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{{Infobox chapter
{{Infobox chapter
| image = c95p8f3.png
| image = c95p8f3.png
| major_characters = [[Lucy]], [[Augustus]], [[Paulo]], [[Daisy]], [[Abbey]], [[Mike]]
| major_characters = [[Lucy]], [[Augustus]], [[Mike]], [[Paulo]], [[Daisy]], [[Abbey]], [[Sue]], [[Madison]]
| minor_characters = [[Sue]], [[David]], [[Madison]], [[Courtney]], [[Jasmine]], [[Haley]], [[Mina]], [[Cassidy]], [[Rachel]], [[Jessica]], [[Matt]], [[Jordan]], [[Sam]], [[Amaya]], [[Katie]], [[Stacy]]
| minor_characters = [[David]], [[Courtney]], [[Rachel]], [[Jessica]], [[Matt]], [[Jasmine]], [[Haley]], [[Mina]], [[Cassidy]], [[Jordan]], [[Sam]], [[Amaya]], [[Katie]], [[Stacy]]
| locations = [[Roseville High School]], [[Lucy's house]], [[Abandoned warehouse rooftop]], [[Northern Highway]], [[Neighborhood sidewalks and streets]]
| locations = [[Roseville High School]], [[Lucy's house]], [[Abandoned warehouse rooftop]], [[Northern Highway]], [[Neighborhood sidewalks and streets]]
| collected_in = [[Bittersweet Candy Bowl: Volume Six|Volume Six]]
| collected_in = [[Bittersweet Candy Bowl: Volume Six|Volume Six]]
}}
}}
[[Daisy]]'s sweet sixteen is days away, but the week has other plans: [[Lucy]] walks back into [[Roseville High School|Roseville High]] at last, one couple doesn't survive lunch, and the truth about the night she left finally comes out.
[[Lucy]] finally walks back into [[Roseville High School|Roseville High]], and [[Abbey]] and [[Daisy]] fall apart in front of the whole cafeteria. The chapter also answers the series' most painful question: who found Lucy on that snowy night?


== Synopsis ==
== Synopsis ==
Daisy is practically floating on her way to school, with her sixteenth birthday coming up on Saturday.<ref name=":c95p1">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p1}}</ref> Her party invites hit a snag at the lockers, though. [[Paulo]] bolts the moment she approaches and starts chatting up [[Courtney]] instead.<ref name=":c95p2">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p2}}</ref> [[Madison]] catches the act and chews him out for stringing [[Rachel]] along, leaving him to slink off muttering "god I'm sick of women".<ref name=":c95p4">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p4}}</ref> Daisy, meanwhile, confides to [[Mike]] that she thinks Paulo hates her, and Mike offers to ask him what's going on.<ref name=":c95p5">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p5}}</ref>
[[Daisy]] turns sixteen on Saturday, and the walk to school is all party plans and affectionate teasing from [[Abbey]] and [[Mike]].<ref name=":c95p1">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p1}}</ref> The trouble starts at the lockers, where [[Paulo]] pointedly ignores her invitation in favor of flirting with [[Courtney]].<ref name=":c95p2">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p2}}</ref> [[Madison]] then corners him over the way he's been treating [[Rachel]],<ref name=":c95p3">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p3}}</ref> and Paulo slinks off muttering "god I'm sick of women."<ref name=":c95p4">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p4}}</ref> Daisy, meanwhile, frets that Paulo hates her, and Mike offers to talk to him.<ref name=":c95p5">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p5}}</ref>


