It Starts with Us

Overwhelmed by her encounter with Atlas, Lily struggles to concentrate at work; she worries about how her ex-husband, Ryle, will respond to her potentially starting a relationship with Atlas. They have been peacefully co-parenting their daughter Emerson for the past year, but Lily is not entirely comfortable with the arrangement: Desperate to facilitate a healthy relationship between Emerson and Ryle, Lily never reported Ryle’s abuse to the police. To process her thoughts, Lily escapes work and writes a letter to television host Ellen DeGeneres, a practice she did as a child in her journal. In the letter, she debates texting Atlas and conveys the turbulent history of her relationship with Ryle. Afraid of Ryle’s temper and possible abuse of Emerson, Lily has denied Ryle overnight visits for the first two years of Emerson’s life. She decides to delay sending a text to Atlas to give her time to gather her thoughts.

Atlas confides in his coworker’s son, Theo, to whom he jokingly refers as his therapist. Theo makes fun of Atlas for using a reference to Finding Nemo when speaking to Lily and advises him to text Lily first, but after Lily texts back with a curt response, Atlas grows discouraged.

Lily grows more concerned over Ryle’s intentions as he has not returned a key to her apartment. To her surprise, she discovers Ryle waiting for her with dinner when she returns home from work. She attempts to set boundaries and asks Ryle to return her key, and they argue over Ryle’s desire to keep Emerson overnight. Lily admits that she will not be comfortable with their daughter spending the night with him, and begrudgingly, Ryle returns Lily’s key. Grappling with her guilt, Lily reads a list she keeps of the abuse she survived in her marriage to Ryle.

The next day, Atlas discovers more vandalism at another of his restaurants, but he still questions whether to call the police. In the security footage of the night before, Atlas sees an unrecognizable teenager who appears to be homeless sleeping on the steps outside of the restaurant. The footage shows that the teenager attempts to break in and vandalizes the restaurant before leaving early in the morning. Unnerved, Atlas ponders who it could be until he receives a phone call from his estranged mother, Sutton. Unable to deal with her attitude, Atlas hangs up and blocks her number. 

At work, Lily chats with Ryle’s sister and her coworker Allysa. When Atlas arrives at the flower shop unexpectedly and brings Lily lunch, they share a tender moment that Allysa interrupts, announcing that Ryle has arrived. Lily hides Atlas in a closet until Ryle leaves, and after the incident, an unbothered Atlas asks Lily if he can call her later that evening. Flustered by her attraction to him, Lily says yes. After Atlas leaves, Allysa questions Lily about whether she is dating Atlas.

While Atlas gives Theo a cooking lesson, the two discuss Atlas’s relationship with Lily. Eventually, a nervous Theo confides in Atlas about his crush on a boy at school. Noticing Theo’s anxiety over revealing his sexual orientation, Atlas reassures Theo of his support and promises not to say anything to his father, Brad.

That evening, Atlas calls to ask Lily out on a date, and she happily agrees. He asks about how Ryle will feel about them dating, and Lily confirms that Ryle will be upset. She confesses to Atlas that Ryle read her childhood journals and grew jealous of their relationship when they were in school. Atlas begs Lily to read him something from her journal, although she is mortified, she agrees and reads him an entry detailing a time he comforted her after she witnessed a fight between her parents. Atlas confides in Lily about the vandalism of his restaurants, and they make plans to go on a date in a week and to talk again in a few days.

Atlas, Theo, and Theo’s dad clean up damage from a third night of vandalism at the restaurant. Theo questions Atlas about Lily, and Atlas reflects on fighting with Ryle at his restaurant in defense of Lily. When Lily calls, Atlas reveals that he lied to Lily when they were younger: He hid his homelessness from her and told her he moved away to live with his uncle to keep her from worrying about him. They end the conversation with the promise to chat again later that evening.

After her mother falls ill and cannot babysit, Lily drops off Emerson at Allysa’s house for the evening so that she can meet Atlas for their date. Lily begs Allysa not to say anything to Ryle, and Allysa agrees.

Atlas prepares to leave for his date with Lily and decides to return to the restaurant after the date to catch who has been vandalizing his restaurants. When he picks up Lily at her work, she gifts him one of her journals to read. As they drive to a restaurant outside of town, Lily asks Atlas a series of questions about his work life and previous relationships. While Atlas makes a few phone calls to resolve an issue at work, Lily falls asleep. Atlas lets Lily sleep, and instead of going into the restaurant, they stay in the car, and Atlas begins reading the journal.

Engrossed by Lily’s journal, Atlas cancels the reservation and continues to read. Atlas becomes inspired by Lily’s documentation of their moments together and begins to record the events of his life prior to meeting Lily. Lily wakes up from her nap, and Atlas asks Lily if she arranged their first kiss when they were teenagers. Lily admits that she did and that she wanted Atlas to be her first kiss.

On their drive back to the city, Atlas tells Lily to read the note he wrote in his phone. In the letter, he describes that, from a young age, his mother abused him to the point of leaving scars on his body. When he was 12, his mother remarried a man named Tim, who resented and abused Atlas. At that point, Atlas took responsibility for maintaining order in the home. Despite his work to keep the home clean, at 16, Atlas was kicked out by his mother at his stepfather’s request. Three months after leaving, a desperate Atlas returned to his mother’s house and noticed the disarray of the home, but when he asked to come home, his mother threw a screwdriver at his head. At the end of the letter, Atlas thanks Lily for treating him like a human and for caring for him in a way his own mother never could. The two drive back to the city in silence as they hold hands.

Atlas and Lily return to her florist shop and eat burgers in his car. Atlas asks Lily about her dream wedding: Since she only eloped with Ryle, Lily shares her dreams for a big wedding and romantic honeymoon. As they say goodbye, Atlas tells Lily that he will honor her wishes to take their relationship slowly and will not kiss her.

Lily returns to Allysa’s apartment to pick up Emerson and is surprised to find Ryle there watching Finding Nemo with their daughter. Sensing Ryle’s anger, Lily hesitantly goes to the rooftop at Ryle’s request to speak with him privately. On the roof, Ryle confronts Lily about their daughter’s middle name, which is inspired by Ellen DeGeneres’s character Dory in the movie. In the past, Ryle read about Lily and Atlas’s bonding over Finding Nemo and resents Lily naming their daughter over something connected to Atlas. As Ryle grows more aggressive, Lily attempts to leave. He tries to convince Lily to reconcile, but she refuses his advances. Frustrated, Ryle storms off while Lily attempts to process what happened. Enraged by Ryle’s attempted manipulation, Lily cries and reflects on how hard it is to be a single mother who has fled an abusive relationship. Allysa’s husband Marshall finds Lily in the hallway of the apartment building and comforts her by reassuring Lily in her choice to leave Ryle.