When Gavin comes across Alison alone for a moment in the costume area, he takes the opportunity to address her. "Alison, I was wondering, if I could talk to you...about Astrid," he says to her. Even when he was deeply in love with her, Gavin knew his relationship with Astrid was not harmonious, but he had no idea she had been cheating on him. With this woman. Alison sighs heavily before she speaks, "Listen, I didn't know about you when I was with her. I found out the same way you did," she says, her words coming out in a rush. "I understand," Gavin says, "I just wanted to know, if it's not too sensitive to ask, were you in love with her? How can you stand to work with her, knowing it was all a lie?" Alison laughs, quick & harsh, "I was never in love with Astrid, Gavin. I never considered her my 'girlfriend' per se, so it's not like the whole thing was "a lie", for me. It was just, you know..." she says, her eyes darting uncomfortably around the room. Gavin sees he is getting too personal & he doesn't want to press her. But he needs to find a way to get a handle on this emotionally before he has to work with Astrid again. "I was in love with her, and I thought she loved me too. She said she did...." he tells her, his voice catching in the end.

"Hey, listen," Alison says, her expression deadly serious, her hand on his arm patting him reassuringly, "The thing with girls like Astrid is, you have to realize, it's all always an act. You weren't in love with her, you were in love with the part she was playing for you. It probably wasn't even the same part she was playing for me..When you go up to do the balcony scene tonight, that girl isn't the Astrid you knew, that girl never existed. She isn't even the 'real' Astrid, she's Death. She's your favorite sister. She believes it, because she's a great actress, she really is. You have to believe it, too. Or we're never going to finish this movie." Their moment of privacy is brief, in moments the room is full again, and Gavin has to sit and have his make up done. Alison's words echo through his head as Chloe powders his face. It's not an easy thing to accept, that he was in love with a lie.

It's not quite dark out, but Byron wants to run through the scene. "Remember, you are Dream. Forget everything except this story & be your character. I know you can do it," the director says to him. "I am Dream," Gavin says, trying it out. But he doesn't quite feel it yet, he's not sure how to be someone else.

Gavin looks at Astrid and tries not to recognize her. She's Death, he says to himself, she's my favorite sister. He does a lot better this time, but he's not surprised that Byron is disappointed. "You're too meek, Gavin," he says. "You are the Lord of the Dreaming..I need to see that."