I Can't Do This Alone

Oli always found himself enjoying the pleasant summer weather while looking up at the clear skies. It was always nice to see zero clouds blocking the sun from radiating light over the city, especially the venue full of booths, stages, and hundreds of people ready to spend a day absorbing all the wonderful music from their favorite bands. He usually made the most of the tour because what summer was better than one where he’d be going to all these cities to perform in front of tons of fans that idolized him and the band? Most of the time, he was walking around to watch a few sets from his fellow tourmates and then afterwards he’d head back to his bus to have drink with the lads before they had to perform themselves. Days on Warped Tour were pretty chill.

Except this was not one of those days.

This was one of the more off days. He hadn’t talked to anyone at all, with the exception of one certain individual. The only person he had been able to talk to so far was his girlfriend through his cellphone and their conversation had been anything but pleasant. Lately, she had been frustrated about him being on tour most of the time, especially since Bring Me the Horizon was becoming more known around the world which meant he had to travel more. Since they had been dating for a while, she was trying to get used to this and needless to say, it was hard for her.

So instead of the fun and relaxing day he would’ve liked, he was standing outside the tour bus, leaning against it while arguing with her until one of them hung up on the other in an angry fit only to call back and continue arguing. Eventually, he was done dealing with this and felt it was pointless to waste his breath on a fight that wasn’t getting anywhere. She obviously didn’t want to understand and he knew there was nothing else he could say to calm her down.

After abruptly hanging up on her again, he turned off his phone and put it in the back pocket of his jeans. Oli ran his hands through his hair and let out a heavy sigh, hearing nothing but his girlfriend’s harsh words echoing in his head as if she was right in front of him still pushing him to yell at her. The guys were off somewhere having a good time and he wasn’t in the mood to join them. While doing that would take his mind off of her, he didn’t want to push aside what just happened and pretend he was happy. Oli had to vent to someone and he knew just the person that would be able to listen and give him some advice. He headed toward a nearby bus and knocked on the door, hoping they were inside.

The door opened and he was met with vibrant green eyes, lighting up at the sight of him. As he looked into these eyes and then noticed their bright cherry red lips curving into a wide grin, his own lips managed to smile back. Their friendly and welcoming presence was so contagious, he couldn’t resist.

“Hi, Oli,” they greeted. “I guess it’s about time you finally got off that phone, huh?”

He almost lost his smile at the mention of his phone, as he remembered that he ditched them earlier when he first got the call.

Scratching his head, he forced a laugh. “Yeah, about that...are you by yourself right now?”

They nodded. “Yep. The guys went off to hang out with The Academy Is... and Cobra Starship, but I didn’t feel like going. Wanna come in?”

“Sure,” he said, making his way up the steps of the bus once they moved aside for him to get on.

When he got inside, he sat down on the couch and leaned back to look up at the ceiling of the bus. He then felt them sit beside him, their body completely turned to their left so that they were facing him.

Feeling them near him, he focused his attention on them again. If he weren’t in such a bad mood at the moment, this would’ve been a normal day for the two of them. Ever since they met earlier that year and having found out that they were both going to be on Warped Tour together, he had become great friends with Hayley Williams.

He liked spending time with her not only because she was funny and bubbly, but because she always knew what to say when it came to his problems. She was a good listener and was more than willing to help Oli in times of need due to him also helping her when they first met. He had allowed her to ramble on about her issues with her band even though they still considered each other strangers at the time and she admitted that if it weren’t for him, things with Paramore wouldn’t have gone as smoothly that night. Her band was still trying to overcome their rough patch, but they were getting better.

Their roles had changed for the summer. Things hadn’t been going well with his girlfriend and Hayley, being a good friend, was the one to help Oli through it all. She didn’t tease him or judge him and she was never annoyed with him asking for help when he needed it. She was there to remind him that as bad as things seemed, he’ll figure something out in time.

