Nick was the first one to notice how quiet Ned was. Everyone was jumping and shoving each other as usual, and he normally didn't join in with that anyway, but he wasn't even paying attention to it this morning. He was sitting with a book but he wasn't looking anywhere near the pages. He didn't look sad exactly, just a little lost. Nick left the others to it for a minute and took a seat next to him. When Ned didn't even notice him, he cleared his throat, and when that didn't work either he nudged him.

"Hmm? Oh, hi! Did you have a good weekend?" Nick smiled at him. Even though he obviously had something on his mind, it was still more important to ask after someone else.

"Not bad, thanks. Thad came over, hit on my mom, nothing unusual. Where did I just pull you back down from?"

"What?"

"You looked like you were on another planet. Did I miss something?" Ned blushed.

"Oh, I don't know, not really. I just kind of, hung out with Seb all weekend."

"Ah."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, it's just that you seem to hang out with him a lot." Ned looked panic-stricken. "Hey, don't worry, if you say nothing's happening, I'll believe you. It's just that we've all seen the way he looks at you." The panic was replaced by sheer delight and a lot more blushing.

"Really? When?"

"Um, only always! Ned, I don't want to pry, but, um, you've gone kind of pink. Did something happen between you two?" He went even pinker and looked at his hands, a smile creeping onto his face. "No way!" Nick at least had the good sense to whisper.

"Maybe-" Nick gasped excitedly, "-but I don't know if I should really be talking about it. I mean, I haven't really spoken to him since last night-"

"What happened last night? Did he try something?" Ned wasn't surprised that was his first guess. He would've guessed the same thing.

"He didn't really have to." Nick's jaw hit the floor. "Listen, I can't really tell you everything now. Not here, not until I've spoken to him, you know?"

"No, no, sure. But. Wow. I mean – wow. Hey, we should get to class. Where is he, anyway?" Ned's face fell for a second.

"I don't know. When I- like I said, I haven't seen him."

When they arrived at their Math class, Sebastian was already there. He wasn't in his usual seat, next to Ned's. He was in the corner, his nose stuck in his book, even though he couldn't focus on a word any more than Ned could. Ned went to his own desk, trying and failing to catch his eye. He glared into the lines of text as they all blurred into a grey mass. Don't look at him. You can't care if you don't look at him.

Ned took his normal place near the front, looking at Sebastian over his shoulder. He refused to look up. Ned didn't understand. Did he do something wrong? Should he have… Should it have been the other way around? The silent treatment was awful, especially after last night, when everything felt so easy and happy and comfortable. He felt sick. Had he got it all mixed up? Sebastian had tried boasting to him before about one night stands with random guys from Scandals; maybe he was just another one. His head started spinning. He nodded and tried to smile when the others asked if he was OK, but it didn't fool them. They knew something was wrong, so they tried to help him focus on the lesson. They could help him keep it together until after class.

They got through it, and when the bell rang Ned looked up at Sebastian hopefully, thinking 'maybe he was just feeling vulnerable, maybe he was worried the others would know, maybe he wanted to keep it private', only for him to grab his things and stare straight at the door as he all but ran for it. Everyone noticed Ned's face fall. They looked at each other, worried, but Nick stood up and shook his head at them, nodding at the door. They left them to it. They were all relieved, as they had no idea what to say. Neither did Nick, but he had to try.

"Hey, Ned? Um, are you... OK?" Terrible. Awful start. He tried again. By the looks of it, Ned hadn't heard him anyway; he was staring straight ahead, mouth slightly open in confusion.

"I don't… What did I do?"

"Ned, I-"

"He looked scared. He couldn't get out fast enough; you'd think I was a shark or something. I'm not a shark, I'm a p- never mind. I- I have to go." He stood up, almost tripping, and tried to shove his books into his bag. He dropped them, and Nick picked them up for him.

"Here. Ned, slow down. What happened?"

"I can't- I just need to go. Can you tell Mr Harris-"

"Sure, I'll tell him you're sick. You look pretty pale anyway."

"Thanks. I'll still come to Warbler practise."

"You don't have to-"

"Yes I do. I want to. We don't have time for me to miss rehearsal." Nick nodded helplessly. He was worried, but if Ned thought he could handle it… They couldn't do Electric Feel, though. They'd have to figure out something else so Ned wouldn't have to sing lead. He didn't really know how to help, but he could at least take some of the pressure off.

