Drew, a gay man in his thirties, works at NPR putting on special events in Chicago. His best friend from high school Peter, who he became close to when they both realized they were gay as teenagers, is an actor—or, at least, was an actor. Peter has been struggling to act since a few years back when he stumbled through his lines mid-Shakespeare play on a stage in Chicago and had to be replaced by an understudy. Now, he works in dinner theater in Kenosha. Drew and Peter have lunch together on a regular basis. They did not keep up with each other regularly for years after high school but have since made a concerted effort to remain in each other's lives. Drew is currently dating Carlos, but he can feel the relationship slipping away. He attempts to tell Peter about his relationship issues, but Peter focuses on his depressing failure throughout the entirety of their lunches. One day, after Drew proposes an event to NPR in collaboration with the Art Institute of Chicago, he offers Peter an acting job in the event, in which he would read a new poem based off of an art piece in the Institute. Carlos questions why Drew would be willing to put his job on the line for Peter, even though they are no longer that close and were never romantically involved. Drew tells Carlos that when he and Peter were in high school, in their minds, they were the only two gay boys in Chicago. Peter accepts Drew's offer. On the day of the event months later, Peter appears wearing a puffer jacket and looking thin and sickly. When Peter's chance to perform begins, he, at first, delivers the lines to the poem perfectly, standing next to the painting which inspired the poem. Then, in a moment of raw emotion, Peter swipes his hand across the painting as he reads, triggering security alarms and stopping the event. Peter leaves the stage and the event, too embarrassed to continue his reading. Drew tries to do some damage control at the event, and another actor takes Peter's place to read the poem. Drew does not follow Peter out of the Institute and realizes he will probably never see Peter again.