I'll Stop the Whole World

Even though the split had been confirmed for a good couple of months, it seemed every interview the band did they would get asked about Josh and Zac. And every questioned was directed straight to Hayley. Despite this, Taylor and Jeremy still answered, relieving Hayley of the awkwardness of having to go over everything once more.

Having only a few shows scheduled meant that the three could reconnect. After the Farro’s departure they needed to re-evaluate everything. From how their music was going to sound to when they wanted to start writing a new album.

They all agreed they should give themselves some time before they had to go under the pressure of writing a new album. So they decided making an EP would be the way to go. That way they could make music but they would also have time to get back on track with how they’d want a new Paramore album to sound.

Every album they’d written before had mainly been Hayley and Josh. Josh would come to Hayley with a melody and she’d feel it and write some lyrics to go with it or vice versa. Luckily it wasn’t too much of a change because when Taylor had joined the band he’d become very active in the writing process. And because of this, they finished the first song of their new era quicker than they ever could have imagined.

Listening to the finished version of Monster gave Hayley the chills, the words she wrote would still cut to her very core when she heard them. When they were completely happy with it, Taylor attached the sound file to an email and sent it over to Andrew.

Less than two days later he replied, praising them on the new song. And he also said he had something in the works for the song.

Hayley didn’t have any time to think of what he had in store when the doorbell rang. Taylor stood on the door step looking down at his grey battered Vans.

‘Tay, you have a key, why do you never use it?’ Hayley asked, dragging him inside.

He scratched the back of his neck. ‘Um, I kinda lost the key…’ he trailed off quietly.

Hayley sighed, ‘I only gave you the key two months ago!’ She added a chuckle to the end.

Following her into the kitchen, Taylor dropped down on to one of the stools by Hayley’s breakfast bar. ‘I was bored, Jeremy went out with Kat and I had nothing to do.’

She took the orange juice from the fridge, slamming it down dramatically, ‘so I was your last resort?!’

Smiling sarcastically, he said, ‘yeah, basically.’

Hayley slapped him playfully around the back of the head and walking into the lounge, leaving him sitting in the kitchen.

The two settled down to watch Hayley’s Friends box set. It was nice to relax, to not have to think about the upcoming pressures of touring and writing for a new album. Since the start Josh and Zac had been around, they’d been a staple in Hayley’s life for almost 8 years and for them to suddenly have nothing to do with her or the band they’d started together was weird.

As Hayley sat staring almost blankly at the screen, she felt an arm drape around her shoulder. She looked over and Taylor smiled softly at her. She rested her head on his shoulder, sinking into the soft material of his hoodie.

The arm around her shoulder created a sense of safety and stability. Taylor had always been there for her and for the band; he genuinely cared about the music and about his friends. It was reassuring to know that he and Jeremy didn’t think that Hayley only wanted to be famous and didn’t care about them.

‘Okay, hands in guys!’ Hayley called, and the five other guys crowded around her, placing their own hands down on top of hers.

‘One, two, three, PARAMORE!’ they all chanted in unison before running out on to the stage. Hayley hung back, waiting for the guys to start the intro.

Bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet, Hayley was ready to go. Hearing that note, she bounded onto the stage, beckoning the crowd to scream as loud as they could. The almost deafening noise that the crowd shot back at her was immense, it was almost like she was completely surrounded by their sounds, by their screams - a cushion of cheers from the people who put the band where they were.

It almost felt surreal, only a few months earlier Hayley wasn’t sure of the future of the band, if they’d be able to continue. But at that moment, she couldn’t think of a single place she would have rather been other than that stage with her best friends and with her fans.

The show was a triumph, even though it might not have been technically their best show (at one point Hayley forgot the lyrics to Let The Flames Begin and Jeremy messed up Brick By Boring Brick’s bass line) it was still one of Hayley’s best experience’s on a stage.

When they walked off stage, the adrenaline was pumping and the post-show high was just starting to kick in. Once they got back to their dressing room, Jeremy put an arm around Hayley’s neck and slung his other around Taylor and pulled them all together. They stood in the middle of the room, forehead to forehead, still wet with sweat and breathing heavily, but they all stayed together.

After a few moments, Jeremy whispered, ‘We did it.’

They all knew the first show back was going to be a tough one that could make or break their future. But from the easy smiles that were plastered over all three of their faces, Hayley knew that Paramore weren’t done yet.