"Sure. Fine. Maybe you should just go back to bed or something. I'm sure after a few hours' sleep it won't seem so bad." Ned looked up at him, his eyes watering, knowing he was clutching at straws, but grateful for it anyway. He nodded. The least he could do was go along with it.

When Ned arrived at rehearsal, Nick made sure he was the first to speak to him. He needed to smooth things over. Everyone knew Sebastian was crazy about Ned; they'd all seen it, and the way he'd blushed that morning, the helplessness in his eyes when Seb ran out, made it clear that he liked him back. Maybe if he could fix things between them, make Sebastian stop being so cold, get him to open his eyes for a second, they could be happy together just like… But it wasn't always that easy. And even for Kurt and Blaine it had been difficult. But the most important thing right now was to help Ned survive an hour of practise.

"Hey, I wanted to try a different song today. We don't want to be, you know, over-rehearsed with the other one. We've got to keep it fresh; it'll keep us on our toes. You've been working so hard lately; you deserve a break for a while. You can just hang out at the back for this one." It sounded like he wanted to shut him up and get him out of the way, but Ned understood that he was trying to help and smiled.

"Thanks. It sounds great. What's the number?"

"You know Uptown Girl by Billy Joel? It's my favourite song, and I've been trying to get the others on board for months," he nudged him and grinned, "and as it's my idea maybe I can finally get the solo!" Ned gave him a weak laugh; he couldn't let his efforts go unrecognised.

"Cool. I guess you'll have to stop depending on my flawless vocals for once." Nick kept smiling.

This song was much easier than the other one. They'd heard other choirs do it, and they improvised most of harmonies. Sebastian was cockier than he had been for weeks, stepping in perfect time, singing loudly and occasionally glancing back at Ned with raw contempt. Ned knew he was doing it on purpose, trying to make him feel awful, trying to hurt him, and he hated himself because it was working. Every time he saw that glint in his eye that said 'I won, I got you, and we both know this is killing you', Ned's eyes started stinging again. Nick had to work hard not to hit Sebastian, knowing Ned would want as few people to know as possible. He smiled extra widely and sang extra loudly just so all eyes would be on him instead of the boy in the back.

Only Ned and Sebastian noticed at first. Everyone else was too busy singing and showing off as A figure appeared in the doorway, dressed in grey, with dark hair slicked back, soft brown eyes and a nostalgic smile. Ned knew who it was. It was the boy he'd wanted to be friends with, the boy he'd kind of wanted to be. And now Sebastian was giving him that look. He saw him glance back first to make sure Ned could see as he stared Blaine up and down, landing on his face with a smirk. It felt like it was weeks ago, like the weekend never happened, like he was the pompous bastard he used to be and this was his new mission. Like Ned was old news. His voice stopped working, but everyone else was loud enough to cover it up. They all spotted Blaine and had to try hard to contain their excitement, pulling him in to join them, and Ned was transported back, not just to the previous month, but to last year when he was just some kid nobody noticed. He could barely move his feet and as they rushed into the hall, he just stood there, alone. He heard them singing and saw them dance past the doorway with a teacher. They were all messing around, pretending to flirt with her, but Sebastian, gay-bar-frequenting, sophomore-seducing Sebastian Smythe, was looking at her like he wanted to ravish her right there in front of everyone - especially in front of Ned. He looked over her shoulder, straight into Ned's eyes and raised his eyebrows for a second as if he was challenging him to something, something he definitely couldn't do because he was too busy trying not to cry.

Nick realised what Sebastian was doing and looked back at Ned. He was crumbling. As everyone starting trotting back inside, Ned darted out through the side door. Nick desperately wanted to run after him, knowing how alone he'd be feeling, but knew he had to wait until later. He couldn't let everyone know something was wrong, even though he knew they'd all want to beat the shit out of Sebastian and squeeze Ned until he was gasping for air. He needed to get him alone, and that would have to wait.