As it turns out, he never gets the chance. Mike steps into first period and freezes: Lucy is standing in the doorway, back at school in her private-school uniform.<ref name=":c95p6">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p6}}</ref> The others mob her while Mike hides behind the door frame, and Lucy is friendly but keeps her ordeal at arm's length.<ref name=":c95p7">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p7}}</ref> Paulo's welcome goes worse. He pounces on her, compliments her chest, and gets kicked into the ceiling for it.<ref name=":c95p9">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p9}}</ref> Lucy turns down Daisy's party but produces a birthday gift she'd already wrapped.<ref name=":c95p10">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p10}}</ref> Mike spends the whole class staring at her, unable to say a word.<ref name=":c95p11">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p11}}</ref>
He walks into something much bigger instead: [[Lucy]] is standing in the classroom doorway, back at [[Roseville High School|Roseville High]] for the first time since [[Breaking Up]].<ref name=":c95p6">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p6}}</ref><ref name=":c75p4">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c75/p4}}</ref> The class mobs her with tearful hugs while Mike hides behind the door frame. Asked whether things have been okay, Lucy laughs, "Definitely not! But, you know. I managed."<ref name=":c95p7">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p7}}</ref>


[[File:c95_p9_panel3.png|alt=Lucy kicks Paulo into the ceiling with a loud CRASH as David, Abbey, Daisy and Sue stare up at him.|thumb|Paulo's welcome-back hug lasts about four seconds.]]
[[File:c95_p6_panel3.png|alt=Mike stops mid-sentence in the classroom doorway, face to face with Lucy in her private school uniform.|thumb|Lucy's back at Roseville High, and Mike is taking it beautifully.]]
Lunch is where the mood sours. Lucy would rather take a walk alone than sit with anybody, and [[Sue]] has to physically stop Paulo from tagging along.<ref name=":c95p13">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p13}}</ref> Back at the table, Paulo decides Lucy's distance is Mike's fault. He yanks Mike around by his own scarf<ref name=":c95p14">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p14}}</ref> and screams Daisy down when she defends him.<ref name=":c95p15">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p15}}</ref> [[Abbey]] demands an apology, and Paulo fires back with "Gonna teach me another lesson?!"<ref name=":c95p15" /> That's how the whole table finds out that Abbey choked him at the con.<ref name=":c95p16">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p16}}</ref>
Lunch goes downhill in a hurry. Lucy would rather walk alone than join the table, and [[Sue]] has to physically hold Paulo back from tagging along.<ref name=":c95p12">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p12}}</ref> Back at the table, Paulo boils over. He yanks Mike backward by his scarf and blames him for Lucy keeping her distance.<ref name=":c95p14">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p14}}</ref> When Daisy objects, he snarls at her too.<ref name=":c95p15">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p15}}</ref> Abbey demands an apology, and Paulo taunts the truth into the open: "A good chokehold set '''me''' straight."<ref name=":c95p16">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p16}}</ref>


The revelation costs Daisy her relationship. She's horrified by what Abbey did, and she says so. Abbey only hears her defending Paulo yet again, and he dumps her in front of the whole cafeteria: "You can '''HAVE''' him, then!!"<ref name=":c95p17">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p17}}</ref> A shaken Abbey barely makes it across the room before [[Jasmine]] insists he sit with her friends.<ref name=":c95p19">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p19}}</ref>
That revelation is the end of Abbey and Daisy. Daisy is horrified, but at Abbey, not Paulo, and she declares she's not okay with assault. To Abbey it's the last straw, and he dumps her in front of the whole cafeteria: "We're '''DONE!!'''"<ref name=":c95p17">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p17}}</ref> [[Jasmine]] wastes no time pulling him into her friend group, over [[Haley]]'s grumbling.<ref name=":c95p18">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p18}}</ref>


Lucy's lunchtime walk, meanwhile, turns up [[Augustus]] lying in the grass near the track. She leaps into his arms in tears, then slaps him and demands to know what he's still doing at school.<ref name=":c95p21">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p21}}</ref> As it turns out, the absentee policy held him back, and [[Toby]] wants him to drop out.<ref name=":c95p23">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p23}}</ref> Lucy won't have it: "Maybe you've given up, but I sure as hell won't! This year, I'm gonna fight for you!"<ref name=":c95p23" /> After the final bell, Rachel's crowd spots the two of them leaving together, to Madison's very loud outrage.<ref name=":c95p27">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p27}}</ref>
Lucy's lunchtime walk turns up [[Augustus]], lying in the grass by the track.<ref name=":c95p20">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p20}}</ref> She bursts into tears and leaps into a hug. The sweetness doesn't last: she slaps him for still being stuck at school, his grades wrecked by absences.<ref name=":c95p22">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p22}}</ref> [[Toby]] has been pushing him to drop out entirely, but Lucy refuses to accept it: "Maybe you've given up, but I sure as hell won't!"<ref name=":c95p23">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p23}}</ref>


