"I've been to Ann Taylor Loft, Filene's Basement, and, like, six Forever 21s and I can not find a dress that fits." Lauren said, as she walked into the choir room with Santana and Brittany close behind her. "I'm gonna be forced to make my own dress for prom."

"Don't." Brittany said. "You'll seem poor."

"You're up for Queen, you can't make your own prom dress." Santana was quick to agree with her best friend. "Prom is like our Oscars. It's seriously, like, the most important night of our lives."

"What about getting married?" Lauren asked, as Quinn leaned forward a bit to give her own input in the conversation.

"Oh, you can get married as many times as you want." Quinn said as Piper rolled her eyes quietly, from her seat. "You only have one shot at your Junior Prom."

"What are you guys talking about?" Mercedes asked as she walked into the room to take her usual seat beside Piper.

"Prom dresses." Lauren explained as Mercedes scoffed.

"Thank God I don't have to worry about that." She said. "I'm not going."

"Why not?" Kurt asked, as Piper pouted sadly, fully aware of Mercedes' bad feelings toward prom this year.

"Cause nobody's asked me." She answered shortly and Piper and Kurt exchanged a glance before Piper's eyes ended up finding Sam instead, noticing the small frown that formed in his face.

At that, Piper smiled a bit, her suspicious over the past few days only growing after that. Before she could even do anything, however, Mr. Schue walked into the room and wrote down prom on the board.

"Alright, guys... Prom." He said, as Sam groaned a bit.

"Please tell me we're not doing songs about prom." He said.

"Nope. We are the prom." Mr. Schue explained. "Figgins has asked us to perform."

"Let's do Run Joey Run." Rachel gasped, excitedly as everyone turned to her with confused frowns.

"Now, I know this isn't ideal with Nationals coming up, but we really don't have a choice." Mr. Schue continued, wisely deciding to ignore Rachel's suggestion. "And, we could really use the money. But I know that prom is a special rite of passage. I want to make sure that all of you guys get a chance to enjoy the dance, too. So we're gonna stag at the performances so that each and every one of you has a lot of time to dance with your dates."

At that, Mercedes sighed heavily from beside Piper and stood up to walk away.

"Excuse me." She mumbled.

"Cedes..." Piper called quietly, but to no avail. When she noticed, Mercedes was already out of the room.

"Is she okay?" Mr. Schue asked, confused.

"Mercedes doesn't have a date for prom." Quinn explained.

"So? I don't have a date." Brittany said. "I'm just going to dance. And then all of your dates are gonna ignore you and come dance with me, so... Your dates are really my dates."

With a light chuckle, Piper made move to stand up.

"I'll go talk to her." She volunteered, but before she could, Rachel jumped up from her chair and started to rush out of the room.

"No, let me."

And as Piper watched Rachel go, she frowned a bit, confused. When she found Sam again, sitting by himself and clearly unhappy, she had an idea. So, sitting back down in her chair, she smiled satisfied because, if her plan did work, she might just make her best friend very happy.

***

As soon as Sam walked out of the locker room after football practice, he frowned, noticing Piper standing by a wall, clearly waiting for someone. When she smiled at him a bit and waved him over, though, Sam quickly said goodbye to his friends as walked up to Piper instead.

"Hey." He smiled at her, as he approached.

"Hey." She smiled back. "I have a question I've been meaning to ask you for a while now, but other things just got in the way, but now I have to ask it."

"Okay?"

"Do you like Mercedes?"

And at that, Sam gasped, blushing hard as Piper opened a smirk. She noticed how he stumbled with his words, trying to figure out what to say, but before he could form a coherent phrase Piper stopped him with a giggled.

"I'll take that as an yes."

"I... I didn't... I just..." Sam was clearly still trying to find a way to deny it, but when he noticed Piper's raised eyebrow, he knew he had been caught. "Was it that obvious?"

"Not really." She reassured gently. "I just noticed how you just kept trying to sit close to her during glee meetings since the night of neglect. And I mean... After that performance, I definitely understand why."

Sam chuckled, then, rolling his eyes a bit as he looked around for a second.

"Fine, I do kind of dig her, I guess." He admitted as Piper's smile widened. "Is that what you wanted? You wanted me to admit it to you?"

"Yes." She nodded. "But that wasn't all that I wanted."

"What else did you want, P?"

