Before We Were Strangers

Matt leaves the group to sit alone and think. He tells himself if he can get Grace drunker, he can convince her to marry him. Grace joins him after Tatiana and Brandon leave. She apologizes for Tatiana’s behavior, insisting she isn’t waiting around for him. The two leave the park and go out for more drinks. Even more intoxicated now, Matt leads Grace to City Hall and suggests they get married; a drunk Grace agrees.

Matt and Grace wake up hungover in the lounge. Grace panics when she realizes they got married. She accuses Matt of manipulating her just to win a bet and insists they get an annulment. They’re both upset and part on bad terms.

Matt doesn’t hear from Grace for several days. Finally, he puts the annulment paperwork under her door, but weeks pass and they still don’t talk.

Grace loses a lot of weight in the weeks she and Matt spend apart. Six days before he’s supposed to leave, Grace finds a letter from her mom on her desk. Her parents are getting divorced and neither has the money to attend Grace’s graduation or pay for her ticket home for the summer. They also sold her piano to pay for her sister’s dental bills. Then Grace finds a bill from financial services. She collapses on the floor and cries. Matt finds her and comforts her. She explains what happened with her family and he offers to give her money. He recently sold a portrait of her for $1,000 and argues that half the money is rightfully hers.

Matt steps out and returns with snacks, an amp, and a guitar he borrowed from Brandon. He tells her to put on his Smiths t-shirt and then plays “Hallelujah” for her. A tearful Grace apologizes for what happened between them; Matt apologizes too.

At the park one day before graduation, Tatiana bugs Grace about joining the orchestra again. She argues that Matt might extend his stay in South America anyway. Grace gets defensive, insisting she already made her decision. Then Tatiana reveals that Dan is the one who bought Matt’s portrait.

Feeling upset, Grace goes to see Orvin, but his shop is closed. She runs into Dan and confronts him about the portrait. He insists he only bought it because he thinks Matt is talented and not because he thought she needed money. He then says goodbye, admitting that he’s going to get his last name changed to Porter.

Grace and Matt spend the next few days together. Then the day before Matt leaves, Grace hears that Jeff Buckley died. She is crying when she runs into Matt on the street. They spend the afternoon together talking about the future. Grace wants to ask Matt to stay or invite her to come with him, but instead they go get tattoos together. They choose a phrase for each other: Grace’s tattoo says, “Green-eyed lovebird” (182) and Matt’s says, “just the ash” (183), a line from a Leonard Cohen poem.

Back at the dorm, Grace gets upset that Matt won’t leave his things with her at the dorm. He’s sending them back to California instead. He reminds her that they’re not saying goodbye forever. They have sex. Afterward, Grace accompanies Matt to the airport. As he walks to the gate, he tells Grace he stole one of her practice tapes.

The next day, Grace auditions for a local band. She stays busy over the following weeks. When Grace finally hears from Matt, the conversation is brief and he only talks about himself and his work with the internship coordinator, Elizabeth. Grace feels sad and alone afterward.

Grace doesn’t hear from Matt for several weeks. She keeps busy and hangs out with Tatiana, who is leaving soon with Dan’s orchestra. One day, Grace finds a photography article about Matt’s exciting new work with Elizabeth Hunt. Confused and upset, she calls Aletha. Aletha reveals that she’s been talking to Matt once a week. Distraught, Grace calls Tatiana and tells her she wants to join the orchestra.

The narrative returns to the present. Since losing Matt, Grace has tried to move on. Then, two months ago, she saw Matt on the subway platform. Everything feels new to her again. She can’t stop thinking about him but worries about reconnecting. One day, one of her music students asks if she knows about Missed Connections. He noticed her “Green-eyed lovebird” tattoo and recently found a Missed Connections letter with the same wording; he gives her a printout of the post.

Grace is overwhelmed reading Matt’s letter. She leaves school and meets up with Tatiana, showing her the letter. The friends agree that Matt’s version of events seems so different in the note, but that Grace should call him.

Monica calls Matt, upset that he didn’t tell her Liz (her ex-sister-in-law) is pregnant. They get into an argument about Matt and Liz’s relationship; Monica thinks Liz cheated on him because he was still in love with Grace.

At work, Scott asks Matt if he’s heard anything from Grace. He tries to explain how important their relationship was, but Scott makes fun of him for being sentimental. Later on, Liz badgers Matt about being unfocused. A call from Grace interrupts their conversation. Matt tells Liz off and calls Grace back. They briefly catch up, discovering that they live a few blocks from each other and are both single. When Matt suggests coffee, Grace grows distant and hangs up.

Matt feels emotional for the rest of the day. Liz confronts him for talking to Grace, which worsens Matt’s mood. He wishes he could get out of New York and away from Liz. Despite his frustration, he agrees to get a drink with Brad later. Over drinks, Brad suggests Matt come over to get a box of his old pictures that Liz recently found.

At home afterward, Matt puts on music and goes through the photos. Most of them are of him and Grace. He falls asleep, fondly remembering their college days.

At work the next day, Matt confronts Liz about going through his photos. She accuses him of being hung up on Grace throughout their relationship. She didn’t like that Grace was always trying to intrude. Confused, Matt demands an explanation. Liz admits that Grace called and wrote to him repeatedly; finally, Liz told Grace that Matt was over her and to stop bothering them.

Matt feels overwhelmed for the rest of the night. He spends hours going through photos of Grace and remembering their relationship. Then he looks up the school where Grace works. He discovers her last name is now Porter and that she’s leading a performance that night. He races to the school.

After the concert, Matt invites Grace out for a drink. She hesitantly agrees. They go to the diner for pie and catch up. Matt reveals that his mom died of cancer and that he and Liz are divorced. He also explains that he came back to New York after South America and could never understand why Grace disappeared. 

Confused, Grace insists she thought Matt was doing a project with Liz in Australia, which is why she went abroad with Dan’s orchestra. When she didn’t hear from him and he didn’t respond to her letters, she decided to move on and ended up marrying Dan. Dan died not long ago from cardiac complications. Matt explains that Liz is the one who told her he’d moved on. Overwhelmed by these revelations, the two realize how much they misunderstood.

Matt walks Grace home. They show each other their tattoos and Matt apologizes for everything that happened.

Back at home, Matt calls Monica to ask if she and Liz pushed Grace away together. A confused Monica insists she had nothing to do with it and is sorry Liz interfered. Afterward, Matt races down the street to Grace’s apartment. They kiss and agree to try dating again.