It Ends With Us 1
Colleen Hoover
1. After her father’s funeral back home in Maine, Lily rushes back to where she lives in Boston. She wants quiet to agonize over the “epic” eulogy she just gave and decides to go to a tall apartment building with a patio. She settles herself straddling the ledge when someone bursts through the door and starts beating up one of the heavy duty patio chairs. He starts smoking a joint and then notices Lily sitting there. He asks her to move away from the ledge and tells her about how one of the residence, a photographer, slipped and fell off the building a few years ago while trying to capture the sunset. The introduce themselves. Ryle Kincaid is an ambitious neurosurgeon. Lily Blossom Bloom admits her passion is to become a flourish with her own shop. She admits she doesn’t live in the building, but came their for a good cry. He tells her his sister’s husband owns the top floor. They sit and start talking about naked truths. She tells him how her abusive father died a week ago. He tells her how he tried to save a little boy that was accidentally shot by his brother and how he is getting more and more used to death. She re-enacts the eulogy her mother insisted she give saying five great things about her father, but was unable to say anything. Ryle admits he wants to have sex with her, but he assumes she is not a one night stand kind of person. She agrees. Lily tells him the first time she had sex was with a homeless man that lived in the condemned house behind her parents’ house. Ryle admits he wants to succeed socially and professionally rather than get married and have kids. He thinks he is too ambitious for kids to measure up to him. As they are lounging in a few reclining patio chairs, Ryle pulls hers closer to him and starts reaching up her shirt. She is starting to reconsider her stance on one night stands. His phone starts to ring and he is called back to work. He takes a picture of her lounging in the chair before he leaves. While Lily was originally there to be alone, she is a bit sad that he left.
2. Lucy, Lily’s roommate, leaves for work and says she will be staying at Alex’s place that night. They don’t have much I. Common, so Lily is relieved she is gone most of the time. She pulls out the shoeboxes containing her diaries where she wrote entries addressed to Ellen Degeneres. She finds the entry from when she was 15 and saw a boy had started living in the condemned house behind them. He starts to get on the bus to school at her stop and she asks a friend about him. All she knows is that his name is Atlas and he smells. When he gets off the bus in the afternoon, he walks a route that makes it look like he isn’t going to the abandoned house. While digging up radishes in her garden, she notices a few have already been dug up. She realizes the boy doesn’t have electricity and probably doesn’t my have running water. She makes a couple of sandwiches and puts them in a bag with a couple cans of pop and a bag of chips and leaves it at the back door of the house. Before she can get back to her room to watch, the bag is already gone. The next morning at the bus stop, he thanks her. That afternoon, he sits with her and asks if she has told anyone. She confirms she hasn’t. When they get off the bus, he forgoes the alternate route and walks with Lily. She offers him a shower at her place before her parents come home. She gives him some of her dad’s clothes and a bag with more clothes and a few supplies. She asks why he doesn’t live with his parents and he tells her they don’t want him to. He thanks her for not being disparaging and leaves. She is determined to help him. Since Lily’s dad died, her mom has been calling more. The most recent call was to ask Lily about her moving to Boston too. Lily does not want that to happen because she feels like she will lose her independence.
3. Six month later, Lily has used her inheritance to buy a run down building that used to be a restaurant. She plans in turning it into a flower shop. Her mom is skeptical of the mess around them. Her mom took a teaching job in a Boston suburb and lives closer now, but not actually in Boston. A well dressed woman named Alyssa comes in because she saw a help wanted sign in the door. She explains she doesn’t really need a job, but design is her passion. She wants to work for Lily and is willing to do it for free. Lily decides to hire her at $10/hour and they get to work sorting through the scattered junk in the building. They sit and try to think about how to make a unique flower shop and Lily decides to forgo the pastels and focus on arrangements for people who don’t generally like flowers. She wants to use deep purples and blacks in their decor and use funky vases and arrangements for their flowers. There isn’t another place like it in Boston. Lily is excited by the idea, so they decide to clear out her office. While stacking crates in the back room, Lily falls and hurts her ankle. Alyssa calls her husband, Marshall, and tells him to bring her brother to them. She goes out front to wait for them. When they arrive, she is shocked Alyssa’s brother is Ryle. They are both wearing adult indie pajamas because they were at a bar that gives out free beer to people that wear them during bruins games (umm… legally?). Ryle and Lily act like they haven’t met before. Ryle starts to look at her foot while Marshall and Alyssa go to prepare the ice. She tells him about her plan for the shop. Lily admits she wanted to go back to the rooftop, but didn’t because she was afraid she would run into him. He admits he still wants to have sex with her. Alyssa and Marshall walk in as he is saying it and Alyssa is embarrassed by his behavior. Lily brushes it off as a joke. Marshall offers to get the beverages and insists Alyssa goes with him. As Rule wraps her sprained ankle, Lily and Ryle admit they are attracted to each other, but nothing can come of it because they want different things. Ryle says he doesn’t want to see her again because he doesn’t my like that he has thought of her more than he likes the last six months. Alyssa helps Lily to her car. She asks Ryle to help drive Lily home, but he reminds her he has had a few drinks and walks away. She apologizes again for her brother’s behavior and gives Lily her phone number so she can keep working on the shop while Lily rests.
