It was a cold snowy night in Westerville, and Thad who couldn't sleep was sat on his bed in his dorm at Dalton that he shared with one of his best friends Sebastian Smythe, who sometimes had Rachel sleepover and sleep in his bed with him like they always did when they were all kids and friends with Hunter and Quinn as well. Thad sat there staring at his old glow worm toy his mum gave him when he was little, it was a toy that used to be his mum's. The toy had always helped him when he couldn't sleep, it always kept him safe and secure because of all the bad dreams he had. Thad always hated the dark, as it always reminded him of when he was younger. He never got over his fear of the dark like everyone else did, because when he was younger his dad would hurt his mum and yell at her every night as he was trying to sleep, and it scared him a lot, to the point where he made him scared to sleep and be afraid of the dark. He sat there thinking about all those times.
Flashback
Thad laid wide awake in his bed as he couldn't sleep, the walls were thin he can hear every word his dad is saying, which makes him not being able to sleep at night every night, he always looks forward to nap time in school. It's the only time when he can sleep without hearing shouting or the sound of things breaking. He hugged his glow worm, that his mum gave him tight to help him sleep and feel safe, but it was no use because home didn't feel safe with his dad.
As he places the pillow on his ears to try and cover his dad's voice, he looks out his window and sees his next door neighbours light on. He knew it was one of his best friends, Rachel Berry. His window faced her bedroom. He quietly got out of his bed, climbed out the window and crawled across the plank of wood that he and Rachel put there, so they could crawl across to sleep in each other's rooms.
Rachel was getting into bed with her night light on when she heard a tap on her window. She looked over and saw Thad holding his glow worm toy that his mum gave him, at her window wanting to be let in. Rachel knew that it was because of his dad hurting and yelling at his mum again, she opened her window and let him in and quietly said
"Thaddy, I left my night light on, to help us sleep tonight, and I'll leave the door for open us too. If you will like." Thad gave Rachel a small smile as he climbed into her room and said
"I'd like that Rachie." Rachel quietly made a bed for Thad on her bedroom floor, turned off her bedroom, while also turning on her lamp to help Thad sleep. Thad was grateful for his best friend, she always helped him sleep at night, he always had a small crush on her, but sadly she had a crush on their best friend Sebastian, who liked her back.
Sometime through the night Rachel and Thad both woke up when they knew Rachel's dads Hiram and Leroy were asleep, and they slowly snuck out of the bedroom, and out to Rachel's back yard, and climbed the ladder to Rachel's tree house. When they climbed inside the treehouse, they saw their best friends Sebastian, Hunter and Quinn waiting for them.
They all knew what Thad's home life was like, and they made a pact that every night they would meet in the treehouse to make sure Thad was safe and sound, and help him forget what his home life was like with his dad, and some nights they would sleep in the treehouse with Rachel and Sebastian cuddled up to each other, and with hunter and Quinn cuddled up to each too, while being piled around Thad, which he was grateful for, he knew as long as he had his friends he would be okay.
End flashback
Sebastian slowly woke up with Rachel fast asleep in his arms, and saw Thad looking at his old toy. Sebastian knew how much that toy protected his best friend, and softly spoke in hopes he doesn't wake her up.
"Harwood, you doing okay?" Thad looked over at a tired Sebastian and said
"I just can't sleep." Sebastian knew it was going to be one of those nights with Thad's bad dreams, and Sebastian said
"If you want we could go the Lima bean with Hunter, Quinn and Rachel." Thad gave Sebastian a small smile and said
"Okay, we can do that, but that would mean waking up Rachel, and making sure that she gets back to Crawford before her curfew." Sebastian slowly woke up Rachel as Thad spoke, and he said
"I know that Harwood." Rachel woke up to Sebastian waking her up and knew that it must be important as Sebastian normally lets her sleep.
When they all reached the Lima bean, Thad looked around at his best friends and was grateful for each of them, and was grateful that Quinn's and Rachel's parents sent them both to Crawford and didn't want to split them all up.
Thad was grateful for the nights he couldn't sleep because he got to spend time with best friends, despite being the only one not in a relationship, but he knew that right now he wouldn't be able to handle it. He got up from his chair, walked to the counter to order more hot chocolate, and when he turned around he bumped into someone and spilt his drink on them and quickly said as he handed them napkins.
"I'm so sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going." Marley took the napkins from him, and wiped her shirt, and said
"It's okay, it's an old shirt anyway." Marley smiled at Thad when she saw him look up and said
"I'm Marley." Thad then looked up and stared at the young girl in front of him, and was mesmerised by her eyes. Thad took a deep breath and said
"I'm Thad."
What Thad didn't know was that Marley was the one that kept him finally safe from his past and his bad dreams, and finally knew the calmness that Sebastian and hunter felt every time they had Rachel and Quinn in their arms.
