The Friend Zone

Kristen and Sloan are at a spa in Corona with Sloan’s mom and cousin and Brandon’s sister. Kristen is asking Sloan when she last heard from Brandon. Sloan tells her that she won’t give Kristen any more updates about Josh. Sloan is annoyed by Kristen’s refusal to answer Josh’s communications or admit that she is in love with him. Kristen insists that they are just friends with benefits and that they are both allowed to see other people, though Sloan knows that neither of them is seeing anyone else.

Sloan asks after Kristen’s health, and Kristen tells her that she is feeling better now that her IUD is starting to work. Sloan asks if the hysterectomy will still be necessary, but Kristen is still planning to have the surgery. She also plans to break up with Josh after Sloan’s wedding.

That night, a drunken Josh calls Kristen after four o’clock in the morning from a hotel business center. He explains that Shawn threw his and Brandon’s phones into the water, which is why Sloan hasn’t heard from Brandon all day. They talk and joke for a while, then find each other on Instagram and look at pictures of each other with their exes while they are talking. Josh is extra flirty and affectionate when he is drunk, and at the end of the call, he asks her to come to Las Vegas to get married. Josh ends up throwing up while they’re talking, and Kristen admits that she does love him. She thinks about him all the time but still believes that they can’t become a couple. They both say, “I love you,” and then the call ends abruptly.

When Josh wakes up the next day, he is extremely hungover but still remembers Kristen telling him that she loves him. Brandon is hungover as well, and they decide to go home a day early. Josh is eager to see Kristen again, so he drives to her house early the next morning. He is shocked and hurt to see a truck parked in Kristen’s driveway and assumes that it belongs to some other man she is seeing.

Josh is angry that he agreed that they could see other people. The man who owns the truck walks out of Kristen’s house, and Josh tries to stay calm, but he is furious. He goes home and decides that he is done putting up with Kristen’s rules and boundaries. He kicks and throws some of the unpacked boxes of clothing around his apartment and decides to text the yoga instructor with whom he once had a date. Just as he is about to send the text, Kristen texts him and asks if he wants to come over. He just replies “sick.” He wishes that he and Kristen had never even met.

After Josh texts Kristen that he doesn’t want to come over because he’s sick, she picks up food for him and goes to his apartment. She offers to hang out with him and take care of him, but he coldly tells her that she should go. He tells her that she should start looking for another carpenter, and she tells him that, as a matter of fact, her former carpenter, Miguel, had been at her house early that morning asking for his job back.

After she tells him this, Josh’s demeanor totally changes. He pulls her into a hug, and they kiss. Then Josh makes Kristen admit that she missed him and has her apologize for ignoring him. They stay in his bed all day, having sex, talking, and laughing. In the evening, Kristen suggests going to Tarantino Trivia Night at a local restaurant. They win first place. Josh kisses Kristen, and she does not pull away, which she normally does when they are in public.

Josh is surprised and thrilled when Kristen willingly kisses him at the restaurant; he thinks they may have reached a new level in their relationship. When Kristen says how much she likes him, he asks point-blank, “Then why aren’t we together, Kristen?” (257). Kristen doesn’t want to talk about it, but Josh insists. Kristen gets up and goes to the bar to get another drink. She tells Josh that he can leave without her; she will take an Uber home. From their table, Josh watches her at the bar, but when he sees another man approach her and put a hand on her, he springs into action.

Kristen gets up and goes to the bar because telling Josh why they can’t be together would be too painful for her. She orders a shot of tequila, and a man approaches her and tries to flirt with her. When she tells him to go away, he persists. He tells her that she’s being rude and grabs her arm. Suddenly, Josh pounces on the other man and shoves him away. The bouncer kicks both men out. Kristen tries to escape to the restroom, but Josh catches up and tells her that they need to talk. She repeats that they are both single and their relationship is not serious, but she won’t explain her reasons. Finally, Josh picks her up and carries her out of the bar.

Outside, he tells her that he remembers what she said to him on the phone when he was in Vegas, and he knows that she has feelings for him. Kristen begins to cry. Josh tells her that he is in love with her. He kisses her, and she reciprocates but says they can’t see each other anymore. Josh wonders if she doesn’t think he’s good enough for her because he is not as impressive as Tyler. Finally, Kristen relents and tells him that she can’t have children. He is speechless. Kristen runs away.

The next day, Josh goes to the fire station early. Last night, he had gone back to Kristen’s house to wait for her, but she never came home. Eventually, she texted him that she was okay but wouldn’t be coming back, so he would need to walk Stuntman Mike.

Josh remembers all of his comments about wanting a lot of children, particularly the fact that Celeste’s lack of interest in children was the real reason for their breakup. He feels terrible now, knowing how much it must have hurt Kristen to hear him say that. He realizes now that he doesn’t feel as strongly about having children as he does about being in a relationship with Kristen.

Kristen comes to the fire station to talk. She explains her condition in more detail and reveals that she will be having a hysterectomy in a few weeks. She never wanted to tell Josh about her medical condition, but she realizes that her rejections were making him feel unloved, and she now wants him to know the truth—that she was rejecting him so that he could someday have the family he wants with someone else. She says she should never have allowed their relationship to progress so far, but she couldn’t resist. She tells him that even now that he knows, a relationship is still not an option because she does not want to prevent him from becoming a father. Josh wants to convince her that he wants her more than he wants children, but the alarm sounds, and he has to respond to a call. He asks her to wait there for him so they can continue talking.

Josh and several other responders get to the scene of a wreck, where a woman has driven straight through a red light and crashed into a motorcyclist. When Josh sees the bike, he realizes that the victim is Brandon, who is seriously injured. They put Brandon in an ambulance and do everything they can to keep him alive on the way to the hospital. Josh calls Kristen and tells her that she needs to get Sloan to the hospital right away. Then, he sits on the floor of the hospital and starts to cry.

After Josh calls Kristen about Brandon’s accident, she gets into what she calls “velociraptor” mode, which means that she becomes extremely focused and almost animalistic as she handles a major crisis. She prepares Sloan for a long hospital stay and gears up to support her friend. While Kristen is able to remain calm and efficient, Sloan is dazed and panicking.

Kristen instructs Sloan to call Brandon’s family and try to stay calm while explaining the situation. At the hospital, Kristen waits with Sloan while Brandon is in surgery. Brandon’s family arrives, and when the surgery is over, a doctor tells them that they had to remove part of Brandon’s skull, but there is still brain activity. He will stay in a medically induced coma and on a ventilator while he recovers. He will be able to have visitors soon.

Eventually, Josh returns to the hospital, and when she sees him, Kristen falls into his arms, finally feeling safe enough to fall apart emotionally. He holds her while she updates him on Brandon’s condition.