Bess was still ranting and raving about the encounter the whole drive to Bayport. Frank and Callie's rehearsal dinner was at a quaint little bayside restaurant in Bayport. It was a place Nancy had spent a lot of time with over the years. It was one of her and Ned's regular date locations when they wanted to get out of River Heights for an evening. Nancy had pictured her reunion with Ned a thousand times. She wished she could've been prepared like she was now.

Bess and George had convinced Nancy to wear a dress so tight she could barely breathe. Nancy's subtle curves were emphasized by the cling of the fabric. The dress loosened up at the legs, but Bess ensured that the long slit was showing an adequate amount of Nancy's legs. Bess had lost quite a bit of weight since she moved out of River Heights, so her dress was just as showy. This gave Nancy some solace. Kindly, she was excited to see how people reacted to Bess as well. She really did look fantastic. Nancy felt blown out the water.

This, however, was not how Ned felt at all. Ned watched the doors of the restaurant like a hawk, waiting for Nancy to arrive. He'd practiced what he'd say about a million times. The moment he saw her walk through the door, his plan left his mind.

"Holy shit." Joe breathed, pushing through the crowd to get to Nancy. Ned hoped no one could see his icy glare tracing Joe's path. Burt patted his shoulder, startling Ned out of his trance. "Man, you poor son of a bitch" he teased. Ned rolled his eyes and ducked further into the room, hoping Nancy hadn't seen him yet.

She hadn't, but she was searching the room frantically. She didn't know Frank and Callie knew so many people, but the room was packed. She recognized a lot of friendly faces, but she figured a wide variety of guests must've been people Frank has solved cases for. She held the back of Bess's dress, following her through the crowd. She greeted Burt briefly, but he was distracted showing off Bess's new engagement ring to all of their friends. Burt had proposed a few weeks prior, and everytime it came up Bess lit up like a Christmas tree.

Nancy let Bess and Burt drift off. She looked around in the crowd, wondering if Ned was even here. Had she startled him yesterday? Maybe he couldn't bring Deirdre, so he wasn't interested in attending? A tap on her shoulder stole her attention.

"Joe!" she shrieked, throwing her hands around his neck. He picked her up and spun her around. "If it ain't Miss Nancy Drew! Don't you look ravishing!"

"You don't look too bad yourself, Hardy. You clean up nice!"

"Shucks, Drew. You flatter me." Joe laughed, spinning Nancy under his arm.

Nancy was glad things weren't weird with Joe. After things ended with Ned, Joe was a major point of support. He listened to her cry and told her she deserved better. When Iola died, Joe sought comfort from Nancy as well. After a particularly painful night, Joe and Nancy shared a single passionate kiss. They realized fairly quickly that had been a mistake, but Nancy always wondered if Frank ever told Ned. They'd remained close, but even Joe commented on how Ned had started to pull away since that night. Ned was still a groomsman, so Nancy figured that Ned couldn't possibly be upset anymore, even if he did know.

Ned hadn't had his suspicions confirmed, but he was certain something was brewing between Nancy and Joe. He'd always been more worried about Frank, but once he started with Callie there was no turning back. Ned's imagination was much worse than the truth when it came to Nancy and Joe's relationship, and watching the two of them laugh together made Ned nauseous. The more time they spent together, the lower Ned's resolve was. He knew he had to approach Nancy eventually, just to say something, but everything he had planned had completely left his mind. He stayed in the corner with Dave and George, bopping to the music and keeping his thoughts off the soft cling of Nancy's dress as she swayed in time with Joe.

Ned's seat at dinner couldn't have been farther than Nancy's, something intentional on Callie's part no doubt. He was proud of how well he focused on the celebration, not once letting himself sneak a peek. He didn't meet her eye until he stood up to do his toast. He could feel the heat radiating from her gaze. Her expression was impossible to read, while he was transparent as ever. She'd mastered her poker face, but Ned was an open book. To keep his cool, all he could do is offer her a meek smile and continue his toast, telling embarrassing stories and sweet anecdotes about Frank.

As the night wore down, Ned had fully convinced himself that not talking to Nancy was far weirder than trying to be friendly. He was worried everyone had taken note of this, and that he looked even more a fool than he already did. As Nancy headed for the coat check room, Ned knew it was now or never. He took one last swig of champagne and made a run for it.