4. Lily calls Lucy to help her into her apartment, but she doesn’t answer. She is frustrated when she hobbles up to the apartment to find her roommate in the couch talking to her boyfriend in the phone. Lily stalks off to her room and slams the door as Lucy tries to apologize and says she was planning to call her back. Lily takes a few pain pills and pulls out her diaries. She reads about her blossoming relationship with Atlas. The day after she lent him the shower, he sits with her on the bus. He gives her a bag and says he found them in the garage if the house he is staying at and thought she would like them. She opens the bag to find gardening tools (her mom got her a shovel and hoe for her birthday, but it wasn’t quite right). She asks him to hold on to them for her until after school because she doesn’t have room in her backpack. He puts the bag back in his own. She talks to him about Ellen and tells him he could come watch her show with her after school. He asks how old she is and seems a bit disappointed when she says 15. He is a senior. After school, her friend Katie sits with her. Atlas waits for her when he gets off the bus and gives her the bag of gardening tools. She invites him in the house again and bolts the front door. She tells him to run out the back door if her parents come home early. They continue this pattern for 2 weeks. One night, her dad comes home after stopping at the bar. Lily goes into the living room hoping it will stop her dad from hurting her mom too much. When Lily goes to check on her mom that was just slapped to the floor, her mom is short with her. Lily runs down the hall and out of the house. She knocks on Atlas’ back door and he comes out to sit with her in the porch steps. He calms her down without saying much. When she sees her mom go into her room and turn on the light, she realizes he had a good view of her room. She heads back home.
5. Her sprained ankle ends up keeping Lily in her apartment for about a week. When she is able to go back to her shop, she is pleasantly surprised at how much Alyssa has accomplished. They spend the day continuing to plan and make decisions. When she gets back home, Lily is on the couch exhausted. There is a knock at her door and is surprised when she looks through the peephole to see Ryle. She opens the door and he asks to come in. He tells her he needs to be able to concentrate on his work but he has only been able to think about her. He begs her to have sex with him so he can get over the feeling. After falling to his knees and begging, she agrees after she has had a chance to shower. By the time she gets out of the bathroom, Ryle is asleep in her bed. She takes his phone and takes a picture of herself with him sleeping in the background before going to sleep next to him. When she wakes up early the next morning, he is tracing his fingers along her body. He kisses the tattoo on her shoulder and she rolls over. He apologizes for his behavior and promises he won’t ever do it again. She says goodbye and wishes him success. He leaves and she is torn on how she feels. She is a bit disappointed they didn’t have sex, but relieved she isn’t emotionally invested because they did. She decides to forget about him and focus on her business.
6. Over the next 58 days, Lily doesn’t have much time to think about Ryle as she gets the shop ready to open. When she and Alyssa flip on the open sign for the first time for their soft opening, they are both excited. Ryle walks in and picks out a vase full of lilies. He pays for them and mentions to Lily that she needs to frame the first dollar the business makes. He writes out his card. Alyssa asks if he is buying the flowers for a girls and he says she is one he doesn’t think about too much. She asks if he is bringing her to her birthday party that weekend and he says he is not. He the. Asks if Lily will be there. Lily says she hasn’t decided, but Alyssa threatens to quit if she doesn’t go. After Ryle leaves, Alyssa opens the card to see who he is sending flowers to. The card says “make it stop” and is addressed to the shop. Lily is pleased with her flowers, but Alyssa is confused. Lily plays along like she doesn’t understand the card either.
