Ava and Lincoln try to reconcile through an awkward but generous conversation that turns their shared grief and regret into a cautious promise of renewed friendship. A single gerbera at Ava’s door opens the way: Lincoln admits how angry he has been, Ava recognizes the ties between them, and they agree to approach the relationship one day at a time. The encounter does not restore an uncomplicated past. Instead, it gives two people bound by Kelly a way to remain connected without pretending that nothing has changed.

The approach and the history between them

The meeting begins with Lincoln already on his way down Ava’s front steps. On the welcome mat is a gerbera wrapped in brown paper. When Ava opens the door, he turns back and greets her; his gesture is small, but it reaches into a relationship too layered for either of them to treat the flower as a simple apology. Ava briefly wishes it had come from Gideon, yet finds herself unable to send Lincoln away. She wants to reject him, but his presence calls up their long history: he is part of her childhood memories and, above all, a link to Kelly.

Their exchange about flowers softens the pause between them. Ava had assumed Lincoln had never bought anyone flowers; he recalls buying a Valentine’s Day gift for Samia Jackson in Year 10, including a teddy bear. The detail is lightly humorous, but the scene does not treat charm as a solution. Ava remembers that she and Lincoln had believed they cut their ties at the formal. Now those ties seem to re-form despite what happened. The encounter’s first change is therefore not a declaration of forgiveness but a willingness to stay in the conversation.

Grief, anger, and regret

The attempt comes against a year in which grief has made ordinary life feel stalled for Ava. Six months after Kelly’s death, she thinks other people are impatient with her for not getting over it, while she cannot imagine the sadness simply ending. Lincoln’s presence has sometimes given her a brief respite: when she is with him, other troubles recede, and she can feel something besides misery. That comfort is inseparable from the loss, because their closeness would not have unfolded in the same way if Kelly were alive.

The history between Ava and Lincoln has also become difficult through choices made while both were hurting. Ava silently inventories what she regrets: their having become involved when they did not truly want that, the things they yelled at each other, her failure to tell him how she felt about Kelly’s death, and the conflict at the formal. She is also sorry that she thought she could remove him from her life, and that, in her view, they let Kelly down. This is not a clean division between one person who caused harm and another who did not. The flower brings them face to face with a shared history that includes affection, pain, and responsibility.

A tentative agreement

When Ava asks why Lincoln has come, he links the visit to the year and everything that has happened. She understands without needing a detailed explanation. Asked whether they will ever be friends again, Lincoln replies that they were never friends in the ordinary sense: he had always been Kelly’s brother, and later their connection became complicated. Ava asks whether they could become friends now. Lincoln answers without hesitation that they could, one day. The distinction matters. They are not claiming that an earlier friendship can simply be restored; they are proposing a different relationship that has yet to be built.

Lincoln then speaks more openly about his state of mind. He is angry with his parents, Ava, and even Gideon, but most of all with Kelly. He recognizes that he has been directing that anger at other people and that the result has been painful. Ava listens, her eyes stinging, while Lincoln tries to hold himself together. When he apologizes and looks down, she touches his shoulder. The gesture offers acknowledgment rather than a quick repair: his anger is heard, but neither his grief nor the damage between them is made to disappear.

Lincoln asks Ava to come with him as a friend. She asks about his parents, and he says they want to see her. The invitation gives the new understanding a practical form, while their shared eye contact registers that things will be different. As Lincoln leaves, he explains that watching Lilo and Stitch gave him the idea of Ohana: family means no one gets left behind. Ava finds the source of the thought unexpected, but its meaning reaches her. The knot of tension around Lincoln finally loosens, and she feels happiness and relief.

What reconciliation changes

The agreement is a beginning, not a return to easy closeness. Later, at a gathering beneath the park rotunda to mark a year since Kelly’s death, Ava and Lincoln share a tight, slightly awkward embrace. They have not spoken much in the intervening months, though he sometimes texts her a joke and she replies. Ava describes their bond as neither quite friendship nor quite family. She does not regret what happened between them, but does not take pride in it either. Their connection remains complex, yet it no longer has to be either denied or treated as fully repaired.

Ava’s continuing therapy with Nola reinforces the same non-linear understanding of grief. She can carry sadness, hurt, anger, confusion, grief, and love at once; feeling calmer does not mean those feelings have vanished. In that light, the reconciliation is a limited but significant change: Ava and Lincoln can acknowledge the pain between them while choosing not to sever their connection. Ohana gives Lincoln a phrase for that choice, and the later, occasional messages and embrace show its modest consequences. Their bond continues through small acts of contact rather than a promise that either of them has moved beyond Kelly’s death.