After Everthing: The Ups and Downs of Hessa
In After Ever Happy, Hardin and Tessa (Hessa) will continue to fight for each other and themselves. Will they succeed?
After Ever Happy, the fourth film based on the After series, has finally given the troubled young couple and their audience some much-needed answers, and it has been quite the journey. In this movie, Hardin Scott (Hero Fiennes Tiffin) and Tessa Young (Josephine Langford) continue to fight against the past, themselves, and each other to find their path together.
The next movie in the series is in preproduction, with both leading actors set to reprise their roles. There is so much packed into the first four films that it can be hard to keep track of what has happened to Tessa and Hardin leading up to the next installment. Before the fifth movie comes out, and while the fourth is still fresh in the minds of fans, it’s time to remember where “Hessa” started, and how they got to the point they are at in the beginning of After Ever Happy.
The film is based on the book of the same name, which details what happens after Hardin’s mother’s wedding and how that impacts Hessa’s life in the future. That means that in After Ever Happy, Hardin and Tessa decide where their hearts lie, weighing up all the good and bad they’ve lived together and make a final decision about them.
Updated June 2023: This article has been updated to include new and fresh content for your enjoyment by Nikole Finger.
Hessa: The Bet
Hardin and Tessa started their relationship with a lie. Hardin made a bet with his friends that he would get to sleep with the sweet and innocent Tessa Young. In hindsight, a relationship based on a lie is doomed to failure. Relationships need a foundation of trust to function. However, a good lie also needs a basis of truth to work, and Hessa is living proof of that.
Hardin had been attracted to Tessa ever since he met her. She was different from the women he was used to dealing with. So sweet, so innocent, and without any hidden intention. Hardin saw the light in Tessa from the first second and, accustomed to living in the dark, he was drawn to her light. He knew she was the one he wanted to try to fix him, because who can fix themselves?
The problem is that Hardin didn’t know how to approach her and the bet was, without a doubt, a horrible and humiliating idea. However, in Hardin’s mind, at first, it was the perfect idea to get closer to Tessa. To Tessa, he represents the dark, the unknown, and the challenge she never dared to take. And, in the midst of all that, the two fall in love.
Despite their love showing its flaws and strengths, the foundation of their relationship was as fragile as a house of cards. And houses of cards end up collapsing sooner or later. Despite Hardin’s desperate attempts, Tessa finds out about the bet, and that’s the turning point for both Hardin and Tessa, as their whole world falls apart. While it is okay to walk away from a failed relationship, Tessa and Hardin make a healthy decision together when they start to rebuild their relationship as a team, hoping to make it better than it was before.
Hardin and Tessa Let Each Other In
When the truth comes out, Tessa feels betrayed. Until she met Hardin, she had a plan for her life and she gave it up to pursue something new with Hardin…and it turned out to be a lie. But there was something that wasn’t: how good they felt together and how, thanks to Hardin, Tessa discovered that her life could be something more.
That, and the way Hardin shows Tessa his regret, makes her decide to give him a second chance. And they both allow each other a fresh start for their love. In this second opportunity, the two allow themselves to love each other more freely, with the freedom that knowledge of the other gives.
Little by little, Hardin let Tessa go deeper into his walls, and she learned more about his past as she discovered her own strength and began to make her own decisions. The two fit together in ways no one else understood. Sometimes, they fit together in unhealthy and problematic ways, and other times, they were all love, support, and being there for each other. The relationship is marked by emotional whiplash. This is especially true when Tessa begins to uncover the lies of her past, coming face to face with it.
As Tessa confronts her past, she learns to protect herself and build a shell. As it is, they both have high walls that protect them, and, although they try to let each other in, fear and insecurity get the best of them more often than not.
The problem is that Hardin didn’t know how to approach her and the bet was, without a doubt, a horrible and humiliating idea. However, in Hardin’s mind, at first, it was the perfect idea to get closer to Tessa. To Tessa, he represents the dark, the unknown, and the challenge she never dared to take. And, in the midst of all that, the two fall in love.
Despite their love showing its flaws and strengths, the foundation of their relationship was as fragile as a house of cards. And houses of cards end up collapsing sooner or later. Despite Hardin’s desperate attempts, Tessa finds out about the bet, and that’s the turning point for both Hardin and Tessa, as their whole world falls apart. While it is okay to walk away from a failed relationship, Tessa and Hardin make a healthy decision together when they start to rebuild their relationship as a team, hoping to make it better than it was before.
Hardin and Tessa Let Each Other In
When the truth comes out, Tessa feels betrayed. Until she met Hardin, she had a plan for her life and she gave it up to pursue something new with Hardin…and it turned out to be a lie. But there was something that wasn’t: how good they felt together and how, thanks to Hardin, Tessa discovered that her life could be something more.
That, and the way Hardin shows Tessa his regret, makes her decide to give him a second chance. And they both allow each other a fresh start for their love. In this second opportunity, the two allow themselves to love each other more freely, with the freedom that knowledge of the other gives.
Little by little, Hardin let Tessa go deeper into his walls, and she learned more about his past as she discovered her own strength and began to make her own decisions. The two fit together in ways no one else understood. Sometimes, they fit together in unhealthy and problematic ways, and other times, they were all love, support, and being there for each other. The relationship is marked by emotional whiplash. This is especially true when Tessa begins to uncover the lies of her past, coming face to face with it.
As Tessa confronts her past, she learns to protect herself and build a shell. As it is, they both have high walls that protect them, and, although they try to let each other in, fear and insecurity get the best of them more often than not.
Do Hardin and Tessa Fight for Each Other?
Tessa and Hardin’s self-imposed walls created such a distance between them that it wasn’t healthy for either of them to continue. Both were deconstructing and destroying each other and dragging everyone around them down the road. Tessa showed her strength by letting Hardin go for the good of both of them, but, above all, for the good of herself. She was prioritizing herself, something that may seem simple, but it is not. Especially when one person feels responsible for being the light of their partner’s life, there can be a lot of guilt when even considering leaving, but it can be necessary.
Hardin and Tessa love each other, but much like real-life relationships, love was never a problem for them. The problem is that, at this point in their relationship, they were hurting each other. Hardin knows he has to let her go, even though he hates doing it, but she needs it. They both do. At that time in their lives, the two need to grow apart to find their way back to each other, even to find out if they will ever find that way.
As the two grow up, they discover who they are and what they want. When Hardin’s past returns with a vengeance and some long-hidden truths are revealed, Tessa doesn’t forget to be by Hardin’s side. She knows that he needs her and everything else takes a backseat. What separated them is still there, but everything goes into the background. He needs her, she needs him. The two love each other. So she meets him in London, and they melt into each other.
What happened made them stronger, and, at that moment, they felt that they were strong enough to overcome anything if they were together. They’re willing to fight for it, for them. After Ever Happy has some of the answers about their success, or lack there of. At least until the next movie comes out, that is. Hopefully, Tessa and Hardin will mature enough to set a good example for the audience about what a healthy breakup looks like.
