True Love's Kiss
Ok, so I've been reading an insane amount of Brittana fanfics during the hiatus and this is my first shot at trying to write one myself. I tried not to make Artie a creep or anything because, I think he really is an admirable character and that he cares about Brittany... She's just not meant to be with him. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy ;)
Disclaimer: All Glee characters belong to Fox Network. All the songs are the property of Disney. Mr. Shuester sings Why Should I Worry from Oliver and Company. Finn sings So Close from Enchanted. Santana sings I Won't Say I'm in Love from Hercules.
Chapter 1: I Won't Say I'm In Love
Santana sat in the corner of choir room leaning on Sam's shoulder, gazing at the tall blonde from the corner of her eye, with something more akin to longing than her usual scowl. It was Monday morning and the Glee kids were gathered in their usual groups discussing their weekends. Sam went on and on excitedly about his weekend, completely oblivious to the Latina's obvious disinterest. Mr. Shue then waltzed into the room, visibly enthusiastic to announce their new assignment for the week. He energetically scribbled a word onto the board.
"Disney!" he exclaimed. "What comes to mind when you hear this word?"
"Princesses!" beamed Brittany.
"Ohhhh Belle's ball gown..." started Quinn.
"Jasmine's hair..." contributed Santana.
"...Aladdin's abs!" said Tina a little louder than she should have, receiving an amused glance from Mike.
Mr. Shue cleared his throat breaking the awkward silence and continued.
"For many of us, Disney movies represent childhood. The songs of Disney musicals are classics, and I am sure that several of your first performances took place in front of your TV screens singing along to your favorite Disney pieces. So, this week your assignment will be to choose a Disney song that represents you and perform it right here. It can be a solo or a duet, whatever you want." He paused for a moment before adding, "I just want you to recapture that pure joy of singing and performing. If we can do that, we'll be right track to winning Nationals!"
"Mr. Shue," asked Puck, "does it absolutely have to be Disney? I mean, no offense, but Disney was never really my thing."
"If you really don't feel comfortable, just pick a song from your childhood, something that brings back your love of performing. I think everyone should be able to find something they feel comfortable with though."
"From Disney? Mr. Shue, all those songs are about loooove, and dreams, and whatever. It's not really guy stuff!" said Puck as the girls loudly protested.
"Reeeeeaaally? Well, lets just see about that huh?" mr. Shue replied challengingly. Then, looking over at the band, he characteristically cued "Hit it!"
As the band began to play, Mr. Shue slipped on a pair of sunglasses before starting to sing.
One minute I'm in Central Park!
Then I'm down on Delancey Street
Smiles and laughter went around the room as the students recognized the tune.
From the Bow'ry to St Marks, huh
There's a syncopated beat
Finn skipped joyfully to the drums and started to sing with mr. Shue.
Whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo
I'm streetwise
I can improvise
Mr. Shuester began to dance around the room as he and Finn harmonized.
Whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo
I'm street-smart
I've got New York City heart
Why should I worry?
Why should I care?
Say, I may not have a dime
But I've got street savoir-faire
As the chorus went on, all of the Glee kids started dancing around to the song (even Puck!) Mercedes gave mr. Shue a smile as she sang the rest of the chorus.
Why should I worry?
Why should I care?
It's just bebopulation
And I've got street savoir-faire
The rhythm of the city
Oh once you get it down
Then you can own this town
You can wear the crown!
Why should I worry?
Tell me, why should I care?
Say, I may not have a dime
But I've got street savoir-faire
Why should I worry?
Why should I care?
It's just bebopulation
And I've got street savoir-faire
Quinn and Rachel chimed in as mr. Shue passed by them.
(Everything goes, everything fits)
They love me at the Chelsea
They adore me at the Ritz!
The entire club harmonized at the outro.
Why should we worry?
Why should we care?
And even when we cross that line
We've got street savoir-faire
Everyone laughed together as the song concluded. Puck nodded in defeat as the bell rang.
"Whooo! Yeah! That's what I'm talking about!" exclaimed mr. Shue, "Everyone work on your songs and we'll start performances tomorrow!"
...
Brittany saw Santana walk past her in the hall, her head held high, Sam at her side, and it made her uncomfortable. Santana avoided Brittany's pleading puppy-dog eyes as she passed her, ignoring her completely. Brittany turned back to Artie.
"Do you want to sing a duet for the Glee assignment?" he asked her, while she searched her locker for her Spanish book. "We could do A Whole New World. I know how much you love Aladdin."
"Do you think Santana'll sing a duet with Sam?" she answered absent-mindedly.
"You really miss her don't you? Why has she been ignoring you Brittany?" he asked, genuinely curious. "I mean she's always been kind of a biatch but I thought you guys were really close..."
"Yeah..." was her only answer.
