Build-A-Boyfriend

44

"Unhand me you mangy ruffian! Fight me like a man!"

The pimply youth gulps heavily.

"I will lance the boils from thy foul face!" Louis shrieks.

"Babe!" Ashna hisses. "That's rude, like what if he has a skin disorder?"

"Oh..." Louis frowns and readjusts his purple velvet cap. He gives a little cough before crying gallantly, "I shall aquire a remedy for your acne and still thwart your dastardly plans!"

"Look, mister, I'm just doing my job. The doctor said-"

"Take me to the odious physician!" Louis shouts, drawing his sword. "I shall cut the foul head from his scrawny neck, I shall-"

"Give me the sword, sir." One of the eight burly men steps forwards, muttering into a headset. He gestures to a couple of the others and they step forward to restrain Louis and wrestle the sword from him, while the whole time he shouts threats and promises of vengeance.

Harry is shivering. I can feel the tremors in his palm that's clasped tightly to mine and it's not just because the car park is cold. Niall is clutching Abby's hand too and he looks unusually alert and nervous. Robert looks paler than normal, somehow, and Susan is weeping quietly beside him.

"We're still waiting on product Zl3939." The man says into his headset. "We're having difficulty restraining the others, permission to bring them into the building requested." He waits for a moment, then with a nod of his beefy head, he begins to herd us into the Dream Factory.

Louis is taken first, being bodily restrained by three of them as he cries loudly about blood feuds and revenge.

Ashna rushes after him. Robert and Niall are shoved into a waiting queue, given that Louis is making his body tense so that they can't lift him through the doorway. Harry hangs back, looking up at the sky.

"Harry?" I touch his arm and when he looks at me, I realise that tears are slowly trickling down his cheeks.

"I just wanted to look at the sky, one last time." He says quietly. "Isn't life beautiful, Hendrix? Aren't we lucky to experience it, even for a short while?"

I don't have time to answer before I'm shoved roughly forwards. My heart is racing and I want more than anything to grab Harry's hand and run. The black building looms over us, but as I'm guided through the door, I hear someone shout my name.

Grace and Liam are running across the car park, Liam's car doors left open as they dash towards us.

Grace is crying and she shouts to one of the guards that they want to say goodbye, but the guard reaches over to shut the door tightly and she disappears from my view.

We're herded down one of the long, black tiled corridors. Louis is putting up an almighty fight and it's with relief that the guards throw him into the room, shoving us all in after him. The door slams shut behind them and we turn to inspect our new surroundings.

The long, narrow, room is so white and bright that we wince. Along either side are cushioned white benches. Harry's long fingers lace themselves through mine. He's shaking so much that our hands move visably.

Even Louis has fallen silent and slumped back on his seat with Ashna stroking his arm. Minutes tick by and the horrible tension is so much that I feel like I'm going to be sick. Even now, I can't bring myself to believe that there isn't a way out of this.

"I guess this is it, dudes. We had a wild ride." Niall drawls finally, releasing some of the tension just by speaking. "I wonder where my man Zayn is."