The Intern // 5 Seconds of Summer

If We Were Birds by Valkyrie Sky

Say yeah
Let's be alone together
We could stay young forever
Scream it from the top of your lungs, lungs, lungs

I roll over, swatting at my phone to turn reject the incoming call but miss and just knock it onto the floor.

"Ugh." I sigh, reaching onto the floor and picking up my phone. "What?"

"EEEEEEE!" I hold my phone away from my face for a minute but smile, recognizing the squeak.

"Hey!" I say. "What's up? You woke me up." I mumble, rolling onto my back with my phone still in my hand.

"I HAVE BIG BIG NEWS!" She shouts into the phone.

"Stop yelling, I just woke up. Too early for this shit."

"Oh, sorry. But yeah, good news." She says cheerfully. "So I applied for this co-residence like dorm place but they said I couldn't cause I don't, well didn't, have a real job so I talked to my friend lily who owns a dance studio and let ,e rent a hall so now I teach dance to young kids with my other dancing friend kailyn. So I called in this morning to let them know I got a job and they accept my application and now I have a home!" She says in nearly one breath.

"THATS GREAT!" I shout, sitting up in my bed. Lou rolls over and speak again in a quiet voice. "I'm so happy for you!" I say, smiling into my words.

"I even told you before I told Calum." She says and I can hear shes moving around.

"Well, I'm glad you did."

"Sisters before misters." She says as she stops to catch her breath. "Sorry, I was running for the bus. But yeah, anyways, did Calum tell you the news?"

"What news?" I wrinkle my forehead and get up. I quickly put on leggings and a 5SOS shirt Lou gave me a while before and head out into the hallway. "Most of is having been on good terms."

"Oh, well, that's a shame..." she says quietly but quickly returns to her usual perkyness. "Well, next stop, I'm coming to see you guys!" Beat gushes.

"What? How? Why?" I ask, shaking my head as I walk down the hallway.

"Huh? I thought you'd be happy..."

"Oh I am!" I say. "But, well, you just got a house. How're you gonna get here?"

"Well, lily and kailyn and I are gonna drove. But Calum is giving us backstage passes!" She says happily and I can imagine her getting some glares.

"You guys are getting kinda serious, aren't ya?" I say.

"I really like him." She says.

"Well, that's all that matters." I say smiling and hang up.

I shove my phone into my pocket and sit in the foyer. I watch the TV, which is playing locale news.

Lately, I've gotten into this routine of wake up, do nothing, hang out with dumb boys then party for about two hours.

Not that its a bad thing but this party is forever the longest. But for once, I can eat breakfast by myself without germy people around me.

I quickly pour myself a cup of coffee and grab an apple before going back to a chair and just staring at the TV.

I take a bite of my apple and lift up my legs so my knees sit under my chin. Finally, some form of alone time. By choice, alone time.

Don't get me wrong, I love Lou. But alone is nice sometimes. And especially with a group of teenage boys, my day can sometimes drag on.

"And in local news, a small dog has been missing for a few days now, if there's any news on its where about please..."

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"Ryan?" I hear someone come up behind me.

"What?" I turn around to see calum, a big grin on his face.

"Did you hear? I don't know if you heard bu-"

"I heard." I say, cutting him off. "Before you actually."

"Oh. Well, isn't it great!" He says, smiling like a puppy. If he had a tail, I'm sure it would be wagging.

"So, where's the rest of the Brady bunch?" I ask, taking the last sip of my coffee.

"The what?" He asks.

"Where's the rest of your breakfast club?" I ask, shaking my head at him missing my jokes.

"My what?" He asks then chuckles. "Oh, still sleeping. We went out last night after the show, partied a tad."

"Cool." I nod and extend my neck to the right, trying to watch the TV around him.

"If you wanted to watch TV, why didn't you just stay in your room?" Calum asks, biting his lip then going over to the counter for toast.

"I wanted to be alone." I say, putting my cup on the dirty plate tray. "You're making it kinda hard, though."

"Well, Mel said we should become friends." He says, smiling yet shrugging at the same time.

"I'll think about it." I say, turning away then sitting back in !y chair.

"You look nice in our merch." he says before returning to his room with breakfast.

***

"So.. Uh..." I sat, my legs crossed in front of me on a styling chair.

The boys left Ashton and I to sit alone to go talk to Gifted But Twisted, unannounced and that's how we got to Ashton and I sitting in a dressing room with awkward silence.

"Ashton..." I say quietly, my sentence dragging on a bit.

"Yeah?" He says, looking up from his phone.

"I'm... Uh.. I mean, I should of overreacted with what you said.. You know, on the bus.." I say, looking down at my hands. I just want to clear the air while still avoiding the conversation.

"No no." He says, shaking his head. "I really shouldn't of said that.."

"Let's make up." I say, getting up and standing in front of him.

"Sure." He says, standing up from the couch. When he stands up, he's towering over me and my breath hitches. "I'm glad you said that, I don't like the tension."

"So, yeah.." I say, taking a step back.

"I don't mean to come on, but why are you so scared?" He asks but then chuckles. "Are you a germaphobe?" He asks, chuckling. I chuckle too but shake my head.

"I wish I could tell you, Ash." I say and shake my head, looking at the ground. "Its a long story, really."

"Well, I've got time." He says, pulling me into a tight hug.

"Its a tale for another day, Irwin." I say, biting my lip and pulling away, but still staring at my feet.

"Ryan..." He takes his hand and puts his thumb under my chin, lifting up my face so we're nearly eye to eye.

"What?"

He pauses and looks at me, his gaze wandering from my lips back to my eyes. What is this. Ryan, you're gonna kiss him. And its gonna be damn great.

And with that, he leans down slowly. I feel my head jerk away but I fight against it as I close my eyes. I feel his breath on my lips and as thought there was hours between the moment our lips touch, he finally kisses me. Not in a rush, or with passion or in a 'I need you' kind of way.

More like the way snow kisses my eyelashes during Canadian winters and the way baby feathers feel. But inside my heart felt like a I stuck my hand on a warm lightbulb and my whole nervous system felt like I drop a plucked in toaster in my bath tub. Everything inside me light up and I swear we both smiled.