A/N: Thankyou so, so much for all the reviews, I really appreciate them.
. . .
"Ooh! What about that one?"
"No way, are you kidding me? I wouldn't walk down Sesame Street in that outfit."
Kurt and Mercedes are looking over fashion magazines while Quinn, wedged between Mercedes and Puck, puts in her two cents worth every now and again. Finn and Puck meanwhile are engaged in their own conversation, a rare occurrence after the whole Finn's-Not-Actually-The-Father-Of-Quinn's-Baby thing went down.
Brittany found the mismatched gang shortly after leaving Santana in the library. While usually the idea of fighting with Kurt over who would look best in the latest fashion extravaganza would have her smiling her usual million dollar smile, it doesn't have much appeal now after what happened earlier with her best friend.
In fact, the blonde is feeling the bluest she's ever felt in a long time and it's not so much that Santana had hurt her feelings but rather that the Latina is clearly upset and Brittany doesn't know what to do about it. Ever since they were kids, the Cheerio has known just what to do to put a smile on the brunette's face and without that knowledge she feels, for the first time in her life, like the dumb blonde girl everyone supposes her to be.
"You alright, Britt?" Quinn asks with concerned eyes and a reassuring smile. It's a look she's only recently developed since becoming the school outcast and Brittany prefers it much better over what Santana calls her 'I'm-the-best-so-bow-down-before-me' look. It reminds the taller girl of when she was little and her mother used to tuck her into bed and spoon feed her chicken soup to fight away whatever illness she had at the time.
Brittany pouts because thinking about those times reminds her of when Santana would come over on the exact same days, pop in the blonde's favourite Disney movie, and cuddle up beside her on the couch. But this hasn't happened since Santana got her new stepfather, at which point the Latina deemed Disney movies completely ridiculous. Though, Brittany is convinced that the reason her best friend has so many nightmares now is because she no longer watches those ridiculous Disney movies; after all, Santana never had nightmares before then.
"I think Santana's sad," she responds dully, far from her usual bubbly self.
Quinn looks doubtful and Kurt and Mercedes pause in their activity to exchange disbelieving looks. Surprisingly, it's Puck who answers, not looking at her as he amuses himself with tossing a football up in the air and catching it. "If you think she is, Blondie, then she probably is."
Brittany nods her head firmly. Since Puck has known Santana even longer than she has then he's likely to know these things. "What do I do?"
"What do you usually do when she's sad?" Quinn asks, rubbing her bulging belly. She doesn't look like she really believes the Head Cheerio could be displaying such a human emotion as sadness but seems to have decided that she might as well just go along with it for now.
Brittany thinks about the question for a moment. "I give her a Slushie to throw at someone. But last time that happened she threw ot at Rachael and then Rachael got really upset. I don't want to make Rachael sad again." It's a real dilemma as Brittany finds Rachael kind of fun, especially when the brunette lets her dress her up like a doll and put make-up on her. Yes, Rachael is very much like her own little doll and Brittany has never made any of her dolls sad before. Still, she supposes if it come down to Santana or Rachael she wouldn't have much of a choice.
Quinn scoffs. "Trust me, not throwing a Slushie at that fashion victim is far more of a crime than actually throwing one at her." Mercedes and Kurt share an amused look and Finn scowls at her. Ever since getting pregnant, the blonde hasn't much been one for making fun of people but on the days when the baby makes her extremely moody and ill-tempered all bets are off, at least that's what Santana told her (Santana has also told her lots of other things about Quinn but none of them are very flattering).
Brittany doesn't really get it. She doesn't understand why a baby would want to spend so much time in somebody's else's tummy where there can't be much to do and you certainly can't dance in someone's tummy and Brittany loves to dance. Surely, they should be asking Quinn's baby – who she heard Finn call Drizzle once – what it wants and whether it would like to come out for a little while to dance. Maybe then, Quinn wouldn't be so moody and she could even go back to wearing her Cheerio's outfit and come back to practice with them again.
