After Lily wakes from accidentally sleeping through much of her first date with Atlas, she is embarrassed and asks Atlas to do something mortifying to even the scales. Atlas gives Lily his phone and lets Lily read a note he wrote while she slept: a private “Dear Lily” letter inspired by Lily’s old journal entries.

In the letter, Atlas recounts the abuse and neglect Atlas endured from Atlas’s mother and stepfather, Tim. Atlas explains that after being forced from home, Atlas returned with nowhere else to go, fixed a broken doorknob, and was rejected again when Atlas’s mother threw a screwdriver at Atlas and denied Atlas even his belongings. Atlas tells Lily that Lily’s teenage friendship made Atlas feel seen and valuable when Atlas believed Atlas was nothing.

Lily is deeply moved but cannot speak, so Lily and Atlas hold hands in silence on the drive back to the city. They stop for burgers near Lily Bloom’s, and the mood lightens as Lily and Atlas discuss travel, Lily’s elopement with Ryle, and what Lily would want from a future wedding and honeymoon. Atlas receives a text that upsets Atlas, then admits Atlas’s mother recently called, likely for money, but Atlas postpones deeper discussion until another date.

At Lily’s car, Lily asks for a redo date because Lily wants to be awake next time. Atlas tells Lily that being around Lily is fun and that even their painful teenage years contain some of Atlas’s favorite memories. Lily reflects that Atlas has always treated Lily with respect, unlike Ryle, and realizes Atlas is the standard Lily should have used from the start. Atlas refuses to kiss Lily yet because Lily asked to take things slowly, kissing only the side of Lily’s head before saying goodnight.

When Lily returns to Allysa and Marshall’s apartment to pick up Emerson, Lily finds Ryle holding their sleeping daughter and clearly angry. Ryle takes Lily to the rooftop and confronts Lily after finally watching Finding Nemo, accusing Lily of choosing Emerson’s middle name, Dory, because of Atlas. Lily explains that Dory represented strength to Lily before Atlas, but Ryle blocks Lily’s path, demands a name change, and makes Lily afraid before reframing Lily’s fear as unreasonable.

Ryle then shifts from anger to intimacy, suggesting things would be easier if Lily and Ryle resumed their relationship. Lily stops Ryle and tells Ryle it is not Lily’s responsibility to test whether Ryle has changed. After Ryle leaves, Lily breaks down in the hallway, overwhelmed by divorce, motherhood, business, and Ryle’s manipulation. Marshall finds Lily, validates Lily’s decision by explaining that even deep anger never justifies violence, and tells Lily that Lily should feel pride, not guilt, for leaving Ryle.