“So what’s up?” she asked, seeing that his smile was no longer on his face. “You okay?”

He shook his head. “SJ.”

“Again?” Hayley frowned, though she had a feeling he was going to give that response. “Was it really bad this time?”

“It seems like every day she’s even more pissed off at me than before.” He groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “She keeps accusing me of not paying attention to her and said some crazy stuff like I’m gonna cheat on her because ‘I don’t love her anymore’ and all that bullshit. I don’t know, am I doing things wrong?”

She put an arm around him. “Hey, you’re doing everything you can. From what I know so far, she probably doesn’t mean it and just misses you. Remember, you guys have been going out for years and she’s not used to you being gone so much, so she’s still adjusting to it. She’s dealing with this in her own way.”

Hearing her say those last words, he realized that this was the same thing he had said to her when she having trouble dealing with Josh. When he told her that, he was telling her that she shouldn’t be blaming herself for things that weren’t in her control and it was time for him to start listening to his own advice. SJ was dealing with this in her own way; he got that.

But that still didn’t excuse the things she said. She said a lot of nasty things to him. Things that he wasn’t ready to tell Hayley about.

For the time being, though, he was going to stop thinking this was all his fault. Like Hayley said, he was doing everything he could and maybe SJ will stop being mad and they could make up.

“Thanks,” he said. “I feel a little better and it’s nice to know I’m not fucking things up.”

“You’re not a bad person, Oli,” she told him. “I know you keep thinking that, but trust me. You’re a good boyfriend, you’re an awesome friend, and you’re a really nice guy.”

He smiled at her again, this time a genuine one and she smiled back. For a few minutes, they sat there in silence and he couldn’t help but gaze at her. Sometimes it was weird how they were so close, but he didn’t know what he’d do if he had never met her. Hayley was the personification of kindness and positivity, which made his days far more enjoyable.

Hayley raised an eyebrow. “Why are you staring at me?”

Oli then blinked a few times and snapped himself out of his weird trance. “I’m sorry, I’m still not used to your septum piercing.”

He laughed and smirked at her while she pretended to be offended by that. He was only half-joking, as he was still trying to get used to seeing her septum pierced and it seemed to surprise him every time he saw her.

“Oh, you’re one to talk.” She gave him a playful punch. “You don’t see me saying anything about your snakebites and don’t get me started on the bridge piercing from your scene boy days.”

That’s when he put a hand up to cover his face so she couldn’t see how red his cheeks were. “How do you know about that?”

“Nicholls told me all about it,” Hayley said. “Hearing it was already funny enough, but then Curtis showed me the pictures...”

Oli just buried his face in his hands, unsure whether to laugh at the days he used to wear guyliner and all that junk or die of humiliation now that Hayley was possibly never going to live it down.

“Well, if you need me,” he said, getting up off the couch. “I’m going to just lay down in front of the bus until it runs me over-”

“No, don’t leave!” She grabbed his arm and pulled him back down next to her, all the while still laughing. “You’re fine, don’t be embarrassed. I’ve done a lot of weird things, too, so you’re not alone. Relax, Oli. It’s not the end of the world.”

“Fine.” he sighed. “I’m being an arse, aren’t I? It’s just this whole thing with SJ got me all messed up and I know I shouldn’t worry, but it’s hard not to think about it.”

“To me, it looks like for the rest of the day you just need to take a break from all that drama,” Hayley suggested. “Come on, we’re going on a walk.”

“What?” Oli cocked his head to the side.

“We’re going on a walk,” she repeated, standing up. “You didn’t do anything wrong and you deserve to have a good time today. So we’re gonna find everyone, watch some of our friends on stage, and hang out before your show. You coming or not?”

She held out a hand to him and he just stared at it for a few minutes before taking it, allowing his smile to return. Oli pushed any thoughts of SJ out of his head and just focused on following his friend out the bus. Hayley’s assurance had put him at ease a bit and going on a walk with her to be with all his friends and listen to music was better than moaping on the bus or being yelled at on the phone.

