Hi everyone! Couple notes:
This is the most unoriginal title imaginable, but it's relevant to the story. It was suggested to me by a dear friend who has read only part of this.
This is not my first fanfic; not by long shot (also anything else I have written is not likely to be updated any time soon. I was stupid and wrote those without an outline). It is, however, my first posted Brittana fic. If this is crap, tell me. Seriously. I don't want to waste peoples' time with crap writing. I don't have a beta, so odds are there's a billion tiny typos. I'm only one person, I'm doing the best I can.
I am not a Klainer. Which means nothing because there is a ton of them in this fic. They are, frankly, crucial to my plot. Don't like 'em? Flee now.
THERE MAY BE SPOILERS. This fic is written basically to spit in the face of season 4. Or, hey. Maybe season 4 will spit in the face of this fic. I hope it succeeds; I doubt it will.
Lastly: I don't presume to be a great writer. I don't presume to have any clue what I'm doing. What I DO know is that I always put things back when I borrow them, and these characters are not mine. Except, you know, the few who are.
Fix You
Brittany sat on her bed, knees drawn to her chest, deep in thought. Santana had, after a summer-long battle with her mother ("You said that money was for me for college, then you said it was for me in New York, so no you can't have it back!"), headed off to Louisville to major in cheerleading.
The Latina had been gone 13 days, now. And 7 hours. Brittany would have it down to the minute, but she'd been so weepy eyed when her girlfriend left that she hadn't been able to read the numbers on her phone to get the exact time. In the end, all that mattered was Santana was gone and Brittany was in her own until school started in another week.
Her mother had tried helping improve Brittany's mood by reminding her of all the ways the girls could keep in touch, and how Louisville really wasn't so far away. Maribel Lopez had even stopped by one afternoon after hearing that Santana was worried about Brittany. Maribel insisted to Brittany that Santana was experiencing the same emotions that she was, but Brittany didn't believe that - Santana was strong; far stronger than she was, emotionally speaking. Or so she appeared to be. And Brittany wanted to be like that too. She needed to be strong like Santana FOR Santana.
The fact was, Brittany S. Pierce was terrified that her girlfriend would go away to college, assimilate herself, and forget entirely about comparatively tiny Lima, Ohio. And with that, she would entirely forget her love for Brittany. Maybe she would even move onto some other, more mature, smart, capable, educated cheerleader. Brittany didn't know what she would do when that time came.
Did she regret not showing up to her classes? Of course she did. Was she disappointed that it resulted in repeating her senior year? Absolutely. But she didn't want Santana to see her look weak. She was determined to take her punishment and succeed where she had previously failed, and to prove that she wasn't stupid.
Deep in her heart, she wanted to believe that she and Santana were a quirky version of Finn and Rachel - they were obviously the gleek couple of the century, never to be split up, through thick and thin... though, for some reason the blonde didn't understand, they would be forever disagreeing with each other.
She and Santana rarely disagreed to the extent where they wouldn't speak. So really, Brittany figured they were actually a step ahead of so-called Finchel.
Why had she deviated so far from her original train of thought?
Brittany thought for a moment of the other couples in glee club. Mercedes had left for LA, and Sam was still here in Lima. She didn't know the status of their relationship at this point, but it didn't matter. They weren't childhood friends. Sam wouldn't understand Brittany's loneliness.
Mike and Tina had broken up. This Brittany knew for certain because Mike had texted her a few days previous, asking her to please look out for Tina during glee.
She was most envious of Kurt and Blaine. Having failed to get into NYADA, Kurt was still in town, within arms distance of Blaine all summer.
It wasn't that she harbored any ill will towards anyone. She just had so much sadness inside her and no idea how to make it go away. She didn't want to be a burden on anyone, least of all Santana.
She was going to show everyone how wonderful and smart and patient she could be. She was going to rock all of her classes, and everyone was going to be proud of her. And at thanksgiving, Santana was going to come home to her and there would be sweet, sweet lady kisses and THEN-
"Britty, there's someone at the door looking for you!" came the shrill voice of Brittany's eight-year-old sister as the younger blonde barged into the room, completely destroying the elder blonde's plans for thanksgiving break with her girlfriend.
