Spending time with Sam was weird now. Things between him and Finn had gotten a little tense when Sam was dating Rachel, but now that Sam had moved right from Rachel to Mercedes without anyone thinking that it was a big deal-including Rachel-things were just plain weird. Finally, one day Finn went down to the locker room where he knew Sam would be getting ready for football practice. "What's up?" said Sam.

"Dude, how could you do that to her?" snapped Finn.

"Do what?" said Sam.

"You know what!" said Finn. "Just dump Rachel for Mercedes like that."

"That's not exactly how it happened," said Sam. "At all."

"Yes it is," said Finn. "We all saw it." Sam looked away but didn't say anything for a minute.

"There's something I have to tell you," said Sam finally. "I never really dated Rachel. My family has been living in that motel for a few months now because my dad lost his job, and she found out and she's been coming over and helping me with some stuff, as a friend."

Finn starred at him in disbelief. "What kind of stuff?"

"Babysitting, mostly," said Sam. "Homework. My singing."

Finn nodded. "And there were never any feelings between the two of you?"

"No," said Sam. "It just seemed easier to deal with the fact that everyone thought I was dating her than to let them know the truth. You think the other guys on the team would ever look at me the same way again?"

Finn shook his head. "I'm in love with her, man," he blurted out.

"Then do something about it," said Sam.

"I don't know," said Finn. "Maybe she…maybe it's too late."

"No, trust me, it's not," said Sam, not wanting to let Finn know directly that he knew for a fact that Rachel was in love with him. "Look, if there's anything that the past year should have taught you, it's that life is too short to put off something like this. Don't be an idiot and let her slip through your fingertips this time."

"Rachel you have got to do something about this," said Mercedes, marching up to Rachel alongside Kurt with her hands on her hips.

"What's going on?" said Rachel as she turned away from the mirror, closed her makeup case, and looked at Kurt. "You aren't supposed to be in the girls' room."

"I come in here all the time," said Kurt. "The stalls are cleaner."

"This is a Finnervention," said Mercedes. "You're obviously in love with him."

"Yeah," said Rachel. "I know, it's horrible. I just don't know how to move on."

"So don't move on," said Kurt, who like Mercedes had figured out that Finn would be more than interested. "Tell him."

"I don't know," said Rachel.

"Rachel, this is the 21st century," said Mercedes. "Just go up to him, tell him how you feel and see what he thinks. Even if he needs more time, at least you'll both know where you stand."

"You're so right," said Rachel. "In fact, I think I'll do that right now." Clutching her book bag in one arm, she glanced in the mirror and nodded determinedly to herself. Then she began marching towards the front door. How had she not thought of this before? She was going to-

"Whoa!" said Rachel suddenly feeling herself slip. Before she knew it, she felt the hard tile against her shoulder and face.

"Are you okay?" said Kurt as he and Mercedes came up on either side and tried to help her up.

Rachel picked herself up with her right arm-the bruised one-and reached for her throbbing nose with her left hand.

"Oh my god," said Kurt. "It's broken."

"Let's get you to the hospital," said Mercedes.

"Yep, this is definitely broken," said the doctor. "But it's a clean break, so I don't have to set it. Although considering your deviated septum, I consider this a terrific opportunity for a little vanity adjustment."

"You…you mean like a nose job?" said Rachel.

The doctor smiled. "You're sixteen, right? That's when I gave my daughters theirs. It's like a right of passage for Jewish girls."

"Ah hell to the no," said Mercedes.

"Yeah," said Kurt. "We like her just the way she is."

"Can I please have you two step out of the room for a minute?" said the doctor.

Kurt and Mercedes grudgingly left the waiting room. The doctor smiled again and closed the door behind them.

"Look, I appreciate the offer, but I can't do anything that's going to effect my voice," said Rachel firmly.

"It doesn't effect your voice, that's just a myth," said the doctor. "In fact, opening up that septum might allow you to take in more air per breath, which means bigger belts on your high notes."

Rachel froze. "But…Barbra…"

"Is great," said the doctor. "She's also one in a million. The fact is, if you really wanna be an actress, you might want to consider looking and sounding the best that you can."

Rachel looked away but didn't say anything.

"I've got an appointment open next week," said the doctor. "Can I sign you up?"

"Um…um…" said Rachel. "I'll have to think about it."

"That's fine," said the doctor. "Just give me a call." He handed her his business card."

As she stepped out into the waiting room, Rachel was surprised to see that Kurt and Mercedes were still there. "You guys don't have to stay," she said. "My Dads are picking me up."

"Rachel, there's something I have to tell you," said Mercedes. "A few months before Quinn died, she confessed to me that she got a nose job."

"Really?" said Rachel. "When?"

"Before high school," said Mercedes. "She said it completely changed the way people look at her forever, and she dreaded the day that she would have to tell Lily that the reason people look at her the way they do isn't because of her personality or her accomplishments, it's because she had a pointless surgery to make her face looked different."

"That's it!" said Rachel. "I've always been the one with the talent and smarts and of course the personality, looks were the only thing Quinn ever had that I didn't! If I get a nose job, people will finally start to me the way they looked at her. I'm definitely getting one now!"

"Um…" said Mercedes.

"Rachel…" said Kurt.

"I see my Dads' car, got to go!" said Rachel. She paused to throw her arms around Mercedes. "Thank you, Mercedes! You're the best!" She ran out the door.

"Well that didn't work," said Mercedes.

"What kills me is that I'm sure that part of this also has to do with Finn," said Kurt. "Think about it, we basically just gave her a way to feel like she's measuring up to his last girlfriend."

"But Finn isn't superficial like that," said Mercedes. "He loves her the way she is. I wish we could just tell one of them that the other one is in love with them so they stop this nonsense before it gets any further than it already has."

