A/N: Sorry about the delay – exam study has taken over my life. Prizes are still on the way. No winners from last chapter... good luck for next time!
The only thing she's certain of is that the DVD isn't hers. She packed her bags herself and unpacked them at the other end and the DVD case was definitely not in there. She doesn't recognise the writing on the case, not that it means much, because she wouldn't be able to recognise any of Brittany's friends handwriting.
She waits for the blonde to leave, not even listening to her rambling as she grabs her bag and the goodbye she throws over her shoulder as she pulls the dorm door shut behind her. As soon as she can hear Brittany's footsteps walking away, she grabs her laptop and slides the DVD into the drive, her fingers drumming impatiently as she waits.
A million scenarios run through her mind. It could simply be a burnt DVD that Mike gave Brittany as a thoughtful gift, or it could be some DVD that Puck left here from that disastrous time he crashed on the floor.
As the DVD loads and Mike's face flashes on the screen, all she can feel is relief that she waited for Brittany to leave before pressing play.
"Happy Birthday Britt", Mike says softly, a smile lighting up his face. "I know you aren't in the mood for celebrating but we love you so we aren't taking no for an answer. We didn't know what to get you so I came up with the idea of a DVD with messages from all of us, and Santana organised the rest"
At the mention of her name, the camera wavers and then steadies itself as Santana appears to hand the camera over to someone else and shove Mike a little before settling in the center of the screen.
"God Chang, anyone would think you were a chick. Man up before Britt dumps you for a real guy", Santana teases, successfully ignoring Mike's protests. "Anyways B, the ninja is right. You're family Britt and we're gonna celebrate your goddamn birthday no matter what"
"Santana..." Matt says warningly from his spot behind the camera.
"Matt, we agreed that whoever holds the camera has to be silent so shut it", she hisses, her eyes narrowing. "Let me record my best friend's birthday message in peace"
Mike frowns but says nothing and the camera shakes slightly before zooming in on Santana's face. "Back to the point... Happy Birthday Britt! I know you don't feel like celebrating and I don't blame you but we've had a tradition for years now and I guess I feel kinda empty because we won't be going to the zoo this year", she explains, reaching out to hit Mike as he sniggers. "I couldn't just sit back and do nothing for your birthday. We've already lost Fabray and Puckerman's on the way to joining her", she growls, clearly angry over Puck's actions, "and you can't be the next person I lose"
The camera zooms back rapidly as Santana starts to cry and a frightened looking Mike jumps in. "What she means is that it's been hard on all of us. You may feel like none of understand and you're right. We don't understand. We want to though"
"You just have to let us in Britt", Matt says quietly from behind the camera, and Santana's head snaps up, her tears wiped away.
"God, you sentimental idiots, we're supposed to be happy and celebrating, not all mopey and tearful", Santana lectures. "Sorry Britt, I can't keep these guys in line. This was supposed to be all happy and stuff, with us talking about our favourite memories with you but Chang and Rutherford here had to ruin it".
The video fades out as Santana hits Mike around the head but the video is far from over.
The next clip lights up the screen quickly. The camera is focused on Santana's face, and if she squints, she can see Matt and Puck just to her right.
"And we're here for Brittany's dance recital!" she exclaims happily. "B's going to be beyond amazing!"
There's a chuckle from behind the camera which she recognises as Mike's, and Santana's smile quickly fades away. "Why are you focusing the camera on me? Britt's about to start dancing"
The camera swings around to focus on the stage but she can still hear Santana threatening Mike with violence if he misses even a second of Brittany's performance.
The camerawork is slightly dodgy, with lots of quick zooms as Mike attempts to close in on Brittany's face, but one thing is clear: Brittany's an amazing dancer.
The crowd rises to their feet to give her a standing ovation and she can hear Santana and Mike screaming that Brittany is their best friend and girlfriend respectively.
The clips are short and fast. Brittany showing off her dance moves while Santana sings in the background and Mike twirls around with her. Santana laughing as Brittany tells a story about her dance class that day. Puck frowning as Brittany tries to pull him to his feet to dance. Brittany teaching Santana and Matt and Puck and Quinn how to do the waltz.
The screen fades into black for a few seconds before Santana's face flickers back onto the screen. "Hey Britt, it's me again. I know you probably have no idea why all these dance clips were on here, and it's probably made you really sad so I'm here to explain. Chang's idea was to just have clips of us saying what we liked most about you and I said I'd organise all of it, including the editing because I had a better idea and I knew he wouldn't agree if I told him. I felt like I had to do this because you can't be the next person I lose; I won't allow it. Watching you grieve is killing me Britt... god, it's getting so bad I've hijacked your birthday project to guilt you into feeling better. I just want you to realize that there's more to your life than dancing B... a whole lot more"
Santana fades off the screen again, replaced by more clips, this time having nothing to do with dancing. Teenage Brittany learning how to drive while teenage Santana shrieks and jumps out of the way. Santana and Brittany giving Puck a Mohawk while he sleeps. Brittany getting ready for her first date with Mike. Matt teaching Brittany how to fly her kite; Puck buying her ice-cream; Quinn brushing her hair... flashes of their lives together flickering over the screen until it once again fades to black.