Her curiosity vaguely piqued, Brittany trudged to the front door, mustering her best traditionally blank look. Given her uncharacteristically gloomy mood, it wasn't hard.
"There is no kind way to state this; you look utterly horrific." At the Pierces' front door stood one utterly fabulous Kurt Hummel. He was dressed for a day on the town - in some fancy place like New York, thought Brittany. Or Philadelphia or some other place with a long fancy name.
"Um..." what was she supposed to say to that? Usually she'd just say thank you and let that be the end of it. But she didn't look SO bad. Okay, her hair hadn't been brushed in three days, but it was summer. Her clothes almost matched, and most of her makeup had worn off too. It wasn't like she hadn't brushed her teeth every day, or not changed her underwear. No need to change it when you forget to wear it in the first place, she figured. So she was fine.
Kurt sighed in that dramatic way unique to himself and Rachel, and Brittany suspected he wanted to pinch the bridge of his nose. But he didn't.
"A little birdy told me that you were grieving Santana's departure. Had I known it had gotten this bad, I would have come sooner!" he declared, gently pushing Brittany back into the house and following her in. As soon as the door closed, he dropped the dramatic flair. Brittany just stared at him, confused by his presence.
"Seriously, Britt. I heard it from Finn. At boot camp. Somewhere far, far away. He heard from Puck, who by the way? Is in Los Angeles. And HE heard from a supposedly sobbing Santana. and while I don't expect for a moment that that girl is capable of genuine sorrow, I do believe she was worried about you. I was going to take you shopping - its never too late or too soon to update one's wardrobe — but clearly we have work to do here first."
Kurt looked around the entryway in search of a bathroom. Giving up, he turned again to Brittany. It was kind of unnerving how quiet she was; it reminded him of that brief period the previous school year when she'd apparently taken some sort of vow of silence.
"You go take a shower. Point me in the direction of your room. I'll find you something suitable, and when you're out of the shower I'll fix your hair. Then, we shop."
"Can there be ice cream?" Brittany asked, slightly giddy. Ordinarily this would irritate Kurt, but A: the girl had finally spoken, and B: the question was pure Brittany. He gave her a sympathetic smile.
"Yes, there can be ice cream. But not until our other mission is completed. Now; shower!" with the promise of ice cream, Brittany dashed out down a hallway. Damn, that girl was fast. But wait.
"Brittany!" he called after her. She poked her head out a door moments later, confused.
"Your room. The place where you sleep with the clothes in it?" he asked impatiently.
"Oh yeah. Upstairs, on the left. I think it's the left, it might be the right. Santana usually explains it to me with L's, but that makes me more confused. Just look for the door with the little unicorn on it. That one's mine."
Those directions were easy enough. When he reached the top of the stairs, he noticed the kid who had answered the door staring at him from what was presumably her own room. He gave her a small wave, while looking around for the room with the unicorn.
"Britty's is the one at the end of the hall, that way." The girl pointed to Kurt's right. She didn't stop looking at him though.
"why thank you..." Kurt trailed off. Why was this kid looking at him like that? His outfit was classy, sure, but simple by his standards.
"Are you Britty's friend?" she piped up suddenly. Kurt nodded.
"I'd like to say that we are friends, yes. Not as close as she is with some of her other friends, but we have things in common..." he trailed off. The girl shook her head.
"She doesn't have many friends. Just Santana and Quinn, really. Once she bought home a boy in a wheelchair. I didn't like how he talked to me. And the funny brown haired girl who used a lot of words I didn't know. She came over a few times."
Kurt was mildly shocked. First, Artie could be a little condescending, but he was a good guy. But really, Brittany had brought Rachel over? And more than once? Amazing.
"What do you think of Santana?" he asked her, with a morbid curiosity. He'd seen how the name-calling cheerleader treated her peers, and been the subject of much of her taunting over the years. How bad was she with kids?
