Plot
A few hours after Christian Vance reveals to Hardin he is his biological father, Hardin returns to his mother's wedding reception with Tessa, where he confronts her about the deception. Vance tries to explain himself, but he storms off with a bottle of whiskey.
That evening, Tessa finds a drunk Hardin breaking into Trish's house and setting the place on fire. He realizes his mistake and tries to put the fire out, to no avail. Vance arrives and sneaks Hardin out the back to Vance's car as the fire department arrives. Hardin wakes up the next morning and Tessa tells him Vance took the blame for the fire himself. They drive to a hill where they have sex.
Tessa and Hardin return to their hotel where she confides in Vance's fiancée Kimberley. Tessa tracks the missing Hardin down to a party, where she finds him drunk and high. She offers him a chance to live with her, but he declines, so she returns to the US.
Upon returning to their apartment, Tessa finds her father, dead from an apparent overdose. Landon calls Hardin dozens of times to let him know before he finally picks up. He hurries back to Tessa and tries to comfort her, but she shuts him out. Hardin argues with her mom, Carol, about whether he is good for Tessa as he always seems to abandon her.
Nevertheless Hardin, along with Landon, attends Richard's funeral to support Tessa. They go to a dinner hosted by Hardin's dad Ken, and Landon's mom Karen, along with Landon and his friend Nora, to say farewell to Landon as he moves to NYC for school, where Nora also lives.
After dinner, Tessa brings Hardin outside to talk. She tells him they need time apart to heal from their recent family traumas, so she has decided to leave Vance Publishing to move to NYC with Landon. Hardin is hurt by the bombshell and nearly hits Landon out of rage for not telling him. Landon reminds him he is also Tessa's friend as much as Hardin is his brother. Tessa gives him an ultimatum: if he loves her, he will not follow her there to let them have their time apart, to which he reluctantly agrees.
Tessa moves in with Landon and starts working with Nora at a fancy restaurant, while Hardin starts going to AA and graduates from university. Months later, Hardin comes to NYC for work so Landon offers to host him.
Tessa takes double shifts to avoid Hardin, but Landon and Hardin come to her restaurant and request her as their server. Hardin stays until she is off work and they talk about how they have been; Hardin's sobriety and Tessa waiting to get accepted into NYU. Over the next few days, they spend time together, slowly reconnecting, during which Landon finally starts a romantic relationship with Nora, much to Hardin and Tessa's happiness.
One night when Landon is at Nora's, Tessa and Hardin give in and have sex again. The next morning after Hardin leaves, Tessa finds a book draft in his bag, titled "After", documenting his life since their first kiss. When he returns, she confronts him about it, not wanting her life to be published for everyone to read about, however Hardin tells her there is already a bidding war for the book. He had read his journal during therapy, a publisher ended up reading it and everything escalated since. Tessa declares that their relationship is officially over.
Sometime later, Hardin's book has become a New York Times Best Seller. With not many friends at school and Landon having basically moved in with Nora, Tessa reaches out to Nora's friend Robert for company. That night, she sneaks into Hardin's book signing without him knowing so she can listen in. She misinterprets a look between him and a woman and as Tessa leaves, Hardin catches a glimpse of her.