Happy Birthday Brittany! appears on the screen, followed by don't tell anyone about this B... they thought we scrapped the DVD idea after the first recording session was such a disaster.
Her hands shaking, she ejects the DVD and places it back in its case before standing up and managing to flick it back on top of the wardrobe. She walks slowly back to the bed, her mind reeling, and as she settles back down, she sees a flash of blonde hair out of the corner of her eye.
Brittany.
"Brittany..."
"I just realized I left my wallet and I really need it cos San and I were gonna go and grab lunch together", the blonde says softly as she digs through the handbag she wore yesterday.
"It's on the desk", she replies, guilt swirling around her stomach. "Britt... can we talk?"
"We don't have to Rachel. You saw a DVD on the top of the wardrobe and you watched it because you were curious. There's nothing else to say"
"I shouldn't have done it Brittany".
"You could have just asked me anything you wanted to know. I would have told you. You didn't need to go behind my back to find out about my past"
"It wasn't intentional. I wasn't deliberately trying to find out about what happened in your life. I found the DVD while putting my bag away and I didn't recognise the writing on the front, and I couldn't stop thinking about what could possibly be on there".
"The writing is Santana's. She gave me the DVD as a birthday present during the worst year of my life. It was the worst year I've ever struggled through but the best birthday I've ever had", Brittany explains, her eyes trained on the floor. "She left the DVD on my desk the night before and told me to watch it as soon as I got up. She managed to time everything perfectly because the second the video finished, she came tumbling into my room, her arms filled with teddy bears".
"That's really sweet Britt", she says softly, her eyes staring at her roommate, willing her to look up.
"She said that because I didn't want to go to the zoo, she'd bring the zoo to me. She set up a mini zoo around the room and locked the door so no one could interrupt and we spent the day laughing and messing around with the stuffed animals she brought. At the end of the day, she told me to pick my favourites to keep and she took the rest of them with her. I picked the penguin and the tiger and when I went to put them on my bed after she left, I realized that they had notes pinned to their ears, telling me how amazing and special I was and that there was more to me than just dancing"
"Brittany, that's beautiful".
"I was back to my mopey self the next day and then Puck turned around and yelled at me, and I yelled back and I know he thinks we fixed each other, and I suppose we sort of did, but really, it was San. She fixed me"
"If you don't mind me asking, what actually happened?"
"I was at dance rehearsals. I'd taken time off after high school so that I could train for dance until I was good enough to get into Julliard. The stage was still wet and I slipped and fell off of it, shattering my knee. They managed to repair most of the damage so I'm able to walk but I haven't been able to dance since. I got really depressed and struggled with everything for a while cos I was always planning to be a dancer but I'm okay with it now. I have amazing friends and I'm happy and I may not be able to dance but I came here instead and I'm glad because if I had gone to Julliard, I would never have met you"
"It seems like we were meant to meet Brittany. I actually had a scholarship for Julliard, for dance and theatre – mainly musical theatre - but I got into a car accident on the way to my graduation party. I suffered from some pretty nasty burns and I broke my back, so I had to learn how to re-walk, and by the time I was healthy enough to fulfil my scholarship, my voice was scratchy, my dancing was weak and my acting was subpar, so now I'm here, studying to become a publisher".
Brittany doesn't say anything, choosing to throw her arms around Rachel instead of continuing with the conversation. It feels nice to be able to share parts of her story with a person of her choosing instead of them going behind her back and researching her.
"I just had the best idea Rach! Mike's dad has this house by the beach that he lets us borrow whenever we need a break. I'll call him and ask him if we can borrow it this weekend and you, me, San, Quinn, Mike, Matt and Puck will all drive down and stay there. San can make cocktails and Quinn's really good at face-masks and Matt makes the best potato salad. Puck can bring some music and we'll have a bonfire on the beach with those little red cups that the people in the movies always drink from. It'll be amazing!"
She forces a smile on her face at Brittany's enthusiasm but her heart sinks. She doesn't want to be around Puck, and she has no idea how she's going to be able to convince Brittany to let her stay home.
Despite all of that, she has far bigger problems. Brittany's expecting them to drive there, and she gets terrified even stepping foot in a car – hell, a fifteen minute taxi ride has her on the edge of her seats, her mind already imagining what could possibly happen.
This isn't going to end well.
A/N: If anyone can guess my least favourite Glee couple and one of my three most favourite Glee couples they win a one-shot of their choice or the right to ask any question. Have fun guessing!