She asked Santana about this once but she said that the baby was like a fishy and Quinn's stomach was like its tank or the ocean and it has to stay in there where it can live and be safe. Brittany still doesn't really get it because she put her ear to Quinn's tummy once to see whether she could hear the ocean but nothing happened, except for Quinn looking kind of freaked out.
Still, she'll trust the Latina on this because Santana's the smartest person the blonde knows and because of that she's always right. Maybe she should see about getting a bigger fish tank for Drizzle and then the fishy could come out and have a swim, maybe even dance. It must be awfully dark inside Quinn's fish-tank tummy and Brittany hates the dark.
"Maybe it's her step-dad – he's usually the one that pisses her off the most," Puck offers absentmindedly.
Quinn makes a face. "I know what you mean; the guys a complete creep. Last time I was there, he practically stared at my boobs the entire time. I mean, I know they've gotten . . . slightly more embellished since Beth but that's just freaky." The blonde blushes as everyone's eyes drop to her breast at her words and she tries to cover up her embarrassment with a scowl.
"'Embellished' doesn't even cover it, babe," Puck comments with a smirk, eyes firmly focused on Quinn's wrack. Brittany on the other hand doesn't know what embellished means or what it could have to do with the blonde's boobs.
"Puck!" Quinn's scolds.
While this is all very interesting, Brittany struggles to figure out how Quinn's boobs could make Santana feel better. She knows that her own usually do but the brunette's never said anything about the former Cheerio's before. "Do you think Santana would like them?"
The reaction is immediate. Quinn flushes a deep shade of tomato red, Finn's eyes bug and Kurt and Mercedes are left chocking back laughter. Puck just gets a kind of dreamy look on his face and nods his head.
"You know what, Britt, I think she might," he tells her and Brittany beams, beginning to believe that she's just found the cure to Santana's grumpiness.
"Oh my God! Seriously, Puck?" the pregnant sixteen-year-old squeals, glaring daggers at him.
"What?" he asks innocently. "She likes Brittany's well enough."
The blonde nods in agreement, "It's true," and everyone, bar Puck, turns to stare at her gaping.
Kurt's the first to speak. "We need to have a serious talk."
Now she's definitely confused. "I thought we were. We're trying to figure out how to help Santana."
Mercedes makes a face. "That's a scary thought." Kurt murmurs in agreement and Brittany nods. The idea that something's wrong with Santana is indeed very scary and she's glad to see that everyone else seems to be on board with her. She thought that getting Mercedes and Kurt to help might be a little hard because for whatever reason they don't seem to like Santana very much but obviously she was wrong – they both see how important this is.
"I'm beginning to think that maybe we shouldn't be a part of this," Kurt decides. "Seeing as our fantastic skills are better used for sabotaging the Bitch Goddess rather than helping her. I just think it would be a conflict of interest." Mercedes nods in support of this and even Quinn looks about ready to agree.
Finn however seems to be thinking hard, face screwed up in concentration. "Maybe she got hurt again."
"What do you mean 'again'?" Quinn questions with a scowl. Brittany thinks she must be very hungry because that's when people are usually short tempered or maybe it's just the fishy playing up again. The blonde promises herself that she will have to have a good talk with that fishy later, after she finds a way to make Santana happy again.
Finn looks kind of frightened by the look on Quinn's face and rushes to reply. "I just mean the bruises on her thighs. She got pretty grumpy about those last time so maybe it's that."
Puck stiffens and Quinn narrows her eyes. "Excuse me? When did you get a chance to see Santana's thighs?"
Everyone seems to be extremely interested now and Finn flushes red, realizing his mistake. "Uh . . ."
"Did you see them when you guys had sex?" Brittany asks, hoping to help him along as it seems that he's having trouble remembering just when he saw Santana's thighs. That's usually when she sees the bruises but the brunette always assures her that they're just from Cheerio practice. Still, the blonde always makes extra sure to kiss them better when she sees them because that's what her Mummy and Daddy do for her and it always makes her feel better. She thinks it makes Santana feel better as well because she always smile when Brittany does it.