"I miss her..." the young girl said with a sad frown. "she used to come over on Thursday nights cause mom and dad work late and she made pizza and played games with me. And Britty, of course. Mom says Tana isn't gone forever, though, and that I have to show Britty how to be a big girl. Sometimes she forgets. Mom says that if Britty and Tana have their way, Tana will be my real sister one day. But not Britty's." the little girl smiled at Kurt. "what's your name?" she asked, out of the blue.
"Oh, how rude of me. I'm Kurt. I went to school with Brittany and Santana last year, and was in glee club with them. Also, actually, with Artie the wheelchair boy and Rachel the loud teenaged toddler."
"I'm Emily." The girl said seriously, offering her right hand for a shake. "I'm eight years old, I play soccer, and I'm way better at Pictionary than Britty."
Shaking hands with Emily, Kurt gestured down the hall. "it's been a pleasure meeting you, Emily, and I do hope to speak with you further. However, I have an outfit to pick out for your sister, and I'm afraid of what I'll find."
"Okay! Bye Kurt! You should so come by on Thursday night and play with us!"
As Kurt wandered down the hallway to the room with — yup, there was the unicorn, he thought to himself just how much like Brittany Emily was. Wiser, maybe, but clearly they were sisters.
Opening the door to Brittany's room, his first thought was that her room was not what he expected. He knew from Fondue for Two that the room was blue and flowery, but he was surprised at how clean it was. Nothing on the floor, the closet was organized... Despite how she looked today, this was definitely something he could work with. Now, to see what clothes were living in her closet...
By the time Brittany had showered and gotten all of the dozens of knots out of her hair, Kurt had picked what he deemed to be the best outfit he could throw together. Brittany's individual clothing items were colorful and fun. Also, on occasion, fuzzy. But so far as entire outfits went, there was definitely something to be desired. Kurt chalked the majority of this up to the fact that Brittany generally wore her Cheerios outfit to school.
When she entered her room, Kurt handed her a folded pile of clothing and told her to change. She had been gone for a while and Kurt was itching to get out and shop.
Brittany returned moments later in a light green and white striped shirt under a sheer royal purple off-the-shoulder top, with a pair of nondescript jeans and a purple oversized beret on her head. Kurt had not chosen headwear for her, but if she was going to leave her hair down, they could leave now. Pointedly ignoring her hat, he practically dragged her out of the house and to his car.
After a surprisingly uneventful ride to the mall, they wove through various clothing stores. Kurt noticed that with every new distraction, Brittany was quickly becoming the girl he was used to. And he realized that her taste in clothing was worse than he thought.
A good two hours into their excursion, they had accumulated a handful of bags each and wandered in the general direction of the food court. Stopping for food (here Kurt had to re-promise ice cream to Brittany), they found an open table where they were greeted by Blaine.
"Hey guys, fancy meeting you here." he sat down opposite Kurt, next to Brittany's collection of bags.
"Hi Blaine," Brittany offered monotonously. Blaine gave Kurt a perplexed look. The latter was temporary saved from explanation as Brittany's phone went off.
"Really, Brittany? Ke$ha? Really?" Kurt needed to find her some better music.
Both boys were shocked to see how quickly she scrambled to find it and answer it. They pretended to look over Kurt's purchases as they eavesdropped on Brittany.
"Hi! ...oh, yeah sorry. We're at the mall so it's like, really loud... Me and Kurt. Oh, and Blaine. We were buying clothes, but now we're eating. Kurt said I can have ice cream!... I know... I know, and I really wish you were here. But I'm super happy that you're happy and that everything is good so far..."
Blaine and Kurt knew who she was talking to from the get go, but if they hadn't, the frown that had etched itself on her face would have given it away. She looked sad again, as if all that retail therapy hadn't helped at all. Damn that Santana Lopez and her control of Brittany's precious little heart, Kurt thought.
"...no, I'm really happy you went. And you'll come back, right? For thanksgiving?" suddenly the blonde perked up. "Really?! Why didn't I think of that?...Totally! Em will really like it too..."
The boys, satisfied with whatever Santana was telling her, finally turned to mind their own business as the phone call continued. A few minutes later when they heard "all right... Totally. I love you too," they once again turned to her. Hanging up the phone, Brittany regarded Kurt.
