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Chapter 4
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
When Lily’s ankle is healed enough, she goes to the floral shop to check on Allysa. She is shocked at how much progress Allysa had made in her absence: the whole storefront is spotless, the things they deemed trash are gone, and everything else is organized. Together the women pick out paint colors and plan the opening date for the store. Lily keeps working after Allysa leaves, going home exhausted. She feels too tired to answer a knock at her door, but she gets up because Lucy is gone for the day.
Thought Lily initially doubted Allysa’s work ethic based on her appearance, Allysa’s willingness to take on extra work as Lily heals disproves those judgments. Additionally, upon Lily’s return, she finds that her easy bond with Allysa is genuine; they’re instantly close confidants and coworkers as soon as they are reunited.
Themes
Lily finds Ryle standing outside her door. Breathlessly, he explains that he knocked on 29 doors in the building before finally finding hers. Lily lets him inside. As he walks around, she is annoyed at how good he looks in his scrubs. He tells her he has another naked truth for her, and Lily waits patiently for him to continue. Ryle explains that instead of focusing on his work, all he can think about is Lily. He tells her that these are the two most important months of his residency, so he begs her to have sex with him so he can focus again.
Ryle’s naked truth is that his passion has become more powerful than his logic, so much so that he knocked on nearly every door in Lily’s building to find her. Ryle still doesn’t want to change to be with Lily, however: his priority remains his career, and his desire to have sex with Lily so that he’s no longer distracted is fully in service of his work. Lily, by contrast, better balances passion and logic. Her attraction to Ryle is as keen as ever, but she is able to listen to him while staying in control of her impulses.
Themes
Lily asks Ryle if he’s gotten any sleep, and he admits he just got off a 48-hour shift. He asks her to have sex with him again, but Lily tells him no. She’s incredulous that he came all this way and knocked on every door to find her. Ryle keeps trying to convince her to be with him, just once. He gets down on his knees to plead with her, promising that he’ll never bother her again. Lily relents, but she tells Ryle he needs to wait for her to shower and get ready. They agree it will only be a one-time thing. Lily thinks it’s ultimately the way he looks in his scrubs that convinced her.
Although it’s against Lily’s better judgment, Ryle wears her down with his insistence. Lily has expressed that what she truly wants is love, but instead, the way Ryle makes her feel desired persuades her to be with him. Ryle’s ability to sway Lily displayed in this scene is relatively harmless, but it becomes a much more dangerous power later in the novel.
Themes
Lily takes her time in the bathroom after freaking out about her decision. She showers and blow dries her hair while trying to calm her nerves and convince herself she can be the type of person who has casual sex. But when she opens her door, she finds Ryle deeply asleep on her bed. She can’t wake him, so she crawls into bed beside him. Before turning out the light, she takes a picture of herself on his phone, so he knows exactly what he missed by falling asleep.
The feeling of confidence that Ryle’s desire has instilled in Lily ebbs when she is alone in the bathroom getting ready. Without his direct influence, she begins to doubt her ability to bend to his pattern of casual sex. When she comes out to find him asleep, she sees him for the first time in a truly vulnerable state, which only deepens her attraction to him. In many ways, by falling asleep and sharing the same bed, Ryle has inadvertently bent to Lily’s romantic desires rather than his purely sexual ones.
Themes
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In the morning, Lily can feel Ryle caressing her arm before she opens her eyes. He runs his fingers over the tattoo of an open heart on her shoulder. She feels him kiss it. He wakes her and apologizes for falling asleep. Ryle kisses her forehead, then he tells her he has to leave for work. He apologizes again and promises her he'll never bother her again. Lily tries to pretend she isn’t disappointed by this. They wish each other luck in accomplishing their dreams, then Ryle leaves. As she lies in bed, Lily tries to convince herself that she’s too busy building her business to fall in love anyway.
Though Ryle hoped coming to Lily for sex would relieve him of his obsessive thoughts about her, he instead finds himself more emotionally ensnared. That Ryle notices the heart tattoo on Lily’s shoulder suggests that the tattoo is important, so it’s worth keeping in mind as the plot unfolds. Regardless of the tattoo’s specific significance, that Ryle runs his fingers over Lily’s “heart” suggests that he is communing with a vulnerable part of Lily. The two agree to part ways again, but they both seem to be more entangled after this intimate experience than they yet know.
Themes
