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Chapter Text

Blaine and Nick were walking on the sidewalk talking as they waited for Jeff to show up when their phones beeped in synch. ‘Emergency Warbler meeting. NOW!’ said the text. The two boys looked at each other then rushed off to the choir room knowing that Wes only capitalized now when it was something big.

When they got there all the warblers were there but Jeff so they grabbed the first two seats they saw. “Kay, is everyone here?” asked Wes and Nick raised his hands,” Where is Jeff?” “We’ll have to start without him. Thank you people for coming on such short notice. As you know, I have called us all together and the reason why is a big deal. I was called into the headmaster’s office this morning to be told some big news.

I take it all your all familiar with ET” At this everyone nodded so he continued. “Well, apparently they got an exclusive that Riker Lynch went to this school. The Lynch’s were able to get the story off the air but it was brought to the headmaster’s attention that we have a popstar walking around Dalton undetected. He told me this because he wanted my help in making sure the guy felt safe, even if his story got leaked, though he didn’t tell me who it was. So, I got to thinking that I could recruit him for the Warblers.

The Dean told me to leave it alone but I was able to get a video of the guy so we can do some snooping of our own. When we figure out who he is I want to get him recruited, and protected, especially if his identity is leaked, okay?” asked Wes and everyone nodded, though they were shocked that Wes was actually encouraging them to snoop around.

When Wes saw everyone nod he put the video in. At 17 seconds, everyone gasped and Wes quickly paused the video not believing his eyes. There was Jeff, clear as day. Jeff. Jeff his friend and fellow warbler who he had passed up for solos 7 times and is apparently a popstar. Jeff was Riker Lynch. No one could rap their mind around it. They all knew Jeff. He was fun-loving and open like a book. There was no way this was him, yet it had to be.

While they were all just looking in shock at the screen, the doors to the practice room opened and in walked Jeff, Riker, they didn’t know who he was anymore. “hey, guys, sorry I’m late. I was at the da- “Jeff cut off upon seeing his face from the Forget About You video on the screen in front of him. “Uh…” Jeff couldn’t think of what to say, he had hoped he could have kept this from his friends.

“Jeff… is that you?” asked Nick. “Are you the person on the screen? Are you Riker Lynch?” Nick interrogated him. “I…Nick..I..um…maybe?” was all Jeff could get out because his mind was racing. They knew, they knew. His friends knew his biggest secret. He knew this day would come, what with R5’s growing popularity, but he thought he’d have more time to figure out how to tell them. Now, there was no more time, it was out there and Jeff was trying to pick up the pieces.

“It is!” said Nick looking at Jeff in betrayal, how could his best friend keep something like this from him? “Jeff, erm, Riker? Why?” asked Blaine. When Jeff looked around the room and saw everyone staring at him in shock or betrayal it was all too much, he had to get out. So he did. He turned around, hurried out of the room and ran into the dance studio before locking the door behind him and making a call.

<<<<<With The Warblers>>>>>

Everyone just sat in shock for another minute until Nick got up and headed towards the door. “Nick, wait! Give him some time, he has to process this. His biggest secret was just revealed, let him have some alone time.” Sid Wes, using his most authorities voice. “Well, what am I supposed to do? I want answers.” Said Nick. “We’ll watch the video then look him up on YouTube and watch some of the videos to get our answers. If you have questions, we’ll ask him once he’s calmed down.” Answered Thad. Nick nodded and Wes pressed restart on the video.

Video begins

At the first scene, they could make out R5 and presents so they could guess that the band’s name was R5. 0:06 The Warblers then got the name of the video (I Can’t) Forget About You. 0:20 The Warblers didn’t know Jeff could sing so well, most of them thought he was mediocre since he never got a solo while the council wondered how they didn’t see how good he was until now.

0:24 They didn’t know Jeff could play the bass, so they were shocked when they saw him strumming the chord on it. 0:27 Blaine gasped and everyone looked at him as they paused the video. “I know who he is! He plays Austin on Austin and Ally, his name’s Ross Lynch.” Said Blaine not surprising anyone that he would know about a Disney Channel show.

0:50 At this point they were all bobbing their heads along and were again shocked to see Jeff jamming out on the bass, they realized he could play but didn’t realize that he was having so much fun playing. 1:22 The Warbler smiled as Jeff/Riker began another solo and the council still couldn’t believe they didn’t realize how much talent Jeff had. 1:41 As Riker looked in the room the Warblers couldn’t help but notice the music video on the TV screen in the background. They hoped they could find that one, they wanted to know everything they could on the life Jeff kept from them.

