It Ends With Us 2
Colleen Hoover
1. Atlas is confused by the misspelled “ass whole” written across his back door at Bibs. Someone smashed a window to break into his restaurant. When Darin reports all that is missing is the croutons they prepared the previous night, Atlas decides he isn’t going to file a police report. He knows what it is like to be hungry and have to break into a place to get food to survive. He gets a text message and hopes it is from Lilly. They ran into each other and she said she would text him when she got to work. He’s starting to wonder if she changed her mind. Brad sees her name and asks if it is the same Lily. Atlas updates them telling them she is divorced and had a baby girl, but he won’t answer any more questions. He asks if Theo will be in. Brad says it is Thursday, so he’ll be there. Atlas might talk to him about Lily.
2. Lily puts together an “I’m sorry” bouquet of flowers and wonders what the guy did to have to send flowers. She tempted to put in the number for the domestic violence hotline every time she gets an order for one. She struggles with what to do about Atlas. She was supposed to text him after she opened up the store, but she is having second thoughts. She has Lucy take over the store so she can write out her feelings in a letter to Ellen. She updates Ellen on how she left Ryle and compromised in the divorce to keep from dragging the domestic violence issues through court. She has sole custody and allows him to have day visits a few times a week (it seems insane these aren’t supervised - his temper and shaking baby syndrome seem like they would go hand-in-hand). Things with Ryle have been going good. She thinks it is because he is on his best behavior with hope of being able to get her back. Lily wants to move on and she wants to do it with Atlas, but she is worried it won't work out. She is worried how Ryle will react considering most of their big fights were about him. She thinks it will upset him and mess up their co-parenting situation. She decides she needs more time before she texts Atlas.
3. Atlas talks to Brad’s 12 year old son, Theo, about what happened between him and Lily that morning. Theo wants to be a therapist when he grows up. The relationship started with Atlas talking to him to practice, but it has morphed to where Atlas gets more out of the sessions than Theo. At first, Theo thinks Atlas might have come on too strong. After he tells him she memorized his number, Theo tells her to text him. Brad comes in and tells Theo to leave Atlas alone, but Atlas says they have been talking. Brad doesn’t understand their odd relationship.
4. At the end of Lily’s pregnancy, she gave Ryle a key to her apartment in case he needed to get in while she was in the hospital. He never gave the key back and has been using it a lot. He sends her a text that he is going to put Emerson down at her place. When she gets home, the baby is sleeping and Ryle has bought Thai food for them. He asks to open a bottle of wine. She says he can, but she won’t be drinking any. While they are eating, Lily’s phone makes a ping noise. She grabs it and says it is pictures from her mother. He notices she grabbed the phone quickly and asks if she is seeing anyone. She tells him it isn’t his business, but she is not. He thinks they need to set down ground rules for them introducing significant others to Emerson. She agrees they need a lot more discussion than just that. She asks for her key back. He threatens to take her back to court to change the custody agreement, but when he calms down, he asks for a timeline in when Emerson can be with him overnight. She wants to wait until Emerson can talk so she can tell her if something happens. He takes her apartment key off his key-ring and tosses it on the counter. He leaves. Lily goes to her room and pulls out the list of reason why she left him and reads it to herself.
5. Atlas is in a bad mood when he shows up a Corrigan’s (his new restaurant) and it has been vandalized. This time, his name is added with an extra “s” at the end. Two windows are also broken. He goes inside and finds the vandal on the security cameras. It looks like a teenager in a black hoodie and jeans. They use the spray paint, break the windows, and when they can’t get inside the restaurant, they fall asleep in the back step for two hours before walking away like nothing happened. Atlas emails himself the video file, but he doesn’t think it would be useful enough for police to find anything. He gets a call in his cell from a number he doesn’t recognize and decides to answer it. He doesn’t recognize his mother’s voice until she says who she is. He asks if she is dying and she laughs it off saying she is fine. He asks if she needs money and she says “doesn’t everyone?” He hangs up in her and blocks her number. After a few minutes of working in silence with Brad, he tells him he needs to get a Theo a phone. Brad tells him he needs to get a therapist closer to his own age.
