Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in It Ends with Us, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Cycles of Abuse
Naked Truths
Good and Evil
Chosen Family
Summary
Analysis
As Lily lies in the guest bedroom bed at Atlas’s house that afternoon, she feels like she is on a raft bobbing in the sea, battered by larger waves of emotions. When she remembers she’s pregnant, her anger a Ryle quickly overtakes her love for the baby. Though she is exhausted, she forces herself to shower. Atlas has already returned from work, but Lily feigned sleep to avoid talking to him. Lily feels guilty for turning to the very man whom Ryle feared she would leave him for. Still, anywhere else she’d go would be somewhere Ryle would look for her or see charged to her credit card. Lily checks her phone. She clears all the messages from Ryle without looking at them. She gets emotional over a message from Allysa asking her to stop by after work.
Lily continues to wrestle with her choice, finding herself barely able to stay afloat. She doesn’t even have the energy to interact with Atlas, who she knows would do anything for her. Though Lily will have to decide how she wants to proceed, including what she will tell Allysa, this scene shows how vital emotional, social, and physical rest are in times of hardship. In order to gain the strength she needs to make those hard choices, she must first let herself heal.
Themes
Lily wanders into the kitchen, where she finds Atlas sending work emails. Atlas cooks her dinner while she looks at the shows recorded to his television. She finds and puts on an episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Together, she and Atlas watch Ellen for hours, just like they used to, with Atlas holding her supportively. Lily is surprised that she can still laugh. Eventually, the circumstances catch up to her. She apologizes to Atlas for getting angry at him when he tried to help her after Ryle’s first violent outburst. Lily tells Atlas he was right; Atlas tells Lily that he never wanted to be right. Atlas kisses her on the head.
Almost everything about Lily’s present life—her business, her home, even Allysa—feels triggering because they are all connected to Ryle. Lily turns instead to the childhood sources of comfort that predate Ryle: journaling, watching Ellen, and laughing with Atlas. After she gains some distance from her present worries, she has the energy to clear the air with Atlas about how she rejected his earlier attempts to help her. This forthright conversation helps restore their close bond.
Themes
Though she is glad to have Atlas, Lily wonders if she could have avoided all her problems with Ryle if she had let go of her past with Atlas and all the keepsakes she saved. She realizes that is just another excuse she is making on Ryle’s behalf. Still, some part of her is mad at Atlas for never finding her after promising he would. Lily tells him she’s going to bed. When he tells her he’ll be gone for work most of the next day and asks if she’ll still be there when he gets home, Lily assumes he’s asking her to leave. She tells him she can find a hotel. Atlas clarifies that he’d prefer that she stay, and Lily believes him. Her feelings for him may be confusing, but she knows she is glad to have him back in her life.
Lily can’t feel close to Atlas for long without her mind turning back to Ryle. She concludes that her speculation about erasing Atlas from her life earlier is just another twinge of unwarranted guilt, but she does realize that she held onto her Atlas memorabilia for a reason she couldn’t acknowledge before. Being with him and leaning on him for support again brings up her unresolved feelings about the promise he didn’t keep.
Themes
