streetlights from outside. It caught your eye and you stared at it with a neutral expression, thinking about what an idiot you were for believing that marriage could be possible with someone like 2D.
"I'm sorry, love. I don't... I don't want to, but-"
"Then don't! It's that easy, just tell him no!"
"D'you think it's that easy!? That I haven't tried that before!? Murdoc never goes away! Ever! If I say no he'll just keep comin' back until he takes me by force. It's happened before, and if he does that it'll be harder for everyone. Then I won't be able to talk to you at all!"
"We can stop him," You urged, reaching up to grab his shoulders. 2D tried to take a step back, but you held him firmly within arm's reach, "2D, if you tell him no, then we can keep you from him. We'll move somewhere else, make ourselves a different life. 2D please, just... please."
"Murdoc will find us, and if he knows that me hidin' was your fault, he'll make your life hell, too. I can't do that to you, love. I won't," 2D broke away and reached for the bag that was sitting next to the door. He'd managed to pack without waking you up. You looked at it, then to his eyes that were darker than the shadows around the two of you.
"2D... if you do this, if you leave-"
"Please don't say that-"
"2D, if you leave then we're done. For good. I don't want to see you again," You ignored his interruption, holding his gaze earnestly. 2D dropped his eyes to the floor and his hand tightened on the strap of his duffel bag. He shifted a half-step to the door, and you realized that he already made up his mind. He was going to throw your help, your relationship out the window like it was nothing.
With a swift tug, you pulled the ring from your hand and took a step forward to shove it in the pocket of his jacket, "Goodbye, 2D."
"I love you," He ventured, looking at you with the most heartbreaking expression. When his head shifted and the light changed, you could see he was crying. You were, too. With a shaking hand, you reached forward to wipe one of the trails from his face.
"If you loved me, you'd stay."
"I'm leaving because I love you. So, so much. Enough that I'll ruin this because it'll keep you safe," Pushing forward, he planted a sloppy kiss to your lips and tore out the door, leaving it standing open behind him. Murdoc was already waiting in the car, leveling you with a stoic expression. As 2D got in the car and the tires spun out, you felt the burning in your chest finally erupt. Dropping to your knees, you watched the tail lights turn the corner and disappear.