6. Alyssa is trying to convince Lily to throw a first birthday party for Emerson when Atlas walks in. He brought her lunch and asks why she has been avoiding him. She wants to tell him she isn’t, but she can’t lie to him. He asks if he can call her that night. Alyssa comes rushing back to them to tell them Ryle is almost there to get the keys for the SUV from her. Lily is panicked and Atlas asks where she wants him to fizz. She takes him back j to her office and then decides it is possible Ryle will end up back there. She asks him to go into the closet and then goes back it into the shop as Alyssa is searching for the keys. He is about to leave when he smells the lunch Atlas brought. Alyssa says she cooked it and comes up with a ridiculous name. He opens it and finds shrimp pasta and advises Lily to order pizza. When the girls laugh, he figures it is an inside joke and leaves. Lily goes to let Atlas know it is safe for him to come out, but he pulls her into the closet and shuts the door. He asks if he can call her again. She warns him that her life is very complicated and she is worried about upsetting the balance. He wants to be the second best (after Emerson) thing to ever happen to her. He doesn’t think she should cow to Ryle’s feeling now that they are divorced, but asks again if he can call her. She agrees to it and tells him anytime. He leaves the closet and closes the door behind him with her still in it. When Lily comes out, Atlas is gone and Alyssa wants to know what is going on. Lily explains how she just ran into Atlas and nothing has really started up yet, but she is worried about Ryle’s reaction. Alyssa thinks style will have a bad reaction to Lily dating anyone but Ryle. Lily can see she is a bit sad that things could never work out between Lily and Ryle.
7. Atlas tries to give Theo a lesson in fish preparation, but Theo doesn’t have any interest in working with food. He asks more questions about Lily and gives a hint that maybe he likes someone too. Atlas asks who the girl is, but sees Theo’s reaction and calmly asks who the boy is. Theo is a bit uncomfortable at first, but tells Atlas it is a boy that is in math club with him. Atlas lightens the mood by joking about how Theo doesn’t have a cell phone yet to be able to text the other kid. Theo asks him to keep his secret and Atlas promises not to while reminding Theo his dad is a good and open minded guy. Theo goes back to making fun of Atlas for his cheesy pickup lines he used in Lilly.
8. They might, Lily starts to regret not setting a time for the phone call with Atlas as she realizes they have two very different lifestyles. She starts getting ready for bed when she gets a FaceTime call from him. She answers, but points the phone away from her. He asks to see her and she points the phone back at herself while she finishes her nightly skincare. After a bit of small talk, he asks about Ryle and his jealousy. She explains that Ryle read her diaries that heavily featured Atlas and blames their marital problems on him. Atlas asks her to read a piece of her journal to him and she eventually gives in. She asks if he wants the entry from their first kiss, but he wants something earlier. She reads him about the night her parents fought and she ran over to his house. After reading it, Atlas seems to be thinking about something else. Lily asks him about it and he tells her about the vandalism at both of his restaurants. He is more concerned for the person that is doing it than about the damage to his property. She remembers how she fell I. Love with him so easily. He asks her out and she agrees if they take it slow. The start planning for the next night, but Atlas remembers he has something planned for the restaurant and they push it out a week. She says she doesn’t work Sundays and he asks to FaceTime her again then. She agrees. Emerson starts crying so they say Goodnight.
9. Atlas and Theo are out back cleaning up more trash from Bibs being vandalized again. Theo begs Atlas to see a picture of Lily, but he doesn’t have one. All of her social media profiles are set to private and even if he did have accounts to send her a request, he worries about what Ryle would do to her if he saw they were friends online. Lily FaceTimes him back from their earlier call when she was driving back from lunch with her mom and her mom’s new boyfriend, Rob. She explains that her mom moved closer after her dad died. She asks about Atlas’ uncle he came to stay with as a teenager. He admits his uncle died when he was nine. He came to Boston because there were more resources and opportunities. He tries ti apologize to her for the lies he told back then, but she understands they were necessary to his survival. She asks about his current life with family and friends and he reminds her she met some of his friends. He tells her he is happy and she is satisfied with that. Her phone drops and he sees her breasts as she switches Emerson from one side to the other while feeding. She is embarrassed but plays it off like it is my a big deal. She says she has to go and he takes a screenshot of her before they hang up. She asks him about it and he admits he wanted a picture of her. He shows the picture to Theo and he says he understands how her being pretty could cause Atlas to say the cheesy lines he does.
10. Emerson had a fever the night before, but is doing fine that day. Unfortunately Jenny gets sick and can’t babysit. Lily asks Alyssa and she is glad to take Emerson for a few hours. When Lily arrives at Alyssa apartment, Alyssa can immediately tell she is dressed for a date. Lily admits she is going out with Atlas and is nervous, but glad she already knows him. She is going to finish work at the shop and he will pick her up there to take her to dinner. She plans on being back to pick up Emerson by 9:30 and asks Alyssa to keep her up until then so she’ll sleep through the night. Alyssa makes a comment about it being so early to be back from a date, but understands motherhood comes first. Lily thanks her again.