Silence overcomes them and everyone is left to glance in astonishment between Finn and Brittany, each taking their turns to make chosen exclamations.
"Hold up! You did what?" Mercedes.
"Oh my gosh!" Kurt.
"Finn!" Quinn.
"Wait, you slept with Santana? Since when do you sleep with my girl?" Puck.
"What do you mean, 'your girl'?" Quinn intercepts, looking furious at Puck and momentarily forgetting about Finn. "Since when is Santana 'your girl'?"
"Oh, come on, Quinn," Puck responds, looking surprised by the sudden turn around. He obviously doesn't understand how a girl he's not dating could be upset with his involvement with someone else; this is what Santana would call the stupidity of the male species. Though, Brittany doesn't much get it either. "You know Santana's always been my girl. I was calling her that back in kindergarten and I didn't even like girls then."
"Fine, Santana's 'your girl'. But what am I, just the mother of your child?"
"Of course not, Quinn," Puck reassures quickly. "You're my other girl."
The blonde doesn't look impressed and Brittany frowns not really getting why they're arguing over this – everyone knows that Santana is hers. Finn on the other hand seems happy enough to be out of the spotlight and Mercedes and Kurt have returned to their magazine, the drama of the conversation too much for them.
As Quinn and Puck continue their argument, Brittany turns to Finn, hoping that she will be able to get some better help from him. "What do you think?"
He looks confused. "About Puck and Quinn?"
"No, about San."
He shrugs his shoulders and gives her a dopey boy smile. "I don't know. But when you come up with something I promise I'll help you with it."
Brittany beams and springs forward, enveloping him in a grateful hug; it's so nice to know that people are as committed to Santana as she is. Quinn and Puck stop their argument momentarily to stare at the pair in disbelief and even Kurt and Mercedes look up long enough to raise their eyebrows questioningly.
Finn's a nice person to hug. His big and cuddly like a bear and for a moment Brittany contemplates asking him to hug Santana to see whether that will make her feel better. She discards the idea though when she remembers the conversation they had one night when the brunette had admitted that Brittany was the only person she liked hugging her. The blonde doesn't really understand that seeing as she likes getting hugs from everyone but, since she does like Santana-hugs the most, maybe she slightly gets it.
"Oh no, Bitcharella at three o'clock," Kurt interrupts, looking over their shoulders at someone approaching them.
Brittany frowns and glances at the watch on Finn's wrist. "But it's only twelve." They ignore her and she turns around to see who they're all staring at. It's Santana, marching towards them and looking grumpier than ever. The blonde's frown turns into a pout; foolishly, a part of her had been hoping that the brunette's mood would get better as the day progressed.
"Don't worry. I got this," Puck tells them and Brittany smiles at him, pleased. As Santana gets closer, he smirks at her and calls out. "Yo, Babe, look what I got!" The Latina's eyes narrow suspiciously and as she finally reaches them, Puck reaches into his pocket and pulls out a pair of black panties.
"Son of a bitch!" Santana curses and the gang move back as she springs at the footballer who quickly jumps to his feet and runs away. "Come back here, I'm going to kill you, you little bastard!"
"Come and get 'em, babe!"
The five Glee kids watch as the Cheerio and Puck start running around the oval, the boy a safe five feet in front of the furious brunette who looks about ready to slaughter him. Brittany cocks her head, trying to make sense of the scene and Quinn rolls her eyes.
"Idiot. Like that's going to improve her mood any."
"I swear, Puck, I am going to kill you if you don't give me those back!"
Finn frowns. "Does he really carry those around with him all day?"
Brittany sighs and rests her chin on her hand, beginning to think that maybe she should see someone else about helping her out with Santana. All the while, she tries to ignore the little ache in her heart, growing steadily bigger, reminding her that her best friend in the whole world barely even glanced her way.