styrofoam stars 🌅| gorillaz + 2d x reader

༄ 13. i think... {on melancholy hill}

It only took a take or two to wrap up the vocals for the song. Once you finished, you concluded you'd piece it all together and complete it in the studio tomorrow.

You yawned, somehow miraculously still a bit sleepy. "Is that everything, then?"

"Well..." 2D shyly glanced to the side, his hand hovering hesitantly over his pocket. "I thought abou' doing just one more."

"Really?" Your head tilted slightly to the side. "You've got another one on you?"

Finally his hand made a decision, pulling a folded square of paper out and looking down at it. "Murdoc wrote it, no' me, but...I thought it was very nice."

"Can I see?" You asked inquisitively.

Timidly he handed the paper to you, like he was nervous to hear your thoughts. You unfolded and straightened it to where it could be read. The handwriting was borderline illegible, but somehow you could still interpret the writing.

"Up on melancholy hill, there's a plastic tree," you read out loud.

"It reminds me of this island-looking place we passed on th' submarine ride over 'ere," 2D explained. "Nothin' up there but some sad lookin' tree and a manatee, poor bloke." He shook his head.

"Cuz you are my medicine, when you're close to me?" You raised an eyebrow. "You're telling me Murdoc wrote this?"

"He can be good when 'e's not bein' bad."

"This is true," you agreed. "This is..." you held the paper gently, back a bit so you could take in the sight of the whole page. "This looks lovely, Stu. I can only imagine how it's gonna sound."

He smiled shyly. "That's th' thing, I kinda 'ad an idea on what it could sound like."

"Sing it to me, please?" You asked.

"Oh, I dunno, Y/N..."

"Pleeeease?" You smiled sincerely, clasping your hands together. "We can keep it on this tape and then separate them later."

He sat in silent thought for a few seconds.

"I'd really love to hear it," you added.

"Ehh...alright, alright." He surrendered. "Bu' don't laugh or anythin'."

"I'm not gonna laugh!" You reassured him excitedly, preparing the tape recorder again. You glanced up at him, his eyes meeting yours, indicating he was ready. You pressed the record button, hearing it click.

"Up on melancholy hill, there's a plastic tree,

are you here with me?

Just looking out on the day of another dream?"

You didn't know how you had imagined the lyrics to sound in song form, but it was nothing like this. In his voice the song came to life, full and melodic, complete and beautiful. The sounds of waves rolling on the sand complimented the a capella performance perfectly. You felt like even if you completed the song later in the studio it would never sound just like it did at this moment. You felt like you were always meant to hear it this way.

"'cause you are my medicine when you're close to me,

when you're close to me."

He glanced over to you, signaling to you to press the button and end the recording. 

"Well?" He asked. "What'd y'think?"

"I think..." You were partly at a loss for words, until just the right words fell out of you. "I think it's perfect."

His eyes widened slightly, as if this surprised him. "Really?"

"W-well, yeah, of course."

The slow-falling sun shone a brilliant shade of crimson silhouette onto his face as he looked toward the ocean.

"You were gonna ask me somethin' last night," he randomly began steadily, changing the subject, as if he'd just remembered. "What were y'gonna ask me?"

This was the one thing that put you off guard. "I don't know," you said after thinking. "I don't remember." You knew. You remembered.

"Oh," he sounded slightly disappointed. "That's okay." He breathed out one of his quiet laughs to himself. "Ha...Fo' a second, I thought y'were gonna ask if you could kiss me or somethin'."

You forced a laugh, pretending that wasn't exactly what you were going to ask. "Haha, right..."

He hummed, smiling towards the sea. "I almost wish you 'ad."

Now it was your turn for your eyes to go wide, as you looked over at him. "R-Really?"

He shrugged. "Kind of," he replied, his calm smile never waning. "I wouldn't 'ave minded. I like you a lot, y'know, Y/N."

You turned bright pink, almost blending in with the setting sun. "You mean that?"

"Wouldn't say it if I didn't."

You smiled, staring shyly at the sand. "I couldn't have asked then, I was too scared."

"Are you too scared now?"

You looked up, meeting his eyes that were gazing softly onto you. "Maybe not."

Slowly you reached out to touch his hand, setting both of you at ease. In an almost careful fashion, as if he were delicate and you were trying not to break him, you leaned in, and under an increasingly dark, beautiful sky, you planted a kiss on his cheek. He was cold to the touch, and slightly pale, but as you heard him sigh contently, you knew everything was okay.

"Thank you," was all he said. You weren't sure why. 

"So...Erm..." Stand shuffled under you as you sat back and looked out at the sea. "What do we do now?" 

It was a genuine question. You and 2D had crossed into a whole new territory in your friendship. Would things be the same for the two of you? Would they be better? ...Worse? From where you were now, you couldn't quite see where the path you'd stumbled down would lead to. But then again, you could have been referring to a number of things; it was a very vague question, but you hoped he knew what you meant.

"Hmm..." He thought. "We shou' run these tapes back to th' studio, probably."

Guess not. 

You shrugged, forfeiting the inquiry. "Yeah. Here, I'll hold the tape recorder."

Just before the sky turned gray, you got up off the sand and, carefully holding the recorder and the recordings of that evening in your hands, headed back inside. 

2D grabbed the door for you and held it open. He used his other hand to intertwine it with yours. That was enough to put you at ease, smiling warmly at him as he followed you through the doorway.

Suddenly, there was nothing to be scared of.