It's not Artie's fault, Brittany muses as the boy in question presses a kiss to her cheek, his eyes too sorrowful for her to bear. Only Santana has looked at her with more misery barely hidden behind watery brown eyes.
And that's the problem really. Artie is kind, and giving and as supportive as he can be with the restraints of reality bearing down on him, but he's not Santana. He hasn't had the advantage of long, lazy summers and freezing winter nights; a childhood of memories that mean Santana gets Brittany in ways that nobody else ever could. He doesn't have the overwhelming physical appeal or the biting wit that make Brittany's heart pound, and he can't show her a level of vulnerability and intimacy that's reserved just for them because he's Artie not Santana, and he doesn't defend his heart and ego with the venomous aggression of a thousand angry Huns.
He's Artie not Santana, and so he indulges in clichéd romanctic gestures to make her happy, and they do, but Brittany still holds the moonlit night she spent feeding breadsticks to the local ducks with Santana dearer than every bunch of flowers, box of chocolates and ride to class Artie will ever bestow.
It doesn't mean as much when Artie sings to her, after all, he sings to everyone. Anyway, the rapidly screeched words to a rap song could never have the same impact as when Santana drags her into the empty choir room, all nervous smiles and quivering lips, and sings "Songbird" to her with every bit of the pent up emotion Brittany knows she feels for her.
Yes Artie is a wonderful boy, and in another world Brittany could have loved him, sometimes even she thinks she does, but he'll never be Santana. It's not something he's doing wrong, and it's not something he can fix for her, although she's sure he would if he could, and she can't break up with him for not being someone else, that's Santana's game. Anyway, she can't be Santana's dirty little secret anymore, she's temporarily breaking two hearts in order to heal them properly. Because, really, she and Santana are it, the final chapter, and everyone knows it, even if they don't realise that they do. In her own special brand of wisdom Brittany wonders if this is why Santana keeps fighting for her, while Artie always looks so sad.
Artie isn't Santana, and while that's not his fault it's not hers either.
Read and review please. Constructive criticism appreciated.