Jo woke the morning after the beach conversation questioning whether she had imagined agreeing to write a song with Sebastian, fixating on their kiss and the discomfort of their telepathic bond. When she tested if Sebastian could hear her thoughts, he replied, and they bantered about his reality TV appearance and his views on love, including advice from his mother. Jo sensed tenderness and grief when he mentioned his mom, but he declined to discuss her further.

They agreed to meet at the Revelry. As they coordinated coffee orders via their link, Jo prepared to work. At the venue, Jo sat at the Steinway while Sebastian arrived with coffees. The physical proximity and his polished image heightened Jo’s tension, but they began discussing process. Jo favored starting from meaning and originality; Sebastian suggested beginning with what is popular, arguing everything has been done before. Jo insisted the song “doesn’t have to be good; it just has to be,” while Sebastian worried about it not being good enough or escaping their heads.

As Jo played their shared looping melody, she heard Sebastian’s internal refrain of failure. She tried to reassure him, but he dismissed himself as a one-hit wonder and wanted to collaborate as equals. The creative friction intensified when Jo, feeling crowded, snapped that she had not asked him to come. Sebastian accused her of pushing him away; she countered that he was getting too close, and then she inadvertently spoke his private fear aloud.

Wounded, Sebastian retorted that at least he was not “empty,” correctly identifying Jo’s creative block. Jo bristled at being told her feelings were not special and, in anger, accused Sebastian of operating under different rules—able to fail without consequence due to fame and privilege. Sebastian fired back that he is constantly treated as a story rather than a person, and that his burnout and feelings are real.

Their exchange left both exposed and misunderstood. Hearing Sebastian think that he had believed Jo would understand, Jo tried to stop him. He shut down emotionally, adopted a distant tone, and left through the side exit into the afternoon sun, cutting the session short with their song still unfinished and their link unresolved.