Brittany pushed her way into the girls bathroom, sweat lacing her forehead as she giggled delightedly. She was about to splash some cool water over her boiled skin when she heard it; the distinctive sound of a female crying. The blonde looked up from the sink and glanced at her frazzled reflection in the mirror.

She had spent most of the night dancing with other people's dates, and between that and trying to keep Santana calm after losing prom queen, Brittany was happy to admit she couldn't wait to go home and snuggle up in bed next to Lord Tubbington.

The sobbing had quietened when she had entered. Brittany turned, lifting up the skirt of her dress as she bent at the knee and peaked under the bathroom stalls. On the third stall down, she found her.

Rachel Berry.

Brittany wasn't too sure it was the small diva at first, but once she had saw the pink ruffles of her dress, she was certain.

The blond stood straight once more, smoothing out her dress, and knocked on the stall's door. "Rachel?" she called.

The sobbing immediately stopped.

Brittany knocked again. "It's Brittany," she said, leaning her side against the door. "What's wrong, Rachel?"

More silence followed.

The blonde sighed. "If you're not going to come out, then I suppose I'll have to stand out here until you do. And that would be a real shame, because I was really looking forward to seeing Santana perform tonight."

Another moment passed before Rachel replied, "What do you want?"

"I want to talk."

"Talk, or humiliate me?"

"I don't want to humiliate you." Brittany shook her head. A uneasy feeling passed through her body. She didn't understand why Rachel would think she wanted to humiliate her. "I just want to talk - I promise. I'll even pinky swear!"

The blonde knelt down once more and stuck her pinky finger through the small gap in the bottom of the door. Seconds later, she felt a finger wrap around her own and do a small shake before pulling back. Brittany smiled, standing back to her feet as the stall door opened.

The sight of the small diva on the other side made Brittany's heart shatter. "Oh, sweets, what happened?" Brittany asked gently, coaxing the smaller girl towards the sinks.

Rachel's left cheek was swolen, an angry shade of red; her eyes puffy as tears tracked down her cheeks. The smaller girl shook her head, words catching in her throat.

The blonde sighed and reached behind Rachel to grab some hand towels. She ran one under the cold tap and brought it up to rest against Rachel's inflamed cheek. The brunette flinched upon contact, an action that left Brittany hating herself a tiny bit, but settled once she was sure Brittany was only trying to help. Brittany let Rachel hold the wet towel while she grabbed a dry one and tried her best to salvage the diva's make-up.

Once Brittany was finished, she put the paper towels in the waste basket and turned to the brunette. "Why don't you tell me what happened?" she asked.

Rachel looked hesitant, her wet eyes shielded behind a wall of uncertanty.

The blonde sighed, blowing through her lips as she leaned back against the sinks. "Looks like I won't get to see Santana perform," she mumbled.

Rachel took the wet paper towel from her cheek and placed it on the side of the sink. She looked up at Brittany, her eyes pained, and sighed. "Tonight was supposed to be perfect," she started, leaning against the sinks close to Brittany. "Jesse was supposed to be perfect. But, I guess perfect is only reserved for fairytails."

The blonde looked at the smaller girl. "What went wrong?"

"Finn," Rachel spat. "Finn went wrong. I used to think that I loved him, that he was my forever...but now I see the illusion was all in my head. It was just a silly school girl crush that blinded me from seeing the truth - Finn isn't nearly as perfect as the picture that I paint of him."

"What did he do? You know, besdies being the usual idiot." Brittany giggled. The blonde felt a jolt through her chest when she saw Rachel's mouth turn up at the corners just the smallest amount.

"He decided that he wanted me back," Rachel said, her features blank. "I think now, though, I finally see what Finn's problem is. He doesn't like seeing me happy. He doesn't want me, but no one else can have me. Because he wants me to stay the same girl I was a year ago, who only had eyes for him and would have done anything - for him."

"Boys are stupid," Brittany supplied. "Finn is stupid."

"Yes, well now I have no date." Brittany glanced at the shorter girl and Rachel supplied, "Jesse and Finn got into a fight which resulted in Sue kicking them out. And now Quinn blames me for her not getting prom queen. She hates me. Everyone hates me."

