What Comes Next?
By: TracyCook
Disclaimer: I own nothing. These characters belong to the creator of Glee.
Couple: Brittany/Rachel
Authors Note: Song is Kelly Clarkson's You Love Me! :)
Rating: M
Chapter 2
You Love Me
Brittany had not expected practicing with Rachel to have been as enjoyable as it had been. She also had not expected her to choose such a new and upbeat song for their duet. When you put the brunette in control usually that was what she did, take control, but this time it seemed she had chosen the song purely for Brittany to sing to Santana. Was she still completely annoying and bossy while they were practicing the song? Of course she was. Did she still force her to tone down the sexuality in the dancing? Yes. Still, it was endearing that she went to such an effort to help her out.
Santana and Puck had just finished their song which in her opinion had far too much flirting involved. Despite the ache in her chest she clapped for them both smiling brightly at the Latina as she walked back to the chair beside her in the back of the room, taking her seat. "That was amazing San."
"Thanks." She stated smugly before crossing her legs and looking toward the center of the choir room. "You and manhands are up next." Her voice held spite which did not go unnoticed by the blonde.
"Yeah." Brittany whispered softly as she cast her blue eyes toward the confident brunette who was already standing up and excitedly rushing toward the center of the room. Staring up at her with large impatient and eager brown eyes as she waited for her to join her.
"Good luck B."
"Thanks." She said with a smile as her heart skipped a beat. It seemed that things were finally returning to normal between the two of them, which she was grateful for.
As Brittany reached the front of the room she could feel her nerves building up as she realized that the song they were about to perform could once again make Santana upset with her. 'Maybe I should have just gone with a Broadway song that Rachel chose… San is not going to like what she hears… she hates when I display my feelings to her…'
Sensing the blonde's anxiousness Rachel flashed a large toothy grin her way which earned a small smile in return. Reaching up she placed a hand on Brittany's arm before moving in to speak to her softly, so that only the two of them could hear it. "I can tell that you are nervous, but you shouldn't be. You did an amazing job while we were rehearsing. Your voice truly has improved in every aspect, and although you do still on occasion miss a note, with practice that will no longer be an issue."
Honestly Brittany did not know if she should feel flattered by the compliments or hurt by the insults, she supposed that in the perfectionist's world that was as close to a compliment as she was going to get. "Thanks. I'm worried about San." She admitted shocking even herself at the comfort she felt talking about it with Rachel.
"Oh. I see." Naturally she had been worried about the song itself.
"I hope she doesn't get mad at me." She mumbled in her monotone voice, the sorrow evident on her face.
"Perhaps she will get upset momentarily Brittany, but I for one wholeheartedly believe that this is something that she needs to hear from you." Glancing at the blonde she saw that her words had done little to encourage her or cheer her up and chewed on her bottom lip. This was not something she did frequently. "Even if she initially gets upset with our performance this may open her eyes to what she is missing out on in the long run. It never hurts to give it a try." The brunette could practically see the wheels turning in the cheerleader's head as she came to the conclusion that she was correct, which she usually was, and then she returned the smile.
"You're right. Thanks Rach."
"Anytime." She said her smile spreading across her face as she gave Brittany's arm one last squeeze before telling the band to start and preparing for the song. She was excited as always, singing was the only time that she felt complete. Singing was her one true passion and love. As the music started her smile only grew as she gave one last look toward her duet partner flashing two 'thumbs up' signs her way.
Once again the blonde was overwhelmed by the cute gesture and she found herself returning it with a wink before preparing herself for the choreography as the music filled the choir room.
"Thick skin, soft touch,
Heart of gold but it's na-na-na-not enough."
Brittany sang the words staring directly up at Santana as she did so, they completely reminded her of the Latina and how she treated her. It seemed that she was always giving and never receiving in return, the scowl that formed on those beautiful lips almost made her lose her composure but she quickly regained it moving around the room and performing matching dance moves with Rachel.
"Forgiving arms, the higher road,
Working hard but it's na-na-na-not enough."
Rachel belted the words out to no one in particular though she did find that they reminded her of herself and Finn. Her dancing was not as fluid as the blonde's but she was trying to make it look as sensual as she moved toward the other girl in order to sing the next part together, facing each other. The idea was to appear hostile and angry to one another due to the nature of the song.
"You said I'm not good enough, I'm not good enough,
But what you really mean is you're not good enough, you're not good enough,
You can't deliver so you turn it around!"
