Brittany is happy. She can say that with a certainty she's never been able to, other than at isolated times like dance and acceptance into college. This is different; this is a general happiness, a heart-filling, lifting happiness that settles over her every time she thinks of Santana, who has been nothing but amazing and supportive.

On Sunday, they meet at a coffee shop to do homework. The next day, Brittany only gets to see her at lunch, but even then, Santana is never not holding her hand. She never comes or goes without kissing her—gently, never possessively (though Brittany thinks it wouldn't be a terrible thing for Santana to be possessive of her).

On top of happiness, Brittany has found a new feeling: comfort. Santana has this way of making her feel comfortable and excited at the same time. Brittany, who her whole life has kind of wished she could be someone else, is beginning to think that maybe being Brittany S. Pierce isn't so bad. Maybe she's worth something.

The only thing that can possibly bring Brittany down right now is the ever-present schoolwork. When she's doing schoolwork with Santana, it seems to go better. Santana does her best to help her understand things, and she doesn't talk down to her or make her feel stupid. Tutoring also helps a little, but it takes up even more time out of her day. Last night, she didn't go to bed until 4 AM. Santana, judging by her texts, fell asleep around midnight.

Santana's on her way back from her only class that day (stupid 8 AM classes) when she gets a text from Brittany that makes her frown a little. Brittany needs to pick up an extra tutoring session, so she won't be able to go to the dining hall for lunch with her.

To Brittany: Will you have time to eat at all?

From Brittany: I don't think so. Can't make it back to dorm. Dining hall will be too busy to get in and get out. I only have like 20 mins to get from library to dance class.

Santana's frown deepens. The idea of Brittany going to dance class having not eaten upsets her; that can't be healthy. She gets an idea.

To Brittany: I will be waiting outside the library for you. Don't argue. See you then.

From Brittany: Wouldn't have argued. Can't find it in me to ever not see you if it's an option, even if it's just for a few minutes. Also, can we feed ducks this weekend?

Santana smiles and is typing out her response when her phone pings again.

From Brittany: Is that lame? I'm sorry.

To Brittany: Not lame! We'll feed ducks. You're never lame. Just cute.

From Brittany: :D See you in a little bit!

Santana likes to think she's a badass, and a lot of people would probably agree, but for whatever reason, Brittany causes any and all badass ability to disintegrate without effort. Santana shrugs. Whatever, she'll lose her badassedness if she gets Brittany in return.

When she gets back to her apartment, she puts her stuff in her bedroom, does a load of laundry, and starts lunch preparations. Since she knows Brittany loves both peanut butter and bananas, she decides to make peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Without fully knowing why making Brittany lunch makes her so excited, she feels her giddiness bubbling up and starts singing to herself, "If only you saw what I can see."

That stupid fucking song. It gets stuck in her head all the time. Still, she smiles, because even though she hates the song, it's so damn appropriate. She starts full-out belting and doesn't hear the door open or close. If she had, she probably wouldn't be singing into a celery stick and dancing around right now.

"Wow." She whips her head around to find Quinn standing there with her eyebrow raised. "First. What are you doing? Second. What are you singing? Third. Why?"

Santana doesn't think she's judging. Well, maybe she is, but Santana really doesn't care. "First, making Brittany lunch. Second, some stupidass song that's on the radio all the time, which Brittany likes. Third, because...Brittany?" she finishes lamely. That's a lot of Brittany.

Quinn shakes her head. "You like her, huh? I've hardly seen you the past few days, and when I do, your nose is glued to your phone. Texting Miss Brittany, I'm assuming."

Santana opens her mouth to disagree but pauses. Why deny it? That's all true. "Yeah Q. I really like her. Like...girlfriend like her."

Quinn pauses on her way to the fridge. "Girlfriend? Like you already are, or...?" She resumes her quest for a bottle of water, trying to play it cool. Looks like she's going to have to have that conversation with Brittany sooner rather than later.

"No, not yet. I want to be, though. I think I want to ask her. Is it too soon, you think?"

"Maybe...but really, only you know the answer to that. Just be careful, S. If you get hurt again, I'm going to wreck somebody. I'll pick you up off the floor every time, Santana, but just...be sure, okay?" Quinn knows Santana has never felt like this before; she can see her best friend practically vibrating with all the feelings she has. It scares her, because even when she didn't feel this much and girls would reject her or react poorly to news of her penis, she always took it hard. Quinn was always there for her and always will be.

"I know, Q. But I'm sure. I'm already sure. Like really positive," she rambles while cutting celery sticks and putting grapes into a bag. "Okay, I gotta go. B gets done soon, and she needs to eat before dance class." Santana grabs two bottles of water and carries everything out to her car.

When she sees Brittany walk out of the library and look around—searching for her, she presumes—she hits her horn lightly, causing Brittany to look over. The smile that stretches over her face makes Santana's breath catch. When Brittany gets into the car, she leans over and kisses Santana on the lips, smiling and humming. "Missed you. All the time. Tutoring sucked."

