Brittany isn't sure she's ever smiled this big before, but she's happy to see Santana, and the Latina's small bashful smile that evolves into a beaming smile makes her look so beautiful. "San! What are you doing here?"

"You said that you were thirsty, so I brought you some water. Then, I thought that I can't just bring you water, because that's not a very exciting gift, so I also brought you a cupcake." Santana smiles widely for a moment, and then her face shifts. "This was lame."

"I love it!" Brittany says before Santana can negate her actions any more. "This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me."

Santana laughs. "Yeah, right. But here you go. What are you working on?" She sits down next to Brittany.

The blonde takes a few drinks of the water before she answers. "American National Government."

"Oh, I took that! It was pretty easy."

Brittany hangs her head a bit and lets her hair cover her face; she'd been about to comment on how hard it is. Not wanting Santana to know how stupid she is, she's glad she didn't. She's pretty sure she wouldn't want to be her friend—or anything else, for that matter—if she knew.

"What's wrong, Britt?" Santana nudges her with her shoulder. When Brittany doesn't respond, she asks again. "Seriously Brittany, what's wrong?"

Brittany looks up to see honest confusion on Santana's face and decides she'd rather be honest now than get too attached to this lovely girl and then lose her. "It's really hard for me. Everything is. I even had a tutoring session on this today, and I'm still confused." She's not sure what she expects Santana's reaction to be. She doesn't think she'll call her stupid or make fun of her—she doesn't seem like that kind of person—but maybe she'll play it off and leave, then not talk to Brittany anymore. What Brittany doesn't expect is to suddenly hear Santana's chair being pulled right next to her or to feel the way she does having Santana so close.

"Let me see if I can help. Where are you stuck?"

Brittany stares at her in disbelief for a moment, thinking that Santana is too good to be true. The brunette is looking at her expectantly and smiling like she knows she can help, so Brittany lets her try. She explains where she got lost, then settles in to let Santana try what so many other people have failed.

In less than an hour, Santana manages to get Brittany caught up on her chapter and to clear up any confusion caused by her tutor and her professor. She's drawn three diagrams in various color highlighters, as well as a silly cartoon to make her laugh. "See? They were just teaching you wrong, Britt-Britt. No big deal. Can I walk you back to your dorm? It's on the way."

They head to Brittany's dorm together, and she needs to remind herself yet again that she can't let herself get into a relationship, that she shouldn't even want to, and that she still has so many bad feelings from the last one that she doesn't think it'd be possible to start a new one without re-experiencing all those bad feelings.

"So do you have any plans for tomorrow?" The Latina asks her.

Brittany shakes her head. "Nope," she says, popping the p. "You?"

"Not a one. I was wondering if maybe you'd like to go see the new scary movie that's out in theaters?"

Brittany smiles and looks at her shoes. Yes, she wants to go. Should she? Friends see movies. "Definitely. As long as you don't mind me burying my head in your shoulder." She laughs.

"I look forward to it," Santana responds, smiling sweetly. They're standing in front of Brittany's dorm now. "Well, I'll let you get inside. I'll text you tomorrow about times and stuff?"

"Okay. Thank you again, San. I don't know how I would have gotten my homework done without you."

"No problem, Brittany. Anytime. Seriously. Have a good night." She smiles and waves, and Brittany watches her walk away, wishing she'd stay but knowing she shouldn't wish that.

When she enters her room, she notices that Rachel isn't there and wonders if she's out with friends. She then wonders how Rachel managed to make friends, and then she feels guilty, because honestly, Rachel isn't that bad. She's just a lot sometimes. After changing into shorts and a tank top, she sets her alarm and lays down in bed, knowing that she's not particularly tired.

Her thoughts go almost immediately to Santana. If she'd never dated Tommy, if she'd never lost faith in relationships, woiuld she just be excited—not hesitant or scared—about her undeniable attraction to the woman? She remembers a conversation she had with her mother. Tommy had been pressuring her to sleep with him, and she wanted to break up with him, but her mother told her that sometimes, women need to do things they don't want to in order to keep their men happy. Then, she told her she would make an appointment to get her on birth control as soon as possible.

Brittany walked away from that conversation confused and angry. Why would anyone do something they don't want to? Why do people stay with someone that doesn't make them happy? Surely there was a better answer. She was also sad, because clearly her mother had experience in this, and even though Brittany doesn't particularly like her mother, she still loves her. Unfortunately, after so many years of being labeled stupid, Brittany didn't exactly trust her own intelligence and common sense. She also knew that her mother would be deeply disappointed in her if she broke up with Tommy. Maybe her mom would soon see how unhappy he made her, and she'd agree that they should break up. That obviously didn't happen, since they didn't break up until much too late—because now, she's lying in bed with tears in her eyes, wishing that she'd just broken up with him...or never dated him in the first place.


She wakes up the next morning with a slight headache, but it's not too bad—nothing some water and gym time can't fix. Noting that Rachel is now asleep in bed, she briefly wonders what time she got in. Once she gets to the gym, she heads straight to the elliptical, listening to her workout playlist through her headphones. After 45 minutes on the elliptical, she goes over to the weight machines. Glancing around and trying to decide what to do first, she sees Sam from the LGBTA meeting. He spots her and waves her over. "Hey Brittany. Nice to see someone I know here." He smiles at her. She can definitely understand Mercedes's attraction; he's cute and so sweet.

"Hey Sam. Mind a workout buddy?"

