~Yesterday I went out to celebrate the birthday of a friend,

But as we raised our glasses up to make a toast,

I realized you were missing~

AUGUST 28/29TH

Zayn raised his fist and confidently pounded on Simon's door, letting his fingers drag down to the knob. He turned it before there could be a response; his thin frame slid inside and slammed it shut. "You could have just sent me an email," Simon was sitting in an utterly dark room, a washcloth over his forehead.

"Is that because you don't want visitors or because you have a hangover?"

"Yes," Simon did a sarcastic thumbs up. "What, Zayn?"

"It's Liam's birthday tomorrow."

"No." He dismissed the comment not because it was incorrect, because he knew what he was really asking. Zayn wanted permission to leave the house, and to take his other friends. "You're not leaving with only three days until the job!"

"Dinner and drinks. Two and a half hours. We'll even take Hailee if you're worried." Resolve crumbling already, Zayn sat in the open chair. "I had to do some secret hacking to even find out that its tomorrow! He doesn't think that anything will happen because we're under house arrest, and he needs something special." There was the unspoken message of the fact that Zayn was his boyfriend and therefore needed to do this - to fight for a night out.

"No," Insistent laced the words. "The stakes are too high." Zayn frowned, feeling like he failed at what should have been a simple task. "But," Hope immediately blossomed. "I'll send someone out to get whatever you want, if you decide to have a party."

Now there was something that he hadn't thought of. With a smile on his lips, Zayn raced out of the room to go and draw up a list before his boss inevitably passed out from the pain or it became too late in the day to get everything that he wanted. Everything couldn't happen fast enough - he was waiting for his Untitled Google Doc to load while untangling his earbuds, hoping that inspiration would strike him and words would flow onto the page.

There was no way that it couldn't be a surprise party. Liam was already trying to downplay his birthday since the job was less than a week away - Zayn only found out about it because Liam tended to tell all of his secrets right before he fell asleep. And well, his bed was just so much comfier.

After listing all of the typical birthday decorations and some of Liam's favorite snacks, he wrote down the thing that he should have put down first - "Alcohol. Lots of alcohol."

---

The house, as it had been for the past week, was a frenzy of activity from the early morning. There was the sound of gunshots going off in the backyard - Simon had assured the neighbors that it was just his nephews playing with BB guns. But it definitely wasn't his nephews - he didn't have any, not that the neighbors would know - and those definitely weren't BB guns that Hailee and Palmer were shooting.

Niall was huddled on the floor with a blanket around his shoulders as he worked to break his replica safe. It wasn't that hard, but he needed speed more than accuracy. Sometimes he'd pick the safe up and move it onto the table or the couch, and everyone would grumble about how much room it took up.

There was also an infectious excitement in the house. Because everyone was a part of the surprise party that was going to be happening - mostly because there would be booze, not because it was Liam's birthday or anything. Zayn had kissed on the cheek and handed him his morning coffee with a sad smile. "Sorry we can't do anything special today," He had sighed.

"Well, it's close to the job," Liam had shrugged. "We can celebrate when we're all three million dollars richer. Think Niall and I could have a joint birthday party?"

Niall had snapped his head up from the floor in an angry glare that had sent the couple into peels of laughter. "I'm going to try and visit my family this year for my birthday." He had said, which warranted a very large amount of concern.

"Didn't you say that last time you called your mom, she threatened to turn you in?" Harry joined the conversation, coming down the stairs freshly showered and ready to start the day.

"I'm not going to get turned in. Just want to say hello or something. Stop ruining my dreams, Harold." There had been a mini intervention with him for a while, and then Liam had gone on his own path for the day. After an intense workout, he had sat down to call some of his family, since he didn't have much else to do. Louis had sat with him on the floor of the gym, wanting the calls to go as well as Liam wanted them too. It had been a long time since he'd been in contact with his family - they'd technically disowned him several years prior, but he was in a better place now, wasn't he?

Sometime during those calls, Zayn was given all of the supplies and he'd had to hide them in his room, hoping that Liam wouldn't go in there. Given that everyone was on his side to keep it a surprise, hopefully it wouldn't be that much of a struggle.

At five o'clock, it was finally time to set up. "Hey, Liam," Louis had whined. "Want to watch the new episode on Harry's laptop upstairs?"

"It's almost time for dinner," was the rebuttal.

Louis whined louder, hoping that his bratty nature would win once again. "Please, Liam. We can eat when it's over. Forty-five minutes!"

