In Rachel's room, Jesse helped her go through some of her childhood mementos. "What took you so long?"

"There is so much stuff. It's like a shrine. Oh, look, my baby teeth." Hard to believe she still had those.

"Looks like you're in fifth position."

"Makes sense. My dads said they played Vivaldi in my mother's belly." She gasped and pulled out a trophy. "My first singing competition. I won first place, of course."

Jesse looked at it. "You were only three years old."

"I was very musically verbal. Oh, cute little baby shoes."

He pulled out a tape. "What's this? It's from your sister."

"I have a sister? Oh, my God, she wrote this." Jesse took it back. "Wait, what are you doing?"

"Playing the tape."

"No, I'm not ready. What if she's terrible? Or worse, what if she's better than me?"

"I think you're reading a little too much into this."

"No, look, it's my decision. Jesse, I think that you should leave."

Outside, Jesse got in a car. "She has the tape. She won't listen to it."

"What?" Shelby said, "She has to listen to it. That's the point of all this."

"I'm doing the best I can. Look, when you told me to seduce her…"

"Befriend her was actually the word I used."

"The point is, I got into it because I thought it might be a good acting exercise, but now I think I kinda like her. I don't want her to get hurt."

"One more week, that's all I ask. Then you can come back to Vocal Adrenaline."

"I don't understand why you don't just walk up to her and say, 'Hi, my name's Shelby. I'm your sister.'"

"Because I signed a contract. She has to come to me. Once she listens to the tape, she won't be able to stop until she finds me. My parents signed an ad in the paper for a surrogate. Her dads seemed like nice guys, so they went for it. I never got to hold her. But when they were cleaning her off, she turned her little head and looked at me. You get her to listen to that tape."

Jesse nodded.

The next day, Jesse put the tape in Rachel's radio. "Jesse, what are you doing? I told you, I'm not ready."

"Yes, you are. Look, just listen to it." He kisses her. He pushed a button and piano music started to play.

Shelby's voice said, "Hey, baby. It's your big sis. I think this will pretty much say it all." Then they were singing "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables.

In Carmel's auditorium, they were all wearing red costumes. Rachel, Mercedes and Quinn snuck into the stairs.

Shelby said, "Okay, okay, okay! Just stop. You guys aren't getting it. You're letting your costumes do all the work. It's not enough to douse yourselves with gasoline. You have to light yourselves on fire!"

Rachel said, "God, she's good."

Shelby went on, "But being theatrical doesn't mean you have to be a nuclear explosion. It can be like…a quiet storm. Just radiate emotion, express what's deep inside you. That's what theatricality it truly about. Do I have to demonstrate? Funny Girl, E-flat."

"Exactly what I would've done. Barbra. I could do it in my sleep."

Shelby was singing, and Rachel walked slowly, her heart racing.

Mercedes whispered, "Where are you going?"

Quinn whispered, "Get back here!"

When Shelby stopped, she looked at Rachel after she said, "Ms Corcoran? I'm Rachel Berry. I'm your sister."

"Did you regret it?"

"Yes, then no, then so much."

"How did you know when to find me? When did you know it was the right time for me to find you?"

"I saw you at Sectionals. You were extraordinary. You were me."

"Was it hard for you?"

"It felt like a broken promise. Never heals."

"Wow. Genetics really are amazing. You see the world with the same fierce theatricality as I do. The way we're sitting right now, it feels so dramatic, yet we seem so comfortable with it."

"I've missed so much. How do you feel?"

"Thirsty. When I used to get sad, my dads would bring me a glass of water. So I couldn't tell if I was just sad."

"Maybe it wouldn't kill us to…get to know each other a little better."

Rachel smiled and nodded.

In the hallway, Tina said, "I love wearing champagne bubbles. Even though I'm painfully shy and obsessed with death, I'm a really effervescent person." The two dunderheads pushed her and Kurt into the lockers.

Kurt shouted, "Excuse me, were you dropped on your heads?"

Karofsky said, "What'd you say?"

"You heard me. Pick on me, that's fine, but don't throw around a girl."

Azimio said, "Come on, Dave. Let's get out of here."

Kurt yelled, "Yeah, you don't want to be late for your appointment at Supercuts!" Tina hung her mouth open in shock.

The girls and Kurt all did a rousing performance of "Bad Romance," whereas the guys performed that classic KISS hit, "Shout it Out Loud." It would've been nice, but Finn didn't want Kurt touching him with a moist towelette.

Kurt asked him, "Do you think you could talk to Azimio and Karofsky without damaging my Gaga outfit?"

"Are you serious?" Finn asked. "Do you have any idea how difficult it is with those guys? They already think we're boyfriends."

"Let them think what they want. They're worse than Neanderthals."

"Don't you get it? It's not just them. We live in Ohio, not New York, not San Francisco or any other city where people eat vegetables that aren't fried."

"You are such a boy."

"Don't touch me!"

"What is your problem, Finn? It's just a tiny wet towel!"

Finn told him "I'm gonna go wash this off in the laundry room."

"Get over yourself, Finn!"

The school bell rang and Shelby said to Will, "I know why you called. Don't worry about it. My reconnection with Rachel's not some kind of plot to mess with all of you before Regionals."

