~But it's not the end,

I'll see your face again~

SEPTEMBER 2ND

The house wasn't big enough to have bathrooms for all of the bedrooms, and it wasn't big enough for everyone to have their own individual bedroom. Simon had his, and Larry had theirs. Hailee had chosen the attic as her roost, and Liam and Zayn had snagged two empty rooms back when they'd first arrived. However, the other four had been surprisingly late to the party.

There had been bickering about there being only two rooms left. Simon said that they would have to figure it out amongst themselves, like adults. So the trio slept in the bigger room, and Niall got his own room. But, all of the trio's stuff was kept in his room. Niall was just happy that in a couple of days, everyone would be clearing out and going home. Then he'd be in his own room at home, and far away from everything. For good.

The communal bathroom was upstairs, across from Harry and Louis' room. And this morning, that was the gathering place for the people without their own bathroom to get ready. Liam stood in front of Zayn, helping him tie his tie. He himself was dressed in a normal outfit, but was complimenting his boyfriend every chance that he could get. "Stop," Zayn glared up at him with a pout.

"When am I going to see you in a suit again?" Liam mused; his attempts to get him to stop panicking over something going wrong were failing miserably. Once the tie was in place, he used it to pull Zayn into a kiss.

Just before their lips met, the other person in the room cleaned their throat. "We've got work to do, people," Perrie scoffed. "Save the kisses for afterwards." Her eyes went wide as she applied the last splash of her mascara. The clutch purse in her hand was adjusted as she pointedly glared at them and left.

Their lips met once she was gone, but even that peace was interrupted by the rush of the front door opening downstairs. "Got to go before I get yelled at," He said breathlessly. "I'll see you afterwards, yeah?"

Zayn batted his eyelids at his significant other. "I could ride with you two on the way back? As long as we leave on time, Simon doesn't care who we leave with."

Liam disentangled himself from Zayn. "If you can. But stick to the plan."

"LIAM!" Luke was shouting from downstairs.

He huffed and left the room. "Coming, coming!"

Zayn looked in the mirror at his appearance. He wished the makeout session had lasted long enough to plump his lips up, but Perrie was right. There was a job to be done. Today was the one day that they couldn't be off schedule. Simon would have an aneurysm, but he wasn't at the house at the moment.

"Last call for supplies!" He heard Louis calling from downstairs, and Zayn pulled the tie tight again. Everyone had slightly modified the outfits that Zayn had gotten them to fit their individual style and the dress code of the wedding. Harry's tie would've gotten in the way, so he found his own button up to go with the black slacks and dress shoes.

"Here!" Zayn slid down the bannister, coming to a complete stop in front of the man holding the diaper bag open. "Laptop." It went into the bag, and it was zipped up.

Niall was in a deep squat on the floor of the living room, hair slicked back with the blueprints sticking out of his pocket. The timer wasn't in his hand, and it looked like he was just practicing opening the safe just a couple more times before they would leave.

Harry popped out of the kitchen, rolling his sleeves up and taking hold of the diaper bag. "Two minutes, you guys." One Direction minus Liam, plus Perrie and Infinity stood in front of the front door. Waiting for Simon to arrive with the car. Then he'd take them to the wedding reception, and as soon as they entered the doors, the plan would start. "Nervous?" He looked down at Louis, who was looking down at Fin.

"I have the simplest job," He rolled his bright blue eyes. "Get the supplies in, never leave Simon's side. I'll be fine."

Harry leaned down to hug him. "Stay safe, okay? We'll all go for pizza tonight to celebrate."

"Somewhere with those games that we can spend a hundred dollars in quarters." Louis jutted his hip out, picking up the baby carrier.

"I want to win a stuffie," Zayn joined the conversation.

"Let's just go to an arcade then," There was Niall. Perrie rolled her eyes and opened the front door as the car honked outside. The group was in single file, like school kids.

Silence filled the car as Louis closed the door last. The gate was still open, and Simon reversed out. Sweat residue shone on the wheel. It was hard not to notice, but no one could say anything to calm the anxiety in the car.

"How was the ceremony?" Zayn crossed his legs and leaned forward. Perrie was bickering behind him with Niall in the backseat, and he needed to distract himself.

Simon kept driving, a neutral face on behind his sunglasses. "Quiet. Touching. Nothing that screaming, "I'm a massive criminal and plan on robbing everyone who comes to my reception." '

"Technically, by default, we're also robbing them." Harry said from the passenger seat, then crossed his own legs and looked out the window as Simon glared at him. "But they're all rich people. So its fine."

