A/N: This is just something that I thought up after watching the Silly Love Songs performance again. I kind of ship Rachel with any Warbler, Thad just seemed to fit in well with this story.
Thad never imagined himself to be the kind of guy that would be nervous about talking to a girl. But, as Thad reminded himself, this wasn't just any girl, this was Rachel Berry. Thad had been taken by Rachel Berry the second he watched her perform alongside her Glee club, and his rivals, New Directions. That rivalry didn't stop Thad from wanting her however; in fact, it kind of made him want her more. He casually grilled Kurt for information on his crush every now and again – he didn't want to seem too eager and give his secret crush away to his fellow Warblers. He'd seen what they'd done to Blaine when it became apparent he liked Kurt in a more-than-just-friends way, and wasn't particularly keen for the same to happen to him.
Unfortunately, Thad was now stood in front of a smiling Rachel as he prepared to sing with the Warblers in Breadstix. Kurt had mentioned something about a 'lonely hearts dinner' and dragged his club to perform an impromptu concert for the half-filled restaurant. The song itself went well. Thad made sure to keep well away from Rachel in fear of embarrassing himself, and his fellow Glee members, by getting down on his knees and serenading her.
"You know, you'd think that there'd be more than just one reasonably-priced restaurant in Lima," Trent commented, scanning over the less-than-inspiring menu once their performance was over. Thad merely mumbled in response, trying his hardest to keep his eyes on the menu and not allowing them to creep across to his left where Rachel was sitting with her friends.
"Dear Lord, Thad!" Trent exclaimed, not bothering to keep his voice down, "if you like her that much, just talk to her!"
Thad flushed at both Trent's words and the stares that the two friends were being sent from both members of New Directions and their fellow Warblers.
"Not cool, man. Not cool at all," Thad moaned, covering his face with his menu.
"I'm just saying!" Trent protested. "Just because you've tried to be sneaky about your crush doesn't mean that it's gone unnoticed."
"What?" Thad hissed at his friend's words, his eyes widening at the thought that someone other than himself knew about his opinions on Rachel Berry. "Tell me you're kidding!"
Trent looked around to make sure no-one else was listening, and then leaned closer towards Thad. "Jeff and Nick even have a betting pool on. My bet has been placed on tonight. I have twenty dollars on this, so you ask her out and I'll pay for dinner, okay?"
That was all it took for Thad to choke on the water he had previously been sipping. His normal composure was all but lost as he coughed and spluttered, gaining far more attention than he really wanted at that time.
"I'm fine!" he declared a couple of minutes later, sending out smiles to the people that were still staring at him. He allowed his eyes to roam across to where Rachel was sitting, and found himself making eye contact with the pretty brunette. She flashed him a dazzling smile, which he easily returned, before snapping his head back to the table in front of him, ignoring Trent's unconcealed sniggers.
Thad and Trent had just finished eating when Rachel and her friends rose from their table and began to exit the restaurant. Thad felt a ball of panic beginning to form in his stomach; he couldn't let Rachel get away again, not before he spoke to her. Trent gave Thad a sharp kick from under the table and nodded in the direction of the exit. "Go!" he hissed. Thad nodded at his friend and rose from the table, grabbing his jacket and umbrella in the process. He quickly hurried out of the door, pausing when he realised he didn't know whereabouts Rachel had gone. He shrugged and instinctively turned left, quickly opening his umbrella when he felt the cold Ohio rain hit him.
He carried on walking down the street, thinking that he must have chosen the wrong direction when he spotted a flash of yellow up ahead. He hurried his pace, practically breaking into a jog when he noticed Rachel fighting with her own umbrella.
"Here, allow me," he spoke, covering Rachel with his umbrella. She turned around, startled that someone had even bothered to notice her. Her shock became even more evident when she realised that this wasn't just anybody, it was a Warbler. Her competition. Attractive competition, but competition nonetheless.
"Thanks," she smiled, trying her hardest to remain polite yet distant. She couldn't fall for a Warbler, no matter how nice his manners were, or how handsome he looked as he smiled at her.
Now that Thad finally had Rachel alone, he didn't have a clue what to say to her. All the scenarios that he had planned previously decided to vanish from his brain, and so he stood, utterly clueless, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. Rachel giggled at the boy in front of her, a sound that seemed to bring him to his senses. He flashed an apologetic grin at her before taking a deep breath.
"The thing is, Miss Rachel Berry, is that you have managed to capture my attention the minute you walked out onto the stage at Sectionals-"
"But I didn't even have a solo!" Rachel protested, looking like she was about to go onto a long rant about how unfair it was that Quinn and Santana had been chosen over her.
"Then doesn't that say something? You caught my eye without being in the spotlight, and that's something only a true star can do," Thad smiled at the look on Rachel's face, she really was beautiful when she smiled, he thought to himself before continuing. "And I don't know what it is about you that has done that, but I would really like to find out. You deserve so much, Rachel. I know you probably think that I'm strange and weird for chasing after you on the street, but I guess I just had to talk to you. So, uh, I what I'm trying to say is, would you like to go get coffee sometime?"
The look on Rachel's face filled Thad with dread. She was going to say no, he just knew it. Trent would never let him live it down.
"You're competition!" she spluttered. Secretly, she was flattered that Thad had asked her. She'd harboured a slight crush for the Warbler ever since Kurt had showed her his Facebook profile when he was filling in Rachel and Mercedes on all his new friends at Dalton. Never in her wildest dreams did Rachel imagine Thad being interested in her. She knew that if she said no now, she'd probably never get this opportunity again. Besides, it wasn't like he'd just asked her to give up her Broadway dreams for him, it was just coffee. And if Finn could move on, so could Rachel Berry.
"I guess, if you promise to not try and gleam any information on our upcoming Regionals performance, we could get coffee."
Thad tried extremely hard to restrain himself from dancing in the middle of the sidewalk at Rachel's answer, although he did allow his face to break out into an incredibly cheesy grin.
"I promise to not talk about Regionals at all. Now, where are you heading?" he questioned.
"Oh, my car's just over there," Rachel pointed at a shiny vehicle not too far away from where the pair stood. Thad nodded and offered his arm to Rachel. Shocked at his action, she took it anyway, and allowed him to guide her to her car. They stopped just by the driver's door, Rachel digging around in her purse for a pen and paper to write her number on. Once she had done so, she unlocked the car and Thad swooped forward to open the door for her, shooting her a charming smile as he did so.
"Thank you, Thad," Thad blinked at the mention of his name – how could she know who he was? He watched her drive off before jogging back to Breadstix, barely able to contain his excitement as he met up with Trent at the door.
"Well?" Trent demanded with his hands on his hips. Thad just grinned and showed him the piece of paper with Rachel's number on it. Trent whooped, clapping his friend on the shoulder and demanding payment from Jeff and Nick, who, despite running the betting pool, was happy for their friend.
Later that night, when they had all returned to Dalton, Thad stared at the paper in front of him, debating on whether or not to text Rachel. Finally, his courage got the best of him and he quickly tapped a message out, grinning when he received an enthusiastic response in reply. Truth be told, Thad much preferred tea over coffee, but if meeting with Rachel meant he had to drink gallons of the stuff, he would do so most happily.