What Nick didn't realise was that Ned hadn't gone. He was watching as they all laughed and joked together and Blaine invited them to his show and talked to Sebastian and they were a team, they were friends, and he was on the outside again. Except this time was worse, because this time he'd actually tried to change things. He'd thrown himself into it and given it absolutely everything. Obviously, it wasn't just the Warblers. He'd given into Sebastian entirely and fallen for the whole thing. He believed everything, including Seb, had changed, but it was just like it used to be.

He wiped his nose on his sleeve so nobody would hear him sniffing as he stared at Sebastian, wondering how he could look at Blaine like that, talk to him in that voice, after last night. The others dispersed, Nick dashing off in the direction of Ned's room, but Ned stayed still, watching as Sebastian shook Blaine's hand before slinging his own into his pockets. He couldn't hear what they were saying; he just saw the determination in Seb's eyes, as if he had a job to do, one he'd done a million times before. They wandered off together, and Ned slunk back to his room, eyes downcast, hands shaking and twitching at the hem of his blazer. He hadn't felt this terrified since his audition. Was this really happening? Had he just given himself to someone, a boy, so completely overnight just to have it all thrown back in his face?

He tried to remember the night before, feeling so safe up close to Sebastian, their breathing synchronized, tongue and teeth grazing against his neck, that intense look in his eyes, the way they'd laid awake in silence for hours afterwards, just feeling each other, Seb's hand tracing over his skin so lightly it made him quiver, but it made it worse. How could anyone fake all that? What kind of unfeeling monster had he… It couldn't all have been a lie. He hoped it hadn't, but then why was he so set on hurting him like this now? His mind was rushing and he was barely looking where he was going, and he crashed into Nick.

"Ned! Where have you been? I was looking for you-"

"It doesn't matter. I just- I want to be on my own."

"Tough. Let's go."

"Listen, Ned," Nick said, making sure the door was closed, "I don't want to interfere-"

"I slept with him."

"What? I mean, um… What?"

"Oh, God, I'm such an idiot. I believed him, I thought he'd gotten nicer – I thought he liked me. I feel so," his voice cracked, "so stupid. One minute we were talking about Biology and pigs, and then we kissed, and he was drunk, but then the next day we, we…" He struggled to catch his breath and Nick eased him onto the bed. It only made it harder for him to concentrate, because that was where it happened. That was where he'd been pinned underneath Sebastian with hot breath against his skin and it was where he'd woken up, alone. "He told me. He told me about how many guys he'd lied to just to get them into bed and now I'm just another one of them, and I didn't even, I mean I'd never liked a guy like that before, and I just hopped into bed with him. What's wrong with me?"

"Ned, nothing's wrong with you-"

"Then why wouldn't he talk to me? Did you see the way he was looking at me? I can't believe I trusted him…"

"Ned, it's good that you trust him. You trust everyone. It's what we like about you. It's brave. You're one of the bravest kids I know."

"But that's all I am. Just a kid. God, he must have been laughing at me this whole time."

"Ned, nobody's laughing at you. I know he wasn't pretending. No one can fake the way he looked at you. Even if he could, why would he do it when you couldn't even see him? Why would he smile like that every time you sing and lose concentration when he sees you? He's an asshole, and I don't know why he's doing this, but you're not an idiot."

"Yes I am. I tried so hard to get in, and I wanted so badly for everyone to like me, and he can just stroll in being a douche and everyone falls for it and I fall for it, and then I run away while he sings with everyone, and he's tricked all of you as well. He used me for that too. I made sure everyone could see us getting along so he wouldn't feel like an outsider, and now he's pushed me out instead." Ned kept pushing the words out even though he could still hardly breathe, and Nick sat with him, rubbing his back. What else do you in that situation? Ned leaned into him, screwing his eyes up so he could block everything out, but it just squeezed a tear through his eyelids. "Sorry," he said when he noticed the damp spots on Nick's trousers, and Nick wrapped an arm round him.

"It's fine. I promise. You know, we like you more than him. I mean, we always have. You knew that, right? And the fact that you took a chance on him, well… It just makes you even cooler. He's a jackass for messing with you, but we're on your side, OK?"

Ned tried to respond, but he just cried harder. It was weird going from cold to hot, horrible to sweet, and his throat was too sore and tight from crying to say anything. Nick understood, and held him tighter. They'd both run out of words. He just had to try and absorb a little bit of the pain.