"Will lunch make it better? I hope you like peanut butter and banana." Santana smiles as she hands Brittany her sandwich and puts the celery and grapes between them. Brittany looks over at her with a look of disbelief on her face. "If you don't like it, I can maybe hurry and get you some—"

"You made me lunch?" Brittany cuts her off, feeling like she's going to cry. Nobody has ever done something like this before. Sure, her parents made her food when she was little, but they haven't in a really long time. Nobody has taken care of Brittany except Brittany.

"Of course, B. Why wouldn't I? Is it okay?" Santana asks in a small, curious voice.

Brittany takes a small bite of her sandwich and smiles, still trying to keep the tears at bay. "It's perfect. Thank you." She manages to keep her emotion down and smiles at Santana before taking a bigger bite. The sandwich really is delicious. She pops a few grapes in her mouth.

Once they finish their sandwiches, Santana starts the car and drives towards Brittany's dance class. "Have the rest of the grapes, B. You gotta dance. That takes energy. Oh! I almost forgot, I brought you water in case you were out." She leans into the backseat to grab the bottle and hands it to Brittany, who takes it with a small shake of her head and another smile.

"You're seriously perfect." The smile that Brittany is giving Santana makes her feel a little perfect right now. "Okay, I have to go. I probably have to study tonight, but I know you said you have to practice piano anyways, right?" Santana nods, knowing they can't see each other all the time but kind of hating it. "So I'll just text you? And miss you, of course."

Santana nods again and kisses Brittany. "Talk to you then, B."

After another kiss, Brittany is on her way to dance class. She texts Santana afterwards, telling her that she's not sure her teacher is very good. She feels bad for thinking it, but she knows it's okay to say those kinds of things to Santana.

From Santana: Yeah, well, I bet it's hard to compete with you. ;)

Brittany chuckles. Of course Santana would say that.

To Santana: You've never seen me dance. You don't know that. Goof.

From Santana: I'd like to.

To Santana: You sing for me, I'll dance for you.

From Santana: Challenge accepted, Pierce.

Brittany laughs again. She throws her stuff down in her dorm room, saying a brief hello to Rachel. After showering, she gets dressed and heads back to the library. For the record, she thinks, the library is much better with a Santana in it. She considers texting Santana that, thinking it'd make her smile, but she doesn't want Santana to show up. The more Santana helps her, the more worried Brittany gets that Santana is going to realize how stupid she is.

Santana texts her when she finishes her scheduled piano practice.

From Santana: How's homework?

To Santana: It's alright. How was practice?

From Santana: Killed it, as usual. Just kidding. I mean, I did kill it, and I usually do, but I try not to be too cocky about it. ;)

Brittany laughs. She's only heard Santana hum and sing under her breath, but she imagines it's beautiful.

To Santana: I bet it's well-deserved. But I'll know for sure once you sing for me.

From Santana: Might be my most important performance to date then. How much longer for homework?

Brittany suspects that Santana will come to the library to see her if she's going to be there much longer. She doesn't want that, so she lies. It's not really a lie, or maybe it is, but she hopes it's not.

To Santana: Not long, maybe? I'm tired.

From Santana: Okay. I think I'm going to hang out with Mercedes and Sam tonight. I haven't in a few days. Text me if you need anything.

To Santana: Have fun. Talk to you later.

She resumes studying. A few hours later, she gets another text from Santana.

From Santana: Hopefully you're in bed, or at least back in your dorm by now. I'm going to head to bed. Another early class tomorrow, ugh. So stupid.

Brittany knows those words aren't directed at her, but they might as well be. She's been here for hours and is still far from finished, but if she wants to see Santana at all this weekend, she's going to have to keep working.

To Santana: Good night! Sweet dreams! Lunch tomorrow?

From Santana: Good night and sweet dreams yourself. I wouldn't miss it for anything.

Brittany smiles, feeling lucky. She looks back down at her books and groans before pressing on.

Thank god for the 24-hour library, Brittany thinks as she starts packing up her things at 5:30 AM. She's utterly exhausted, and by time she gets back to her room, she'll have to wake up in less than two hours. She doesn't even bother to undress before crawling into bed and falling asleep.


It feels like she wakes up to her alarm as soon as she closes her eyes. After blearily shutting it off, getting up, and grabbing her stuff, she shuffles off to class, praying that she doesn't fall asleep and miss something. When she feels like she's starting to crash, she thinks about Santana to try and distract herself from how tired she is. Still, she doesn't think she learned much this class.

Finally, it's lunchtime, and she makes her way to the dining hall. When she sees Santana waiting out front, waving at her, Brittany raises her hand in reply, trying to smile, trying to act like she has any energy.

