Before (after, #5)

The fifth installment in the After series, this novel is structured in three parts and serves as both a companion and prequel to the four preceding books. It retells key events through Hardin Scott's perspective while providing origin stories for several supporting characters, revealing the hidden motivations that shaped the central love story.

Part One, titled "Before," opens with a third-person prologue tracing the childhood of an unnamed boy in Hampstead, England, later identified as Hardin Scott. The boy depends on his mother's friend, Vance, who brings him books regularly. His father descends into alcoholism, and one traumatic evening, men come to the house and assault his mother, hardening the boy emotionally. After his father abandons the family, Hardin falls in with delinquent friends and engages in escalating criminal behavior, including manipulating girls. His mother sends him to Washington state, where his father, Ken Scott, has sobered up and taken a university position. Vance has also relocated there. At Washington Central University (WCU), Hardin moves into a fraternity house out of spite against Ken and falls into the same dark patterns.

Four first-person chapters provide origin stories for supporting characters. Natalie, a devout church girl in Hampstead, agrees to a date with Hardin in exchange for paint donations for her church's renovation; a third-person introduction reveals that his callousness will eventually get her exiled from her church and family. Molly, a grief-stricken teenager from Philadelphia, narrates her nightly walks through dangerous alleyways, seeking attention to fill the void left by her mother's abandonment and her boyfriend Curtis's death in a car accident Molly was driving. Curtis's mother finds Molly on the streets and offers to help her enroll at a college in Washington state. Melissa, the sister of Hardin's acquaintance Dan, encounters Hardin at a frat party and is drawn to his intensity despite Dan's warnings; a third-person introduction reveals that Hardin befriended Dan to exploit his one vulnerability: his protective devotion to Melissa. Steph, a resentful youngest child constantly compared to her older sister Olivia, attempts to seduce Olivia's husband after Olivia causes her to lose her prom dress. Caught and thrown out, Steph vows to dominate the social scene at WCU.

Part Two, titled "During," shifts to Hardin's first-person narration at WCU. He describes his stagnant existence: a purely physical arrangement with Molly, isolation in his room reading Wuthering Heights, and open contempt for his father. When the fall semester begins, Hardin and his friend Nate visit Steph's dorm and meet her new roommate, Tessa Young, a quiet, conservatively dressed freshman accompanied by her mother and boyfriend Noah. Hardin dismisses Tessa as out of place, but their dynamic shifts rapidly. At a frat party, he hooks up with Molly but is interrupted when Tessa accidentally opens the door. Later, he finds Tessa in his room holding his copy of Wuthering Heights and is furious, but after she leaves, he catches himself smiling in the mirror, unsettled by how much their sparring has energized him.

In their shared Literature class, Hardin discovers Tessa has befriended Landon Gibson, the son of Ken's girlfriend Karen, making Landon effectively his soon-to-be stepbrother. After a spirited debate about Pride and Prejudice, Hardin genuinely laughs at Tessa's passionate defense of Elizabeth Bennet. Outside with his friends, Hardin proposes a bet: he and Zed, a friend who has expressed interest in Tessa, will compete to see who can sleep with her first. Jace, another member of the group, and Zed put up a combined $800. They devise a Truth or Dare game to confirm Tessa's virginity, and Steph agrees to bring Tessa to the next party. During the game, Tessa silently confirms she is a virgin, and Hardin watches with conflicted feelings as she drinks vodka for the first time.

Their relationship escalates through volatile encounters. When Tessa flees to Hardin's room after a drunk fraternity member tries to grope her, he is immediately protective, and Tessa spontaneously kisses him. Each physical encounter leaves Hardin more unsettled. After agreeing to be "friends," he takes Tessa to a secluded stream, where he gives Tessa her first orgasm but stops short of intercourse. He takes her to dinner afterward and offers to connect her with an internship at Vance Publishing, but panics when Noah's name appears on her phone and pushes her away, insisting he does not date.

The relationship deepens when Ken announces his engagement to Karen. Enraged, Hardin breaks his sobriety, drives to Ken's house, and smashes a china cabinet. Landon calls Tessa, who confronts a belligerent Hardin. He insults her, but she refuses to leave. He apologizes and begs her to stay, confessing she makes him want to be a better person. They share a bed for the first time, and Hardin reveals he has never slept beside anyone before. Their intimacy continues to build, and Hardin's recurring childhood nightmares begin to subside when Tessa is near.

Meanwhile, Hardin grows paranoid about the Bet being exposed. He wants to claim Tessa publicly but cannot without revealing the scheme. When they have sex for the first time, Hardin tries repeatedly to confess, but Tessa silences him. The experience is deeply emotional; Hardin tells Tessa he loves her, and she says it back. Afterward, he is consumed by guilt, knowing the Bet has technically been "won" but that the victory is meaningless. They sign a lease together, and Hardin moves Tessa's belongings from her dorm without her knowledge, trying to enjoy their domestic happiness while dreading the inevitable revelation.

Part Three, titled "After," compresses the aftermath into chapters from different perspectives. Tessa discovers the Bet, and she and Hardin separate for two years. He channels his anger into writing and achieves sobriety; Tessa sends him a card with a heart each month he stays sober. After publishing a book, Hardin and Tessa gradually reconnect, reuniting fully after Landon's wedding. They endure the heartbreak of losing a child before their first surviving daughter transforms Hardin, who describes himself as reborn. Zed reflects on his involvement in the Bet and resolves to stop interfering. Landon, now at New York University, narrates a chapter about adjusting to city life and his breakup from his ex-girlfriend Dakota.

Christian Vance's chapter provides the novel's most significant revelation. Through flashback, it becomes clear that Christian, Ken, and Hardin's mother Trish grew up together in Hampstead. Christian was secretly in love with Trish but stepped aside when Ken pursued her. As Ken descended into alcoholism, Christian and Trish slept together. The implication is that Christian, not Ken, is Hardin's biological father, reinforced by his observation that Hardin, his acknowledged son Smith, and his newborn daughter Karina all share the same dimpled smile. Smith, Christian's young son, narrates a chapter in which Hardin visits bearing books. When Smith innocently tells Christian that Hardin once spoke of how the books Christian brought him as a child made him happy, Christian is visibly moved, and for the first time, Hardin does not pull away when Christian places a hand on his shoulder.

The novel closes with two chapters titled "Hessa," a couple name coined by Molly, depicting Hardin and Tessa's life years later in a Brooklyn townhouse with their two children, 11-year-old Emery and 6-year-old Auden. Tessa has become a successful wedding planner, and Hardin is a bestselling author who raises funds for a community center serving troubled teens. Hardin reflects that he broke the cycle of poor fatherhood, ensuring his children never go without affection. Though Tessa has never legally married him, he considers her his wife in every way. The novel ends with Hardin watching Tessa sleep, reflecting that despite everything, they made it to their own version of heaven.