At Malone’s, another patron, Kerry, accuses Brenna of hitting on her boyfriend, Davey, and throws water on her. Brenna removes her wet hoodie, revealing a lacy bralette, as Kerry repeatedly calls Brenna names. Summer comes to Brenna’s defense, arguing that women should not degrade each other. When Kerry retaliates by calling Summer a slut and flicking her cheek, Summer tackles her, and a fight breaks out.

Davey tells Fitz that Brenna was “asking for it” because of her clothing. Enraged by the comment, Fitz dangles Davey off the ground by the neck, then punches him in the nose. Afterward, Fitz confronts Summer about starting the fight. Angry and upset with her, he abruptly leaves the bar.

Summer follows Fitz into the parking lot. He tells her he’s angry because she created a situation where he felt he had to resort to defending her honor with violence. He also accuses her of playing “mind games” by flirting with him one minute and then cuddling with Hunter the next. When Summer presses him to tell her why he’s truly upset, he admits it’s because she could’ve been hurt. Summer admits she finds him attractive, noting that he doesn’t feel the same way about her. To prove his attraction, Fitz grabs Summer’s hand and presses it against his erection. Hunter arrives and interrupts the tense moment. Fitz tells Hunter to take Summer home and drives away. Hunter comforts the distraught Summer and asks her on a date for the following Saturday. Feeling hurt and frustrated by Fitz’s mixed signals, Summer accepts Hunter’s invitation.

During the Briar hockey game, Summer confides in Brenna about her conflicted feelings for Fitz. When Brenna points out that her date with Hunter is on Valentine’s Day, Summer worries about leading Hunter on. Jake and Weston join them to scout the competition and weigh in with their own opinions about Summer’s love life. Jake tells Summer that Hunter likely did not realize he had asked her out on Valentine’s Day when he scheduled their date. Suddenly, Fitz is injured by a puck to the face and sent off the ice for stitches. With Brenna’s help, Summer sneaks into the locker room to check on him and finds him in the shower. Their conversation turns tense, and Fitz asks Summer if she wants him to kiss her. She says yes.

Fitz and Summer’s kiss in the locker room escalates to a sexual encounter. They’re interrupted when they hear the rest of the team returning from the game. Summer makes Fitz promise that they’ll talk about what happened between them after the game and escapes through a back exit before she’s discovered.

Instead of meeting Summer later as promised, Fitz avoids her and drives to Boston to see his friend Tucker, seeking his advice. Fitz confesses to Tucker what happened in the locker room and admits he’s struggling with his intense feelings for Summer. He calls her “too much” and expresses fear of the drama Summer always seems to attract and the public attention that a relationship with her would inevitably bring.

For two days after their encounter in the locker room, Fitz completely avoids Summer. Meanwhile, Summer feels increasingly uncomfortable with Professor Laurie, whose behavior she finds creepy. Her classmate Nora accuses Summer of using her appearance to get favorable treatment from Laurie.

Summer needs models for her swimwear fashion show, a major project for her independent study. She calls her protective older brother, Dean, for help contacting members of the Briar football team. Worried for her safety, Dean insists that one of her roommates accompany her to the football players’ house and sends Fitz. Their first interaction since the locker room is tense and awkward.

Summer and Fitz visit the football house on Elmhurst Avenue, where they meet Rex and his teammates—Lockett, Jules, Bibby, and C-Mac—who enthusiastically agree to model swimwear for her fashion show. Afterward, Summer confronts Fitz for avoiding her and sending confusing signals. She reveals that she has a date with Hunter that weekend. When she presses Fitz to explain what he wants from her, he hesitates and is unable to answer directly. Hurt by his inability to be open with her, Summer gets in her car and leaves.

Later that evening, as Summer is dressed and ready to leave for her date with Hunter, Fitz enters her bedroom and asks her not to go.

When Fitz pleads with Summer not to go on her date with Hunter, Summer presses him to tell her why, but he still struggles to articulate his feelings. Frustrated by his emotional reticence, Summer leaves. At the restaurant with Hunter, she’s too upset and distracted to enjoy herself. Hunter notices her mood, and she admits she has feelings for Fitz. Hunter calmly ends the date and drives her home.

Back at the house, Summer goes to Fitz’s room and finds him asleep. She wakes him and asks three direct questions: If he still thinks she is “surface level,” if he planned to run away after their locker room encounter, and if he is tired of fighting their attraction. He answers no, no, and yes. Satisfied with his answers, Summer takes off her dress and gets into bed with him.

Fitz and Summer have sex for the first time. Afterward, they lie in bed and agree to build trust by each sharing a vulnerable secret. Summer reveals the true reason she was asked to leave her sorority house at Brown. After receiving a failing grade on a paper due to unintentional plagiarism, she tried to burn it in the sorority house’s sunroom and accidentally set the drapes on fire. She admits she let everyone believe it was a drunken mishap because she would rather be seen as reckless than stupid.

In return, Fitz explains that his parents’ bitter divorce and custody battle scarred him emotionally. They frequently used his words and feelings as weapons against each other, which taught him to suppress his emotions as a defense mechanism. He promises to try to be more open, and he makes Summer promise to stop believing she is stupid.