"Fine!" Maybe his resolve had already been crushed by talking to his mom and dad on the phone for a couple of hours, but he caved. Besides, it was unlikely that Louis was going to give up...ever.

The two had disappeared into Harry and Louis' room. Zayn and Niall tip-toed up the stairs and carried the bags back down, trying to not let the plastic make too much noise. Zayn's heart would have broken if the secret was out before they could put the decorations up and set the food out. "Why are there so many bottles?" Niall kept his voice low as they passed the door.

"Because I remembered that you worked as a bartender once upon a time," His eyes sparkled.

Niall could have screamed. Everyone was really pissing him off lately. "You mean I'm supposed to be working Liam's birthday party?"

"Yes?"

Before Niall could object, Luke took the bags with an excited smile. "I'm going to make little nametags for all of the snacks!"

"It's just cheese puffs? And various dips?" Zayn told him. Luke leveled him with a glare that from which it was easy to tell that he didn't care. The two of them were managing to be good friends, even if Liam strongly disliked him. There had been no real discussion of what had occurred, but it was clear that whatever they had was over, and the Ziam train was choo-choo-chooing into the sunset.

"Fine, I'll do this for you, because I love Liam. Not like you do, but in a strong brotherly sort of way." Niall began to place the bottles on the counter, smiling to himself and thinking of all the drinks he could create. He may have just had the bartender job to make money, but he had loved it a lot. Far better than being a psychologist.

Zayn busied himself taping a banner onto the long wall across from the stairs - something that Liam would see as soon as he tried descending. Palmer came along to help him, so that the whole thing wouldn't fall apart. "This is a pretty nice thing you're doing," He pointed out.

"That's me. Nice Malik," A quick jazz hands moment.

"Luke wouldn't have done this for you, if the roles were reversed," Palmer admitted, having known him much longer.

Shoulders lifted in a shrug that was more like a sigh. "I know." Maybe that was the downfall with him and Luke mentally, since the physical cut-off was the jail thing. Grant was far too sugar daddy-esque for his own good, while Luke gave him flowers and a wedding band. Liam didn't have anything to give except for his love, and maybe that was what he had realized. In this crime world that they lived in, it wasn't about the money - it was about those bonds - that family they had found - and the love too.

Missing Liam already, Zayn took out his phone to send a text to Louis. He could imagine Louis saying that it was dinner time already and pausing the episode of whatever show the two of them were binging. There had been a moment spent in front of the mirror with some hairspray, a comb, and some of Harry's lipstick to make himself look amazing, and he spread his arms up as Liam walked down the hallway and finally looked out at him.

"Zayn?" His eyebrows furrowed up in confusion, and then he was smiling.

"Happy birthday!"

Harry emerged from the gym with a party favor, blowing confetti over Zayn, who blew it away from his mouth. The man of honor came down the stairs and to Zayn's surprise, there was a tear falling down his cheek. "Why are you crying?" They fell together with open arms.

"Because you're the best person like ever," Liam noted, trying to contain himself as he buried his head into Zayn's neck. "No one's ever thrown me a surprise party before." Arms grew tighter until the one being squeezed thought that this lungs were going to pop, and then they were separating.

"Payno's crying like a wimp?" Louis came down the stairs, staring straight at them. "Stealing my husband's lipstick, Zaynie?"

"Aw, so glad to hear someone's getting married in this household," Perrie cast the comment over her shoulder and laughed as Luke threw a handful of cheese puffs at her. "Someone had to say it." She drawled, which was most definitely not true.

Harry draped his arm around the blue-eyed man. "No one's getting married just yet. Besides, I don't know if I'm ready to settle down yet." Louis stepped on his foot hard, and the pair were laughing in seconds. "Just kidding, Boo Bear."

"Lottie teach you that one, yeah?" They wandered into the kitchen, prompting the other pair to follow them.

"You even got a bartender for the evening?" Liam teased, hooking his finger through Zayn's belt loop. "How sweet of you. I just love manual labor."

"I will break this whiskey bottle in your face," Niall made the motion of "let's square up bro" and Liam rolled his sleeves up threateningly. "Hey, no fighting in the bar or you'll be kicked out!"

"You started it!" Liam yelled, and just like that, the night was off to an amazing start.

Zayn hooked his phone up to the speakers in the living room, and a dance floor was formed by pushing the couch and coffee table into the next room. An hour in, Harry was half-naked and doing the Electric Slide while Louis and Perrie threw dollar bills at him. Niall had sunglasses on and had one arm around his safe, like that was his date for the night.