1:52 When the saw Riker and the other guy lean in on Ross’s microphone they realized how much fun it seemed like Jeff was having and they were happy for their friend though also jealous that he never shared that with them. 2:30 “Looks like being a Warbler helped Jeff there.” Said David, trying to break the tension that was still in the room. 3:03 “Run, Forest, Run” yelled Blaine getting some laughs from the freshman but those close to Jeff just continued to look at the screen. 3:53 They all laughed at the girl’s predicament and were about to look up Riker Lynch on YouTube when the practice room doors opened and everyone turned to see who it was.

<<<<<With Riker>>>>>

Riker locked the dance studio and pulled out his phone, calling Ross, knowing that he was off the set today and with the rest of the family. “Hey, Ross. Are you with the everyone?” asked Riker. “Yeah, do I need to go on speaker?” Ross asked sensing that something was wrong with his brother. “Yeah.” Answered Riker. “Kay, one sec…..Riker, you’re on speaker.” Said Ross. “Sweetie, what’s wrong?” asked Stormie. “They know.” Said Riker. “They know?” repeated Ryland. “How? We made sure that the story didn’t air.” Said Rocky.

“I don’t know how but I walked in the practice room after facetiming Allison and they were watching the I Can’t Forget About You video and my face was paused up on the screen. They all just looked at me and Nick was like, ‘that’s you.’ I don’t know what to do.” Explained Riker. “Do you trust them?” asked Rydel. “I do, but some of them can’t keep a secret to save their lives, what if they spill? This is my chance at a normal life and now its screwed up.” Said Riker. “You knew you were going to have to tell them eventually.” Said Ratliff. “I know, but I thought I’d have more time or at least tell them myself.” Said Riker. “Well, give it a shot, let them see the real you and explain things to them. If it gets out then we’ll get you a bodyguard or you can continue schooling on tour.” Compromised Mark.

“Kay, I think I’m gonna go see them, I kinda left in a hurry.” Responded Riker. “Kay, honey. Love you!” said Stormie and Mark. “Love you, bro!” added Rocky, Ryland, Rydel, and Ross. “Bye, Rikes!” said Ratliff. “Love you guys!” said Riker before ending the call. He sighed before pushing himself off the floor and unlocking the studio. He walked towards the practice room but stopped as he heard his music coming from outside the door. ‘I should just leave.’ Riker thought but then reminded himself that he had just said he’d try and knew that if he didn’t he would be showing his siblings it was okay to just give up. He was the oldest, he couldn’t do that so he swallowed his fear and opened the door.

<<<<<Main Pov>>>>>

Jeff, erm, Riker stood in between the doors with all the Warblers eyes on him. “Ummm, hey guys.” Riker said and then say the YouTube search screen on the big screen. He slowly made his way to an open seat which just so happened to be next to Nick, Blaine, Wes, Thad, David, and Trent. Everyone just stared at him for a minuet until he finally broke and said,” Soo, what are we doing? I mean as much as I love being stared at by my friends it’s kinda weird now.” Some Warblers looked away and others had the decency to look ashamed but others just continued to stare.

Finally Nick said,” Why didn’t you tell me?” “I wanted to, Nick, but I couldn’t. Once r5 got big this was the only way I could keep a normal life, at least part of the time. I wanted to be able to walk down the street without attracting a crowd and walk into a building and no have everyone look at. At the same time, performing’s my dream and I love it. I was able to have both by making Jeff and making sure no one knew of r5 near me. I wanted to tell you I did, but I couldn’t if I wanted to have a normal life, or to let my siblings have a normal life. It wasn’t just me but my whole family, we all decided to do this and to tell someone could reveal it all, so I’m sorry, but I couldn’t.” Explained Riker.

“I get it, you wanted a normal life with the fame you got and to tell would give that up.” Simplified Blaine. “Yep.” Said Riker. “I think we’re all just trying to process this still but, to answer your question we were about to look you up on YouTube.” Said Trent blushing when he admitted what they were doing. “You’re welcome to stay. Maybe you could help answer some of our questions.” Said Thad and Jeff nodded so Wes searched Riker Lynch into the YouTube search bar using his phone that was set up to the screen.

When they looked him up they clicked on the first thing on the screen. Without looking at it they put it at full screen at pressed start.

Chapter Text

Without looking at it they put it at full screen at pressed start.

0:03 “What’s going on?” asked Nick in confusion. He may still be slightly mad at the blonde by the doesn’t like not knowing things and from the looks of it, he didn’t know a lot and that had to change. Riker looked down and said,” You know how you’ve been commenting on me spending a lot of time in the dance studio?” Nick looked at him confused,” Yeah?”