As the two of them moved closer to each other and started to dance around in a predatory circle they both locked eyes and realized their close proximity, even with a foot height distance Brittany found her eyes glued to those mesmerizing passion-filled browns. Nearly forgetting the words as she stared into them, completely forgetting why she was singing the song.
Little did she know that Rachel was experiencing the same problem as she stared into emotional blues. Being a professional singer trained to ignore any thoughts or feelings that got in the way of her performance though, the brunette quickly turned away from the blonde and continued on with the next part of the song which they both were going to sing facing the class. The idea was for Brittany to sing it to Santana after all.
As the eye contact was broken the cheerleader quickly remembered they were in the middle of the song and who she was singing to, she pushed the blush away and turned looking the Latina straight in the eyes as she did so.
"You didn't let me down,
You didn't tear me apart,
You just opened my eyes,
While breaking my heart,
You didn't do it for me,
I'm not as dumb as you think,
You just made me cry,
while claiming that you love me.
You love me, you love me,
You said you loved me
but that I'm not good enough!"
Santana was infuriated as she watched the display; the words of the song were almost cruel. 'Too cruel for Brittany to have come up with without some encouragement from the hobbit that's for sure.' Wearing a scowl she glared over at the brunette deciding she would have to do something about her if she corrupted her woman, before glancing back toward the blonde who was singing directly at her.
She didn't know if she was more hurt by the words or embarrassed by the public display of emotional affection toward her, because she was well-aware of the eyes of their classmates on her and it was irritating.
"Stronghold, but fun ride,
But rollercoasters are just na-na-na-not enough."
The blonde sang out with more passion than she ever had in a performance for glee club. Usually she stuck to popular music avoiding her emotions, but right now she could feel them building up as tears filled her eyes. She was so tired of being treated bad, she wanted to be loved, and she deserved to be loved right.
"I keep it in, you wear me out,
This kind of love is na-na-na-not enough."
Rachel belted out the words to the song with ease, taking some liberties with the original in order to showcase her talent. It was something that she did often. Finn called it going over the top; she called it making a good thing better.
"You said I'm just a sinking ship, I'm just a sinking ship,
But what that really means,
Is you can't handle this, you can't handle this,
You couldn't win and so you turn it around!"
Once again the two girls moved to the center to finish the song singing together, trying to appear angry when both were far from angry. Brittany was on the verge of tears and Rachel was worried about her, and about their duet suffering due to it as well. Although truthfully she had never heard the blonde cheerio sing so well.
"Your love feels different.
It's like a blow to the head with your compliments!
Your love hurts deeper.
It's like a brick in the sea and I'm drowning with it!"
'What the hell is going on here… do Brittany and Rachel have something going on?' Quinn wondered as she watched the duet, the two of them seemed to be getting caught staring into each other's eyes a little too often for her comfort. Crossing her arms over her chest she squinted her eyes watching the display, trying to ignore the agitation she felt.
Hazel eyes glanced toward Santana and she leant over to ask her friend something quietly. "Is there something going on between B and manhands?"
"There damn well better not be." The Latina responded looking straight at the display.
"You didn't let me down,
You didn't tear me apart,
You just opened my eyes,
While breaking my heart,
You didn't do it for me,
I'm not as dumb as you think,
You just made me cry,
while claiming that you love me.
You love me, you love me,
You said you loved me
but that I'm not good enough!"
As the music died out Brittany had tears in her eyes which she quickly wiped away, not able to tear her eyes away from Rachel's until she did so to turn back to the front of the classroom awaiting her applause. She even took a bow which caused the blonde to shake her head and laugh. 'She's so self-centered… but she's cute…' By this point thinking that the perfectionist was cute was something that she had accepted, it didn't mean anything that she found those once extremely annoying traits cute.
While the class clapped, Kurt even standing and giving the girls a catcall, Rachel continued to bow saying "Thank you." Over and over.
Brittany simply gave them all a bright smile before glancing up at Santana who was once again refusing to look at her.
"Girls, you did a wonderful job. Your voices actually go together quite well, perhaps I will consider giving you two a duet in regionals."
"Thank you Mr. Schue. I agree with some more training Brittany could be well on her way to matching me well enough vocally to share a duet with me at regionals. Although I still continue to lean toward Finn and myself because—"
"Rachel."
"Sorry." She responded quickly, the smile never leaving her features.
"Alright, that wraps up todays lesson. I think that this has really opened our eyes to new singing possibilities—" Before he could finish what he was saying Santana stood from her seat spouting out a few angry profanities in Spanish as she stormed out of the choir room. Making sure to run into Rachel as she walked by nearly knocking her to the ground.
