Daphne flees the prom, dizzy and overwhelmed by her real feelings for Miles. Miles follows, insists on driving her home since Petra is still inside, and pulls over on the dark road when he senses something is wrong. Pressed, Daphne admits she can't keep playing the fake-dating game; she doesn't want to be a prop kissed only when Peter and Petra are watching, because things feel different now.

Miles denies she's a prop and kisses her with no audience, telling her he wants to kiss her constantly and that the fake reasons were just easier excuses. Their encounter escalates passionately inside the truck, but Miles abruptly pulls back, redoing her dress clasp. He confesses he's bad at complicated situations, that he panics and shuts down, and that things between them are already complicated, not just because of Petra.

Miles opens up about his childhood: an emotionally abusive mother who treated her children's feelings as attacks against her, who punished him for being sick and pitted him against his sister Julia. He learned to suppress his emotions to survive and admits he doesn't trust his own perceptions or feelings. He carries deep guilt for not protecting Julia, for leaving at eighteen, and for eventually cutting his mother off only after years of failed peacemaking.

Daphne comforts him, insisting he wasn't the adult and that Julia ran to him because he is safe. She urges him to talk to Julia directly. Both acknowledge they don't want to ruin what's between them, recognizing the real stakes now that they genuinely care. They de-escalate by playing Whiny Babies, airing trivial grievances, and Miles quietly thanks her as they head home.