“Wellll, that’s because I’m on Dancing With The Stars. This is Allison and mine first dance, the jive.” The blonde tried to explain. “So not just are you a famous Rockstar but your also on DWTS and you NEVER told us!” shouted Nick. Riker looked at him with conflict in his eyes. “Like I said I wanted to but I couldn’t.” the young dancer said before Blaine cut in,” Nick, he just went over this. Maybe we should just watch the video and give our support. Like friends do.” Nick reluctantly sat down to continue the video.

0:07 “You were actually being carried in?!” laughed Thad. “Hey! It added to the vibe of the dance.” Riker said in his defense. “The fact that you play bass and were pretending to play added humor.” Added John, a young sophomore.

0:10 “She’s hot.” Said a freshman. Apparently, he hadn’t meant to say that aloud as he blushed and covered his face afterwards. It did get a good laugh out of everyone though. Some even agreed with the boy.

0:38 “You’re good.” Said Wes in approval. “Why did you never audition for a choreographer spot?” asked Trent. “Or at least a featured dance role, you have the talent.” “Eh, that’s David’s thing and to be honest I didn’t really know I could dance really well until I was offered and audition.” Riker said in modesty.

0:51 The Warblers just stared at the screen. The majority of them might not know a lot about dancing but they did know that that was a lot more complicated than what they normally did. And when they saw Riker and Allison’s high kicks they knew that was better than what they could do.

0:54 Most of them didn’t know Jeff could do a flip like that. The only one who had seemed him even come close to his real potential was Nick and that was by accident. Jeff had left some of his dance stuff in their room and Nick decided to bring it to him, knowing he wouldn’t realize for a while. He walked in on Jeff practicing but didn’t see much as Jeff stopped his turns as soon as he saw him.

1:13 “I like your ending.” Commented Nick, coming out of his brooding. The others had to admit it added a modern flair to the old-ish song.

1:18 Some of the Warblers chuckled at his opponents’ reactions. It was obvious he was good, and their body language and faces showed they were shocked and knew he was a threat.

1:22 “Is that your family?” asked Andrew, a sophomore. “Yeah.” Riker chuckled as he answered. He loved them, and they always were super supportive and proud of him, especially after his dances.

1:26 ‘They are parting, like the red sea’ Everyone had to laugh at that. It was true and funny. Plus, the way he said it was hilarious.

As the video came to an end the clicked play on the next one not knowing what to expect but were pleased with what they saw in this video. As Wes looked at the clock, he saw time was passing fairly quickly.

‘Oh, well.’ He thought as he clicked on the next video. ‘We have time for another video or maybe a few more.’

Chapter Text

Video for this chapter is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0q2Qek6UOw

Oh, well.’ He thought as he clicked on the next video. ‘We have time for another video or maybe a few more.’

0:00 When the title screen came up and everyone couldn’t wait to start. Most people were wondering what their friend did to wind up on a radio show with Ryan Seacrest.

“Dude! You met Ryan Seacrest?!” yelled Thad in jealousy. He LOVED Ryan Seacrest.

“Yeah, he’s really cool.” Said Riker as he leaned back in his seat. He was happy he didn’t have to keep such a big secret from his friends anymore but was still slightly worried someone would spill the secret.

“6, I know why you didn’t tell me, but still, Why Didn’t You Tell Me!” yelled Nick, causing everyone to laugh. He was finally understanding why his best friend (and maybe a bit more) kept this from him.

“Ohhhh, someone’s jealous!” giggled Blaine and Trent and they laughed their heads off.

“No shit, Sherlock. It’s RYAN SEACREST!” By this point everyone was laughing. Many, including Riker, had tears in their eyes.

0:05 All the warblers, minus Riker, perked up at the chance to hear him sing a cover. They were all familiar with the popular song and even though they had heard him sing it was either his own song or just background vocals.

0:21 All of Riker’s close friends and the council were floored. After watching that first video they knew he was good, but they hadn’t heard him live before. Plus, the emotion he put into it made it sound even better than the original.

0:39 “Is that an R5 guitar pick on his necklace?” asked Blaine. He played the guitar and when he spotted the pick thought it looked quite nice.

“Why yes, it is.” Answered Riker, proudly. “It’s actually one of the only ones he hasn’t lost.” He continued as he chuckled.

1:09 “Why’d he do that with his headphones?” asked Wes as he turned to look at Riker.

“They weren’t working.” Riker responded, trying to hide a smirk.

1:33 Everyone started laughing.

“Really? ‘Riker, can you take these off for me?’ right as you start singing.” Laughed Nick, falling out of his seat.

