Nancy was hopeful that young adulthood would be her best years yet. Now a college graduate, Nancy was able to move out of River Heights and jump start her career. She was living in Boston in an apartment she shared with Bess. Being in a city was definitely better for Nancy, and the nightlife was certainly better for Bess.

Nancy hadn't spoken to Ned in a couple of years, but she knew he too had moved to the Boston area. He was still living with Burt, who was still seeing George. They were planning on moving in together soon, which thrilled Nancy and Bess. The pair were tired of commuting back to River Heights to see her, as she was always unavailable while staying with Burt.

Ned and Nancy hadn't ended things in the most positive of ways. Ned had swore to Nancy that he was no longer going to let the fear of losing her run his life, and that lasted at least a year. It wasn't until Ned was a senior in college when he just couldn't do it anymore. As Nancy got older she started taking even more dangerous cases, and as Ned got older he realized how much he was missing. He would sit in his room, petrified in fear, if she didn't respond to his texts in a few minutes. He missed classes, parties, football games even, rushing home to ensure Nancy was going to be okay. He swore he wouldn't let the fear run his life, so he had to make it stop. When Nancy missed yet another anniversary because of a case, Ned threw a fit. No amount of apologies from Nancy could fix anything, as he knew it would never change. Nancy came home to Ned, expecting it to work out as it always did, but Ned wasn't having it. They both got misty eyed when he told her that he couldn't live like this anymore, and they both cried when he said it was over. Nancy was clear that she wanted him in her life, desperately even, but he knew that if he was in contact with her he'd still worry. He had to let her go.

It took Nancy an extra year to get her degree, considering all of the time off she took with her traveling. By the time she was out Bess and George were a year out, Frank and Ned had been out for two. Frank had proposed to Callie at her graduation party, and after a year long engagement everyone returned to Bayport for the ceremony.

Nancy, Bess, and George decided to stay with their families in River Heights for the long weekend. They came in on Thursday, spent the evening with their respective families and planned to meet up at Scoops Friday afternoon.

Nancy, as per usual, was the first one to arrive. She waited outside in the warm June sun, reading her book and sipping on her coffee.

That's when Ned arrived.

He saw her before she saw him. She was like a vision from the past. She was the only girl Ned knew who would still sit with a book opposed to scrolling down her phone. She was, as he suspected, several minutes early probably just so she would have time to sit in read that book. He noticed her coffee, which he knew immediately what she ordered. She was so engrossed in her book that he could watch her for a while and she wouldn't notice. It had been years since he'd laid eyes on her and he was disappointed by the feelings it evoked. His heart was pounding, his stomach churning, his breathing strained. He was reminded of the last time he saw her, tears rushing down her face and pure devastation in her eyes. He could still feel the way it hurt to see her like that, the way it hurt to lose her. Ned let himself feel the hurt again, but that quickly faded into admiration. She'd filled out a little bit since the last time he saw her. Her hair was slightly more blonde than strawberry now. She was still absolutely beautiful- completely drop dead. It was overwhelming.

As she went to turn the page, she glanced up. Her eyes met Ned's, and now his heart had stopped beating all together. She started to smile and Ned opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted.

"Ned, darling, over here!"