Legacy // H.S

29.

'I want my ring back, baby that's a diamond'

*

The wedding is set the land on my birthday in a few weeks. Harry tried to get them to change it because he had already planned something for the day, but in truth, I never really cared much for birthdays. I'm just happy I get to spend it with people I care about, celebrating love. Whatever he had planned can wait 'til another time, because it's hardly as pressing as the impending nuptials of our friends.

Babz has been in full party planning mode, bringing catalogues and photos with her whenever she goes to the warehouse or visits the house. I suppose, for all of us, we appreciate the distraction. The chance to breathe, to relax, to find the joy in something. Of course, it won't put a stop to whatever is happening around us, the constant fighting and uncertainty that surrounds it.

Rose-coloured glasses, in a way. Shielding us from the truth not because we want to be naïve from it or to ignore it, but because we need one moment, just one, where none of it exists and none of it matters.

And it's been a relief, a welcome one, even if it will last a short time. Everyone is in good spirits, relaxed, maybe even happy. An odd feeling after so long without it. I see their smiles and hear their laughs, and I know they're honest. Not forced or hopeful, just existing in the present comfort we find ourselves in, looking towards something that cannot be tainted by outside forces.

Today at the warehouse, there is a feeling of contentment. Everyone mills about with their tasks, busying themselves with grins on their faces, replacing the exhaustion that previously greyed their skin and sunk their eyes. Zayn has been working on his fighting skills with Niall, while Harry and Claude have gone to meet another gang to recruit, and Liam sits with Babz and I while we perfect our routine in the heist room.

For some time now, I've been showing her the best angles to use when dislodging diamonds safely and precisely, as well as how to put the glue and prongs back in place. It's something we've gone through countless times, but since Louis' death, it's been a while since we've been in the same room. She's a lot better at it than the other's though, a fast learner, always wanting to be the best. She never does anything half-arsed, and it's one of my favourite qualities about her.

Throughout, she's been telling me details of the wedding. A small affair, only for those involved in the heist because we are her family, and it will be hosted at our house. The garden is big enough for an outdoor ceremony, even if it is freezing this time of year, and the house itself can hold all the people they want near them.

They managed to pay a minister a generous fee to get him to ordain the wedding on such short notice, even though neither one of them are religious and would have been happy going down to the registrar's office and signing the documents there. But they didn't want it to feel less than. It has to be special, kind and warm. What you expect from a wedding.

As her maid of honour, my duties have involved being brutally honest about their decisions, and also making sure we find the time in the week before to get paralytically drunk in place of a hen do. Otherwise, Babz and Zayn have been very hands on with their approach and decided to do all of it with as little help as possible after Harry offered up the house as a venue.

I've seen countless dress options, all unconventional of course, tasted cakes and food and wines, picked out flowers and scents and décor. I'm not sure any of us expected our plans to take this kind of detour, but no one has complained. Claude enjoys it more than he cares to admit, often joining me when I've been summoned by Babz for an opinion. Part of me thinks he'd be a better maid of honour, to be honest, and he'd revel in the attention it would give him.