Barry cheered with his friends as he watched Jeff and the rest of R5 rocking out. Barry honestly couldn't believe that this rock-star, this guy that walked around the stage like he owned it, was his shy friend from high school. His friend that tried six times to get a solo in the Warblers without success. Looking at his friend now, he saw none of that boy. He saw a confident man who knew what he wanted from life and sang with such emotion and skill that it made you want to sing along and hope you could be as successful as him.
Nick was sitting next to Barry, having been given (aka, pushed by Jeff until he finally agreed) the night off. Glancing over at his friend, Barry saw him smiling at the blond on stage with such a fond, sincere smile, that Barry felt he was intruding just by looking at him. Finally noticing that he was being watched, Nick looked over at Barry.
"What?" Nick asked.
"Nothing, just enjoying the show," Barry said with a smirk, causing Nick to roll his eyes.
Barry looked back up at the stage when he noticed that the band had stopped. Jeff had a glint in his eyes that scared Barry. He remembered that glint, it was the glint that always led to some prank played by Nick and Jeff. Looking back at Nick, Barry saw the same glint in his eyes. Whatever was about to happen, Barry knew he wouldn't like it.
"Thank you!" Jeff's brother Ross yelled to the crowd. "Now, before we start our next song, we have a small surprise for you! Riker?" He called to Jeff over the roar of the crowd.
"Thanks Ross, now, as you all know, we have the pleasure tonight of performing in our wonderful home state of Ohio!" Jeff said to the crowd, causing them to roar again. Geez, Barry thought, how could the band even hear themselves sing?
"Anyway, over the last couple days, we had a chance to meet up with some old friends. Our manager, Nick, and I got to see an old friend from high school, and managed to convince him to come tonight. So, the band, Nick, and I were hoping you all could help us convince him to come up onstage and sing with us," Jeff finished, throwing a smirk in Barry's general direction. Barry was right, he most definitely did not like this.
Glaring at Nick, who wore a smirk matching Jeff's, Barry just shook his head no. Unfortunately, his 'friends' had a different idea. Iris, who had been sitting next to him, pushed him toward Nick, who grabbed his hand, dragging him toward the waiting security guard, ready to escort them to the stage. Barry fighting the whole way.
Once he got to the side of the stage, Nick finally let him go (when had he gotten so strong?). Barry just stared at him and Jeff, shaking his head. He was not going to do this. Singing karaoke in a bar is one thing. Singing with a band in front of thousands of people was something completely different.
"Come on Seb, don't be like that. It's just one song," Jeff pleaded.
"Please!"
"No guys, I'm not doing this," Barry told them. Unfortunately neither of his (former) friends felt like listening to him that night, and both of them pulled him on stage to the cheers of fans.
"I'd like you all to meet my friend Barry. You see, back in high school, Barry, Nick and I were all in our school's glee club together, and since the band does a lot of covers, I figured we could do a cover of a song that was quite popular in our day. Wow, feel really old saying that…" Jeff said, causing the fans to laugh. "Anyway! What do you say?"
The crowd cheered louder than Barry had heard them all night, though that might be because he was actually up on stage and seeing the immense size of the crowd that he had previously been a part of.
"I'll take that as a yes!" Jeff said laughing. "So here is our version of the hit song Live While We're Young by One Direction!" Jeff yelled. Suddenly, Barry was being handed a microphone along with Nick while Jeff signaled to the rest of the band to begin while he started playing the opening notes on his bass. Barry just groaned, causing Jeff and Nick to smirk at him.
Just like at the bar, the three boys slipped back into their high school roles, Barry singing lead, Nick, Jeff and the rest of the band singing back up. Barry still found singing with actual instruments instead of a cappella odd. Not hearing the others making up the beats and notes with their voices was new, and he was not sure how to feel about it. Regardless, he continued singing, glancing at Jeff every once in a while, still in awe of how much of a presence he had on stage.
He looked out at the crowd, seeing his friends standing in the front cheering him on. The longer he sang, the more into it he got, actually smiling and, though he would deny it if asked, having fun.
When the song was over, the crowd roared. Barry just smiled and gave a small wave before making his way off stage with Nick, right when Jeff started speaking again.
"Barry Allen and Nick Duval everybody!" Jeff yelled to the crowd, who cheered in response. Seriously, how much louder could they get?
"Now, we have one last song for you guys tonight!" Ross told the crowd, who booed. The lyrics to their single Loud started up as Barry and Nick returned to their seats, to enjoy the rest of the show.