She closed her locker and pushed her concerned boyfriend to his next class, looking down at her feet sadly, not noticing the latina glancing back at her from the other end of the hall...
...
"Are you and Brittany fighting or something?" Quinn whispered, leaning closer to Santana's desk.
"What?" questioned Santana, visibly irritated.
For her only response, Quinn turned to Brittany whose chin rested on her palm, a puppy-dog expression still etched across her face. She then turned back to Santana, catching a fleeting look of regret.
"What's going on?" Quinn pressed on.
Santana sighed, "Just stay out of it Fabray," she replied much less convincingly.
"Whatever you did, you should try and patch things up with her. Seeing her this sad freaks me out. Yesterday, I asked her if she wanted to go to Breadstix and she started crying and mumbling something about dolphins..."
"Why do you assume I did something?" Santana replied, growing increasingly annoyed.
Quinn raised her eyebrow and glared at Santana incredulously. "Fix it!" she added.
This time, Santana paused before answering. It pained her to see her best friend, the girl she now knew she was ridiculously in love with, so hurt...but Brittany had hurt her first! And for what? For little mr. Stubbles McCripplePants? Just the thought of it made her blood boil!...Still, as hard as it had been to even be in the same room these as Brittany these last few weeks, after what had happened, seeing her like this made her feel maybe even worse.
"I don't know how..." she finally answered feebly.
"You could sing her a song in Glee club," Quinn suggested, softening, "if there's one thing Brittany loves, it's Disney...well, Disney and you."
Santana couldn't keep but blush at this assumption.
"Alright fine! But you're going to help Tubbers!" she retorted embarrassed at the emotion she was displaying.
"Suuuuure, since you ask sooooo nicely," Quinn answered, a smug grin plastered on her face.
...
The next day, Santana marched into the choir room followed closely by Mercedes and Quinn. Brittany was sitting in the front row, staring at her feet, no longer expecting to receive any kind of attention from the Latina, when...
"Hey Brit-Brit!" called a familiar voice.
Brittany looked up, unable to hide the endearing mixture of surprise and joy that her expression conveyed. Santana giggled and gave her a warm smile as she walked towards her, but before she could reach her, she was cut off by Artie...
"Hey Santana, can we talk?" he asked, looking as serious as she'd ever seen him.
Santana looked down at him and gave him a scowl. "What wheelie? I needz to talk to Britts, so unless it's reallyyy urgent, I must urge you to get outta my way!"
"Actually, it can't wait," he replied coldly.
Santana glanced over at Brittany again who was now looking confused and disappointed as her eyes shifted from Artie to Santana, frowning her eyebrows.
Santana sighed, "Whaaat is it?"
Artie hesitated a moment and answered, "It's about Brittany...Can we go somewhere?"
Santana rolled her eyes, and reticently followed Artie out of the room, looking back at Brittany. Artie led her down the hall and into an empty classroom.
"Alright wheelie, this had better be good," she said firmly, arms crossed over her chest and hip cocked to one side.
"You need to stay away from Brittany," he began calmly.
Santana just raised her eyebrow and gave him a look that had "you can't be serious" written all over it.
"Aren't you going to say anything?" Artie asked challengingly.
"I'm waiting for the excruciatingly long and ridiculous explanation I'm sure your cripple little brain has come up with to convince me to do something that I really don't wanna do," she answered, her stance not weakening in the least.
"You're no good for her Santana. You can't take care of her. You're unstable. You're up, you're down, you're all over the place and you drag Brittany along with you! She's so sweet and innocent. She needs someone who will look out for her and not just for number one!" He paused for a moment, thrown off by Santana's reaction to his speech, or lack thereof, and continued weakly, "I know you guys fooled around...and I forgive her for that. What I don't forgive is you using her like that, convincing her that cheating's ok just so that you can have your fun with her and then drop her when you've had enough, when it's not convenient to you anymore! You're messing with people's feelings Santana!"
At this, Santana's eyes flashed and she finally reacted. Her retaliation was sharp, immediate and well-calculated. Artie receded in his chair, clearly overpowered by the Latina.
"Ok, first of all, it's extremely offensive that you actually believe Britt is that freakin' naive. I didn't con her into anything. Believe it or not, she's a big girl, she makes her own decisions and she knew exactly what she was doing. Second of all, did it ever cross your mind that what she needs isn't someone who can cradle her and treat her like a toddler, but someone who's willing to push her? You're her boyfriend Artie, not her daddy, so get over yourself! P.S. I would never use Brittany! She's the only person in this sorry school worth talking to! Now are you finished? 'Cause I'd really like to get back to Glee practice now."
A flash of worry swept Artie's face for a moment as she leaned down next to his wheel chair and added. "Oh and next time, you might want to actually get Brittany's side of the story instead of just assuming that you know everything about everyone 'cause news flash, Cripples, there's a lot about Britts that you don't know, a hell of a lot more about me, and you don't know squat about us!"