“How do you put up with them? Asked David, as he tried to control his laughter.

“They’re my brother.” Was Riker’s response. It was true, family loves family.

1:36 “And you still did it while singing!” laughed Thad as Wes just shook his head.

“How did you not miss a beat?” Blaine wondered out loud. Though, when he realized his voiced his thoughts he hid his head in his hands.

2:30 “Looks like all those backup vocals in the Warblers helped, huh 6.” Nick said jokingly. Sadly, it only reminded the council of how much potential they had been wasting.

3:03 “Dang, your arrangements are amazing.” Said Blaine, in awe of how well they made the song sound with only 5 people.

3:46 Everyone was bobbing their heads, and some were even mouthing

3:54 Everyone busted out laughing at the mistake.

4:28 “What’s he doing?” asked Thad, eager to find out. All the Warblers turned to Riker, thinking the same question.

“Ahhh Ahhh Ahhhhhh, you’re gonna have to wait to find out how we did.” Riker said smugly as he leaned back in his chair. Everyone groaned.

“Come on, not even a hint!” yelled Nick while turning his puppy eyes on his roommate.

“I’ll tell you this…” everyone leaned forward, “…it was awesome.” Everyone groaned again at Riker’s teasing.

4:33 Everyone’s jaws fell open.

“Did he just….” Trent trailed off in shock.

“Can he even do that?” asked Wes, right before everyone started speaking in shock.

“Quiet! Let’s just watch the video!” yelled Blaine, shocking everyone as he is usually the one who is told to be quiet.

4:37 “See! Even they don’t believe him!” yelled one of freshman Warblers in the back.

4:51 “That’s such a Jeff move! Say yes before it gets taken away.” Laughed Nick.

“Hey! I was in shock, we all were.” Riker said in a defensive tone as he faced Nick.

“I didn’t know you were such a leader.” Wes commented, after noticing how much he seemed to be in charge of the group.

“Well, I’m the oldest. I’ve always been in charge when we grew up and it kinda just followed to the band.” Responded Riker moving to face Wes.

4:56 “Your dad’s just like ‘Say yes!!!’” laughed Trent.

5:21 “You opened for Maroon 5!” yelled Blaine. “Dude, I’m sooo jealous!”

5:27 Everyone laughed at the band’s reaction.

“Yeah, I would want to be good friends with Ryan Seacrest, too.” Laughed Trent.

“Can we talk about that high-five though.” Yelled David as he almost fell out of his seat laughing.

5:41 “You opened for all of them and never told me!” yelled Nick pouting and crossing his arms at Riker.

“Awww, come on 3…” said Riker as he grabbed Nick’s hand. Finally, Nick stopped pouting and the pair broke into smiles.

5:54 Even though he was laughing on screen Riker groaned, causing everyone to turn to him.

“Every single interviewer makes that joke. It was okay because he just moved us to the main stage, but I really hate that joke.” Riker sighed, and he rubbed his face with his hands.

“Okay, guys, I think I might be time to go do homework and sleep. “said Wes, seeing how late it was getting.

“Awwww, come on Wes, one more video!” pleaded Nick and David with their puppy eyes and soon the whole room, minus Riker, was in on it.

“Okay, one more video.” Wes relented going to click the last video of the day.

Chapter Text

When the screen turned on everyone could feel that this had a beachier vibe than the others. When they saw the Vevo logo they got even more intrigued.

0:03 At the first shot of the band everyone was kind-of floored. They looked like models!

0:09 “Becoming? What does that mean?” asked a sophomore from behind the main group of friends.

“And VEVO?!?” added Trent, causing his friends to look at him with that look. “What? I want to know!” he said holding his hands up in his defense.

“It’s about how we became a band.” Riker began to explain after Trent’s outburst. “And it’s on Vevo because we’re popular and Vevo wanted to do some segments with us.” he continued, looking at Trent.

0:25 A Lot of the group nodded their heads at this, having felt a similar experience. Just because you weren’t good, didn’t mean it still couldn’t be awesome.

“I get you.” started Thad. “When I first started singing, I sucked! But it didn’t matter because I loved to do it,” he said and everyone around him nodded in agreement. Even Blaine nodded, which was surprising; everyone thought he could just sing amazing from the beginning and didn’t know he actually had to work for it.

0:27 “Sibling moment!” shouted all the boys who had siblings. It had become a thing in the Warblers that whenever someone was talking over or arguing with their sibling(s) everyone who had a sibling would shout “Sibling moment” at them. Sometimes they even did it if it was just a thing only siblings would understand.

0:32 “She’s really pretty.” one of the juniors mumbled a lot louder than they thought. Riker immediately turned to glare at him, causing him to flinch.

