Perfect // 1D AU ✓

Chapter 19

~And if you like going places we can't even pronounce

If you like to do whatever you've been dreaming about~

"Go." Liam shouted, and Louis and Niall both began climbing up the ropes. Both of them had improved their upper body strength, but for Niall it was still a struggle. Both were wearing fifty pound backpacks to symbolize the money that they would have, and Niall was carrying his safe-cracking gear, while Louis was holding a fake gun.

In the air vents, they would have the walls to help them, but they had to practice it like this, just in case. About a week prior, the two of them went out and bought slip-resistant shoes, so that they could easily climb the walls, and they had proven to be high-quality when everyone else had fallen on snow, and Niall and Louis had laughed at them.

Louis reached the top first, and then slid down to the bottom. Niall was maybe twenty seconds behind him. Louis knew that he was good, but the two of them went through that routine for another hour. Liam watched them, and Harry was AWOL, along with Louis' car. One of Simon's company cars picked them up to come work out.

Everyone else could tell that something happened between Zayn and Liam that night - they just had no idea what it was. Liam was a whole lot quieter, and before, Zayn was just teary-eyed and clingy to the others, while today he seemed more likely to retreat inside himself than anything else.

And Harry and Louis were still going strong. Most days, they shared a pot of tea before bed and just talked for hours about each other's lives. No secrets, no holds barred.

And there was Niall, who was happy to be along for the ride. He was just such a happy-go-lucky guy, and everyone was still really shocked that a softie like him had broken out of prison and was currently on the run.

After the two of them were more secure in their rope-climbing abilities, they practiced unscrewing vent covers, with Niall eventually being able to do all four corners with a drill in thirty seconds, or just a bit less. The two of them did a run down then, of unscrewing the vent covers, pretending to slide down a chute, and then Niall would have to crack the safe, then there was the stuffing money into the bags, and the climbing up and out, and then they were home free once they got out of the hotel and Harry was on the road with them.

It was easier said than done, of course.

After having an grueling workout, the three of them went home to a nice homecooked meal by Zayn, and Harry just pulling up in the drive after seeing his sister off at the airport. "I'm exhausted!" Niall flopped onto the couch, nearly upending Liam's plate.

"So take a nap, jesus." Louis said.

"Let's have a dance party." Zayn said.

The room gaped at him. "We're eating." Harry said. "Not dance time."

Zayn dropped the issue for a bit, and they all ate. Harry cleaned up all the dishes and packaged up the little bit of leftovers, and then Zayn was cueing up a playlist from the speakers that had only been used when they watched Jaws two weeks ago. "Aruba, Jamaica, oh I want to take ya. Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama." Zayn started singing the Beach Boys, and Liam joined into the harmony.

Both of them could hit really high notes, so Louis had to come in with some mellow tones to balance it out, and then Niall matched Louis, and Harry came in between the two groups, rounding out the group of singers. "Key Largo, Montego, baby why don't we go..." The song was over, and then Teenage Dirtbag came on, which was one of Louis' personal favorites.

"Her name is Noelle." Harry started them off, and the rest of them jumped in a moment later, singing and dancing around the room. After a while, they even started cleaning while they did so, since there were only a couple of days left in that house for them.

"Man, I feel like mold. It's prom night and I am lonely." The others let Louis take this section of the song, since he was the only one with enough breath to continue. He did wonderfully at his little solo, and Harry clapped before continuing to sing.

Then some other songs came on, and the night was a blur of singing and dancing and worries lost to the wind. Zayn and Liam screamed songs at each other, and Harry sang Liam's ear off at one point. Niall tried to hit a particular high note and almost died, and Louis sounded heavenly singing How To Save A Life, by The Fray, one of his favorites.

When morning came, all of the boys were asleep near the couch, after falling asleep to another Toy Story marathon. Louis was curled up on one portion of the couch, Harry half-on the back portion and half-off. Zayn was stretched out until he met Louis at the end of the couch, and Niall was asleep above his head. Liam was asleep on the ground, with his asleep head stretched back over the edge of the couch.

It was memorable.