The Guitarist (Hayley Williams and Taylor Swift AU)

Chapter One

Taylor stepped through the doors of a small café called the Mockingbird with her best friend Abigail. They were out for dinner and it was almost seven. The little café was very busy for such a small place. It was like a smaller version of the Bluebird where she used to play as a child.

Abigail tapped Taylor's shoulder. "Maybe we should go somewhere else, it's pretty busy." She pointed to the sign in the window: 'Open Mic Night'. "Do you want to be recognised?" She added

But no one was paying attention to them. There was a cheer as someone stepped onto the small stage at the back of the room. "Welcome ladies and gentlemen, thanks for coming out tonight. I'm Rick, the manager and I just wanted to say it means so much to us that you've shown up tonight. The Mockingbird has been in my family for generations and we have had a rough couple of years recently but the fact that you are all here, proves that this little café is still relevant. So thank you."

The crowd around Abigail and Taylor cheered and clapped before the man continued. "Now, I know you're not all here to hear me blab on about how much this place means to me, so let me introduce to you, the Mockingbird's very own, Hayley Williams!" Rick clapped and stepped away from the microphone.

The crowd cheered again around Taylor and Abigail as a short, grey pastel haired girl in a black beanie took off her apron, passed it to someone behind the bar and stepped up onto the stage.

"Hey y'all." The girl said sweetly, picking up her guitar from it's case, plugging it into an amplifier, and putting the strap around her neck over her white shirt. The guitar fell to her hip which was covered by black jeans. She wore black doc martens on her feet. She adjusted the height of the microphone so that she didn't have to stretch to speak into it. "Some of you might have seen me before but if you've never been here before, then where the hell have you been? And, welcome, it's nice to have you here at the Mockingbird. I'm Hayley." She motioned to the manager. "You've met Rick, and that's Tess." She pointed to a dark haired girl behind the bar. "And that's Nico, he's your lovely waiter." She pointed to a young man carrying drinks between tables. Hayley adjusted her glasses on her nose and cleared her throat.

Taylor's eyes widened at the sight of the girl on the stage. She recognised her but she wasn't sure why.

"Now, I know you guys are used to a certain style from me but I'm changing it up a bit." Hayley said into the microphone, smiling. Someone in the crowd cheered "Don't cheer yet, you haven't heard it." She laughed softly. She cleared her throat and began to strum chords on her guitar, closing her eyes as she began to sing. "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."

Taylor's eyes widened as she recalled where she knew this girl from. This girl had auditioned to be her guitarist, this girl was her new guitarist. She turned to Abigail. "She's my new guitarist." She whispered.

Abigail took her eyes off of the girl to look at her. "Really?" She whispered. "She's amazing, you really hit the jackpot with her."

"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." Hayley became lost in the song, swaying as she played and sang, forgetting where she was.

Taylor's mouth was open and her eyes were wide with surprise as she listened to the girl sing. This girl was a far cry from the girl she'd seen in the audition room. That girl had been shaking and so nervous that she nearly knocked the microphone and microphone stand over. But this girl was so comfortable and confident performing here, that it seemed to come naturally to her.

"But darling, you are the only exception, you are the only exception, you are the only exception, you are the only exception. Maybe I know somewhere deep in my soul, that love never lasts, and we've got to find other ways to make it alone, or keep a straight face, and I've always lived like this, keeping a comfortable distance, and up until now I had sworn to myself, that I'm content with loneliness." Hayley's voice was so raw and pure that it had people in the audience crying. "Because none of it was ever worth the risk, well, you are the only exception, you are the only exception, you are the only exception, you are the only exception."