11. Atlas works in the kitchen at Bibs all day to make time go faster. After showering he thinks he still smells like garlic. Darin says he smells like he is going out in a date and asks if it is with Lily. When Atlas nods, Darin smiles reassuringly. Atlas can’t stop thinking about how Lily handles everything with grace, humor, and a smile. Ashe gets out of his car at her shop, she is locking up the door. She makes a quick stop at her car to give him the first of her journals from when they were teenagers. They start driving and she asks him a whole bunch of questions about himself. When his phone rings, he sees it is from Corrigan’s and has to take it. One of the freezers went out and he has to get a hold of a repair man to go fix it. By the time he is done with all the phone calls, Lily is asleep in the passenger seat. When they get to the restaurant, instead of waking her up, Atlas starts reading the journal. He reads about their first kiss and is surprised at how confident she thought he was when he was just as nervous has her. He uses the Notes app in his phone to write down everything from back then he wants ti tell Lily. When he is done, he is not sure he’ll be able to show it to her. When Lily wakes up, she apologizes for falling asleep and ruining their date. She thinks he won’t want to see her again, but he thinks it is the best date he’s ever been on. He says they can stop and grab a burger on the way back. He asks if she was washing the blankets on purpose to get him into her bed and she admits she did. She wanted him to be her first kiss. Reading the diary brought back all the feelings he had for her back then.
12. Lily is mortified she slept through most of their date. She jokingly tells Atlas he will need to do something embarrassing to even the playing field. He hands her his phone and tells her to read the first note. She takes it and asks for his password. Once he gives it, she starts reading. It is a letter telling her about what his life was like before he met her. He was doing all the cooking and cleaning around the house while his mother just went through men. His stepdad, Tim, felt like Atlas was always trying to show him up. So Atlas would get yelled at if he did too much and called lazy if he didn’t do enough. After getting kicked out of the house and his friend he was living with had moved away, Atlas mustered up the courage to go home. The front door was missing a handle when his mom answered in just a Weezer T-shirt. He asks to come in and she just walks inside and leaves the door open. He goes inside and the place is a mess. He realizes he was the only one doing any upkeep around the house. She goes to change clothes and he finds the new door handle in the counter. He finds a screw driver and installs it in the door. When she comes back out. He says he has no where to go. She tells him he can’t come back. When she sees he put the new handle on the door, she throws the screwdriver at his head and leaves a gash above his eye. He realizes it isn’t just the men they are abusive in that house and leaves. Atlas had nothing going for him, but meeting Lily changed everything for him. By the time Lily is done reading, she is crying. Atlas changes the subject and lightens the mood. They grab fast food burgers on the way back into the city and talk more. When he pulls up next to her car, he gets out and walks her over to it. He tells her he isn’t my going to kiss her and she is a bit disappointed. He kisses her cheek and they go their separate ways. Lily goes to Alyssa’s to pick up Emerson and is surprised to find Ryle holding her on the couch watching Finding Nemo while the baby sleeps. He hands Emerson off to Alyssa and tasks Lily to join him in the roof to talk. She (stupidly) agrees and looks to Alyssa for help. Alyssa says she told Ryle that Lily had an event that night. Lily joins Ryle on the roof and he is furious. He immediately asks if she was on a date. She sticks with Alyssa’s lie. He is just now realizing Emerson’s middle name, Dory, comes from a cartoon that meant a lot to her and Atlas. He insists her middle name be changed. She explains Dory was her favorite character long before Atlas and the name is for her. He backs her up to the door and gets too close. He asks what they are doing and tries to make light of their divorced situation hoping one day she’ll come back to him. She tells him he is making her nervous and he goes back inside. She doesn’t follow right away. When she goes inside, she sits outside Alyssa’s apartment and cries. Marshall comes out to take out the trash and ends up sitting across from her. She tells him sometimes she just needs to cry after fighting with Ryle. He asks if he hit her and is about ready to go after him until she tells him no. She admits she knows she had to leave him, but he has a way of making her question her decision. He tells her how Alyssa cheated on him by making out with a guy at a party in college. When he found out he was mad and heartbroken, but he never wanted to physically hurt her. He tells Lily she made the right choice and she should be proud of herself. She feels better and goes inside to hold Emerson.