~AnnoyingLineBreak~
"Dude, that was awesome!" Cisco said to Barry, Jeff and Nick. "Even better than at the bar."
"He's right, the band did great," Iris told Jeff when they had all met up backstage after the concert. "You guys weren't so bad yourselves either," she joked to Barry and Nick.
"Thanks guys, but really, it was all Jeff and Nick. I just made a fool of myself," Barry told his friends, who all just rolled their eyes at him.
"Don't listen to him, he is just being an idiot. Without him, our glee club would have never been as good as it was, even with all of the trouble he got us into," Nick said.
"Barry Mr. Goody Two Shoes Allen? He got you into trouble?" Iris asked incredulously.
"Well, not so much trouble per-say, that was more Hunter than anyone, more like he started a rivalry between us and another glee club," Jeff told them.
"Which caused way more drama than either group would have probably liked, to be honest," Nick added.
"Yeah, that was pretty bad…" Barry said, to which Nick and Jeff just scoffed.
Before anyone else could comment on how different Barry was in high school, Jeff's youngest brother walked up to the group.
"Hey Jeff, we are about to head back to the hotel. Are you just going to meet us there later?" Ross asked.
"Yeah, I'll be back later. Oh, but before you go, these are some friends of mine. This is Barry, a friend of mine from school, and these are his friends Iris, Eddie, Cisco, and Caitlin. Guys, this is my brother Austin, or Ross," Jeff said, introducing the group.
"Nice to meet you," Austin said with a smile. "Well I've got to go, the others are already in the car. See you later Jeff, Nick."
"Bye," the two said in unison, causing the four that didn't know them to laugh.
After Austin walked away to meet up with the rest of the band Iris turned to Jeff and Nick. "So, about Barry causing drama…" she said, just letting the rest of the question hang in the air.
"We really don't need to talk about that," Barry started.
"Of course we do! My brother caused drama and wasn't the goody-two-shoes I've been lead to believe! My whole life is a lie! I must know the truth!" Iris said dramatically, causing everyone but Barry to laugh.
Before Barry could fire a retort, Nick spoke up. "How about we go get dinner somewhere and talk there. It is a long story and I know that Jeff didn't eat before the concert because he is an idiot," he said, rolling his eyes fondly at Jeff, who just looked down sheepishly.
After they all agreed, the gang led Nick and Jeff to the best pizza place in town. Once everyone got settled and ordered their food, they all looked at Nick, Jeff, and Barry expectantly.
"Sooo…" Cisco started.
"Short version, Seb was basically an ass when he first came to Dalton," Nick told them.
"What's the long version?" Caitlin asked, somewhat cautiously. Next to her, Barry was cringing, knowing what was coming.
"Long version, when Barry first came to Dalton, he met our friend Blaine, who was visiting during one of our rehearsals. Blaine had gone to Dalton with us until he transferred to the local public school. Barry, for some reason, decided to be a complete ass and flirt incessantly with him, even though he knew Blaine had a boyfriend, who most of us were also friends with," Jeff started.
"Then, when he became captain of the Warblers, he decided to do a Michael Jackson set for regionals, even though he knew that Blaine's glee club, the New Directions, were already planning on doing the same. That, combined with the flirting and his somewhat bully-like tendencies, caused extreme rivalry and drama between our two clubs," Nick finished.
By the end of the two boy's story, the group was staring wide eyed at Barry. They had honestly never expected that. Barry was a jerk? But one question was weighing on their minds.
"Wait, Barry, you're gay?" Eddie asked.
"He's bi," Iris said.
"That's all you got out of the whole story?" Barry asked incredulously, not really caring that Iris outted him, over half of the table had known already, and he had never really been secretive about it. Eddie just shrugged.
"Wow Barry, you were kind of a douche in high school," Cisco said, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen on the group.
"He was really only a douche to the New Directions to be honest. When they weren't around, he was actually a nice guy, especially when Hunter came," Nick said.
"Who's Hunter?" Eddie asked.
"The biggest douche to ever walk the Earth," Barry told them.
"He forced half the club to do steroids before a competition, and then we all got busted and almost got expelled," Jeff ranted, still bitter.
"Dang… You had a more interesting school experience than I ever did," Caitlin told them.
"So what happened with you and the Blaine guy?" Iris asked Barry.
"We called it a truce after I told him I was just doing it to be a douche," Barry said before a voice from behind interrupted them.
"OMG! You're Riker Lynch! I'm such a huge fan! Can I please have your autograph!?"
