HEY! HEY! YOU! YOU! I COULD BE YOUR GIRLFRIEND!

RACHEL BERRY HAD KIDNAPPED SAM EVANS AND TESSA SWANN. Taking both of their hands in her firm grip, she dragged them to the auditorium with an excited grin on her face.

"Is this my surprise birthday party?" Sam asked, full of curiosity, "because my birthday was last week."

"I know your birthday was last week, Stevie, Stacey and I baked you a cake." Tessa giggled, using her free hand to give him a poke on the arm to try and bring back the memory.

Poking her back, Sam pouted slightly, "you know, I'm starting to think you like them more than me. You're replacing me."

"I could never replace you." Tessa gasped, playfully, "you're my Sam Evans."

Quietening them down as Sam held a hand over his heart, Rachel wanted to tell them her plan, which she was obviously very excited about, "I have a proposition for you both." She announced, clapping her hands together, "as both an apology for acting so crazy the other week and as an opportunity for us."

With a brief glance towards each other, Sam and Tessa nodded for her to go on, figuring that her plan couldn't be too bad. Glad that they seemed to be ready, Rachel's smile grew even bigger as she explained, "I was wondering if you wanted to go to prom in a group with me. Like a three way date — but not the dirty kind."

"That sounds great, Rachel, but I can't afford to take two girls to prom." Sam sighed.

"That doesn't matter, we'll have a prom on a budget." Rachel suggested, hinting that she'd thought the exact situation through, "you're gonna have to borrow a suit from your dad, Tess and I will buy five dollar dresses from the goodwill and make corsages from flowers in one of our gardens."

Grinning excitedly as she saw Sam become more persuaded, sneaking glances her way, Tessa spoke up, "and my mom can drive us to prom, and we can get the all-you-can-eat pasta special from Breadstix. It's be perfect."

Hearing her say that was all Sam needed to get him on board, looking straight at Tessa, "I'd love to go to prom with you." He smiled, gazing at her for a moment before looking over to an ecstatic Rachel to include her on their plan.

A sly grin creeping onto her lips, Rachel began to leave the auditorium, "you so two are going as like, each other's dates now?"

Locking eyes for a second, Sam and Tessa seemed to consider her question for a moment before slowly nodding in reply. Pushing her shoulders back victoriously, Rachel beamed, giving Tessa a quick wink, "well great, because Jesse's tagging along as mine."

Eyes widening in shock as Rachel skipped out of the auditorium, Tessa immediately called after her, "wait, as in Jesse, Jesse?" She yelled, getting no response, "oh I need to text Finn." She muttered, whipping her phone out to text her friend.

"Wait, who's Jesse?" Sam asked, looking over her shoulder, confused.

"Finn's mortal enemy." Tessa replied, hitting the send button on her phone before stuffing it back into her pocket.

"So we're going to prom together?" He grinned, nervously, "are you sure you don't mind it not being special?"

Nodding, Tessa's grin was equally large, throwing her arms around him and sighing happily, "it will be special. Any date would be special to me if I'm with you."

　　　　　　　   ☆

PROM HAD FINALLY COME AROUND AND RACHEL, JESSE, SAM AND TESSA WERE IN BREADSTIX. Showing off each other's dresses, Rachel had given them all the full fashion show of her dress before pulling Tessa to her feet to show off hers, gushing loudly over her friend in her prom dress.

Looking to the floor shyly, Tessa let a small smile come to her lips as she swished around the skirt, "it has pockets."

"You look smokin' Tess." Jesse complimented her through a laugh, "totally different to the last time I saw you."

Whipping her head around, Rachel frowned at him, defensively, "what's that supposed to mean?"

"The last time he saw me was last year when I was in a massive tshirt and sweats, throwing eggs at his car." Tessa admitted, wiggling her eyebrows at him, to which he laughed as Rachel's mouth dropped open, "sorry about that by the way." She rubbed the back of her neck nervously, through, she wasn't sure if she was really sorry.

