It Ends with Us

Lily finally reads the last entry of her diaries, which describes Atlas surprising her by visiting her for her sixteenth birthday. He had left for Boston and his visit cheers up Lily, who had been depressed at losing him. Atlas will soon leave for the military, but he promises that he will find Lily when he gets out. They sleep together and Atlas gives her a Boston souvenir magnet. Not expecting Atlas, Lily hadn’t locked her door and after he gives her the gift, Lily’s father comes in and assaults Atlas with a bat. He hurts Atlas badly enough that Atlas has to be taken to the hospital. Lily suffers a panic attack from the incident and has to be taken to the hospital herself. Lily’s town learns of the incident, which shames her family. Angered and grief stricken, Lily writes the entry to process the event, though she remains upset. In the present day, Lily mentions that her feelings for Atlas hadn’t changed. During college, she had the tattoo of the heart he carved for her inked on her collarbone, where Atlas liked to kiss her. She moved to Boston after college seeking something different. Lily concludes that now her path has diverged from Atlas’s.