In a flashback, Phoebe remembers the start of her relationship with Matt in graduate school. For two months they sit beside each other in a computer lab, silently working to finish their dissertations, until a storm knocks out the power. When Phoebe panics about losing a morning of revisions, Matt immediately reassures her and helps her check the damage. Their first real conversation begins after Bob, Phoebe's advisor, jokingly tells Phoebe she does not look "all Virginia Woolfish today," and Phoebe and Matt start joking together about whether Virginia Woolf or famous historical figures were attractive.

Because the power outage suspends their work, Matt invites Phoebe to drink a beer from the philosophy department fridge, and the interruption creates intimacy. They talk about how dissertations have consumed their lives, and Phoebe opens up about her father, who never understood why reading could be a life in itself. When the power returns, Phoebe discovers the lost work is gone, which raises the pressure because Phoebe has only two weeks left and no job lined up. Even so, Phoebe feels the exchange with Matt has been worth it, and while they try to return to work, both end up secretly looking at photos of Virginia Woolf instead. Matt tells Phoebe Bob meant the remark as a compliment, and Phoebe feels seen through Matt's attention.

After they both finish their dissertations, Phoebe and Matt spend the summer together in a period of freedom and delight. They bowl, drive along the Mississippi, attend festivals, and share books and messages, with Phoebe especially falling in love with Mrs. Dalloway. When the fall semester begins, that ease gives way to adult pressures. Phoebe teaches as an adjunct and keeps applying for jobs, while Matt starts his new position; their separations for interviews already feel like rehearsals for future loss, and Phoebe uses phone calls to learn the details of Matt's life and deepen the bond.

In November, Phoebe receives a tenure-track offer in Wisconsin, but instead of feeling triumphant, Phoebe imagines a lonely future and hesitates. Matt says the choice is hers, which disappoints Phoebe because she wants Matt to take charge and give direction to their shared life. Soon afterward, during an eclipse in the park, Phoebe and Matt stand together with special glasses, surrounded by other onlookers, and Phoebe feels protected by being in love. In that moment Matt casually whispers, asking if Phoebe wants to get married there, and the proposal feels to Phoebe as natural and inevitable as everything else that has grown between them.