However, right when they got out the bus, Hayley immediately let go of his hand and stopped walking. Oli was about to ask her why, only to see the answer standing right in front of them. They were as tall as Oli and they wore a red hoodie, a striped shirt, and faded black jeans. A big grin was on their face and they were waving at her. Turned out Hayley was looking at Chad Gilbert of New Found Glory, whom she had met the previous year and had been spending some time with when she wasn’t around Oli.

“Um, hi, Chad,” Hayley muttered. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you,” he replied and then looked at Oli. “Hey, man.”

“Hey.” Oli waved.

He turned to Hayley again. “Josh told me you were over here and I just wanted to know if you wanted to go watch Yellowcard with me?”

“Aw, I’d love to,” she began. “But I was thinking of checking out one of the new bands with Oli. Maybe we can do that tomorrow and I promise I’ll meet up with you later.”

“Oh, okay.” He was already turning around. For a brief moment, she saw that his eyes showed signs of disappointment but he forced himself to smile once more and walked away. “I guess I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah, see you later,” Hayley called out to him as he moved further away. Once he was gone, she let out a sigh of relief and linked arms with Oli, the both of them walking in the opposite direction.

Seeing the way she acted, he shot her a puzzled look. “What’s the deal with you and Chad? Are you mad at him or something?”

“No, I’m not mad at him,” she answered. “Chad and I are...complicated.”

“Complicated how?” Oli asked.

“Well...” Hayley bit her lip. “Don’t get me wrong, Chad’s a really nice guy, but the way we act is like we’re a couple but I’m honestly not sure what we are.”

“Do you like him?”

“Yes. Well, no. Kind of? Ugh, I don’t know.”

True, she had taken a liking to Chad but still couldn’t quite describe their relationship or even sort out her feelings. They met last year and seeing him again was nice, which was one way to put it. It was obvious he was interested in her, seeing how he held her hand on a few occasions, liked to put his arm around her whenever they watched sets and how he had once kissed her on the cheek. She did like these things and she had kept the concept of them becoming ‘official’ in mind, but she couldn’t really say she actually wanted that.

“Sounds like you’re having some relationship problems of your own,” Oli said.

“This is not a relationship problem,” Hayley objected. “He’s not my boyfriend and we’re not in a relationship.”

He shrugged. “Whatever you say. But seriously, you didn’t give me a solid answer. Do you like him? As in, do you really see yourself being with him?”

It hit her that she had never considered asking herself that question until now and she held his arm tightly. Despite the thought of dating Chad crossing her mind, she could never really picture it and if she was really being honest with herself, it was because she didn’t want to be more than friends. She thought of him as just a friend and that was it. The only reason why she liked the attention he gave her was because it distracted her from Josh. Better yet, Chad also distracted her from...

“Hayley?”

Oli’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts and she looked up at him. “I...I don’t see myself being with him. As sweet as he is, I just don’t see him that way and I realized that I’m a jerk for leading him on these past few weeks.”

He stared straight ahead as they continued to walk. “So what are you going to do?”

“What I have to do,” she said. “Tell him that I don’t have those kinds of feelings for him and it’s best we stay friends. I’ll do it later when I meet up with him.”

This time, he put his arm around her. “Do what you gotta do. For now, let’s just keep walking and pay attention to all the music and fresh air. After all, you deserve to have a good time today.”

She rolled her eyes and smirked. “What would I do without you?”

“You’d be having a lot more fun and a lot less stress without me here to drag you down with all my shit,” Oli joked.

“Stop it.” She smacked him upside the head, albeit lightly. “You being here keeps me from tearing my hair out and I’m grateful for that.”

“I could say the same about you,” he admitted. “I mean, without you to talk to after all that’s going on, I think I’d be crazier than I already am.”

Hayley leaned against him. “Then it’s a good thing we have each other.”