"N-Nancy!" He called after her, his voice shaking.

Nancy spun around slowly, flashing her classic bright smile, "Hey, Ned."

Ned realized that he hadn't prepared for what he'd say next. No time to think, he sputtered out "How was your ice cream today? At Scoops?" He cringed.

"Oh, you know. Scoops is great. I've, uh, missed it."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, it was good to see Antonia. She's mayor now, you know."

"No kidding. Yeah, Scoops is great. Have you been back to River Heights a lot then?" Ned pried.

"Yeah, I try to. I don't want to leave my Dad alone too much."

Ned nodded. This was a classic Nancy response. She was so kind.

"I haven't actually moved out I guess" Nancy blushed, "I stay in River Heights in between cases. No point in moving out, really."

"So you're still sleuthing then?" Ned knew she would be. He never expected her to give that up. He never really wanted her to give that up, at least not seriously. Thinking about her on these dangerous cases made him nauseous. It made him even more worried that she doesn't have someone to check in on her like he used to.

Nancy only nodded in response. She figured he was dissatisfied with her answer, but he certainly didn't show it. Talk of sleuthing reminded her of the last time they talked about sleuthing- the last time they talked about anything. She was going to miss his football game for a case in Russia, and that seemed to be the last straw. She couldn't think about that right now.

"Well, goodnight Ned. Good seeing you." She grabbed her coat off the rack and headed out the door.

Ned wanted to hit himself. As per usual, he was an awkward mess. He had so much to say, he was almost surprised he didn't just blurt out his profession of love to her. He was amazed by how captivating she still was and the hold she still had on him. In his dream scenario, Nancy would see him and immediately beg and plead for another chance. She'd profess her love to him and tell him that he was all she had thought about for the last three years. Ned knew he'd think about it, but seeing her in real life made clear that by the end of the weekend he would probably be the one begging her.

Instinctively, and perhaps influenced by several glasses of champagne, Ned ran out the door after her.

"Nancy!" he called. She turned around, but didn't walk towards him. She stood in place, politely smiling at him. She was also so collected. He was envious of that.

"I'm, uh, I'm not dating Deirdre or anything" he shrugged, suddenly embarrassed.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, she just heard I was back in town and wanted to meet up. I just thought that maybe you'd think something was going on, but it isn't. And never has." Ned was aware of how awkward he was. His original speech was going to much smoother. His awkwardness had clearly spread to Nancy, as she couldn't even find words. She just smiled again, and turned back towards her car.

Ned cursed himself. He felt like a blithering idiot, trying to make amends with a girl who seemingly hadn't given him a second thought. It was unnerving how calm she was. Ned had figured it was his insecurity that told him Nancy hadn't cared much for their relationship towards the end, but maybe that was the truth. Maybe her last three years were grand. Maybe she was seeing someone else. Maybe she was really with Joe.

"Nan, wait." Ned pleaded, "Can we talk?"

"What's up, Ned?" Nancy's smile was wavering. Ned couldn't tell if she was nervous, or just didn't want to speak to him. Either way, he'd already opened his mouth. He had to say something.

"I just wanted to catch up. I feel like I have no idea how your last few years have been." Ned tried.

"Well, you said you would reach out to me when you were ready" Nancy shrugged, "Then you never did."

"Oh, I- yeah, I guess I didn't. I'm sorry about that Nancy." He was caught off guard by her directness. That was as close to an outburst as Nancy really got.

"I just, I didn't think you wanted to talk to me anymore. That's all." Ned bit his lip. That was true, he was so incredibly afraid of talking to her. He'd typed out messages and even driven to her door, but he'd built up the courage to follow through.

"I never said that." Nancy winced. It was clear her wounds had never fully healed.

Ned, again, was rendered speechless. He was so nervous he could vomit. Whether it was true before, it was now abundantly clear Nancy didn't want to speak to him. Still, while he had her here, he had to try.

"Nancy, I was such an idiot." Ned looked at her pleadingly, hoping she could sense how sincere he was. He hoped she could understand his remorse, "I handled that situation, my feelings, so terribly wrong. I'm so sorry."

"It's okay, Ned. Thank you." Nancy played with her keys in between her fingers, deciding whether not she should leave.

It was clear he wasn't going to get anything out of her with any subtlety. He decided he needed to ask her more directly, "Nancy, how did you feel when we broke up? Really?"