"That's it!" said Kurt. He grabbed his phone. "Mercedes, call everyone in New Directions and tell them to be at the mall at four p.m. on Thursday. Except for Finn. I'll talk to him myself. I know how we're going to fix everything."

"This was a great idea, going shopping before I get my nose job," said Rachel, slipping her arm through Kurt's as they entered the mall. "So glad you're finally accepting that I'm getting one."

"Not so fast," said Kurt. He smoothly stepped in front of Rachel so she couldn't move and folded his arms across his chest. "Here's the deal. Barbra's your idol, right? Do you want to disappoint her?"

"Of course not!" said Rachel.

"Well, if you get a nose job, then you'll be spitting on her legacy," said Kurt. "If you let one misguided societal pressure make you change the way you look, you'll be letting down Barbra, yourself, and all the little girls who are gonna look up at your beautiful face one day and see themselves." Rachel opened her mouth to protest, but Kurt held up his hand and stopped her.

Then out of nowhere, music started playing, Kurt started to dance, and dancers showed up out of nowhere and started to join them. A handful of them were from New Directions, but most were other dancers that Kurt knew. Rachel laughed as she was pulled into the flash mob, down the escalator, and into the middle of a huge circle of dancers. The flash mob ended with Rachel in the middle of the circle and everyone pointing to her. "Barbra Streisand!" She was laughing hysterically as the crowd around them cheered.

"So?" said Kurt. "Did that song inspire you?"

Rachel stopped laughing and grinned at him. "Maybe."

"Oh yeah?" said Kurt. "If not, then this will." He stepped away from her and motioned for the crowd around them to back away. To Rachel's surprise, Finn came over followed by Puck with his guitar. Kurt handed the microphone to Finn and dramatically waved his arm to present him, then stepped off to the side. Puck immediately started softly playing his guitar. Rachel started tearing up as soon as she recognized the tune.

"Your insecure
Don't know what for
Your turning heads
When you walk through the door.
Don't need makeup
To cover up
Being the way that you are
Is enough"

Finn began walking closer to Rachel, causing her to blush and turn her head slightly.

"Everyone else in the room
Can see it
Everyone else but you"

Sam and Artie both came out of the crowd and began playing their guitars alongside Puck as Finn stepped even closer to Rachel until he was standing practically right in front of her.

"Baby, you light up my world
Like nobody else
The way that you flip your hair
Gets me overwhelmed
But when you smile at the ground
It ain't hard to tell
You don't know oh-oh
You don't know you're beautiful
If only you saw what I can see
You'll understand why I want you so desperately
Right now I'm looking at you
And I can't believe
You don't know oh oh,
You don't know your beautiful
That's what makes you beautiful"

Rachel's heart started beating faster a she wiped tears from her cheeks. Was he really saying that he wanted her? Or just that he thought she was beautiful?

"If only you saw what I can see
You'll understand why I want you so desperately
Right now I'm looking at you
And I can't believe
You don't know oh oh
You don't know your beautiful
That's what makes you beautiful
That's what makes you beautiful"

The crowd began cheering around them as the three guitars feel silent. "Finn," Rachel whispered. "I…"

She was interrupted when Finn bent over and pulled her into a kiss.

By the time Finn and Rachel pulled away from each other and Finn stepped back, the crowd was absolutely exploding.

"I'm sorry," mumbled Finn. "That wasn't part of the plan."

"That was perfect," Rachel insisted. Then she grabbed his arm, intending to pull him away from the crowd, only to look up and discover that they were surrounded. They looked at each other and laughed.

"Thank you, thank you very much!" said Kurt. "Show's over, ladies and gentlemen!" Then he led all the other members of New Directions away from Finn and Rachel, causing the crowd to disperse after a few minutes.

"I never dated Sam," Rachel blurted out.

"He already told me," said Finn. Then he glanced over his shoulder nervously. Nearby, Mercedes was sitting on a bench holding Lily.

"You know, if you go out with me you aren't just getting one new person in your life," said Finn. "You're getting her, too."

"That's no problem," said Rachel. "She likes me." She waved to Lily and Mercedes stood up and walked over with her.

"Thanks," said Finn.

"No problem," said Mercedes, handing Lily over to Finn. "Took you guys long enough," she said as she walked off. Finn and Rachel laughed. Then Lily laughed too, even though she obviously had no idea what was going on, which caused Finn and Rachel to laugh harder.

Lily pointed to Rachel. "Dada kiss?"

"Yes, Lily," said Rachel. "I didn't know she could talk."

"Barely," said Finn. "Hey Lily, wanna go grab some lunch?"

Lily clapped her hands. "Na ba me bo WUNCH!" Rachel laughed.

"Come with us?" said Finn.

"Of course," said Rachel.

Finn shifted Lily so he was holding her on his left hip and took Rachel's hand with his other hand. "Then I guess this is our first date." The three of them began walking away together, Finn thinking that this was the happiest he had been all year.

"So I guess this is happily ever after then," said Kurt. "I knew you wouldn't mind that he comes with Lily."

"Of course not," said Rachel. "I love watching him with her. It makes me hope that I'll still with him when I'm twenty-five and I've won a couple of Tonys and I'm ready to have intercourse and babies."

"Getting ahead of yourself, much?" said Kurt jokingly. "By the way, after we left you guys at the mall I heard a bunch of guys talking about how cheesy that kiss was at the end. Some of them thought it was just a show."

"Wow," said Rachel. "Good thing we didn't do anything like that at nationals."

"For sure," said Kurt.

"Hey," said Rachel. "Now can I sing a romantic duet with Finn?"

Kurt smiled. "It's probably our best chance of winning."