“Yeah,” Oli agreed. “It is.”

That was their friendship. They were both a little messed up in their own ways, but what really mattered was that they were there for each other no matter what. With Hayley’s positivity, she was always the voice of reason who gave him a brighter perspective on the world while Oli’s assertiveness encouraged her to ignore what others thought and speak out. They kept each other grounded and even if they were two completely different people, they managed to form a close bond because of that.


For the next few hours leading up to Bring Me the Horizon’s set, not once did Oli think about anything that had to do with SJ, especially that call and the last words she had said to him before he hit that red button. Instead, he was doing what Hayley wanted him to do: Take a day off from all his relationship problems and kick back with all his friends. Listening to her turned out to be a great decision, which wasn’t all that surprising to him.

Even though they didn’t initially intend to, they actually did end up checking out one of the newer bands. While walking nearby the smaller stages where it was less crowded, they were interested in the sound of one of the bands so they stayed. Oli always liked to at least support one band he didn’t know and Hayley agreed to do the same, as they both understood what it felt like to play on Warped for the first time. He had somehow ended up bringing her into the middle of the crowd and they laughed while trying to stay together when people started jumping to the music. Afterwards, they were approached by a few fans who chatted with them and asked for pictures before they went back to walking around the venue.

Soon Hayley got a call from Taylor, telling her to come back to the buses since everyone was over there. As expected, they were all outside Bring Me the Horizon’s bus and to Hayley’s relief, Chad wasn’t around. She knew she had to speak to him regardless, but she wasn’t ready to do that just yet. An hour was left until Oli had to perform and they separated for a bit to talk to the others. Jeremy was going on about the latest antics of Alex Gaskarth and Jack Barakat from All Time Low, which always amused Hayley since those two got themselves into all kinds of situations. Meanwhile, Nicholls was telling Oli about how a mosh pit during The Devil Wears Prada’s set broke out into a fight.

But as it got closer to the show, Oli decided to finally turn on his phone. As soon as it was on, he got a whole bunch of missed calls and all of them were from SJ. This wasn’t all surprising to him either and the reason why he turned his phone back on was because he wanted to call her back; it was time to settle things with her instead of hide from his problems. Hayley had told him to take a break, but the break was over and he wasn’t going to let go of what his girlfriend said.

The accusations. The insults. The insults that weren’t even for him.

She had left a few voicemails, all of them asking why the fuck he wasn’t answering and her just completely losing her shit with each message.

This wasn’t going to be an easy conversation—as if they ever had an easy conversation nowadays—but things were never going to get better if they didn’t communicate.

Oli slowly dialed her number, took a deep breath, and put his phone to his ear. Since turning on his phone, he had moved away from everybody else so he wouldn’t be bothered, though Hayley saw him walk away and it wasn’t hard for her to guess he’d be calling his girlfriend. She didn’t stop him since it was his own business and only hoped that maybe SJ had calmed down so they could be okay again.

She answered after the second ring and didn’t hesitate to pick up where they left off.

“Finally you fucking answer,” she hissed. “Now tell me where the fuck you’ve been because you just hung up and each time I called you, it went straight to voicemail. You can’t just run away whenever I ask you a question, Oli.”

He let out an exasperated sigh. “Please, for once can you just listen to me real quick?”

There was a pause before she spoke again. “Alright then. What do you have to say?”

“I just want to say I’m sorry.” His voice softened. “It’s hard for you to deal with me touring all the time and this is your way of handling it. I need to understand where you’re coming from.”

Oli wanted to start by apologizing. That was the first thing he needed to do and he really meant it. Talking things out instead of simply yelling would probably help her see his side because they were adults and needed to act their age.

“Apology accepted,” she simply said.

“But I will also say this,” he continued. “I know it’s hard for us to be apart, but you had no right to accuse me of cheating on you and it was wrong of you to say those things about her.”