However, Santana can tell almost immediately that something is wrong. Normally, even when Brittany walks, she dances, and she always lights up when she sees Santana—which she isn't doing right now. Santana's suspicions are only further confirmed when Brittany walks right past a squirrel and doesn't mention it at all. Usually, Brittany announces every single animal she sees.

Brittany walks up to Santana and hugs her, putting a little more weight on her than she meant to, but it feels good to not support herself for a second. Santana just holds her tight.

"What's wrong, Britt?" Santana asks as they part and walk through the doors. Brittany just shrugs, not wanting to tell the truth, because Santana would probably get frustrated and ask why it takes her so long to do her homework.

Santana lets it drop for a minute while they go in and get their food. Once they're seated again, she notices Brittany is just pushing salad around her plate and ignoring the Lucky Charms she always gets. Santana is in the middle of looking for something on her phone to show Brittany, a picture that Sam sent her, when she looks up to see Brittany leaning against the wall with her eyes closed. That's it.

"Brittany, what's wrong? Do you feel unwell?" she asks again, concern lacing her voice.

"I'm okay. Just tired."

"Why are you so tired?"

Brittany can't lie to Santana; that's not okay. Santana has been nothing but honest with her. Hoping that this won't be the thing that makes Santana sick of her, Brittany admits in a tiny voice, "I didn't get to bed until about 6ish." She looks down at her plate, realizing she should eat something but having no appetite.

"6 AM? Britt, what were you doing?" Santana had gone to bed around midnight and assumed Brittany had too.

"Studying. That's when I got back from the library," she says sheepishly.

"Brittany! You walked home from the library then? What were you doing at the library that late? Nevermind. Studying. Duh. But why?" Santana is worried. Brittany looks so pale and listless; she shouldn't be this tired after just one late night.

"I just can't understand anything. Everything is so damn hard. No matter how much tutoring I get, I'm just...I'm so fucking stupid," she hisses more to herself than anything, tears filling her eyes.

"Hey. No. Britt, you aren't stupid. You just learn differently. You get things fine when you and I study together."

"It's not your job to make sure I get things, Santana. I'm an adult. I should be able to get them on my own...except I can't. I can't get any of it. And I don't want to ask you for help, because I don't want you to think I'm stupid too. Except now you do." The tears are now slowly trickling out of Brittany's eyes, and Santana suspects that this issue goes a little deeper than Brittany just being tired and overwhelmed.

"I don't think you're stupid. Not at all. And you don't have to ask, I'm offering. If I can help you, I always will. I know you'd do the same for me. How much sleep did you get Monday night, B?"

"Like three hours." She sniffs.

"And the night before?" Santana is definitely concerned now.

"Sunday night? About the same. I did more homework after the coffee shop."

Santana wants to tell Brittany that all she had to do was ask at the coffee shop, and Santana would have spent more time helping her, but she thinks that right now, maybe that's not what Brittany needs. "Okay. Here's what we're going to do. I'm going to pick you up after your last class. You're done at 2:30, right?" Brittany nods. "We're going to go back to my place and take a nap. That way, I know you're actually resting and not doing homework. Being this tired is only making everything harder for you. If you're uncomfortable with us sleeping together, then I can just watch TV in the living room or something. Then, we'll eat dinner and go to the library. I don't have any homework or practice tonight, so I can help you with any subjects that I know anything about. Okay? I don't think you're stupid. I'm not annoyed or burdened. Does that sound like a good plan?"

Brittany doesn't know how she got so lucky to find such an amazing woman. "You'll nap with me?" Santana smiles and nods. "Okay. That sounds good." Knowing that things will be better tonight, Brittany feels her mood improve dramatically and starts eating her slightly mushy Lucky Charms. After lunch and a quick kiss goodbye, Brittany heads to her next class, hopeful that she'll be able to stay awake a little longer. Her chest feels lighter; Santana doesn't think she's stupid—not yet, anyway.

Meanwhile, Santana runs home to clean her room before she has to go get Brittany, glad that she keeps it pretty clean so there's not much to do. It upsets her that Brittany didn't tell her she's struggling so much. She clearly has some problems with school, but so do a lot of other people. It doesn't mean they're stupid. Sam struggles with school too; he would've failed a long time ago if it weren't for Mercedes and Kurt.

A little before 2:30, she jumps into her car and drives towards the dance building, idly wondering what Dance Theory class entails. She bets it's pretty interesting. Brittany walks out, still shuffling slightly, still paler than usual, but she doesn't look so defeated.

Brittany is just happy to see Santana and to know they're going to go take a nap. Secretly, she hopes that napping also means cuddling, since she knows Santana likes to cuddle; Saturday, she'd held her the entire movie, and Sunday, there were a few times where Brittany had leaned against her at the coffee shop, and Santana's arms just automatically wrapped around her. Brittany loved it.

She gets into the car, and Santana brushes some hair that fell out of her ponytail behind her ear. "Nap time?" Brittany asks. Santana tucks her bottom lip under her teeth and nods, smiling.