Perfect // 1D AU ✓

Chapter 3

~ When I first saw you,

From across the room ~

Louis sat with his feet up on the table as he waited for everyone else to get there. Simon was preparing a PowerPoint presentation or something on the computer, and Louis was angry at how prepared he was. Louis, honestly, was just not excited to meet this team in any capacity. He grew even more annoyed when the first person that walked in had bright red hair, and was carrying five black coffees, one iced coffee, and a variety of donuts from Louis' favorite donut shop.

"Niall, why?" Simon asked, looking up.

"I want them to like me." Niall said, in a kind of aggressive tone. "Hi." He said to Louis, extending his hand. "I'm Niall."

"Louis." Louis replied in a guarded tone. He grabbed a coffee, and then opened the donuts, grabbing at least four and slapping them on the table. Simon looked disgusted.

"Umm, don't you think the others would want some?"

Louis gave Niall a look, and Niall grabbed his own donut. Zayn walked in then, and grabbed a coffee before sitting across from Niall. "Hi. I'm Niall." Niall reached over the table to shake Zayn's hand, and Zayn glanced at Louis chowing down on the donuts.

"Louis." He replied in between chewing.

"Louis Tomlinson, make friends." Simon yelled at him, and Louis nearly choked on his donut, but made an effort to appear more approachable.

"Where are the others?" Niall asked. Simon shrugged, and Niall slumped in his chair, discouraged by how everything was turning out.

"Why red?" Zayn finally asked.

"I already did all the other colors." Niall said in response.

"Sounds legit." Zayn said, and then Liam walked in. Zayn sat up a little straighter, and Liam sat right next to Zayn, picking up a donut.

"I love these donuts."

"I know." Louis said, finishing his second one. Liam smiled at Louis. Louis smiled back. Zayn felt jealous. Niall wanted Liam to grab his coffee. Simon was angry at his glitching computer. Then Harry walked in.

"I'm not late, am I?" He said in a husky voice. Louis turned around to see Harry as he passed through the room to sit next to Niall. He grabbed the coffee, but not a donut, and Niall was obviously unhappy with the unbalance of coffee to donuts.

"No." Louis told him, and Harry gave an impersonal smile to him. Simon then commanded the attention of the room. "What bank?" Louis asked.

"It's in Vegas." Simon said, rolling his eyes slightly at Louis' attitude.

"Why are we robbing it?" Niall asked then, furrowing his brows together.

"That's the only question that I will not answer. Stay out of my business."

"Aren't you supposed to say stay out of my business and I'll stay out of yours?" Zayn asked, sipping his coffee, desperately needing sugar.

"He's not gonna stay out of our business." Louis said then, leaning back in his chair and finishing off his third donut.

"Let's introduce ourselves." Simon said. "I'm Simon Cowell. The rest of you say your name and age. Harry." He gestured to Harry.

"Harry Styles. 21."

"Niall Horan. 22."

"Louis Tomlinson. 23."

"Zayn Malik. 22."

"Liam Payne. 22."

"This is your team." Simon said, spreading his arms out. Louis scoffed. Simon glared at him. "Our bank is inside a hotel casino in Las Vegas. We'll rob it on December 17th. Questions?" They all raised their hands. "Louis."

"What are our roles?"

"Zayn, you're going to disable the hotel's security. Niall's cracking the safe. Liam's our muscle. Harry's our getaway driver. Louis, you're more muscle and money packing. I can go more into depth, but we can talk more about that later."

"Why does he get to be the getaway driver?" Louis asked, pointing to Harry.

"He has more experience than you. Moving on." Niall and Liam snickered, and Louis shrugged. "And all of you will start taking some of the classes that I offer to help with your physical prowess. Zayn, you don't need to take any, just make sure that your typing fingers are ready." Zayn smiled. "This will be a cumbersome task, and there is a building downtown that will be your headquarters. If you feel like, you can stay there for the duration of your planning. Niall, that will probably be the most helpful to you, I don't know about the others." No one spoke up.

After that, Simon dived into some of the heavier details, handing out notepads. Zayn and Liam made the most use of them, and after a while, the lot of them were joking and laughing. All except Harry. He was the most guarded, which surprised Louis, since he expected himself to be the most hesitant to the group. "We should get dinner. I'll buy." Louis said.

"Free food. Can't refuse." Niall said, smiling. Zayn and Liam shrugged and said they'd come. "What about you, Harry?"

"Can't, sorry. I have to...ummm...go visit my sister." He said, and then abruptly ran out. Niall noticed that he didn't even drink any of his coffee during the four hours that they had been there. Rude.

"Shall we?" Louis asked, stepping outside. He smiled and gestured the others forward, promising with his smile that things weren't as bad as they seemed.