A/N: I don't own Glee, or anything you might recognize here. The rating is no accident, dear reader. Sit back and enjoy, and see you at the end note!

Wes studied his tired-looking orientee. This was the boy's third week at Dalton, and he'd made great progress. He smiled, remembering how he'd discovered Blaine's affinity for singing Disney songs at odd times when he was alone in his room, and thought back to the Friday at the end of their first week of classes.

Two weeks ago...

Wes checked his phone, assuring himself that he'd been on time, but for whatever reason, his designated orientee hadn't shown. When he tried texting Blaine, he got no answer; odd, since he had a copy of Blaine's schedule, and knew he wasn't in class. That, and the freshman was unfailingly polite. Getting up from the comfy chair in the commons room with a sigh, he headed towards room 21. In searching for Blaine, he figured he may as well start with his room.

When he was still a couple of rooms short of his goal, he heard the sound of a guitar and singing, and broke into a grin. He listened for a few moments, rolling his eyes as Blaine sang his heart out. True, the dorms were usually deserted at this hour, but maybe the freshman had no idea how well his voice was carrying. That, and he'd left his door open a crack.

Wanderin' free, wish I could be

Part of that world!

What would I give, if I could live

Out of these waters

What would I pay, to spend a day,

Warm on the sand?

Blaine had already shot him down once, when he'd suggested he try out for the Warblers. Wes had noticed the guitar, and while Blaine had admitted he liked singing, he had failed to get him to sing a note. Then David had told him he'd overheard Blaine singing in the shower a couple of days ago, and had tried to recruit him for the Warblers on the spot. Blaine had just blushed, seemed uncomfortable that anyone else was there, muttering something about trying to shower during off times on purpose. Wes had told David not to make too much of it at the time – for many of the new students, living away from home and dealing with shared bathrooms was new, and some of them tended to be shy at first. He'd pumped David for details on what he'd heard, and they'd both agreed since then that Wes would need to find a way to hear Blaine for himself (other than stalking him in the showers – they agreed that would probably not be the best approach).

Betcha on land, they understand

Bet they don't reprimand their daughters!

Bright young women, sick of swimmin'

Ready to stand.

All right, Wes thought, well, now we know he won't mind the Warblers' tendency to cross gender lines when it came to song selections. Man, that kid is really selling this! He'd heard enough, and knocked at the partially open door. He waited, hearing a bit of scrambling, as a wild-haired, flushed Blaine came to the door.

"Blaine! Hi -"

Blaine's eyes widened comically as he took in the sight of the tall sophomore in front of him. "Wes! Oh my God, I was supposed to meet with you, oh no, I am so sorry -"

Wes frowned, looking at how distressed Blaine had become, and so quickly. "Hey, hey, calm down, it's okay. I tried texting you, but, well, I didn't get an answer."

Blaine rolled his eyes, stepping back into his room and gesturing for Wes to enter too. He pulled out his phone and groaned. "I keep doing this. Battery's dead again, I don't know why I -"

Wes stepped in front of him and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Blaine, breathe. I'm not mad, I swear, I just wanted to make sure you're okay, and check in on how you're doing. Relax." He motioned for the boy to sit down. Blaine must've taken one of his off-peak showers; his hair looked damp, and Wes was surprised to see how curly it was. He looked over at the acoustic guitar, neatly put away on its stand near the desk chair on Blaine's side of the room.

Blaine was sitting there, looking up at him, and Wes smiled at him. Blaine was looking up at him with eyes that could almost be described as puppy-like, and Wes cleared his throat, ready to take advantage of the opportunity that had presented itself.

"Well, I'm glad I found you. Don't worry, you wouldn't be the first overwhelmed freshman to forget to charge his phone now and then. So, are you doing all right?"

Blaine sat up straight, and looked relieved at the bland line of questioning. "I think so. I didn't get lost on my way to any classes – second day in a row!" Wes chuckled, and nodded his head encouragingly. "And the people here seem pretty nice."

Wes decided to sit on Blaine's bed, figuring that standing over the shorter boy wasn't what he wanted to do just then. He smiled at Blaine and inclined his head at the guitar next to him. "You sounded really good there, you know."

"Oh my God, you heard that," Blaine muttered, and Wes marveled at how this kid could blush so fast.

"No, no," he hurried to stop this. "You really sounded good! I know you told me you don't have much performance experience, but Blaine, really," he paused, "you need to be a Warbler. And the Warblers need you. Look," he changed to a business-like tone, "the Warblers are like a band of brothers. A bit goofy at times, but we really have a great time, and we make some really fun music."

Blaine gestured at his idle guitar. "But you told me already it's an a capella group, so they don't need this -"

Wes snorted. Blaine looked at him, confusion written all over his face. "I'm not asking much, just a token, merely a trifle."

Blaine giggled at Wes' scarily spot-on imitiation of Ursula, the Sea Witch. "My voice?" he answered back, imitating Ariel.