The three former Warblers whipped their heads around, stunned to see their old friend standing behind them with a smirk.
"Blaine!" Nick and Barry exclaimed.
"What are you doing here?" Nick asked.
"Jeff asked me to come," Blaine told them, pleased with the reaction he received.
The two spun to look at Jeff, who just had a shit eating grin.
"I found out he was in town for a few days and thought we should all hangout, like old times," Jeff said with a smirk.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Nick asked.
"Thought it would be more fun this way," he responded, thoroughly enjoying this. The other four were torn between feeling really confused because who was this guy anyway, and being amused at Barry and Nick's reactions to said new guy. Iris coughed awkwardly from her seat.
"Crap! Sorry I forgot! Guys, this is Blaine Anderson. Blaine, this is my best friend Iris, her boyfriend Eddie, and my friend's Caitlin and Cisco," Barry introduced the group.
"Nice to meet you guys," Blaine said with a smile.
"O! Is this the guy who," Eddie started.
"Yes, that's him," Barry interrupted before Eddie could bring it up again.
"The guy who what?" Blaine asked, confused.
"Nothing, we were just telling Barry's friends what he was like in high school. Apparently he's the good guy here," Jeff said conspiratorially. Barry just rolled his eyes.
"Anyway, how did Jeff know that you were here?" Barry asked Blaine.
"Well, unlike some people I know," Jeff started, looking pointedly at Barry, "I actually try and keep in touch with old friends and like to stay updated on their lives."
"Yeah! Dude, I had to find out from Tweedle-Dumb and Tweedle-Dee over here that you were out of your coma!" Blaine said, ignoring the protests coming from Nick and Jeff.
"In my defense, I didn't tell anyone really, they found out from Kurt. Didn't Kurt tell you?" Barry asked confusedly.
"Kurt and I are not currently on speaking terms," Blaine said, somewhat awkwardly. Barry knew not to push it, he may have been a dick in high school, but he knows when to let something go.
"So, you're the infamous Blaine?" Caitlin asked to relieve the tension.
"That's me, and you're… Iris?" he guessed.
"Caitlin actually, I was one of Barry's doctors, along with Cisco, when Barry was in his coma," she told him.
Blaine smiled his patented charming smile at her, causing her and Iris to swoon a little.
"So, why are you in town Killer? Did you miss me?" Barry asked with a wink, slipping back into his role as Sebastian. Everyone but his friends from high school stared at him in shock. When had Barry gotten so smooth?
"You caught me," Blaine joked. "But no, actually I was a town over for an audition and was bummed that I couldn't make Jeff's concert, so he invited me out after with you guys."
"Oh, you're an actor?" Iris asked. At Blaine's nod she asked, "What were you auditioning for?"
"This show about high school glee clubs, filled with stereotypes, drama, drama and more drama," Blaine told the group.
"It sounds like the story of our lives," Nick said.
"Dude, can you imagine if our lives were a show? I feel like you would be backup and I would be backup to the backup," Jeff said to Nick, who agreed.
"Dude, you're a rock star, how could you be backup?" Cisco asked Jeff.
"We were kind of quiet in school, did our own thing."
"Oh! Speaking of being a rock star, I wasn't joking about getting your autograph," Blaine started. "My friend from school found out I knew you and she will seriously kill me if I come back without one." Everyone laughed at the desperate tone in Blaine's voice.
"Don't worry Killer, I'll protect you from the scary world," Barry told him, putting his arm around the back of Blaine's chair. Nick and Jeff just smirked, while everyone else was still shocked at this new side of Barry.
"My hero," Blaine said, putting a hand over his heart and rolling his eyes. Barry just laughed. "But anyway," Blaine said, turning back to Jeff, "can I have one?"
Jeff just laughed. "Yeah sure, you got anything I could sign?"
To everyone's surprise, Iris pulled a picture of the band out of her purse.
"Here, you can use this, someone gave it to me when I got to the concert."
"Hey, thanks! You seriously just saved my life," Blaine said, handing the picture to Jeff.
"Now, do you have anything I could sign with?" Jeff asked, blushing when everyone laughed.
"What kind of rock star are you, Six?" Nick asked, pulling a pen out of his pocket. Jeff just blushed harder and signed the picture, handing it back to Blaine.
When Nick went to grab his pen back, Jeff said "Nope, my pen now," and put it in his pocket, while sticking his tongue out. Nick just rolled his eyes, leaned over and kissed Jeff, grabbing the pen while he was distracted. When the kiss broke, Jeff stuck his tongue back out at Nick and pouted at him for stealing the pen back. When they noticed everyone was silent, they looked over to see them just staring at the two like they each had just grown another head.