13. The text Atlas got from Darin was to let him know his mom showed up at Bibs. He drives around for a while not knowing what to do. He ends up going in through the back so he can be the one to approach her. Darin offers to tell her he isn’t there that night, but Atlas thinks she won’t go away until he talks to her. He goes and sits at the table she is at and asks her what she wants. She says Josh is missing, but he has no idea who that is. She tells him Josh is his little eleven year-old brother she was pregnant with when he ran away. Atlas corrects her and says he was kicked out. She says Tim has been gone for years. The police are threatening to put her in jail with truancy charges if Josh doesn’t go back to school. He is upset that she is clearly more worried about her going to jail than about her eleven year-old son roaming Boston by himself. She says she doesn’t think Josh would think to come to Atlas because Atlas was absent for his entire life. Atlas suddenly realizes Josh is the one vandalizing his restaurants. He asks if she still lives in Maine. She says she moved to Boston about 10 years ago. He says he will do what he can to find Josh and asks where she lives. He says they are between homes and staying at a Motel, but the money for that has run out too. He gives her the money he took out of the safe when he arrived and says he will call her if he finds anything. He leaves her sitting at the table and goes to the back of the restaurant. He gets a FaceTime call from Lily. She can tell he is upset and asks if he is alright. He tells her his night went South after they parted and she says hers did too. He can tell she has been crying and asks if a hug would help. She says she is just going to sleep it off. Atlas insists he can be there and she says she’ll text him her address.
14. Lily is nerve us about seeing Atlas again. She changes her clothes twice before putting back on the pajamas she had in when she called him. When he softly knocks on her door, she opens it and he immediately sweeps her up for a hug. She can tell he needed one too and wonders what happened in the hour they were apart. She asks if he is alright and he says he’ll tell her about it the next day. She understands because she isn’t ready to talk about what happened between her and Ryle yet either. He kisses her quickly before hugging her again. He leaves as quickly as he came. Lily is torn on how she can make this work without Ryle losing his temper and ruining all their lives.
15. Atlas passes the time outback of Bibs by reading Lily’s journal. He is surprised at how much impact his leaving for Boston had on her. He reads the entry about their last night together and is glad she wrote it all down because he doesn’t remember much of it. As he stands up to get a drink, he sees a shadow moving towards him and backs up so he wonMt be seen. The kid arrives and pulls out a can of spray paint. Atlas says he is holding it wrong and comes out of hiding to show him how to properly hold the can. He tries to tell Josh he had no idea he existed until a few hours ago, but Josh isn’t sure he trusts him yet. Atlas opens the door and asks if he is hungry. They go inside and Atlas makes him a grilled cheese sandwich. They go out to the dinning room and sit in a booth. Atlas asks why he left and Josh tells him he had a fight with Sutton (he doesn’t call her mom) and Tim has been gone since he was little. Atlas doesn’t want to scare him away with too many questions, but offers him the spare room in his apartment for a while. Josh agrees to go with him, but says it will probably only be for a night and then he’ll be leaving for Chicago. Atlas is hoping he’ll be able to keep his brother local so he can protect him.
16. Lily wakes up and takes Emerson back to bed with her so they can sleep a bit longer. Jenny calls and asks to take the baby for a few hours. After she and Rob pick up Emerson, Lily calls Atlas hoping they can have lunch together. He shows her the breakfast he’s making and she sees too plates. He shows her Josh and she starts to wonder if he’s his kid. Josh points that out and Atlas explains he is his little brother he just found out about. He goes into his room and tells her he is terrified, but won’t feel right about it unless he asks for custody. Lily thinks he’ll make a great parent. After they hang up the phone, Atlas sends her a text thanking her for being the bright spot in a hard time.
17. Atlas has every intention of doing things the right way to be able to get Josh out of living with their mother. Josh wants to find his father and go live with him. Atlas promises to help look for him, but he doubts that living arrangement would be any better. He calls Sutton and tells her he found Josh. She demands he is brought to her. He promises Josh he will be around for him now that he knows he exists. He gives him a credit card for emergencies and tells him to hide it between his phone and case. Josh gets out of the car and goes to the hotel room where Sutton is waiting for him. She immediately starts yelling at him and slaps him across the face. He trips on his way in the door and Atlas has seen enough. He gets up to the room before Sutton has a chance to close the door. He picks her up and puts her on the bed to get her away from Josh. He tells his little brother to get back in the car. Josh doesn’t hesitate. Atlas doesn’t say anything else as he leaves with Sutton yelling at him. When he gets in the car, he can see Josh has a gash in his forehead. He says they are going to the emergency room to make sure it is not a concussion and secretly wants the event documented. Josh says he can usually tell when he has a concussion and Atlas wonders how bad it has been for him.
