Police and paramedics arrive on the scene, and Ava approaches Alex for clarification. While she suspects that Alex’s story about using her as a means to get closer to Michael was at least a partial lie, she needs to know for certain. Ava notes that Alex seems to have regressed, for “[h]e looked like the old Alex again—unruffled and uncaring” (261). Ava wonders whether she ever really knew Alex at all. When she asks if their relationship was real, Alex answers vaguely, “I tried to warn you […] I told you not to romanticize me […] Consider it a lesson for the future” (262). Alex’s scathing words stun Ava into silence, and she sobs on the way home, letting loose every emotion that has been building over the past several months. The part of her that embraces positivity and sees the good in everyone is now gone.

Ava leaves, and Alex yearns to follow her, to beg for forgiveness, “to keep her by [his] side for the rest of [their] days so nothing and no one could hurt her again” (265). Alex prevents himself from doing going after her because “[t]he only way to protect Ava was to let her go, even if that meant destroying [him]self” (265).