This idea just popped up into my head. It's my first try of an AU since all characters are going to Westerville High. I hope you like it, let me know what you think!

Obviously I don't own Glee or any songs or characters you recognize.

The story contents bullying, self-doubt and violence as well as gay relationships. If you can't handle any of that, please skip the story.
Otherwise... enjoy! :)

- Good News? -

"Duval, hey!" Nick turned around as he heard his name called out through the hallway of Westerville High.

"Satan!", he greeted with a smile all over his face. A pretty, young Latina made his way towards him.

"You know how lucky you are that I love you, right? Otherwise I had to kill you for giving me names like this." She kissed his cheek quickly and intertwined her arm with his before starting walking with him. "Have I already told you the good news?" Nick just tilted his head in a silent question and made her a sign to carry on. She chuckled amused. "Obviously not. Have I ever mentioned that Brit has a cousin?"

"You didn't. But I don't see what's the good news about it."

"That's because you're way to impatient. So, like I said, there's this cousin. Jeff." She smiled as if the name caused any good taste on her tongue. "A blonde cutie, really hot stuff."

"You know that you're with Brittany, Santana. Why would you... eww!" Nick frowned in disgust. "If it has anything to do with an inappropriate threesome, I don't wanna know anything about it."

"Shut it, Nick. Thing is, this certain blondie is transferring to our school. In fact, he has an appointment with principal Sawyer today. And, as I wanted to tell you right from the beginning, he is on our team."

"You mean..."

"There is a reason that Brittany's family had taken her outing so easily. It wasn't the first time they'd heard a confession like this." Santana smiled again, but it seemed a bit off this time. Nick squeezed her arm gently. He knew about the problems her own outing had caused in her family. More than one time she'd found herself in front of his door, asking if she could stay for the night. He never refused to let her. Santana was like a sister to him, and he tried to defend her whenever he could. He would never admit that to her, though. He was a bit scared that the girl would hit him just to prove that she could easily defend herself. She was tough, no question, but to Nick, there was nothing wrong with looking out for her.

"So what makes you think that I'm interested in... Jeff?", he asked after a little pause.

Santana flipped out of her thoughts and threw him an evil look. "You're kidding me, right? It's written all over your face that you want a boyfriend."

"Santana!", he pleased, looking around. "Shh. I don't want people to look at me the way they look at Kurt and Blaine."

The girl stopped walking all of a sudden. Nick, who had his arm intertwined with hers still, stumbled and fought to keep in balance. "Don't you dare, Duval. Don't say you're a coward. You always told me to be whoever I want to be, and now you turn out to..."

"You know what most people think when they look at Brittany and you? That it's super hot to see two girls making out. Do you know what most people think when they look at Kurt and Blaine? Or at me and... whoever? That it's disgusting. That we shouldn't exist. It isn't fair, but I didn't make the rules. I don't want to be beaten up. I don't want the weird looks. I don't want people talking about me."

"Screw them!", Santana spat and made a step towards the boy to stab her finger into his chest. "And screw you, Duval. I'll see you in the choir room."

"Santana, wait!", he called after her, but it was useless. Nick sighed deeply. The Latina was furious, without a doubt, and he knew how hard it was to calm her down.

"Bull's-eye!" Another voice cut in, and a smirking Asian clapped Nick on the shoulders. "You just released the beast."

"Have you been eavesdropping?" Nick asked dryly. "You're way to curious for your own good, Wes."

"Oh, that wasn't nice. You can't yell through the whole school and expect nobody to listen." Wes raised a brow as Nick didn't even tried to defend himself. He made the slightly younger boy stop and pulled him around a corner. "Stuff is really going to you, right? What's the deal, Nick? What are you afraid of? It seems like people can't stop liking you. You managed to join Glee club and still be popular, something Finn failed totally."

"Shut up, Wes. That's none of your business."