18. The week has been very busy for Atlas and Lily and they don’t get much time to see each other. Lily asks Alyssa something about Lucy’s wedding, but Alyssa says she and Marshall can’t go because they have a surprise dinner for her parents’ 40th wedding anniversary that night. It was the only night that worked with Ryle’s schedule. She asks if Lily is taking Atlas. She said she hadn’t planned on it because she didn’t want to put Alyssa and Marshall in a position where they would have to lie. Alyssa thinks she should just tell Ryle in a text and get it over with. Atlas sends her a text asking if he can bring her lunch. She asks for him to bring some for Alyssa too. When he shows up, both Lily and Alyssa are with customers. Alyssa finishes up first and has a chance to talk to Atlas alone for a moment before Lily joins them. They have already bonded and Atlas tells Alyssa how Lily fell asleep on their first date. After he leaves, Alyssa wonders what is wrong with him that he is still single. She wonders if he is bad in bed and Lily says she knows he isn’t. Alyssa is surprised. She understands why Ryle would have trouble accepting Lily and Atlas together. Alyssa thinks it would be emasculating for Ryle to compare himself to Atlas. Lily remarks it should be more emasculating for him to beat his wife. Alyssa agrees.
19. Atlas has been busy getting Josh set up in a school closet to his place. He had to lie on some of the enrollment forms and hopes they don’t look too closely. After his second day at his new school, Atlas has Josh take an Uber to Bibs. He takes him back to the office to meet Theo, but it seems like the two have already met at school. Atlas leaves them both in his office to do their homework. After a while he comes back to get Josh and sets him to work doing dishes to offset some of the cost of damages he did to the places. Atlas goes back to his office to talk to Theo, who immediately asks him if he has kissed Lily yet. Atlas says they haven’t seen much of each other because of everything that has been going on, but they are going to a wedding together the next night. He then asks about how Josh is fitting in at his school. Theo doesn’t really know after only two days. He says Josh isn’t mean to him or the other nice kids, but he is mean to the bullies. Atlas is confused, but glad that Theo isn’t scared of Josh.
20. Lily spends all day getting the flowers ready for Lucy’s wedding. When Atlas arrives at her apartment, he sends a text asking if he should come up. Lily gives him the all clear and invites him in to her room while she finishes getting ready. She has him help zip up her dress and he sees her tattoo for the first time. He is clearly upset by it and goes to wait in the living room. Lily is upset that her tattoo got such a negative reaction from him. She finishes getting ready and then finds him in the hallway. She asks why the tattoo upset him and he tells her he didn’t see it before because that was where Ryle but her. He asks if he did that because he knew that tattoo was for him. Lily tells him about all the times Ryle hurt her. She explains she got through it because she would think about how atlas would have reacted in those same situations. She sees he is angry but his anger is protective and not directed at her and he would never take it out in her. He kisses her.
21. Atlas wants to kiss Lily until she forgets every bad thing Ryle did to her. Eventually, he says they should get going to the wedding. He is distracted the entire time and spends the whole time focusing on Lily. There are a lot of people at the reception and she says Lucy won’t notice if they slip out early. Atlas drives them back to her apartment. Lily is having trouble getting her shoes back in, so Atlas Carrie’s her on his back up to her apartment. When he puts her down, she starts kissing him. She makes a comment about it being weird there aren’t any kids around. She pours them each a glass of wine while Atlas calls Josh to check in and let him know he is going to be a little late. Theo is making fun of his cheesy lines when Lily comes back in the room and Atlas hangs up on them. She pulls him back to the bedroom.
22. Lily is a bit lost on what to do next. Atlas takes off his jacket and shoes and gets on the bed. She goes to change her clothes on the closet, but ends up getting her dress stuck in her hair. Atlas comes to help her and they make out in the closet for a while. Eventually, he picks her up and take a her to the bed. He says he doesn’t want to have sex because he doesn’t want to leave right after. He uses his hand to get her off and then points out she has been lactating. He gives her some time to clean up and then she joins him in the living room. She apologizes, but he is happy with how the night is going. He pulls her on top of him and they start kissing again. They end up having sex and Lily feels like she is right where she belongs.
