The Friend Zone

Three weeks later, Brandon is still in a coma, and Kristen is still supporting Sloan, who has barely left the hospital. Their wedding day has passed, and there is no sign that Brandon will ever wake up. Kristen hasn’t talked to Josh; she keeps herself busy by canceling wedding plans for Sloan, cleaning her house, and making sure that Sloan is eating and sleeping.

Kristen goes to the hospital and brings cupcakes for the ICU nurses; she has been bringing them treats for weeks to thank them for their care for Brandon. Nurse Valerie knows what is going on between Kristen and Josh and encourages Kristen to give Josh a chance because she thinks he’s cute. Kristen goes to see Sloan, who is happy because the doctors say that Brandon is making enough progress to come off of the ventilator. She shows Kristen that when she tells Brandon to squeeze her hand, he does. Sloan tells Kristen that Josh misses her; he wants her to talk to him, but Kristen refuses. On her way out of the hospital, Kristen passes by Josh. They don’t say anything to each other, but Josh reaches out to touch her arm.

Josh reads to Brandon in the hospital room. He is exhausted and can’t stop thinking about Kristen, even though they have not spoken in weeks. Like Kristen, he has been trying to stay busy. He has unpacked his apartment and bought furniture. He wishes that Brandon could talk and give him advice.

Nurse Valerie comes into the room to check Brandon’s vitals. Josh invites her to bring her children to the fire station sometime, and she asks if there are any updates with Kristen. Nurse Valerie says she’s told Kristen that she is crazy to let Josh go. They talk about Brandon coming off his ventilator soon. However, when Nurse Valerie checks Brandon’s eyes, she realizes something is wrong. Brandon’s pupils are blown, which indicates that he has had a stroke.

Kristen’s phone rings at four o’clock in the morning. Josh is calling to tell her that Brandon has had a stroke and that she needs to get Sloan to the hospital immediately. He explains that Brandon is now brain dead and will not be waking up.

When Sloan learns this news, she falls apart. Kristen accompanies her to the hospital and waits while Sloan meets with Brandon’s family, an ethics committee, and a grief counselor. When the meeting is over, Sloan is even more upset because although Brandon is an organ donor, his family does not want to take him off of life support for religious reasons. Since Brandon has no will and he and Sloan are not yet married, Sloan has no say in what the next steps should be, even though she knows what Brandon would have wanted. Kristen suggests that Josh talk to Brandon’s parents to convince them to allow his organs to be harvested, as Brandon would have wanted.

Kristen finds Josh at his apartment; he is not doing well. He is unshaven and has bags under his eyes, and his apartment is a mess. She feels an urge to take care of him, so she starts cleaning up, but he snaps at her to stop. He is still angry that she has not spoken to him, and now that Brandon is going to die, he has no one. Kristen is also overwhelmed with pain and sadness and says she just needs him to let her clean his apartment because she has so little control over everything else. She starts to cry, and he wraps his arms around her. She asks him to go to the hospital and talk to Brandon’s family about removing the life support.

Josh can see that Kristen is shaking and asks if she is okay. She says she is fine, and he goes into the bathroom to shower before leaving. Kristen keeps cleaning his apartment, but then her vision blurs.

Josh takes a shower and shaves. He thinks about how he and Brandon will never be in each other’s weddings. He feels like he has lost Kristen, too, but he won’t give up on her. He is happy to have seen her and talked to her, at the very least.

When he comes out of the bathroom, Kristen is on the couch, and he can tell that something is wrong. She says her vision is blurry, and she is sweating and shaking. He knows that these are symptoms of hypoglycemia, so he urges her to drink some soda.

They realize that she has not eaten in hours, so he takes her to get food and asks whether there is a history of diabetes in her family. He also asks when she is supposed to get her hysterectomy. Kristen says the surgery was supposed to be two weeks ago, but now she is focused on taking care of Sloan and knows that she wouldn’t have anyone to take care of her during her own recovery. She is exhausted and run-down and admits that she has obsessive-compulsive disorder that is in a manic state.

Again, Josh begs her to agree to a relationship, saying that they could move in together that day. Kristen refuses to let him sacrifice his desire for children in order to be with her. She says she loves him so much that she could not let him lose that dream. Josh tries to make her believe that having children isn’t as important to him as being with her, but she is too stubborn to believe that he wouldn’t resent her later in life.

Josh talks to Brandon’s family and finally convinces them to take Brandon off life support. Afterward, Brandon’s family says it’s harder to argue against faith than logic, because logic allows you to win by presenting facts. At this moment, Josh realizes that he should have been using logic to argue with Kristen, because she doesn’t like to make decisions with her heart. He realizes that he has been pursuing Kristen from the wrong angle. He now has an idea that might work.

Kristen goes over to Sloan’s house in the morning, as she does every day. She lets Sloan sleep as long as possible and cleans up the house. At noon, she wakes Sloan up and has her take a bath. Throughout the day, she gets several texts from Josh that read, “Just say okay.”

