- In the now: Nikki realizes it's the halfway point of her Return, and she still hasn't managed to say her goodbyes.
- Cole's waiting in her bedroom when she gets home after the accident. She tells him that she's ready to leave—to the Tunnels, not with him. Cole gets upset.
- Nikki asks why he never told her the story of Orpheus and Eurydice when they were in the Everneath. He says it never happened. Then his phone goes off and he leaves.
- Nikki decides to follow him, thinking that maybe he needs to be present at the convenience store for something mystical to happen.
- Cole grabs Nikki before she can enter the store, though, and he forces her to watch through the window as Maxwell escorts in a sad-looking woman. Maxwell gives her a pill, and the woman sinks down through the floor.
- Cole explains that the pill contained one of Maxwell's hairs, since mortals can only get to the Everneath with an Everliving host (or a body part of theirs). The pill is like the ferryman from Greek mythology.
- This particular convenience store is built atop a spot where the boundary separating the Surface and the Everneath is thin. It's like a branch of the River Styx.
- Nikki asks why Cole didn't bring her to the store when he Fed on her. He explains that she had him as her Everliving host, meaning they could enter the Everneath anytime.
- Because Nikki said she'd wanted to go to the Tunnels before her six months were up, Cole gives her a hair from his head. But Nikki realizes she's not actually ready to go early: Things are still messed up between her and Jack, and she wants to say a proper goodbye to her family.
- When Nikki tells Cole she won't go early, he says he doesn't know what he'd do without her. Which is exactly what she'd said to him back when she didn't know what he really was.
- In the past (one week before the Feed): Nikki is helping Cole make more tees. He asks if she's heard from Jack—the answer is no.
- Cole then tells Nikki that Meredith found a way to contact Maxwell, even though it's apparently against the rules. Weird.
- Cole asks Nikki if the thing between her and Jack is love, but she gets nervous and doesn't exactly answer. He then invites her to another concert.
- They joke when Nikki messes up a shift, and she thanks him for letting her hang out with him to pass the time. She says she doesn't know what she'd do without him.
- Nikki tries to ask Cole what was happening when Meredith called from the camp where Jack is, but Cole acts weirdly evasive and then he invites her to go rafting with him and his band mates. She accepts.
- The guys guide the raft past the usual place to exit the rapids, meaning they're into some seriously dangerous territory. The raft hits a rock, and Nikki slams into the rushing water.