"thank you, my precious unicorn, for making things better today. Today is like, the best day without Santana." neither Kurt nor Blaine had the heart to point out that she had thanked them pretty much because she had spoken to Santana, but at least she was happy. And now she was hugging them.
Having just eaten lunch, neither Kurt nor Brittany were hungry enough for ice cream. So he offered Brittany and Blaine the opportunity to visit the Hudson-Hummel house for movies and, if they got hungry, ice cream from the fridge. After assuring Brittany that they would have whipped cream and cherries, the trio headed to Kurt's.
His house had gotten lonely, lately. With Finn off at boot camp and Burt in Washington during the week, it was really just Carole and Kurt. While Kurt had grown to really appreciate her, he preferred a larger group in the house.
Carole had apparently gone shopping for groceries while he was gone, if the note she left on the counter was accurate. He didn't see why she bothered; it was really just the two of them. They could make do with whatever was in the fridge. Steering his friends into the family room, he flipped on the lights and looked around.
"So, movie time. I could list a thousand films worth watching, but what kind of host would that make me?" he offered as he gestured for Brittany and Blaine to take their pick of seats. Blaine opted for one end of the sofa and Brittany dropped onto the floor.
"Britt, you don't have to sit on the floor. If you don't like the sofa, there are two other, very comfortable I might add, recliners. The floor is not your friend."
The blonde gave him a weird look. "Have you ever even seen a movie before? The floor is the best spot! Also, can we have ice cream?"
"Brittany? Focus. Let's pick a movie, and then I will bring in the ice cream."
She thought for a moment, and then responded. "Do you have Lady and the Tramp? That one's my favorite." at that moment, Kurt was resisting the urge to slap a had to his forehead. Blaine, however, thought it was a fine idea.
"I agree with Brittany, really. It's a great way to start our afternoon movies. And it goes really well with ice cream."
Sighing, Kurt actually pulled the movie in question out from the very back of the bottom shelf holding the family's movie collection.
"Please, do not ask why I own this. As a matter of fact, Brittany, you can take it home. You start this, and Blaine and I will get us the ice cream."
With that, he dragged Blaine out to the kitchen.
"Remind me again why we're watching this ridiculous children's movie?" he asked, pulling out a mostly-full gallon of chocolate ice cream. "I hope she likes chocolate, cause that's all we have."
"We are watching that movie because you are doing an amazing job of cheering her up. From what you said she looked like this morning... And it's just one movie. She'll at least let us take turns picking out what we watch. Oh - didn't she want whipped cream and a cherry on hers?"
"No, this one is yours. Hers is over here."
Blaine looked at Kurt, and the ice cream, and moved in to kiss his boyfriend. Gently taking the ice cream, he pulled back and looked Kurt in the eyes.
"What you're doing for her? It's just amazing. Sure, it doesn't seem like much or mean much to you, but it means a lot to Brittany. And in its own way, that means even more to me."
"You do realize that now that you've said that, I'm going to have to find a way to keep Brittany completely occupied for the rest of the week, right?"
Kissing Kurt once more and grabbing Brittany's ice cream (now with whipped cream and a cherry), he walked out of the room, saying "I'm counting on that."
When Kurt had put everything away in the kitchen, he headed back into the living room. What he found in there was that Blaine had forsaken the sofa in favor of sitting on the floor with Brittany. She had her head on his shoulder, and they had the movie started.
Brittany gave Kurt an encouraging smile, and he caved and sat on the floor on her other side. She looked up at the tv, then to Blaine and Kurt respectively.
"This is Santana's favorite Disney movie." she explained. But she wasn't sad, really. Because she was sharing something that she loved, and that Santana loved (or perhaps really only tolerated, who knew?), with two boys that she also loved.
They watched other movies, too. Blaine wanted RENT, and Kurt wanted The Artist. By the time she left, the sun was long gone and she had little drips of chocolate ice cream on her shirt from when she tried to eat while laughing.
And Kurt and Blaine had told her they'd be by her place the next afternoon, no arguments, no exceptions.
So that's that. Questions, Comments, Suggestions - you know where they go. And hey - since you made it this far, thanks for giving this a shot!