"Ready," Ned confirms, even though his head is still bent down, and he's fussing with his tie, trying to get it to lay flat. He's not sure exactly what prompts it - first he's wondering what kinds of things Peggy 'brings up', what she assumes about the two of them. Which leads him to wonder yet again what Ginsberg thinks about the two of them. They talk all the time, and Ned feels more comfortable with Ginsberg than he has with anyone in a long, long time. All the same there are subjects they don't touch. He knows that on his end, it's out of a desire not to ruin things. Change almost always makes things worse. What they have now is great, but feels, at its foundation, fragile. He's not sure that feeling will ever go away.

Before he can stop himself, and without quite meaning to, Ned blurts, "Say, are we boyfriends?" Ned keeps looking at his tie, cheeks hot with embarrassment. Before Ginsberg has a chance to answer that question he rambles on, "I realize that it's probably a stupid thing to ask, because what we have is really great and I don't want it to change, and maybe you're not the kind of guy who likes to put labels on things which is okay, but I was just thinking that I wasn't sure what to call us in our head or where we stand so... so I wanted to know."