I am so, so sorry over how long it's taken me to get this chapter out! This was probably the most difficult chapter I've written so far, but I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. Thanks for sticking with this story (and my lack of updates!) and I hope you enjoy!


Tina had decided that Mr Schuester and the Regionals judges had to have the worst timing in the entire universe. Just when Thad and Rachel were about to make up, they had to announce the winners of the competition. And who was the one who was left to deal with a panicking Rachel? Tina was, of course. Admittedly, Thad's friend, Tina thought his name was Trent but couldn't be sure, seemed to be in the same situation as Tina.

"What is taking them so long?" Tina hissed, glaring at the envelope that contained all the answers that they needed. Tina was pretty sure that Rachel didn't really care if they won or not, she just needed to hear what Thad had to say to her. Tina glanced over at the boy and saw that he had a slightly deranged look in his eyes, and Trent looked just about ready to tackle the announcer and get on with the results. Tina decided she'd help him. After all they were the ones suffering more than anyone else on the stage, couldn't the judges see that? Finally, after what felt like a century of waiting, the envelope was opened, and New Directions were announced as the winners. Not that Tina and Rachel cared, of course. Rachel was too busy focusing on Thad, and Tina was too busy signalling Mike to get Finn away from Rachel. Luckily, Mike understood and practically tackled Finn, with Sam following suit.

Blaine and Kurt were the first ones to break away from The Warblers to congratulate New Directions, and Trent all but carried Thad over to Rachel. Seeing him stood so close to her, Rachel broke away from Puck's vice grip hug and stood in front of Thad, who did nothing but crash his lips against hers. Tina watched the scene with a hug smile on her face, and happily high-fived Trent, who could barely contain his happiness for his friend.

"I'm sorry," Thad whispered, finally breaking away from Rachel and pressing his forehead against hers. "I've been an ass."

"I'm sorry too," Rachel replied, "I should never have lied." She would have said more, but Kurt jumped on top of her, squealing about her songwriting talents. Trent clapped Thad on the shoulder, happy that their world had been set back to normal.

"I bet you're pleased we didn't let you wimp out of this now, right?" Trent asked, looking over at his best friend with a huge grin on his face.

"Have I ever told you you're my best friend?" Thad replied, his face practically mirroring Trent's. Trent grinned even wider, not that Thad thought it was possible. He glanced over Trent's shoulder and saw Rachel talking with Tina, and started to head over to her again.

"Thad!" Thad turned in mid-step and just about recognised his sisters before they leapt onto him.

"You made up with Rachel!" Jenny exclaimed, practically jumping around in excitement.

"How are you two even here? Shouldn't you be at school?" Thad questioned, annoyed that he couldn't get to Rachel.

"Probably, but Mom pulled us out to watch you perform!" Dani replied, before bounding over to Rachel and dragging her away from Tina. "Besides, Mom wants to invite Rachel over for dinner. She's made more vegan food, so you don't really have a choice in the matter, Rach."

Rachel smiled at Dani, before reaching over and linking her hand with Thad's. "I'd love to come for dinner. Where's your dad?"

Somehow, Rachel missed the change in demeanour between the three Harwood siblings. After an awkward pause, Jenny replied, "he's away on a business trip." Not wanting to say more, the twins left Rachel and Thad to gather their belongings, and hurried away. Thad led Rachel off the stage and into the green room, quickly grabbing his jacket and bidding goodbye to his fellow Warblers. Rachel did the same, and they were soon ready to leave and meet up with Thad's family. Unfortunately, a tall figure insisted on blocking their exit.

"Hey, Rachel!" Finn exclaimed, purposely ignoring Thad, "we're having a celebratory party at Puck's, you know, to celebrate our win." Thad ignored the emphasis Finn put on the final part of the sentence and squeezed Rachel's hand in reassurance. She quickly cast a glance at her boyfriend before turning back to Finn, a smile forced upon her face.

"I'm sorry Finn, but I already have plans with Thad and his family. Now if you'll excuse me, we have to get going." Rachel made to move around Finn, but he continued to block the exit.

"Rach, c'mon." Finn whispered, trying his hardest to be the irresistible guy he'd been at the beginning of the year. Rachel had loved it then, so why didn't she love it now? He just couldn't understand, but maybe she was playing hard to get with him. Girls did that sometimes. "You're really going to ditch us for him? We've been there for you all along, where's he been?"

Anger flared up inside Thad, and he opened his mouth to reply, but Rachel beat him to it.

"Actually, Finn, I'm not ditching you all to spend time with my boyfriend. No-one else is complaining, in fact, they all seem to be pretty happy for me. So if you'd just move out of the way, that would be wonderful."

Finn opened his mouth to protest, but it was Puck that spoke first.

"Hudson, just leave it. We're all happy for Berry, as she said."

Dumbfounded, Finn finally moved just enough for Rachel and Thad to slip around him and head towards the parking lot of the building.

"I'm so, so sorry, Thad. Finn's such an idiot, why haven't I realised before?" Rachel moaned, clamping a hand to her forehead. Instead of replying, Thad just pushed Rachel up against the wall and crashed his lips against hers. The kiss was frantic, and more passionate than ones they'd ever shared before. Thad's hands clamped against Rachel's waist, and hers went around his neck and up into his hair. He began trailing soft kisses up and down her neck, not daring to put any pressure into it incase he left a hickey in his wake. His lips found hers again, and she greedily welcomed the kiss once more. Eventually, when the need to breathe became too much for either of the pair to cope with, they broke apart, both of them panting lightly. Thad glanced around, pretty confident that no-one had seen them, but at the same time, not really caring if anyone did. He stepped back and allowed Rachel to straighten herself up. She smiled up at him, and a voice cut through the air.

"Wanky!"Rachel groaned out loud, and started dragging Thad out of the building before he could start asking questions about Santana's vocabulary.