How to End a Love Story

The group goes hiking, and Owen, one of their coworkers, offers Helen an edible cannabis gummy. Owen laughs when Helen seems unsure of how the drug will work, and she is surprisingly happy to participate in a group ritual.

Grant is charmed by Helen’s relaxed mood. He tries to help her over a steeper part of a hill, but she tugs him down with her; as a result, they both fall back from the group. When Helen notices that Grant’s hands are scraped, she insists on going back to the cabin with him. She is intoxicated from the gummy, and she apologizes to him because she is always mean to him despite his constant kindness toward her. They walk back in silence.

At the cabin, Helen helps Grant clean his hands, disconcerting them both when she kisses one of his palms before applying a bandage. Helen hides under a blanket in embarrassment. Later, at the campfire with the others, Helen vetoes telling scary stories and switches the topic to first kisses. The others ask what Helen was like in high school, and Grant says she was harsh with the popular kids. He teasingly tells her that he has feelings, too, despite being popular. Helen responds sharply when the others tease them for flirting; inwardly, she scolds herself for ruining the warm atmosphere.

Later, their colleague named Tom asks Grant about his history with Helen and Michelle—Grant mentioned his role in the accident during an earlier project, and Helen mentions her sister in public interviews. Grant declines to say anything more. He runs into Helen and gets her a glass of water. To his shock, she tells him she wants a truce between them: She is exhausted with her effort to keep hating him, and she wants the show to be a success. Grant tells her Tom has guessed their secret. He apologizes for making her life harder. Helen confesses that between a new city and writer’s block, much of her stress has nothing to do with him. Grant assures her she will always have his respect whatever happens next with her career, confessing that he admires her. Helen starts to cry, overwhelmed. She goes to bed, and Grant feels drawn to her but lets her leave.

The narrative resumes in the writers’ room, as the group workshops a possible sex scene between two characters who are at odds with each other. Helen agrees with the plotline, which departs from her novels, but she speculates on motives and discusses who initiates a second kiss. The women in the room have an avid discussion about passion, romance, and what would draw them into the story. Helen participates in the banter and jokes more readily than before.

A few weeks later, Helen arrives at a Christmas party Tom is hosting. She nearly leaves when she cannot parallel park, but Grant stops her on the street and asks what is wrong. Grant teases her for failing drivers’ education in high school and parks her car for her. At the party, Grant and Helen discover they are both returning to New Jersey for Christmas. Nicole, a colleague, teases them both about their insistence that they were never a couple as teenagers, disconcerting Helen. As she leaves the party early, she hears the others cheer to welcome Grant back, and Helen feels like an outsider.

Later, Grant is trying to catch a late flight out of the Los Angeles airport, LAX. He sees Helen at his gate and discovers that he is pleased to see her. Helen assumes—based on social media posts—that Grant is looking forward to the holiday. He tells her that reality is less cozy, as he mostly feels distant from who he was when he was younger. Helen asks if he wants marriage and children, like many of their peers in high school. Grant says he feels too damaged for real partnership, but Helen is skeptical about this. Helen expresses similar doubts about parenting.

Helen asks Grant if he has any romantic plans during vacation. He indicates he has a casual relationship with someone from high school, and Helen guesses it is a classmate named Lauren DiSantos. She imagines them as the subject of a romantic comedy and thinks that Lauren will eventually confess that she has real feelings for him. Grant is not amused, and Helen admits that she often still judges people from high school and makes up mean stories about them.

Grant arranges for them to sit together on the plane, and they share earbuds as they watch Babe together. Helen falls asleep on Grant, and he is intensely aware of their proximity. Helen, too, is disoriented by the attraction she feels for him. As they prepare to part at the taxi stand, Helen is wistful about the separation. Grant tells her to call if she needs something to do, and she agrees, watching him as her cab departs.

Helen finds her family home exhausting and reproaches herself for not appreciating her surviving family. She remembers when her parents changed Michelle’s room to an office that includes an ancestral shrine. She is now among the deceased relatives they pay their respects to, with photographs of her placed nearby. Helen lights incense in front of her sister’s portrait, missing her. Helen struggles to imagine what their adult relationship might have been like. She reads a book Michelle left behind, hoping for more clues about why she took her own life. Helen works to keep conversations with her parents overwhelmingly positive, sharing almost no setbacks or frustrations, as she does not want to trigger their extreme concern.

Helen reflects that this careful approach toward her parents seems much more common with fellow Asian women than her white friends. Helen goes out to pick up pizza for dinner. She runs into her high school boyfriend, Ian Rhymer, who is now a proud father. She unexpectedly sees Grant in the parking lot, and they make brief small talk.

Meanwhile, Grant gets a text from Lauren, who is annoyed because she did not know he is in town. He feels he is outgrowing the old habit of sleeping with Lauren when he returns to New Jersey, but he nevertheless agrees to meet her. Grant tells Lauren that his mother is moving away soon, likely to Ireland. They also talk about how neither of them has found a more permanent relationship. Grant wonders if something fundamental about them is unsuited for a durable partnership.

