Hardin Scott—Landon

Hardin Scott and Landon’s relationship turns on an uncomfortable mismatch: Landon is willing to offer care plainly, while Hardin meets that offer with suspicion, anger, and retreat. Their exchanges expose old resentment, but they also show a bond that survives it. Landon presses Hardin to stop shutting people out; Hardin, despite protesting, comes to him for help when Richard is asleep on his couch and he wants to see Tessa.

A friendship under pressure

At the greenhouse, Landon tells Hardin that it is difficult to feel sorry for him when he could be with Tessa. Hardin answers that he does not owe anyone an explanation, but Landon points out that the situation makes little sense to her or to other people either. The exchange is not a gentle reassurance: Landon questions Hardin’s choices, and Hardin snaps back. Yet when Landon asks why he is there, Hardin cannot offer a clear purpose. He looks around, unsure himself, and admits that he has nowhere else to go. The admission makes the scene a small but revealing reversal. Hardin rejects Landon’s judgment, but has sought out his company all the same.

Landon also urges Hardin to speak with Richard, saying that such a conversation would mean a lot to Tessa. Hardin resists being advised, accusing Landon of acting like a therapist and treating him as a damaged animal. Landon rejects that framing: he says he is not claiming to be better, but is trying to be there as a friend. His appeal is specific. Hardin has let Tessa move to Seattle and, in Landon’s view, has left himself without anyone to give him moral support. Landon identifies a pattern of pushing people away and names Hardin’s suspicion that he is partly responsible for Hardin’s problems with his father as a source of their tension. He nevertheless says that he cares deeply for both Hardin and Tessa.

Resentment and reluctant trust

Hardin refuses to hear Landon’s declaration of care, but his private response complicates the hostility. He wonders why Landon would care after Hardin has treated him badly since they met, then recognizes that he does not actually hate him. The distinction matters: Hardin’s anger is real, but it does not erase his awareness of Landon’s goodwill. His resistance is directed as much at being emotionally exposed as at Landon himself; he had come to talk, though he cannot say what he hoped the conversation would be.

Landon’s willingness to challenge him is part of the relationship’s form of support. He does not simply agree with Hardin or excuse the distance between Hardin and Tessa. He says plainly that Hardin’s choices are hard to understand, then continues to offer help after Hardin lashes out. The result is neither effortless closeness nor a settled reconciliation. Their connection appears through friction: Landon keeps making the offer, and Hardin keeps revealing, sometimes despite himself, that he has not dismissed it.

Help with Richard, help for Tessa

In chapter eighty-five, Landon arrives in freezing rain after seeing Hardin’s car. His exaggerated display of shaking water from his hat and setting down his umbrella gives the visit a teasing edge, while his questions make clear that he has come because Hardin described the matter as urgent. Hardin, bare-chested, points to Richard asleep on the couch. Landon asks whether Richard has found Hardin’s liquor, and Hardin answers that there is none in the apartment anymore. When Landin says he still does not see how he fits into the situation, Hardin tells him that he is going to babysit Richard. Landon’s immediate refusal shows that this is a substantial favor, not an automatic duty.

Hardin answers that he does not want to take care of Richard either. Landon counters that Hardin knows Richard better than he does and jokes that Richard might someday have been his father-in-law if Hardin were not such an idiot. The prospect sounds strange to Hardin as he looks at Richard on the couch, but Landon’s teasing also connects the practical request to Hardin’s relationship with Tessa. Hardin does not ask for the favor only to hand off responsibility: he pleads that he wants to see her. When Landon checks whether he means Tessa, Hardin insists on her full name. Landon observes that Hardin makes her sound like a dog; Hardin replies that Richard might as well be one at that point and asks whether Landon will help.

The limits and meaning of their support

Hardin finally invokes Tessa directly, asking Landon to do it for her. Landon agrees to take care of Richard for one night only. Hardin turns away to hide his smile, a modest gesture that reveals his relief without turning the exchange into an apology or a declaration of closeness. Landon has accepted a favor that he initially resisted, while Hardin has used the bond between them—and Landon’s care for Tessa—to make the request.

The favor also places their relationship inside the strain of Hardin and Tessa’s arrangement to give each other space. Hardin knows that going to see her means ignoring that agreement, but limits his intended visit to one night. Calls and texts have been enough during the week; after a nightmare, however, he wants to see Tessa in person and confirm that no one else has left marks on her body. Landon does not resolve the couple’s conflict, but by taking responsibility for Richard he makes the visit possible. Across both encounters, his support is concrete and candid, while Hardin’s reliance on him emerges through reluctant admissions and urgent requests. Their relationship is sustained less by easy harmony than by Landon’s persistence and Hardin’s continued willingness to turn toward him when he has nowhere else to go.