23. After a few more rounds of sex, they end up laying in bed talking. Atlas is worried about what will happen to Josh and has gotten in contact with a lawyer. She asks him about the night they first had sex. Atlas tells her how he doesn’t remember a lot from that night and woke up the next day in the hospital. No one would answer when he used the call button, so he frantically got himself out into the hallway to ask if Lily was okay. He tried to press charges against Andrew Bloom, but the nurse told him it wouldn’t stick. He insists and a police officer is brought in. He tells Atlas that if he tries anything, not knit will he not be successful, but he might be the one arrested for breaking into the house and violating his daughter. Atlas couldn’t risk his military career and let it go. He felt guilty about their age difference for a while. She admits she thought about him everyday. She falls asleep and he knows he has to get home to the boys. He starts freaking out about how long he has left them alone. He leaves a note for Lily in the pillow.
24. Lily wakes up in the morning to someone pounding on her door. She finds the note from Atlas and hides it under her pillow. She checks her phone and sees she has missed calls from Ryle. She throws on clothes and answers the door. Ryle was looking to pick up Emerson for some time together, but he got worried when she didn’t answer her phone. She explains Emerson is with Jenny and starts to call her mom to let her know Ryle is going to pick up Emerson. He notices things around the apartment that indicate she had someone over. He is furious she left Emerson with her mom overnight so she could get laid. She tells him they are divorced and it is none of his business what she does in her free time. She also points out she has only had 2 nights away from their daughter since she was born. Ryle feels the edge coming on and leaves with a slam if the door. It isn’t long before he opens the door again. He asks if it was Atlas. He refusal to answer him tells him the truth and he thinks he is justified in his jealousy. She explains she never would have left him for Atlas. She left him because he treated her awful. He pushes her back and pins her against a door . She is terrified as he has his hand on her throat. She closes her eyes so she doesn’t see what is coming. He clams down and ends up leaving. She locks the door behind him and calls Jenny to have her bring Emerson to the park in case Ryle tries to show up at her place. When she gets to the park. She stays in the car for a minute to read Atlas’ letter. He tells her he is happy they are finally together again and that he gets to be the one to make her happy. Her mom knocks in her window and Lily gets out to join them. They are on the swings and Lily explains what happened. Her mom is proud of her for getting away from Ryle and upset with herself for staying with Andrew. Lily pointed out how she had a lot of resources and support to get free that her mom didn’t have available to her. They go their separate ways. Lily isn’t ready to go home with Emerson in case Ryle tries to show up again.
25. The boys are asleep when Atlas gets home, but he is up hours before them. After Theo is gone, Atlas asks Josh about his homework. Josh explains he doesn’t know how to do it because he is supposed to make a family tree. He doesn’t know more than him mom and Tim. Atlas tells him to just do his best. They can’t give him a bad grade for not knowing his family. Atlas gets a call from Lily. She says she needs somewhere to go and asks if she can come over. He is excited to see her and meet Emerson. When she comes in, Josh asks if the baby is his. Atlas tells him who they are. Josh plays with Emerson and she ends up falling asleep on Atlas’ leg. Lily tells him what happened with Ryle when he figured out they are together. She wishes she had a way to make his visitations supervised, but she can’t use past evidence now that they already have a legal agreement. Lily declares they are officially together and his opinion matters to her. Atlas feels like they are each others person and their relationship will last. When Emerson wakes up, she says they should go. She feels bad having her around someone so soon without Ryle knowing about it. He reminds her the situation is different because Ryle doesn’t have to hide from anyone’s rage. After Lily gets Emerson in the car, they kiss goodbye. Atlas is sad to see her go.
26. Four days pass and Lily still hasn’t heard from Ryle. She drops Emerson off with her mom and goes to work. Right before closing, Ryle comes in. Lily asks Lucy not to leave. Ryle asks to speak to her alone and they go into the office. Ryle apologizes for sending the texts and tries to excuse it saying he was drunk. She doesn’t respond. He asks if she showed the texts to Atlas. She tells him she sent them to her lawyer. He becomes angry. She reminds him that he slammed her against a door and sent harassing texts. She has started documenting everything. He blames Atlas for all of of his anger and says he was the only problem between them. He points out that he is a neurosurgeon and she is a florist. He says he pays for her apartment. After he leaves, Lucy locks the door. Lily thinks he left with a purpose and Lucy confirms he peeled out in a hurry. Lily calls Atlas to warn him Ryle might be after him.