Waving it off, Jesse seemed to have moved past everything that had happened the previous year at Mckinley — except his rivalry with Finn.

"You look really beautiful." Sam smiled at her softly as Tess slid back into her seat next to him, wrapping his arm around her waist to bring her closer to him. Breaking her gaze with her as Rachel squealed excitedly, Sam turned to Jesse with his tie in his hand, "seriously though Jesse, what do you think of the bolo tie? Pretty cool right? Saw Springsteen in the Tunnel of Love album wearing it."

"Dude, that was twenty years ago." Jesse laughed to himself, before his expression softened with sympathy, "I'm really sorry to hear about what happened with your family, Sam."

"I hope it's okay, I sort of filled Jesse in on what's going on." Rachel explained, sheepishly as Tessa found Sam's hand, giving it a hard squeeze of reassurance as he avoided eye contact with anyone, nervously.

"Of course it's okay. Sam has nothing to be ashamed of." Jesse assured him, swiftly moving onto his own life story, "i know how tough it is out there. I couldn't even get a job as one of those singing waiters at Jonnie Rockets. But I've got an idea, they say that the best time to start a business is during a recession. I don't know why or even what a recession is, but it is my understanding that we are in one."

Gazing at him for a moment, Rachel let out a sigh of wonder, "he's so smart, I can't believe he flunked out of college." She gushed.

Turning to each other as they listened in to Jesse's plan to become the 'Show Choir Whisperer', Sam and Tessa made eye contact and struggled to stifle their laughter, having to cover it up by pulling their drinks up to their lips and sipping on the straw silently, avoiding each other's gazes so not to break out into giggles.

As Rachel and Jesse continued to plan his new business, Quinn and Finn arrived at Breadstix, to try and build up their votes for Prom King and Queen. Making their way towards them, Quinn had the biggest smile on her face, whilst Finn was glaring straight at Jesse. "Hey guys, you look amazing! And don't forget to vote Hudson-Fabray tonight."

"Hey Jesse, what'd you order, scrambled eggs?" Finn said, with a wicked smile, "I mean, I know you usually like them served on people's heads."

Giving him the fakest smile he could muster, Jesse skipped past Finn and straight to Quinn, "Quinn you look stunning, the ghost of Grace Kelly. Let me know if you get tired of your boyfriend stomping on your pretty little feet all night, I'd be more than happy to step in."

Quick to try and defuse the obvious tension between the pair, Tessa jumped up from the booth and took Quinn by her shoulders, "Quinn, you look incredible, Prom Queen's all yours." She winked, before turning to Finn and giving him a pat on the cheek, "Finn, you look handsome, chill out dude." She chuckled before pulling him into a hug so she could whisper into his ear, "he's insane and I'm not sorry that I egged his car."

Finally, Finn began to grin, nodding in agreement, wrapping his arm around Quinn, "we'll see you guys there, okay?"

Waving as they walked away, Rachel squealed excitedly, "whose ready for some prom?"

"I'm ready!" Tessa yelled, excitedly, calling for a race to prom, she jumped onto Sam's back, laughing contentedly as Rachel called out after her, worried for the safety of her prom dress and Sam just laughed alongside her.

　　　　　　　  ☆

PROM WAS IN FULL SWING AND SAM WAS UP SINGING 'FRIDAY' WITH ARTIE AND PUCK. Leaving the side of Dave Karofsky, Santana caught Tessa's eye as she danced along crazily with Blaine, rushing over and pulling her out of Blaine's arms and into her own.

"Has Trouty Mouth asked you out yet?" She asked, getting straight to the point as soon as Tessa was listening. Only partially surprised by the bluntness of her question, Tessa shook her head with a small smile. Rolling her eyes immediately, Santana glared up at Sam singing on the stage, "how many times do I have to tell him to ask you out?"

"He has a lot on his mind right now." Tessa defended, with a shrug of her shoulders, "I don't mind."