Grant remembers his early romance with Lauren—he turned to her for comfort after Michelle’s death. Lauren asks if he does want a more permanent relationship, and Grant responds that he should make this more of a priority. They part ways in the parking lot, and Grant ignores her subtle hint that he is welcome to join her for the evening. He kisses her hand in farewell. Lauren tells him he does deserve love, and Grant watches the snow fall. He calls Helen and invites her to lunch the next day.

Helen and Grant have a stilted lunch. She worries that he will not want to see her again, but instead, he suggests they visit their high school together. Grant is surprised when Helen agrees. He finds an unlocked side entrance and they sneak into the closed building together. They visit various familiar spots, stopping in a closet full of old books—classroom copies of literary classics. Helen teases Grant with Lauren’s copy, and Grant finds Michelle’s assigned copy of Wuthering Heights. Grant suggests Helen take it, but she chooses to leave it where it was.

They head for the gym and find a photo of the football team from 2008. Helen teases Grant for being a part of history. An older man spots them, and they try to run. The man, their high school principal, accepts their story that Grant was considering where to propose. In the car, they imagine what the newspaper headlines would be if they did get married, and Helen shocks Grant by laughing at his choice of “Town Daughter to Wed Her Sister’s Slaughterer” (128).

Later, Helen anxiously confides that she enjoyed the day, and she is relieved and charmed when he says he did, too. They discuss their Christmas plans. Helen asks him to visit Michelle’s grave with her the day after the holiday. Grant promises to go with her.

Helen helps her mother prepare for Christmas dinner guests, feeling cheerful. She is uncomfortable when she is treated like a child by her parents’ friends, especially the Zhao family, who routinely express that Helen should marry their son Theo, who is a cardiologist. Helen and Theo briefly discuss their families, and she privately reflects that marrying him would certainly be a simpler life, even if they have never been drawn to each other. Grant texts her to confirm their plans.

Meanwhile, Grant is taking in the slightly subdued and simpler Christmas compared to the elaborate parties he remembers from childhood and adolescence. He realizes his visits to New Jersey will likely end when his mother moves. In preparation, Grant sorts through old belongings. Helen texts him with directions to the cemetery, and he thanks her for inviting him.

The next day, Grant buys flowers for the cemetery visit. He and Helen climb a hill together, and Helen gestures to Michelle’s cemetery plot. Grant balks, but Helen takes him by the hand. As they sit in front of the grave marker together, Helen asks him why he came to the funeral. Grant explains it felt like paying a debt, though his father warned him he would be intruding. Helen confesses she has been furious ever since Michelle died, even resenting suicide prevention groups for implying she might have changed the outcome for Michelle. She tells Grant that the signs that someone is struggling are rarely obvious. In Michelle’s case, adolescent rebellion gave way to silence, angry outbursts, and drug use. Helen admits that Michelle pushed her away until Helen lost her patience with her, and then Michelle died.

Helen regrets that no one in her family considered whether Michelle might need therapy or support for substance use disorder. She recounts calling suicide prevention hotlines and asking if there would ever be a way to prevent suicidal ideation entirely and feeling defeated when the volunteer on the other end was doubtful. Helen confesses that Michelle’s decision to die by suicide made Helen feel like her love for Michelle was not enough. As she fights tears, Helen asks if Grant ever really met Michelle, and when he says no, she describes her sister’s caustic wit and lively personality. Grant asks if she left a note, and Helen confesses her habit of searching Michelle’s hard drive to find one.

Helen reflects on the irony of Michelle being buried where she is surrounded by elderly Chinese people who found her behavior in life scandalous. She confesses this is her first visit to the cemetery with someone outside her family, and Grant thanks her for the honor, kissing the top of her head. Helen suggests they leave while it is still light out, and Grant invites her to dinner with his mother.

Helen arrives at Grant’s house, and his mother warmly greets her. She takes in the Victorian features of the house and the cozy décor. Grant’s house is unlike her family’s much smaller home, and Grant’s gregarious mother regales them with stories. When Helen realizes it is late, Grant reminds her his mother opened two bottles of wine, urging her to stay until he can safely drive her home.

Grant’s mother brings them coffee, and then he brings out their old yearbook. Helen puts her head in his lap as they look at old photos, and Grant eventually gives in to the urge to comb his hands through her hair. When he gives in to the impulse to touch her face, Helen leans into him and kisses his thumb. Grant is sexually aroused but tries to resist the passion he feels. However, when Helen asks him to touch her hair again, he is overwhelmed. He kisses her fingers, avoiding her lips, and they get closer together. Helen breaks the tension by asking if she can stay the night. However, by the time he returns with a blanket for her, Helen has left. Overcome by the intensity of their chemistry, Grant masturbates.