The Guitarist (Hayley Williams and Taylor Swift AU)

Chapter Two

Hayley waited in the living room for Claire to show up. She paced back and forth, glancing at the clock every now and then. She hadn't heard from the woman and her shift started in ten minutes. It wasn't that Hayley didn't want to take care of her mom during the day, the reason she needed Claire to come was so that she could go grocery shopping, house hunting with Taylor, and work her shift at the Mockingbird.

The door finally opened and Claire appeared. "I'm so sorry I'm late Hayley, I had to find someone to watch my son."

Hayley looked up at the woman and nodded. "It's okay. Mom's sleeping just now." She said, nodding towards her mother's door.

"Okay, well I'm here now. I'll work on cleaning up the house while she sleeps." Claire said softly.

Hayley shook her head. "You don't have to clean." She said quickly.

"Are you sure?" Claire asked softly, looking over at Hayley.

Hayley nodded. "I'm sure." She said quickly. "It's my house. It's my mess. All you have to do is make sure my mom is okay." She lifted her car keys and phone from the coffee table. "I'll be back after I've been to the store." She said softly before making her way to the front door.

"Hayley, why don't you go out today?" Claire asked softly, following behind her.

"I am going out." Hayley said, looking puzzled. "I'm going to the store. Then I have work later."

Claire sighed and shook her head. "I meant after you go to the store."

"I'm going to look for a new house, well an apartment, with a friend." Hayley said, shrugging.

Nodding her head, Claire smiled softly. "Good."

Hayley looked puzzled as she stared at the woman for a moment. Was this house really that bad?

****

"I think this one is perfect." Taylor said as they walked through the fifth apartment.

Hayley was quiet as she looked around. The apartment was big, too big, in her opinion. The windows let in a lot of natural light and the doorways were big enough for her mother's wheelchair to fit through, unlike the apartment she was currently living in.

"What do you think Hales?" Taylor asked, looking at her guitarist.

"I- I think it's too big." Hayley said, moving over to the window to look out at the view. She could see the road and house across the street. She turned away from the window and looked around the room, there was a lot of space, it would be too big for just her and her mother, they didn't need a lot of space.

Taylor hummed softly. "You said that about the last few."

"Because they are all too big. We don't need a lot of space. My mom is confined to her bed and I wouldn't know what to do with all this space." She threw her hands around her body, emphasising the empty space around her.

"You could get a pet." Taylor said softly, she knew how sick Hayley's mom had gotten.

"I can't care for a pet and my mom." Hayley said quietly, looking down at her feet. She shook her head. Sometimes it was just too much and she just wanted the world to stop for a moment so she could breathe and feel like a normal twenty-two year old, but that never happened.

Biting her lip, Taylor moved closer to Hayley and lifted her head. "Hales, what's going on?"

There were tears in Hayley's pale green eyes as she avoided Taylor's gaze. "It's just hard sometimes." She breathed barely above a whisper.

Taylor gently pulled Hayley into a hug. "I know, I'm sorry." She whispered softly.

Hayley took a deep breath, trying to compose herself. She squeezed her eyes closed to stop her tears from falling.

"Hayley, let it out." Taylor said softly, rubbing the shorter girl's back.

Hayley began to shake in Taylor's arms as she held back sobs, tears falling from beneath her closed eyes.

Taylor just held her close, continuing to rub her back.

Hayley composed herself after a few moments and pulled away from Taylor, wiping her face with her hands.

"I think you could really use a four-legged friend right about now. So why don't we go back to my place?" Taylor asked her softly.

Hayley bit her lower lip. "I have a shift at the Mockingbird soon." She said quietly, avoiding Taylor's eyes.

"Hales, you need to take a break." Taylor said softly, reaching up to wipe Hayley's face.

Hayley shook her head. "I need to work." She said, stepping back from Taylor, taking a deep breath.

"But you don't, Hayley, you don't need to work at the Mockingbird anymore." Taylor said softly, watching the shorter girl.

"I like working there." Hayley said immediately. "It's home." She looked down at her feet.

Taylor ran a hand through her long blonde hair. "Okay, but you're going to end up working yourself to death."

Hayley shrugged. She didn't really appear to care. "I have to go home and get ready." She said quietly.

"Okay, but tomorrow we are finishing this apartment search." Taylor told her softly.

Hayley gave Taylor a half hearted nod before moving towards the door.