7. One of Lily’s work friends, Devin, from the large marketing firm she used to work for stops in for their soft opening of the shop. Alyssa tries to play matchmaker and invites him to come to her birthday party with Lily that weekend. She doesn’t realize he is gay. He agrees to go. The night of the party, Devin helps adjust her dress to show her off. He realizes there is a guy she is interested in and asks if he needs to make him jealous. They walk in and Alyssa greets them. They socialize for a while and Devin has no trouble fitting in. Alyssa pulls Lily into the kitchen to see how her date is going. Lily confesses Devin is gay. Alyssa goes back to the party and Devin joins her in the kitchen saying one guy had a murderous look in his eye when he said he was Lily’s date. They go back out together and Lily finds herself looking at a piece of art in the wall. Ryle comes to talk to her and asks about her date. She wonders why it would matter to him. She realizes the piece of art she is looking at is a blurred version of the photo he took of her the day the met on the rooftop. Suddenly, Lily needs air and heads ti the rooftop. He follows her out and asks the people already up there to give them a few moments alone. She reminds him the want very different things. She goes inside to get Devin so they can leave. Before they reach the door, Ryle comes up and tells Devin he is going to borrow her for the night. He then Carrie’s her to his room and starts kissing her. He tells her he has been thinking of her a lot more than he wants to admit to . He had the picture up because he wanted to see her everyday. He asks what he has to do to be with her. She says they cannot have sex that night. He takes off her dress and puts her into his bed so they can sleep. He says he has done it before and it won’t be a big deal to not have sex. When Lily wakes up in the morning, she goes to the kitchen for coffee. Alyssa joins her and has questions. Lily admits she met Ryle before she met Alyssa and Alyssa warns a lily that Ryle does not have a good track record with women. Rule overhears it and goes back to his room. Lily goes after him and he pulls her down on top of him on the couch. He says he has a surgery he has to prepare for and focus on for the next few days, so she won’t see him. She says she has the store’s grand opening that Friday, so she will be busy as well. He promises to see her before then.
8. When Lily gets home, Lucy is sitting in the couch in tears. Lily rushes over to find out what is wrong. Alex proposed to Lucy and wants her to move in right away even though there is still 6 month left in the apartment lease. Lily tells her not to worry about it and Lucy runs off to tell Alex. Lily wonders if she was just manipulated into letter her off the hook for 6 months of rent but is excited to have the place to herself. She goes back to her room to continue reading about Atlas. He continues to come over after school. She asks him about his name, but he isn’t sure how he got it. Lily mentions he should ask his mom before she realizes how insensitive it was to say. She thinks about how cold it is getting and thinks about getting him extra blankets. They spend one day in Lily’s backyard garden. She likes that plants give rewards when they are cared for properly. Atlas points out people usually turn out well because they are cared for properly. She tries to reassure him that some plants grow strong on their own, like trees. When they are done, she tells him he should shower because they were working with cow manure. They end up smearing it all over each other and rolling around in the grass. He takes a quick shower before heading out. The next day, Lily’s mom comes home early and Atlas rushes out the back door while Lily cleans up their snacks. Her mom parked in the garage temporarily to unload her car, but her dad comes home before she is done. Lily goes out to the garage and sees her dad holding her mom down on the hood strangling her. Lily screams and jumps on his back and hits him to get him to stop. He throws her to the floor and she hits her head. He leaves and her mom rushes her to the hospital. She gets 9 stitches and painkillers. She forgets about the blankets she set out for Atlas and falls asleep right away from the drugs. The next morning, they sit together in the bus and she feels how cold his hands are and starts crying. On the bus ride home, he notices the cut in her forehead. She says she fell. He shows her his arm and says he used to fall a lot too. Her mom is already home when the get off the bus. After her parents are asleep, Lily sneaks out to give Atlas the extra blankets. She rushes into the abandoned house and finds there is a giant hole in the roof that lets in all the weather. She sneaks Atlas into her room and sets him up to sleep in the floor. She asks why he lives there. He tells her his stepdad kicked him out when he turned 18 because they never really got along. He was living with a friend and his family for a while, but his dad got a job in Colorado and they couldn’t take Atlas with them. He told them his parents let him back in, but his mom wouldn’t actually let him come back. Lily is furious at how selfish people can be. She remembers asking her father for money to give to the Salvation Army and he complained about homeless people just being lazy. She blindly believed her father u til meeting Atlas and learning about his situation. He doesn’t have a home or car, so it is difficult for him to find a job, but he plans to join the Marine Corps as soon as he graduates from high school in the spring. Lily wonders how he will survive six more months including a Maine winter.
9. When Lily puts away the journals, she is surprised by how sad the events of the last still make her. She picks up her phone to call her mom and sees she has four missed text messages from Ryle. He asks if she is still awake and she responds that she is. His reply is quick and says he will e at her door in a few seconds. She checks herself in the mirror before going to open the door for him. He is exhausted from assisting in an 18 hour surgery, but he says he sleeps better next to her. She takes him to bed and massages his hands, back, neck, and shoulders. He says she is the best thing that has happened to him and they start kissing. She says she thinks they have waited long enough, so they have sex. He says she was right about not being able to resist wanting more from her once they had sex.
