Later that evening, Percy leaves the wake and finds Sam in the parking lot. He asks her why she really came back to Barry’s Bay. Unable to hold back her feelings, Percy tells him everything. “I love you Sam. And even though I did something unforgivable, I’ll never stop loving you,” Percy confesses. “I lie awake, wondering where you are, what you’re doing. Hoping you’re happy. Imagining your life and wishing I was in it.”
Every Year After flashes back to when they were seventeen, when Sam confessed his love to her after being away for a while. It was just after Percy slept with Sam’s brother Charlie. Though she was unable to tell Sam the truth at the time, she tearfully rejected his desire to rekindle their relationship, saying she had to leave, and didn’t return for a decade.
“We have quite a history of messy goodbyes,” reflects Percy in the present. This time the pair have a far more joyous resolution. Finally, after a decade of longing, Percy and Sam have sex for the first time. It’s a beautiful moment, but it’s not built to last. As they lie together in the car, Sam says “I want so much to forgive you, but I don’t think I can do this.” “I know,” Percy responds, her voice heavy with heartbreak.
