Chapter 12: Plans With Side Plans

"Nice place."

Brad took note of the girls' flat. It was very cozy and welcoming despite the modern look to it. Lauren and Camila asked him to come over for some help.

Louis has been wanting to surprise Harry. He proposed a plan to both of them and there was a special part of it where they needed to work on. Louis wanted something original and romantic playing in the background for his big finale. Lauren and Camila, seeing the obvious stress on the guy's face, took it upon themselves to do it. At least to carry some burden off his shoulders.

With the past few days of getting to know Brad, they found out he's a talented musician. Although Zayn meeting Brad was kinda rough, he took it upon himself to give the guy a second chance. Everyone bonded fairly well with Brad. They found out he can play the guitar very well, has some amazing vocals, and has written some songs himself. Now with the task at hand both girls thought 'why not ask help?'

Lauren was leading Brad up to the study where Camila was already preparing their stuff. On the table were some pen and paper, and a few sticks of gum. Everyone sat on a chair. Brad was thinking of what the beat of the song should be but he needed some information first.

"So what's the song gonna be about?" He asked, picking up a pen and paper. Lauren crossed her right leg over the other, her left hand scratching her chin as if in deep thought.

"He said he wanted it to be romantic."

"Oh. Any more things I should know?" Brad asked, taking note of the first information.

"He's asking Harry to be his boyfriend." Camila said bluntly, tapping his fingers in the armrest of the seat.

"Is he the kind to talk about beautiful smiles and gorgeous eyes or is he driven personality-wise?" He asked,meant in got know what kind of content the song should have.

"I think both. He always gushes about how Harry is so hot and caring at the same time." Lauren filled in the blanks. She saw him scribble some things down on the paper.

Brad went over his notes with the girls, opening up some suggestions for the song. They went over what beat the song should have. Since Louis was asking Harry out, they decided that it should be a slow meaningful song. The one that touches the soul.

They've spent a good three hours and a half working on the lyrics alone. They were looking over it and working on the tune when Brad stood up and made his way to the keyboard. He plugged it in and began playing a melody. Camila and Lauren's attention was on Brad. He didn't tell them he could play the keyboard. They looked at each other with wide eyes. Lauren shrugged and took Camila's hand in hers, intertwining them and swaying her torso to the melody. Camila smiled and joined her girlfriend. Brad played this glorious melody over and over and he struck the last note, prolonging it for effect. The girls stopped their swaying and stood up and clapped their hands at the performance. Brad gave them a cheeky smile.

"That deserved a Grammy!" Camila gushed out, feeling herself get emotional.

"I couldn't agree more." Lauren piped in, clapping her hands slowly. Brad rubbed his nape, flustered by the comments.

"Thanks. Was it good?" He asked, hoping the melody was enough. Camila grinned widely. "Duh." She said, as if it was the most obvious thing ever.

"Babe, Dinah's virus is getting to you." Lauren said jokingly, hugging the girl from the side. Camila playfully pushed her off and slapped her arm. Lauren rubbed over the throbbing skin and pouted.

"Babe, Dinah has no virus." Camila defended her friend. Lauren pouted and continued rubbing her arm, Brad entertained by the playful banter in front of him.

"Camz, I was just kidding." The green eyed girl defended herself. Camila crossed her arms over her chest. "Well virus is no laughing matter, Jauregui."

Lauren looked at her girlfriend, confused. The use of her surname caught her attention. "Okay Ms. Cabello, I'll stop now." She defeatedly said, as if a teacher was scolding her student. Camila beamed her a smile. "Good."

Brad cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. They began working back on the song. Brad played the keyboard while Camila and Lauren were trying to fit the lyrics on it. After a while, they were met by their finished product. Lauren and Camila were standing with the lyrics in hand, Brad sat on a chair behind the keyboard. He signaled the girls to get ready and played the first note. The silent house was filled with the glorious melody. Camila was the first to sing her lines.

Silence came back as the last note died down gloriously. Everyone was quiet, shocked by what they made.

"Wow.." Lauren breathed out. That was just.. phenomenal. Brad was the next to break the silence.

"Now that deserved a Grammy." He sincerely said. "You guys have awesome voices." He gushed out, genuinely taken back by their angel-like voices. "You compliment each other very well."

"Aww thanks. I sound like a chipmunk while Lauren sounds like an angel." She joked about how her voice sounds like a chipmunk. Lauren looked at her in disbelief with a hanging jaw.

"No you don't sound like a chipmunk." Lauren sternly said. She hates it when Camila beats herself up for her unique voice. "You sound like an angel. You are the epitome of heaven, Camz." She intertwined her hands with hers. Camila smiled appreciatively, leaning in to peck her on the lips. "Thanks." She said.

"So when is he gonna do it?" Brad asked.

