Ned smiled nervously at Jeff as he walked into the room. His fingers twitched, pulling nervously at the bottom of his blazer. Wes and David were scribbling notes at the grand table at one end of the room, looking frustrated and muttering to each other.

"He's good. I'm not arguing. It's just the attitude... I can't really seem him as a Warbler-"

Jeff cleared his throat loudly, nodding in Ned's direction and glaring at them. If they weren't gentle with this kid, he might faint or something. He'd frozen a couple of metres away, even though Jeff had nearly reached the table, when he heard them talking and saw the exasperation in their faces. Jeff scuttled back to guide him forwards, giving his arm a reassuring rub.

"Guys, this is Ned. He's a sophomore." And then he told Ned, "Just take a deep breath. You can start whenever you're ready." Ned wanted to smile back at him and thank him, but he just stood there. He swallowed hard. Wes and David saw him trembling and softened immediately. They looked apologetic for a second, then in perfect synchronisation they started smiling at him, openly and encouragingly. Wes, as usual, took the lead as the audition got underway.

"Sorry. It's been a long day. Some Warblers are hard to replace." The three of them shared a sad glance as Jeff sat down. They had to try hard to hold back, as it was impossible to explain to an outsider how weird it was when someone left the group. And losing Kurt and Blaine within months of each other – they knew how lame it sounded, but it sucked. And so far they hadn't had much luck finding anyone new. There had been a few good singers, one really good, but they just hadn't clicked with them. Chemistry was just as important as talent. "So, what song are you going to be singing today?" He made a conscious effort to keep smiling, but it was surprisingly easy with this kid. He reminded them all of Blaine when he first auditioned: frightened, innocent, wide-eyed, just kind of adorable. Ned blinked and swallowed again. Jeff cut in.

"It's cool. Just take your time. You're the last guy today, so we've got time."

"Actually, it puts you in a pretty good position. We're all so relieved that it's almost time to go home, we'll probably like you whatever you do." David added, grinning.

"Um... OK. Well, I'm Ned, I mean, you already know that... But yeah, I-I'm Ned and I'm going to sing 'You Make it Real' by James Morrison."

"Man, that's a great song. Just go for it whenever you're ready. I promise David will try his very hardest not to cry." David rolled his eyes at Jeff, but went straight back to smiling at Ned. Jeff leaned back in his chair, trying to show Ned how chilled out they all were. The other two didn't get what he was doing, and continued to lean forward, elbows on the desk, hands clasped, excited to hear him. His shoulders were tense, and he hadn't blinked for about a minute, but he took another deep breath, and started singing. Jeff stopped trying to look casual. He'd been pushing back on his chair, balancing it on its back legs, but he let it drop forward with a quiet thump. His voice was so simple. The others has been taking the 'warbler' thing a bit too literally, straying so far from the notes they sounded like lonely goat herds. But Ned wasn't showing off or getting cocky. He was just trying his absolute hardest to get it right. And it was working. It didn't matter that his voice wasn't perfect, or that he missed a couple of the higher notes, or that he wasn't belting out every note like some kind of diva. Everything about his performance was honest and pure. The Warblers were impressed, not just because he looked like he was feeling every word, but because impressing them didn't seem to be his main focus like the others. It was like all he wanted to do was sing. His shoulders relaxed as he kept going, and he began to smile. His eyes were closed now, and he managed to express just as much without them. His fists clenched and he pulled them up towards his chest, gesticulating more and more as the song went on.

He got to the end. He finally opened his eyes, full of tears because of the song and his nerves and the feeling he'd screwed it all up, to see three boys staring at him, eyes wide open. Mouth wide open too, in Jeff's case. Subtlety wasn't his strong point. There was a moment of silence. It could only have lasted ten seconds, but to Ned it felt like a month. One by one, they blinked back to life.

"Well," Wes stuttered, back into seasoned professional mode, "Thanks for coming in. Obviously, we can't tell anyone right away how they've done, but that – that was – you're – just make sure you're here on Monday when we announce who's made it." Ned's mouth was now hanging open too. He kept blinking back tears, fiddling with the hem on his blazer again. He looked so small and vulnerable and fragile, like if one of them had given him a congratulatory boop on the nose he would've shattered on the spot. He'd exhausted himself by worrying all day and giving the song everything, and now he could barely breathe.

