In the opening of Episode 2 of "Half Man," Lori informs Niall that Ruben will be attending the wedding, causing Niall to panic. As he spots Ruben, the latter makes a finger-gun gesture. Flashing back to the '80s, Lori drops Niall off at college, warning him to stay away from Ruben and hoping he'll make new friends. His fate takes a turn for the better when he's greeted warmly by his three flatmates - Joanna, Celeste, and Alby.
While Joanna and Celeste tease Niall, they're ultimately kind to him, with Celeste even showing interest. Alby, however, remains an enigma, and Niall's discomfort gets a label when the girls hint that Alby might be gay. They take Niall clubbing, where he decides to act like Ruben, drinking and rolling joints for them. When Niall is alone, Alby approaches him and they engage in small talk. Alby comments that Niall seems like a performer, and that he himself is a performer.
Niall interprets this as Alby thinking he's gay, which upsets him and leads him to get drunk. He accidentally pees himself and Alby has to take care of him. Embarrassed, Niall calls Ruben, telling him about his flatmates and how he needs him.
The next morning, Ruben shows up and Niall is delighted. Since Celeste likes Niall, Ruben hypes her up and hits on Joanna, believing he's being a good wingman for his brother. When the boys are boxing, Ruben punches Niall and goads him into landing a hard punch to make him look like a man in front of the girls. This leads to Joanna nursing Ruben and Celeste nursing Niall.
As the night progresses, tensions rise as they decide to play spin the bottle. The first pair-up is Celeste and Ruben, and they share a passionate kiss. An annoyed Joanna breaks them up. Next is Niall and Celeste, and he seems awkward. Alby arrives, and Ruben forces him to shake hands and pushes him to play with them. Of course, the bottle lands on Niall, and Ruben goads them, claiming that a confident man won't mind kissing another guy. Niall and Alby look scared but share a chaste kiss, with the former realizing that he likes it.
That night, the flatmates all go to the club. Niall apologizes to Alby for Ruben's antics. He goes on about how Ruben is the best, and Alby figures out their dysfunctional brotherly bond. They are distracted when Ruben, high on cocaine, sneaks in and makes a scene. He grabs Joanna, who is more than happy to mess around with him. Celeste sets her eyes on Niall, but Niall isn't turned on by her and ditches her to head home with Alby.
They bond over their love for movies and decide to pull a movie night in Alby's room. Alby finally makes a move on Niall, who accepts that he is attracted to men. However, he is not ready, and they decide to take things slow.
The next morning, Niall sees that Ruben has ditched Joanna for Celeste. Niall is upset and worries for Joanna, who takes it badly as Ruben was quite abusive with her. After class, he comes home to find Celeste and Ruben, high out of their minds. Celeste doesn't look too good, and Ruben has trashed the kitchen. He explains that his more than usual volatile behavior is due to his father having a kid with another woman. He tries to dance around with Niall but runs off when Joanna threatens to call the cops on him.
That night, Alby helps Niall clean up the kitchen. Niall beats himself up for constantly letting Ruben ruin things. Alby comforts him, seeing that he is tired of "performing." Emboldened, Niall kisses him and they take things to Alby's room. They are about to go all the way when Ruben returns to the dorm. Niall freaks out, and Alby is tired of getting involved with men who won't accept themselves.
Niall begs him for a second chance and Alby tells him of the time his hook-up outed him. However, it pushed him to stand up for himself against his bullies. He hopes Niall can do the same. Taking a page from his book, Niall decides to tell Ruben that he is gay. Unfortunately, he gets cold feet and tries to send Ruben away. Ruben refuses, claiming that they share everything and it is unfair that only one of them gets to go to college.
When the brothers return to the dorm, Niall lies to Alby about having told Ruben about them. He almost gets away with it but Alby figures it out. Frustrated, he tries to out Niall to Ruben, and in trying to stop him, things get violent between Niall and Alby. While Ruben is in the dark, he jumps in to defend Niall. He beats up Alby to the point that his face is permanently disfigured. When the cops take Ruben away, he makes the same finger gun gesture at Niall.
At present, we see that Niall is getting married to Alby! Alby is upset to see Ruben at the wedding but drops it. We see the brothers exchange glances before the minister weds Alby and Niall.