Lucy walks Augustus to [[Lucy's house|her house]] and introduces him to her startled family with a single sentence: "He's the boy who saved my life."<ref name=":c95p30">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p30}}</ref>
After school, Lucy brings Augustus home to [[Lucy's house|her startled family]]. Over [[Sam]]'s hostility, she announces: "He's the boy who saved my life."<ref name=":c95p29">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p29}}</ref><ref name=":c95p30">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p30}}</ref> The panel dissolves into snowfall, and the story drops into flashback.


The flashback that follows shows the night of Lucy's suicide attempt. Alone in a blizzard after the play, Lucy spirals into self-loathing, convinced she's a parasite and that nobody cares about her.<ref name=":c95p33">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p33}}</ref> She climbs to [[Abandoned warehouse rooftop|the roof of an abandoned furniture building]] and jumps.<ref name=":c95p36">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p36}}</ref> She survives the fall, and Augustus finds her lying broken in the snow, begging to die.<ref name=":c95p38">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p38}}</ref> He takes out his phone. Lucy is sure he's calling "him," and screams at him not to as she loses consciousness. The call, though, is to 911: "You need to send an ambulance. My friend's trying to kill herself."<ref name=":c95p41">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p41}}</ref>
The flashback shows the night Lucy tried to kill herself. She wanders a blizzard alone after Mike came to her dressing room before the play, convinced everyone would be better off without her.<ref name=":c95p32">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p32}}</ref> She climbs to [[Abandoned warehouse rooftop|the roof of the old furniture building]] off [[Northern Highway]] and jumps.<ref name=":c95p36">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p36}}</ref> She survives the fall, badly hurt and begging to die. Augustus is the one who finds her in the snow.<ref name=":c95p38">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p38}}</ref> When he pulls out his phone, she screams at him not to make the call, certain he's calling someone else. She blacks out still pleading. The call is for an ambulance: "My friend's trying to kill herself."<ref name=":c95p41">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p41}}</ref>


Back in the present, Lucy's family takes Augustus in. Her mother tearfully embraces him<ref name=":c95p42">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p42}}</ref> and insists he stay for chicken lasagna.<ref name=":c95p45">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p45}}</ref> Her father, who already knows his circumstances, offers him the guest room "'til graduation."<ref name=":c95p45" /> Augustus can hardly believe any of it is real, and he tearfully accepts.<ref name=":c95p47">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p47}}</ref> Lucy sets her terms on the stairs: no more skipping school, and Daisy is still off-limits.<ref name=":c95p48">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p48}}</ref> He barely gets a moment alone in his new room before [[Jordan]] barges in, offering to go easy on his "baby sister's savior" in exchange for SAT tutoring.<ref name=":c95p50">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p50}}</ref>
Back in the present, Lucy's family takes Augustus in on the spot. Her mom embraces him in tears,<ref name=":c95p42">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p42}}</ref> and her dad offers him the guest room until graduation.<ref name=":c95p45">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p45}}</ref> Augustus insists it must be a prank, right up until Lucy's mom confiscates his filthy jacket for the laundry.<ref name=":c95p46">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p46}}</ref> He caves: "I'd love that, actually.."<ref name=":c95p47">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p47}}</ref> Lucy has conditions of her own: no more skipping school, and Daisy stays off-limits. Augustus agrees to the lot.<ref name=":c95p48">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p48}}</ref> Then [[Jordan]] barges in to waive the scary-big-brother talk, in exchange for SAT tutoring he'll pay for himself.<ref name=":c95p50">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p50}}</ref>


