I don't own the Warblers. If I did, I would be making Glee all about them instead of the New Directions. Also, this kind of started because I really want Warblers to win Nationals for once because they deserve it!
Watching the New Directions' performance had started out okay. Jeff couldn't help the unease that entered his thoughts as he watched them perform Gangnam Style. He was confident in what the Warblers had been able to pull off against this sham of a performance by National champions; Jeff loved being able to show off his own dance moves to that caliber in their performance, especially since the Warblers had never moved that much during a performance before, but Jeff had loved it.
"Think there's any reason why they're singing gibberish instead of choosing a song we can understand?" Sebastian muttered.
"It is a risky move," Nick replied. "The popularity of Gangnam Style could get them the votes to beat us. But we are in Ohio, so the judges might not appreciate a song they can't understand."
Jeff gasped and clapped loudly when the main male dancer in New Directions—he somewhat reminded Jeff of a younger version of Noah Puckerman—did a double black flip across the stage. Jeff was positive this dancer had been trained professionally in some area.
"I can't believe they let Nina Blown-Chang lead vocals," Sebastian said. "Surely she can't be the best singer left out of last year. They must really be hurting since Berry graduated."
"Maybe she knows Korean," Jeff replied. He shrugged.
"Almost done with the song," Nick commented. The New Directions shot off cannons of confetti as they went into the chorus for the last time. He leaned forward. "The confetti remind you of a certain performance?"
"Regionals. Blaine and Kurt sang Candles and we did Raise Your Glass," Jeff replied with a soft smile on his face. He watched as the members took to the steps and finished the song with the final line.
Jeff's eyes widened at the sight of a brunette in the back of New Directions collapsing suddenly at the end of Gangnam Style. He vaguely saw the likes of Santana and Noah Puckerman along with the New Directions' coach jump and start running for the stage as the members of the New Directions surrounded the girl.
"What's going on?" Nick asked. He hopped, trying to see over Jeff's shoulder.
"Someone collapsed on stage," Jeff replied offhandedly. His eyes were trained to the stage as the New Directions ushered the collapsed girl off the stage. Following the group was their coach and members Jeff recognized from last year.
"Well, there goes their chance at Nationals again." Hunter laughed under his breath. "Told Blaine he should have joined us. I knew he'd be sidelined like this."
"Hunter, someone just collapsed," Jeff replied. He glared at the captain of the Warblers. "Be a little more compassionate."
Hunter huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. Without checking with the others, Jeff moved to head towards the stage. Before he made it far, however, Nick grasped his shoulders and held him in place.
"We would be the last people to help her, Jeff."
Jeff moved to tell Nick to leave him alone when the announcer over the speaker asked for all the competing choirs to report backstage. The Warblers made their way towards the stairs that led backstage to meet the three judges.
The oldest judge—Jeff vaguely remembered him being announced as some obituary editor—stepped in front of the others. He motioned both groups to step forward.
"The girl who collapsed on stage is fine," the judge started. "However, the fact that the New Directions left the stage before finishing their set list means instant disqualification. With this distinction, New Directions will take the third place slot, leaving your two groups with the possibility to move on to Regionals."
Shocked at what they were being told, Jeff desperately wanted to ask how they could so callously allow this to happen. What did they expect the other members to do? Dance around her until she got back up to finish the routine?
After a moment, the female judge smiled and motioned for the two groups to take their place on stage. Jeff stood beside the other Warblers, worriedly looking through the audience in the hope that he'd see something that would make this a dream. Sure he wanted the Warblers to finally beat the New Directions, but not like this. It almost seemed like it wasn't worth it if they got disqualified.
Jeff looked up when he heard the female judge begin announcing who would move on to Regionals.
"It gives me great honor to announce that the winner of the 2012 Western Ohio Sectionals is…. The Dalton Academy Warblers!"
Jeff plastered a smile on his face as he and the other Warblers ran to the trophy. Hunter grasped the trophy with an arrogant smirk on his face as if to say that he was the one to bring the New Directions down. Jeff let it go, instead choosing to jump up and down on cue in excitement alongside Nick.
After calming down for a moment, Jeff started thinking about how the New Directions must be feeling. While personally, Jeff had never experienced losing by disqualification, he imagined how heartbroken they must all be. The routine might not have been as high-energy as the Warblers, but that didn't mean they hadn't put less time into it; to have all that taken away because of technicality just seemed wrong. He turned towards the backstage and thought about trying to find where they all were.
Without telling the rest of the group, Jeff started heading backstage. He almost made it to the hallway of the school when Nick ambushed him.
"What are you doing, Jeff?" Nick asked. Jeff took notice of the other Warblers straggling behind Nick.
"Going to find Blaine to see if that girl's okay."
"Why do we care?" Hunter scoffed. He looked disinterested if anything. "We won, they didn't. She's not our problem."
"Hunter, we're show choirs. The least we could do is show our condolences," Sebastian said. At Hunter's incredulous look, Sebastian shrugged and turned his deep green eyes towards Jeff.
Jeff turned and headed down the hallway, looking for doors that could lead to the choir room. At the end of the hallway, he found a set of doors that opened to the New Directions standing around the girl who had collapsed. She was lying on her back, staring up at the ceiling while Finn and someone else fanned her face.
"Is she alright?" Jeff asked. Before he could make it further into the room, Blaine pushed through and stepped in front of him.
"Why are you here?" Blaine asked harshly.
"We wanted to make sure she was okay," Jeff said. He peered over Blaine's shoulder to see if she was okay.
"Well she's fine, so you can go now. You've helped enough," Blaine replied.
"We didn't have anything to do with her fainting, Blaine." Jeff motioned to the girl. "Obviously it was something else."
"Well you've obviously done more than you needed. Congratulations, you beat the New Directions."
Jeff stepped back, hurt at the way Blaine was acting. He looked down at his feet, shuffled slightly before nodding. He turned away from Blaine and motioned for the others to walk out. He walked past a smirking Hunter and headed for the parking lot. He felt Nick race behind him, grasping his side to stop him.
"Jeff, stop!" Nick exclaimed.
"Let's just go celebrate our win," Jeff murmured. He turned to Jeff and smiled slightly. Jeff leaned forward and pressed his lips against Nick's.
Sebastian and the others appeared behind the couple. A grin on his face, Sebastian said, "I have the perfect formula in my dorm to make our celebration the best."
PLEASE R/R! I will... bake virtual cookies or something if you do!