Ben defends Felicity against a rude customer at Dean & DeLuca. Felicity invites Ben to come over to the apartment to talk. He agrees, but quickly changes his mind and says that he wants to move on. Lauren moves to New York to get away from her ex-boyfriend and make a fresh start. Ben asks her on a date. Javier tries to play matchmaker by separately asking Felicity and Ben to meet him at a play. It proves to be a disaster, as Ben shows up with Lauren. Felicity gives her ticket to Lauren and leaves. Elena tries to convince Felicity to date Owen, a graduate teaching assistant in the art department. Felicity asks her friends to stop meddling in her life. Owen tells Felicity that she seems intense, and suggests that she have a little fun for a change. She asks him out. Lauren's ex-boyfriend calls while she is making out with Ben. Ben decides to leave, but makes another date with her. Ben shows up at the girls' apartment to study with Elena just as Owen arrives to pick up Felic

As the spring semester begins, Lauren tells Ben that she is pregnant, and that he is the father. She is prepared to raise the child alone. Professor Hodges asks Ben and Trevor to act as research assistants for him. Trevor convinces Ben to take a paternity test. Ben becomes distracted while awaiting the test results, and forgets to check Hodges' experiment. Hodges decides to replace him. Ben learns that he is the father. He confronts Lauren about keeping the news from him for so long. Although he is torn, he feels that he cannot take part in the child's life. He gets a second chance from Hodges by assuring him that he has eliminated all distractions. Ben finally shares the truth about the pregnancy with a shocked Felicity. Felicity and Owen try unsuccessfully to get galleries to look at their work. Felicity's mother visits and announces that she is going to get her real-estate license. She encourages Felicity to follow the same path. Felicity frets over the fact that every