After Mass, Lauren steadied herself in the church bathroom, shaken by the intense, immediate attraction she felt when she saw Nico "Junior" Trocci for the first time in a decade. She reminded herself of their past: after a fallout in high school, Junior had cut her off and disappeared, a betrayal that hardened her approach to relationships.

Leaving the bathroom, Lauren found Junior waiting in the hall, with Alec blocking the exit. Junior greeted her with the old nickname "Lo" and, when she tried to pass, swiftly pinned her against the wall, one hand securing her wrists and the other gripping her hip, acting with possessive familiarity. Despite her body’s reaction, she pushed back verbally, accusing him of being empty inside and invoking his full name, Nico, to create distance.

Junior leaned in, taunting that she would have begged for his touch in high school. The comment snapped Lauren out of her haze; she attempted to knee him, grazed his thigh, and slipped free. When she reached Alec at the hall’s mouth, she drew a taser and warned him to move. Alec stepped aside, half-amused, and Lauren reentered the event room.

At their table, Nonna Bianchi immediately noticed something was wrong and offered to enlist Moira Trocci if needed. Lauren minimized the incident, and Nonna turned to introduce friends. Coffee hour devolved into gossip about Lauren’s estranged father, Tommy Marchetti, and theories about his disappearance, which Nonna and Lauren tried to downplay.

Back home, Lauren was greeted by her roommates Ryan and Taylor and their dog Walter. She revealed that Junior had been at church and agreed to recount the full story after changing, with Ryan preparing mimosas.

As Lauren headed upstairs, Nonna called, breathless, to report that multiple car tires had been slashed in the church parking lot. Nonna worried for Lauren’s safety, and Lauren reassured her she was fine, as Nonna lamented the neighborhood’s decline.