"How is the relationship going?" Abe asks as I make my way down the stairs and into the kitchen.
"Why do you care? You don't tell me much anyways." I spit attitude his way and he rolls his eyes.
"You have to drop it at some point, we see each other every day." He murmurs, following me into the kitchen.
"Or i could continue to hold this grudge until you tell me what happened that night." I grab a glass and turn around to look at him. "Your choice."
He sighs, sitting down at the island and pulling out his phone.
"Fine, be like that. I'm going over to Calum's house, y'know, since he's my boyfriend." I grab my jacket and leave the house, anger keeping me warm.
I approach his doorstep and knock three times on the cold door. After a few chilly moments, the door swings open to reveal Ashton.
"Margo, we were just talking about you!" He exclaims, a grin apparent on his face. "Come in, we're all in the kitchen."
He closes the door behind me as I walk into the kitchen. Michael is at the fridge, Luke is eating eggs at the island, and Calum is eating cereal.
"Cal, look who decided to come over." Ashton rests his hand on my shoulder and I smile, trying not to show that I'm trying to figure out the scene in front of me.
Calum looks up from his cereal and nearly spits it all over the counter, choking.
"Margo, hi." His eyes are wide as he stands up to reveal that he's shirtless. "Have you eaten?"
I shake my head and set my jacket onto one of the empty seats before sitting beside it. "I just woke up."
"I can make you something, if you want." Calum offers and I shake my head, declining politely.
"I don't eat when I first wake up, it makes my stomach hurt." I explain and he nods, sitting back down.
Luke gives me a look as if he knows I'm lying. As if he knows I only won't eat because I haven't taken my medication.
"Do you need us to cut the heat up? You look cold." He gestures to my choice of attire and I realize I'm wearing shorts and an oversized t-shirt.
"I have my jacket, do you guys have a bathroom?" I ask softly, immediately realizing how dumb the question is.
"Down the hall and to the left, I'll hang your jacket up for you." Ashton answers and I nod, standing up and walking down the hall.
Their bathroom isn't decorated like mine, but there's not much I would expect from a group of teenage boys. I take care of my business and wash my hands before exiting the bathroom.
"Why did you come over?" Luke asks, and I realize I randomly arrived with no warning or explanation.
"I got bored." I lie since I don't feel like explaining anything to them. Ashton gives me a knowing glance before I continue. "Do you guys have any plans today?"
"We were going to invite the One Direction guys over along with some girls." Luke responds and I smile at their carelessness. "You can stay if you want."
"Sounds like a date, but I think I should go back to my house and get dressed in proper attire." I laugh and Ashton shrugs, examining my outfit.
"Seems fine to me." He explains, taking a bite out of an apple.
———
"Margo, I'm going out, I'll be back soon." Abe calls out through the house as I lay in bed. After a few moments, I hear his car drive away, signalling for me to get out of bed.
I pull the duffel bag I previously packed out from under my bed and slip my phone into it. I put on my shoes and quickly leave the house, making sure his car is really gone.
I approach Calum's house quickly, trying not to raise concern for any of our other neighbours.
I knock on the door as loud as possible, hoping for any type of response before Abe comes back. The door swings open and I smile at the sight of Calum.
"Put this on." I whisper, tossing some clothes his way.
He lazily grabs them, yawning as he flattens them out, squinting his eyes. He gives me a confused look as I set my duffel bag onto the floor and squat down.
"Are we fucking robbing a bank? What is this?" He asks and I open the duffle bag, pulling out my clothes. I stand back up, rising to my full height.
"No, we're following Abe." I whisper, pulling off my shirt and he gasps, turning around. "If he doesn't want to tell us where he's going, I'm finding out myself."
I pull the black hoodie over my head, placing my previous shirt into the bag. Before I can speak again, someone enters the room.
My head snaps in the direction of the noise and I see Louis at the end of the hall.
"They're still here?" I whisper yell, looking at Calum angrily.
"Yes, Luke offered for them to stay. I think you're forgetting that we're the ones that live here, not you." He snaps back and I drop the side of the duffel back, looking at him in the eyes.
"If you want to be a prick, I'll do this myself."
"What are you doing?" Louis whispers, rubbing his eyes.
"Going out, we'll be back later." Calum responds, leaving Louis confused.
"Let me come with." Louis pouts and I roll my eyes. "Please, I'm wide awake."
"Fine, but hurry up and be quiet." Calum whispers and I snap my head in his direction again.
"So now you're inviting people along? He doesn't know you fucking idiot."
———
"That's his car, pull over." I whisper, ducking behind the dashboard as Calum parks the car a few feet away from Abe's.
"Where?" Louis asks loudly and I reach into the back seat, pulling him to the floor.
I reach into the duffle bag and grab my phone before opening my door.