“Why are you even defending that bitch?” SJ’s tone was harsh again, the last word rolling off her tongue like venom. Whatever rationality he thought he had brought out of her was gone. “Is she your new girlfriend now?”

He frowned, the sarcasm in her voice making his hand form into a fist. Then the words she had said earlier replayed in his head.

”You’re always around that redheaded bitch. How the fuck do I know you’re not sleeping with her?”

“She’s my friend,” Oli retorted. “And stop calling her that. Her name’s Hayley and she’s on your fucking side. She’s the one who told me not to be so mad at you because I didn’t really think of how you felt about this.”

“I don’t want her sympathy,” she replied bitterly. “Your so-called friend just needs to stay out of our business.”

“She was just trying to help-”

“I don’t need her fucking help!”

They were back to yelling and it was giving him a headache. He wished he had never thought of turning his phone back on and just did what Hayley told him to do. Take a break from all this and continue having a good day because everything was going so well when he listened to her. Hayley put him in a better mood and he erased all of that with just one phone call. Perhaps his good mood made him believe that this was going to turn things around, but he found himself to be regretting this pretty quickly.

“Why are we even fighting about this?” he shouted. “I didn’t call you to argue again. I called to say I’m sorry and we’re back to this. Do you want to keep doing this, SJ?”

“You know what I really want, Oliver?” She raised her voice even more to the point where he had to slightly hold the phone away from his ear. “I want you to stop being friends with her.”

“What?” he said incredulously. “I’m not going to stop being friends with her just because you’re having trouble trusting me when I have not cheated on you.”

That’s it. SJ had officially lost it and his head was on the brink of exploding. Did she really go there? This had to be the most childish and idiotic thing he had heard in a long time and really made him think: this could be the whole reason they were fighting. Ever since Warped Tour had started, SJ had not liked the idea of Oli being there when she found out that he would be around Hayley. He didn’t see it at first, but her behavior was starting to make sense. Was his girlfriend really that insecure that she was going so far to control who he could and couldn’t be friends with?

“You either stop being friends with her or we’re through,” she threatened. “Take your pick.”

He ran his fingers through his hair and leaned against the bus, sliding down so he could sit on the ground. Just when he thought she couldn’t possibly go far enough, now she was giving him an ultimatum. A fucking ultimatum. As he sat there, staring at his phone in his hands he realized how tired he was of this. All of it. Though this was perhaps the worst, this wasn’t the first time SJ had acted like this in regards to girls Oli hung out with. He just couldn’t take this anymore and her forcing him to make a choice that was completely unnecessary was when he knew right then and there that this had to stop.

“I’m not going to stop being friends with Hayley,” he told her.

It was sad to see SJ say all these things. All Hayley wanted was the best for him and she was trying make sure he and his girlfriend stay together while all SJ did was call her names and have some twisted logic that Hayley was trying to get in the way of their relationship. All this time he had been fighting to keep SJ when she wasn’t really even worth it.

“Then I hope you have fun being friends with her because we are fucking done.” she growled.

“Fine. We’re fucking done then.”

With that, he hung up and turned off his phone again. He was close to throwing it, but instead set it down next to him. Too many thoughts were going through his mind and how he felt at the moment could only be describe as a million emotions running all over the place. Part of him was angry, part of him was relieved, and even a small part of him was a little sad. After dating for five whole years, he and SJ had broken up.

He sat there for a few more minutes until Lee found him, informing him that they had to start heading to the stage because it was showtime. Of all times he had to have a break up, it was just his luck to have it happen before a show and he blamed himself for that because he was the one that chose this. That was another decision he could add to the list of stupid things he had done in his life.

Oli went straight to the stage, trying to resist looking for Hayley or talking to her because he knew she’d be able to tell that something was wrong and didn’t want her to be involved. He didn’t want to bring her down, too. He hated to see her worry over him and especially after all that SJ had said about her, he wasn’t ready to discuss that.

