Be My Dandelion

Unit B: Subsection 21

After (literal) hundreds of days, Louis gets to go back home. Liam is the one picking him up just like he was the one to bring him here.

As Louis inks his journal for the last time, he turns the pages and closes it, the same way he closed the book of his past life. He felt ready to mentally fill new blank pages with the majestic pencil called experience.

It takes the two brothers quite a while to gather Louis' belongings, considering the amount of paintings Louis had created throughout his time there.

"What's your plan? What are you going to do with these?" Liam asked as he loaded the car with his brother's art pieces.

Louis helped him as he spoke, "Haven't really made up my mind to be honest. I think putting them up for sale is the best option 'ere."

Liam nodded once he was done and let a breath out, hands resting on his hips. "I'm willing to help with sales. Feels like it's my inner talent."

"Okay, big guy," Louis chuckled as he opened the passenger's door and entered the car, Liam following him and afterwards started driving away.

"Are you going back to your place?" Liam broke the silence after no more than ten minutes.

"Don't think I have another place to stay, do I?" Louis remarked.

"You could visit dad. You haven't seen each other since mom's passing," Liam said. "Pretty sure he'd like to see you."

Louis scoffed, "Alive and all?"

"That, too! I wasn't the only person worried sick about you."

Louis returned his gaze to the images that quickly passed right in front of his eyes as the car moved. How fitting it is to realize that not only your life passes right before your eyes, but the world does, too. It's a rare realization to notice you're not only living your life but others', too. Lives you've affected, lives you've come across, lives you've crossed paths with.

Louis, as a matter of habit, loses track of time and only notices Liam has parked the car outside their family's house last minute. He unbuckles his seatbelt and sighs as he follows Liam to the doorstep, waiting for the door to open after knocking.

Their father seems to be shocked once he lays his eyes upon Louis. They hadn't seen each other in what felt –and was- a year. He gave Liam a small hug and pulled Louis into a hug as well once his turn had come.

The visit didn't fall out of their plans. A casual conversation, a bit of catching up and most importantly emotion filling the atmosphere.

"I'm considering moving. I'm going to sell or rent my current place since I own it and find somewhere else. I want fresh, I want new," Louis added as he explained his future plans.

"You're always welcome to stay here, as well," his father pointed out and Louis nodded, seeming positive to the offer.

"Don't know what I'll do. I need my time and space to focus on my art for now, but I'll keep that in mind," is what he responds with.

They hear a flush of a toilet and then Liam steps out of the bathroom. "What?" he asks as he sees two pairs of eyes looking at him. The other two men just shrug.

"You have that tattoo appointment you asked me to book. Do you still want to do it today?" Liam asks.

Louis had totally forgotten about it. When he was in rehab he had decided that once he's out of there, he wants to get himself tattooed. He asked Liam to call in and book an appointment just to be sure he'll be able to do it the day he left the rehabilitation center.

"When is it?"

"In about 40 minutes," Liam replied, checking the time. "Might want to get going so we won't have to rush."

"You're right," Louis sighed as he stood up, their father copying the movements.

He walked his sons to the door and reminded Louis to never hesitate asking for help if he needs it. Louis nodded in response and walked to the car alongside Liam, leaving their dad behind.

Louis couldn't believe it. He was getting himself tattooed. He was actually doing this.

He had a few ideas of what could have been the first thing to ink his skin. Louis ended up deciding on describing a concept and letting the tattoo artist make their suggestions.

Louis forced Liam (not that he minded) to be there and do the talking since it was hard for Louis to do it himself, considering the stress and shyness consuming him at that specific moment.

The tattoo artist ("Nikki" as the name tag pinned on her shirt read) nodded as Liam explained what Louis was looking for. "Alright, listen. I have this," she said as she roamed through a few papers, "dagger if you're interested," she pointed to drawing once she found it. "One of my favorites, if I might be honest. Does that resemble what you're looking for?"

Louis nodded shyly. Maybe he should've given the whole situation a second thought. Oops?

"Cool. We're getting started. Sit here," Nikki basically ordered.

Louis did as he was told and extended his arm in a way that was convenient for Nikki to do her job. It was evident to everyone that Louis was stressing about this, cold sweat all over his body. Liam tried distracting him once a while and Nikki did her part, too.

"Fun fact: I did a rose tattoo the other day. It's somewhat matching to your dagger, I had sketched them for like couples or friends or whatever. Cool, right?"

Louis' ears perked up at the sound of that. His mind went places, travelled all the way to a different world and a different universe. Funny how everything works.

He never says it. He never even thinks of the name. He never even asks. He just likes to think it was him .

That boosts his confidence a tiny bit and it gives him the idea of coming back here to get more supposedly "matching" tattoos. And who knows... maybe it'll all be a funny coincidence if he meets the person who's inked with the other half tattoos.

After that day, there's nothing really interesting to point out about Louis' daily life. He's back into forming a routine of his own, at a pace of his own. A life of his own.

He's gotten Liam to help him photograph, write descriptions and upload the art pieces he had so far worked on.

Liam was halfway through making a website for Louis so the entirety of his work could be all gathered into one place for any potential buyers.

The interesting, surprising part was when Liam randomly put a few up on eBay and let people bid on them, only to find out they were willing to pay nearly two thousand.

Both of their jaws dropped and it was even more astonishing to watch this happen to more than one painting. It happened repeatedly and out of the blue Louis' paintings were popular demand.

There was this specific piece of Harry's side profile. His eyes were facing downwards, his curls falling onto his face and the background was a soft pink.

Liam was going through the names of the people bidding as they noticed how wanted the side-profile piece was.

Louis heard Liam laugh as his eyes were focused on the screen.

"What?" Louis asked, smiling.

"Can you believe famous people want in on your art, too?" said Liam. "There's this radio host. Capital FM? I believe that's the one."

Louis' movements stopped and semi-ran to Liam. He wore only socks and that allowed him to slide on the floor. He caught onto the chair to stop his sliding and leaned forward from behind Liam to read for himself. "Who and where? Show me."

Liam scrolled back and pointed to the screen. "Here he is. 'Niall Horan'."