A/N: I thought of this after watching Valerie about..oh, I don't know...a hundred times? In any case, this is my first glee fanfic, so be gentle.
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or anything else that might get me sued.
I didn't know why Mr. Schuester gave me the solo. I mean, it really didn't make sense. Hadn't Mercedes and Tina been there for a lot longer and kissed a lot more ass than I had? Whatever, I just wrote it off as he finally saw how much better I was than the rest of these losers. Besides, it gave me another chance to piss Manhands off. The only thing better than Rachel Berry not getting a solo was me getting a solo instead of Rachel Berry. Man, my life was sweet.
Except, it wasn't. I was miserable.
I could probably give a hundred reasons for not being happy. It probably should've bothered me that everyone in glee seemed to be pairing off besides me. I probably should've cared that I was the start of the death of the golden couple that was Finn and Rachel. I really should have cared that all of the drama that I'd started could've cost us sectionals victory, but I didn't. All I cared about was that Brittany was drooling over the amazing wheelchair boy.
It seemed like nothing I could do would break them up. I'd told Artie that Brittany was using him. Sure, it was partially true, but it wasn't for the reasons I'd said. Of course, he believed me anyway, and broke things off with Brittany (because he's an idiot. Who in their right mind would hurt her? Well, besides me, but I was allowed). I thought that would be the end of it, but before I knew, he and Puck were asking us out on a double. I was all ready to call them out on their bullshit of being assholes to try to woo us, but I could see that Brittany actually looked like she was about to accept, so I went along with it. Better I play along and chaperone then let Artie have her all to himself...again.
I thought if I flirted with Puck and played dumb long enough, Brittany would start to get jealous or something, but she seemed to be actually enjoying herself. That just confused the hell out of me. How could she want Artie? He's, like, the polar opposite of me! He's dorky and shy and awkward...and he's in a fucking wheelchair! What did he have that I didn't?
Needless to say, I'd stopped really talking to Brit. Sure, we'd still sing together. There's something about music and singing and dancing that just draws us together. Our relationship wasn't the same, though. I wasn't the first person she called in the morning. I wasn't the last person she spoke to before she slept. We didn't hold pinkies anymore. Hell, she didn't even sit next to me in glee half the time. She'd give him this lovey-dovey look and plop down next to him. It was sickening. So, I did the only thing I could think of: I told Tina that Brittany and Mike were screwing, knowing she would go running to Artie.
It seemed like it was going to work. Brittany didn't deny the allegations, which was odd (and kind of had me worrying that they were true), but things were falling into place. I was sure that when we left the green room and Mr. Schue said something about something, but it seemed that the whole thing had brought them closer together. Something was said about a magic comb, and suddenly, Brittany was talking about how she wasn't going to be dancing for the audience. She was going to be dancing for him. I felt sick. While I was up there, singing my heart out, staring at her because she was like pure sexual energy when she danced, she was going to be dancing for him.
I sat through the Wonder Twins duet, waiting and dreading my moment in the spotlight. Well, our moment in the spotlight. It wasn't supposed to be like this. I mean, I had been the one to deny Brittany a duet in the first place, setting this entire twisted series of events into motion, but that didn't mean that I didn't want to have this moment with her. I'd imagined we'd get some pop number that I could belt and she could easily dance to, not that she'd be dancing for Artie.
I heard the opening start, and I felt Berry and Brittany on either side of me. I guess I was lucky that Rachel was more concerned with getting first place than revenge. With her so close, she could've actually gotten a decent shot in before I leveled her. Whatever, I wasn't super concerned with her anyway. Brittany, on the other hand...well, she was running her hands up and down my arms and through my hair. Nothing unusual there. It was what we'd rehearsed, but something about it felt different, like she was trying to tell me something. Then she did something that I hadn't been expecting.
She slapped my ass.
It shocked me so much I almost missed my cue, but I recovered. I don't think anyone noticed my slight hesitation (except for probably Brittany), so I went on with the song, singing to the crowd, and feeling for the second time in less than thirty seconds like something was off. I was doing the steps and playing it up for the crowd, but it didn't feel right. And then (again, just like we rehearsed), I found myself singing to and dancing with Brittany for just a second. And in that split second, I finally got it.
She was trying to make me jealous, trying to make me see that I did need her just as much as she needed me.
I'd seen it at first, when I turned her away, and she went running to Artie, who she'd barely even looked at. It was a pretty transparent effort, so it didn't phase me much. What did phase me is that she'd kept going out with him, and she'd kept her distance from me. I'd been so into making her jealous of Puck and making her chase me that I hadn't even realized that she'd totally flipped everything around on me. I wanted to laugh. People thought Brittany was the stupid one...
I realized something else. When she'd been talking to Artie backstage, about how she was going to be dancing for him, I'd read that wrong, too. I'd read it just like she'd wanted me to...how everyone that didn't understand how utterly brilliant Brittany was behind all that ditz and nonsense would have read it. Really, though, she was talking to me. She was telling me that she'd be dancing for me. I felt like singing the rest of the song straight to her, and if it weren't for the fact that it would have distracted from her moment in the spotlight, I would have.
The rest of the song was easy after my little revelation. Brit and I even managed to flirt a little between all my singing and all her flipping with Mike Chang. I was caught up in all of the adrenaline of performing and watching Brit dance, and when I looked over and saw Artie making stupid faces from his wheelchair, I couldn't help but feel a little bad for him. Once again, some boy had fallen for my Brittany, and just like all of the others, he was going to find out that she was just that: mine.
We got first, tied with Dalton, but that wasn't even important to me. I just wanted to get home so I could be with Brit again. When I got off the bus, I saw her and Artie having a heated discussion. Hey, he'd served his purpose, and now it was time for him to get gone. I walked away, giving her time to break things off, while I went home and changed.
A couple of hours later, I found myself on Brittany's porch, knocking on her door. She answered almost immediately.
"Do you get it now?" she asked.
I smiled and nodded. "Yeah, Brit. I get it."
"Good. You can come in, then." I walked past her and straight into her room. I knew what we would spend our night doing. I didn't need to desperately beg for forgiveness or confess my undying love for her, because she knew how I felt the moment I showed up at her door. There was time for the mushy stuff later. For now, I needed to make up for lost time...and remind her that no boy in a wheelchair could possibly please her more than I could.