Wes and David looked anxiously at Jeff, who was still staring at Ned in awe. Wes gave him a nudge.

"Why don't you give Ned a bit of a de-briefing?" Jeff turned his head to face Wes, mouth still hanging wide open. "Jeff? Listen." He placed a firm hand on Jeff's arm. "David and I are going to go. As you brought Ned in, maybe you should just... You know. Calm him down." Wes needn't have tried so hard to be subtle. Ned couldn't hear a word they were saying anyway. Jeff blinked, shook his head and finally closed his mouth, nodding.

"Yep. Right. Gotcha." He stood up and jogged over to Ned, patting him on the back. Wes and David slung their satchels over their shoulders and walked out, smiling at Ned, Wes giving his shoulder a squeeze and David ruffling his hair. Jeff could still hear them as they walked down the corridor.

"Do you think the hair ruffle was too much? He just looked so lost and little, I did it without thinking-"

"No kidding, you weren't thinking. That was so patronizing. If anyone ruffled my hair, I'd punch them in the face."

"No you wouldn't. You're better than that. You are man of peace and love, not violence. Speaking of love, what was the homoerotic shoulder-squeeze about? He'll think you were grooming him."

"David, don't be so juvenile. And we should probably continue this outside; we're pretty loud and sound travels well in this place. I don't to freak him out any more than we have to."

"Please. He's dumbstruck. He won't know what's going on."

"True." There was a pause. "He was good though, wasn't he?" David nodded. "He looked just like-"

"I know, I know. Now, let's talk about who else we want..."

Jeff tried again to get through to Ned, who had barely breathed since he stopped singing.

"OK, Neddy, it's all over. They've gone. You can relax." Ned flinched slightly, like he'd snapped out of a dream. "There you go. How are you feeling? You look pretty freaked out. I thought you'd gone into a coma or something for a second there." Maybe Jeff wasn't the perfect person to make Ned feel better, but he kept trying anyway. "Listen, you can go. It's the weekend. Party time or something." He gave Ned's shoulders a little shake. "Come on, kid. You did well." Ned blinked at him.

"What- How was it? I messed up. I'm sorry, it's just because I'm nervous. I've never really done much singing, not in front of people, but I've always liked doing it, and I think the Warblers are really good-" Jeff pulled back a bit, surprised by his outburst, just nodding and trying to keep up with him. This was a big change to make, from silence to gabbling in half a second. "I mean, I just see the way you guys are around school, and I've seen you perform, of course, and you're all so nice, and you didn't have to be so nice to me, you know, because you've had a long day and I'm not very good or anything. But you kept smiling and making me calm down, well as much as anyone could have, so thank you. Thank you for seeing me. I appreciate it. But don't worry about upsetting me, because I just feel good for coming and trying, even if I don't make it. Which I won't. But I'll go home now and know I'll have had a shot, no matter what happens. Thanks again, and have a good weekend, and, um, bye." Jeff was frozen to the spot for a second. It was a bit too much information for him to take in at once. But he managed to digest it in time to run after Ned, who had bolted as soon as the word 'bye' had escaped his mouth. He grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. Ned tensed up again, not used to being yanked like that.

"Woah, it's cool, it's only me. Look, I don't know why you're beating yourself up. You blew us all away, OK? You sang really well, like you really cared."

"I do. I do care, I care so much-" Jeff raised a hand.

"Stop. I can't handle any more of that yet. Listen to me. You were good. You couldn't tell, because you were too busy wigging out, but they loved it. We all loved it. Now I'm not supposed to give anything away, and I'm really not supposed to use coarse language, but calm your shit. You're in. Welcome to the Warblers." A small smile appeared on Ned's face, and his eyes opened even wider if it was possible. Jeff grinned back. "Now I've got to get home. I have a lot of homework to avoid like the plague. See you Monday. And try and act surprised when we say your name."

That would be easy enough. Ned was pretty sure this was a surprise he'd never get over.