Blue eyes filled with concern as Brittany moved toward the brunette who was now rubbing her arm in pain, though surprisingly she was still wearing that large smile on her face. 'She's so strong…' Placing a hand on Rachel's arm she gave a sympathetic look to say that she was sorry for the Latina's actions fighting the urge to immediately run after the other girl.
"I'm fine. You have to take this chance and go after her." Rachel said with a smile, always positive and one for the romantic drama.
"Thanks." The blonde mumbled breathlessly as she ran out of the room after Santana.
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"I just can't believe you went up there and displayed all our personal business for the class to see, and where the hell do you get off telling me that I don't deserve you?" Her voice was angrier than she wanted it, but she could not control it. Not after Brittany deliberately went up in front of everyone and announced her love embarrassing her while saying that she did not deserve her. That was like a slap to the face.
"It was just a song." She mumbled, her voice cracking as tears filled her eyes.
Santana let out a loud sarcastic laugh as she slammed her hand against her locker causing the blonde to jump and let out a startled yelp. "Whatever you tell yourself to sleep tonight. That was not just a song, that was you and manhands lashing out at me!"
"We were not lashing out at you. It was a song." The tears were now rolling down her cheeks. She didn't understand why things were so complicated between herself and Santana, they could be happy so easily and yet all the other girl did was push her love away. Why did they have to fight if she claimed that she loved her? "I don't understand why you are mad at me again, I was just trying to show you—"
"Well stop! I'm not ready! How many times do I have to tell you that?" Letting out a breath she tried to calm down in order to speak rationally to the woman she loved. "Britts, I just wish you would respect me enough to keep things hush hush until I am ready."
Brittany was long gone at this point and could not stop the tears that were falling. "San I just don't understand."
Suddenly she was distracted from the conversation as Rachel made her way up to the two of them, mimicking the action from earlier that the blonde had used to comfort her. Reaching out she placed a hand on Brittany's arm giving it a gentle squeeze and flashing a reassuring smile up at her, brown eyes catching blue and almost making her heart stop. For some reason she found herself smiling and wiping the tears from her cheeks before once again finding her confidence even though Rachel didn't actually say anything before walking away. Just knowing someone understood and wanted to help her meant the world to her.
Santana watched as the woman of her affection's eyes followed the over-achiever down the hallway. "And what the hell is going on with you and Berry? Are you guys messing around or something? Because I never pegged you for going after someone as unattractive as her, the thought literally makes me want to punch her in that huge ass shnoz of hers!"
"San, nothing is going on between me and Rachel. She's actually being kinda nice to me." She mumbled out, completely confused by her feelings. Partially she was excited to have the Latina defending her and saying she deserved better, but on the other hand Rachel had been being extremely nice to her.
"Of course she's being nice to you! Damn it! Don't you understand B she was using you!"
"What?" She whispered out sadly.
Santana laughed, her tone and brown eyes softening as she reached out placing a hand on Brittany's arm as she smiled. "Of course she is Britts. She just wanted you to do good at that stupid duet. All she is doing is being same old selfish Berry."
"Oh." Brittany said doubting it. "Then why is she still being nice?"
"Didn't you hear Mr. Schue, he said yous were good partners, 'course she's trying to keep things tight between the two of you. It doesn't mean nothing to her Britts. She's just using you."
"But—" The blonde started but then her voice trailed off as she started to understand it. Of course that would be the reasoning. Still, she could not shake the feeling that Rachel had genuinely been being nice to her and caring for her. She had been the first person to actually ask her to share her feelings.
"Britts, forget about her. I'm sorry about how I reacted." She smiled leaning against the locker looking up at the taller girl. Her voice deep and seductive as she leant in to whisper against her ear. "How about you come over to my place tonight and I'll make it up to you."
"San…" She whispered warily, wanting nothing more than to just give in.
"Please? I miss you." Santana said placing a kiss on Brittany's jawline eliciting a shiver from the taller of the two.
"Okay." She gave in to her bodies wishes.
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Authors Note: If y'all give me some lovin's I promise to try and update fast!
Please give me feedback! I need any suggestions for this story, what do y'all want to see happen. Do you want Quinn to want Rachel or Finn? (As the drama side of the Pieberry story.) Do y'all have any ideas? I would love to hear about them. Also this is my first time writing either of these characters, usually I write Terri/Emma, so I would love you to tell me if I am getting them in character enough to be believable?
Anywho, the more and faster reviews the faster I add more, just because it makes me all excited and do so! :p I just hope that y'all love it! I love you guys!
Anyhow you guys ROCK!
-Tracy Cook