"So, like, your family is going to be there?" Louis questioned. "We get to meet Papa Cowell?"

"My dad died forever ago. Mom lives in North Carolina. Too old to make the journey. Besides, its his third wedding. She was there for the first. Enough about me," He began to grill everyone. "Louis, not allowed to leave my side."

"I'm your bodyguard," He snorted. "Me, the broke kid from Donny. Muscle for the big businessman."

Simon quickly moved away from that. "Harry, you're prepared for that worst-case scenario?"

"Anything for three million," The curly one looked pained as he smiled over at his boss. "But Simon, if the plan goes haywire, I'm taking a car and I'm getting everyone out of there." There wouldn't be a next time. Not while he could still feel the pain in his arm from the break, and while there were lingering marks of his fingers on Simon's neck.

"Fine. Zayn, cameras, Perrie, you do what you do, Niall, don't need to tell you anything. And keep the baby safe, obviously." There was silence for the rest of the drive. Hills and country roads surrounded them until there was just a gate. A gate like the one at Simon's house. But with a far bigger property behind it.

"Simon Cowell and five plus ones. Plus a child." The window was rolled down, and the invitation was handed to the attendant. Harry looked around, noting empty guard towers and no one carrying a gun. Guess that wouldn't allow the reception guests to feel comfortable.

The car was waved inside, and Louis' face hardened with resolve as he took Fin's carrier out of the car. Harry handed him the diaper bag, and the group joined the queue of people waiting to get inside.

Simon was making small talk with the people in line - Louis was right to suggest the idea that he would know people here. But then again, none of them had ever been out in public with Simon before. It was like they were taking a physical step to announcing that they were criminals. While the rest of the guests wouldn't know, for them it was like walking into a dangerous situation with a target on every single one of their backs. "Oscar ready in three," Louis started, hoisting the carrier up to his hip level and jostling his daughter awake. "Two, one." His fingers sought out the soft skin of her leg and gave it a tiny pinch. "I am so sorry."

The wails started instantaneously. Everyone who didn't know there was a baby there knew now, and Louis made a show of checking her diaper and recoiling in disgust. With a sidestep, he was out of line and walking up to the two guys manning the metal detector. "Hey, hey!" With a yell, he had their attention. "My daughter just exploded her diaper, and I've got to clean her up."

The man farthest away from him made a sympathetic face and turned to his co-worker. "Ok, just go through the metal detector quickly." The other one said.

Another well hidden pinch and her wailing tripled. His heart was in agony. "I've just got some metal pacifier clips in here, and they're all the way at the bottom." He tried to make himself appear haggard and whole-heartedly discontent with his daughter crying. "Please, she's not going to stop unless I change her."

The man standing next to the metal detector sighed and pointed in the direction of the bathroom. Gemma's information that there was going to be such a one at the wedding had caught him and the rest of the team off guard, but they knew that it was most likely to stop them smuggling weapons in. After all, when Simon RVSP'd with five guests, Nicholas was bound to know something was up. 

It was a normal bathroom, and Louis darted inside. Within seconds, she was in his arms and he was rocking her back to sleep. "Daddy loves you so much, darling. Darling Finny." Song lyrics came out of his mouth - Harry was always jotting down lyrics to songs he was writing, hoping he'd sell them to the big singers. It was contagious, and Louis found himself doing it too. "Oo-oh-oh, if it all goes wrong," Shoulders shook from side to side and he paced slightly. "Darling, just hold on."

There was a crisp knock at the door, and Zayn entered. Louis nodded at him, knowing that he would've made some excuse to see if he needed help, securing his alibi. But he dove straight for the diaper bag on the counter. The laptop came straight out, and within seconds, he was typing just a few keystrokes. "A baby could hack these cameras," He sighed. "I was hoping for a challenge." As he shut it, Zayn confirmed what he'd done to Louis, who was placing Fin back into her carrier. "They're all rigged to go off at the right time."

"Send Perrie in?" Zayn wasn't a good actor, but he did his best concerned face as he poked his head out of the door and called her name out. Then he was gone and there she was.

Business was written all over her face as well. Out of the diaper bag this time came her tiny charges and the superglue. A smile crossed her lips as she counted them and then stuffed them into her clutch purse. "Supermodel sexy with a hint of danger." The last thing that went in was her detonator. "All set."

Louis zipped the diaper bag back up and briefly looked at the rest of the content, which Harry would be in charge of once the bag left his hands. In preparation for this day, Louis had also made a pocket on the back of the carrier to put things that she would actually need in there. Because it was going to be a long day, that's for sure.