After spending the night with Lily, Atlas remains in bed with her, reluctant to leave. Atlas tells Lily about meeting with a lawyer regarding Josh and explains that taking Josh to the hospital triggered a Child Protective Services report. Atlas worries the state may decide he is not the best placement because Atlas works often, is unmarried, lacks parenting experience, and Josh’s biological father or Sutton might be viewed as options.

Lily reassures Atlas by repeating advice Atlas once gave Lily: not to stress over things that have not happened yet. Lily insists that Atlas is the best person for Josh and that anyone invested in Josh’s welfare will see that. Their closeness leads Lily to ask what happened after their first time together as teenagers, when Lily’s father attacked Atlas.

Atlas recounts waking in the hospital with little memory, panicked that Andrew Bloom might have hurt Lily too. After a nurse confirmed Atlas was the only injured person brought in, Atlas tried to press charges against Andrew. The nurse warned that the law protected Andrew and that no one turned him in, not even Lily’s mother.

Atlas says he reported Andrew anyway, hoping it might help Lily’s mother escape. However, the officer who came to Atlas’s room discouraged him and suggested Andrew could instead accuse Atlas of breaking into homes and forcing himself on Lily. Atlas admits he carried guilt for years, but Lily tells him their relationship was not wrong and that Atlas did nothing to deserve blame.

Atlas explains that every possible choice felt painful: staying might endanger Lily, while being arrested could ruin Atlas’s chance to join the military. Atlas chose distance, hoping to contact Lily someday and learn whether Lily still thought of him. Lily tells Atlas she thought of him every day, and Atlas realizes that, after building separate lives for years, having Lily back makes Atlas feel whole in a way he fears losing again.

When Lily falls asleep, Atlas remembers he has left Josh and Theo alone longer than planned. Atlas worries briefly about whether twelve-year-olds can be left unsupervised but decides they are likely fine because no one has contacted him. Atlas dresses quietly, writes Lily a note instead of waking her, leaves the note on the pillow, and kisses Lily goodnight before leaving.