Two hours in, Palmer and Perrie were dancing. Luke was watching them with a knowing look, as she steadied him and pretended that she wanted to be anywhere else. They couldn't take their eyes off of each other. He hadn't wanted to leave the dining room, but she had convinced him, as she convinced him of everything. Whereve Perrie went, Palmer followed.

In the corner, Harry and Louis' skin had fused together as they made out with alarmingly high sound levels. The pair of them were wild without the baby there. More calories had been burned between them than Niall had eaten - and it was his cheat day.

Liam's face was nuzzled into his boyfriend's neck as the two of them danced. He was muttering the words to whatever song was on - Zayn couldn't hear it over the beating of his own heart. "My little bean, I love you," His nose rubbed against the skin on the back of his neck, and an electric wire ignited in his body.

"Love you too, Payno," His heart was breaking in all the best ways. This was what he had always wanted - not the glamor and glitz of a New York city romance, or a London wedding. Just drunkenly dancing to a slow song while your friends sucked the lips off of each other a few feet away. It was perfect, and there would never be another moment like it again.

Seeing that everyone else was having a romantic moment, Niall held up a bottle of whisky and motioned to the back door. Luke followed him. Wordlessly, the two got into the hot tub in just their underwear. "Have you ever been in a long-term relationship?" Luke stared down at the water, like he was only seeing his mistakes.

"Never been in a serious one," He remarked. "I was in jail before I could meet anyone." The first serious friendship he had had was Declan, and now even those memories were tainted by what had happened to him. All of these bad thoughts, about how Declan had recommended him to Simon through a secure chat, how Simon still wanted him over Niall. Every negative thought had been repeated in his head since they came back from Philadelphia, and he needed to snap out of it with the job in a couple of days. "Thinking about Zayn? Missing him?"

"Not really," Luke took the bottle and chugged it for a moment. "We all made mistakes back then, I'll say that."

"We're too young to have so many regrets," Niall shook his head, then changed the subject. Short attention span or what? "I have not seen Hailee once since our first meeting. Is she even here, or is Palmer practicing by himself out here?"

Luke looked up at him, trying to think of where she had been staying if they had all been under house arrest. Then a red dot appeared on Niall's bare chest. The both of them looked up to the roof. "There's an attic, you idiots," She said with a smile. "I can't deal with your high-school drama, so I stay out here." They could see the little window that she had climbed out of, and that she was sitting up there stargazing while they had a serious life chat in the hot tub.

"Well, we won't keep you!" Luke shot her a thumbs up, and shook his head, his way of saying, "Wow, this girl is crazy."

"What are you nerds doing?" Harry's shout came from the door, where he was now in a satin bathrobe. "We haven't even cut the cake yet and you're doing it in the hot tub?"

"We're not gay, Harry!" Niall called back, getting out.

"I'm bisexual," Luke laughed. "Not that I'd ever want you, just to be clear."

Drunk Niall was highly offended. "Why not?"

"I don't date criminals." He put on his air of superiority, planting his bare feet on the wet grass and stalking back inside.

If there was a camera to look into, Niall would have been doing it. "We were in the same prison!"

Once the whole crew was gathered inside, Palmer was given the job of lighting the candles. Since he had the steadiest hands. A cheap drugstore-esque cake with frosting that would taste like battery acid. "I'm so excited," Liam was bouncing up and down, hand enclosed within Zayn's, who was ready to scream the song at the top of his lungs.

Louis bumped into Palmer, giggling loudly. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, continue." He motioned ahead, and Harry struggled through his own haze to drag Louis into the kitchen and feed him a snack. No one could hear what the younger one was saying through mumbles, but Louis was repeating it right back. "I don't have low blood sugar, you daft idiot! Are you saying that because I'm short?"

"Light the candles," Zayn begged. "Please."

"Happy birthday," Niall began. And they all sang while Harry tried Louis to drink a Capri Sun or eat a chip, but he was staunchly refusing too, stumbling around the cabinets, looking for some sort of weapon, it seemed. "To you...." The note carried on, and Liam leaned forward to blow out the three candles that were already flickering out.

The cheers went up as Louis passed out onto the ground. Harry immediately started crying and sat beside him on the floor. "Ok, the party's over," Zayn pinched the bridge of his nose, wishing that One Direction didn't have to be so chaotic.