summer '91 // damon albarn x reader

XVI. talking

19th of march, 1985.
12:25pm.
in front of freds house.

your pov.

i sigh and take a pretty deep breath before ringing the bell. i touch my necklace to realise the clip was in front, so i quickly turn it around and make sure its on the back. i smile to myself reassuringly. i am my own therapist. i was slightly nervous, to be fair. i talked to him once, and we were both high as shit and drunk. he opens the door as my smile widens. "alright!" he greets me, looking up and down, which kinda starts this off awkwardly. "hello!" i just giggle back like an idiot. "nice to see you here, come in." he enters his house again, holding the door for me. "cheers." i add. he seems okay so far.

"we can stay in the living room, dining room, kitchen, bedroom... really up to you. i have some snacks for the movie if youre down for it." fred says. something about the way fred spoke was so americanised, which some birds found fit. i however, wasnt the biggest fan of it. but to each their own i suppose. "uh, sure, yeah movie it is!" i reply. he leads me to his kitchen, which was very neat and tidy, pretty colours as well. mint coloured counters with white additions like the stove and fridge. "here, the counter under the sink, take anything you want... drinks are in the fridge." he points at both of them, and leans on the doorframe as i nod and open the counter first.

snack heaven, i tell you. i just had to let out a gasp. "yeah i know, im pretty much always bragging about that counter." he snickers. "wow." i just say, still looking at the various snacks and candies. i take anything that has an interesting packaging or colours, standing up barely holding all of the snacks. "snack junkie i see, we have a lot in common already." he laughs, and i just grin. "you can already go upstairs, my room is wide open and i have a clint eastwood poster in it, pretty easy to spot. ill get the drinks, alright?" fred smiles at me as i nod and get going upstairs.

the house smelled like upper class people, like expensive perfume and horrible attitudes. i spotted his room immediately, inviting myself in. i look around. so americanised. so cowboyish. so, awful. but i shrugged and sat on his bed. i look at his nightstand and all of his cds, not too bad. he kind of has some taste. "i am back dollface!" he smiles as he hands me a cold cold beer, so cold that my hand turned wet as i held it, then switching to my other hand cause it felt uncomfortable. "cheers, fred." i smile at him. there was awkward silence, so thick you can cut it with a knife.

"so... uh... what are we watching?" i ask, trying to fix the situation. he opens his beer and shrugs, "dunno, 'the good, the bad and the ugly'? what do you think?" he asks. i mentally sigh and facepalm. i just knew it. i knew it. but how can i say no?, thats just rude. "uh, sure, yeah!" i fake a grin and he nods, getting up and searching through his tapes. "im just playing a movie we dont really have to focus on, cause, i uh, want to get to know you,-" he stands up and groans, "-i feel like we got off on the wrong foot last time, it wasnt us. we werent sober..." he frowns, as he leans to put the tape in. "yeah... i agree." i nervously reply.

"here it is, let me just lower the volume a bit." he states as he fixes the volume and sits down, facing me directly. i look at him, dumbfounded. "uh, theres a whole movie going on there..." i point at the telly, but i couldnt help but laugh. the way he did what he does is somewhat cute. he smiles, rubbing the back of his neck. "no, i just... youre a fun person y/n." he admits as a smile grows on my face. "why, uh, thank you." i say, genuinely. i was kind of confused as to why he keeps looking at me with those eyes. his eyes were trying to say something.

"stop staring." i jokingly roll my eyes, but he doesnt stop, he widens his eyes more, tilting his head, causing me to laugh. "i want to get to know the genuine y/n. this is what i wanted to see. you smiling, all cute, all relaxed." he says. my eyes widen and i just dont know what to say, it felt like all words disappeared. i forgot everything... is he flirting? "i-im sorry but, me and this one person- we are talking... not a set-in-stone relationship but..." i nervously say, looking down, picking at my hands and fingernails. "oh..." fred sighs. god i feel dumb. we all feel dumb. i wanted to jump out of his window, get out of his room, house, neighbourhood.

"are you with dam- oh yeah, last time you said you fought, so no- sorry. that fucker isnt the right one for you, hes a knob. glad you found someone else though." he said. my first reflex would be to say i was with damon, but i stopped myself, knowing that they would start a fight. "yeah..." i just reply. the awkward air was entering and filling the whole room once again, and i sigh. "i mean, we can still be friends, aye?" fred lightens the mood. i nod, smiling. at least he didnt cuss me off after i rejected him. "yeah, of course." i look up, smiling. he smiles back, taking bags of the snacks and opening them one by one. i look at him, is he insane? "what?! its not gonna eat itself, now, is it?" he says, already stuffing his mouth. he turns around to face the movie. i take a bag of crisps and continue watching with him.

-

"-so thats how i was banned from watching tom and jerry in my kindergarten." he says, taking a drag from his joint. i laugh at his story, they were all so interesting and fun to listen to. his voice is calming. "fuck that cartoon anyway!" i joke, taking a drag of my malboro red. the movie ended ages ago, and we were just talking about stupid shite at this point. these conversations are always nice and fun. he talked about getting lost at a fair, visiting estonia, kindergarten shenanigans and all that. sadly, it felt as if everyone had an interesting childhood, mine was just plain and simple, or maybe i just dont remember anything. but i do remember small damon.

"tell me about your childhood, please?" he sweetly smiles at me and i groan, rolling my eyes. "i dont remember anything, mate." i chuckle. "i know you do, come on. im sure youre hiding something..." fred cuts through my bullshit. there is one story i can perfectly recall. "well... i do remember something..." my smile grows bigger as does the embarrassment. "i was in the second grade... i was the quiet kid and damon was the class clown at the time... he would barely ever get in trouble but when he did, i always tried to take the bullet for him... one time, he got in the boys bathroom and wrote something stupid on the wall with crayons... he couldnt even spell properly at the time, and... he got caught. got sent into the faculty, and i followed him, even though i didnt know why he got sent there, and...-" i stop to laugh, quickly trying to get back on track, "-so before he could say anything, i tried taking the bullet, i said "sir, i did it!" and he stared at me like i was insane. damon started laughing, he started laughing. "what were you doing in the boys' bathroom then?" he asked me, and i was confused, so i said-" i burst into laughter once again, barely being able to continue my story.

"what did you say?" fred asked, smile and curiosity growing on his face. "i said, i- i said "sir, i have a wee-wee!" and ran away as fast as i could-" i exclaimed, wheezing, trying to save my lungs. fred bursts out in laughter, hitting his knee a couple of times. "then the counselor called my parents to ask if i was actually a boy-!! and- i got in trouble, but damon tends to still tease me about it- i mean!! before the fight... of course." i nervously lie, trying to make it seem like me and damon are still fighting. "god, god thats fucken hilarious!" fred laughter slowly does down, still followed by a couple of chuckles here and then.

i look at my casio. jesus christ, 4:38pm. my eyes widen. "god, i should really get going, fred." i stand up, shaking the crisp crumbs off of my legs. "oh man... thats a shame. i had so much fun! thanks for coming round and hanging out with me." fred stands up, giving me a nice hug, i smile as i hug back. "well, ill be sure to come back soon! it was fun, really." i say as i hug him once again and head downstairs, fred follows. "bye!" i wave at him as i exit, he waves back. i close the door and take a deep breath of fresh air. it was fun. it was okay. im okay. i survived this clint eastwood bullshit. but freds cool. next stop- home.

and call damon as fast as possible cause i really miss him.