Scottie woke to Wilder’s affection and learned he had carried her back to their cabin after she fell asleep post–skinny-dipping. Over breakfast, Wilder asked to take Scottie on a real date after camp. Scottie admitted she wanted to see him but, mindful of past hurt and his earlier statements about not being ready for relationships, said she needed to wait and be sure he truly knew what he wanted. Wilder accepted her boundaries and promised to prove his seriousness without pressure.

In their counseling session, Sanders asked about their post-camp plan. Wilder said they would keep communication open and hinted at personal plans to show commitment. Pressed directly, Scottie admitted she was unsure and overwhelmed. Wilder explained to Sanders that Scottie had been hurt and feared losing progress once back in real life, framing the coming work as healing old wounds. Scottie became emotional and excused herself.

Alone on the dock, Scottie was approached by Chad, who surprised her with a vulnerable confession: his marriage was failing under the strain of infertility treatments and scheduled sex. When Chad asked for advice and apologized for his past antagonism, Scottie’s guilt mounted. She confessed to Chad that Wilder was not her husband and that their staged conflicts were a performance; her real marital pain came from her ex-husband, Matt. Chad responded with empathy rather than scorn, noting that Scottie and Wilder looked genuinely connected and asking why she was crying.

Scottie told Chad she was scared because her feelings for Wilder had grown, but Wilder had previously said he was not ready to date. Chad validated her fear of crushed hope and, while urging privacy about her confession, acknowledged that their colleague group had made it hard for her at work. Scottie said she intended to come clean to others and would not offer false hope based on a false narrative.

Scottie then convened Sanders, Ellison, and Wilder in the therapy cabin and admitted she had lied about being married and that Wilder was her best friend’s brother who agreed to pose as her husband. She apologized for deceiving them and wasting Sanders’s time, stated that her disclosures in therapy were about Matt, and said she had called a friend to pick her up because she did not want to continue the charade. Sanders challenged the idea that their chemistry was fake; both Wilder and Scottie admitted they had real feelings.

When Sanders asked why Scottie was leaving, she said she was scared of being hurt. Sanders then asked Wilder if he would hurt Scottie. Wilder replied, “I don’t want to,” and repeated the same when pressed, which Scottie recognized as honest but not definitive. Concluding that she could not proceed on uncertainty, Scottie decided she needed to leave despite her strong feelings and gratitude for what she had learned and experienced with Wilder.