Title: Her Hidden Goodness

Written by: Somnion

Disclaimer: I do not Alvin and the Chipmunks. They belong to Bagdasarian Productions

I wrote this because too many people always view and depict Brittany as selfish, egotistical and materialistic (granted she's guilty of all that) and tend to miss out the tender moments that Brittany does have on the TV shows that show a much sweeter side of her. Although my favourite characters are Simon and Jeanette, I like Brittany a lot too and it's sad to see her many wonderful qualities being overshadowed by her 'diva' status. So here's to making a stand, in order to show the kindness and compassion that Brittany has. I hope you guys enjoy this.

Simon walked down the road to the Chipette's tree house. It had been a week since Alvin had been doing chores for Brittany and at first; Simon figured Brittany putting Alvin in his place was a good thing. It was only yesterday when he saw Alvin walk into their bedroom with an exhausted look on his face and in finality, collapse clumsily onto his bed did he realise that perhaps Brittany was taking things too far. He had heard from Jeanette that both she and Eleanor had been trying to convince their eldest sister to give the exhausted Chipmunk a break but to no avail. So now, here he was, on his way to meet a certain auburn haired Chipette to negotiate the terms of Alvin's punishment.

"I hope Brittany's heard about the 'Emancipation Proclamation'," Simon said with a sigh as he approached the door and rang the doorbell, surprised that his dry wit was still as sharp as ever despite being so concerned about his older brother.

He saw his brother standing from the balcony of the Chippettes tree house, cleaning the windows. Brittany had been having Alvin do all her chores and other numerous favours for her as well, completely forgetting that the poor Chipmunk had chores of his own to do. It was really sad though, Alvin didn't even have time to go to the arcade or play games anymore. He drew his attention back to the door as he heard it open, revealing the very person he had come to see.

"Why, hello, Simon," Brittany greeted as she met the bespectacled Chipmunk. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Hello, Brittany," replied the young lad in turn. "Could I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure, of course," answered the Chipette with a smile. She then invited him in and led him to the living room. Brittany was a nice girl under normal circumstances and could be very polite at times, just as long as no one set off her notoriously short fuse that she was famous for.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" Brittany asked as she took the seat across from Simon.

"Well, in all honesty, Brittany, I was hoping that maybe you could give Alvin a break," he said, choosing his words carefully so as not to agitate the blue-eyed Chipette, in fear of crossing her low threshold of patience in the process. "He's been working really hard and although I know that you're probably still upset with what he did..."

"UPSET!!" she yelled as she slammed her fists on the table, giving her guest a fright. "You think I'm upset? I'm furious with him. After the embarrassment at that dance and the humiliation I had to endure, you'd think I'd just give him a break so easily like that?"

"Please, Brittany," Simon reasoned, "do try to understand. He practically collapsed last night on his bed. He's completely exhausted."

Brittany still seemed to have some few choice words she was about to throw into the conversation but they were interrupted by the sound of a loud noise that came from the front door followed by a scream which both recognised as Jeanette's. The two chipmunks ran outside and were horrified at what they saw. Alvin had fallen off the balcony and Jeanette was crouched beside him and was shaking the boy, trying to wake him up.

"Alvin!" Brittany screamed in fear. "Jeanette, what happened? What's happened to Alvin?"

"I...I don't know," stammered Jeanette. "He suddenly lost his balance and fell. Oh Simon, what are we going to do?"

"Now, don't panic you two," he said as he tried to calm the two panicking girls. "Brittany, call an ambulance quickly, Jeanette and I will try to see what we can do here."

Brittany rushed to the phone and called the hospital while Simon and Jeanette looked at Alvin to figure out how bad his condition was. He was still breathing but seemed to have lost consciousness. They didn't risk moving the injured Chipmunk in fear of hurting him. The ambulance arrived about five minutes later and the paramedics helped place Alvin into the vehicle and given that Simon was Alvin's only kin that was present at the moment, they asked that he follow along so that they'd be able to contact their guardian, Dave.

Hours passed as the doctors looked over and treated Alvin. Simon paced back and forth around the waiting room, the wait for news concerning his injured brother causing him to become anxious and filling him with worry. Dave was the only one permitted inside the ward and Theodore and Eleanor, who was with Dave during the time of the accident, were sitting on one of the couches in the waiting room with looks of worry on their faces. Simon's attention was drawn momentarily to the sound of a door opening, Brittany and Jeanette had arrived with a bouquet of roses which Brittany held in her hands. Simon could tell both were upset about the accident but Brittany seemed more affected by it than any of the Chipettes.

"Has there been any word about Alvin's condition, Simon?" Jeanette asked softly.

Simon shook his head wearily as he responded to Jeanette's question. Just then, Dave emerged from the ward and there was a look of relief on his face. They ran up to him, each asking how Alvin was doing for they were all anxious to know his condition.