"What?" Nick asked.
"When the hell did that happen?" Barry and Blaine asked at the same time. They looked at each other and blushed.
Nick smirked at the two, "Uh, like junior year of high school? I think, or was it sophomore?" Nick said, looking at Jeff.
"End of sophomore I'm pretty sure," Jeff told him. "Though there was a brief period of time senior year where we were broken up."
"What happened?" Iris asked. The two were honestly the cutest couple, and now that she knew for a fact that they were a couple she couldn't imagine them ever being apart.
"Well you see, that was the year the douche Hunter came, and the whole steroid fiasco happened," Jeff started, looking down.
"The dick had crushed up some and slipped them into Jeff's drink at lunch for weeks because he was our best dancer but refused to take them," Nick continued.
"After a while they really started to affect me, I became addicted and went a little crazy. There is basically a whole week that I don't remember because of a drug haze, and in the process I apparently broke up with Nick," Jeff finished, refusing to meet anyone's eye.
"That was a bad week," Barry said quietly.
"However, once we figured out what Hunter had been doing, we got Jeff help and it all ended ok," Nick said, trying to sound upbeat, not wanting Jeff to beat himself up about the past anymore. Jeff smiled up at him. The rest of the group that didn't know the story already was stunned, not knowing what to say.
Wanting to change the subject, knowing that this was a touchy topic, yet extremely proud of Jeff and Nick for telling it, Blaine spoke up. "So you guys have been dating this whole time and we never knew?"
Jeff smiled gratefully at Blaine and said "How did you guys not know? It's not like we were subtle about it."
Neither of them had an answer for that.
"Well congratulations guys! You are really cute together," Iris told the two boys, who both smiled at her.
"Thanks," Nick said, blushing a bit. Jeff just smiled and looked at him like someone who had found their other half.
Glancing at his watch, Blaine groaned. "Sorry guys, it's getting late and I have to be up early tomorrow for a callback. It was nice meeting you all!" He said, standing up to leave.
"Hey, how long are you going to be around Central City?" Barry asked.
"Probably a couple more days at least if all goes well, why?" Blaine told him.
"Well how about tomorrow, after you rock your callback, I take you on a proper tour of my fair city. I'll show you the sights, take you to dinner, the works."
"Sure, why not, pick me up at 6, I'll text you where I'm staying." Blaine said, much to the group's surprise, besides Nick and Jeff who had been waiting for this to happen since their junior year of high school (sorry Kurt). "Well I really need to go now. Bye, guys," Blaine said, waving to Nick and Jeff. "It was nice meeting you," he told the rest, who all responded similarly.
"See you tomorrow, Killer," Barry said with a smirk, rolling his eyes as Jeff and Nick wolf-whistled.
After Blaine left, Barry turned back to see his friends staring at him. "What?"
"When did you get so smooth?" Eddie asked.
"And can you teach me?" Cisco asked, whelping when Caitlin hit him on the back of the head.
"It's a skill," was all Barry would tell them, getting up to leave also. He had to work in the morning. "It was great seeing you guys again, call me the next time you are nearby, I miss you guys," he said to Nick and Jeff.
"Will do, see you, and tell Blaine we said bye," Nick said to him.
"I will, have a good tour. I'll see you guys tomorrow," Barry said to the rest of the group, who all waved.
"Have fun on your date tomorrow!" Iris yelled after Barry, effectively embarrassing him.
"Well it was really nice meeting you guys, but we have to leave too. We are leaving for the next venue early, hope to see you again," Jeff said with a wave, getting up with Nick to walk away.
When the two got outside and were hailing a taxi, Nick turned to Jeff.
"That date will either end great," he started.
"Or in Misery."
Hello internet! I'm back! Sorry it took so long for me to get this out. I started it, got writers block, went through finals and just general busy school stuff and when I had free time, I had major writers block again… But I finally finished! I hope you like this as much as you liked the first! My description of Glee is just for fun, I know there are people who like the show, and what I've seen of it, it is pretty good. I did not mean to diss it. But some of the events of Sebastian's storyline in Glee do not exist in this story, like the slushie incident, because I was trying to combine Barry and Sebastian and I didn't think Barry would do something like that… Also, I am not trying to make light of addiction, I know it is a big problem, it's just a part of the story. I own nothing! Thanks for reading! This is (as always) dedicated to EpicPickleNinja because she helped me finish it. Have a wonderful night! (morning?)