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Joey is nominated for a Soapy Award for his part on Days of Our Lives and Rachel is his date to the ceremony. Joey doesn't win the award but takes someone else's award home.

Joey is nominated for a Soapy Award for his part on Days of Our Lives and Rachel is his date to the ceremony. Joey doesn't win the award but takes someone else's award home. Rachel convinces him to take it back because he can't be happy with an award he didn't win. One of Ross' students failed the midterms because he is in love with Ross and can't concentrate in class so Ross changes his grade. But now more students come to Ross pretending to be in love with him in order to get a better grade. When Rachel and Joey take the Soapy back the real winner just throws it away saying it's not good enough for her so Joey takes it back home. Monica really loves Chandler but it scares her that she will never have the rush of the beginning of meeting someone new again. Chandler reassures her and she realizes she is going to have a lot of new things with Chandler as well.—Anonymous

Monica and Phoebe are in Central Perk when Joey enters to tell them that he is nominated for a Soapie Award for his return as Dr. Drake Ramoray in Days of Our Lives. They are somewhat excited about the news, but they have never heard of the award, as Monica even asks if it's something he made up. Joey tells Rachel, who gets very excited, claiming that the Soapie is third highest prestigious award in soap operas and so he decides to take her as his date to the awards show. She agrees to go with him.

Ross finishes up conducting a lecture at the university and afterwards, tells one of his students Ned Morse (Vince Vieluf) that he failed the midterm. The student tells Ross that he failed because he is in love with Ross, and can't concentrate. This totally freaks out Ross who tells the student that the two of them cannot be in a relationship together, because he is a professor while he is a student, and also because he (Ross) is straight.

Back at Central Perk, a guy is checking out Monica, and Phoebe tells her to approach him. Monica tells her that she is engaged, but Phoebe tells her that she should have a backup in case things don't work out with Chandler (Phoebe's example involves Chandler losing his ability to satisfy sexually and so how he would be happy if another man would satisfy her needs). The guy approaches them instead, and Monica informs him that she's engaged. It turns out that he actually wanted to talk with Phoebe, so Monica gets a little embarrassed and leaves.

Back at his apartment, Joey is practicing winning the Soapie Award. Rachel enters, and he tells her that he will also be presenting an award. She gives him tips on how to go his 'gracious loser face' if he doesn't win the award. After her date, Phoebe meets Monica at the restaurant to tell her about the date. After hearing Phoebe talk about the excitement of going on a first date, Monica realizes everything she'd be giving up once she gets married to Chandler. He will be the only one she would get to kiss, sleep with, and so on and will therefore no longer be able to feel the buzz of a new relationship. Later, she realizes that her relationship with Chandler is deep and meaningful, and tells him this. He then tells her to pull his finger, which causes her to have second thoughts. When she goes to Phoebe for advice, Phoebe tells her that she should keep her feelings to herself and not express them towards Chandler. (Phoebe's mother had told Phoebe to never discuss fears or problems with your significant other and to keep them locked up somewhere in your mind). When Monica asks if this is the same mother who had multiple husbands and killed herself when Phoebe was 13, Phoebe realizes her mother was wrong and tells Monica to find Chandler and tell him how she really feels, but also asks whether her mother was wrong about telling her that putting out (having sex) would give her love, which horrifies Monica.

At the apartment, when Monica questions Chandler about not sleeping with anyone else ever again, he says he is not worried at all. He is just happy that they will be spending the rest of their lives together and Monica realizes that everything she's giving up will be nothing compared to what she will be getting once they're married, such as buying a house together and having a kid and even a grand kid.

At the awards show, Joey (accompanied by Rachel) ends up losing and forgets the 'gracious loser face', instead throwing a mini-tantrum which is caught on camera before he composes himself. When he goes to present an award for Best Returning Actress, the winner Jessica Ashley (Alison Sweeney) doesn't show up and, as he is supposed to accept on her behalf, ends up reading the winners speech he prepared. He intends to keep it, but he agrees to give it back to her after Rachel tells him that one day his talent will win an award which would actually mean something to him. Joey agrees, and takes Rachel to the set of Days to find Jessica Ashley to give her the award. Jessica, however, carelessly tosses the award aside claiming that it isn't a real award and leaves, and so Joey decides to keep the award for himself with Rachel's approval.

Ross feels sympathy for failing the student, and decides to change his grade for the better, until he finds out it's just a scam. It turns out that the student has a girlfriend, and had been using the same trick he pulled on Ross with three other teachers. Ross confronts the student, claiming that the student doesn't love him and that he's just using him, but two university professors walk in on the argument. Attempting to preserve his last shred of honor, Ross agrees to give the student a C if the student doesn't cause any further problems about the particular issue.