"I noticed you noticed how upset Mercedes got over not having a prom date." Piper said, as Sam nodded for her to continue. "See, the thing is she's been feeling neglected and lonely. She told me she just wanted, for one night, to feel like a princess. She wanted the dress and the guy and the corsage. She wanted a guy who would just... Ask her to dance and tell her she's beautiful and so, me, as her best friend... It's my duty to make her happy. Which is why... I come to you."

"Look, P... I think it's great that you'd want to do this for Mercedes and I would love nothing more than to help, but you know how messy my life is these days. I mean, you're still going to babysit Stevie and Stacey for me sometimes." Sam sighed. "I can't take Mercedes to prom. I wish I could. But I can't."

"Well, that's where I come in, see?" Piper smirked. "Because I, Evans, have a plan. And all you have to do is say yes."

Sam shook his head a bit as Piper extended a hand toward him.

"What's your plan, Snow?" He asked, chuckling when she clicked her tongue.

"Nope." She smiled. "Just tell me... Do you trust me?"

"Yes."

"Good." She nodded. "And do you want to take Mercedes to prom?"

Sam hesitated for a second, but as he looked down at Piper's open hand at him, he gave in.

"Yes, I do." He said, blushing again when Piper squealed.

"Great!" She smiled. "Let's do this, then!"

***

The next day, Piper had asked Mercedes to meet her at the auditorium and, as she waited for her best friend to arrive, she turned around to look at Sam, who was already there at her request.

"Just let me do the talking." She said, as Sam nodded. "We'll make it seem like a group thing but I'll take one for the team and let you two alone as much as I can so you can make your moves, okay?"

"Why are you doing this?" Sam asked, confused as Piper shrugged.

"Because Mercedes deserves to be happy and I know you're a good guy with a heart of gold. So, if I'm gonna set up my best friend with anyone, it should be you, right?" She asked, as Sam smiled. He took a small step back, however, when Piper pointed a finger to his face. "But that is my best friend we're talking about, so, you break her heart, I'll break your face."

"Copy that." Sam nodded quickly.

"Good."

And, before either of them could say anything, the doors to the auditorium opened and in walked Mercedes.

"Hey, P? You asked me to come?" She asked, as she started to make her way toward the stage where the two other kids were standing. "What's Sam doing here?"

"Come here, Cedes." Piper motioned her over, waiting for the girl to climb up the steps of the stage so she was now standing beside her best friend. "Now, the reason I've called you both here is because I have a proposition for you. I was wondering if you both would like to go to prom with me. Like a three-way date, but not the dirty kind."

"Wait, I thought Sam didn't want to go to prom?" Mercedes frowned, confused, as Sam shrugged.

"I do want to." He said. "It's just... I can't afford to take one girl to the prom. I don't know how I'm gonna take two."

"Fear not." Piper smiled as she pulled some bills from her pocket to show it to the both of them.

"What's this?" Mercedes asked.

"Our prom budget." Piper shrugged, handing the money over to Sam. "You're gonna have to borrow a suit from your dad and Mercedes and I can buy $5 dresses down at the Goodwill and make our own corsages out of flowers from Cedes' mom's garden. And we can walk to prom and then use what's left to get the $8.99 all-you-can-eat pasta special at Breadstix. But, you know, the $20... It's not charity, it's a loan. So...Will you guys go with me?"

Piper stood there for a second, watching as Mercedes and Sam exchanged a glance and holding back an excited squeal when Mercedes looked away from Sam as soon as he smiled at her.

"I would love to go to prom with you, P." Mercedes smiled, grateful to have found a friend like Piper.

"I would be honored to go too." Sam nodded causing Piper to jump up in excitement.

"Yes!" She cheered, opening her arms to the both of them as they laughed and accepted her small group hug. "Prom, here we go!"

***

Poor Blaine was very uncomfortable as he sat beside Finn and across from Piper as the two of them glared at one another, clearly jealous of each other over Quinn Fabray — who wasn't even in the room, thankfully. Now, when Kurt had invited Piper over so he could show her his outfit for prom, she had considered denying it. After all, he was living with Finn and she knew it'd be very awkward for the two of them to be alone in the same room, but Kurt was persistent and so, after about an hour of Kurt's insistence, Piper had given in.

"Take Blaine too, though." She had asked, as Kurt laughed. "His presence might call me down enough so I don't murder Finn on the spot."

