Holy crap. Thanks guys! I've never had a response like this before. Ever. Definitely made me want to post this ASAP, because I just discovered something. Reviews = something close to the feeling I get everytime I see/hear Mark Salling sing Sweet Caroline. :) Gleeks for life! PS- I made up Brittany's last name and history obviously, if her last name comes out in the future sorry in advance. PPS- Sorry there's no Puckleberry in this chapter, there will definitely be more. Count on it. Points for anyone who knows where the names Heather and Amber come from... I am such a geek. :)

CHAPTER TWO:

Always Have Their Backs

Brittany Wright stared at herself in the mirror. She was blonde, blue eyed, tall. Pretty. Not perfect and angelic like her best friend Quinn or exotic and sultry like her other best friend Santana, but definitely pretty. Looking down she smiled. She, for sure, had great legs. But that stuff wasn't really important, was it? She stared into the eyes of her reflection.

She was a good person, right?

Her mom told her she was. Her little sisters Marin, Hanna, and Sonya loved her and looked up to her. Her dad had always told her she was a 'good for nothing, brainless fucking twit'. She frowned slightly at the thought of him. Was she still a good person if she was glad that her dad was in jail?

Mike told her she was. Brittany's smile returned as she thought of the Asian football player. He was sweet and when he smiled at her, the smile that reached his eyes and gave him the cutest dimple in his left cheek, she felt like she was. But then Santana or Quinn would say something mean and she would laugh with them, because they told her to, and that smile wouldn't reach his eyes anymore.

Her friends… What about her friends? Quinn and Santana were always yelling at her. Sure they had good times, like when they were shopping or whispering about boys and stuff, but sometimes, she thought, they looked at her the way her dad did when he called her a twit. The other Cheerios were alright…

She pretended to be busy doing her makeup when two of the aforementioned Cheerios came into the washroom, giggling. Heather and Amber, ugh. "Hi Brit!" Amber, the red head, said brightly, noticing the left hand of Quinn Fabray. But her smile was fake, like always.

"Hi." Brittany smiled, but it wasn't real either. Heather and Amber had the same mean look hidden in their eyes that her dad did.

"Did you hear?" Heather asked.

"Hear what?"

"The hockey team slushied man hands." The blonde laughed. "There were like 10 of them. It was great."

Brittany frowned. Rachel never had the mean look. Sure, sometimes she was a little crazy, but she was always nice, even after people did mean things to her. All the glee kids were nice, actually. Nicer than the Cheerios. "I thought we weren't allowed to slushie Rachel anymore."

"That's when she was dating Puck." Amber said, reapplying her lipgloss.

Brittany's frown deepened as the two Cheerios left- she was kind of glad Amber's lipgloss clashed with her hair. That's when she decided. She'd rather be in glee than on the Cheerios. She liked the way Rachel and the other glee kids looked at her with no judgment in their eyes. And she definitely liked the way Mike's good smile made her feel all warm and gooey inside.

She had to find Rachel.

Rachel Lea Berry wasn't going to cry.

She looked at herself in the mirror. Her carefully chosen outfit- a pale yellow blouse, a soft dove gray skirt, yellow and gray plaid knee highs and cute yellow ballet flats- was absolutely ruined. It was stuck to her skin, the rainbow of slushies turning each article of clothing a disgusting brown, sticky, mess. Her hair, which had been meticulously straightened, was plastered to her face and starting to curl wildly. Since she had started dating Noah the previous week she had stopped bringing a change of clothes to school- after he received his first slushie facial there had been a mysterious lack of them- she smiled faintly at the thought. So now she was screwed. She had nothing to change into at school and she couldn't get into her car like this… It would ruin the upholstery and she'd never told her dads the extent of the bullying she endured. She couldn't let them get to her. She wasn't going to cry.

The first sob escaped as Brittany Wright flew into the washroom. She tried to hold it in, really she did, but when Brittany's hand covered her mouth- not quite stifling her gasp, she just broke down. "Oh, Rachel!" She shook her head and tried to stop when the blonde cheerleader gathered her in her arms and gave her a hug, but she couldn't.

"Brit," she hiccupped, "your uniform."

"Screw the uniform." Brittany said quickly. "Are you okay?" The tiny brunette just shook her head and continued to sob. Deep, gut wrenching sobs that made Brittany's insides clench up and her eyes harden. "It wasn't just hockey players that did this, was it?"

