Diva Diaries of Haley Dunphy (Modern Family)

5. Jamming Sessions

I stomp my feet and stare at him once we are locked into an unused classroom. Dark, but I can see his body. ''Explain.''

''Haley, Alexa sometimes spreads false rumors about people, but I'm okay with it. It's twisted up and she's just- talking about different stuff.''

Do I trust him, and does it matter if I get him back? Honestly, I don't even care if he's hiding something from me anymore. Alexa is a super popular girl, but there are three or four others and she's the newbie.

If I become a popular kid again, I won't be a newbie. So she can say whatever she wants, and I'll figure out what's going on with Dylan later on. First I've got a song to play.

''So, you may be wondering what I'm doing with my dad's guitar.. Uh.. a song. For you.'' It all happened really fast after that. I strapped the guitar to my neck, biting my lip nervously. Dylan turned on the lights, disbelief flooding his eyes.

I focused on them being..closer to my face. I closed my eyes, remembering, and looking for my finger's position on the strings. I heard Dylan let out a surprised gasp when the first few chords of ''All Too Well'' started playing.

I sang the first line, quietly at first, slightly embarrassed. Did I sound off key? I opened my eyes as I jumped into the second verse. Dylan was watching intently, taking in every word. My voice grew stronger until the chorus, and that's when Dylan started singing, too. His voice was low and raspy, mine high pitched.

My fingers constantly messed up the keys, mostly because I just learned them yesterday, and now I was nervous and I'll admit it- unprepared.

''Do you want me to do the playing?'' Dylan said softly, taking a seat at the table next to my chair.

''Huh? Play wha- Oh.'' I giggled. ''Sure.''
We were quiet as Dylan strapped the guitar to his neck, professional and confident. He started singing the third and fourth verse, throwing in a twang of the guitar. I joined in whenever I could, harmonizing on ''I remember it all too well.''

And I did. This was supposed to let Dylan remember everything our relationship once was, but it wasn't one sided. This was for me, too. When he finished playing the last few chords, I was ready to leap in and kiss him.

But instead, I gave him an awkward hug (only awkward because he was still holding the guitar and I couldn't wait for him to take it off.) Then, Dylan did it. He took off Dad's guitar, gently placed it down, and stroked my hair.

We stared into each other's eyes for a moment, and just before I got uncomfortable and wanted to pull away, Dylan planted a soft kiss on my lip-upper-nose area. He laughed and I kissed his nose, making him laugh harder.

It's been a while.

I thought we were going to have a long talk. It would bring back the spark I've felt for him since we first met, and I'd remember every reason I love Dylan. I mean, we just kissed and I wanted to!

Right?

''So..uh.. Heard you got in a band,''I said, my face stretching into a genuine smile. ''Happy for you, Dylan. You deserved it, and I'm sorry I wasn't there when-''

''That's not true, actually,''Dylan blurted out, which surprised me. ''The band said I was a 'popular nerd.' But the popular kids think I'm a funny nerd. And the nerds think I'm a dumb goof. So technically, I don't really belong anywhere.''

I saw that coming, but I pretended to look shocked as I put a hand to his chest. ''You don't need to, and it doesn't have to be a bad thing. You're Dylan Marshall, that's quite a name at our school. Being Dylan alone is enough..for me.''

''For you? Haley, what are you talking about?"' He looked so surprised and amazed, it was almost laughable.

I took a deep breath. Let the speech come out naturally, I told myself. ''Dylan, I didn't play an All Too Well ten minute version, or at least the start of it, to you for no reason. And you didn't continue it and, uh..kissed me, for no reason either. Dylan, I..''

Want you back? Suddenly, I couldn't finish what I was saying. It didn't come out naturally. Not exactly half hearted, but far away from the truth I was comfortable with. I didn't understand why I was hesitant, and honestly, I still don't. I need time to sort out my feelings, but there was no way I could explain that and ruin Dylan's hopeful, lopsided smile.

Not when he was so close to being mine again.

I gave him a crooked, hopefully one that looked genuine, smile before walking away. He'd take that as a good thing, like a ''see you soon, really soon'' type of body language. But I'm going to admit it: I just need to get away from him for a bit.

Asking him to be mine just felt so wrong.

I'm probably just uncomfortable after not seeing him for a long time. Soon, I'll shift back into loving him, because it's hard not to. He makes me feel like.. nothing changed. But was Esther right? When Dylan and I were dating, did I boss him around, barely respecting him? Do I respect him? The answer's bleak.

Esther was just saying that to mess with your head and ruin everything, I reminded myself. Now, I'm going over to Dylan's and hopefully have a truthful talk where the answers flood back to me, and we'd be one of those couples who stare at the sky up till four am, discussing our future.

6: 38 pm.

It's almost dinnertime, but I need to write about what happened at Dylan's house. Fast. A lot has happened, so I'll have to split writing this into parts.
First, when I went into Dylan's house, not much had changed. A one-floor apartment with his bedroom in the furthest corner of the hallway. Tall vases of roses are waiting for me in Dylan's bedroom. I wonder if it's for a different girl, but he used to drop roses at my house all the time.

He cleaned himself up, with something that looks like gel in his hair, and a bashful smile that mixed with the lavender scent Dylan's wearing.

''I'm glad you wanted to hang out, Haley.''

We entered his bedroom, which felt so nostalgic, like a past memory that stayed in the past but you still visit it because you're holding on to a memory, for it to become your future. I expected us to talk, for him to tell me all about what happened when we were..gone.

I was disappointed when what Dylan wanted was for us to have a ''jamming session.'' Me with his guitar, and him using his pan flute. It's like the one my cousin Manny has.

I wanted to tell him that I'd prefer we talk, but he suddenly started playing and singing with so much love in his eyes that it was..weird.

Not everything will go your way in a relationship, Haley.

After half an hour of Dylan playing, I noticed a shadow with hair over their face walking past his room. His mother is not a brunette. This person had flowers over their hair, and they turned.. It was a girl about my age.

What's she doing here? The moment the girl caught my eye, she ran away. I suspected the worst.

Author's Note:

Please give this chapter a vote (star) if you enjoyed it, it only takes a second and it will help me a lot! Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Chapter 6 is, where Andy comes in the picture, is out now!