"This will never work." Rachel moans after two hours of rehearsing "Don't Stop Believing" with Finn, Mercedes, Kurt, Tina, Artie and his friends from the jazz band. Who would want to listen to Journey? Sure, they've had a few hits but their best days are long behind them. Show tunes are much more appropriate for this setting. And with Mr. Shuester gone, it's next to impossible to coordinate the choreography. How is she supposed to perform the dance steps, avoid Finn's giant feet, and observe the others to make sure they're doing it right? It simply can't be done. At this point, she's starting to think that they should just have just disbanded the glee club when they had the chance. That way, she'd be free to cultivate her talent elsewhere. Somewhere with people who encouraged her to grow as a performer rather than a group of misfits who, although she could see glimmers of talent in all of them, mostly served to hold her back. "What are you talking about? We're gonna be awesome!" Finn gushes with an exuberance that seemed unnatural to Rachel given the amount of time they had just spent trying to get their choreography down. She just doesn't understand Journey and their music, he tells himself. He'll make her appreciate them someday. But first, he has to get the glee club back on track. They need Mr. Shuester back and he's pretty sure they'll need more members if they want to compete at sectionals. And it's up to him to get all these important people. It's the least he can do after abandoning them when they needed him the most.
"Did you know that Jacob Israel is saying that he has a pair of your panties?" Finn asks Rachel in a hushed voice. "Shh. Yes, I know. Don't talk about it." She commands, glancing around the classroom for possible eavesdroppers. When he asks why she would allow this, she gives him a glare that would kill if that were possible, but decides to explain anyway. Well, she could at least give him the same whitewashed version of the truth that she was sharing with everyone else: she did it to protect Quinn's right to privacy. No one should know about her pregnancy until she chooses to disclose it. Of course, all of this was true. However, she didn't really care that much about Quinn's rights. Rachel's rights had been violated by Quinn more times than she could count at the hands of Quinn Fabray in the form of merciless mocking and destruction of personal property. In Rachel's eyes, Quinn deserved whatever karma had in store for her. Rachel's real reasons for presenting Ben with a new pair of way too big panties would have to remain a secret. No one could know that she was harboring feelings for Finn Hudson, not when his girlfriend was carrying his child. If Quinn wasn't pregnant, maybe letting him know wouldn't be such a bad thing. If he had to choose between only herself and Quinn, she might be willing to risk it. But in this world, Finn was going to be a father and Rachel is going to do everything she could to help him, and her by association, bring this child into the world. It's what any good friend would do.
"The baby isn't yours." Rachel says hesitantly before watching all the color drain from Finn's face. "Why would you say something like that?" he asks angrily, quickly regaining said lost color and then some. She explains that she overheard the glee club talking about it. He says that they talk about all kinds of stuff but that doesn't make it true. Funny how shell-shocked Finn is more rational than regular Finn. Rachel resists the urge to roll her eyes but then remembers that he's upset so she simply reminds him that she knows better than to spread gossip. She's seen the looks that Quinn and Puck give each other and watched Puck remove his womanizing mask to reveal a young man who really seemed to care about Quinn and her baby. More than the best friend of the father should care if she wanted to be brutally honest. Throw in the glee club's gossip about Puck being the father and Rachel had enough of a reason to set the Jewish baby trap. When Finn asks what the hell a Jewish baby trap is and what it has to do with his and Quinn's white baby, she explains Tay Sachs and what it means for women pregnant with Jewish babies. She tells him that the explanation she just gave him is nearly identical to what she said to Quinn. If the baby really was Finn's, this information would have been wholly unnecessary and immediately disregarded by the other girl. Sadly, when Quinn demanded that Puck take her to get the baby tested, she fell right into Rachel's trap. Finally absorbing the information Rachel has just given him, Finn storms off toward the choir room to confront his two "best" friends about their mutual betrayal.
"I want you back." Finn said when he realized just how stupid he was to think that he had to ditch Rachel in order to 'find his inner rock star.' If anything, he needed her to push him into becoming the performer he wants to be. Because that's what he really wants: to perform. That inner rock star nonsense was about something entirely different, and even though he had only spent a week living that life, Finn knew that it did not appeal to him. Too many girls with not enough meaning. He needs meaning in his life and Rachel helps him find it. He just plain misses her. On some level, he actually likes her crazy ideas of what a relationship should be, complete with calendar. His life was more interesting with her around. "I can't believe you have the gall to say that." Rachel fumes as she turns around and walks away without another word. He has no right to say something like that to her after what he put her through. Unceremoniously dumping her because he was bored then parading all those girls in front of her is unacceptable in her book. And he knows that she's with Jesse now. She told him herself last time he said those words to her. What makes him think that she would leave an intelligent, talented man who understands her for a boy who thinks nothing of her heart and the ease with which he can break it? So she continues her march down the hallway toward the man who appreciates her, trying to suppress the fluttering in her stomach that's been making her nauseous since she first told Finn about her whirlwind romance with the hot star of Vocal Adrenaline.
"I'm going to have sex with Santana." Finn tells Rachel, hoping that this information- no, threat- will inspire her to break things off with Jesse and come back to him. Jealousy is a very powerful thing, after all. It's the only reason he even considered Santana's offer. It's not as if he'll actually go through with it. But as he watches Rachel's face fall from her usual smile to a look of complete astonishment, Finn begins to regret his statement. After a few moments of silence and staring at Rachel's stunned face, he turns and walks away, mentally kicking himself the whole way. Now that he's said it, he knows he has to go through with it. And now that he's seen Rachel's face, he knows that it's the last thing in the world he wants to do. As he turns a corner, Rachel whispers "Don't say that." What she really means is "Don't do it," but it doesn't matter because he's too far away to hear her. And too far gone to care. She's not even sure why he felt the need to tell her in the first place. It's not like they've been especially chummy since their breakup and her relationship with Jesse became a constant source of tension between them. And really, it's not her place to say anything to him. She lost any claim she had on him the moment she gave her heart to Jesse during their impromptu performance of "Hello." But as she makes her way out of the school and toward Jesse's waiting car, she can't help but feel as if they are both making huge mistakes.
"So is your boyfriend still off with his Vocal Adrenaline friends? That looks pretty suspicious if you ask me." Finn comments after glee club practice the day he performs "Jesse's Girl" for the group. "I don't appreciate the insinuation that you're making. And I certainly didn't appreciate that song. I'm with Jesse now, and we're ridiculously happy, so please just back off." Rachel asked before another one of her patented storm-offs. Who was he to say something like that to her? Does he really think she hasn't considered the possibility that Jesse is still loyal to Vocal Adrenaline? Of course she has. And even if she hadn't thought of it on her own, Finn had already taken it upon himself several times to question Jesse's loyalty. But Rachel knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that their love is pure and that Jesse has no ulterior motives for pursuing a relationship with her. They are simply two people with a love and talent for the performing arts and who can appreciate each other for who they truly are. So Rachel tells herself that the reason Finn won't drop this ridiculous notion is that he has never had a relationship as strong as hers and Jesse's. The closest thing he'd ever had was when he was with her, and he obviously wasn't ready to accept himself, let alone Rachel with all her quirks. And to top it all off, he had the nerve to imply that he was more worthy of her love. In what universe does that make sense? He's already proven multiple times that that is not the case. Is a single song really supposed to convince her otherwise? Because it can't. She was flattered though, despite what she told Finn. She can never tell him that though, he might confuse it for another, more promising, emotion. And that would be wrong. Right?