Flatline

dancing wildly in the fog of your memory

Hayley didn't even want to turn up at the studio today. She had texted Zac in the evening to apologise for the way she acted, but had gotten no response as to whether Taylor had stayed or left. Still, she drove in anyway.

She couldn't bring herself to put on any music with the thought of Taylor spinning around her mind. Would he speak to her? Or would her rage build back up and end in her breaking down in front of him? She didn't know. With a pounding heart, she entered the studio twenty minutes early.

Taylor was feeling more motivation than he had felt these last few months. This may have been a result of truly having a reason to get out of bed, but the thought of all the better moments only being temporary still plagued him. He wouldn't go as far as to call them happy moments, he was never happy. Happy is a long lasting emotion, a lifestyle. These were just shades of grey in his world full of black.

Although Taylor was 30 minutes late, Zac made sure everyone came and stayed today, having faith that he would come. They started up practice without Taylor and Hayley communicating at all, and the tensions were beginning to get too noticeable to ignore. Once Tell Me How came around and Taylor was sat at the piano facing Hayley, he could hear and see the pain and anger in her voice, as if she were directly talking to him.

Although Hayley did try to just sing the song, her mind kept running back to Taylor because it was just so ironic. All she wanted to know is if she should hold on or let go of Taylor.

The song ended and Hayley feared she would break down in tears if she stayed in the room any longer, and she would not do that, not in front of Taylor, who was lifelessly staring down at the keyboard. So she took her water and went into the bathroom.

Although Hayley's exit was calm, everyone seemed to know how she was feeling given her incredibly emotional performance. They wondered if someone should go and talk to her, but they also knew there was only one person she wanted to hear from, and his mind was so far away from where it needed to be currently.

"Hey, T? I think you should go and speak to Hayley," Zac said softly to him. His mind didn't come back home though, he was sucked back into the darkness and pain that he was used to living in by now.

Taylor shook his head lightly, his irrational part of his mind screaming that there's no way she loves such a disgusting person, she deserves so much better than him.

Zac went to speak to Hayley instead, He spoke softly "hey hayles, you doing okay?" She quickly silenced her tears.

"Yeah. Yeah I'm fine Zac. I just need a minute alone," he sighed, not feeling he should just leave her upset like this.

"You know, if you ever need to talk about anything....then I'm here to listen—"

"Yes, Zac," the woman on the other side said loudly, wanting him gone before she gets angry at him too. She splashed her face with water, counted to 10 more times than she could remember, but nothing was stopping it. So she decided that now was the time. She needed answers.

Zac was obviously more worried when Hayley stormed out of the bathroom instead of walking out calmly like he expected. Her feet carried her back into the studio, but she only saw an empty place where Taylor was previously sitting.

"Where the fuck is he?" She asked bitterly, not to anyone in particular. Zac was just as confused.

"He just got up and walked out." Joey replied quietly. Zac sighed, thinking that maybe it was time to just admit this show wouldn't be happening. Hayley was immediately walking out to her car and Zac feared that she was going to talk to him while she was angry.

"Hayley—Hayley!" He chased after her, opening the passenger door.

"What are you doing?"

"I need to speak to him. I need to know why he is doing this," this was obviously a bad idea, but Hayley didn't care. She just needed answers.