Break Me - Murdoc Niccals x OC

Phase One Chapter Eight

When Rose woke up, a set of her clothes was lying neatly on her bed. She'd quickly get dressed in them and exit the tent, the bright light making her eyes a little sore. However, as they adjusted, she saw 2-D sitting at the campfire, wearing an old, ratted sweater. Noodle was strumming a song on her guitar. It made Rose feel happy; she wondered if it was something Noodle had made herself, or was from a song Noodle liked.

Russel was nowhere to be found and the car seemingly wasn't there either. Rose trekked over the field and Noodle's guitar playing began to pick up; honestly, Rose wasn't into music, but that playing made her curious. She ventured closer to Noodle, 2-D looking up with a blank stare on his face, seemingly still tired from their wild night beforehand. 

She crouched to the ground, looking up at Noodle with her arms resting on her knees, her cast heavy on her leg. Noodle stopped playing momentarily, staring down at Rose, tilting her head as if to say 'need something?'

"Keep playing, it's lovely." 

Noodle nodded and continued, her fingers gently strumming the guitar, the placement making all the difference in the change of notes; this was how music was made, by someone pressing their fingers against the strings of a wooden instrument. For some reason, this realization brought Rose nothing but childlike wonder. A melody as beautiful as this was created by the hands of artists.

Noodle's smile slowly crept up on her face as Rose watched her play the guitar. When she stopped again, Rose frowned, but Noodle tugged on her shirt. She sat down beside Noodle and the small child crawled into her lap, supporting the guitar. She took Rose's good hand, using her other to press down the strings and began to strum with it. 

"You..." Noodle paused, looking for the words to say. "Make too." Rose couldn't quite understand, but maybe the missing word was music. Yes, she was making beautiful music too. They were making it together. Rose never thought something like music could come out of hands like hers, let alone a good meal. So, as Noodle showed her where to strum, it felt like butterflies were fluttering in her heart. For once, she felt free, like her problems didn't matter. Noodle was guiding her, but she was still in disbelief at the fact that she was doing anything. Her heart beat in time with the beat of the song. 

The rhythm guided her hand along with Noodle. As the song, slowly but surely, came to a stop, Rose felt the bubbly feeling fade away; she was back to her normal self, here, a criminal, on the run from her psychopathic father with the band she's been living with for a year now. The music had broken the restraints on her heart, but there they were, tightly back in place again. And along with restraints came the pain. 

"Wow, Rose, maybe we should have you as the new guitarist," But when Noodle glared at 2-D, he quickly added, "Just kidding. Honest! Nobody but you, Noodle." She seemed satisfied with that as Rose withdrew her hand with the guitar and settled into her lap with the intent to strum again; as she begun, Russel pulled up in the car. He stopped, opening the door and got out with a tray of coffee and a bag of muffins.

"Breakfast's ready." Noodle hopped off of Rose's lap, gently setting her guitar down beside Rose. She dashed towards Russel, reaching up for the muffins, but he held them above her head. "Yo, I think Muds at least deserves us waitin' on him. May not be a popular idea, but he got our backs. We're all we got and we're family, even if we ain't nice to one another." Noodle pouted, but with what Murdoc had done for Rose the night before, even she complied to this request. However, that didn't mean she would be patient about it.

She dashed back to Murdoc's Winnebago and smashed her fists against the door repeatedly. "Open! Open! Breakfast! Hungry! Open!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, her little fists unleashing fury and rage Rose had only seen in movies. Murdoc swung the door open and Noodle jumped back, raising her fists as if she was ready for a fight. He was only in his underwear but he skulked out of the trailer looking like he'd gotten a sleepless night. He sat his ass down on the log Russel was on, holding out his hand while his other held his face. Russel plopped a muffin into his hand and placed the coffee, gently to make sure it wouldn't spill, on the log beside Murdoc.

Russel passed a muffin over to 2-D and gave him a tea; it seemed like 2-D liked tea more than coffee, anyways. Noodle impatiently wiggled her butt on the log. Russel handed Rose a muffin; it was surprisingly large. It was a chocolate chip muffin with a little icing smiley face. Cute. He handed her a coffee; a triple-triple. She took a sip and the now-sweet liquid slid down her throat nicely, waking her up. 

Noodle finally got her muffin and was chomping into it like no tomorrow; by the time Rose took a bite of hers, Noodle was halfway through her own. Rose glanced at Murdoc, who simply glared back at her, clearly tired. Her eyes moved over to 2-D, who gave her a small, charming smile. A smile that told of the things they did last night and her heart fluttered. She stood up, catching the attention of everyone and walked over to sit next to 2-D. 

Murdoc's glare was even more intense now, making Rose sweat. She felt like she had a target on her back while 2-D was shaking so hard he was vibrating. Murdoc must've been really upset, because he stood up and stomped back into his trailer, slamming the door shut with a bang. 

Rose kind of wanted to kiss 2-D, who was hiding his smile behind his muffin. She wanted to hug him, too, but she felt like that would cross some sort of boundary and she didn't want to make him uncomfortable in front of their friends. Her index finger rubbed against the wrapping of the muffin in her lap as she nervously stole a glance at 2-D, whom was watching her. 

In a flash, his lips grazed her cheek and he went back to hiding behind his muffin. Russel ignored it, Noodle abhorred it, squishing her muffin in her hands. 

Murdoc smashed his fist against the glass of his Winnebago's window, causing cracks to spread like the web of a spider. In the middle of those cracks, Rose sat, distorted by the breaks. Blood dripped from Murdoc's hand as he ripped a piece of glass from his fist, his mood only getting progressively worse as the day went on.