Jess comes to a conclusion about her romantic feelings for Nick and she struggles to tell him - until she's hopped up on pain medication. But after admitting her feelings, she finds out he may have been keeping something from her. Meanwhile, Schmidt becomes obsessed with buying a fish, which Winston sees as a metaphor for Schmidt's unresolved feelings toward Cece and Nick plans a bar promotion to impress the bar owner .

Jess and Nick, who are caught between friendship and something more, try to break out of relationship-limbo by going on a "first" date. Once Schmidt and Winston realize a full-on Jess/Nick romance might be happening, they swoop in to try to sabotage the date.