Even with him avoiding her, she was still able to see his face and even from far away, Hayley saw how he was clearly distressed about something. She wanted to run after him and make sure he was okay, but he was walking away so fast that she couldn’t catch up to him. The only thing she could do was head toward the stage with the rest of her band and watch Oli from the side like she always did.

She concluded that things with SJ were obviously not fixed because it was even evident in his performance. While he still put great energy in his presence on stage that kept the crowd excited and satisfied, he still had that look in his eyes. That distracted look; the smile he flashed to the audience that couldn’t reach his eyes and how frequently his eyes darted to the ground as if he wasn’t fully there. That was a look that she once had on her own face during the times it seemed like Paramore was going to fall apart.

After the show, she was able to catch him, putting a hand on his shoulder before he could walk off again.

“Hey, why do you keep trying to get away from me?” Hayley asked. She hoped he would be willing to tell her. That day, Paramore’s set was scheduled to happen not long after Bring Me the Horizon’s, so she didn’t have much time.

He shut his eyes and cursed under his breath. Why couldn’t he be better at faking happiness? Either that or he wished she wasn’t able to see through people so easily. And since Hayley was usually persistent, he couldn’t just brush it off and say he didn’t know what she was talking about.

“Because I’m in a shitty mood right now and don’t want you to be in a shitty mood, too,” Oli told her. “So don’t worry about me. You’ve got a show to do.”

“I have enough time to at least get an explanation,” she said. “I saw you take your phone out before you disappeared from everyone and went behind the bus. Ever since, you’ve look really upset. Now I know who you were calling, so tell me what happened with her.”

There was something about Hayley that made it so damn hard for him to lie to her. Maybe it was because she would call him out for not being truthful no matter how good he had gotten at making shit up. Maybe it was because the way her eyes always had that puppy dog look that made him give in easily. Or most likely it was because she was such a good friend who genuinely cared for his well being that he actually wanted to open up to her. Whatever reason he had, he was going to be honest in his response.

“She...she broke up with me,” he muttered. “I tried apologizing to her about earlier and it seemed like it was going well, only for her to get angry again and finally end it.”

He was honest, but he didn’t go into details. Those could be touched upon later after her show. Luckily for him, Hayley didn’t care about details and immediately wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly.

“Well, she just did the stupidest thing she could ever do,” she whispered into his ear. “Just know that I’m here for you.”

It was comforting to hear something that wasn’t the usual I’m sorry or That sucks kind of reply most people would’ve given him. He smiled a bit and put his arms around her as well. “Thanks, but I’m not really as sad about it as much as I thought I’d be. I mean, I loved her and all, but in the end it was unhealthy for us to be together. It’s for the best that we broke up.”

“I’m glad you’re okay.” She pulled away from him. “Still, if you ever want to talk about it you know where my bus is.”

Oli chuckled, liking that she once again worked her magic and lightened the mood. How she was able to rid the atmosphere of all negativity in minutes, he didn’t know but he was thankful that she was so understanding and never pushy.

How the fuck could he ever stop being friends with her?

“Enough with all this,” he said. “We’re supposed to be taking a break from stupid relationship problems. Right now, we gotta head to the stage so you can sing.”

Giggling, she grabbed his arm and they started running. “Come on, let’s go!”


They made it to the show just in time with minutes to spare. As Paramore got on the stage to be greeted by a huge crowd of fans who had been waiting patiently all day for this moment, Oli and the rest of Bring Me the Horizon were hanging out in the wings. The two bands had watched each other so many times that it had become a habit for them to end up there. The side of the stage was practically reserved for them because of this.

This show was going to be different.

Oli watched her sing, hitting all the notes perfectly while she bent down to hold a fan’s hand as numerous people reached for her. She would once in a while, wink at him and he’d just make a few weird faces to try to make her laugh. Though it came close a few times, she never stumbled on her words and just kept on moving around the stage. It occurred to him that he was so used to watching her that by this point he knew almost all of her songs by heart. But he didn’t even mind because he liked her music and seeing her do the one thing she was so passionate about was something he looked forward to every day.

