Louis Tomlinson's mom begged him to mend friendship with Zayn Malik before she died

Louis Tomlinson has revealed his mother's dying wish was for him and former One Direction bandmate Zayn Malik to be friends again.

Johannah Deakin lost her battle with leukemia in December (16) and now her singer son tells British tabloid The Sun, she desperately wanted him to reach out to Zayn, telling him "life is too short" to stay mad at old pals.

Louis reveals he had not spoken to Zayn since he quit One Direction on tour in 2015.

"My mom said, 'You’ve got to get back in contact with Zayn. Life’s too short," Tomlinson recalls. "A mother’s intuition is just crazy. It always felt supernatural to me. My mom always knew what I was feeling and what I wanted."

"I can’t stand to hold a grudge with anyone. It doesn’t sit with me right," he tells the tabloid.

Johannah, who was just 43 when she died, knew in her heart that Louis needed a jolt to pick up the phone and speak to Zayn.

"I met up with him and it was nice," he explains. "Zayn was always good for me in the band because he was my go-to if I wanted to p**s around, lark around. I would always see the good in Zayn and also watch him shoot himself in the foot with some of his decisions, but he’s just a little misunderstood."

Louis and Zayn were at the forefront on the biggest scandal surrounding the boy band - when they were caught puffing from a joint in an online video and joking about marijuana use.

"I could always break the rules a little bit with Zayn," the singer smiles.

The two old friends are now on good terms again and Louis adds, "We really care about each other."

And he remains close with his other One Direction bandmates, who came out to support him when he performed his first solo hit Just Hold On on British TV talent show The X Factor shortly after his mom's death.

"I like to think naively that we are better friends than maybe we were in the past," he says.

One Direction kicked off a band hiatus at the end of 2015, so the four remaining members of the group could focus on solo careers.