Nancy's eyes immediately shifted to the voice. Ned watched her eyes widen as she saw the source of the voice. His heart lurched and he yearned to just have a moment alone with Nancy.

"Ned!"

He turned around to see Deirdre, waving him down from another table.

"Nan, I-" Ned began, but he had no idea what he even wanted to say. The only things that came to his mine were "Wow, you look incredible" and "Just ignore her, I don't know who that is." But alas, Ned was in fact supposed to meet Deirdre, Nancy's ultimate rival, five minutes ago.

Nancy swallowed hard and offered Ned a soft smile before looking back down at her book. She tried to look calm and collected as she watched the love of her life sit with Deirdre, possibly the only person Nancy still really didn't like. Nancy had figured she'd see Ned at the wedding and had been preparing exactly how she'd look and exactly what she'd say, but now she was completely off guard.

Seriously, Deirdre?

Nancy didn't want to be that girl who thinks negatively of her ex. She didn't want to think about how much of a downgrade she was or how Nancy had grown far out of Ned's league, and those thoughts wouldn't have helped anyway. When she looked at Ned every lost feeling had arisen back in her. All of the love and anguish had risen right back to the surface the moment she laid eyes on him, but now she felt just the same as the day he left her. She was, yet again, heartbroken.

She stared intently at that book, not reading a single word off the pages. She just needed to force herself to not look up at Ned. She couldn't help but wonder how long this thing with Deirdre had been going on. Were they serious? Deirdre had always been interested in Ned, but he had never shown any interest in her. Had she pushed him right into Deirdre's arms? Or was there always something there? Nancy had considered the fact that Ned might have been seeing someone, but never in a million years did she think he'd be with her. She almost felt... betrayed. She felt as if, in some way, this was a personal attack against her.

Bess and George felt the same exact way. They went a whole fifteen minutes before noticing the pair. Bess was enraged and had to be restrained from stomping over there and throwing her milkshake at him. George focused intently on Nancy, apologizing a hundred times. She cursed Burt for not letting her in on this.

Nancy was doing well at holding her resolve, but she couldn't help but look up at the sound of the chair moving and Deirdre's voice calling out "Thanks, hon!" That's when she saw Ned, empty glass in hand, walking to the door of Scoops- walking right towards her.

Bess, the magician she was, turned on her feigned friendly smile and stood up to give Ned a hug. Nancy wondered if that was really a fake hug or if Bess was legitimately excited to see an old friend. She couldn't blame her if she was, Ned had been in their lives for years. Still, she hoped this was Bess just trying to play nice.

Ned hugged her back awkwardly, not taking his eyes off of Nancy for a second. He didn't notice the way George had cut her eyes at him or the way Deirdre was watching him. He just noticed the subtle blush of Nancy's cheeks, a clear cut sign she was as nervous to see him as he was her. He had so many questions to ask his mind was reeling. Are you still sleuthing? Where are you working? How is your dad? Are you seeing anyone?

Instead of formulating any of the questions into words, he panicked and blurted out "Deirdre needs another shake" and bolted into the store. He set the glass on the counter, silently asking Toni for refill. He rushed into the bathroom and wet his hands, running them through his hair and splashing his face. He was hoping the cold water would wake him up from this dream. He wasn't sure if he wanted to wake up three years ago, lying in bed with Nancy, or if he wanted to splash his feelings for her right out of his body. Either way, it wasn't working.