Outlaws // Taron Egerton

Five

CAN YOU HEAR ME?
I'M TRY'NA HEAR YOU
SILENT STRIKES LIKE A HURRICANE

(One Ok Rock - Take What You Want ft. 5SOS)

• • •

TARON

     I've been lying down the recliner speechless, overlooking the pool. I wasn't tasked to go anywhere today with Margaux and I'm getting worried. I haven't received anything from the management either and I'm not entirely sure if it's a good or a bad sign.

     "Margaux is going to ruin you," my head tells me in Jett's voice and it drives me even more frightened than I was. Some nerve I had to actually dance with the devil and try to let the whole thing slide. Now, I have a feeling I'm in big trouble.

     I hear footsteps coming from behind me. I turn sideways to look and I see Leo approaching holding a cigarette.

     "You okay, mate?"

     I tap his arm. He hands me his half-finished cigarette and I take a drag. "No, not really," I say, smoke coming out of my mouth. "I think I'm fucked."

     "What'd you do?" He sits on the wooden recliner next to me and I give him back the cigarette.

     I sigh, not replying. He takes out a box from his back pocket and slip out a stick for me. I grab it and place it on my mouth and Leo ignites a lighter and light the cigarette up for me.

     "Thanks. Anyway," I inhale a bit and sigh out a cloud of smoke. "I fought with Margaux the other day and I haven't heard from the management or the girl."

     "What about?"

     "Paparazzi. She told me she was just defending me." I smirk. "Admittedly, I was a bit frightened by them"

     "Frightened? You hate the paps."

     I give him a side eye. "However, she disobeyed and threw a fit. That'll affect even me," I continue, disregarding Leo's remark.

     "Did they call you out regarding the scene that happened?"

     I shake my head. "They haven't called me at all. And I'm starting to worry."

     Leo sighs smoke and turn to me. "Margaux might be that way but she looks like she is a woman of her word."

     "A what?"

     Before I could even continue, my phone rings all of a sudden. I take a glance at my phone on the floor. It's from Margaux. And I swear I felt my heart drop upon seeing her name in fear that something might have happened.

"I got in trouble multiple times yesterday but I already told your publicist not to blame you for anything. I hope you're happy."

     I show the text to Leo and his eyebrows arch as he reads through. "That's...actually nice?"

     "What do you mean nice? Remember Jett's story."

     He chuckles. "Damn, do you actually believe that?"

     "Well, I think I know her a little better than all of you and I know what she's capable of. I think I am fucked."

     "Not if you talk to her." Leo drops his cig and steps on it to kill the light. I look at him, a confused expression plastered on my face. I think it's ridiculous. "Oh please. You're 'dating,' right? As a girlfriend, she should be able to understand where you're coming from."

     "Leo, it's Margaux we're talking about here. I don't think she'd even care to understand because we're not even really dating in the first place. It wouldn't matter to her."

     He stops and think as I blow smoke. "Co-workers are ineffective if they're not in good terms." He taps the temple of his head as he gets up. "And I think she meant well. It wouldn't kill to apologize, now, would it?"

      It wouldn't. And he has a great point. Margaux did mean well-a rare occurence if you will. If anything, I should even consider myself lucky.

I lie down on my bed and George approaches because I feel tiny, furry feet stepping on my bare back and nose pressed on my shoulder, which means Jett is at my door now.

     Without looking, I raise my head off my pillow. "Yeah?"

     "Leo told us stuff." He replies, and he doesn't sound like he wants to mock me, which is odd because he is always up to insult me every chance he gets. "Are you alright?"

     I shrug and turn over slowly to lie on my back and face him, just in time for George to be able to safely get off me. "I'll be good." I fake laugh. "I'll just steal George for the rest of the night, if you don't mind."

     "You have to fix this soon. The whole world knows now that you're dating her, and the world also saw what happened the other day. She's going to ruin you if you fucked with her."

     That's weird. That's almost the same exact thing I 'heard' Jett say a while ago.

     "And I did. I'll make it up to her tomorrow."

      "You have a date scheduled tomorrow?"

     "No. I'll just go to her place and apologize."

     "Sincerely?"

     "Of course."

     "Alright, mate." Then I hear the door close.

     Then, muffled, I hear him say "no sex with the witch!"

     Contrary to what he thinks, I'm not going to go to her place just so I could get laid. I'd probably be there for only five minutes and she'd rudely ask me to get out. I might not even make it past her gates.

     I can't sleep. I've been overthinking this issue through and I feel like I also messed up by getting mad at her for trying to defend me. And it scares me because I know I've hurt her. I reimagine the look on her face when she fell silent during our argument, and it makes me look bad.

     George is biting my toe and I sit to pick him up and transfer him beside me.

     I've said that I am more of a cat person, but George's the only one available. And at least George is willing to play and cuddle and distract me from thinking about what I have to do tomorrow because I still cannot sleep. He doesn't mind being awake at night anyway and it's probably because he can just sleep off the whole day.

Slowly, I feel myself getting tired, and I think George needs to rest too. Poor George is also sleepless because I am.

     He lies down above me and I close my eyes shut, hoping that this time I'll be able to get some sleep that I needed. I've got a big day tomorrow and I can't blow it off by being groggy.