"My best friend is none of my business?", the Asian repeated frowning. "Come on, Nick. Look, I know Kurt and Blaine are having a tough time, but were doing everything we can to keep them as safe as possible. You know that. And on the other hand, there is Sebastian. Openly bi, and no one tries to get after him, even if he isn't half as likeable as you are."

Nick hissed annoyed and stroked his hair out of his face. "That's because his father is a freaking lawyer, Wes. They know that they're fucked – well, not literally – when they get to close to him. My father is a plumber. Not so impressive, right?"

Wes sighed. "Nick." He put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "A lot of people care about you, you know that. All members of Crescendo none of them will let you down, no matter what you do."

"Not all of them, but the most. You're right Wes, and I'm sorry. But I'm not ready for the world to know. Please, I... It's not that I'm ashamed of who I am, but... I'm scared... I think... Please don't push me. I can't... not right now, at least..."

"Nicky, you're rambling!" Wes shook his shoulder very gently to pull him out of his confusion. Nick looked at him with wide eyes. Wes didn't often call people by a nickname, but when he did, the matter was very important to him. "I would never push you to do something you don't want to do. Neither would Santana, even if she's mad at you right now. You're our friend, Nick. Gosh, the three of us are best friends since preschool. We're blood brothers, don't you remember?"

Nick smiled as the memory hit him. He saw himself, Wes and Santana in a little wood, the girl resting her back against a huge tree. They all were about eight years old, and little Nick, who'd loved to read, was a huge fan of the Karl May books. He'd convinced his friends to prick their index fingers with a needle till a tiny blood drop appeared. Then they pressed their fingers against each other. When he was honest, they most likely not even smudged their fingers, so there was no way that their blood really met, but it felt very intense at the moment. That was the day that they promised each other that they would be friends forever.

Wes' thoughts obviously had gone in the same direction. "Friendships will come and friendships will go, the seasons will change and it will show..."

"...I will age and so will you, but our friendship stays strong and true!", Nick finished, beaming from one ear to another.

"Oh, I hate you. Both of you!" The two boys jumped startled as Santana's voice cut in. "I came back with the best insult I could think of, and you just remind me on one of the cutest things that ever happened? You're playing unfair, Duval." Her eyes were suspiciously shiny. "Now I have to hug you!"

Not really believing that it wasn't a well-hidden attempt to kill him, Nick tried to push Wes in front of him, but Santana simply threw her arms around both boys at the same time. "Don't think it means that I'm not mad at you!", she warned.

Nick kissed her forehead lightly. "Naw, you love me too much to actually hurt me. I'm sorry that I'm not as courageous as you are yet, but I need to do this in my own way. And, anyway, just because this Jeff guy is gay as well, what makes you think that I'll fall for him in an instant? I'm not the guy who jump on the first boy available." He smirked slightly. "That would be Smythe, not me."

"Nick, honey. I know you. And you should better believe me when I say that Jeff is hot stuff. And, honestly, I would never compare you to the little Smythe snake, so you should better shut up right now and follow me. You too, Wes, or do you wanna be late for rehearsal?"

"Rather not!", the Asian admitted. "She's right, we better hurry."

…

"Santana, Wes, Nick. It's too kind that you decided to join us!" A small, brunette girl crossed her arms as she watched the three friends walk in the choir room. "You know exactly that we other Crescendo members want to win nationals this year, and when you're not willing to..."

"Shut up, midget." Santana made her way over to a few empty chairs. "We also want to win, we just don't build our whole life around this club."

"Where is Glenna, by the way?", Wes asked curiously. Glenna McLeod was the coach of the Glee club since she moved to America from Ireland a year ago. A tiny woman, but with a fiery personality that made it impossible to overlook her. She wasn't a real teacher yet, so she decided to let the students call her by her first name. Nearly every member of Crescendo loved her.