"What are you doing?" Calum grabs my arm, pulling me back into the car. "You can't just go up to them."
"Well no shit captain obvious," I roll my eyes, pulling myself out of his grasp. "Either y'all can get out of the car with me or you can drive back to the house."
I get out of the car and stay close to the ground, closing the door quietly. I make my way to the fence, voices being heard on the other side.
As Louis and Calum fail at staying quiet, I peek around the wooden door and notice Abe. He's talking to a few men and they seem angry.
"You killed them? We told you specifically to bring them to us alive. Not to mention the girl found out." The taller man growls and Abe doesn't waste any time before responding.
"It wasn't my choice, you gave me a stressful deadline knowing those new kids moved in next door. We don't just have to worry about her now, we have to worry about all of them." He seems stressed and I can hear fear in his voice.
"That doesn't matter, you messed up." The first voice responds, the sound of a gun being cocked echoing through the area.
My eyes widen as my heartbeat quickens, my thoughts getting interrupted by a large crash behind me.
I pull out of the men's sight, pressing my back against the door and looking over to Calum and Louis.
Louis is on the ground while Calum is trying to help him up, ultimately failing.
"What was that? Who did you bring?" The first voice speaks up and I hear footsteps approach the door before Abe finally speaks up.
"I saw a few dogs on my way here, it could be them." He tosses out an excuse and I feel a bit of relief.
Calum makes his way to my side as the voices continue speaking.
"Are you kidding me? You had one job." I whisper, giving him and Louis a death glare. Before Calum can respond, Louis drops the car keys, the car alarm going off.
I rush to grab them, trying to turn it off when I fall sideways, coming into the eyesight of the men.
"You." The taller one points the gun at me as Abe's eyes widen. "What are you doing here?"
"Looking for answers, surprisingly this only raised more questions." I pull myself onto my feet, noticing Calum and Louis watching me out of peripheral vision.
"You need to leave." He scolds me, making his way towards me without lowering the gun.
"You need to give me answers." I respond, raising laughter that pierces through my ears like nails on a chalkboard.
"I said, leave." He's now at arm's reach, holding the gun against my forehead. "Now."
Abe doesn't bother moving, possibly paralyzed with fear the same way I am. I blink, trying to swallow the lump that has forced in my throat.
"I said, give me answers." I respond, mocking the tone he had with me. "Now."
He begins laughing once again, causing anger to pulse through my veins, replacing the fear I previously felt.
He cocks the gun, making all of this even more real. "I don't answer to snobby rich kids."
He wraps his finger around the trigger, looking me in the eyes.
Three.
Two.
A loud ringing fills my ears after the gun goes off, I feel my body hit the ground but there's no pain. I roll over to notice Calum on top of me.
"Are you fucking insane?!" He yells in my face, pushing himself off me and pulling a gun out of his waistband.
He shoots the guy in the shoulder before grabbing me, pulling me off the ground. He drags me to the car as I watch the guy lay on the ground, bleeding immensely.
"Louis, get in the damn car!" Calum yells as he shoves me into the passenger seat.
They both scurry to get into the car, Calum ripping the keys out of my grasp and starting the engine. His hands are shaking as he drives away from the scene as fast as possible.
"He almost fucking killed you, Margo. Are you trying to die?" Calum scolds me and i roll my eyes, causing him to yell again. "Answer me! Do you have a fucking death wish?"
"No, but you don't understand why I did it, Calum. You didn't see the look in his eyes. There's a reason he chose to single me out, he was able to see the two of you with where he was standing." I try to explain but Calum begins punching the steering wheel.
"Fuck, Margo." He runs his shaking hand through his hair. "Not everything in your fucking life is a movie. This is real life, there's no props or director cuts. You only get one fucking chance."
"Yeah, and right now we're fucking running away from a crime scene where you shot someone. You play a big part in this too." I snap back at him. "Where did you even get a damn gun?"
"I always have a gun on me, Margo. There's a lot you don't know about me." He answers my question, and I laugh.
"We get it, you're edgy."
He snaps his head in my direction, anger radiating off of him like body-heat.
"I just wanted answers."
"Did you get them?" He responds, still visibly angry.
"No, Calum, because you fucking shot him." I raise my voice again and he tosses his hands up in defeat.
"Yeah, this is all my fault, that makes sense. Because I'm the one that showed up at your house with a fucking duffel bag at two in the morning." He teases the situation and I look at him.
"You're unbelievable." I shake my head and he yells out in anger, hitting the steering wheel again.
I look down at my hands to notice they're covered in blood and still shaking. Calum glances over at them as well, doing a double-take when he notices the blood.
"Fuck's sake, you're bleeding a lot." He proceeds to quickly shift his glance from the road to my hands and back again.
"Wow Sherlock Holmes, you deserve a fucking medal."