“Dude! One, that’s my sister! And two, she has a boyfriend!” Riker yelled. Everyone around them laughed at the look on the junior’s face.

“Overprotective...” murmured Nick.

“You have no idea,” Riker said. “When we found out she and Ratliff were dating, well… let’s just say he got a little roughed up.” Everyone was shocked as they had never seen this side of Jeff. The only person he acted remotely like this around or towards was Nick.

“Wait, Ratliff. Isn’t he the drummer?” asked David, getting a nod from Riker.

“She’s dating your drummer!” he yelled, causing everyone to burst out laughing.

0:44 “Really?” laughed Wes. “Your living room?” he couldn’t believe that the ‘teen it band’ had started out by playing in their living room.

“Yeah, it was great!” Riker said, chuckling and throwing his arm in the air.

0:47 “Woah, is that one of your shows?” asked one of the freshmen in awe.

“Yeah,” answered Riker. “We always try to make our concerts cool and fun.”

0:51 Everyone in the room laughed along with R5 at Ratliff’s joke.

1:14 Everyone kind-of just stopped in awe. They all loved music and performing and for a lot of them, their dream was to be famous. The idea of having people scream for them while setting up was a goal and the fact that their peer and friend had already reached that point was breathtaking.

1:45 This struck most of them. They had never been a recording booth, much less released an EP or album.

1:55 They couldn’t believe he was already on his second album. Then, something clicked inside most of their brains.

“Wait a moment… that means you were working on it during the school year.” Wes said. Most of the group couldn’t believe it. They knew how hard the year had been and could barely make it through with Warbler practice. The idea of having to also juggle not just being a celebrity and doing interview and shows but also writing music seemed insane.

“Yeah, that’s why I spent so much time in the music hall. I had to have quiet and a place to try out new things while face timing everyone.” Riker explained. He knew it was tough but he loved what he did and would always find a way to make it work.

2:30 Everyone turned to look at Riker to see if he thought the same. He just gave them a knowing look. It was scary to be bored with the music you’re making.

“He’s right. It’s the worst feeling in the world to be doing the thing you love and be bored. If you’re bored you’re doing something wrong. I remember we scrapped all but two songs on our first album because we were bored with them and didn’t think it was right or good enough. If you can’t enjoy your music, then who can.” he said wisely, causing everyone to think.

2:47  No one with a heart could hold back a smile at the enthusiasm in Ross’ voice and face. Riker shook his head at his younger brother. He just hoped he could help protect that liveness in him.

2:55 Everyone burst out laughing.

“I can see it…” That trailed off before laughing again at the image. Just imagine an old Rocky wobbling across a stage with a guitar and crutches.

Everyone was sad that it was over; they had liked getting to know Jeff as Riker. They knew it was almost time for the warning signal so they decided to talk to Jeff some more tomorrow.

“Okay guys, it’s almost lights out so head up to your rooms!” yelled Wes. as everyone gathered their stuff, Jeff gave Wes a look and he remembered the headmaster’s words.

“Oh, and before you leave! Make sure to keep this quite okay! We don’t want Jeff’s secret to get out!” he yelled as everyone filed out of the room.

“Thanks, dude,” Jeff said as he and Nick caught up with everyone.

“No problem. Actually, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have let them know. I shouldn't have taken it from the headmaster and shown everyone. It was a mistake on my part and I hope you can forgive me.” Wes said, sincerely. He realized it was a mistake to out someone’s secret without their permission.

“No hard feelings.” Jeff said,” It’s fine.” He gave Wes and the rest of his friends a hug before heading up with Nick to their room. When they got there they got ready to go to sleep but before they fell asleep Nick turned to Jeff.

“6, I’m sorry for overreacting. You were right and I was just being jealous that you didn’t tell me.”

“Aww, 3. I’m sorry too. I know we don’t keep secrets but I did. I had good reasons but we still promised no secrets and that’s a promise I intend to keep from now on. Okay?”

“Okay,” Nick said, happy that there would be no more secrets between the pair.

“LIGHTS OUT!!!” they heard screams down the hall. As always, they laughed silently and turned towards to each other.

“Love you,” they whispered before going to sleep, unaware of what tomorrow would hold.

<<<<<TIME SKIP-NEXT DAY>>>>>

The morning came and everyone woke up and started their days as usual. Nick and Jeff met up with the rest of the Warblers for breakfast. They were all still waking up but managed to have some decent conversations. They all tried to steer clear of Riker talk. On the part of the conversation that it did turn up, most boys said they kept their word and didn’t tell anyone. A few boys refused to make eye contact but that went pretty much unnoticed. Besides, how much harm could there be? If it was bad they would have noticed.