"She's sick, so I took the lead for today and I..."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Who exactly voted for you?" Wes rolled his eyes as Finn and Sebastian raised their hands. The other members seemed to be very interested in their feet all of a sudden. There were Mike and Tina, the other two Asians of the club, and undeniably a perfect couple. Blaine and Kurt, who were sitting in the last row like always – but not because they didn't like the spotlight, but because they had a perfect view of what was going on from behind the group. Furthermore there were Quinn and Puck, who used to date a while ago. The relationship never worked, but they became very close friends. The only one missing was Brittany.

"Where's Brit?", Nick asked Santana quietly while Wes and Rachel began arguing, like every time Glenna couldn't make it to rehearsal.

"On her way, I hope. I think she's showing Jeff the school, you know how easily she forgets about time and dates."

"True." Nick smiled, happy that the Latina didn't seem to be too mad anymore. The chatted for a while, until they got annoyed by the fight that just wouldn't end.

"So... can we sing, now? I'm tired of these power struggles." Nick looked around and saw most of his friends nodding in agreement. "If you want to go on with your discussion, there's no need for the rest of us to be here."

"Oh, sit down, Nick!", Rachel commanded as he attempted to get up from his chair. "I get your point, even if I don't think that your highly valued friend Wesley does. Finn, won't you join me here? I suggest we're trying... oh good god, what now?", she yelled as the door opened again.

Brittany entered the room, her hand intertwined with the one of a tall boy with light blonde hair.

"You're almost half an hour late, Brittany. And this is a closed rehearsal!", Rachel pointed out, throwing a death glare to the blonde.

"But the door wasn't locked", Brittany answered confused. "It was closed, yeah, but it was easy to open. If you don't want anybody to come in, you should really lock it."

"She means that I'm not allowed in here.", the tall blonde explained to her before looking around in the room. "By the way, hey everybody. I'm Jeff, and I wanted to join your club. But judged by the heartwarming welcome I think that this wasn't a good idea."

"Jeffy? Don't you like my friends?" Brittany's lower lip trembled, and Jeff sighed. You had to be a monster to hurt the blonde girl on purpose.

"I'm not a part of this group, Any. I'll wait outside until you're ready, okay?"

"Shut up and come over here!", Santana invited the boy. "Mrs Wannabe-Coach there is a member like everyone else and has nothing to decide."

"I am the female lead of this club, which makes me..."

"An attention whore?", Santana suggested with an innocent smile.

"Enough. Rehearsal is canceled for today. If we lose Nationals, you know who you have to thank..." Rachel stormed out, followed by Finn and Sebastian.

"Nationals here, Nationals there. She sounds like a broken record." 'Tina yawned and stood up, pulling Mike with her. "See you all tomorrow, guys. And welcome, Jeff! No everyone in here is like Rachel, so don't be scared to join us!"

"Well... thanks." Jeff smiled, but he couldn't hide how stressed he was. One by one the members left the room, until it were only Brittany, Santana, Nick and Wes who circled around the new boy.

Nick bit his lip as he took the blonde in. His hair was so light that it couldn't simply be natural, but it was really pretty. He wore a gray and black striped hoodie and a blue washed jeans. He was more than easy on the eyes.

"Have I promised too much?", Santana whispered as she noticed the hunger in Nick's eyes. "As I said, I know you, Duval!"

Nick growled. "You really do, Satan!", he hissed.

The girl chuckled and pulled Jeff over. "So, Jeffy, let me introduce you my two best friends, Nick and Wes."

"You can't be too wrong if you're friends with Santana, so I think it's nice to meet you!"

As Nick took the offered hand, it was like a little electric shock on his skin. He swallowed. He didn't want to fall for any boy, gay or not. He just wanted to finish high school and get out of this damn state, but Jeff was hot, and if Nick was honest, he wasn't sure if he could resist if the blonde would try to get his attention.

If he would.

Nick surely hoped he would not.

TBC

What do you think?

I love the idea of Nick, Santana and Wes as close friends, that's why I made this story an AU. Do you think it fits?