Poppy leaves in tears after Alex tells her they still do not make sense together. She crosses the parking lot sobbing and braces herself against her parents’ car, trying to contain her emotions because she does not want Alex to take responsibility for her pain.

Alex runs after Poppy and stops her before she can leave. Instead of repeating his refusal, Alex tells Poppy that he has also started seeing a therapist and says she believes he is afraid to be happy. When Poppy asks if that is true, Alex clarifies that happiness with Poppy is exactly what he wants: he knows he would be happy if he went back to New York with her, and he regrets every time he failed to tell her how he felt.

Alex then explains the real source of his resistance. He is not afraid of loving Poppy; he is afraid of everything that could come after happiness, including boring her, losing her, enduring a bad relationship out of obligation, or loving her for years only to face death and devastating grief again. His fear is rooted in loss, and he admits that imagining a life with Poppy also means imagining how much it would hurt to lose her.

Poppy responds by reminding Alex that he has already survived terrible loss and still kept living, loving, and showing up for other people. When Alex admits he is simply scared, Poppy tells him that they finally agree on something larger than their old jokes: being in love with each other is terrifying. That honesty brings them together physically and emotionally. Alex says he never wants to live without what they have, calls Poppy his home, and kisses her, signaling that they are finally choosing each other instead of retreating from fear.