The only thing Sloan wants to do is watch the music video for a cover of The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. She likes the singer’s voice, and Kristen picks up Sloan’s phone to order one of the singer’s albums. She is confused when Josh sends Sloan a thumbs-up emoji. She asks Sloan about this, but Sloan doesn’t really answer. Instead, she tells Kristen that she is making a mistake by cutting Josh out of her life. She urges Kristen to go home and talk to him.

They argue over how Kristen is handling her relationship with Josh. Then Sloan admits that she feels Brandon’s death is her fault because she let him ride his motorcycle. Kristen says that Brandon is an adult who made his own decisions. Sloan asks why Kristen won’t let Josh make the decision to be with her, even knowing that she can’t have children. Kristen has made that decision for him, and it isn’t fair. Sloan is also angry that Kristen is throwing away Josh’s love when Sloan has lost Brandon so abruptly. Stressing that life is short and unpredictable, Sloan tells Kristen to get out of her house and not come back unless she is with Josh.

Kristen is shocked by Sloan’s harsh behavior, but she does go home. When she gets there, she finds a flower and a binder on her coffee table. Inside the binder, Josh has placed all of his research on fertility clinics, adoption organizations, and foster care agencies. The binder shows he did fertility testing with a doctor and approached his sisters about possibly becoming surrogates for a baby. All of this research shows Kristen that Josh knows exactly what he is getting if he and Kristen become a couple, and he is fully committed. She thinks about Sloan’s assertion that Josh can make his own choices. She realizes that Sloan was in on Josh’s plan and kicked Kristen out so that she would find the binder. Kristen has no more logical arguments against their relationship, so she texts Josh “okay.” Her doorbell immediately rings—he was waiting for her. He sweeps her into his arms, and she apologizes for causing him so much pain. Then he tells her that he wants to get married right away—that day.

Josh is overjoyed and relieved that Kristen has finally accepted him. When he convinces her to marry him that day, he uses another logical argument, saying that she will be having surgery soon, and his health insurance is better than hers. She agrees, and they get ready to go to city hall. Kristen suggests that they get their wedding rings at the pawn shop that was used as a set for Pulp Fiction.

Josh is sad to tell Kristen that Sloan won’t be able to handle watching them get married. She supported his plan and is happy for them, but she is not yet emotionally stable enough to be there. Kristen understands, but they are both sad that neither of their best friends will be at their wedding.

Kristen and Josh are waiting at the courthouse for their turn to get married; they managed to get the last appointment of the day. Though a lot of the details of this wedding seem sad, like her ring held on with tape and the absence of cake, flowers, family, or friends, Kristen is excited and happy. She realizes how hard it was to keep Josh away, and now that she has allowed him to love her, their connection feels natural and easy.

They go into an office and give a clerk their paperwork. They are about to exchange vows when Sloan crashes into the room. She is wearing an old bridesmaid’s dress and carrying leftover funeral flowers that look like she dug them out of the trash. Kristen is shocked and touched that Sloan made the effort to be there when she is hurting so badly.

With Sloan by their side, Josh and Kristen exchange their vows. Josh adds that he will also protect and care for Sloan as if she is his sister. By the end, everyone—including the witnesses, who do not know them—are crying.

One month after getting married, Kristen and Josh are at the doctor’s office. They are waiting for the doctor to return with the results of a pre-operative ultrasound before her hysterectomy. They recently went to South Dakota so that she could meet Josh’s family, and she was thrilled to find that she fit right in with his four sisters. They talked to his sister, Carmen, about possibly being a surrogate for them.

Now, the doctor enters the room and says that they have found some issues that will prevent them from doing the hysterectomy right away. Kristen has a feeling that something is wrong. Since she had the bout of hypoglycemia scare over a month ago, she has also been experiencing headaches, dizziness, and weight loss. She began thinking about worst-case scenarios, but the doctor tells them that she cannot have the hysterectomy yet because she is four months pregnant. He explains that she has gestational diabetes, which caused the hypoglycemia, but she can manage that issue through her diet.

They are both shocked and confused, but the doctor is unfazed. He says that Kristen’s IUD must have come out during one of Kristen’s heavy periods; the spotting she experienced was normal for early pregnancy. The bulge in her belly, which Kristen assumed to be uterine fibroids, is actually a baby. The hormonal shift that occurs during pregnancy caused the fibroids to shrink. Kristen immediately starts panicking about all the things that might go wrong with the pregnancy, but Josh calms her down, and they just sit together, amazed that they are really going to be parents.

Two years later, Josh and Kristen are dropping off their son, Oliver, to spend the night with Kristen’s mom so that they can celebrate Kristen’s birthday. As harsh as Evelyn can be with Kristen, she is a loving and doting grandmother.

After Oliver’s birth, they tried to have a second baby, but Kristen’s fibroids returned, and she eventually decided to get the hysterectomy. After the surgery, Kristen feels better than ever, and they are hopeful that they may still be able to have another baby via surrogacy. Josh just wants her to be happy and to enjoy their time with their son. He is content with the current size of their family.