Talk Fast | 5 Seconds of Summer

Valentine

After arranging the chairs and sofas into a circle, Astrid begins to set up her microphone and computer. She claps her hands together before flopping down onto the love seat next to Luke. "Alright," she says. "What's the next song? Any drama?"

Calum looks up at his friend, who is basically his younger sister. "Kinda," he answers with a shrug of his shoulders. "'Valentine.'"

"Ooh, our time to shine as a beautiful musical duo," Astrid excitedly speaks, shimmying her shoulders.

Maxi is sitting on top of Calum, her face half-buried into his shoulder. She backs away for a moment and looks at him in confusion. "What?" She asks. "What drama?"

Astrid laughs. "Seriously?" She says. "You do know what this song is about, right?"

"What?"

Calum rolls his eyes at his girlfriend, but there's a look of adoration behind them. "It's about you, and even Luke to a certain extent, but mostly about you."

"So, how does that bring up any drama?" Maxi is clearly still not getting it.

Astrid sighs and puts her palm to her face. "Maxi, do you remember anything that happened leading up to you guys getting together?"

Maxi purses her lips and sticks up her chin, playing coy. "I don't know what you're talking about. None of that ever happened."

"You know, just because you act like there was no drama doesn't mean that it wasn't there," Astrid tells her best friend. "The story is actually really entertaining, but at the same time, infuriating."

"How?" Maxi exclaims.

"You guys wouldn't stop ignoring your feelings for each other and would just make out at parties. Like, everybody already knew y'all were into each other, and neither of you would make a move," Astrid explains. "I wanted y'all to prove to me that not every relationship was toxic, and I wouldn't exactly call what you guys had toxic, but it also wasn't... good." She chuckled. "Look at it this way: I've been in a relationship where I've constantly got my heart broken, and I see this wonderful potential between my brother and my best friend. There's mutual pining, and at last, I finally believe that love could still be possible." Her tone is daydreamy and singsongy, but it quickly changes to be blunt and brutal. "But then you rip my heart out by admitting your feelings to me and not each other, and then we're stuck in limbo!"

Michael tuts. "What did I tell you about having expectations, Az?"

"It just gets me hurt," the girl sighs as she pouts.

Ashton laughs. "Alright, let's just get started," he says with a clap of his hands. He hits the "play" button, and the sound of the boys ad-libbing a basic melody fills the room.

"I love the light in your eyes and the dark in your heart."

14 FEBRUARY 2017–LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA–16:32

Calum and Astrid sat in her home studio. It had been a while since they last hung out. She had cooped herself up in there, trying to get her life figured out. Luke was the love of her life, and she honestly could not find herself in a real relationship if it weren't with him. Sure, she knew she would have rebounds and hook-ups, but she would never love someone the way she loved her blue-eyed golden boy.

"How you doin', squish?" She asked as Calum sat across from her. "I'm sorry we haven't hung out in a while."

Calum frowned and shook his head. "It's okay," he reassured. "I get it; you're going through a lot right now."

Astrid thought that she was acting ungrateful for Calum. Ashton and Michael may have been her best friends, but Calum was more like a brother to her. They just had a deeper connection, and they believed it was because they bonded through relationship struggles. Calum did everything he could to protect her from harm, and he made sure that he would check up on her every once in a while. Sometimes it was through a text message, and sometimes it was through a video chat. He truly tried to do his best to look out for her. He figured it also had to do something with having his sister, Mali-Koa, so he was used to stuff like this.