Perfect // 1D AU ✓

Chapter 23

~If you like causing trouble up in hotel rooms~

Zayn took a deep breath. "So, this is it."

The lot of them glanced around the empty space, although it wasn't completely empty. It just looked like they were going out for the day, but a lot more neat than it had been. The computers were gone. The dishes and food was gone. All of the shoes and dirty socks and sweaters - gone. And it smelled like Pledge. The lemon one.

"Adieu." Louis said, smiling. "Until next time, old buddy." He patted the door, and then shut it behind them as they piled out.

"Did you stay here for your last mission? Or your first one? Whatever?" Niall asked him.

Louis smiled up at Niall. "Yeah. My history goes pretty far back with this place."

The group walked down the steps, down to Louis' car, which was full of the computers as well as all of their bags. It was around four in the afternoon, and the group was headed to Louis' for the night before they headed out in the morning for Vegas. They were ready. In the physical sense at least.

The weapons had arrived in Vegas - and the suits were packed. So was all of the gear, as well as their clothes, and all of their carry on items. And of the lot, Zayn was the only one who had never flown before, and was terrified. He was scared of heights. It was funny because they expected Liam to be the one to have never flown. Because he was poor. But he had gone to Disneyland as a teen with his family.

Louis had still never had the pleasure to do so, neither had Niall or Zayn, but he hoped to take his baby girl when she was old enough. They would experience it for the first time together.

Man, he wanted to show her the world.

And, looking at Harry in the passenger seat, he realized that he wanted him right beside him the whole time.

---

"I don't want to watch this." Zayn complained, still upset since Louis wouldn't give him the wifi password, and he had to sleep on the couch.

The movie was Toy Story, and Liam had chosen it. Just as Liam chose everything.

"Shhh." Niall said to Zayn, opening a package of marshmallows. Harry had bought items to roast s'mores over the stove tonight, as their last hoorah.

"Guys, I'm still terrified. Now that I remember that we're flying, especially." Zayn looked like he was having a panic attack, and Mama Styles went to comfort him real quick.

Harry sat on his knees in front of the couch. "We have you in an aisle seat. Niall has the window seat, and then Liam has the middle seat."

"I don't want to sit next to Liam!" Zayn exclaimed. "He is only going to rev up my anxiety."

Louis shrugged. "Unless you want to sit crowded in the middle and take my seat, sitting next to the ever-doting Harry, be my guest."

Zayn pouted for a couple minutes. "Can Niall and Liam switch?" He looked over at Niall.

"Niall does not like middle seats. Niall does not want to puke." Niall started talking about himself in the third person there, to get off the subject of switching seats. Zayn was just going to have to deal with it.

"S'mores!" Harry remembered, heading over to the kitchen to make himself one. The others came in as well, turning on all the burners to light their marshmallows on the end of their forks, since that was the only utensil that they had.

"If I forget to tell you guys this, Merry Christmas." Louis said, smiling.

"And Happy Birthday, you know, since your birthday is on Christmas Eve." Niall smiled, ever the stalker.

"We have all of each other's phone numbers, right?" They all murmured that yes they did - Zayn had almost deleted Liam's after the encounter in the closet, and he had almost taken out Niall's when he kept sending him Youtube links to videos at three a.m., but yes, he did still have them all.

"You've got a friend in me." Liam started singing after he finished his s'more. Louis and Harry both fonded over how cute he was.

"Oh, my larents are such larents." Niall said, which sounded like crazy talk to anyone but Captain Niall over there.

Zayn took a whole Hershey bar and put it on his s'more, making direct eye contact with Louis the whole time, which was very unnerving for both sides. It also made Zayn's s'more very uneven, as there was two small graham crackers, a small marshmallow, and then a whole chocolate bar. But Zayn didn't care, because, as usual, he was eating out his emotions.

"Maybe you want to chill?" Niall said to him with a chuckle.

Zayn smiled a fake smile. "You only live once, Niall. So live a little."

Niall smiled back at him. "I am." He paused then, debating if what he wanted to say next was going to be too hurtful or not. But he went for it anyways. "I'm living the best life. Broke out of prison, on the run for the rest of my life, going to rob a bank and become rich, and I'm on Tinder now, so that's fun. Louis didn't know if Harry would like him or not, but he shot his shot and got out there, and now they're the cutest couple ever. So what are you waiting for, Zayn? You're the one who's not living."

Zayn looked down at the burners, shutting the last one off. "I tried, Niall. But you have to know when to put your walls up, and when to take them down. And they're up, Niall. Liam's not for me."

Zayn walked into the living room with his giant s'more then, hoping that he could at least fake it until he made it.