10. Lily asks Alyssa if she and Marshall donate to charity and Alyssa tells her about the projects they sponsor. Lily wants to start a charity, but Alyssa warns her to make it through the stores grand opening first. Alyssa tells Lily the flowers she has been arranging are for her. When Lily reads the card, she sees they are from Ryle. They text back and forth a bit and he invites himself along to dinner with her and her mother. Lily shows Alyssa the text messages, but she doesn’t seem excited for Lily. Lily asks her why she works there and Alyssa explains she has been trying to get pregnant for two years and needs the distraction. She leaves Lily to close up. When silly gets out to her car, she finds Ryle by it waiting for her . They go to the restaurant together and walk in to find her mom, Jenny, seated. Jenny thinks he is the waiter at first. He introduces himself as Alyssa’s brother and then excuses himself to the bathroom. When the waiter comes for their drink order, Lily is shocked because it is Atlas. When Ryle comes back, she goes to the bathroom ti collect herself. Atlas comes out to meet her and they hug. They are both surprised to see each other. He asks what she is doing in Boston and she says she owns a flower shop. He says he’ll stop by to see her sometime. Lily spends dinner in a daze while Ryle and Jenny do most of the talking. After dinner, Jenny leaves and Ryle kisses Lily until his Uber arrives. When Lily turns to go to her car, she is surprised to find Atlas waiting for her. He asks about Ryle and she says they have known each other for about a year and regrets making it sound like they have been together longer than they have. She inquired after his Paramore and he says he has been with a girl named Cassie for about a year. He tells her he wishes their encounter had happened a year earlier. Lily hopes seeing Atlas like that will give her the closure she needs to move on with Ryle.
11. Lily doesn’t want to keep reading the journals, but feels like she has to. Atlas crawled in through her window one night and was very sick. She gave him her bed and a trash an to throw up in and he used it about every half hour. In the morning, she felt horrible sending him back out the window. Her mother comes in and sees the trash can and lets her stay home from school. She spends the day taking care of him and he starts feeling better in the afternoon. The next night when he comes over, she tells him she had ti wash his bedding from the floor so he won’t get sick again. He crawls into bed with her and they talk quietly. He tells her his uncle in Boston said he could come live with him, but he is having trouble making the decision to go or not because of her. He kisses her and they don’t discuss it anymore. They spend a lot of time the next week making out after school. On the bus, he kisses her without thinking and Lily’s friend Katie makes a comment about him being gross. Lily thinks much less of her friend for judging him. One day, they get back to Lily’s house and the power is out. He uses the gas oven to make cookies, but has to run out the back door before they are finished because her dad comes home. She is surprised they have a normal conversation before she take the bowl of finished cookies to her room to save them for sharing with Atlas. When he comes into her bedroom, he gives her a heart he carved from the branch of the oak tree in her backyard. She loves it and thinks she loves him. The next day, he tells her he is leaving for Boston soon, but she doesn’t want to write about it. Her next entry is about how her dad beat up her mom and left visible bruises. She tried to go out into the living room to stop it, but Atlas came out and quietly dragged her back into the room. Her mom saw it as her dad tried to tape her mom raped. Atlas convinces Lily to go next store and call the police, but Jenny comes into the room and says it is just a part of marriage. She never said anything to Lily about Atlas being there. The next time Atlas comes over, he tells Lily about what Boston is like from when he and his mom used to live there. She thinks it sounds great and tells him she will move ther some day and look for him. There is only one entry left and she decides to put the journal away. She goes to plug in her phone and sees she has a few text messages. Ryle says he was against relationships because he thought they would be something added to his plate. With Lily, he feels like it is a reward rather than a responsibility. Her mom sent a text about how impressed she is that Lily is dating a doctor and owns her own business.
12. Lily Bloom’s opening day is a huge success and Alyssa tells Lily several times she needs to hire more employees. When they close the door, they are both exhausted. They sit on the floor next to each other to take it all in. Ryle shows up and Lily lets him in. He apologizes for not getting ther before they closed. Lily is just happy to see him. Marshall shows up a few minutes later with Onesies. They go to the bar with the free beer for drinks and dinner. Marshall tries to insist everyone have the free beer, but Lily orders red wine and Alyssa orders water. Marshall tries to talk her into at least wine, but she announces she is pregnant. The reactions are all happy and even style tears up. After dinner, Lily goes back into the store to give Alyssa the steampunk arrangement that was their main display and she had really liked. She tells Alyssa it is because she is her best friend. Alyssa says she hopes Ryle marries her because they would be even better sisters. When they get back to Lily’s apartment building, Ryle starts making out with her in the hall. When they get to her apartment, they find Lucy inside packing. Ryle introduces himself as Lily’s boyfriend. Lily pours them each a glass of wine, but it isn’t long before they go to the bedroom for sex.
13. Ryle comes to Lily’s shop and watches her finish working. They talk about how well their relationship is working out and the. Have sex on the couch in the office. After, he gets a call from his mom and lets it go to voicemail. He lets her listen to the recording she leaves and it is mostly questions about Lily. He tells her a bit about his overbearing mother and his father, a psychiatrist. He says next time he goes to visit them in London, he wants to take her with him. She asks what his brother’s name was that died. He tells her it was Emerson. They have sex again.