27. Atlas checks his phone to see he has several missed calls and texts from Lily. When they are on the phone together. She tells him she is fine, but Ryle left very angry. Rule pushes his way into the kitchen and Atlas says goodbye to Lily without telling her. He nods ti the back door and Ryle walks out it. Atlas follows. Ryle physically attacks him. Atlas doesn’t fight back. When Ryle starts screaming at him about everything being Atlas’ fault, Atlas tries to stay calm as he explains the situation. He points out that while Ryle is a great neurosurgeon, he was a terrible husband. There is nothing Atlas or Lily could have done that would justify him hurting Lily. He tells Ryle he was with Lily when she had to be stitched up because of him. He says Ryle should be happy Lily is with someone that is good at making her happy and they should be working together to give Emerson a good childhood. Ryle stalks off saying Lily will come crying to him when Atlas breaks her heart. Atlas realizes he doesn’t know Lily at all. She doesn’t run ti anyone. After work, he goes to Lily’s to tell her what happened. They have sex before he has to get home to Josh.
28. Emerson’s first birthday party is at Alyssa’s place. Lily and Ryle spend most of the time avoiding each other. When he approaches her and asks about her lawyer, she tells him she is not going to talk to him about it at their daughter’s birthday party. She walks away saying she’ll text him. Alyssa pulls her into her room to talk. They lay in the bed and talk about Ryle and then Atlas. Alyssa offers to take Emerson overnight so Lily can spend the night with Atlas. Lily goes and shows up at Corrigan’s to watch Atlas work. He greets her and then has her sit on a counter out of the way, but with a view of him. Darin comes by to say hi to her and says he might become head chef at Corrigan’s because Atkas wants more time off. After he gets everything caught up, he says they can go. Josh is spending the night at Theo’s so they go back to his place. They have sex in the shower and then the bed. He asks how long they have to wait before they move in together or he proposes. She tells him six months and a year respectfully.
29. When they wake up, they start going at it again. Afterwards, they brush their teeth and Lily is surprised he has an extra toothbrush. After Lily’s stay with his a few years ago, he put to get her a Lily emergency kit in case she needed him again. He asks to make her breakfast and there is a knock on the door. He thinks it is Josh, but is surprised to see his mother. She demands to have Josh back and says Child Services cleared her. He knows that can’t be true because no one came out to interview him. Brent pulls up to drop off Josh and Sutton yells at him to get into her car. Josh looks to Atlas who tells him to go inside. Sutton follows him in and argues with Atlas more. Josh tells that he doesn’t want to live with either of them and he wants to find his dad. Sutton laughs at that and tells him to go find his dad. She is positive it will drive Josh right back to her. She leaves. Lily locks the door and comes to give him a hug, but he needs a minute to calm down.
30. Lily feels for both Atlas and Josh. She goes to the fridge and pulls out eggs and bacon and a package of biscuits. She makes breakfast and quietly knocks on Josh’s door when it is done. He asks if Sutton is gone and Lily reassure him she is. He comes out to eat breakfast and says it isn’t as good as Atlas’. She asks him what he wants to do when he grows up and he says he thinks he’ll get bored. He wants to do a bunch of things. Lily feels the same way and they take turns listing off jobs they want to do. Atlas comes out and laughs at their conversation. Lily says she has to go and goes to Atlas’ room to gather her stuff. She hears Atlas tell Josh he found Tim and they can take a drive out to see him that day. Josh runs to his room to get ready to go. Atlas walks Lily to her car. They tell each other they love each other. She hopes Josh makes the right choice.
31. Atlas drives Josh the three hours up to Vermont to the address he found for Tim. Josh holds his manga tightly and doesn’t turn the page for a while. Atlas parks across the street. Josh needs a minute so Atlas waits. He pretends to look at his phone, but his attention is on Josh. Tim comes out drinking a beer and throws the empty can in the back of his truck. Atlas says he will go with Josh if he wants. Josh looks to Atlas for guidance. Atlas tells him how his father also left him about the same age that Tim left Josh. He came up with a slew of reasons why his dad couldn’t come for him, but eventually realized it was only because he didn’t want to. Atlas would have done whatever it took to have a relationship with Josh if he had known he had existed. Josh decides Tim doesn’t deserve to know him. He will do his family tree as just a seedling with just him and Atlas on it. He asks if he can flip Tim off as they leave. Atlas approves and honks his horn to make sure Tim sees it as they drive by. Josh yells out “ass whole” as the go. Atlas explains the correct way to say it (not the way their mother says it).