He laughs and shakes his head no. They take turns on machines, helping each other out by adjusting weights or whatever necessary.

"Can I ask you a personal question?" Brittany ventures, wanting to get to know him better. Sam nods, drinking some of his water. "Why are you in the LGBTA? Is it because Mercedes is there supporting Santana or…?"

"Nope. I actually met Mercedes there, which is kind of funny if you think about it. But no, I had a friend in high school. I kind of suspected he might be gay, but I never said anything, because I figured he'd come to me if he needed to talk, which would have been fine. I don't care who you like, you know?" Brittany nods, encouraging him to continue. "Well, one day during our senior year, a picture of him and some guy holding hands got out. Nobody knows who took it or who released it, but he definitely wasn't ready to come out. A bunch of guys made fun of him pretty hardcore, and I should have stepped in, but I was scared. I didn't want to get picked on too. So one day, he tried to hang himself. His dad found him before he died, but it was really close...and all I could think about was that if I had just stood up for him, maybe he would've been okay. I never let anyone pick on him again if I could help it. Luckily, he got better, and now he's at school and dating a really great guy. I figured if I joined LGBTA, I could sort of…maybe be like the muscle? Like if I knew someone was picking on a guy like Kurt, or someone like Santana, I could help stop it. I don't ever want anyone to feel that alone ever again."

Brittany is speechless. She's so glad she met Sam and hopes they can become really good friends. He seems like an amazing person and just…she wishes she'd met someone like him in high school too. Maybe he'd have stuck up for her against Tommy. "You're kind of wonderful, Sam. I really hope we can become good friends," Brittany voices her thoughts.

"Oh, I have a feeling that'll definitely be the case. From what I hear, you're kind of wonderful yourself." He smiles at her.

"Huh?"

"Just what I hear from Santana, that's all. She seems to think you're pretty awesome. She's usually really standoffish. Or…I guess she's really guarded. But not with you."

Brittany doesn't know why Santana is nicer to her than to everyone else, but she's glad. "I think she's amazing. We're seeing a movie tonight."

"I heard. Anyways, it was great working out with you. Maybe we could make this a regular thing? I've got to go now. I promised Kurt I'd help him put together some new Ikea thing he bought." Sam shrugs, and they both laugh. Brittany walks out with him, and they go their separate ways. She looks at her phone and notices a text from Santana.

From Santana: Still on for tonight? Also if you were an animal, what animal would you be?

Brittany laughs. She's not sure if it's hanging out with Sam or the endorphins from working out, but she's in such a good mood, and it's so much harder to not let herself develop hopes about this turning into something more than friendship.

To Santana: Yes, we're still on! Hmm…probably a unicorn? Or I guess I've been told I kind of look like a cat, so either one of those. You?

From Santana: Probably a dinosaur.

Brittany starts laughing really hard.

From Santana: Just kidding. Hm…I think a wolf. Probably.

To Santana: I think both options would be amazing. What time do you want to meet? And where? I don't have a car. :(

From Santana: No problem, B. I was planning on driving anyway. Pick you up at 6?

To Santana: Sounds good, S. ;)

When Brittany gets back to her dorm, she tries to get some more homework done. She wonders if Santana would mind helping her with this too, but she'd feel terrible asking. At about 3 PM, Rachel asks Brittany if she wants to go to the dining hall with her for an early dinner. Brittany agrees, and during dinner, they talk about various things, including classes and interesting things they saw on campus that week. Brittany decides she might actually like Rachel.

When they get back to the dorm, she showers and gets ready to go to the movies with Santana. Without meaning to, Brittany realizes that she definitely made herself look a little nicer than if this was just any friend. Soon, she gets a call from Santana telling her that she's outside, so Brittany heads down. When she gets to the car, she takes in Santana's tight jeans and off-the-shoulder top, straightened hair left down, and light makeup. She looks so beautiful.

Santana insists on paying for the movie, so Brittany insists on buying drinks and popcorn and candy (you can't eat popcorn without candy; everyone knows that). They pick seats in the theater, and the movie starts. Within less than 15 minutes, the food and drinks lay abandoned on the ground, while Brittany is clinging to Santana with her face buried mostly in her shoulder and one eye barely peeking out. That's how she spends the entire movie, so scared that she doesn't notice how Santana almost puts her arm around her or the pleased smile that Santana gets on her face every time Brittany cowers deeper into her for protection from the zombies.

"That was so scary!" Brittany exclaims as they leave the theater.

Santana laughs. "How would you know, Britt? You watched about five minutes of it in total."

Brittany lightly smacks her arm. They spend another hour or so wandering around outside and getting ice cream.

"You look beautiful tonight, B. I just…uh, just wanted to tell you that," Santana says as she shuffles her feet back and forth.

"You do too, Santana. I'm having a great time tonight. I'm really glad I met you and that we're friends." Brittany knows the second she says the last part that it wasn't the right thing to say, and she curses herself for always saying stupid things. Santana's face falls for just a half second, but it's enough for Brittany to know that isn't what she wanted to hear. The worst part is that that's not what Brittany even really wanted to say; she doesn't know what she wants anymore.

However, Santana recovers quickly, and the evening doesn't suffer for Brittany's slip. When it starts to get late, Santana drops Brittany back off at her dorm, promising to text her the next day. That night, when lying in bed, Brittany decides her new course of action is to just let things be what they are, and to not push the issue but maybe not push the issue away either.