== Critical moments ==
== Critical moments ==
* Mike walks into first period and comes face to face with Lucy, back at school for the first time since her disappearance.<ref name=":c95p6" /><ref name=":c95p11" />
* Lucy returns to Roseville High, and Mike is the first to see her, frozen in the classroom doorway.<ref name=":c95p6" />
* At the lunch table, Paulo answers Abbey's demand for an apology with "Gonna teach me another lesson?!", and the whole group learns that Abbey choked him at the con.<ref name=":c95p15" /><ref name=":c95p16" />
* At the lunch table, Paulo reveals why he really left the con early: Abbey choked him there.<ref name=":c95p16" /> When Daisy condemns the assault, Abbey breaks up with her in front of the whole cafeteria.<ref name=":c95p17" />
* Daisy refuses to excuse the assault, and Abbey breaks up with her on the spot, shouting "We're '''DONE!!'''" across the cafeteria.<ref name=":c95p17" />
* On her lunchtime walk, Lucy finds Augustus by the track and vows to fight for his future this school year.<ref name=":c95p23" />
* Lucy introduces Augustus to her family as "the boy who saved my life", triggering the flashback that explains her disappearance.<ref name=":c95p30" />
* Lucy introduces Augustus to her family as "the boy who saved my life," sending the story into flashback.<ref name=":c95p30" />
* In the flashback, Lucy walks into a blizzard after the play, climbs to the roof of an abandoned building, and jumps.<ref name=":c95p36" />
* In the flashback, Lucy jumps from the roof of the old furniture building off Northern Highway.<ref name=":c95p36" />
* Augustus's phone call looks like a betrayal, with Lucy screaming at him not to call "him." It's actually a call for an ambulance, and it saves her life.<ref name=":c95p41" />
* Augustus finds Lucy broken in the snow. The phone call she takes for a betrayal turns out to be for an ambulance.<ref name=":c95p41" />
* Lucy's father offers Augustus the guest room until graduation, and Augustus tearfully accepts.<ref name=":c95p45" /><ref name=":c95p47" />
* Lucy's dad offers Augustus the guest room until graduation.<ref name=":c95p45" /> After insisting it must be a prank, Augustus accepts.<ref name=":c95p47" />


[[File:c95_p21_panel6.png|alt=Lucy, crying, leaps into Augustus's arms as leaves fall around them.|thumb|Worth missing lunch for.]]
== Character dynamics ==
== Character dynamics ==
* '''Abbey and Daisy:''' Daisy won't condone the con chokehold, and Abbey hears only that she's "Defending him AGAIN." He dumps her in front of the entire cafeteria, ending their relationship.<ref name=":c95p17" />
[[File:c95_p49_panel6.png|alt=Augustus lies back on his new bed with his arms spread wide, smiling.|thumb|Augustus settles into the guest room rather quickly.]]
* '''Lucy and Augustus:''' He saved her life on the worst night of it, and she vows to fight for his future in return. By evening he's living under her family's roof.<ref name=":c95p23" /><ref name=":c95p47" />
* '''Abbey and Daisy:''' The couple came into the chapter reconciled, with one old sore spot: Daisy taking Paulo's side, which already caused a fight back in [[Golden Hour]].<ref name=":c90p20">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c90/p20}}</ref> Once the chokehold comes out and Daisy calls it assault, Abbey hears one defense of Paulo too many and ends things publicly.<ref name=":c95p17" />
* '''Paulo and Daisy:''' What Daisy fears is hatred turns out to be avoidance, and it boils over into the cruelest thing Paulo has said to her on panel: "'''JESUS''', Daisy, do you '''EVER''' shut up?!"<ref name=":c95p15" />
* '''Lucy and Augustus:''' Nobody in the friend group knew he'd pulled her back from a rooftop ledge in [[Ten Seconds to Midnight]],<ref name=":c73p13">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c73/p13}}</ref> or that they'd stayed in touch during her absence.<ref name=":c86p35">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c86/p35}}</ref> Now it's all out in the open: she vows to fight for his future, and by nightfall he's living in her family's guest room under her rules.<ref name=":c95p23" /><ref name=":c95p48" />
* '''Augustus and Lucy's family:''' He goes from "Who's the creep" to houseguest in a single evening. The reveal earns him her mom's tearful gratitude, her dad's guest room, and a paid tutoring pact with Jordan.<ref name=":c95p29" /><ref name=":c95p45" /><ref name=":c95p50" />
* '''Paulo and Mike:''' The two were genuinely close. Paulo was still giving Mike advice about Sandy one chapter earlier in [[Model Girlfriend]].<ref name=":c94p43">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c94/p43}}</ref> Choking him with his own scarf and blaming him for Lucy's distance leaves that friendship in open hostility.<ref name=":c95p14" />