14. While Lily is cooking in nothing but an apron, Ryle calls to tell her he is bringing wine because he shop doesn’t open until noon the next day and he has the day off. When he gets there, they start drinking and have sex. Lily forgets about the casserole and Ryle goes to pull it out of the oven. He is drunk enough to forget about pot holders and burns his hands. He drops the casserole and the dish shatters all over the ground. Lily is pretty drunk and tries to keep from laughing. She goes to check in his hand remembering about his rare surgery he has on Monday to separate conjoined twins. He shoved her and she hits her eye on an open cabinet handle and falls to the floor. He rushes to help her up and she pushes him away. He falls back on his hands and cuts his right hand. He is upset because his hands are his career. She is upset because he shoved her and she is questioning who he really is. Once he realizes what he has done, Ryle apologizes over and over. They have sec again. He cleans the kitchen while she cleans up herself and the bedding. He gets her ice for her eye and she gets the first aid kit for his hand. She tells him if he ever does anything like that again she will leave him immediately. They each say they love the other.
15. The next night, they go back to the restaurant they had run into Atlas at. Ryle tells Marshall and Alyssa that Lily slipped on oil. They make it through dinner, but when the desert it brought out, the waiter introduced the chef. It is Atlas. Atlas sees Lily’s eye and Ryle’s bandaged hand and walks away without a word. Lily excuses herself to the bathroom to calm down. Atlas comes in and locks the door behind them. He tells her to leave him. When she starts making excuses for him, he tells her she sounds like her mother. She points out that he is getting more scary than Ryle has ever made her feel. He steps out of her way and she steps out of the bathroom to face Ryle. He is upset when he sees Atlas come out of the bathroom with her. She tries to explain, but when he hears his name, Ryle questions if this is the homeless guy she had pity sex with. Atlas charges Ryle and threatens him if he ever touches her again. Ryle goes to the table before storming out. Lily grabs her purse and promises to explain to Alyssa the next day. He drives her car back to her parking garage. She admits she knew he worked there, but had no idea he was the chef and owner. She explains that was why she didn’t want to go back. She tells him exactly what happened and promises nothing else happened. He asks her to tell him if she doesn’t want to be with him because he felt so much pain and can only imagine it would be worse later down the line. She says she only wants him. They say they love each other again.
16. The next day, Atlas comes into the shop. Lily takes him back into her office and he gives her a gift. She finds it odd and he said he bought it for her three years ago and was just holding into it until he saw her. He apologizes for saying she sounded like her mother. She tells him she never told Ryle what he said to him. Atlas says he knows what they had wasn’t a pity fuck because he was there. He leaves and Lily goes to sit down and misses her chair. Alyssa comes in to check on her. Lily is fine and asks her not to say anything about Atlas’ visit to her brother. Alyssa agrees. Lily opens the present and finds an Autographed copy of Ellen’s book made out to her and it says “Atlas says just keep swimming.”
17. After Ryle’s big surgery, he texts Lily to let her know he will be staying at the hospital to monitor the patients. Lily goes home and tries to quiet her mind by reading her new book. She ends up setting it aside to read the last letter she wrote to Ellen. Six weeks after Atlas left for Boston, Lily was still depressed. Her mom took her out for her birthday, but she just couldn’t get herself out of the funk. When she goes to bed crying they night, she is surprised when she finds Atlas tapping at her window. They talk for a few hours. He tells her he is leaving for the military sooner than expected. He doesn’t want he me to wait around for him and promises to come find her when his life is good enough for her. They have sex. He gives her a gift and it is a Boston magnet. Her dad hears them talking and comes into her room with a baseball bat. He beats Atlas almost to death until the police and paramedics arrive. The ambulance takes him away and another one takes Lily for her panic attack. The town views her preacher father as the hero that rescued his daughter from the manipulative homeless boy. She never saw Atlas again, but did look him up to see that he had survived the ordeal and did end up in the military. It wasn’t until she was in a relationship in college that she realized Atlas was a part of her life that has passed. She goes to get a tattoo of the heart he carved her on her shoulder where he used to kiss her.
PART 2
18. Lily is nervous as Ryle takes her over to Marshall and Alyssa’s place to meet his parents. She asks a lot of questions, but Ryle tells her to just be herself. She is asking if his mom is going to think she is a white because they live together in sin when his mom opens the door. They all make jokes and she feels comfortable with them. After his parents go to bed claiming jet lag, Lily lies in Alyssa’s bed with her to feel the baby kick. Alyssa mentions Lily and style having a baby, but Lily admits they haven’t discussed they or marriage yet. Alyssa thinks he will propose soon and questions what Lily’s answer would be. She says she would marry him that night if he asked. Ryle overheard her answer and suggests they go to Vegas to get married. She asks him if that is what he really wants. He says he can’t wait to be her husband.
