A/N: Hello everyone. I'm kind of in love with the Kurt/Brittany dynamic that people here have delved into, and here's my second go at it.
Enjoy! It takes place immediately after Theatricality.
Also, I definitely don't own Glee. If I did, Kurt wouldn't be so sad all the time and there'd be tons more Mike Chang.
"…Hey Kurt,"
Given that he was wearing genuine ten inch McQueens, Kurt's step wasn't as bouncy as it could have been. He swiveled around with more agility than expected in the cumbersome shoes, and turned to face whoever had called him. Brittany's eyes were open as ever- wide, innocent-albeit obscured by glittery lobster claws. Kurt wondered how she had managed to fall behind the rest of the Freaks and Gleeks as they made their way back to the choir room; much less how she could move more slowly still than himself and a drag-laced, shower-curtained, clunkier-than-usual Finn.
Brittany was silent for some time. She looked past Kurt until Finn's lumbering scarlet-ness had rounded the corner and was out of earshot. When she focused on his face again, she felt a little sad. Kurt was good at staying calm, but she could still see the tear tracks on his face from a few minutes ago, when Azimio and Karofsky were ready to pound him. Brittany couldn't understand why anyone would want to hurt someone like Kurt-he smelled good, wore awesome clothes and talked so quickly and quietly, and with such big words, that his insults didn't even feel like insults. In any case she was glad that she and the rest of the Glee Club had come together to save their friend. She hoped that had cheered Kurt up a little. And when she was done telling Kurt about the secret she had found out about, he'd feel even better! Brittany got excited just thinking about it.
Kurt meanwhile had grown tired of waiting for Brittany (maybe she forgot that she wanted to talk to him in the first place) and opened his mouth to say something when he was cut off.
"-So Finn totally went all out today," started Brittany carefully. She wanted to say all the right things today, and make Kurt smile. He needed it. Kurt did smile, but it wasn't all big and happy like when he usually heard Finn's name, Brittany noticed.
"Yes," he responded at length. "Like a full-on knight in shining armor."
Kurt wondered where the Hell Brittany was going with this, which was usually his stream of consciousness when it came down to conversations with her.
Brittany's face lit up. Kurt didn't get it. She couldn't wait to tell him-he'd be so happy! Kurt meanwhile eyed the blonde warily as her smile grew wider.
"See, that's what I thought too at first, but then if Finn wanted to be a knight he would've dressed up in silver, not red."
Not bothering to explain that silver would've looked horrendous with Finn's complexion, and that no one bought hideous red shower curtains anyhow so they were probably on sale, Kurt let Brittany's infectious happiness tug the right corner of his mouth upward. A little piece of his heart seemed to glue itself back together every time he smiled.
"But Britt," said Kurt patiently, trying to keep the laughter out of his voice. "If Finn wasn't trying to be a knight in shining armor, then what was he trying to do?" He had avoided the use of any personal pronouns.
Brittany put a hand on Kurt's pointed shoulder. "Well," she began quietly, as if building suspense. She took a deep breath. "Maybe it was a wedding dress!" By this point the cheerleader looked positively giddy.
Kurt thought someone had dropped a lead ball into his stomach, and felt it sink along with his temporarily lifted mood. Oh Brittany. Any other day and he would have played along, but it hurt too much today. That ship had sailed. No wait. It had actually crashed and burned. And then sunk.
Brittany felt awful. Kurt looked sadder than he did before they all came to rescue him. What had she done?
"I'm sorry Kurt, I thought you'd be happy, because, well, he came out here just for you, and because you always kind of made it seem like you had a cr-"
Kurt didn't let her finish. "-Britt, wedding dresses are white." He was surprised that he didn't cry. He felt void of all emotion, and his eyes remained dull.
Brittany sighed. She knew that something bad had happened between Kurt and Finn, and hoped that things were OK after Finn had come dressed for the occasion. But Kurt obviously didn't think so. Brittany wasn't ready to give up just yet. Not moving her hand from his shoulder, Brittany looked directly up into his eyes. It didn't matter how tall Kurt was today, he probably still felt pretty low and he needed her.
"You know, wedding dresses…they don't always have to be white. Different countries have different colored wedding dresses…like Nevada and Antarctica." Brittany bit her lip, hoping that this would cheer Kurt up.
Kurt looked down at the blonde. She was trying, he knew, and this moved him more than anything else today, hurt more because she was trying to be a friend and he couldn't thank her, because he was so damn selfish.
It hurt too much to think of anything related to Finn. Kurt tried to tell himself that Finn Hudson was a maladroit cretin and an intolerant ass just like everyone else. But, damn him, he always had to come back and make Kurt feel a million different things, just by being borderline idiotic and smiling dopey. And Kurt knew he would go home later today and beg his father to let Finn stay, and Finn would sit and take any speech Burt would give him, and it was too much to think about right now because that familiar lump was rising in his throat again, so Kurt just focused on Brittany.
He looked Brittany dead in the eye and gave her a small smile. He wanted to speak fast before his throat twisted up with everything inside.
"I'm not from Antarctica darling," said Kurt softly. "It wouldn't work out between us… and we'd always be fighting."
Kurt wasn't sure whether he had said this to Brittany or to himself.
And he had sounded so defeated that Brittany knew he was right. She let her hand fall off of his shoulder, and listened to the sad sound it made when it traveled down the smooth fabric of his costume.
He was remarkably tired, and slid down to the floor with his back against the lockers. She watched him pull the cross dresser heels off and pulled him back onto his bare feet.
She was taller than him in her boots, and with her right arm around his waist, helped him hobble gingerly down the hallway. He didn't complain about catching syphilis from the floor, and she didn't know what to say in the silence.
Near the end of the slow walk, when they could hear the sounds of their fellow classmates cheering and bumping around in the choir room, he pressed a kiss to her cheek. Her expression was unreadable, but she looked down at him through her lobster claws with what must have been a sad kindness.
"He'd look a lot better if he put his arm around you. Rachel's too short-it looks funny. You're the perfect height."
Kurt looked slightly upward at Brittany, and managed a final wry smile.
"Don't I know it, sweetheart?"