the sound of reverie ⌁ hayley williams & john o'callaghan

hard times

—

writing was the only way Hayley could get her feelings out about what happened, but it was hard getting her feelings out this time. she would have a lyric in her mind, but having to write it down felt like the most daunting task. she knew the fans would react differently to the lyrics she was writing, but they'd be able to relate.

during the rare times she was able to get her feelings out onto paper, she swore to herself that she'd never let anybody see them — the reason being that her lyrics were too dark and finger-pointing.

Taylor knew she had been writing, mostly because she kept locking herself away and not coming out until later that night. he had mentioned the idea of getting into the studio again, which she knew the fans would love to hear about. so, she tweeted from the official Paramore account that they were demoing songs for album number five that day. instantly, fans started to tweet about how excited they were. if only they knew, she would think to herself, if only they knew how much of a struggle it is, they wouldn't be that excited.

and now, the present.

it had been about six months since Paramore had entered the studio and only a week since they announced that Zac was going to be joining the band again, which had sent the internet into a frenzy. they had completed the album and were in the final stages of mastering, figuring out the artwork, and photo shoots. meanwhile, Hayley had also been working on her hair dye company, goodDYEyoung, but it wasn't as important as the new album.

since they had completed the album, they had to pick a lead single to send into the world. the band decided on a song called "Hard Times," and were currently in Los Angeles, California, filming the music video for it. and that morning, she received the divorce papers after so long of waiting. immediately, she signed her signature onto the lines and sent it right back to the sender. she no longer wanted any association with Chad, but she knew she would have to at least talk to him since they were sharing their dog, Alf, together.

looking back at the building where their music video was being shot, Hayley let out a small sigh and sat down on a bench outside. she really didn't feel like going back in and having to put on a fake smile for everyone, not when she was at her worst. she didn't wanna be the person who said everything was fine — she was really the one who said that everything is everything.

"you guys filmin' a video?" a raspy voice asked, followed by the sound of a lighter catching.

turning around, Hayley wasn't too sure on who it was she was talking to, but she had definitely seen him before.

"uh, yeah," she answered, looking up at the lanky man before looking back at the busy street, "just needed some fresh air."

nodding his head, the boy took a seat next year on the empty bench. "i get it." he said after exhaling from his cigarette.

"yeah.." she replied, keeping her eyes on him.

he had such beautiful features, more than she had ever seen on a man. his hair was slicked back, sunglasses resting upon the bridge of his nose, and the collar of his leather jacket was popped up like an antenna. she was finding it hard to look away — he was beautifully and wonderfully made.

"what do you do for a living?" he asked, taking another drag of his cigarette. 

usually, Hayley hated smokers, but there was something about him smoking that drew her in. then, she realized why she hated smokers – Chad hated them, and he was straight edge. she only hated them because her ex did.

"i'm in a band, and i'm the CEO of a hair dye company." she answered, her eyes never leaving his beautiful face.

the boy nodded his head and put his cigarette out on the ground, "i'm in a band too." he replied, taking off his sunglasses and looking over at her. "maybe you've heard of us."

Hayley shrugged her shoulders at his comment, "i might, what your band's name?" she asked, fixing the bottom of her red jeans.

"The Maine." he answered, looking away.

then, it hit her. she had heard of them before, in fact, she had done a photoshoot for a magazine in front of their van that had all of the signatures on it.

"no way," she replied, laughing a bit, "you're the band with the signatures all of their van?" she asked, turning to face him.

she wasn't able to meet any of the members of the band who had the van when they had done the photoshoot, so it was nice knowing who owned it.

the boy laughed and looked back over at her, "yeah, how'd you know?" he asked, smiling a bit.

"i'm from Paramore, the one band that did a photoshoot with your van." she said, shaking her head. "i still have no idea as to why we ever did that." she added, looking up at him. "what's your name?"

"John," he answered with a smile, "John O'Callaghan."

"i'm Hayley." she said softly, smiling a bit. "such a small world, even though that photoshoot was almost seven years ago."

"time flies, i guess." he said with a shrug, looking back into the building when someone had yelled for her. "i think someone's calling for you."

Hayley shook her head and sighed when she heard her name being called. "yeah, we're filming a music video today for our new single and it's just annoying." she admitted, standing up from the bench. "well, it was nice to meet you, John O'Callaghan. hopefully i'll see you around, or maybe we'll cross paths somewhere in the world." she concluded, sticking her hand out for a handshake.

the boy stood, and he towered over her, and shook her hand. he had such warm hands against her cold ones, it made her melt inside.

"it was nice to meet you too, Hayley..?" he said with the raise of his brow.

"Williams." she answered, letting go of his hand.

"well, it was nice to meet you, Hayley Williams." he reiterated with a light chuckle, "i hope our paths cross again soon."

"me too." she replied before walking away.

but before she entered the building again, she looked back to see him looking right back at her. she waved and went back into the building to find whoever was calling.

—

later that night, Hayley was scrolling through her twitter feed when she saw that someone she followed had retweeted a tweet from someone named John O'Callaghan:

"I feel an enormous rush of love to the chest."

immediately, she felt herself blush and she clicked on his profile before deciding to follow him. she decided to retweet his recent tweet, and as soon as she had done that, it blew up. fans were going nuts over the fact that she had followed and retweeted John from The Maine, which she found hilarious. closing her phone, Hayley let out a sigh and set it down next to her on her nightstand.

all she wanted to do was close her eyes and sleep forever, but that seemed almost impossible.