Outlaws // Taron Egerton

Nine

TARON

     I jab my keys in and turn the knob. The living room is quiet but the lights are on. I step in and close the door behind me when suddenly, a white pitbull with black spots on its head walks towards me, its tail vigorously wagging like it's excited to see me.

     I have never seen this dog before in my life.

     Adrian peaks from the kitchen. "Oh hey!" He greets.

     I look at the dog wide-eyed. "What the hell is this?"

     "It's a dog, you fuck. That's not a very nice way to talk about Malu."

     "Malu? Who the hell is Malu? I was just on a date with Margaux and I've only been gone for just five hours. Where the hell did Malu come from?"

     Luki points at Adrian. "A's ex-girlfriend came. She said she couldn't take care of her anymore so she had to surrender it to A. He's the one who spent so much for Malu anyway. The vaccines, maintenance, and all."

     I nod and kneel down to pet the dog. "Oh, alright. So we're going to have cross-bred puppies now, yeah?" Malu rolls over and exposes her tummy to me and I give her a rub. "Yorkie-Pits. Wonder how that would look like."

     "Weird. That's what it'd look like. Don't worry. I'm positive Georgie and Malu wouldn't start screwing," Luki says. Adrian sits down and crosses his legs just right above Malu's head and she's looking at him.

     Adrian is looking at me with a smirk. "What?"

     "It took you a while to warm up to George. You know, according to naysayers, Malu's breed is far more dangerous than Georgie's."

     I raise my shoulders, looking at Adrian because he trailed off. "And?"

     "It's weird to see you actually adjust to Malu very quickly. Pitbulls scare the shit of people that aren't fond of dogs."

     "I guess I got used to George? I don't know. She's adorable, though." I get up and Adrian does too. We head over to the kitchen where the rest of the guys are hanging out. Leo is cooking dinner as usual and I approach him on the kitchen counter. "'Sup?" I smile and his eyebrows furrow.

     He shakes his head. "Don't do that, please. For the love of god." He looks behind me tells the other guys "did y'all heard that? What on earth?"

    I lean my arms on the counter, just beside the wooden board Leo's cutting garlic on. I raise my chin up. "So, what's up? What's for dinner?"

     "Carbonara," he smiles enough for Adrian to approach the island and to pinch his chubby cheeks, turning his grin to an annoyed frown instantaneously. He hates it whenever Adrian does that, but Adrian does it because he loves to annoy Leo, or pretty much anyone. "Stop fucking doing that!" And Adrian just leaves to go to the dining table laughing deviously.

     "So, how was your date with Margaux?" Leo pushes the chopped garlic on the side of the board, and grabs an onion.

     "Surprisingly not problematic at all. Just casual conversation, a little PDA. Thankfully, the paparazzi that approached us were gentle. She didn't have to unleash the dragon once again."

     "That's good to hear. Are you guys getting tight now, huh?" I sense the taunt on Jett's voice and I roll my eyes.

     "You can say that, but I'm not quite sure. I'm still on high alert in case she turns out to be different."

     "Oh, good. Because one of these days she will be revealing her true colors to you, and it's not going to be pretty."

     "Like Tangerine? Yikes." Luki makes a gagging noise, sticking his tongue out and Adrian points at his brother.

     "Ooh, tangerine is a terrible-ass color, Taron. You wouldn't want that," Adrian adds to the comment.

     "Never forget what she did to me, T. If she can do it to me, she can do the same to you."

     "Jett, you have no solid evidence that that actually happened." I pretend I still don't believe his stories despite what Margaux told me. Jett would probably cut the cord to our friendship if he finds out that Margaux and I are close enough for me to find out about the actual truth. Or maybe she's lying to make herself look good and that I won't try to seek revenge on her for Jett-I wouldn't know.

     "Huh. I'm surprised she hasn't said anything about me considering how tight you guys are now." He puts emphasis on 'tight' as if he's rubbing it on my face that I'm actually friends with a supposed-to-be problematic PR stunt and that it's a bad thing.

     Leo hasn't said anything, so I look back at the island and catch him listening to the conversation but acting like he isn't by darting his eyes back on the button mushrooms he's slicing as soon as he sees me turn around. I'm somehow suspicious with the way he acts, but I think I could just talk to him, or he'll be opening up eventually when he's ready.

I'm lying down on my bed when I hear scratching and whinning on my door. I open it to see Malu and she immediately runs inside my room. I look out to see if Adrian is around but he isn't. Maybe Malu just wanted to make friends.

     I observe as she sprints around my room and I shut the door behind me, leaving it unlocked in case Adrian's looking for his lost dog in the middle of the night. Malu still looks like she needs training like what Jett did to George, who follows him everywhere he goes, but that's only most of the time. Because he's willing to approach and stay with anyone in the house-much like myself.

     I sit on my bed and unlock my phone. Malu hops on my lap and I pet her head. I remember that some people think that Pitbulls are dangerous, deadly and violent, and although there are actual evidences of this certain breed acting up, Malu makes me believe that it isn't always true. She's just lying down on my lap like George as I scroll across my e-mails.

"Meeting before your date tomorrow. 9am sharp!" I see a notification pop up on the top of my screen and I just sigh. I'm honestly tired of failed stunt attempts and Margaux has been looking very unhappy lately, especially during the meetings. And for unknown reasons, I find myself reflecting her sadness too.

     It's weird, though, sympathizing with someone who has a reputation of a super villain. But like she said, she isn't a robot. She can still feel things.

     And by the looks of it, she looks plainly uninterested and in a bad mood these past few dates I've had with her and it gets worse whenever she has a encounter with Mia. They obviously hate each other. Now, I kind of don't understand why Mia would choose her if she doesn't like her. Or maybe she just didn't know that even she can be bossed around by Margaux and told how she can do her job, which is offensive for her. If you think about it, my publicist is techincally Margaux's boss.

     Margaux does not give a shit though, so I think it may not be the whole PR thing that bothers her, it's something else. And I'm kind of worried about her, weirdly not for selfish reasons. I am genuinely worried.