Tessa decides to go to New York with Landon

Tessa decides to go to New York City with Landon as a deliberate break from the unstable relationship cycle with Hardin and a step toward making her own future. The decision becomes concrete when she confirms she will join Landon at NYU, then tells Hardin she intends to leave within a week. Her plans are not simply a change of address: they involve practical arrangements, a choice to stop letting Hardin’s response govern her, and concealed help from Landon and Ken that makes the move possible.

Decision and Circumstances

The move emerges after London and the death of Tessa’s father, Richard Young. When Landon stops her on the stairs to check whether she has changed her mind about accompanying him to NYU, she confirms that she is still going. She does need to travel to Seattle first to say goodbye to Kimberly, and she has an appointment she is not ready to face. Its outcome is uncertain, so she sets it aside rather than letting it derail a decision she has made.

Tessa’s resolve is framed as something she must do for herself. She has not yet worked out how Hardin will react, but she no longer has time to let his opinion shape her plans. She reflects that, until Richard’s funeral, she did not believe Hardin would have cared whether she went. The contrast marks a change in her priorities: his feelings remain part of the situation, but they are no longer the measure by which she decides what to do.

Confirmation with Landon

Landon’s question is practical as well as personal. He needs to know whether Tessa is still coming so he can tell Ken about the flight arrangements, but he also makes clear that she is free to stay if she wants to. His gentleness reassures her that the invitation is not an obligation or a demand to choose him over Hardin. Tessa embraces him and affirms that she wants the move for herself.

That conversation establishes the choice before Hardin learns about it. Tessa’s commitment is not a sudden response to an argument with him: she has already agreed to go, and she understands the move as a way to ensure that the distance she needs will actually happen. The practical itinerary gives that intention a deadline, while Landon’s offer provides a place to go and a companion for the transition.

Telling Hardin

When Tessa explains the decision to Hardin, she describes their relationship as a recurring pattern of separation and return. They have repeatedly declared that they need time apart, only to resume traveling between Seattle and their current home; London has further extended the reach of their turmoil. She says they fight more often than they get along and insists that this time she needs real distance. The move therefore answers a problem she identifies as chronic, not a temporary disagreement.

Hardin initially misunderstands the destination, treating it as though Tessa means somewhere in Seattle. She clarifies that she means New York City itself and that she plans to leave in a week. She says the decision followed London and her father’s death. When he questions whether she can live there and where she would stay, she answers that she will be with Landon. That detail makes the plan tangible to Hardin and changes the conversation: he removes his feet from the table, stands, and paces across the deck before asking when she decided.

Secrecy and Consequences

Hardin asks whether the move was Landon’s idea. Tessa does not want to tell him that Landon invited her, or that Landon and Ken have been helping her with recommendation letters, transcripts, admission packets, and applications. She instead mentions that she plans to take a semester off after arriving, hoping to redirect the conversation. Her withholding exposes a second tension beneath the announcement: she has accepted meaningful support from people close to Hardin, but fears that revealing the extent of their involvement will turn the move into a perceived betrayal.

Hardin’s response is less openly angry than she expects, but his hurt is unmistakable. When he suspects Landon knew about the plan while presenting himself as Hardin’s friend and even brother, his attention shifts from Tessa’s decision to the loyalty he believes has been violated. The exchange thus makes the separation emotionally consequential for both of them: Tessa is trying to secure independence from a relationship that repeatedly pulls her back, while Hardin experiences her departure and Landon’s assistance as a breach of trust. The move is settled, but the disclosure does not resolve their conflict; it reveals how difficult it will be for Tessa to create distance without that distance becoming another crisis between them.