In this flashback, Frankie and George have been living together in Toronto for a few weeks after leaving the Kawarthas. On George’s eighteenth birthday, they follow through on a plan they made a year earlier: each gets the other’s name tattooed on their ribs as a lasting sign of friendship. While Frankie is excited about their new adult life, the city also overwhelms her, and the apartment she shares with George becomes a place of safety and routine.

Frankie reflects on how naturally they fit as roommates. George’s papers, notes, and restless energy fill the apartment, while Frankie stocks the kitchen and cooks elaborate meals. Their shared habits, including shopping together at St. Lawrence Market, make their home feel stable and intimate, reinforcing how deeply they already rely on each other.

That night, after getting the tattoos on Queen Street West, Frankie and George celebrate by drinking at the Black Bull with fake IDs. Frankie remembers the night only in fragments, including singing loudly, riding on George’s back, and refusing to let the night end, which shows both their closeness and George’s caretaking role.

The next morning, Frankie wakes on the couch and finds George in the kitchen in boxer briefs, visibly aroused. Seeing him that way abruptly changes her perception of him: for the first time, Frankie does not see only her oldest friend, but a man she physically wants. George notices Frankie looking at him, and the charged pause between them makes clear that the attraction is not entirely one-sided.

Because Frankie does not want to repeat the earlier damage to their friendship, she defuses the moment with teasing. George responds by opening a notebook and turning the awkward tension into a joke about boundaries. Together they write house rules about clothing, privacy, borrowing clothes, warning each other about dates, and preserving their weekly rituals, using humor to contain a new sexual awareness that could threaten the friendship they depend on.