"I'm not worried about Regionals," Will told her. "It's Rachel. She's special. She has all of the best of you. Strong-willed, dramatic, and wildly talented."

"Go on," Shelby smiled.

"But she's not hard like you. She's fragile, emotional, and clearly convinced herself that you're as committed to this reunion as she is. You're not prepared to have a teenage sister, are you?"

"I really wanted a daughter. That's why it was so important for me to make that bond with her. The kind of bond I never had with my mother. But you're right. I wanted her back. But Rachel's almost an adult now."

"Shelby, you know I can't tell you what to do. But if you really love her, you have to tell her what you just told me."

Kurt redecorated his bedroom. He said, "I had to skip school to finish it, but I think you're really going to like it." He was walking downstairs with Finn, then turned the lights on. Kurt's room was covered with brown fabric and purple curtains, but when Finn saw it, he was not in the mood to like it. "Consider it a peace offering. It's a perfect blend of mute and theatrical."

"Are you freaking insane? I can't live here. And what the hell is that supposed to be?"

"It's a privacy partition. It's the only one I could find on short notice. Why are you getting angry about this? I worked hard on it."

"I don't want to get dressed in front of you."

"Well, that's why I got it, so no one has to peek."

"You think I don't see? I'm not like you."

"I accepted that."

"You think I don't know why you got so excited that we were gonna move in together?"

"It's just a room, Finn! We can redecorate it if you want to!"

"Okay, good. Then the first thing that needs to go is that trashy lamp and these crappy blankets!"

Burt walked downstairs and yelled, "Hey!"

"No, I didn't call him anything."

Kurt said, "Relax, Dad, I didn't take it that way."

"Yeah, that's because you still assume the best in people." Burt glared at Finn. "You live a few years, you start seeing the hate in people's hearts. Even the best people. You use the F words? The N word?"

"No, of course not."

"Yeah? How about 'retard'?"

"No. I'd never call him that. That's cruel."

"But you think it's okay to come into my house and say something like 'faggy'?"

"No."

Burt started to look sad. "What, you think I didn't use that word when I was your age?" Poor Kurt looked upset. Burt went on, "You know, some kid gets clocked in practice, we just tell him to shake it off. I really thought you were different, Finn. And I thought that being in glee club, being raised by your mom, meant that you were some new generation of dude who just came into the world knowing what it's taken me years of struggling to figure out. I'm sorry, Finn, but you can't stay here."

"Dad…" Kurt said.

"I love your mom. But my family comes first, and I can't have that kind of poison around. This is our home, Kurt. He is my son. Out in the world, you do what you want."

Finn walked upstairs. Burt told Kurt, "This place looks great." He puts his hand on his shoulder and walks upstairs.

Shelby walked to Rachel standing by the piano, "So, how did your dads come up with your name Rachel?"

"They were, um, big fans of Family Matters. I know why you're here. To say goodbye."

"I really enjoyed meeting you."

"Me too. So, what were my real parents like?"

"My dad died sometime after you were born. My mom was just like us—competitive, talented, the no-nonsense type. But she never gave me the time of day, even when Dad was alive."

"I'm guessing you and your mom didn't have the best relationship."

"That's putting it mildly."

"And I'm really sorry about your dad."

"Thank you. Do you know what really turned me? That story you told me about your dads, how they'd bring you water whenever you were sad. I think that anything you and I share right now is…gonna be a lot for you."

"You're my sister."

"Let's just be grateful for one another. Don't think for a second that I'm gonna go soft on you at Regionals."

Rachel chuckled, "That never even crossed my mind." They hugged. "Shelby? Before you go, will you sing with me?"

"I'd be honored." Then they started singing a piano version of Lady Gaga's "Poker Face." Shelby smiled at her and said, "You are really, really good." She touched her cheek and shoulder, then walked off. And ever since then, Rachel and Shelby became friends. Well, sort of.

Kurt said to Azimio and Karofsky, "Fine. You want to hit me? Go ahead. But I swear to you I will never change. I'm proud to be different. It's the best thing about me. So, go ahead, hit me."

Finn said, "You're not hitting anyone."

Azimio spewed, "Is he wearing a red rubber dress?"

Kurt said, "Oh, my God."

Finn went on, "I'm really sorry, Kurt. I want to thank you. I realize I still have a lot to learn. I'm not gonna let anyone lay a hand on you."

Karofsky said, "Really, dude? 'Cause we can take you two."

The others walked behind Finn. Puck said, "Yeah, but can you take all of us?"

Azimio started looking annoyed. He and Karofsky walked off. Totally uninterested.

Rachel took off her sunglasses. "I'm tired of everyone calling us freaks."

Mercedes chuckled, "Well, look at us. We are freaks." They all chuckled.

Finn said, "But we're all freaks together."

Will clapped his hands. "Nice job, Finn. I think you finally figured out what the lesson was. Kinda makes me wish I planned it. But Mercedes is right. You do all look incredibly insane." They said, "Thank you." He said, "You are so welcome." Rachel giggled and put her sunglasses back on. Will said, "Next stop, Regionals!" They all cheered.