All I Want For Christmas Is You * LS AU

Chapter 1

Soulmates have always been a key part of the world. The idea of that overwhelming all-consuming love for another human being has had the world hooked since time began. It has never been truly explained but it has always just been how it was. At 16 years of age, you will develop an outline of an image on your body. These images are corresponding and will fill in once you have admitted your feelings of love for one another. But you are not given all of the time in the world. You must find your soulmate by the elder's 22nd birthday or else your outline will fade and you will never truly know that soul bond.

Louis Tomlinson grew up the first few years of his life believing soulmates were a bad thing. When he was born his mum was 16 years old in school and had been with someone who was not her soulmate. She didn't believe in the idea of it so she decided to marry Louis' dad Troy while still in school. No later than a month after Louis was born his father's soulmate was made known to Jay. They had known each other through school growing up and she had finally admitted their feelings making their tattoos appear. He left Jay and Louis not even a day later without ever looking back. Jay was jaded for a long time and wouldn't let Louis talk about soulmates at all. He didn't even know the full story about his dad until he was 6 years old.

When Louis started school other kids would talk about their parents and soulmates and it confused Louis endlessly. His mum spoke as though soulmates were bad so he couldn't understand why these kids around him would speak so excitedly about them. When the other children found out he was a product of non-soulmate parents the bullying began. They told him he would never have a soulmate, he had no soul and so many other stupid things. Because of this it was hard to make new friends. Louis found himself hiding in his homeroom during recess and lunch periods and eating with his teacher who was the only one he could confide in. His teacher was nothing but kind and always had an open seat for Louis and open ears. Over time as he became more comfortable Louis decided he would ask his teacher about soulmates. His teacher finally explained things to him from an unjaded and unbiased point of view. That soulmates were a gift and that they were the one person you would ever truly feel a soul connection to. The idea of soulmates sounded so beautiful to Louis.

For a short while, he felt guilty admitting these feelings about soulmates to his mum. He saw how sad she looked whenever they were in the market and saw couples or heard about soulmates on the television. He didn't want to hurt her. So he found an empty journal and began to draw, write and dream about everything he wished for his soulmate to be. He kept this journal under his pillow and dreamed every night of the things he had written. His soulmate would have pretty hair, sparkly eyes, a kind smile... To his defense, he started this list at age 6. He would see people in his day-to-day life and jot down the qualities, he saw that he wanted to build his perfect companion.

After a few months of this, he finally built up enough courage to ask his mum about soulmates. The bullying at school had reached an all-time high and he wanted to know everything he could know about it. It only felt fair to him. He went home from school one afternoon after a short pep talk from his teacher and she finally told him the story of Troy. This was not as easy to hear as Louis thought it was going to be. It made a burning emotion build up in his chest that after a while he finally paired it with a name. Hatred. Louis might have been young but he truly hated his father. He hated that his father had hurt his mother and secretly he hated even more than his dad would have abandoned him. Though he would never admit it to anyone he wanted a dad. He saw the kids at school being picked up by their dads, the ones playing footie on the fields next to his house, and the fond smiles that came to their father's faces. But he had accepted even then that it was something he was likely never to experience. Troy robbed him of that.

Louis continued to confide in his teacher and they grew very close. From their lunchtime discussions to recess games in the safe salvation of the classroom, they developed a deep bond. He talked endlessly about his teacher to his mum and she finally invited his teacher to have dinner with them to see who this person was and why her son why so enamored with them. The evening that his teacher was to come over Louis was bouncing off the walls. He couldn't wait to share his new friend with his mum and show his teacher all of the cool things in his house, including but not limited to the glow-in-the-dark football his mum had gotten him for Christmas. When his teacher arrived Louis rushed to the door to help with coats and open the door. His mum walked up behind him to shake his teacher's hand in greeting. He smiled at her and she felt her heartbeat increase as she sent a small smile in return. That is when Jay met Dan.