"You've got it sweetcakes," Wes teased back, in Ursula's voice. "No, seriously, Blaine, your voice would be great for the Warblers. And you've already met Nick and Jeff, and they'll be auditioning too."

"On Monday," Blaine answered softly.

Wes smiled, feeling more confident. His occasionally scatter-brained orientee had evidently paid attention to that detail at least. "Yes, Monday, at four. You're in?"

Blaine looked down at his feet for a moment, and smiled back at Wes when he looked up at him again. "Okay. I'll do it. But what should I sing?"

Wes had made sure from that moment until the audition that Blaine hung out with Nick, David's orientee, and Jeff, who was Thad's. For a good-sized school, he had pondered, it was amazing how the three of them had all ended up with orientees who had musical potential. Then again, Wes agreed with David, the Head was renowned for making uncannily good choices when it came to pairing up the freshmen with sophomore orientation buddies, so perhaps it was no accident. When the audition came around, and Blaine sang "Go the Distance" from Hercules (with Wes' approval), he had been smugly proud of him, watching the faces of the council members trying to rein in their excitement at the freshman's talent and passion. Nick and Jeff had made it in too, and they'd all gone out for pizza afterwards, with Wes insisting on treating.

That was two weeks ago. It was usual for new students to look worn out by the end of the week, but Blaine looked about ready to pop off into an involuntary nap when Shane and Duncan had monopolized the discussion about picking a set list. When Duncan had weilded the gavel, announcing the end of the meeting, Wes nudged Blaine to get his attention.

"Hey, Blainers, how about you join me and David and the Warbler freshmen for some coffee and cookies?"

"Um, milk and cookies, maybe, for me," the freshman had agreed readily. "I'm beat. I know we have Warbler movie night tonight, and I'm really looking forward to it, but I feel about ready to crash. A snack sounds perfect."

Wes motioned to David, who herded the freshmen Warblers, and they headed towards the on-campus cafe.

David hung back and shot him a concerned look. "Wes, is he all right?"

Wes frowned. "I think so, but he seems really tired."

"You do know we all eat together here," David reminded him. "Kid's got a serious apple juice addiction. What is up with that?" Wes chuckled at David's indignant tone. "Seriously, how does this kid function?"

"I've got this," Wes assured him. They smelled the freshly baked cookies and muffins before they rounded the corner to enter the cafe. "Blaine."

The boy turned around, a questioning look on his face. "I've got something you need to try here."

"Really?" Blaine furrowed his triangular brows. "I mean, this place is great and all, but I think I've tried all the kinds of cookies and muffins they have, and -"

Wes stepped close beside him and looked down at him. "Caramel latte, Blaine. I think you'll love it."

"Um, well, I ..." Blaine looked nervously up at him. "I've never really tried coffee. I mean, I tried sips of my mom's before, and it wasn't -"

"Relax, Blaine." Wes regarded him seriously. "Dalton's a great place, but it's tough; lots of homework, everyone is required to be on at least one team and participate in at least one club. It's time. You need to learn to love coffee."

"But I love apple juice, and that gives lots of energy, right? And -"

"Not the same. Time to grow up, my little Warbler. And drink coffee, practically a requirement here." Wes's tone was now all business.

"Listen to Uncle Wessie," David chimed in, smirking at Wes. "No, seriously, it gets harder. Still good, but really, man, you need to learn to love the java. Trust us."

Later that night, David cornered Wes in the bathroom, as they both got ready to brush their teeth, movie night finally over after about two.

"You've created a monster," he commented.

"You helped," Wes shot back.

"Help me out here, did he just spontaneously break into song and jump onto furniture before tonight and I just didn't notice?" David asked sarcastically.

"Well, he did stay awake longer than any other freshmen – those freshies never have any endurance at the end of the week – and letting him pick a Disney cartoon as the first movie? Well, we already knew he had a weakness for those," Wes smirked at his friend.

"Well I at least made him stop at three," David commented sagely. "I mean, I think I never saw someone fall in love with coffee that fast!"

"Our little freshie's growing up," Wes cooed. "And we were there for his first latte. And cappucino. And medium drip."

"Yes we were. Shane and Duncan'll love this next rehearsal – kid's got all kinds of energy, and it's like the caffeine made him lose all his inhibitions. Damn, he really can sing!"

"Well, we've done good work today," Wes nodded his agreement. "Though I think we'll limit him to one cup before Warblers rehearsal."

"Agreed." David yawned hugely, and grabbed for his toothbrush.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this little story that seeped its way into my brain. The song snatches are from Disney's The Little Mermaid of course (as are bits of dialogue); used here with love. I'd love to hear from you, and I hope I made you smile. I do have several longer stories, if you'd like to check out my author list. Happy weekend, everyone! Also, I'm now on tumblr (also nightingale63 there). I promise to keep my postings there spoiler free, in case you'd like to follow me and that is an issue.