Disclaimer: I do not own The Glee Project, nor am I affiliated with any of its contestants. Unfortunately for me, or I would so own Damian. Cough.

Note: Okay, so this will be an 11-chapter deal, from the audition episode to the finale episode. I may add an epilogue if I find it necessary. It is essentially an extended "Dameron" story (yes, that is the main pairing, although there will be some "Dannah" friendship moments). I do hope you like it.

Note: I am in the process of finishing off "Mary's Song: Kurt and Puck" and will be working on "A Little Piece of Hevan" soon, if you are following those stories.

Chapter One: Audition, or, "The Damian?"

Cameron Mitchell looked around the audition room for a familiar face, perhaps someone that he had spotted from watching endless MySpace audition videos, checking out his potential competition. He thoughtlessly plucked some strings on his guitar, murmuring soft lyrics to himself. He planned to audition with a song he had written, "Love Can Wait", and he wanted it to be as perfect as it could be. Just the thought of being on as big of a show as Glee made him tingle with nerves and excitement as he waited to be called into the room.

"Hey, mind if I sit here?" a quiet voice asked from his left. Cameron looked up into a pair of bright blue-green eyes. The other boy was around his height and had dark brown hair, near black. Cameron thought he looked familiar, but whether it was from the audition videos or elsewhere, he couldn't place. The boy had a trace of an accent that Cameron thought sounded like was Scottish, or perhaps Irish. He gave Cameron a shy smile, nervously putting his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah, sure," Cameron moved his blazer from where he'd put it next to him. "Hi, I'm Cameron Mitchell. Nice to meet you," he stuck out a hand for the other boy to take.

"Damian McGinty," the dark-haired boy shook it. "Whereabouts are you from?"

"Uh, Forth Worth. You know, Texas," Cameron said lamely. "And you?"

"Derry City. Northern Ireland," Damian replied. Ah, Cameron thought. That's the accent, then. "Hey, I think I saw your audition video. You were quite good, as I remember."

"Aw, thanks," Cameron blushed slightly at the complement. "You look familiar, too. I can't remember, but I've definitely seen your face before somewhere."

Damian looked embarrassed. "I'm in a music group, Celtic Thunder."

"No shit?" Cameron put down his guitar amazedly. "You're Damian from Celtic Thunder?" Although Robert 'Cameron' Mitchell would never admit it, he was a huge fan of Celtic Thunder, and had all of their albums and videos. And he would never, never admit that he had one of their posters in his room, and admired Damian's voice. He'd never imagined that he'd actually meet the boy, though.

"Yep," Damian laughed awkwardly. "I take it you've heard of us?"

"Yes!" Cameron exclaimed. "I'm a fan, a huge fan, especially of you," he mentally slapped himself for admitting that. Stupid boy! Utterly stupid, silly fanboy!

"Shucks," Damian blushed deeply.

"My favorite album is probably It's Entertainment!, but I loved Act Two as well." Cameron fished around in his knapsack, searching for his copy of the former CD, which he carried around for good luck and for inspiration. "Hey, do you mind signing this?"

"Sure," Damian looked surprised, taking the Sharpie and writing over his picture on the CD cover. "To Cameron, best of luck always. Damian."

"Thanks so much," Cameron took it back, noticing that his hand tingled when it brushed against Damian's as the Irish lad handed back the marker and CD.

"Robert? Robert Mitchell?" the crew member asked, sticking her head out the door.

"That would be me," Cameron stood up, picking up his guitar.

"Robert?" Damian scrunched up his face, which Cameron thought was utterly adorable.

"Yeah," Cameron looked embarrassed. "My real name's Robert, but I go by my middle name, Cameron." He shook Damian's hand again. "It was great to meet you…uh…hope you make it…good luck," he said awkwardly before ducking into the room.

"Ádh mór!" Damian cried back happily in Irish. Cameron, still blushing, strode into the audition room, smiling at the people who would be judging him.

"Hello, Robert," the head judge smiled back at him.

"Please, call me Cameron," Cameron gave them a half-wave, guitar now slung around his body, making it a bit difficult for him to maneuver, and anyone who knew him could tell you that Cameron had two left feet.

"Making friends out there?" one of the judges smiled pleasantly at him.

"Yes," he said honestly. "I was just talking to Damian actually. He's a very nice kid."

"That's nice," the judge told him.

"What are you going to sing for us today?" the head judge asked him, snapping Cameron to attention, and he tuned his guitar quickly, cursing himself for not doing it earlier.

"A song I wrote for my girlfriend. It's called 'Love Can Wait'," Cameron began to strum the first few familiar chords. He sang his heart out, making sure to make eye contact with each of the judges, hoping it would boost his chances of getting through to the Top 12.