"I don't hate you," Brittany said, smiling down at the shorter girl. Rachel tried to smile back, but Brittany could sense it was forced, like she didn't believe a word the blonde had said. "So, I'm guessing that's what happened to your face: Quinn slapped you?"

Rachel nodded in response.

Brittany felt her heart shatter as she stared at the broken girl before her. She was mad at Quinn for slapping her, but mostly, Brittany was mad at herself for ever letting anyone wipe Rachel Berry's megawatt smile off her face. It didn't seem right when Rachel was sad.

"I just," Rachel stuttered. "I just wanted one night where I felt special, where I felt wanted."

Eventually, as Brittany decided she couldn't handle seeing Rachel's pain any longer, she reached out and grabbed the smaller girl's hand. At first, the brunette was startled, her barriers quickly building back up as she stared at the blonde in bewilderment. But as Brittany laced her fingers through Rachel's, a sincere smile warming across her face, she felt the small diva relax some.

"Tonight isn't over," Brittany declared, swinging their interlaced hands between them. The blonde felt a low flutter in her stomach at the contact of their skin.

Rachel stared at their entwined hands. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"I mean, there's still one last song and I won't be happy if you miss it. I'm asking you to dance with me, Rachel." Brittany tugged at the brunette's hand, slowly coaxing her towards the door.

"But, Santana-"

"Santana will be busy singing, and I'm tired of stealing other people's dates. If anything, you'll be doing me the favour." Rachel still did not budge. "Please," Brittany whined. "Don't make me beg, Rach."

Brittany felt Rachel's entire body stiffen at the sound of the nickname. The blonde paused, her heart rate excellerating as she wondered if she'd gone too far, too quickly.

But then Rachel did something unexpected.

She smiled. A wide, blinding smile that awakened the butterflies in Brittany's stomach and took her breath away.

"Okay," Rachel said.

Brittany giggled and pulled Rachel out of the girl's bathroom. The two girl's entered into the gymnasium, Brittany tugging at Rachel's hand to hurry her along. They shoved through crowds of people, heading towards the middle of the dance floor, as the intro for Dancing Queen sounded through the stereo's.

The entire student population was gathered around the middle of the dance floor as they watched Kurt and Karofsky face one another off. Brittany pulled to a stop once she had gotten to the front of the crowd and Rachel came to a stop beside her, their hands still entwined.

The blonde couldn't make much sense of the scene before her, and even less of what Karofsky said before he walked away from Kurt, shoving through the crowd to leave.

But then suddenly Blaine was standing next to Kurt, his hand outstretched as he asked, "May I have this dance?"

Kurt smiled and took Blaine's outstretched hand, and slowly they began to dance. Brittany cheered and Rachel clapped beside her, laughing.

As Santana and Mercedes started to sing, Brittany turned to Rachel and outstretched her hand. "May I have this dance?" she asked.

The tiny brunette laughed, making the imaginary butterflies in Brittany's stomach dance once more, before grasping her hand. Brittany laughed as she twirled Rachel out onto the dance floor. They pulled alongside Kurt and Blaine, who smiled at them curiously before going back to their own dance.

The world around Brittany seemed to blur, the music drownding out as suddenly the only thing she could focus on was the brunette in front of her; the beautiful, talented, amazing, yet strange and wonderful girl named Rachel Berry.

The blonde picked up Rachel's arms and draped them over her shoulders, and wraped her own arms around the brunette's slim waist, pulling her body closer.

Behind Rachel's head, Brittany saw Santana looking at them with a heated intensity. Quinn, who danced beside her, noticed this too and turned to look in their direction. Her lips immedietly turned down as she exchanged a confused look with Santana.

Brittany felt a deep swirl in her gut. She didn't want either girls to be angry with her, she couldn't stand the thought. But she pushed her own feelings aside for one night as she decided to focus on the small girl she held in her grasp.

And it was in that moment that Brittany decided this: she never wanted to see Rachel Berry cry again.