"Next week, Saturday at 8:00pm. The location is still unknown at the moment."

"Let's just hope everything will go according to plan."

~~~~~~~

"Lauren where the hell are you guys?!" Harry asked, nervous and tense as to why his wingmen are late. It was the day of their 'plan' for Harry to ask Louis out. Little did he know what the boy has planned too.

"Our car broke down. We've been stranded for about ten minutes already." Lauren reasoned out. She and Camila were at the venue for Louis' plan. They just needed to get Harry to come to them.

"Can you pick us up?" Camila hopefully asked since that call was on speaker. Harry huffed from the other line and grunted. 

"Fine. Just because you're helping me get my guy." Shuffling could be heard on the other line and a low rumble of a car engine appeared a few seconds later.

"I'll text you the address. Hurry up, there are tons of creepy dudes here." Lauren told a lie for some added effect, just to get Harry to hurry up.

"I'm on my way." the call ended.

Lauren and Camila turned around to look at a very tense Louis, rubbing his hands together and doing short ragged breaths. 

"He's on his way." Lauren said. He gripped him by the shoulders and looked him in the eyes. "Stop that. You're gonna faint."

"I do really think I'm gonna faint." Louis said, shaking his head. Camila went closer to them and patted his back. 

"Just calm down, okay? I'm positive everything'll turn out fine." she gave him a supportive smile. Louis thanked the girls as Lauren texted Harry the address, which was actually only a ten-minute drive from where they were. So Harry's gonna arrive in ten minutes or less.

They were in an abandoned building. Well, not really abandoned. It's a rentable building for offices and such. It was completely empty and since no one was really interested in it, the owner lowered the rent so they afforded it. They pimped up the place to have a romantic mood to it, with hints of nature here and there to add some effect to the place. It was dark at the moment, so they couldn't really see what they did but once they'll turn on the lights, oh mama.

"Let's do this." Louis announced. Everyone involved with the plan was in a circle. The guys, with the exception of Harry, and the girls were all there. They made a huge circle while holding each other's hands, linking it. Ally led the prayer and everyone did a short battle cry, hyping things up. Everyone went to their respective rolls and positions when they heard a car pull up outside the building.

Harry climbed out of his car and eyed the establishment. "Lauren! Camila!" he cried out, hoping to get a response but none. There at the door of the building was a card. He went closer and saw his name written on it. He hesitantly took it and opened the folded paper.

We're inside the building. We decided to rest for a bit. Camz got tired.

"Why the hell would you rest inside an empty building?" Harry mumbled at the girls' stupidity. He hesitantly opened the door. He was greeted by pure darkness. He took a step back but was pulled by two pairs of arms inside. The door closed behind him as he was being pulled, he can't see anything, just pure black.

He was panicking. If Camila and Lauren were in here, they could be in trouble. He was gonna shout for them but a light opened up. It was like a spotlight in front of him. Then another lit up, just in front of the previous one. This continued until the lit path reached a table with candles and silverware. It was adorned with natural pieces, giving a light air to the atmosphere. Soon enough, candles were being lit one by one throughout the wide empty room. They were like fireflies in the dark. His jaw was hanging by a thread by the intensity of his amazement.

He walked down the lit path and as he was nearing the table, he can see a silhouette in the dark. He approached it slowly until he saw the face of the mysterious figure.

It was Louis, holding a single red rose by his chest with a wide smile on his face. Harry feels his heart beating faster by the second. Could he be dreaming? Is fate messing with him?

"Hey." Louis greeted, holding out the rose delicately to Harry. "For you." Harry took the rose slowly from his hand, the contact making his skin tingle.

"Let's take a seat, yeah?"

As they sat down, Harry could see something moving in the shadows. Two people came out, wearing formal suits and white masks. They were holding their meal for the day. The two mysterious men set the meals out on the table and disappeared in the shadows. Another came out, this time with a girly figure, holding some wine glasses and sure enough a bottle of wine. She gave one glass to each men and poured a reasonable amount before disappearing in the shadows. 

Harry was still confused, but elated at the same time. He faced Louis who was nervously fidgeting his fingers. Harry reached out and grabbed his arm. 

"Hey. It's beautiful." Harry reassured. Louis smiled, thankful that he loved it so far. They ate their meals and talked a good amount of time until Louis stood up and extended his hand out for Harry to take.

"I have to tell you something." 

Louis guided Harry through the dark. They stopped suddenly and Louis squeezed his hand. Soon enough, a bunch of lights lit up and showed a stage. There was a beautiful white grand piano. Behind it was Brad, giving them a wide smile. In the middle of the stage were Dinah, Ally, Normani, Camila, and Lauren, giving them wide smiles as well. An unknown melody was played by Brad.

