Maggie meets Phil at Hampstead Heath station, and they walk through the crowded, hot park toward the ponds. Maggie prepares to tell Phil her news but hesitates, fearing judgment from her predominantly queer social circle for having a baby with a man and moving to the suburbs. She recalls envying friends with babies and feeling societal pressure about her biological clock. To delay the conversation, Maggie suggests they swim. After jumping into the freezing water and warming up in the sun, she is ready to talk.

The perspective shifts to Phil, who is thinking about Ed’s betrayal and feels he must tell Maggie. He asks how things are with Ed, then defensively describes his own situation with Keith as being casual and fun. Maggie offers support, but Phil inwardly chafes, feeling she condescends to his sex life. He has never told her about the traumatic assault he experienced in Burgess Park, fearing she would blame him or trivialize it. Phil invites her to his solstice party at the warehouse later that night. He then asks if Maggie has been painting. She reveals she threw out her art supplies the previous day.

As they walk, Maggie tells Phil she is pregnant. Phil’s mind races about telling her about Ed. Instead, he blurts out his condolences, hurting her feelings. Maggie clarifies it is good news and they are keeping the baby, then abruptly enters a Waitrose. Inside, Maggie reveals that she and Ed are moving back to Basildon. They argue about security and serious life choices. Phil tells her he is not sure Ed is right for her. Maggie reflects on her deep, uncomplicated love for Ed and dismisses his comment. Phil feels his life has become small and insecure compared to Maggie’s, which is growing bigger. He receives a text from Keith asking to talk and makes an excuse to leave, saying his mother is visiting and he needs to see Keith first. They say goodbye, and Phil promises to see her at the party. He still has not told her about Ed.

Debs cycles to her ex-girlfriend Ali’s apartment to collect an amplifier for the party, fantasizing about reconciliation. When Ali answers, covered in clay, Debs nervously stumbles over her words. Keith urgently calls about a letter from their landlord.

In Basildon, while watching the news on the whale rescue in the Thames, Rosaleen bakes bread for Phil but worries whether he will eat it. Steve comments on the appearance of the marine biologist being interviewed about the whale, and they bicker about chores. Rosaleen fantasizes about taking Phil to see the whale to create a lasting memory. She and Steve catch their train just in time, arriving at Fenchurch Street around two in the afternoon. They part ways: Steve to meet Callum and Ed, Rosaleen to meet Phil.

At a pub in Tottenham, Steve notices tension between Callum and Ed. Ed, anxious to avoid being alone with Callum, follows Steve to the toilet, then returns rattled. Ed remembers that Callum used to defend Phil from bullies and once beat Ed up for hurting Phil. Callum tries to get Steve to remember taking him to football matches as a child, but Steve cannot recall. Ed’s phone pings with a text from Maggie.

The narrative shows the earlier phone call between Maggie and Ed after her argument with Phil. Maggie vents her frustration about Phil’s reaction to her pregnancy news. Ed suggests Phil is jealous or upset about Rosaleen’s illness. Maggie expresses anxiety about her narrowing possibilities and her inability to pursue art, given their current circumstances. Ed reassures her and invents a playful story about a river monster he wants to show to their child someday. They laugh together, exchange declarations of love, and hang up feeling close.

Phil arrives at the warehouse, where party preparations are underway. He grabs the book he bought for Keith and meets him on the fire escape. Keith reveals they are being evicted before he can react to the gift, then tells Phil that he and Louis are considering moving to Folkestone, hinting that he wants to stay in London to remain close to Phil. Feeling hurt and wanting to protect himself, Phil dismisses their relationship as casual and tells Keith not to base decisions on him. Keith is hurt. Phil rushes to his room, lies on the dirty floor, and cries, humiliated by his dashed hopes for a future with Keith. He feels his life is insecure compared to Maggie and Ed’s and that he is becoming the “lonely old gay” his mother warned him of becoming (127).

Rosaleen arrives at the warehouse and sits in the busy kitchen, feeling overwhelmed and unable to connect with Phil. A housemate thoughtlessly complains about suburban mothers in front of her. Rosaleen thinks about telling Phil about her cancer but instead says they have no news. She asks about the whale, disappointed to learn Phil and Keith have already gone to see it. Keith briefly enters with Louis, who mentions Irish history before leaving. When Rosaleen asks about Phil’s relationship with Keith, he explains it is not exclusive.

An hour later at Westfield Stratford, Rosaleen and Phil reminisce about when she used to take him to a cafe as a boy. Instead of discussing her cancer diagnosis, Rosaleen tells him about Maggie and Ed’s baby and asks when he will settle down. This leads to an argument about stability, family, and lifestyles. At the supermarket, the argument escalates until Phil shouts that Callum is a drug dealer. Rosaleen dismisses it and praises Ed for being decent to make Phil feel guilty about not visiting her. Phil angrily retorts that Ed is not good, alluding to the secret history between them. Rosaleen’s voice cracks, accusing him of thinking she is a horrible mother. He softens, explaining he feels she does not take his life seriously.

They say a tense goodbye at Stratford station. From the escalator, Phil sees his mother looking lost on the concourse below. He tries to go back to help her, but the downward escalator is broken. By the time he finds another route, she is gone. Upset, Phil drafts a text to Maggie to say they need to talk about Ed.

Rosaleen stands in the station’s public toilets, feeling the day was a failure: She did not connect with Phil, did not give him the bread, and did not tell him about her cancer. She walks through the Olympic Park, built over the area where Steve’s parents used to live. She recalls visiting them and enduring his father’s anti-Irish jokes, and she remembers being glad when a Tory politician was assassinated in 1979, a reaction to the prejudice she faced. She thinks of Pauline and dismisses Phil’s claim about Callum. Feeling adrift with two hours before meeting Steve, she resigns herself to her routine.

On the platform at Stratford station, Phil hesitates before sending the text to Maggie. He recalls receiving his first text from Ed as a teenager. Ecstatic, he agonized over his reply before arranging to meet Ed the next day. In the present, Phil feels guilty about his argument with his mother.

The narrative delves deeper into the past, to a school trip where Phil lay awake sharing a bed with Ed, who took his hand and guided it to perform a sexual act. Phil did not tell Maggie because he feared she would not believe him. Later, in their final year of school, Ed was popular and had many girlfriends, while Phil endured bullying throughout school for being gay. Ed, a friend of the bullies, never participated but also never stopped them.

The flashback returns to the day after Ed’s text. After his shift at a restaurant, Phil met Ed in a waterlogged lane. Ed told Phil that he and Maggie were too good for this place, then moved very close, leading Phil to believe that Ed would kiss him. Ed then revealed his true motive: He wanted Phil to put in a good word for him with Maggie. Phil was crushed but agreed.

Shortly after, at the school gate, a group of boys held Phil with his arms behind his back and pelted him with eggs. When Ed walked by, the boys taunted him, alluding to seeing him and Phil in the lane together. Pressured by the others, Ed took an egg and forcefully mashed it onto Phil’s head. Phil dissociated from the humiliation by fantasizing about a future, freer life in London.

In the present, Phil boards a train at Stratford and travels to London Bridge. Outside the station, he looks at the drafted text and presses send. Immediately, his phone vibrates with a new message from Keith asking to meet because he has read the gift book’s inscription.