Summary: One-shot. Now that they're all friends, Finn wants Brittany and Santana to double-date with him and Rachel. Brittany hates the idea, and lets Finn know why.
A/N: So, basically, I was re-watching "I Kissed A Girl" today, which got me in the mood for angry!Brittany, then this happened. Takes place a couple weeks after the events of that episode.
"Brittany, hey!"
He catches her at her locker between fourth and fifth periods. It's one of the few times she's by herself between classes, since Santana and Becky are having their daily briefing with Coach Sylvester. She sees him coming out of the corner of her eye and pretends not to notice him waving as she closes her locker and starts heading in the opposite direction.
"Hey, Brittany, wait up."
"Oh, hi Finn. I didn't see you." She doesn't even try to make it sound true, not that he notices.
"So, that test was pretty brutal, huh?" They just had Physics together. She wonders if he's been following her since class got out. That'd be creepy.
"Yeah, I guess." She thought it was actually pretty easy, but she doesn't need to bring that up. Either he actually thought it was hard, which wouldn't surprise her, or he assumed that she must have thought it was hard, which would surprise her even less. Either way, commenting on it would just turn into making small talk. She'd already done more talking to Finn Hudson than she'd like to in any given week.
"So, I was talking to Santana yesterday about maybe doing a double date sometime. We've gone with Kurt and Blaine a few times, but that always ends with them and Rachel arguing about who played the best Mama Rose and which Sondheim musical is the most iconic." His face gets kind of extra blank for a second, like he's having a traumatic flashback, then he smirks like he's expecting her to sympathize. It takes him wholly five seconds before he realizes she isn't going to. "Anyway, so Santana said, 'no,' because she thinks double dates are lame, but I was thinking maybe you could help me talk her into it."
"No." She starts walking towards her next class again, hoping he takes the hint and doesn't follow her.
"Come on, Brittany." So much for that. "Look, double dates are actually pretty fun. You'd be surprised."
"I know double dates are fun. We've hung out with Mike and Tina or Mercedes and Shane after nearly every game this season." She doesn't point out that, with the latter, she, Santana, and Mercedes spend most of the time talking about music stuff and that Shane doesn't have a problem just listening. "I just don't think going with you and Rachel is a good idea."
"Hey, what if I promise I'll make sure Rachel keeps the crazy in check? And, if Santana still gets annoyed, I'll help you hold her back when she goes all 'Lima Heights.'" He smirks again, probably thinking this is gonna be the part where they commiserate about their crazy girlfriends. He thinks they're on the same side, that they're a team, that they're gonna work together to convince her girlfriend to do something she already said she doesn't want to do.
She kind of wants to punch him.
Not for the first time, Brittany finds herself really wishing she were more like Santana. She wishes she could tell people how angry she is without worrying about hurting their feelings. Santana has never been afraid to tell people off. It's one of the many reasons that the two of them work so well together. While Brittany prefers to avoid confrontation, Santana has always been the first one out of her seat to yell about anything she doesn't like, and there's a lot that Santana doesn't like. At least, that's how it used to be.
For the past few weeks, Brittany's seen how her girlfriend has become so hesitant, how she's settled for rolling her eyes when a couple months ago she'd be standing up and screaming. She knows the passion's still there, that fire that Brittany first fell in love with, it's just that now it's hiding behind so much fear. Brittany knows why, too. For a split second, she wonders if Santana's ever going to be like she was before that day in that hallway, and that's enough for Brittany to stop caring whose feelings she hurts.
"Rachel's not the problem, you are. You hurt Santana and that's not okay with me." She knows her girlfriend would have said it with more flourish, but she at least got her point across.
"Look, all that stuff between me and Santana, we put it behind us. We got over it." There's something in the way he says that, like they'd both been equally hurt by the other, that nearly causes Brittany to snap. Suddenly, getting to her next class on time doesn't seem nearly as important.
"Of course you put it behind you. Nothing happened to you." She has to stop herself from screaming about how they're not over it, because it's not over for them. About how stupid and careless he was. About how, even if he's moved on, Santana is still dealing with it, between the Cheerio's boosters wanting her removed as co-captain and her grandmother not speaking to her and her parents pretending like nothing's wrong. "I know Santana's forgiven you; she needs friends right now more than she needs to hate you. That's okay, though, because I can hate you enough for both of us."
"Come on, you know that ad wasn't my fault." The way he says it, so exasperated, makes Brittany wonder if other people have been blaming him for it, too. If they are, they certainly haven't said anything to her about it. "Look, I don't want us to fight about this. We're supposed to be friends."
"Well, we're not. And this isn't just about the ad. You outed my girlfriend to a crowded hallway and told her that I didn't love her. That's not something friends do."
For the first time, he actually looks a little bit guilty. "Brittany, I-"
"You know, after it happened, she didn't want to tell me what you'd said. She even made the other Cheerios that heard it swear not to say anything. She said it was because it didn't matter and she didn't want me to be upset when I was focusing on my campaign, but I know it's because she was afraid you might be right. She believed that because guys like you have been telling her for years that she's not lovable, and no matter how many times I try to show her that it's not true, there's still a part of her that thinks it is." She has to stop herself from saying more, hating that she's told him even this much. The last time he knew something about Santana, something that mattered, he used it to destroy her to get the edge in some stupid singing competition. "You can't fix that by singing a song. Actually, you can't fix it at all, and I don't need you to. I don't need you to apologize or try to make it better; I just need you to leave us alone."
He keeps opening and closing his mouth. Brittany knows he's probably trying to figure out what to say, but she can't help thinking that he looks a lot like a dying fish trying to figure out how to breathe on dry land. On any other day, with any other person, she might feel bad about being the cause of that. Instead, she turns to walk to her class, relieved to see that Finn has figured out enough not to follow her.
She knows what Santana would say. That it's not worth worrying about, that there's no point being angry, that she doesn't even care anymore, because it's not like they can change anything. Brittany hates seeing her girlfriend so resigned, but she knows it's not a permanent change. It can't be, because Santana's always been a fighter and she'll be one again. In the meantime, though, Brittany can worry and Brittany can be angry and Brittany can care, for both of them if she has to.