Gorillaz: the band the myth the legend

The Morning After

You could faintly hear shouting as you came to. You reached for your phone and checked the time. It was 5:00 in the morning. You slowly rolled over and stared at the ceiling groaning. I never wake up early. What's all that noise? Pulling yourself out of bed, and rubbing your eyes, you made your way to the hallway to see what all the commotion was about. You opened 2-D's bedroom door and found Murdoc and him arguing.

"Morning you two. What's happening?" you asked. The pair turned to you, 2-D smiled, "Good mornin'!". Murdoc made some strange angry sounds before growling "This idiot here was makin a racket when everyone- most importantly me- is trying to sleep".

"I was in a good mood" 2-D justified, frowing at Murdoc.

You rolled your eyes and smiled softly "well we're all awake now so let's look for some breakfast". 2-D smiled again and nodded, Murdoc sighed and muttered 'fine'. The bandmates followed you downstairs, only to find Russel in the kitchen frying some bacon. Noodle was sat at the table sipping at her orange juice and glancing at the newspaper headlines. They all wake up much sooner than you expected. Maybe they wanted to see me before I left? Wishful thinking...

As you ate, Murdoc did his best to flirt with you but he was so tired that nothing he said made sense. After a few minutes of this awkwardness Russel placed his utensils on his plate and looked at you. "Well y/n I was thinking as we didn't really get to know you last night we should all go out as a group".

"Oh cool! Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise!" Noodle answered.

When everyone finished eating Russel started to collect everyone's plates and made his way to the sink. Wanting to make yourself useful you grabbed all the mugs and glasses and followed him.

2-D leaned against the wall, watching the two of you as he worked up the courage to ask you something. "So... y/n... do you want ta come out to the garden with me? We 'ave a tire swing...". You turned to him and smiled. "Sure 2-D just give me a minute to finish up here". He returned your smile and dashed upstairs, when he returned he had something hidden behind his back. You and 2-D headed to the garden and you placed yourself in the tire swing. As 2-D fumbled over his words you rocked yourself back and forth gently. "I was jus' wonderin' if you knew how to play the melodica". You shook your head. "It's one of ma favourite instruments and I though' it would be cool ta teach you". Awww how cute! you squealed in your head. He pulled his green melodica from behind his back and held it out towards you.

2-D did his best to teach you Clint Eastwood, it wasn't perfect but you were pretty damn proud of yourself. You checked the time on your phone. "I hate to say this, but I have to go. Work started 20 minutes ago!".

It was 8:00 pm, you were in your crappy flat waiting for 2-D to send you tonight's address. You wore ripped dark blue jeans, checked vans, a black t-shirt and a black leather jacket. While you waited you listened to 'tomorrow comes today', lightly bopping your head along. Your phone buzzed. Stu-Pot: "come outside :)"

Walking out the door of your building you saw the band sat in their red car, Noodle leaned out of the car window and waved you over. As you got closer you took notice of everyone's outfits. Noodle wore a black skater dress and cherry red heels to match her lipstick, your palms began to sweat when you saw her up close. Murdoc was wearing a blue and black striped jumper with black jeans and his classic Cuban heels. Russel wore a navy hoodie and some grey pants with some green converse. 2-D looked very different, he had combed his hair back, he was wearing a pink shirt with a cute little red bowtie, white pants and a seemingly new pair of brown leather shoes. You'd never seen him so dressed up. "So guys where are we going?" you asked. Noodle grinned at you "a club downtown, it always plays the best music so you'll probably hear one of our songs haha! It's one of my favourite places to go".

After a short drive- scarily short with Murdoc behind the wheel- you arrived at the club and headed to the bar to grab some drinks. With a rum and coke in your hand you made your way to a booth where you, Russel, Noodle and 2-D made some small talk. Murdoc chose not to join the rest of you in the booth, instead opting to sit at the bar and order drink after drink. Russel talked about his taxidermy hobby "I haven't done it for a while but I love it" he shouted over the blaring music. "Well I used to be into writing music for a few years but I was too nervous to ever show anyone, I kinda sucked at it but it was really fun haha" you replied. Russel and Noodle looked at each other and smiled. 2-D rambled on about how much he loves horror films. Zombie ones in particular. "When I start playing a game it becomes impossible for me to put it down, Russel has to confiscate my stuff so I sleep haha!" Noodle admitted, slightly embarrassed.

When you finished your drink Noodle grabbed your hand and dragged you to the dance floor, 2-D followed closely behind you and the three of you danced your asses off. Noodle was the most glamourous dancer, she looked so professional. You and 2-D however threw your bodies around to the beat of the music, you looked slightly ridiculous but you were having so much fun you didn't really care.

After about an hour you watched as Murdoc stepped out onto the balcony, you decided to follow him. "Give me a moment guys, I want to see if Murdoc is okay".

After making your way through the crowd, you pushed open the glass door and entered through to the balcony. Murdoc had his back to you, he was looking out into the distance and sipped at his drink.

"Hey there Mudz"

He turned around "Oh, it's you"

"Well don't sound too disappointed" you said jokingly.

"Of course not, always happy to make time for you" he winked. You laughed, his incessant flirting was entertaining at times.

Murdoc smiled for a moment, but then his face dropped. Suddenly he gave a heavy sigh and buried his face in his hands, dropping his glass in the process. The sound of the glass shattering made you jump. "Woah! are you okay?"

"Fine... just fine"

"I don't believe you. What's wrong"

He sighed again and paused for a while. "Everything. Feels like it's all falling apart"

"How so?"

"They're pulling away from me again. They aren't happy"

"I didn't think you cared"

"Well you thought wrong" he spat.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't make assumptions about you. I'm here if you need to vent"

"Yeah yeah. Just want me to 'spill the beans' so you can run back to faceache and laugh at me"

"I would never do that Murdoc. You have my word"

"Hmm" he didn't sound convinced.

"Let me get you a glass of water. I think we should get you home"

"Fine"

"Just wait here for a minute, I'll be right back."

You made a beeline for Russel, who was awkwardly shuffling side to side on the dance floor, he looked concerned when he saw you "Is it Mudz? What did he do?"

"He's had way too much to drink, I know we haven't been out for long but I think he needs to be back home"

Russel nodded, "I'll tell the others to grab their things"

"Okay, I'm grabbing him some water to sober him up a bit first"

You head back to the balcony with a pint of water, Murdoc takes it gratefully and downs it. "Come on then, let's round up the others and take you home" you say gently. He follows you inside and you wave to the group.

Russel drove you all home, he insisted you stay with them again. You didn't mind that at all, you never finished decorating your flat so you just felt guilty about the time you spent there being unproductive. Back inside the bands house, Russel was setting up the sofa with blankets and a pillow. "Y'know y/n you could always sleep in my bed again, I'll take the sofa" 2-D offered. You would love to sleep in his comfortable bed again but you felt wrong doing so. "Thanks D, but I couldn't kick you out of your own bed. I'm fine staying here". 2-D had another suggestion, but he kept it to himself.

Murdoc still looked pent up, everyone moved to the kitchen for some snacks except you two. "Remember what I said on the balcony Mudz. I'm always available for a chat." you assured him with a small smile before joining the others.