"Well you're here together, aren't you? Berry actually might have managed to do something right for once." Santana muttered, shuddering at the thought of actually having to compliment Rachel, grimacing, she managed to compose herself, "you look hot by the way — the hottest here."

Swaying Santana along to the music, Tessa let out a small laugh and shook her head in amusement, fanning herself, "have you seen yourself? That dress is everything on you."

"And some barbie bitch has the audacity to wear the same one?" Santana scoffed, nodding her head over to a girl wearing the same red dress as her.

"She can't pull it off like you can." Tessa assured her.

"I know, I know." Santana smirked, pushing her shoulders back, frowning as she realised they'd diverted away from Sam. Coming up with a plan, Santana clicked her fingers together, "Auntie Snixx has a plan! Come with me!"

Grabbing onto her hand, Santana pulled Tessa through the dancing crowd, calling Brittany over to join them as they went. Reaching the band just as Sam, Puck and Artie finished, she quickly whispered her idea into the drummers ear, smirking proudly as he nodded his head eagerly.

Taking hold of both of their hands she began to go into her plan, "us three are gonna sing a song together and Tess you're gonna sing lead. 'Girlfriend' by Avril Lavigne — and don't say you don't know it because I know you listen to it all the time."

"I don't know." Tessa chuckled nervously, glancing over to where Sam was dancing with Mike and Tina, "I don't want to force the relationship. I really care about him."

Taking hold of her shoulders, Santana gave them a hard shake, "he likes you, a lot. And you like him, a lot. Just go for it."

"And you'd kill the song." Brittany pitched in, "we've got your back."

As Tessa nodded her head, a grin coming onto her lips, Brittany squealed excitedly and Santana clapped her hands together, as the pair took both of her hands, pulling her up onto the stage.

Holding onto the microphone, Tessa gave an anxious look out into the crowd, fixing her dress. Catching Sam's eye, she saw his face light up, sending her an encouraging thumbs up, relaxing slightly, she beamed back, sending the band a nod for them to start playing.

[SONG — GIRLFRIEND, BY AVRIL LAVIGNE, SANG BY TESSA, SANTANA AND BRITTANY]

With a glance towards Santana and Brittany as the song progressed, Tessa built up a load of confidence, glad that she had her best girls by her side. Getting into the song as she jumped up and down she kept eye contact with Sam, who was staring right back at her as he danced.

　　　　　　　　 ☆

AS RACHEL SANG 'JAR OF HEARTS' WITH HER EYES GLUED ON FINN, SAM TOOK HIS CHANCE. As he bounced over, Tessa found herself being pulled away from Blaine Anderson for the second time that evening.

Holding his hand out, Sam gave her a goofy smile, "dance with me?"

"I'd be honoured." She giggled, softly, taking his hand and giving it a light squeeze, Tessa let him move her onto the dance floor, wrapping her arms around his neck as he nervously put his hands on her waist, pulling her closer to him.

Trying to build up his own confidence, Sam cleared his throat, "you really do look beautiful tonight."

"You look handsome," Tessa smiled in return, "and don't listen to Jesse about your bolo tie. I think it's cute."

"Well that's all that matters to me." He said, genuinely.

Grateful that the dim glitterball lighting would be hiding her blush, Tessa looked up to meet his eyes, unsure whether to bring up the song she'd sung to him earlier as they just looked at each other, simply enjoying each other's silent company as they swayed slowly from side to side. Finally speaking up, Tessa whispered, "I'm really glad you decided to come. I uh - I really did want to come to prom with you." She admitted, in an unusually shy way.

Delighted, Sam grinned from ear to ear, "I'm glad I'm here. I wouldn't wanna miss being here with you for the world. You're cool, Tess. I uh- I really like you."

Glancing down at the floor, Tessa licked her lips and looked back up to him, her smile gleaming with excitement, "I really like you too." Saying no more, she moved in closer to him, letting out a contented sigh as she leant her head against Sam's chest.