Do You Know Who You Are? (l.s.)

39

Louis Tomlinson

I love winter. It's the only time I don't need any excuses to not hang out with people, nobody wants to go out so it's just….peacefully easy to stay by myself. So I'm spending my days inside as usual. I'm not at home now though, I've just finished my last day of school before Christmas break and said goodbye to Sarah. I asked Phil if I could come to the shop before going home and as I'm walking towards it I'm already thinking about the quiet silence the old furniture is going to offer me as I do my homework.

The streets are white from the huge amount of snow and cars are slowly passing by as I walk carefully on the sidewalk. I'm almost at the store when a door opens next to me and a woman comes out right in front of me. She smiles at me and I realize a young man is walking next to her as I hear his voice. "Mom? Jack told me he loves the song I sang earlier… but you didn't say anything about it… did you like it?"

The woman stops and opens her umbrella to protect them from the snow falling onto them. Her son is looking at her with wide eyes waiting for her answer. She puts her hand on his cheek and widely smiles at him. "Of course angel! You have a beautiful voice, I always love when you sing." Her hand leaves his face, then she looks at both sides of the road and crosses it with her son following her.

I hear a bit of their discussion before making my way to the entrance of the store. Before not being hearable anymore the boy asked his mum's opinion about a career as a singer and the support she gave him made me smile. I keep my smile as I push the old door and see Phil at the back of the shop. "Hi Phil! How are you?" I close the door after stepping inside and making Phil quickly walk towards me.

"Louis! I'm good, how was school?"

"umm… pretty good I guess." As he finally is right in front of me he gets the snow away from my shoulders and the top of the hood resting on my hair.

"Oh! Look at you! All cold… Why didn't you protect yourself? You're gonna be sick son."

I take my hood off as his hands leave my clothes and he crosses his arms over his stomach. "That's fine, don't worry, I'm not gonna be sick." I take off my coat and place it on the hanger before walking to the old desk I usually work at. I put my bag on the floor and hear Phil's footsteps across the room.

After sitting at the desk I've spent almost an hour doing anything but my homework. Yes, because mathematics isn't the most interesting subject and I really enjoy listening to Phil talking to his customers After many unknown faces I can finally recognize one of the people entering the shop, Liam. He is smiling as always and hugs his father. I guess he went to his house after high school, that would explain why I got here before him. We share a kind smile before he starts his usual conversation with Phil. I don't pay attention to what he is talking about until Phil brings up my name. "Don't be sorry Liam! Look at Louis, he told me he wanted to be a singer and I've always supported him! If you want to be a doctor go for it! I'm so happy that you found out what you like and you shouldn't feel bad to not be able to take care of the shop, I'll find someone to do it! Please I'm so proud of you Liam, you are smart and kind you should never be sorry for that."

Liam thanks his dad but keeps saying that he is sorry which makes Phil kind of angry. Once again their discussion ends up in a hug though and I look at them with a happy face. Liam breaks the contact and looks at me. "About that Louis… How is the song going?"

"It's going well." Sarah and I have been working on this song for almost 2 months now and we are just missing the title and some of the lyrics, but we are taking our time and enjoying the experience a lot.

Liam smiles and grabs his coat before making his way to the door. "Great! I'm going now, the journey to Italy will be long and I wanna buy some books before leaving. If only I could fly I'd be there faster." He laughs and kisses his dad before waving at me and leaving the shop.