19. Ryle comes home from work and they have sex before they are supposed to go to dinner with Marshall and Alyssa. Ryle showers and then Lily gets in after him. She hears something crash and speeds up her showering process. She comes out of the bathroom still putting her clothes on to find Ryle with her phone. He says he dropped it and the case came off revealing the number in the post it. He called it and found out it was Atlas. He throws the phone across the room and it shatters. He storms out the door and she chases after him to explain. She is able to get in front of him, but he grabs her wrists and pushes her. The next thing she knows, Lily is in bed and Ryle is telling her she fell down the stairs. He tells her she has a concussion, but everything else is fine. He leaves the list it with Atlas’ number by her head and storms off. She cries. When he comes back, he begs her to tell him she hasn’t been with Atlas. She tells him the whole truth and he is relieved. She tells him to leave. He keeps insisting she fell down the stairs. She screams at him and starts throwing things until he leaves.
20. Lily wakes up early so she can go get a new phone before work. She opens her door to find Ryle sleep out in the hall all night. He follows her to her car and begs her to listen, but she ignores him. She gets her new phone and when she turns it in she has a bunch of messages from Alyssa. The phone rings and Alyssa is on the other end. Lily says she is heading to the shop and Alyssa says she is almost there too. When Lily gets there, Alyssa is there with Ryle. She tells Lily Ryle has to tell her something and she will cover so they can talk. Lily drives home and style follows in an Uber. When he arrives, he tells her when he was 6 he accidentally shot his brother and killed him. When help finally arrived, Ryle was trying to out him back to get her to fix him. He says he has been in Therapy since and has blackouts when he gets too emotional. Lily decides they will work in it together and she will give him space when he needs it.
21. It is my too long before their next fight. Ryle says he is planning on going to Cambridge for three months for a specialized course. Lily is okay with this, but is upset when he starts talking about moving to Minnesota to work for the Mayo Clinic. She reminds him her business is in Boston along with both of their families. He leaves for an hour to cool down and when he returns he declares he chooses her happiness over his career. One day after work, Alyssa asks her to come over to help with furniture. There is a note on the door telling her to go to an apartment on the seventh floor. When she knocks on the door, Ryle answers and says he just bought the apartment. She wants to be mad at him for making the decisions it her, but the apartment is amazing and she loves it. There are three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a a large balcony where she can put a lot of potted plants. Marshall and Alyssa join them and they sit on the floor and eat Chinese food out of the containers.
22. Lily finds herself not working as late now that she has a few employees. Ryle rushes in after closing one night with two coffees and a newspaper x. He shows her her flower shop won best new business. He then tells her he got selected for the class in a Cambridge. His last piece of news is that Alyssa is in labor. They head to the hospital and wait for their Brice to be born. When the room is quiet and Marshall comes out with his head hung low, they expect the worst. He has tears in his eyes when he announces he is a dad. After a few minutes, they are able to go in and meet the baby. They announce they are naming her Rylee after Ryle. As style holds her, Lily loves him more. When Lily holds her, Ryle says he thinks they should have a baby. He leaves to get some sleep and Lily stays a bit longer to hold Rylee more.
23. When Lily gets home, Rule is acting strangely. He has her Boston magnet and asks where she got it. She says she doesn’t remember and he starts undressing her to fool around. He has her read the article about the top ten new businesses and Atlas’ restaurant is included in the list. In an interview, he revealed the name of the restaurant, BIB, stands for Better In Boston and is named after a girl that means a lot to him. Lily is scared and goes to the bedroom where she finds her journals spread across the room. She tries to convince him to leave and cool down, but instead he tries to rape her. He ends up head butting her and knocking her out. When she wakes up, he is apologizing and she tells him it will be okay before she passes out again. When she wakes up the next time, Ryle is asleep beside her. She sneaks out of the bedroom and tries to get her things together. She can’t find where Ryle put her car keys. She is dizzy and ends up sitting down with her phone in her hand. She can’t call Alyssa because she just had a baby. She can’t call her mom. She memorized Atlas’ number knowing she might need it one day. She calls and tells him she needs help and that she’ll text him the address. When he arrives and sees her, he wants to go in and confront Ryle. Lily convinced him to get her out of there. She knows he is going to take her to a hospital and she asks him not to take him to Mass General where Ryle works.
24. The nurse checks her over and it is obvious Lily was attacked. The nurse asks Atlas to leave, but Lily explains he wasn’t the one that did all that to her and she wants him to stay. The nurse says they will need to do a rape kit in her if she wants to press charges. Lily declines. The doctor comes in and says she might have a concussion, but they cannot do a CT scan because she is pregnant. They want to keep her for observation. She begs Atlas to get her out of there and he takes her to his house in the suburbs. She is impressed with his large house and asks if he lives alone. He says he does and shows her to a spare room. She showers while he gets the bed and spare clothes ready for her. When she gets out of the bathroom, she dresses in his clothes they are way too big for her and crawl into bed and cries.
