Rachel had been trying to get Vocal Adrenaline and The Warblers to throw the competition at Sectionals. Mr Schue did it, not wanting to disappoint his favourite student, but Blaine was harder to convince.
So, as a favour to Rachel, Izzy tried to get Blaine to throw the competition. Well, she didn't. But she needed an excuse to see him and this was the perfect one. Bringing Kitty along to Dalton, they sat down for a cup of coffee, just like old times.
"I cannot do this right now," Blaine scoffed. "I already had to deal with Sue's craziness, with her putting a bear in my apartment and all."
"Hold up, she put a bear in your apartment?" Kitty asked, shock and concern covering her face.
"Yeah, it was insane. But not as insane as Rachel. I cannot believe she would do this," Blaine said with genuine surprise in his voice.
"Oh yeah? I can. I'm getting suspicious of her. She's being really... touchy with Sam. I don't trust her," Izzy said, resting a hand on her temple.
"You know I love you, but after you moved in with Sam, you should've dropped her," Kitty said emotionlessly.
After seeing the stern looks on their faces, Kitty defended herself. "What? You know I'm right. She sticks her abnormally large nose in all of your business and then acts like she's better than you. She's never been nice to you. So why are you being nice to her?"
Izzy's answer was simple— Finn. They were only close for a couple of weeks and she did strongly dislike him at times, but he was still her friend, and a cherished one at that. He was the epitome of a leader, and Sam reminded her a lot of him in all the best ways.
"It doesn't matter," she shook her head and the thoughts of Finn away. "I'm probably overreacting, Rachel's not out to get me or anything, right?"
Blaine and Kitty exchanged uneasy looks with each other. Glaring at Blaine, Izzy expected an answer. "Okay, fine I'll tell you," he said, cracking under the pressure.
"Rachel may have said something about Sam being really cute and how he would make a really good boyfriend, or something like that," he chuckled nervously, taking a big sip of his coffee.
"So I'm not crazy," Izzy crossed her arms. "That's terrible! Now I know for sure that Rachel's in love with my boyfriend!"
"Do you want me to dye her hair purple? Because I can do that," Kitty suggested, tying to find ways to make Izzy feel better.
Izzy shook her head. "I trust Sam, he loves me and I love him. He wont ditch me for someone like—"
She took a good look at Kitty's extremely guilty expression and panicked. "What is it now?" she sighed.
"Rachel asked Sam for one-on-one piano lessons," she admitted. "He said he would ask hair gel Warbler over here to do it, but I saw her and her touchiness." Kitty stuck her tongue out in disgust.
"I can't believe it. This is like high school all over again. Except Rachel's the mean girl," Izzy commented, losing her appetite.
"Oh, honey, Rachel's always been the mean girl."
*******
Izzy had just found out that Sam agreed to do a one-on-one piano lesson with Rachel, which came as a shock to Izzy as Rachel must've had piano lessons before this. So she and Kurt had decided to wait outside the choir room and watch.
"Have you heard about Mr Schue and Sue? They had a smackdown yesterday. Becky got it all on tape and she sent it to me for some peanut M&Ms," Izzy told Kurt as they waited for something interesting to happen.
"I'm intrigued," Kurt said, indicating that she should tell him more.
"So Sue was yelling at him for how he only cares about a select few people in glee club and forgets about the rest. You know, like Joe, and Matt, and Rory, and the band. And I'm not going to lie, Sue was right," Izzy said, feeling the sting of all the solos she had never gotten.
"I wonder what happened to the band. I always thought the drummer was cute," Kurt admitted.
"No way, me too. And the blonde guy," she added and smiled as Kurt nodded in agreement. She stopped smiling once she heard familiar chords. "Are they singing a duet?" she whisper-shouted, still not wanting to be caught. It didn't really matter, it seemed like Sam and Rachel were in their own little bubble.
"Rachel has it out for your relationship. I never thought I would say that," Kurt said, eyeing both of them as Rachel attempted to make the interaction romantic.
"Oh, romance, that reminds me, Sue's trying to get me and Blaine back together," Kurt said.
"Well, you should. I don't like this new Walter guy," Izzy pouted. "I want my second favourite couple to get back together."
"Second favourite?"
"Santana and Brittany are just so cute."
"As I was saying, Sue ambushed them on their date. With all of Karofsky's ex boyfriends and some DNA sample. They're related," he said, whispering the last part.
"She told me all about her plan in her office the other day. I'm worried about McKinley."
As the song ended, Kurt and Izzy stuck their heads into the classroom, eager to see what would happen next. To Izzy's horror, Rachel leaned in for a kiss, but Sam dodged it quickly.
"Look, Rachel, I like you as a friend, and I have a girlfriend, so that complicates everything," Sam said. "I'm sorry, I just don't like you that way. And I'm not a cheater."
As he started walking out, Kurt and Izzy rushed to a further spot, not wanting to get caught. He spotted them near the choir room, but didn't suspect anything.
"Oh, hey you. We were just walking by and look at that! I found you," Izzy said, overly cheerful as she was happy about the current situation. Not the kissing part, but the rejection part.
"You're acting really weird," Sam commented.
Izzy shook her head. "Me? Weird? Don't know what you're talking about."
"No clue," Kurt shook his head, only increasing Sam's suspicion.
Right then, Rachel stepped out of the room. "Oh, I didn't know you guys were here," she said uneasily.
It took everything in Izzy not to lunge straight at her, but thankfully for her fists, she didn't. "Yeah, Kurt and I were trying to find Blaine, but we found you guys instead."
"Weird, isn't it?" Kurt hesitated, laughing uncomfortably.
"Very," Rachel replied, realising what they saw. "Kurt! I really need to talk to you about glee stuff."
Rachel and Kurt walked away, leaving Sam and Izzy alone.
"You're a terrible liar. I know you saw it," Sam said.
"I am. And I did. I'm just glad you didn't kiss her. I would be pretty messed up if you chose Rachel Berry over me," Izzy smiled slightly.
Sam reached for something in his pocket but took his hand out quickly, changing the subject. "Remember senior year, how I asked you to marry me with the song and everything?"
Izzy nodded. She didn't know how this was going to end. She wanted to settle down, but it seemed a little soon to do so. But then again, she hadn't really been adventurous in her relationship, and she loved Sam, so why say no.
"Well, I did it then because I thought the world was going to end. But since then I realised that I do really love you. You mean a lot to me, and I think I would be pretty heartbroken if I didn't spend the rest of my life with you."
Getting down on one knee, he pulled out a box with a gorgeous pink crystal ring in it. She recognised it from that ring shop when she was helping Blaine out. Blaine must've told him.
"The last time I did this you said you weren't ready to get married at seventeen. You're older now, with a really great future ahead of you. I know I said I would stay here, but the future's uncertain, and I will do whatever it takes to make it work with you."
She had a lump in her throat, she was so close to crying. He even did it outside of the choir room, although the timing was a little off. It was the thought that counted, right?
"We don't have to get married now. It can be in the next five years or even twenty. I'll wait. Ill even buy you those ring pops that you like, and I'll get you tickets for Big Time Rush, if they're still a thing. The point is, I love you. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I'm hoping you feel the same way."
"Isabelle Carter, will you marry me?"
The tears started rolling out uncontrollably. She hated crying, but this was an exception. "You already know the answer to that."
"It's nice hearing you say it," he cracked a smile.
"Of course I will, dummy!" she exclaimed.
He got up and hurriedly slid the ring onto her finger. They were both overcome with joy, and this kiss they had immediately after was full of love, memories, and passion.
No matter what the future would hold, Izzy knew she wanted to spent it with Sam Evans.