I've been working on this for some time, and I've just managed to finish it. There may be another part (or two) if wanted, and I can do a POV switch on it. But, this is a side project around my other story I am currently working on [I Told You To Run (We'd Both Be Free)]

The idea for this came about when I found out that Melissa Benoist is from Littleton, Colorado, which is where Riker Lynch is from. I also have an idea for an RPF between them, which I may or may not develop.

Trigger Warning: Eating Disorders.

I don't own glee or anything you recognise.

In this, The Warblers do not cheat and use drugs, therefore, Trent is still a member.

Word Count: 1,194.

"Crap." Jeff slipped back into the hallway he and The Warblers were about to turn from. He glanced around the corner and watched the silky brown hair bob away from him.

"What?" Nick asked, pulling Jeff with him, they were mostly hidden by the other warblers by this point.

"Do you see the girl with the long, silky brown hair?"

"Yeah, what about her?"

"Marley Rose. My ex-girlfriend. She broke my heart. And I thought I'd gotten over it." Jeff swallowed. "But seeing her is like a punch in the heart."

"Ok, you know what we're going to do. You're going to put on a brave face. We're going to go on stage and kick some serious ass. We're going to win. You're going to show her that you don't need her."

"This is why you're my best friend." They entered the auditorium and joined the rest of the warblers, who had taken their seats a few moments previously.

"Either one of you came really quickly, or you didn't sneak off to have a quickie before we go on stage." Sebastian whispered suggestively from behind them.

"Jeff was just being a girl and having drama."

"You're a fucking jerk, Nick. Did you know that?" Jeff hissed.

"And you just told me that I'm your best friend, thanks."

Once onstage, Jeff forgot about Marley. It was another competition. A competition he had helped choreograph, and, for once, had been allowed to be a little free with it. Once off stage, it hit back that Marley was there, and he couldn't wait to see her perform. He'd heard her sing a lot throughout their relationship. He watched the performance by the Mennonites, they weren't the best, and he knew that The Warblers were at least coming second. He sat up straighter when he saw the New Directions came on stage. His eyes never leaving Marley. He snorted a little when their first song started. Gangnam Style. How very top 40. Just like the road The Warblers had started taking. "Oh, my god." His hands flew to his mouth and he rose from his seat when Marley fainted, only to be pulled back down by Nick.

When The Warblers were announced as the winners, Jeff wasn't surprised, and he was probably the first to leave the stage. He ran to where he knew the New Directions rehearsal room was. He'd been fighting back tears since she'd been carried off stage. He knocked on the door, to have most of the club look up and glare at him.

"We don't need any Warbler to come in here and boast about us losing." A blonde girl growled.

"I came to see if Marley is alright." He tipped his head back and squeezed his eyes tight, knowing it wasn't enough to stop the tears that were already leaking down his face. "I need to know she's alright." His voice quietened, and he ran his and across his face to get rid of the tears.

"Guys, he's serious." Blaine said, knowing Jeff's little quirks. "Let him in." The New Directions moved aside, allowing Jeff to go to Marley.

"Marley, Marley." He knelt in front of her. "Please say you're alright."

"Jeff?" She asked, not quite recognising him, as he'd grown several inches and gained a lot of muscle. "What are you doing here?"

"To see if you're alright." He whispered, running his hand down her face.

"And why do you care?"

"Because..." He took a breath, the question cutting into him. "I have never, for a second, stopped caring about you. And I know the signs, Marley. The slightly papery look to your skin, you look malnourished. I know what an eating disorder looks like, Marley, in case you'd forgotten."

"The last time I saw you..."

"Three days later, I was hospitalised, for the second time. I collapsed, kinda like you did on stage. But I didn't come around quite so quickly. I nearly died from that eating disorder, Marley. The last time you saw me was a month after you broke up with me. Before then, I'd been doing so well, I had been so far on the road to recovery, but those words you said. So hateful, made me hate myself again. I stopped eating. I got worse than ever before, because I thought it would make me good enough for you, and never once, did I stop loving you, and I never blamed you, either. I only recovered fully about a year ago. But it hurt so much seeing that you are going through what I had been through."

"I'm so sorry, Jeff." Tears spurted from her eyes, and she threw her arms around his neck. "I am so, so sorry. I never thought."

"Hey, it's ok." He hugged her back.

"So are you the Warbler sent to boast about winning?" Jeff heard one of the New Direction's say.

"No, I'm the Warbler sent to pass on the message to Jeff that Hunter say that if his ass is not in the van in the next five minutes, have fun finding his own way back to Dalton." He recognised Nick's voice.

"I think that's my cue to leave." He stood up, and gave a shaky laugh. "If you want to talk, you can get my number from Blaine." He turned to leave, only to be stopped and slapped by the former Warbler. "What was that for?"

"For being an idiot, and not letting us help you until you nearly died, for what sounds like the second time, even though we knew something was up."

"I'm sorry." Jeff ducked his head slightly, before following Nick from the room.

"What was that all about?" Hunter asked as Nick and Jeff boarded the bus and took their seats.

"Marley, the girl who fainted, is my ex-girlfriend." Jeff admitted. "And as most of you probably know, until about a year ago, I struggled with eating disorders and I ended up hospitalised multiple times. Seeing her like that, I knew exactly what was going on with her, and it hurt, because she'd seen me go through it all, she'd gotten me so close to being out of it, and then, when she broke up with me, she threw me back in at the deep end and that was the second time I nearly died."

"I know you didn't start at Dalton until after you had been discharged from hospital, but you could have spoken to any of us at any time." Trent said, resting his hand on Jeff's shoulder. "I was your first roommate here, the first thing I noticed was your feeding tube, it's not a hard thing to miss, but you still wouldn't let us help you, until you collapsed in rehearsal."

"You can save the talk, I've already had it from Blaine today. In a slightly more physical way." Jeff sighed. "He slapped me with a force I expected more from Kurt."

That raised a laugh from most of The Warblers.

"Do you think she's going to be alright?" Nick asked as Jeff got a text.

Thank you- M

"I think she's going to be just fine."

No problem- J

Thanks for reading! \o/ Hope you enjoyed this!