Old Friends Bar.
"There's really a problem?"
Adam grinned. "Let me guess—you've still got a bunch of dreams you haven't chased, and you feel like getting married means cutting them off for good. So you're kinda reluctant, right?"
"Exactly!"
Lily's eyes widened. "How'd you know that?"
"Besides that, I can't imagine what else could go wrong between you and Matthew—you two are practically made for each other!"
Adam teased, "I mean, with how lovey-dovey you guys are—like conjoined twins—something cheesy like cheating is totally off the table, right?"
"Well…"
Lily hesitated.
"No way!"
Adam's jaw dropped. "You cheated?"
Sure, in his past life, he'd seen Matthew and Lily live a picture-perfect love story. But in this world, with his butterfly effect shaking things up, he couldn't be 100% sure Lily wouldn't stray.
"Not exactly," Lily said with a bitter smile. "You guessed it—I've got all these teenage dreams I never made happen. Back in high school, before college, I had a boyfriend. He laid out our whole future together, and it felt like a cage. I didn't want to be tied down, so I dumped him when we graduated.
Then, on my first day of college, I met Matthew. I told him all about my dreams—I wanted to travel to France, Spain, Italy, just soak up life and paint everything I saw. I didn't care if it meant waiting tables in some rundown café for five years. I wanted to be a painter, a wild, free-spirited artist. Oh, and have an epic lesbian romance.
Last night, while Robin was ranting about you, I spilled my worries to her. She comforted me…"
"Oh, come on, that's it?"
Adam let out a relieved laugh. "Matthew won't care about that!"
"That's not the point!"
Lily groaned. "The point is—what's wrong with me? Where'd that dreamy girl go? I broke up with my high school boyfriend because I didn't want him holding me back from my dreams. Then I met Matthew, fell in love, and now we're about to get married—and I haven't done one of those dreams!"
"But you kinda nailed that last one, didn't you?" Adam said with a smirk.
"A kiss from a friend to cheer me up doesn't count as some grand lesbian love story!" Lily rolled her eyes. 🙄
"That's just life, though," Adam said. "Sometimes what you think you want isn't what you really want. Let's break down your big teenage dreams.
First: travel. You and Matthew can totally do that on your honeymoon. Trust me, solo travel's overrated—unless you're looking for a fling on the side.
Second: being a wild, free artist. Come on, we all get it—are you sure it's about being an artist, or just craving that chaotic, no-rules lifestyle artists are famous for?
Third: the epic lesbian romance.
Notice a pattern here?"
"What pattern?"
Lily blinked, not catching on.
"They're all tied to a restless heart," Adam said with a knowing look. "It's normal to have wild, sky-high fantasies as a teenage girl. But there's a huge gap between imagination and reality—and once you cross it, it's hard to turn back. Do you really envy Barney's life?"
"I'm not—"
Lily started to protest. She'd always trashed Barney's messy lifestyle, so realizing her precious teenage dreams kinda mirrored it? Yeah, that stung.
"So it's just pure travel and pure artistry, then?"
Adam skipped the third dream—too tricky to call "pure" without sounding awkward.
"Exactly!" Lily nodded eagerly.
"Pure travel? Easy," Adam said. "You and Matthew can do it anytime—honeymoon or later. No big deal. As for pure artistry? Even simpler. Do you think you've got the talent?"
"I don't?"
Lily wasn't sure.
"Whether you do or not," Adam grinned, "you obviously think you do, or you wouldn't still be hung up on it. Being an artist isn't for just anyone—it's all about talent. What do you think?"
"Yeah…"
Lily nodded. Art's about spotting and capturing beauty, and that takes real skill. (Well, mathematicians might argue they need the most talent—either you get it or you don't, no in-between!)
Artists, though? It's different. A thousand people see a thousand different Hamlets. What's beautiful to an artist might look like random scribbles to regular folks. Most artists are kinda Schrödinger's artists—total geniuses to some, total hacks to others. There's no universal standard, so tons of art students think they're undiscovered gems, just waiting to shine.
But it's usually more like, "I'm invincible until I try" or "If I get serious, I can do anything." Lily definitely had that vibe.
"Easy fix, then," Adam said with a smile. "Since art's all about talent, we can test your 'great artist' dream real quick. I'll hook you up with a master painter to check if you've got the goods. If you do, keep dreaming big. If not, ditch the fantasy and embrace your fairy-tale life with Matthew.
How many people meet the perfect person at the perfect time and place? You and Matthew have a love 99.99% of the world would kill for. Nothing's 100% perfect—don't force it."
"No way, I'm not testing it!" Lily waved him off, lacking confidence. "You'd just rig it so the master trashes me!"
"I swear I won't fake it," Adam said, raising his hands. "But if you don't trust me, take your paintings to Paris after. Find a few masters yourself—just don't ask 'undiscovered talents' or art teachers. They'll either sweet-talk you for cash or something else."
In his past life, Adam saw Lily fly to Paris, get torn apart by a teacher who said her art was garbage, then come back heartbroken to her happy life with Matthew. Total rose-tinted nonsense.
In reality, even if her art sucked, a teacher wouldn't just trash her and kick her out—they'd say it's "nice," tell her she's improving, and encourage her to keep going. For a price, of course. Or maybe a "friendship."
With Lily's "I'll wait tables in a dingy café for five years" determination, she might've actually fallen for it—chasing the dream until she woke up broke and alone. Too late for regrets then.
No one's truly irreplaceable. Time erases everything. As her friend, Adam couldn't let Lily stumble down that path. With his butterfly effect in this mixed-up TV drama world, who knew if she'd still meet that blunt teacher to snap her out of it?
If she got conned into waiting tables for real, that'd be one thing. But if it turned into a Hurricane Rescue situation? Big trouble. 😬
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