"You know... Jealousy is not a good look on you." Kurt commented, as Piper scoffed with a smirk.

"Well, this coat is not a good look on you but you don't see me pointing it out."

"This is very good cashmere, I'll have you know."

"Sure." Piper laughed when Kurt poked her side playfully. "Just take Blaine. I don't want to be left alone with Finn for too long."

And so, Kurt had done just that and, sure, Piper did feel bad about the situation she had put Blaine in, but judging by the way Finn kept on glaring at her, Piper was sure that if Blaine wasn't there, he would've said some very colorful words to Piper already instead of just casually throwing into the conversation that he was Quinn's date for prom.

"So you think it's cool if I jam with you guys at prom?" Blaine asked then, trying to defuse the tension, as the two other kids finally stopped glaring at each other before turning around to look at Blaine instead.

"Yeah, totally." Finn said, as Piper smiled at her friend with a smile.

"For sure."

"Maybe you guys can sing with me..." Blaine offered, shrinking a bit when Piper sent him a look.

"Nah, dude. Quinn is keeping me very busy with the whole king and queen campaign." Finn said, to which Piper scoffed.

"Which you're clearly very excited about..." She mumbled, as Finn glared at her again.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked then, as Piper shrugged.

"Nothing." She said, before turning to face Blaine. "I'd love to perform with you, though, Mr. Warbler."

Blaine chuckled then, nodding a bit as he opened his mouth to start pouring his ideas out to Piper. Before he could, though, Burt walked in and, as soon as he started talking, the three kids turned to look at him instead.

"Good news, boys." He announced. "My buddy Enzo from the tux rental shop is giving you half off."

"Sweet." Finn cheered.

"Yeah." Burt nodded. "So what are you gonna go with?"

"I'm going simple." Blaine said, without missing a beat. Piper smiled, happy to see that Kurt's date was so excited to go to prom with him — even more so considering all the trauma he was putting past him in order to do so. "Black, thin lapel collar, very discreet."

"You know what I wore at my prom?" Burt asked, as all the kids smiled at him, waiting for the man to share his story. "I wore a powder blue tux with a ruffled shirt and a big velour bowtie. I looked like Tony Orlando."

"Was that a designer?" Blaine asked, as Piper snorted out a laugh.

"No." Burt frowned before turning to the only girl in the house. "And what are you going with, honey?"

"Oh, I..."

"She got herself a very pretty and sparkly silver dress that makes her look ethereal thanks to moi." Kurt answered for her, as he got ready for his dramatic entrance in the living room as he made sure everyone could hear him, but not see him yet. When Piper rolled her eyes at his antics, Burt laughed. "She'll look amazing, of course, but not as amazing as me!"

And so, he appeared by the door, showing off his prom attire — a cropped jacket, black waistcoat, black bowtie, and green plaid kilt with knee-high boots. Piper took a moment to appreciate the whole thing, already too used to Kurt's usual fashion statements, but still unsure how he could even pull off half of the things he wore.

"No need for half off my outfit!" Kurt smiled proudly.

"Because half of it is already off?" Burt asked then, taking a look at his son's clothings.

"My ensemble is an homage to the recent royal wedding and the late Alexander McQueen." He explained. "I had to make it myself. There's simply nothing off the rack that is suitable for the young fashionable man in Ohio."

"Dude, that rocks." Finn encouraged, as Kurt did a spin. "It's like gay Braveheart."

"Yeah, I think it looks awesome." PIper nodded, agreeing with Finn for the first time in a long time.

"I don't like it." Burt said, causing Kurt to frown a bit.

"Well, of course you don't like it! It's not finished yet." He said. "I think it still needs, like, a sash, or maybe some beads."

"I'm not gonna stop you from wearing it. But I gotta be honest, I think you're just trying to stir the pot a little bit." Burt argued. "I think you're trying to get some attention."

"Exactly!" Kurt agreed. "What's the point of dressing up? I mean, that's why some guys wear the tails or the top hat and the girls wear the hoop skirts. I mean, Blaine, help me out here!"

"I think your dad has a point." Blaine spoke up, causing everyone to turn and look at him, surprised. "I think what he's trying to say is that we just don't want to give anyone a reason to cause any trouble."