It was getting near the end of their set and they only had one more song left. When they began playing it, everyone screamed when it was revealed that the last song was “My Heart”. It was a song that Hayley enjoyed performing live, but unfortunately rarely did so. During their first headlining tour this song was their big encore that gradually moved off their setlist ever since Riot! was released. Good thing that the band had all made a decision to include this song in later shows, with that day of Warped Tour being the first of many dates to experience this song after so long.

This was also Oli’s first time hearing it and it had become one of his favorites. It sounded just as incredible live and he smiled at how elated Hayley was to be singing it, the glimmer in her eyes showing just how much this song meant to her. He started thinking back to when he first heard her sing, which was the day after they met. Though he knew about her band before he met her, he had never heard what she sounded like and looking back at that memory of how amazed he was at her voice and seeing her here made him wonder why it took him so long to listen to her.

They reached the bridge of the song where there was an instrumental break and as Josh continued to strum the guitar, Hayley took that as her chance to speak into the mic.

“Now this next part,” she began. “I love this part of the song and it’s so special to me. It makes me so happy to be singing this to you guys, but the thing is...I can’t sing this on my own.”

She looked over at Oli and grinned, gesturing to him. “Oli, I’m gonna need your help.”

He just stood there, unable to take a step forward. He had no idea where she was going with this, but he couldn’t get out of it. It didn’t help matters that Nicholls and Curtis wouldn’t let him escape and pushed him onto the stage.

When he came into view, the audience cheered and he awkwardly waved at them and then rubbed the back of his neck, not sure what else to do but stand next to Hayley.

“You guys know my friend, Oli, right?” She faced the crowd again and there were several voices (and screams) that confirmed they knew who he was. “Well, he’s been a little down in the dumps lately and I wanna cheer him up. That’s why I want him to finish this song with me since it’s his favorite.”

“W-wait, what?” Oli’s eyes widened and he realized what she got him into. That probably explained why there were two mics on stage instead of one. He leaned toward her and lowered his voice. “You want me to sing with you? But what if I mess up? What if I-”

“I know you can do it,” she whispered. “Your screams always blow me away and they’d be perfect for this song. Come on, Oli. I can’t do this alone.”

She put a hand on his shoulder and looked him directly in the eyes, those green eyes shining the brightest they’ve ever been. Who was he to deny her when she was doing all she could to bring life into him again? He glanced over at that mic and it struck him that he wanted nothing more than to do this with her.

He grabbed the microphone and then turned to her. “Let’s do this.”

When he said that, he had unknowingly spoken into the mic and when the fans heard this they started yelling in excitement. All the while, Josh had been strumming and Hayley gave the rest of the band a nod to let them know that it was happening. Bringing the mic up to her mouth again, she took in a deep breath and sang.

This heart, it beats. Beats for only you.

Oli did the same with his mic and when she sang that line once more, he screamed into the mic and the band joined in. Hayley kept singing and he kept going; his screams contrasting with her voice which heightened the performance that made the crowd go crazy. He sounded different compared to how Josh’s screams were, but he still captured the emotions of the song and brought it to a whole new level that fit Paramore’s sound perfectly. As they both belted out the lyrics, they couldn’t stop smiling at each other and Hayley being by his side had boosted his confidence. Then he did something not many people had really witnessed: he sang.

Please don’t go now. Please don’t fade away.

She was nearly caught off guard by his voice and so were the others. Hayley thought Josh was going to cover that part, but by the looks of it Oli was completely fine with doing it himself. She already considered his screams astounding, but to hear him actually sing mesmerized her and almost made her forget she was supposed to be singing, too.