So everything seemed normal and the boys head to class. Most of them had class together so they would have the same off periods for rehearsal. The first period that day happened to Psychology, which was across the back courtyard. When they walked out the door they immediately knew someone hadn’t kept their promises. The gates that were as tall as a floor had girls pushing against them. They were screaming and some were holding signs. The moment Riker came into view the screamed louder and began trying to make their way to the front of the gate.

All the boys rushed to class, eager to get out of the screaming and figure out what happened. Riker did feel bad leaving his fans but he needed a moment to regroup. They rushed into Psychology and everyone was already in the room, including the teacher. When the saw Jeff they just stared at him. Jeff groaned and Wes knew a meeting was in order, though nothing could help the fact that Jeff’s secret was out.

Chapter Text

Jeff and the rest of the boys stood shocked for a minute before slowly making their way to their seats. Everyone’s eyes were locked on Jeff the whole time, wide and star-shocked. Even the teacher didn’t know what to do as she just stared at the boy whom she thought she knew. The boys looked at each other before and opted just to sit in silence until the bell rang. No one in eth class spoke, just stared. Finally, the bell rand and the intercom came to life with an announcement,

“Students and faculty, I’m sure by now you’ve seen the commotion around campus with the girls by the gates. Please try your best to ignore them. I can not confirm nor deny the rumors that have been circulating, so please treat everyone as you normally would. Now, onto our morning announcements. The Warbler meeting is still scheduled for today starting at 3:45. Lacrosse practice will be starting at 5- Mr. Blencher wants to remind team members that only excused absences are allowed starting now until playoffs. Mrs. Fletchers class can pick up their tests after 3rd period in room 1301…”

The announcements continued but few paid attention after they mentioned the obvious situation outside. Luckily (or unluckily), those announcements seemed to knock everyone out of their haze.

Mrs. Velasquez blinked a few times to focus herself once the announcements ended and decided to try and begin class.

“Well class-” she was quickly cut off by one of her students.

“So, it’s true.” Blake Jennings said as he looked at Jeff.

“Now, Mr. Jennings, it’s not nice to interrupt people or to make unclear statements.” Mrs. Velasquez retrimmed.

“Well, it is! We all know that ‘I can’t confirm nor deny’ crap means it’s true. Jeff’s been lying to us!” Blake exploded, causing Jeff to flinch Blake’s buddies to starting mumbling their agreement.

“Mr. Jennings! I will not take that tone nor that language in this room. And I’m sure Mr. um, Sterling would prefer it if you kept your accusations to yourself. This is your second warning, one more and you’ll be sent to detention, do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Blake quiets down but the damage is done. Jeff is embarrassed and the Warblers are ready to fight anyone who has anything to say about one of their birds. Plus, to the rest of the class, Jeff not denying it is all the confirmation they need.

The rest of the class is spent with the teacher trying to explain the components of the Asch Conformity Study and how different environments affect peer pressure.  It was obvious the class, bar the Warblers, paid her little mind and even she herself got lost in starstruck sometimes.

As the day went on Jeff was met with a variety of different reactions, some positive and some negative. There were students and teachers who spent class trying to get him to confirm the rumors or give them his autograph. There were teachers that continued on like normal and students who still hadn’t heard the rumors. Others tried to get him to be their friends and still, others were mad at him for keeping such a big thing a secret.

Throughout it all, though, the Warblers were there by his side, ready to protect him if the need arises, and it occasionally did. Teachers who were to pushy for autographs, students who were a bit to mad, and even some who were trying to get a bit to friendly- let’s just say Nick was not too happy at those guys- were all things Jeff saw before lunch.

It was finally lunch and Jeff couldn't be more glad. He didn’t know if he could take any more teachers or students starting at him. He, Thad, and David walked down the hall to where Nick and Wes’s class was to meet up before going to get lunch.

“Hey, cutie,” Jeff said as he leaned against a locker next to the doorway. Nick looked up and smiled as he began to walk over and give Jeff a kiss.

“How was your class?” Nick asked as Jeff leaned his head on Nick.

“About as good as every other class today,” Jeff said sadly before Thad jumped in.

“Darn teacher wouldn’t leave him alone for the first 5 minutes, somehow got in his head that he’d get an autograph for his nephew.” Jeff lifted his head off of Nick and the group began walking towards the cafeteria.

“And don’t forget about Bryce being a douche, calling him ‘Disney Boy’ all class,” David added as they walked.

