Santana never says "I love you".
During the day, she'll say hundreds of different things to Brittany.
"Let's go to the mall after school."
"God, did you see what man-hands is wearing?"
"What's the answer to number three?"
"I like you better than ducks, Brittany. You're cuter."
But never "I love you".
And during those few, stolen sweet moments in her bed, Santana will breathe all sorts of things into Brittany's ear.
"Do it, Brit."
"Harder."
"Oh, god, baby, I love your mouth."
"Fuck me!"
But never "I love you".
Brittany asked her a few times, why she never said it. Santana was just Santana, laughing it off and hugging Brittany, muttering something about it being just three little words that were useless, that should go unsaid.
"You know how I feel about you, Brittany," she'd say, with an arm slung around Brittany's neck.
And ordinarily Brittany would be disappointed, but would just sink back into herself, closing her eyes and imagining Santana saying those words to her. She'd think about breaking it off, telling Santana that she wouldn't be available for any more late-night trysts when Santana could sneak out and climb the tree outside Brittany's house into her bedroom. She'd try to think about what her life would be like, without Santana but finding someone who wasn't afraid to use the word "love" in conjunction with her. She wondered if ducks knew what love was.
But then she's sitting in the choir room listening to Kurt belt out a song, and she feels a nudge against her arm. She knows the pinky is there, knows it without even seeing it, and she links. She can just see Santana's smile, and then she actually is feeling something, feeling Santana's soft, warm weight as the girl leans her head against Brittany's shoulder. And Brittany rests her cheek on Santana's head, and screw ducks because this is better.
Santana never says "I love you," but it's ok… Brittany knows.