Old Friends Bar.
"Nah, I'd rather not…"
Lily hesitated, still not sold.
"See what I mean?" Adam grinned. "You think you want something, but do you really? The Lily Aldrin I know—bold, loud, chugging beer and yelling 'You're all trash!' at the room—wouldn't shrink back like some 'little bitch.'"
"That was Ted!"
Lily bristled instantly.
Back when Ted first met Robin, she'd dropped a hint at their breakup that he could kiss her goodbye. But Ted, usually a total player, was in his "hunting for The One" phase and froze up, too scared to make a move. Later, when he told Lily and the gang, even after a million excuses, she still dubbed him a "shrinking little bitch."
Now Adam was throwing that label at her? Oh, she wasn't having it.
Adam just smirked, saying nothing.
"…Fine," Lily grumbled, realizing if she didn't agree, she'd be no better than wimpy Ted. "But what do I even draw?"
"How about your wedding with Matthew?" Adam suggested. "Art's all about real emotion to hit people hard. Your feelings for him are legit—pour that into a painting, and it'll be bursting with heart. If that doesn't impress a master, maybe you've got no talent after all. What do you think?"
"Ugh."
Lily nodded reluctantly.
All her confidence and daydreams? Shattered by Adam's push. Now she was starting to see where that dreamy, artsy girl she used to be had gone.
She hadn't even started chasing the dream before getting stuck at the gap between fantasy and reality. She'd brushed past it, taken a long detour through the real world, and now here she was again—peeking across that gap. The sky was clear, the rain had stopped, and she thought, Hey, maybe I've still got this…
"Can't wait to see your masterpiece," Adam teased. "Oh, and the wedding—need any help?"
"…"
Lily clammed up. He clearly didn't think she'd pull it off. "No thanks."
"You sure I can't hook you up with a booking at the Vansmoot Hotel?" Adam offered with a grin.
The Vansmoot—a gorgeous palace on the Hudson River—was a dream wedding spot for tons of couples, always booked solid. Matthew and Lily adored it.
But their bank accounts? Not so much. Matthew was still in law school, and Lily had racked up a mountain of credit card debt back in the day.
She wasn't like Monica, ready to sell her soul for a perfect wedding. A simple one was fine by her. So even with Adam offering to pull strings at Vansmoot, they'd been waffling.
Adam respected that. Matthew wasn't Chandler, after all.
"We actually got it," Lily said, torn. "I was at work today, and Matthew called out of nowhere—someone canceled at Vansmoot, and a slot opened up two months from now. I was on the fence, but then he mentioned Todd and Valerie, and I got fired up and said yes."
"Still duking it out with those two, huh?" Adam laughed.
"They're the ones picking fights with us!" Lily fumed. "They snatch everything!"
Wedding planning sometimes pits you against other couples with similar taste and budgets. For Lily and Matthew, that was Todd and Valerie.
From dresses to bands to venues—every step of the way, these two pairs kept clashing, going from strangers to arch-nemeses in record time. Nothing bonds you like a good rivalry, right? 😏
"Then you should be stoked!" Adam said. "You snagged the biggest wedding win—the venue—right out from under them!"
"Hell yeah!" Lily beamed, puffed up with pride. "I ditched class, met up with Matthew, and we raced over. Ran into them in the elevator.
Guess who I am?
Matthew took the stairs, and I slid my hand down every button in the elevator. How were they gonna beat us after that?"
"Lily, you're a kindergarten teacher—don't corrupt the kids!" Adam teased. "That's shady as hell."
Think back to The Big Bang Theory—Leonard and Sheldon, with their 187 and 173 IQs, stuck outside Penny's building with no key, clueless. Then a pack of cookie-selling Girl Scouts strolls up, slides a finger down the intercom, and boom, the door buzzes open.
In his past life, Adam thought it was some quirky American building trick—too smooth to be random. But now? Nope, it's just annoying kid chaos forcing someone upstairs to buzz them in to shut them up. Seamless, sure, but total mischief.
And Lily, a kindergarten teacher, was definitely the ringleader type for that move.
"What are you talking about?!" Lily waved him off. "I only pull that in emergencies—no way I'd teach my students!"
"Uh-huh, sure," Adam said, dripping with doubt.
They chatted a bit more, and then Adam nudged her to head home and start painting. With the wedding just two months off, the sooner she ditched her artist fantasy, the sooner she'd refocus on the big day.
If she flopped, Matthew would understand, but it'd still sting him. No point in risking that.
Lily wanted to stay and drink, but Adam kept pushing. Annoyed, she flipped it back on him, bringing up Robin and insisting he should apologize and smooth things over.
Adam thought it over. Last night was his screw-up. Even if Robin ghosted him forever, he owed her a proper sorry. No need to turn one fight into full-on enmity—there'd been plenty of good times between them.
Better to part on decent terms.
So he agreed to Lily's plan: she'd tag along while he apologized.
She just wanted to watch the drama unfold.
Adam, though? He had a gut feeling this wouldn't be like last time, when he bet Robin's gun wasn't loaded.
And he was right.
Robin opened the door, gun in hand, calmly loading bullets into the clip while staring him down with icy eyes.
Adam shot Lily a helpless grin and wisely bailed.
He got it, though. Robin didn't know she couldn't have kids. She hated the idea of them, a hardcore "no kids ever" type. Last night, in the heat of the moment, Adam had steamrolled her firm "no"—and it sent her over the edge.
Plan B might work great, but it's not foolproof.
For the next month, she'd be freaking out. Add his smug little "Sorry, it's a habit" bombshell? If that didn't set her off, she wouldn't be Robin!
Adam knew she couldn't conceive, but he couldn't exactly say that. Seeing how dead-set she was, he offered another quick apology and split.
Sure, she wouldn't actually shoot him, but a warning shot in the air? She'd do it without blinking. Then the cops would show up, and that'd be a whole embarrassing mess.
Next Day. Medical Center.
Morning rounds for the interns.
Adam stepped into a patient room, saw a familiar face, and froze on the spot.
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