With that, Santana stood back up, proud as ever, turned on her heels and walked out, leaving a bewildered Artie behind her.
...
Finn was already setting up for his number by the time Santana walked back into the choir room. She saw that Quinn and Mercedes were sitting on the second row. However, after giving them a nod as she came in, she opted to sit next to Brittany in the front. The blond looked at her questioningly, but Santana remained silent and simply raised her pinky between them, her expression still stern from the previous conversation. Brittany eyed it for a moment and, to Santana's surprise, didn't take it in hers but wrapped her arms around her friend's neck instead, placing a quick peck on her cheek.
"I missed you San," she whispered into the Latina's ear.
She flushed and whispered back, "I missed you too Britt..."
Artie wheeled into the room at that moment, his expression cold and unreadable. He smiled weakly at his girlfriend before settling at the end of the row next to Finn's empty seat. The room quieted as Finn introduced his number.
"I'd like to dedicate this song to my girlfriend, Quinn," he said with a smile. Quinn looked back at him lovingly, relieved by the long-awaited declaration of their relationship to the rest of the club. Finn cleared his throat as Tina began to play the piano.
You're in my arms
And all the world is calm
The music playing on for only two
So close together
And when I'm with you
So close to feeling alive
Rachel glanced back and forth between Finn and Quinn, a mix of envy and longing in her eyes as tears gathered in them.
A life goes by
Romantic dreams must die
So I bid mine goodbye and never knew
So close was waiting, waiting here with you
And now forever I know
All that I want is to hold you
So close
So close to reaching that famous happy ending
Almost believing this one's not pretending
Now you're beside me and look how far we've come
So far, we are, so close
How could I face the faceless days
If I should lose you now?
We're so close
To reaching that famous happy ending
Almost believing this one's not pretending
Let's go on dreaming for we know we are
So close, so close, and still so far
As the song concluded, Quinn got up and walked to Finn. She slipped her arms around him and reached up as he leaned in to kiss her adoringly. Rachel looked away. The rest of the club applauded.
"That was great!" mr. Shue encouraged, "Lets all give Finn another round of applause! Whooo! Now, who wants to go next?"
"I'll go mr. Shue," Santana volunteered, to everyone's surprise.
"Alright, great! Show us what you got," invited mr. Shue.
Santana walked to the front, Mercedes and Quinn behind her, and winked at Brittany who returned a smile. She nodded to the band and started singing.
If there's a prize for rotten judgement
I guess I've already won that
Nobody's worth the aggravation
That's ancient history,
Been there, done that
As she sang those last few lines she waved dismissively at Sam and Puck. Quinn and Mercedes chimed in as the song continued, Santana taking the lead and the two other girls acting as her conscience. They danced in sync as Santana walked around the room gesturing. They teased and flipped her around throughout the performance, making her face Brittany.
(Who'd ya think you're kiddin'
She's the Earth and heaven to you
Try to keep it hidden
Honey, we can see right through you
Girl, ya can't conceal it
We know how ya feel and
Who you're thinking of)
No chance, no way
I won't say it, no, no
(You swoon, you sigh
why deny it, uh-oh)
It's too cliché
I won't say I'm in love
I thought my heart had learned its lesson
It feels so good when you start out
My head is screaming get a grip, girl
Unless you're dying to cry your heart out
Oh
(You keep on denying
Who you are and how you're feeling
Baby, we're not buying
Hon, we saw ya hit the ceiling
Face it like a grown-up
When ya gonna own up
That ya got, got, got it bad)
No chance, no way
I won't say it, no, no
(Give up, give in
Check the grin you're in love)
This scene won't play,
I won't say I'm in love
(You're doin flips, read our lips
You're in love)
(Shoo doo, shoo doo)
You're way off base
I won't say it
(She wont say it, no)
Get off my case
(Shoo da, shoo da)
I won't say it
(Girl, don't be proud
It's okay you're in love)
Oh, at least out loud
I won't say I'm in love
(Sha la lalalala, aah)
Brittany jumped up and applauded enthusiastically. The rest of the club laughed and cheered at the performance. The girls took their seats as the applause died down. Santana then leaned over to Brittany.
"Did you like it?" she whispered.
"I loved it!" the blonde responded, beaming.
"It was for you Britts," Santana added, looking into Brittany's eyes.
To this, Brittany didn't say anything, but leaned her head onto the Latina's shoulder, a content expression on her face. Santana was smug with achievement as she linked their pinkies together.
Artie stared at them from afar, lost in thought, wondering what his next move ought to be. He wasn't going to buy into any of Santana's games, even though he couldn't for the life of him figure out what she was playing at...