"Well, he has a fracture on his left leg," Dave explained slowly, "but more than anything, the doctor mentioned that his body was exhausted. He wanted to know if he had been overworking himself recently. Do any of you kids know anything about it?"

Things became rather tense and everyone fell silent; they all knew who was responsible for Alvin's tiredness but seeing how guilty and upset Brittany was over the accident, no one actually had the heart to expose her. However, after a few moments, the guilt became to difficult to bear for Brittany and her tears began to fall.

"Brittany, what's wrong?" asked Dave in surprise when he noticed she was crying, walking up to Brittany to comfort her.

"It's all my fault," she wailed as she held on to Dave. "It's my fault Alvin got hurt."

"What do you mean? Do you know something about Alvin's tiredness?"

"I made him do all my chores because I was angry at him for humiliating me at the Valentine's Day Ball," cried the sobbing Chipette. "But I never wanted this to happen to him. I didn't mean for him to get hurt."

Dave sighed as he gently stroked Brittany's head to console her. Now he understood what happened and although Brittany should receive a good telling to, Dave couldn't bring himself to reprimand her now, given that she was sorry for what she did. However, he still felt he should say a few things to her, hopefully Brittany may learn something from this experience.

"I know you didn't mean it Brittany," Dave said after a while. "You're good girl, I know that you are. But sometimes you have a tendency to think about your own interest and forget others. Fortunately for us and Alvin, it's not a major injury but hopefully this incident will teach you something. Its experiences like this that teach us and make us grow; it's how we mature as people."

Brittany nodded her head, a sign to show that she understood what Dave said. Dave then led her and the rest of the kids to the room where Alvin was. The usually lively Chipmunk was lying down, asleep due to the exhaustion. Dave then left; he had some work to take care of and told the kids to let Alvin get some rest. He'd take them here again for another visit later in the afternoon when he figured Alvin would be awake. The chipmunks made to leave but Brittany wanted to stay a little longer. Understanding her reasons for wanting to remain, the rest of the chipmunks left, leaving Brittany alone.

"I'm really sorry, Alvin," she said sadly as she took Alvin's hand in her own when she realised she was alone. Once again, she found herself on the verge of tears, for although it was a fracture, there was the possibility that he could have died. Suddenly, she felt the hand she held giving hers a gentle squeeze. Brittany felt her heart jump and opened her eyes to see Alvin awake.

"Honestly, I leave you for a couple of hours and already you're crying for me," he said with a smug yet tired smile.

"ALVIN!" screamed the overjoyed Chipette, her heart overflowing with relief that Alvin had finally opened his eyes. She was so happy that she couldn't help but jump and embrace the recovering Chipmunk.

"OW! OW! Brittany, get off! You're hurting my leg," he yelled.

"I...I'm so sorry, Alvin. It's just that I'm so glad you're awake."

"Come on, you didn't think a little fall was gonna get the best of Alvin Seville, did you?" he said with a smirk.

"It was a high balcony, Alvin," Brittany said as a look of guilt washed over her features. "You could have died and it's all..."

Interrupted by the sudden touch of Alvin's hand which had left her own hand to reach her cheek, she looked at him with startled eyes, her sky blue eyes meeting his.

"I know," he said as he stroked her cheek. "But you didn't mean for it to happen, did you?"

Brittany's heart pounded hard and instinctively, her hands found their way to his, clasping the hand that cupped her cheek in her own. For probably the first time in her life, Brittany was actually speechless. She was so caught up in the moment that the best she could do to answer Alvin's question was to give him a silent nod and smile, a response she figured was more like that of her timid sister, Jeanette, than herself.

"Do you like apples, Alvin?" she asked suddenly after a few minutes of intimate silence, an attempt to change the topic of conversation. She was pretty sure the last thing Alvin wanted to talk about was the accident.

"You know I do, Britt. But I can't reach any from here."

"Well," Brittany said with a smile coming to her face, "I guess this is your lucky day. You get someone as beautiful as me to serve you and nurse you back to health."

"Yea, lucky me," he replied, returning her smile with a smirk of his own, pleased to see that Brittany had returned to her usual self again.

As she peeled and cut the apple, Alvin began to think to himself. Sure, Brittany could be selfish, materialistic, vain and egoistic; yet there were people who could see past that outer shell which overshadowed her many wonderful features; a dynamic and adventurous soul, a supportive friend, a defensive and loving sister and, deep down, a kind hearted girl who was capable of showing great compassion when she wanted to. And Alvin was glad that he was among those who saw those traits because no matter how often they fought, it was those qualities that always brought him back to her; and her to him.

The End

Thanks for reading. I hope it wasn't too corny or anything. Please read and review and tell me what you think.