25. The smell of toast wakes Lily up. She thinks style is making her breakfast until she remembers what happened. She sees the chair in the room is turned around and realizes Atlas was watching her while she slept to make sure she didn’t have a concussion. She finds him in the kitchen making breakfast. She sees the newspaper with the article that got a Ryle so worked up and tries not to think about it. Atlas gives her a plate of crepes and fruit. She asks him where he learned to cook and he says the Marines. She remembers him making the cookies before then. He tells her when he was 13, his Kim wasn’t really around for dinners. He bought a cookbook and made just about every recipe in it over the next year. She says that is the story he should tell in interviews. He says she is the only one who knows about him before he was 19. After breakfast, he says he has to go back to work for a few hours. He makes her promise not to go back home and she agrees. He leaves her a note with all his information on it and a reminder to “just keep swimming.” Lily writes to Ellen for the first time since she was 16. She explains the situation and wonders how she got there. She understands how not everything is black and white, especially when it comes to abuse. But she knows she has another life to think about. She feel awful that her choices are broken or abusive home. But she knows she does have a choice because she sunny financially stuck like her mother had been. She wonders if marriage vows are literal and determines she doesn’t have to stick it out.
26. Lily spends most of the day in bed trying to figure out her feelings as they are constantly changing. When Atlas comes home, he checks on her, but she pretends to be sleeping. When she finally gets out of bed, he starts making her dinner. She sees the TV is on, but muted. She turns on the sound and looks through his DVR until she finds Ellen’s show. They watch together, but after a few episodes, she is ready to talk about it. She apologizes for what she said to him the night he went after Ryle. She knew the truth but was in denial. She wonders why she kept all that stuff and didn’t tell Ryle about it in the first place. She starts to blame herself, but stops herself from making excuses for Ryle’s behavior. She says she’s ready for bed. Atlas says he’ll be gone most of the next day and asks if Lily will be there when he gets home. She says she can find a hotel. He says she can stay as long as she needs and would prefer she stay with him. She appreciates it and decides to stay a few day. She tells him she’ll have to take care of a few things at the shop.
27. When she gets to the office, Lily turns on her phone. She has 29 messages from Ryle. Every time the door opens, she panics because it could be him. She sent Lucy in her lunch and plans to leave when she returns. Ryle walks in while she is there alone. Lily keeps her hand on the stapler next to her. He hands her the keys and tells her he is leaving for England for three months. He knows she needs time and space to think. She tells him the worst part is they if he had asked, she would have explained it all. He leaves without even trying to apologize. After he is gone, Lily locks the door and allows herself to breakdown. She is sickened that part of him is growing inside her and that one day she’ll have to tell him.
28. Alyssa asks Lily to stop by after work, but Lily says she hit her head on a shelf and had to get stitches. There is a knock on the door and two guys calling for Atlas to let them in. Lily sends Atlas a text to ask what she should do. He doesn’t respond right away, so she opens the door but leaves the deadbolt in place. Lily introduces herself to Darin and Brad. Atlas calls her and says he forgot to cancel poker night. She lets the guys in and another one, Jimmy, appears. They all work for Atlas’ restaurant. They ask why Lily is there and she bluntly tells them. They start playing before Atlas gets home. While he is answering a call in another room, Lily asks if Atlas’ girlfriend, Cassie, ever comes to poker night. None of them had ever heard of a Cassie. When Atlas comes in, the ask him about it and he admits she never existed. Lily is shocked. Atlas ends Poker night quickly. He admits he made up the girlfriend because he was hurt and jealous to see her with Ryle. She asks why he never came back for her, but he did. He found her at college when he first got out of the Marines and she seemed happy with her friends and a guy she kissed. He wanted to give her more than just him, so he re-enlisted. She grabs her things and explains Ryle left for England and she can now go home. He drives her home and goes up with her to check the apartment before she goes in. She says she cannot have him in her life while she tries to figure everything out. He tells her to call if she ever needs him but only in emergencies because he cannot be just casual friends with her. He asks that if she ever falls in love again ti do it with him. He leaves, but knocks a few seconds later so they can mourn yet another heartbreak together.
29. The next six weeks go by in a cloud of depression for Lily. She is 18 weeks pregnant and dies her best to keep it hidden. While she is over at Alyssa’s to see her and Rylee, Alyssa starts asking questions about how Ryle is doing in England. She asks if he figure out the subway system in Cambridge, but Alyssa knows there isn’t a subway system there. So when Lily answers yes, she knows something is wrong. She hands Ryleenoff to Marshall and asks for the truth. Lily tells her everything. Alyssa says as his sister, she would like Lily ti forgive him. As her best friend, Alyssa says she will never talk to her again if she takes him back. They cry over the heartbreak of the situation and then Alyssa packs up some of her unworn, designer maternity clothes for Lily to wear. She starts planning a shower while promising to keep it between just them. Marshall walks in and sees Lily is pregnant. Alyssa tells him not to say anything to anyone and he quickly agrees. Lily is happy about the pregnancy for the first time.