David shook his head, “Oh yeah, swear I almost punched him right then and there.” As they reached the cafeteria the meet up with Trent and Blaine, before splitting up as they usually did. Nick, Blaine, Thad, and David would go get lunch while Trent, Wes, and Jeff went to their normal spot and made sure no one took it. Everyone knew it was their spot and most people knew better than to mess with the Warblers but they didn’t want to the chance of some new kid deciding to move and sit there.

Not for the first time were they glad that they sat under the gazebo in the field in the middle of the school. That meant that they were away from the wind, the noisiness of eth cafeteria, and for today, away from eth screaming fangirls that still hadn’t left. You’d think they would get tired but everytime the bell rang they got excited and when they would occasionally see Jeff their energy would spike as the screamed out “Riker” and quite often “I Love You” followed.

This just fueled the students' belief and attention towards him, no matter how much he tried to hide. As they sat and waited for the others they made small talk, trying to avoid the elephant in the room and all the states and glances coming their way. Finally, the rest of the group arrived with food. Nick handed Jeff a plate full of his favorites and got a kiss in return.

“Thanks, babe.” After the boys sat down eth did not have time to eat, although, because one of the boys at a nearby group came over.

“Hey, Jeff or should I say Riker, want to come sit with us?”

“Umm, no thanks Dylan, I’m chill over here, but thanks for the offer.” Jeff tried to politely decline but Dylan walked over to him and crouched down between him and Nick.

“Are you sure? I mean someone as cute as you not sitting with us is such a shame.” Dylan put his hand on Jeff’s shoulder and started to slowly rub, the discomfort on Jeff’s face was obvious but he was too nice to tell Dylan what he was thinking, luckily his boyfriend wasn’t. Nick took Dylan’s hand off Jeff and pushed him over.

“F off Dylan. He told you no. Besides, you should know better than to touch my man.” Nick draped his arm over Jeff as he glared at Dylan, daring him to try something. Dyan got up and brushed himself off, “Fine.” he glared at Nick but walked back to his group nonetheless. Jeff rewarded his boyfriend with a kiss that Nick quickly deepened before their friends interrupted.

“As, um, romantic as that was, we do need to come up with a plan for what to do about Jeff,” Thad said.

Wes added on, “And I need to find out who leaked. Don’t worry, Jeff, I’ll make sure they're properly punished.”

Jeff shook his head, “No, it’s okay. It was going to happen eventually, I just didn’t see it happening so soon.”

“Well, it’s definitely something we’ll be bringing up at the meeting today,” Blaine said.

“Yeah, no one outs one of our birds and gets away with it,” David said.

“Um, David, I think he was already out,” Nick said, proving what he meant by kissing Jeff again.

“You know what I mean!” They all laughed and ate their lunch, trying to enjoy as much normalcy as they could get. When it was finally time to head back to class they were glad because they all had World History together. They made it just before the bell rang, but not before the fangirls could spot him and start screaming again. Class started out fairly normal, or at least normal for that day, and Wes was explaining for the sixth time that Jeff wouldn’t give anyone an autograph when the intercom came to life.

“Mr. Darwal, please send Jeff Sterling to the office, he has a call.”

Chapter Text

“Mr. Darwal, please send Jeff Sterling to the office, he has a call.”

All eyes were on Jeff as he slowly stood up.

“Dude, you gonna be good?” Thad asked as Jeff just nodded.

“Well, you heard him, Mr. Sterling. You’re dismissed.”

While Jeff walked towards the office, his head was running a mile a minute as he tried to figure out what was going on. He still hadn’t processed any of the situation he had found himself in.

As he walked down the corridors, he could feel eyes peering at him from classroom doors. Still, it was better than the alternative which would result in screaming fans.

When he opened the doors to the office, all eyes turned to him. He was wordlessly handed the phone from Lily, the quiet receptionist.

“Hello?”

“Riker, honey, I have some bad news.” Stormie’s voice filled Riker’s ears.

“Is it about you-know-what getting out?”

“How did you know?”

“Cause there are girls surrounding my school with posters and such.”

“Oh, honey, I’m sooo sorry. I wish that was all, but there’s more.”

“What?”

“News outlets have already picked up the story and are begging for interviews. There’s no getting out of this one.”

Both Riker and his mom sighed.

“I’ve set up an interview with Clever. I thought it would be best to start with a company you trust and have worked with before.”

“Yeah. When are they coming?”

“They’ll be coming by tonight and back tomorrow. Just give it a shot, we can always make them cut things out if need be.”

“Okay mom, I got to get back to class.”

“Kay, love you! Try to enjoy the rest of the day.”

“Love you too.”

