Dane returns home where he works as a manager at a sporting goods store and begins dating a woman named Kat.

Nicole prepares a bucket list which Matt and Dane help her accomplish; such as sitting as Grand Marshal of the Mardi Gras parade, swimming in a historic fountain with all of her friends, and writing letters to her daughters for future life events.

Upon their return, Matt realizes that they are no longer equipped to care for Nicole so he calls a hospice nurse, Faith Pruett.

One night, Faith alerts them of Nicole's slowing heart rate, and they take her to the beach to watch one final sunrise.

Dane finally decides to go home after putting his life on hold to live with the Teague family for over fourteen months.

In January 2019, it was announced Casey Affleck, Dakota Johnson, Jason Segel and Jake Owen had been cast in the drama film The Friend, with Gabriela Cowperthwaite directing from a screenplay by Brad Ingelsby, based upon an Esquire article by Matthew Teague.

[13] It was retitled Our Friend, and released in theaters and on premium video on demand (PVOD) in the United States on January 22, 2021.

The site's critics consensus reads: "Our Friend's occasionally frustrating approach to dramatizing its fact-based story is often offset by a trio of starring performances led by a never-better Jason Segel.

The sensitivity of these performances, particularly from Affleck and Segel, offers a reckoning on sincere friendship and the limits of devotion that remains with the viewer, long after the days of waiting and the years of pain have finally come to an end.

"[18] Conversely, Peter Debruge of Variety wrote: "So much of the unpleasantness has been scrubbed from the picture, until what remains is precisely the kind of dishonest, sanitized no-help-to-anyone TV-movie version of death that inspired Teague to set the record straight in the first place.

"[19] Sheila O'Malley, writing for Roger Ebert's film criticism website, gave it a 3 star rating.