30. Two weeks later, Lily comes home to find style in her apartment. Marshall is there for her protection. Ryle and Lily go to their bedroom to talk. He tells her he has been in so much pain thinking of what he did to her. She stops him from playing the victim and tells her how much he betrayed and hurt her. He came ti tell her he was going to take the job in Minnesota to stay away from her, but he can’t now that he knows about the baby. He kisses her until her body starts to give in. But as he tries to have sex with her, she remembers what happened the night he beat her up and she freezes up. He says he knew he lost her that night when he woke up and she was gone. He starts to leave and she tells him she wishes the baby wasn’t his. It makes her feel mean and vindictive like her father
31. Two nights later, Ryle is working overnight at the hospital. Alyssa invites Lily over for homemade pizza. When she gets upstairs to their apartment, she wakes up Rylee so she can hold her. Lily offers to watch Rylee overnight so they can get a night of sleep. They eventually agree and start packing up Rylee’s things. Alyssa tells her she will be a great mom. While Lily is sad the father isn’t there with her, she is glad to have Alyssa.
32. Lily finally gets up the nerve to tell her mom everything. She drives out to her house for dinner. After Jenny is done putting the lasagna together, she tells Lily she has met someone. Lily is shocked, but Jenny promises he is a good man. Lily is happy for her, but not ready to meet him that night. She takes off her coat and tells a Jenny she is going to be a grandma. Jenny is excited, but can tell something is wrong. Lily tells her about Ryle. Jenny asks what she is going to do. Lily is honest and says she doesn’t know. Jenny warns her to keep her limit in sight. With each hit, her limit would get pushed until she had no idea what it was anymore. She warns her that she deserves better and that is Ryle really loved her. He would stay away from her and not let her take him back. She tells Lily she knew exactly what she was doing when she said nothing for his eulogy and has never been prouder of her.
33. At 30 weeks pregnant, Alyssa throws Lily a baby shower. As Marshall is helping carry things down to her apartment from theirs, Ryle shows up and starts helping him. As Ryle is about to take the last bag down, Marshall looks at a lily to see if she is okay with being alone with Ryle in her apartment. She nods to him and goes down with Ryle. They are silent on the elevator ride down. Type goes to the nursery and starts unpacking and arranging things. He asks if Lily wants him to assemble the crib and she lets him. She passes the room later to get her phone charger and sees him leaning over the crib in a daze. She watches him for a second and when he noticed her, he can see she is sad for him. He starts towards her, but she steps back. It was a lot for her to let him in the apartment. She isn’t ready for more. She thanks him for assembling the crib and he leaves. He will have to be patient with her to make up for all the times he wasn’t before.
34. Once the nursery is done, Lily sends texts to Alyssa and her mom for them to come over and see it, but both have plans. She texts Ryle and he comes down. She tells him she won’t keep him from the baby, but she can’t trust him to be alone with it either. He says he would never hurt it, but she can’t trust that with how much he has “accidentally” hurt her. She avoids looking at him. He asks about the as a couple and she tells him she is leaning towards divorce but doesn’t want to make any decisions until the baby is born. He agrees to that. The stand together for a while before he leaves for work. Lily is surprised she is smiling at the headway they have been able to make.
35. A few weeks before her due date, Lily is out on light bed rest. Type has been sleeping on the couch. He makes her breakfast and heads to work one morning. Her phone starts ringing and when she gets up to answer it, she realizes her water broke. She gets to the phone and calls Ryle to come back for her. She gets in the shower while waiting for him. When he gets back, he goes her out of the shower and into clean clothes. By the time they get the hospital, she is almost fully dilated and ready to deliver. Rule lets her squeeze his hand through the whole process. Once their baby is born, they both get to hold her. They decide to name her Emerson after Ryle’s brother. She tells him she wants a divorce. He starts to beg her not to do it, but she starts asking him what he would do if Emerson come to him because her boyfriend or husband was hurting her. He leaves the room to get himself together.s. She has decided to break the cycle.
EPILOGUE
Eleven months later, Lily is living in a new apartment closer to her shop and Ryle took over the apartment he bought. She is running late getting Emerson to Ryle when she runs into Atlas. She introduces him to her daughter, but says she has to go. She rushes Emerson to Ryle and takes back off after Atlas. She chases him down to tell him she dropped Emerson off with style for his visitation, but she wanted to tell him her middle name is Dory. He smiles and says he is on his way to the new restaurant he opened. Lily says she’ll bring her mom one night, and he says he’ll arrange it so he cooks for them. He pulls her into a hug and says he’s there whenever she is ready. She asks a series of questions her and Ryle failed to discuss in the beginning. She says she is ready. He hugs her and kisses her collarbone saying she can stop swimming because she has finally reached the shore.