Ain't It SALTY

You could ring anybody's bell to get what you want

Hayley's POV (see song above):

I get on stage, a little less peppy than yesterday, given the crazy feeling that I somehow blew it with Dalton over one little tiny misunderstanding. I'm kicking myself, but I still don't really know what I did wrong. We play through a few songs, and then we slow it down to "The Only Exception" about halfway through our set.

"Hey everyone. So, this is a song that Taylor and I wrote about feeling so burned by love so many times, and then realizing that there's someone in your life that makes you want to give love another chance, even when you positively swore that you never would. So, this is "The Only Exception". Taylor launched into the mellow tones on his guitar as Zac hit some light accent percussion on his drums. I'm about to sing the second verse when the emotions behind the song collide directly with the feelings I have for Dalton, and then it clicks: I have to fight for this guy. I take a deep breath and raise my hand in a fist so the band knows to stop the song. My throat closes up from the emotions I feel and then I speak. "I'm sorry, there's something I have to do. I can't do this right now." And I run off the stage, the lyrics of the song exploding in my head and melding with my tangled thoughts:

When I was younger I saw
My daddy cry and curse at the wind
He broke his own heart and I watched
As he tried to reassemble it
And my momma swore that she would never
Let herself forget
And that was the day that I promised,
I'd never sing of love if it does not exist
But darling you are the only exception...

I can hear the murmurs of the crowd, everyone likely wondering what the heck I'm doing by running off of the stage mid-show. I don't bother to explain any further than I did - it's not their business. I just make a beeline for Dalton's cabin. This has to be resolved. Now.

Dalton's POV:

I'm still on the floor on a disheveled mess, my eyeliner long since rubbed off, but at least my breathing has slowed and I'm not so panicked anymore. It always passes, it's never forever - at least, that's what I always tell myself. Will went out to the infirmary to get me some Advil, so I'm just sitting here in the floor alone. Until, I hear someone knock on the door.

"Glad to see you're wearing pants this time!" I roll my eyes at her lame attempt at lightening the mood. "Hayley, what are you doing here?!" I can see her eyes are puffy, like mine, and her face is red. Not from embarrassment, but just pure sadness. In fact, we're both pretty upset right now. "May I come in?" "Why? You clearly have something with Taylor... I'm not angry at you as much as just disappointed that I didn't know..." I run my hand through my hair. "It's not like, we were together officially or anything... I just, I thought maybe..." "We could be?" She finishes my thought and I exhale all the air that I unconsciously trapped in my lungs.

"Um, yeah... I know we just met, but seeing you with him just made me sick. You see, I came off of an awful breakup like a few years ago and it was really, really bad. Like, I had to up my anxiety meds it was so bad." Hayley nods her head, realization creeping into her face. "I didn't know that about you, Dalton." I nod. "Yeah. And... I'm also bipolar, so I feel strong emotions like pain or anger a lot more intensely than the average person." Her eyes widen at my secret. "Wow, that... Must be tough". I nod. "Yeah, I've been struggling with it since I was nine."

Silence creeps over us, just standing in the doorway, because good ol' Salty has an ego the size of Texas and even though I was starting to see that Hayley probably didn't have any feelings for Taylor, the embarrassment of what I assumed forced me to keep her at an arm's length.

"About Taylor... He's really just a childhood friend. I swear, we met in middle school and formed the band - he's more like my brother than anything else. I'm sorry if I hurt you - I was grateful to get away from Will actually. He's one of the most obsessed fans I've met in a long time." I nod slowly. "I'm actually starting to see that now. I'm just... embarrassed that I let my ego cloud my thinking... That was such a classic Dalty move." Hayley smiles slightly and grabs my hand.

"Well, now that's cleared up..." I smile back and pull her into a tight hug, our bodies forming a tight mass of comfort and peace together. "Hey, aren't you supposed to be on stage right about now?" She looks at her watch. "Well, I was, but I had to stop singing when I realized that I might have blown a chance at a really cool relationship with a really sensitive badass..." "And who might that be?" I had an idea, of course, but I liked where this was going. "Dalton, I really do like you. Do you think... You'd ever give a girl from Tennessee a chance?" "I don't know, which one?" She punches me in the arm flirtatiously. "Me, ya big dork!" "Hey! I am offended..." I fake disgust and pretend to walk away, but she spins me around and tackles me to the very same spot on the gross carpet that I had been crying on just minutes before. She lands on my chest in a thud and I whisper seductively: "I am fairly certain that you've just ruptured my spleen..." She smirks. "Oops... Sorry about that. Maybe a kiss will make it better?" And before I know it, she's kissing me again, and we're cuddling on the floor. Who knew a ratty old yellowed carpet could be so romantic?