Previously: Hardin spilled his childhood trauma.
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Marines: Tessa wonders if she can eat now that all of the emotional manipulation is over. Hardin gives her permission (?) but tells her to keep sitting on his lap. Tessa can sense that Hardin is done talking about his man pain, so she comments on his cooking skills and then they eat in comfortable silence.
Samantha: Ah, yes. That cozy silence that happens after a woman’s sexual assault is used for the aforementioned man pain. My favorite kind of companionship.
Mari: Later, Hardin asks Tessa if she’s still mad at him. She moms him with a “I’m not mad, I’m just not happy” thing. She’s not happy that he spent the night punching around town, or whatever. She wants to know who he fought and why… but not now. That was way too much using your words for one night. Hardin looks worried, but once again, Tessa decides to ignore why he constantly looks guilty. She does tell him that she didn’t appreciate him throwing her internship in her face. Hardin knows. He said it on purpose because he knew it would be shitty and hurtful.
We’ve all said things that hurt people, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say that I do not recommend being in a relationship with someone who weaponizes your insecurities this way.
Samantha: JFC. I don’t… I cannot. This is not.. .good.
Mari: Very not good.
Hardin says he’s sorry. Tessa tells him not to do it again and I’m totes sure he never, ever will.
They are both tired and decide to just watch TV for the rest of the night. Tessa thinks they should be at the wedding the next day an hour early. Hardin starts to argue with her, but they are interrupted by her phone ringing. We know immediately from Hardin’s angry response that it’s Noah.
Tessa answer, and Noah is a little panicky. Hardin is seething and tells Tess to put it on speaker. (S: I hate him so much I think I now have blood pressure problems.) She’s annoyed, but does it anyway, of course. Noah explains that Tessa’s mom got a call from the dorm supervisor about Tessa’s final bill being pad, so mom knows Tessa moved out. I’m not sure why you would call someone to say a bill has been paid, but here we are. Mom is now on a tirade and is coming to campus, even though she has no idea where to find Tessa. Noah says Mom is angry and irrational. Tessa thanks him for the information and hangs up.
Hardin thinks it’s fine because her mom won’t find them. Tessa knows she’ll badger poor, forgotten Steph and make a scene in the dorm, though, which is less than ideal. Hardin’s second idea is to call mom and just tell her where they live. Tessa is surprised Hardin is okay with her having her own mom in the place she’s living, but we are supposed to give Hardin cookies for this gesture. Plus, Hardin has been willing to work on things with his dad, so Tessa figures she should work on things with her mom.
Tessa makes the call and has a quick conversation with her mom to just tell her where she is. She gets out of bed and starts straightening things up. Hardin points out that they’ve lived in this space for a hot second, but Tessa admits that she’s just worry cleaning. She’s already emotional from the traumaback storytime earlier and now this. Hardin asks if he should stick around or give Tess and her mom some time. Tessa asks for a little one on one time. And then she remembers that Noah said her final bill was paid. Hardin paid it!
Samantha: Wow! I am so totally shock– nope, no I am not at all, c’mon Tessa.
Mari: Hardin shrugs it off and Tess explains that him spending money on her makes her uncomfortable. (S: Like she’s clearly stated a million times.) Is he secretly rich? Selling drugs? Hardin just says that he lived for free for the whole last year and his paychecks kept piling up. He never had a reason to spend money and now he does. Now, he can spend all the money he wants on deciding for Tessa when she’s moving out of her own dorm room. Sweet.
Tessa teases him even though I thought she was angry about this, but that’s it. That’s the book.
Tessa’s mom arrives and Hardin tells her he’ll be just in the other room. Tessa takes a deep breath and opens the door. Her mom yells about what the hell Tessa thinks she’s doing moving out without saying anything and pushes inside the apartment. Tessa reminds her that she didn’t give Tessa much of a choice. Her mom switches tactics and says that her daughter has changed so much in the the three months she’s been in college and she’s throwing everything away. Tessa says that she’s got a car, a great internship and a 4.0. She isn’t throwing anything away. Her mom switches gears again and now complains about how bad Tessa looks in pajamas and makeup. She also calls Hardin a devil worshiper, which, lol. (S: Lolz.)
Tessa defends Hardin while her mother just laughs. Tessa steals herself and announces what isn’t apparently clear to her mother yet: this is the apartment she’s sharing with Hardin, not just Hardin’s apartment. Tessa’s mom stops laughing. Not so funny when your daughter is living in sin with a devil worshiper, I guess.
Next time on After: The mom fight continues in Chapter 92.
I'm a 30-something south Floridan who loves the beach but cannot swim. Such is my life, full of small contradictions and little trivialities. My main life goals are never to take life too seriously, but to do everything I attempt seriously well. After that, my life goals devolve into things like not wearing pants and eating all of the Zebra Cakes in the world. THE WORLD.
I'm a 28 year old graduated English major and almost librarian. I can often be found singing too loudly (poorly) in the car or spending some time (hours) on Tumblr. I am a lover of Harry Potter, the Spice Girls, and too many other things.