Tired, tired, you're all I want, yeah

It'll be 'til the end, give me nothing I've ever tried

It'll be the perfect sin, something like the truest lie

Everywhere somehow, the only place I'll ever be

As long as you hold me down, oh such a liberty

Warm me with your touch, pressure from your fingertips

Never be enough, I'll do nothing but submit

I just wanna feel a thousand hands from you, only you

Can you make me feel a thousand hands from you, only you?

Grab a hold of my soul and make me feel complete within

you'll be the one to show these goosebumps on my skin

I'll wear my heart on my sleeve, I need you to feel the pain

Would you take a bullet for me? Cause you know I'll do the same

Warm me with your touch, pressure from your fingertips

Never be enough, I'll do nothing but submit

I just wanna feel a thousand hands from you and only you

Can you make me feel a thousand hands from you and only you?

I just want to feel a thousand, from you

A thousand hands from you

Just wanna feel a thousand

A thousand hands from you

Feel a thousand hands from you...

The whole room lit up and revealed a stunning view. But what caught Harry's attention was a special message.

Louis stood in front of Harry, taking both of his hands into his. He looked him in the eyes. The melody from the song was still playing in the background, accompanied by beautiful harmonies from the five girls.

"I needed to get this off my chest because I couldn't take it anymore. You have caught my attention and my heart from the moment we met. You're a very genuine, loving, and caring guy. You effortlessly captured my heart every time you smile. You are the light of my day. You are the reason I wake up every morning, hoping that I could spend some time with you. I have been trying to rid my feelings of you because maybe you don't feel the same. So I had a girlfriend, but after a painfully long time and after being cheated on, now I know I should pursue what my heart wants. And that's you. I hope I'm not too late and I hope that you'll answer my question truthfully."

Harry feels his pulse heighten, heart almost beating out of his chest from anticipation. Louis held his hands up and brought it to his lips, kissing them gently. 

"Will you do the honor to be my boyfriend?" 

Louis asked with hopeful eyes. Harry couldn't help the smile on his face from growing. He laughed and shook his head, tears starting to form on his eyes. He just simply couldn't believe this but he loves it.

"Of course Louis, of fucking course." with that Harry lets go of his hands and grasped Louis' face, engaging in a kiss. 

The song in the background ended and everyone cheered for them. Everyone clapped their hands, proud of their two friends for finally having each other after such a long time. Camila and Lauren looked at the new couple, hand in hand. It was like looking at the past when Lauren asked Camila to be her girlfriend. Both wore smiles on their faces. After the commotion died down, Louis gave Lauren a thumbs up and a nod of the head, signaling her to go with her plan. Lauren smiled and gave him a nod. She lets go of Camila's hand and approached the microphone, while the others were going over to the new couple down the stage.

"This song is dedicated to someone very special to me." everyone's eyes were on the green-eyed girl. Brad was behind the piano while Zayn was holding a guitar. Her eyes caught the familiar brown ones looking at her with wide eyes.

"This one's for you, Camz."

She says I smell like safety and home

I named both of her eyes "Forever" and "Please don't go"

I could be a morning sunrise all the time, all the time yeah

This could be good, this could be good

And I can't change, even if I tried

Even if I wanted to

And I can't change, even if I tried

Even if I wanted to

My love, my love, my love, my love

She keeps me warm, she keeps me warm

What's your middle name?

Do you hate your job?

Do you fall in love too easily?

What's your favorite word?

You like kissing girls?

Can I call you baby?

Yeah, yeah

She says that people stare 'cuz we look so good together

Yeah, yeah, yeah

And I can't change, even if I tried

Even if I wanted to

And I can't change, even if I tried

Even if I wanted to

My love, my love, my love, my love

She keeps me warm, she keeps me warm [x2]

I'm not crying on Sundays, I'm not crying on Sundays [x2]

Love is patient, love is kind [x4]

My love, my love, my love, my love

She keeps me warm, she keeps me warm..

Camila was looking at her girlfriend with wet, loving eyes. She tried to contain herself but whenever her girlfriend is like this, she can't hold herself in. Lauren gave her a wide smile and leaned over the microphone.

"I love you, Camz."

Camila shook her head and ran up the stage. She jumped at Lauren and gave her a very tight hug. Camila's head was cuddled on the green eyed girl's chest. Lauren was soothing her hand through her girlfriend's long brown locks. Her other hand was intertwined with hers by their side. Lauren kissed the crown of Camila's head, which made the girl look up.

"I love you, Lo. So freakin' much." Camila said with just pure sincerity and love. They both leaned in and captured each other's lips in a passionate yet gentle kiss. Everyone was clapping their hands. A loud booming voice overlapped the clapping noises.

"Camren!"

Everyone laughed and shouted as well. "Camren!"

"Larry!"

Everyone once again laughed and applauded Dinah with her skill in making ship names.

"To Larry and Camren!"