Louis' POV
"Hey, Fred! Got a good news for you!"
"What?"
"You're Uncle Leeroy and Bear just called me and they will come here!"
"Really?!"
"Yup! Maybe we could have a barbecue party, you know just like before!"
"Yeah! It had been awhile since we hadn't done that with the two! That sounds fun, Dad!"
It's weekend. That means I could spend more time with Freddie. Since he was already in my custody, I made it a point that I had time for him, so I thought of Louis-Freddie Weekend Getaway where we could do anything that we wanted as long as we were together. It became effective though because we became closer and I could see myself to him as he inherited my manners and being musically inclined.
I was very proud of how Freddie got easily learned playing instruments. He could sing as well. My little boy is talented, I must say.
In addition to that, every time Niall and Liam visited us here, we had a jamming session. I must admit, it was his Uncle Niall taught him how to play guitar and piano at the age of 7. And since then, he would always play and sing me any random songs.
We were in the middle of our singing session in the music room, when Liam and Bear arrived excitedly. We hugged them, acknowledging how grateful we were for their visit. Our sons became the best of friends. What can I say? Birds, with the same feather, flock together.
We continued jamming, and this time, we were singing 1D songs in our album Midnight Memories. We were having so much fun. As I did the piano, Freddie on guitar, Bear on drums and Liam on bass. We also reminisced by sharing our experiences while making that album to our sons. It felt good, actually.
We decided to have a barbecue party in the pool side and the music was so loud which gave us be so hyper. The two boys were enjoying swimming and Liam and I were drinking beer, laying at the pool lounges with our bodies soaking up the sun.
"It's nice to see you smiling again, mate."
"Oh yeah?! Well, maybe Freddie is with me now. You and Niall are always there for me. I'm living peacefully. This is what life is. And I love it."
"I'm happy for you, Lou." I could feel how genuine my best friend was.
"And I'm happy for you too, Li. Look at you! Who else could have thought that my best friend would consider Broadway shows and not only that, you won your first Tony Award last year! I mean... You have become successful in your own way."
"Well, I tried and worked hard for that. Music will always be part of my life... of our lives, right?"
"Yeah! Cheers, mate!"
I could see how uncomfortable and nervous Liam was. I could sense something was bothering him.
"Are you okay, Li?"
"Yeah, I'm definitely fine. But..."
Oh, gosh. Here came the 'but' part. I sighed.
"For sure Niall already told you about his plan for his next album, right?"
I nodded and drank more beer, still waiting for him to share his problems.
"By the way, I'm very thankful for allowing Niall and I to collaborate in one of his songs for his next album. I know, we discussed about it bef-"
"Liam! What's your point?" I asked him setting my voice in a little high tone, impatiently waiting for what he wanted to say which made Fred and Bear looked in our direction.
"I'm getting there, alright? Just let me finish."
"Bro, seriously! If you want to say something, just say it! I could give you advice or even help you with your problem."
"Oh! Basically, we were already working on the song and started recording it. Then, I had a meeting with his management that his working for." He paused and looked at me, observing my reaction.
"Okay, that's it? That's bugging you the whole time?"
"Yeah... Well... No." He laughed while answering me. It was so strange of him for being so nervous talking to me, after all these years. "The thing is they have new... uhmm... singer. And they wanted me to write him some songs."
"Well, that's great! For sure you can do that!"
"Yeah, of course! But Lou, The Phantom of the Opera will have world tour starting next month. I will be very busy with all the practices and preparations. It's kind of a pressure for me since I will play the lead role, right?"
"So if you can't, then turn them down. Tell them you can't write because you will be very busy and all. Simple as that!" I answered him in a sassy way.
"I already did. But the singer really firmly requested it because he is such a One Direction fan."
"He? A fan? Who is that singer?" I was now sitting and so was he.
"Uhmm... you don't know him. He's new. And... he is... uhmm... a cousin of the cousin of one of the executives of the management."
"What? Who? You know, Li. You do talk shit sometimes."
"I know! But my point is... Since he is a 1D fan and since I couldn't write him songs, I was thinking, if you could-"
"No! Definitely not!" I shouted which the two young boys stopped what they were doing and looked at us instead. I stood up and went inside the house. I didn't want our sons to see us in this kind of situation. Liam was following me behind.
"Bro, there will be no one perfect as you for this project. And I thought this is now the right timing for you to go back. The music industry needs you, Lou. We need your music."
I was rubbing my face and brushing my hair up. I kept on walking around the living room. I wasn't ready for this. And I definitely would not go back to that chaotic world of show business.
"I can't, Li. That's not my thing anymore. I just want to live a simple life. You know that!"
"I know. I know. And I understand your situation and all. But if you could just only try. Please?"
"I can't, Li. I'm sorry." I was about to walk out when he interrupted me.
"Why? I know you love writing songs, Lou. This is your passion. Writing makes you happy. Song writing is your life."
I completely ignored him and just continued climbing the stairs going to my room. But Liam was so persistent. He kept on following me.
"Why are you doing this to your life? Why are you suffering from not becoming fully happy? Was it because of Harry?"
I stopped climbing the stairs and looked back at him.
"Harry? Why did you f*cking bring that name in our f*cking conversation?!" I was so mad at him this time. I was already sick of our talk. I just wanted to stop this.
"Yeah! Harry! After all those years, you haven't moved on! You said you hated the show business because they control you. But, bro, whether you admit it to yourself or not, you control yourself from being happy."
"I am happy!"
"Yes you are but not completely happy! You can't lie to me, Lou, because I know you. And you know who will make you happy!" His face was now red and I knew he was very disappointed in me. I could see through his eyes that he was worried about me, which I really appreciated it.
"I don't know what you are talking about!"
"If you say so. We will go ahead now. But please, for the love of music, think about it. Okay?" He hugged me tightly. "Bear! Let's go!"
Liam and Bear left a few hours ago. Freddie was in his room already, probably sleeping and I just finished taking my shower preparing to go to sleep. However, my conversation with Liam bugged me for the past hours making me a bit frustrated because whether I hate to admit it or not, he was right. I did not want to fight with him because at the end of the day my best friend was telling the truth.
I must admit that even if I was happy, there was still something missing in my life. And if I considered Liam's proposal maybe this would change my life. I missed making my own music. Hopefully, songwriting would make me fully happy.
Then, I just noticed myself walking to my closet, looking for something hidden, an old box. And when I opened it, I saw a green notebook, the one that I used to use when I was writing songs. It looked overused. I scanned the pages that were almost full of writings. And something fell down, I saw on the floor a picture of myself and Harry.
A/N
Hello!
Any thoughts of the story so far? I hope you will like it though as much as I do. I just have to include Freddie and Bear here because I just love the 1D Babies and I was imagining them fully grown up as friends.