"Thank you, Cameron," the head judge said to him after he had finished, writing something on his paper, smiling the whole time. "We'll let you know."

"Thank you," Cameron said earnestly, bowing out of the room.

"Hey," a soft voice spoke up. Cameron turned to see Damian smiling, still seated, awaiting his turn to go in. "You did really well, mate."

"Thanks," Cameron grinned. "Knock 'em dead, dude." He quickly ran down the stairs, thinking only of how nice and humble and—dare he say it?—cute Damian had been.

Some time later

Cameron logged onto Facebook, clicking through his newsfeed and checking his messages. A new Friend Request blipped near the top of the screen, and he clicked it curiously. He broke into a wide smile when he saw it was from one Damian McGinty. He immediately clicked "accept", and went straight to write on Damian's Wall, hoping he wasn't being too forward or creepy. He paused, wondering if the boy was on Chat, hoping the time difference wasn't too bad. Was Damian waiting for the reply in Ireland, he wondered? To his surprise and happiness, he saw that the Irish boy was indeed on Chat, and he took a deep breath as he clicked on the window, typing and sending quickly, as if the keys were on fire. "Hey." He held his breath as he saw the magical words "Damian is typing" after a moment or two.

"Hi!" came the eager reply. Cameron let the breath out.

"How are you?" Cameron replied after a moment, trying not to come off as desperate.

Another few moments. "Nervous :-/ ".

"For the reply? Yeah, me too," Cameron's heart pounded as he scrolled through Damian's profile, trying to figure out what to talk about if the conversation came to a dead halt, realizing that they in fact had a lot in common.

Damian seemed to be typing for a while, and Cameron wondered if he was typing a long reply or didn't know what exactly to say. "I think we're getting the replies next week," he finally said. "And I think it's via Skype."

Cameron's pulse quickened. "You have a Skype? Oh, sorry, dumb question."

"It's okay :-) " the dark-haired boy replied. "Yes, I do." He proceeded to give Cameron his Skype username, which Cameron immediately added to his contacts list.

"Awesome!" Cameron responded, hoping it didn't sound too enthusiastic, adding his own username to the message. Another minutes' pause.

"Added you," Damian said, and indeed, his name came up on Cameron's contacts list.

"Wanna Skype next week, after we find out?" Cameron asked.

"Sure!" Damian said. "Well, mate, it's getting late here. I should be headed to sleep."

Cameron checked the clock. "What time is it there?" he asked, trying to figure out the time difference between them.

"11:19," Damian said. "Why, what time is it there?"

"4:20," Cameron said, realizing there was a good seven hours' difference, damnit.

"Oh, wow," Damian said. "Well, goodnight, Cameron."

"Goodnight," Cameron responded, watching Damian log-off. He sat back in his chair, wondering how he'd be able to last a week before finding out of if he'd made it.

The next week

"Congratulations, Cameron, you've made it on The Glee Project!"

"Oh my God. Oh my God, thank you, thank you so much!" Cameron gushed, giving a whoop of excitement and happiness. "Thank you!" He called for his parents and siblings, who gave him hugs and kisses of congratulations. He checked the clock after they'd rushed to call his grandparents and other family members and as his sister rushed off to make a cake; it wasn't too late to Skype with Damian. He crossed his fingers, hoping his friend had made it to the competition as well. Sure enough, Damian's name was on his contacts list, and the red-blonde boy immediately called him. When Damian's face flickered on his screen, both boys let out a yell of victory.

"You made it!" Damian cried in joy.

"I made it!" Cameron laughed, still in disbelief. "Did you?"

"Yes!" Damian said, laughing along with Cameron, the same look of shock on his face.

"Oh man, this is going to be sick," Cameron declared, noticing how Damian's blue-green eyes sparkled with pure joy and surprise. "It's going to be the best!"

"Yes," Damian said quietly, looking shyly at the Texas-born boy.

"Well, congratulations, buddy," Cameron grinned. "Guess I'll see you soon, eh?"

"Yeah, I guess I will," Damian smiled, looking down and then back up at Cameron. "Oh, congratulations to you, too, mate. You deserve it."

"You deserve it, too," Cameron said honestly. "I can't wait to meet the other contestants." And see you, he added silently.

"Me, too," Damian said. "Well, goodbye," he said softly.

"Goodbye," Cameron logged off, locking eyes with Damian for a moment before the screen went dark. He hugged his knees to his chest, trembling with excitement, not only at being in a competition that could change his life, but being in it with Damian McGinty.