Rachel shook her head again. "No." The whispered confession was barely audible.

"Who?"

"There were a few Cheerios, some football players, and a few guys from the baseball team, I think."

Brittany closed her eyes and hugged Rachel tighter. "Santana and Quinn?"

"No."

The blonde let out the breath she didn't even know she was holding and smiled. "Okay. First things first, we need to call Kurt and Santana."

"Santana?" Rachel asked quickly, backing out of Brit's arms. "Why?"

"Because my clothes will be way too long on you, silly. Hers will probably fit."

"Santana's not going to lend me her clothes." Rachel said plainly.

"Yes she will." The blonde replied, her eyes narrowing in determination. "Now, you call Kurt, I'll call San and we'll get this all sorted out."

"Brit?" Santana called out, breezing into the girls' room. "Jesus!" She swore when she caught sight of the front of Brittany's uniform. "Did you get slushied? What the hell? When Coach Sylvester finds out-"

Brittany glared at the Latina "Of course I didn't. Does it really look like I got slushied?"

Santana unconsciously took a step backwards. Brittany never snapped at her. "Then what-" The blonde gestured toward Rachel, who was being fussed over by Kurt, and Mercedes. Santana took in the sight, but didn't say anything; there was the slightest glint of satisfaction in her eyes. "That's why you made me bring my extra clothes? I'm not letting RuPaul wear my stuff."

Brittany's eyes flashed fire as the glee kids went silent and Rachel let a few more tears fall at the hurtful name. "Her name is Rachel, Santana."

"Excuse me?"

"Her name is Rachel. Not RuPaul, or man hands, or gleek or anything else. It's Rachel. You will let her borrow your clothes. You will apologize and you will never be a part of another slushie facial again. Ever. Or so help me God, I will bitch slap you so hard you'll forget your own name."

Kurt coughed to cover his laughter, remembering Rachel's little incident earlier in the day.

Mercedes whistled "Damn Brit. When'd you grow them balls?"

Brittany silently held out her hand, waiting for Santana to give her the spare clothes. The shocked cheerleader did as ordered, handing over her spare clothes and Brittany's own spare set. She started to leave the washroom when Brit cleared her throat. "Uh, San?"

Santana looked back at her friend who gestured to Rachel again. "Oh right. Sorry you got slushied Ru- Rachel."

The blonde sighed as her friend quickly left. "Sorry Rach, guess that's as good as it's gonna get." Everyone looked at Brittany in shock. "What? Do I have something on my face?" She spun around to look at herself in the mirror. "Shit! Do you think this stuff is gonna come out of my uniform?"

Rachel laughed and pulled the blonde into a hug. "Yeah Brit. I know a great drycleaner. I'll get you a discount."

"San?" Matt called out his girlfriend's name. "Santana?"

"What? Oh, hey babe." She allowed Matt to give her a kiss on the cheek, before retreating back into her pensive state.

Matt traded glances with Mike and Puck, both of whom just shrugged. "What's up San?"

"Brittany just yelled at me." She announced quietly.

"She did?" Mike asked perking up, until Matt shot him a withering glare.

"Yeah." She responded, not even noticing the boys' exchange. "Then she made me give man han- Rachel my spare clothes."

At the mention of Rachel's name Puck tuned into the conversation. "Why did Ra- Berry need your clothes?"

Santana looked up; Puck hadn't spoken a word to her since she'd broken up with him. "She got slushied. Like epic slushied. Worse than Quinn and Finn."

"Who?" All three looked at Puck in shock. There was no trace of a smirk on his face or in his voice. In fact, he was almost completely emotionless. Santana shivered when she saw the ice in his eyes.

"I'm not sure." She answered truthfully, clinging to Matt.

"Were you in on it?" he asked frostily.

"No." She shook her head.

"Quinn?"

She shook her head again. "She would have told me."

Puck nodded. "You'd better not be lying to me Lopez." She pressed herself into Matt a little more. Then Puck looked at his two friends. "You guys in?"

Matt kissed Santana's forehead and nodded. Mike grinned and cracked his knuckles. "Hell yeah!"

"What are you guys doing?" Santana asked her boyfriend left her side to follow his friends. "Where are you going? Matthew Rutherford!"

Matt looked back at the disgruntled cheerleader. "Sorry babe. We're a team now. You always gotta have your team's backs."

Santana watched as the three football players disappeared around the corner before sprinting back towards the washroom. "Brittany! Rachel!"