And then he went back to screaming, the both of them finishing off the song strong and leaving everyone in the audience speechless. When they finished, there was a moment of silence. Hayley and Oli exchanged looks before turning to the audience and that’s when they all erupted in applause. They both started laughing, overwhelmed by the reaction from the crowd and how they put on such a show. She was proud of him and he was glad that he went through with it.

He pulled her into a hug and Jeremy, Zac, Taylor, and Josh appeared by their side. They all bowed and waved to the fans one last time before walking off the stage. By that point, Oli felt great and when his bandmates caught up to him, they praised him for doing such an awesome job. All traces of his bad mood had diminished and he couldn’t thank Hayley enough for cheering him up in the best way she could.

“You were amazing,” Hayley rejoiced. “I have no idea why you were afraid to do it. You were great out there.”

He grinned. “You were, too. But then again, you’re always great out there.”

“Yeah, but you actually sang.” She nudged him. “You should sing like that more often. You have a nice voice.”

“Maybe some other day,” he said. “I’ll think about it. That was really fun, though. I think if I didn’t do that, I would’ve regretted it.”

“If you want, maybe we can do it again some time,” she suggested.

“How about every time you play that song?” he joked, holding his hand out as if they were making some sort of agreement.

She giggled and took his hand to shake it. “You got yourself a deal.”

Though it seemed like they were only joking about it, they did want to do it again.

Later, they were back in Paramore’s bus. This time they were in the back lounge, sitting around and talking after being bored of playing video games.

“So how’d it go with Chad?” Oli asked, propping his feet up on the small coffee table.

Apparently, Chad had watched the show and finally went up to Hayley to ask her out on a real date. That’s when she was reminded that she still needed to clear things up with him, so they walked off together to talk privately.

“He was cool with it,” Hayley replied. “He told me he’d rather have me be honest with him instead of accept a date and pretend that I was into him. We agreed to just stay friends and I’m feeling a lot better now that I got that off my chest. Seriously, I don’t think I’m gonna date anyone for a while.”

Oli chuckled. “That’s a good decision there. In my opinion, dating’s a little too stressful anyway.”

“I’m glad to see you’re handling your break up well,” Hayley mused. “By the way, I’m curious. What was she so mad about that made her break up with you for good?”

Deep down, he had waited for her to bring that up and he was ready to tell her exactly what pushed SJ over the edge. “Our argument was about you. She tried to force me to stop being friends with you or else she’d break up with me and I refused to do that.”

“She...broke up with you...because of me?” Hayley’s mouth dropped and then she put both of her hands over her face. “Oh my God, I ruined a relationship. I’m a horrible person. What have I done-”

“It’s okay!” He interrupted, grabbing her wrists so she could look up at him. “You’re not a horrible person, Hayles. She was a horrible person for saying all this bad shit about you and for making assumptions that weren’t true. Like I said, it wasn’t healthy and this wasn’t even the first time, either. That’s why I’m fine with us not being together. I couldn’t be with her anymore because no matter what I did she always hated me for it, so I gave up on trying to please her. Now you? I couldn’t give up a friend who’s always supported me.”

Hayley grinned and looked away toward the window, placing a hand over her cheek that was flushed red. She then gave him yet another hug and couldn’t believe he said all those things, once again telling her how significant their friendship was to him.

“And just like you,” he went on. “I also don’t think I want to date anyone for a while.”

“Good decision.” She giggled. They broke apart and she leaned on his shoulder while he relaxed on the couch. “Maybe one day we’ll both finally find that special someone who will give us a happily ever after.”

He looked down at her and smiled. “Yeah, one day.”

“But for the time being.” Hayley leaned forward to pick up her soda that was on the table. “We’re gonna have a great tour and be around great friends. Here’s to the Singles Club.”

She raised her can in the air, prompting Oli to also grab his own soda. Raising his soda next to hers, he stopped worrying about all the drama and SJ once and for all. It was time to move on and make way for better times.

“To the Singles Club.”