== Trivia & observations ==
== Trivia & observations ==
* Lucy's return page went up on her in-universe birthday, with Veronica's commentary reading "Happy birthday, Lucy!!"<ref name=":c95p6" /> Oliver notes she'd been gone from the comic a little under four years in real time.<ref name=":c95p7" />
* Veronica has said the Augustus reveal was planned as "a big surprise," and that he was deliberately kept "barely appearing" in the background until Lucy's return.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bittersweetcandybowl.tumblr.com/post/806218240887062528/veronica-this-is-a-very-thoughtful-interesting|date=2026-01-20}}</ref>
* Veronica has said Augustus was deliberately kept in the background in the chapters before this one, so the rescue reveal would land as a genuine surprise.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://bittersweetcandybowl.tumblr.com/post/806218240887062528/veronica-this-is-a-very-thoughtful-interesting |title=Bittersweet Candy Bowl Tumblr post |website=Tumblr |date=2026-01-20 |author=Veronica}}</ref>
* Lucy's flashback self-condemnation, "I'm a parasite," is the exact word Mike threw at her in [[December]].<ref name=":c95p33">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p33}}</ref><ref name=":c68p30">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c68/p30}}</ref>
* Lucy calling herself a parasite in the flashback quotes the exact word Mike threw at her in [[December]].<ref name=":c95p33" /><ref name=":c68p30">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c68/p30}}</ref>
* Lucy's dad makes his first in-person appearance. Until now he'd only been seen on TV, winning a race qualifier in [[Dinner Time]].<ref name=":c95p29" /><ref name=":c65p19">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c65/p19}}</ref>
* This is the first physical on-panel appearance of Lucy's father, who had previously only been seen on television winning a race qualifier.<ref name=":c95p29">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c95/p29}}</ref><ref name=":c65p19">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c65/p19}}</ref>


== Related chapters ==
== Related chapters ==
* '''[[Breaking Up]]''': Lucy's sudden withdrawal from school and the hospital scenes there are the questions this chapter's flashback finally answers.
* '''[[Breaking Up]]''': The chapter this one exists to answer; the flashback here finally shows what put Lucy in that hospital.
* '''[[December]]''': The direct emotional cause of the flashback, and the source of Lucy's "parasite" self-talk.
* '''[[Ten Seconds to Midnight]]''': Augustus pulled Lucy back from a rooftop ledge on New Year's Eve; this chapter's flashback completes the picture that one left hanging.
* '''[[Ten Seconds to Midnight]]''': On New Year's Eve, Augustus pulled Lucy back from a rooftop ledge. This time he could only save her after the fall.
* '''[[Guest of Honor]]''': The con chapter where Abbey cornered Paulo in a restroom — the assault Paulo exposes here.
* '''[[Guest of Honor]]''': The con where Abbey choked Paulo in a restroom, the incident Paulo weaponizes at the lunch table here.
* '''[[Trapped]]''': Establishes Augustus's home life and the hold Toby and [[Alejandro]] have over him.


