"I'm proud of you."

Brittany turned around quickly, wiping at her eyes furiously.

Santana was there, leaning against the row of sinks next to wear Brittany was standing.

"Huh?"

Santana chuckled, stepping forward and bringing her hand up to clean off Brittany's smudged make-up. "I said, I'm proud of you. You're smarter than every one gives you credit for. Even me. That's what I was going to tell you in the hall, you know."

Brittany smiled, her cheek turning into Santana's palm. "What hall?" she asked, turning away from her best friend to reach for the paper towels.

"You know, when Karofsky, that Neanderthal, slushied me? I was going to tell you I was proud." As she spoke, Santana gently took the paper towels from Brittany's hands.

They stood in silence for a few moments as the Latina cleaned off the blonde. Brittany finally broke the silence. "He's my boyfriend. I was a last minute substitution. He's my teacher and he was shocked. I don't want to just be the stupid girl who says weird things. I don't want to be dumb."

Santana's heart broke, watching her friend say those words. I used to be one of them, I used to treat her this way, she thought.

Her fingers found Brittany's chin and she brought it up so that their eyes were level.

"Hey," she whispered, "Sometimes, I think you're smarter than me." She paused, taking a deep breath. "You're the one who realised what we were first, you saw what we could be. You're not stupid. You're the smartest girl I know. You're people smart."

"People smart. I like it," Brittany giggled. "Thanks, San, you mean the world to me."