Riker hung up the phone and sighed. Ignoring the office workers glances, he made his way back to his Psychology room. Upon entering, he noticed that the room was empty spare his teacher.

“Class ended five minutes ago. I believe one of your friends took your things to whatever class you have next.”

“Thanks.” Riker nodded and begrudgingly began his trip to his next class. It can’t be an easy day, can it…

As he entered his English class, once again everyone’s eyes were on him. He took his set next to Nick, giving him a quick kiss, and started to get his stuff out from his bag.

“What was the call about?” Nick whispered.

“People are knocking down our door for interviews.”

“Are you going to do any?”

“Yeah, the Clever people will be coming later today.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

Before Jeff could respond to Nick, their teacher walked up.

“What are we discussing, boys?”

“Oh, Nick was just catching me up on what I missed, miss.” Jeff flashed his red carpet smile, making her roll her eyes but nevertheless move on.

The boys kept quiet but shared small smiles for the rest of class. The moment the bell rang, Nick turned to talk to Jeff.

“Babe, talk to me. Are you really okay with this?”

“It’s not like I have a choice. It’s already out there.”

“What are you guys talking about?” David and Wes entered the conversation.

“Clever is coming by to do an interview later,” Jeff said as they continued walking to class.

“And he wouldn’t say if he’s fine or not.” Nick elaborated before giving Jeff another kiss, “Bye babe, I’ll see you after class.”

After saying their goodbyes Wes and David turned on Jeff.

“Look, guys, I’m not perfectly fine but I’m not about to have a breakdown. It’s just a lot to take in.”

“Fine bro. We’ll leave it for now but know that we’re here for you.” Wes said.

“Yeah, we can’t have our resident dancing star and half of the power couple being all mopey.” David slung an arm over Jeff’s shoulder as the group chuckled.

Jeff managed to suffer through his last two periods of the day and was so happy when the bell signaling the end of classes finally rang. He grabbed Nick’s hand as they waited for Blaine to finish grabbing his stuff.

“Ready for practice?” Blaine asked once he caught up to the two lovebirds.

“Yeah, I could use the singing at the moment.” Nick looked at his Jeff sadly at those words.

“Well, you might have to wait a bit. I heard Wes has got some big speech planned.”

“Really?” Jeff groaned, “ I really don’t want this to become a thing.”

“It became a thing when there were girls lined up outside.” Blaine pointed out as Nick ran his hand over Jeff’s back.

“I’m sure it won’t be so bad.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

The trio met up with the rest of the group before making their way to the Warbler Hall for practice.

Wes went with David to start the meeting while Blaine, Trent, Nick, and Jeff all found seats near the front together.

“Attention!” Wes rapped his gavel against the desk once everyone was seated.

“Thank you all for coming. Before we start practice I would like to call attention to something I’m sure all of you have noticed by now from the screaming girls when a certain Warbler walks by.”

Jeff blushed and looked to the ground as most of the Warblers chuckled at the wording.

“Now we obviously have had someone or someone's leak Warbler Jeff’s secret against his wishes. I’m not going to call anyone out, but you know who you are, but I’m suggesting that you apologize to Jeff on your own time and work on your secret keeping.” By the end of Wes’s little speech, a few people were doing all they could to not look in Jeff’s vicinity and were wearing guilty expressions.

After the speech, Wes told the group which numbers they would be practicing. They were halfway through the choreography run through for “Misery” when the doors opened up and in walked a small huddle of people with cameras, lights, and many more things.

“Riker! It’s so good to see you again, though I wish it was under better circumstances.”

“Joslyn, nice to see you again. How have you been?”

Jeff took note that practice seemed to stop for the moment being as he headed over to meet with the Clever host.

“I’m good. So here’s the plan. We’re gonna do a little interview with you and then follow you around for the rest of today and some of tomorrow. By tomorrow evening a video will be up and hopefully get people off your back for a bit.”

Jeff nodded along as his friends walked over.

“As always, you have the means to keep anything you want out. Now, who’s in charge of this?”

“I am, miss,” Wes spoke up.

“Do you mind if we set up some cameras and record to use for the video? You boys will have the same rights as Riker does and get to veto anything that goes in the video.”

“I think it would be alright, so long as all new performances are muted.”

“Great! Now, for the interview part… would it be better to do it now or later?”

“Ummm, he can go now if he wants. Practice will last a while anyway.”

Jeff shared a smile with his friends and gave Nick a quick kiss before showing Joslyn where they could go.

“I’m assuming that is something you want us to cut out?” They both chuckled.

“As always,” he responded when they entered the room. Once the cameras and lights were set up and the hair/ makeup team was done, it was time to start the interview.