32. Lily is packing up Emerson’s things when she gets from Atlas asking if she is home. He is at her door and she is glad to see him. She asks about Josh and he tells her the good news. He is on his way to his restaurant to confront Sutton in private (the restaurant is closed in Sundays). He holds Emerson and walks them down to her car. She tells him she is going to have her sit down with Ryle at Alyssa’s house. They wish each other luck and he tells her he love where. She has a smile the whole way there. When she gets to the apartment, Marshall takes Emerson and sends Lily into the kitchen where Alyssa and Ryle are. Ryle is surprised to see Lily. They sit and she tells him she wants him to go through anger management. He laughs at the request and starts to get up, but Alyssa tells him to sit. She says she spoke with her lawyer and there are a few things they can do. His visitations with the girls (Emerson as well as Rylee) will be supervised. They will discuss unsupervised visits based on his progress and how he treats Lily. Marshall walks in and asks what he missed. Rule looks to him for support, but Marshall reminds him of what he recently did to Lily. Ryle looks defeated. He goes to leave the kitchen and says he will be there Thursday for his next day off. Lily is so relieved she starts to cry. Alyssa makes a joke and they start laughing
33. Atlas is at Bibs and cooks dinner for his mother. When Sutton arrives, she looks around for Josh. She is suspicious of why he invited her. He goes back into the kitchen and gets the coconut shrimp (her favorite dish) he made and her glass of wine. He sets it in front of her and she asks if he’s had enough of Josh. He asks her a few simple questions about himself and his childhood. She can’t answer any of them. He tells her he will do whatever it takes to get custody of Josh, but it would be better if she just signed him over to Atlas. He explains she will be forced to take parenting classes due to her record and court will cost a lot of money. He says they are going to have a family dinner every Tuesday at Bibs and she is welcome to join them. He thanks her for showing up to talk about Josh. He knows being a single parent is hard. She asks what time dinners will be and he tells her seven. He packs up the shrimp for her and she leaves. Atlas goes home and finds Josh asleep on the couch. He pauses the Anime Josh was watching and covers him with a blanket. He checks Josh’s homework and sees that it is all complete, including the family tree that is just the seedling of Atlas and Josh.
34. As Lily is getting ready to go out the door one morning, she puts a note on the floor by her front door. She waits until she is alone in the office at work before she opens and reads it. Atlas explains how he grew up not knowing love. When they were younger and he got sick, Lily taking car of him was the first time he felt love. He felt it so fully he could barely contain himself. He kissed her collarbone while they were watching Finding Nemo as a way to tell her he loved her. He is now taking care of Josh while he has a stomach bug and is exhausted with how much work it is. He is amazed Lily was able to do all they for him at such a young age. He wants the to show Josh and Emerson what love is supposed to look like. He asks her to move in. She calls him and asks if he wants he to stop by and give him a hug. He says he wants her to come home and give him a hug. She agrees with the correction.
35. The day they are moving Lily out of her apartment, Josh is at baseball practice (between Atlas and Lilly they never miss a game). Brad and Theo are there helping. When Atlas is carrying a box out to Brad’s truck, he sees Ryle’s car not very far off. He loads up the box and heads towards it. Marshall gets out and gives Emerson over to Atlas. They introduce themselves. Before leaving, Marshall thanks Atlas for making Lily happy. Atlas turns around and sees Lily is tearing up. He walks over to her slowly to give her time to compose herself. She says it is a bit step for Ryle to be able to hand Emerson over to Atlas. They go to get the rest of her stuff
36. While Atlas is at work, Theo and Josh help Lily set up Emerson’s room. When Brad comes to get Theo, Josh asks why he isn’t staying later. Theo says his parents are taking him somewhere early in the morning: a parade. Josh asks if it is a pride parade and if he can go with him. Theo is relieved Josh knows and is okay with it. Josh asks Lily permission to go and she lets him. She calls Atlas to let him know. When she hangs up, her mom is there with Emerson. Lily shows her around and when she sees the large back yard, Jenny asks if she thinks Atlas picked that house in case Lily came back into his life. Lily is surprised her mom remembered Atlas. She caught them sleeping on the couch when they were teenagers. Atlas left in a hurry, but when she followed him outside to yell at him not to come back, he gave her a knowing hug. She is glad Lily is with someone so considerate.
37. Two years later, Atlas is getting for his wedding day. He asks Theo to go find Josh, who was last seen making out with a girl. He pulls out his vows and reads over them. He promises that no matter what happens between them he will always be grateful for the love they shared.