"There's a lot of bad people out there, Kurt, and they're a lot worse than this Karofsky kid." Burt argued. "And all they're looking for is a match to light under the fire of their hate. Of course, I want... I want you to be yourself. But I also... I want you to be practical."

"Okay. I have done everything right." Kurt spoke up and Piper pouted a bit, noticing Kurt's disappointment. "Now Blaine, I understand that, after what you've been through, you're worried. But prom is about joy, not about fear. So I'm wearing this suit. I worked hard on it and I think it's fantastic. And if you don't want to join me, I completely understand."

With that, Kurt spun around in his heels and left the room leaving Blaine very worried about the whole situation. Looking over at Piper, he widened his eyes at her as the girl giggled with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Don't worry, Blaine Warbler." She said, patting his knee as she stood up to go over to Kurt's bedroom. "I got it covered."

***

Piper was happy with her meal, as she ate in silence, trying to bite back her smile, hearing Sam and Mercedes talking and laughing together, as she had since the two of them had picked her up from her house that night. When Mercedes laughed at another one of Sam's jokes however, she couldn't help but giggle, pretty proud of herself for her work well-done with that pairing and mentally congratulating herself. She widened her eyes and lifted her head when Mercedes kicked her ankle from under the table.

"What?" She whispered, as Mercedes sent her a look.

"Sorry." Sam spoke up as Piper frowned a bit. "This was supposed to be a group thing and we're ignoring you."

"Oh, no." Piper was quick to shake her head as she waved her hand around. "I'm... I'm fine. The food is great."

"No, come on... It's a group thing, right?" Mercedes asked, emphasizing the word group when she finally realized what Piper had been planning all along.

"Sure." Piper nodded at her best friend before exchanging a quick look with Sam. "I just... You know... Thought it could be fun. Because we were all single and none of us had a date to prom, and, you know... You're my best friend and Sam and I have grown closer and I thought we would all get along so... Why not? Right?"

Nudging Sam on the arm, the boy was quick to nod.

"Right." He said.

"Right." Mercedes repeated, unconvinced. "I'm grateful you did, though. I'm having lots of fun."

"Me too." Sam nodded, looking straight at Mercedes who smiled a bit and looked down at her lap.

Piper smiled at the exchange then, but before she could even come up with an excuse to go back to her plate quietly and let the two of them bond for a while more, she groaned when she caught sight of another prom duo that was, clearly, making their way toward them.

"Cedes." Piper called, kicking her friend under the table as well causing the girl to frown as she looked at her. "Don't look now, but Rachel is coming toward us. And she's not alone."

"She got a date?" Mercedes frowned.

"Yeah..." Piper sighed. "And guess who..."

Before Mercedes could even process Piper's words, however, Rachel and Jesse approached their small group with smiles on their faces.

"Hey, guys!" Rachel greeted as the three of them turned to her.

"Hey, Rachel." Piper smiled a bit. "You look great. Hi, Jesse."

"Hi, hum..."

"Piper." Rachel finished the boy's sentence as Piper and Mercedes rolled their eyes.

"Piper. Sure." Jesse nodded then.

"Anyway, you look amazing too, P." Rachel smiled. "And, Mercedes, can I just say that you look fierce in your dress?"

At that, everyone smiled a bit, Mercedes scooting over to the side, closer to Sam as she silently invited the pair to sit down with them.

"Totally." Jesse said, as he sat down beside Rachel. Quietly, Piper scooted even closer to Sam, causing the boy to move to his right and closer to Mercedes instead. As he turned to glare quietly at his friend, he rolled his eyes when she noticed her smirk. "You both look smoking."

"You're damn straight, we do." Mercedes smiled, high-fiving Piper in front of Sam's face.

"Seriously though, Jesse, what do you think of the bolo tie?" Sam asked, as soon as the two girls sat down properly again, playing with his tie, very proud of himself for pulling off his dad's own prom attire from his time in school. "Pretty cool, right? It's all Springsteen-on-the-cover-of-Tunnel-Of-Love-album wearing it."

"Dude, that was like, 20 years ago." Jesse laughed as Piper frowned. Mercedes reached a hand over to Sam to pat his shoulder in comfort, however. "I'm really sorry to hear about what happened with your family, Sam."

At that, everyone stopped for a second, turning to look at Rachel as she grimaced.

"Hum, I hope it's okay." She said, rather bashfully. "I sort of filled Jesse in on what was going on."