Previously: Tessa tours Hardin’s messed up psyche, or something.
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Marines: Hardin signs the contract and slides it over to Tessa, who signs before she can overthink anything. And by “overthink,” she means “think about it at all.” As long as she and Hardin love each other, everything will be a-okay. The realtor who doesn’t deserve this hands over the keys to the apartment and gets the heck out of there so fast. Tessa doesn’t say this in so many words, but we the discerning reader can basically see the dust trail he leaves behind. I feel you, bro.
Samantha: We’re told over and over that this dude is terrified of Hardin. What did this 18 year old man child DO to him????
Mari: Tessa can’t believe this is all true. Hardin says that if someone would’ve told him two months that they would be living together, or even dating each other, he would’ve either laughed in their face or punched them. No word on why the idea of dating Tessa would make him violent. Just kidding, the word is that Hardin is always a violent asshole and Tessa should run. Also, you know, RUDE.
Tessa barely acknowledges that the idea of her was so repulsive two months ago, Hardin would’ve caused bodily harm to someone for suggesting their connection. She can’t believe she doesn’t have to community shower anymore! (S: With Hardin around, it’s probs still going to be a community shower whether she wants it to or not.) Hardin suggests getting dishes and a few things for the house. Of course, anytime Hardin does anything even basically thoughtful (like suggest dishes… for the place they now live…) Tessa has to make sure nothing is wrong. She “jokingly” checks to see if he’s running a fever.
Hardin brushes her away and says he’s just trying to make sure she feels at home here. Tessa says she does. They’ll just need to grab her clothes and books and stuff. Hardin reveals that he already grabbed all of that for her so surprise! I went through all your things before you technically agreed to live here! Tessa mostly ignores this too and asks about his stuff. Hardin says they can grab that tomorrow. He’s got spare clothes in the trunk. Tessa asks what’s up with his spare clothes in the trunk obsession and he kind of shiftily answers that you never know when you’ll need spare clothes.
Is this… is this supposed to be shifty? I’m like getting nervous that we are getting closer and closer to whatever thing Hardin does that breaks them up for the end of book 1 cliffhanger we all know is coming. Does it have to do with spare clothes in the trunk? IS IT BECAUSE HE MURDERS PEOPLE?
Samantha: It’s messing with our brains so badly. I can’t even tell if I think it would be weird for a normal person in real life to have spare clothes in their trunk. I don’t know what is and isn’t normal anymore!
Mari: Tessa bargains with Hardin for permission to drive his car to the store. He’s hesitant but seeing as how he gave her car an unauthorized paint job, she wins. They go to Target for dishes and pots and stuff. Tessa volunteers to do the grocery shopping the next day if Hardin will just a make a list of his favorite foods. Then she secretly rejoices about how moving in with him will be a great way to learn information he wouldn’t have volunteered in any other circumstance. Like his favorite foods.
Like his favorite foods.
Samantha:
Marines: Shopping at Target also give Tessa valuable information like: Hardin eats his cereal without milk, he uses one kind of toothpaste in the day and one at night, and he hates loading the dishwasher.
Then, we meet the next person who unfortunately has to do their goddamn job near or around Hardin and Tessa: The Target Cashier. She has to watch as these two bicker about who is going to pay. She grabs Tessa’s debit card and swipes it without acknowledging that Hardin is throwing a silent tantrum. Good for you, girl. (S: My new hero.)
Hardin sulks all the way back to the apartment. Tessa says they might have to take two trips for all the stuff they bought, but Hardin would rather carry a hundred bags than make two trips. I hate that I feel that on a deep level. Of course, the dishes are too heavy so they have to take two trips anyway, and Hardin pouts. Like a child. I’m actually glad because for one baby second, I agreed with Hardin about something, and I felt dirty. Now that he’s pouting, I can go back to hating him completely.
Hardin orders a pizza. When Tessa offers to pay for it, out of habit and politeness, Hardin gives her the middle finger and she just laughs and laughs. They head back downstairs to grab Tessa’s stuff. He’s put it all in two boxes and stuffed her clothes in a garbage bag. Tessa cringes but doesn’t say anything about how weird it was for Hardin to do this without permission.
Samantha: The amount of times in this “relationship” that Tessa doesn’t say what’s bothering her is… it’s truly unreal. And then she convinces herself that this is what a healthy relationship means. God.
Mari: In the trunk, along with his spare clothes (for when he murders people), Hardin still has some sheets he was supposed to get rid of. Because we’ve taken our sweet ass time with this project, I’ve mostly forgotten said sheets, but I’m assuming that they are the ones that got bloody after their first time having sex. Tessa asks why he never got rid of them. Hardin says he meant to, but forgot, and won’t look her in the eye. Tessa feels “uneasy” about his reaction.
I would also feel uneasy about his weirdly keeping bloody sheets next to his murder clothes.
Samantha: What the fuck? What the fuck? Why is this a thing? Is he saving her blood so he can clone her? Frame her for one of his many murders? What????
Mari: I don’t know and also I never want to know.
Back upstairs, they eat pizza in happy silence. After dinner, Tessa’s phone buzzes, and Hardin sees it’s message from Noah, saying it was nice to catch up. Of course, Hardin starts growling and yelling about Noah. It’s a fight that lasts like three pages, which in After length is literally an entire chapter. Hardin thinks Noah is trying to make a play for what is “his.” Tessa stands up for herself, refusing to cut Noah from her life just because Hardin thinks he owns her, but she also makes sure to let us know that she “feels bad” for Hardin. You remember how these two white people look totally like they don’t fit together because she wears skirts and he has tattoos. It must be so bad on Hardin to look different, wow.
Tessa storms off to shower, giving Hardin a chance to cool down. When she comes out of the shower, he’s set out one of her t-shirts to sleep in. He’s still in a “dark mood,” but he apologizes for ruining their night. He wants to talk about the Noah thing, but Tessa says no, not now. And then they congratulate themselves on working things out.
By… yelling at each other and then entirely avoiding the actual problem?
Hardin apologizes again for ruining the night. Tessa suggestively says that it’s not ruined. Hardin suggestively responds that he wanted to be the one to take her out of her dress. Tessa says she could always put it back on. Hardin grabs her and playfully throws her over his shoulder to go grab the dress from the dirty laundry.
Next time on After: Time flies when you are having sex at work in Chapter 88.
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.