== References ==
== References ==

Latest revision as of 12:58, 9 July 2026

Love Again
Chapter95 of 127 (list of chapters)
PublishedOctober 26, 2016 (2016-10-26)
Page count50
Major charactersLucy, Augustus, Mike, Paulo, Daisy, Abbey, Sue, Madison
Minor charactersDavid, Courtney, Rachel, Jessica, Matt, Jasmine, Haley, Mina, Cassidy, Jordan, Sam, Amaya, Katie, Stacy
LocationsRoseville High School, Lucy's house, Abandoned warehouse rooftop, Northern Highway, Neighborhood sidewalks and streets
Collected inVolume Six
Chapter navigation
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Lucy finally walks back into Roseville High, and Abbey and Daisy fall apart in front of the whole cafeteria. The chapter also answers the series' most painful question: who found Lucy on that snowy night?

Synopsis

Daisy turns sixteen on Saturday, and the walk to school is all party plans and affectionate teasing from Abbey and Mike.[1] The trouble starts at the lockers, where Paulo pointedly ignores her invitation in favor of flirting with Courtney.[2] Madison then corners him over the way he's been treating Rachel,[3] and Paulo slinks off muttering "god I'm sick of women."[4] Daisy, meanwhile, frets that Paulo hates her, and Mike offers to talk to him.[5]

He walks into something much bigger instead: Lucy is standing in the classroom doorway, back at Roseville High for the first time since Breaking Up.[6][7] The class mobs her with tearful hugs while Mike hides behind the door frame. Asked whether things have been okay, Lucy laughs, "Definitely not! But, you know. I managed."[8]

Mike stops mid-sentence in the classroom doorway, face to face with Lucy in her private school uniform.
Lucy's back at Roseville High, and Mike is taking it beautifully.

Lunch goes downhill in a hurry. Lucy would rather walk alone than join the table, and Sue has to physically hold Paulo back from tagging along.[9] Back at the table, Paulo boils over. He yanks Mike backward by his scarf and blames him for Lucy keeping her distance.[10] When Daisy objects, he snarls at her too.[11] Abbey demands an apology, and Paulo taunts the truth into the open: "A good chokehold set me straight."[12]

That revelation is the end of Abbey and Daisy. Daisy is horrified, but at Abbey, not Paulo, and she declares she's not okay with assault. To Abbey it's the last straw, and he dumps her in front of the whole cafeteria: "We're DONE!!"[13] Jasmine wastes no time pulling him into her friend group, over Haley's grumbling.[14]

Lucy's lunchtime walk turns up Augustus, lying in the grass by the track.[15] She bursts into tears and leaps into a hug. The sweetness doesn't last: she slaps him for still being stuck at school, his grades wrecked by absences.[16] Toby has been pushing him to drop out entirely, but Lucy refuses to accept it: "Maybe you've given up, but I sure as hell won't!"[17]

After school, Lucy brings Augustus home to her startled family. Over Sam's hostility, she announces: "He's the boy who saved my life."[18][19] The panel dissolves into snowfall, and the story drops into flashback.

The flashback shows the night Lucy tried to kill herself. She wanders a blizzard alone after Mike came to her dressing room before the play, convinced everyone would be better off without her.[20] She climbs to the roof of the old furniture building off Northern Highway and jumps.[21] She survives the fall, badly hurt and begging to die. Augustus is the one who finds her in the snow.[22] When he pulls out his phone, she screams at him not to make the call, certain he's calling someone else. She blacks out still pleading. The call is for an ambulance: "My friend's trying to kill herself."[23]

Back in the present, Lucy's family takes Augustus in on the spot. Her mom embraces him in tears,[24] and her dad offers him the guest room until graduation.[25] Augustus insists it must be a prank, right up until Lucy's mom confiscates his filthy jacket for the laundry.[26] He caves: "I'd love that, actually.."[27] Lucy has conditions of her own: no more skipping school, and Daisy stays off-limits. Augustus agrees to the lot.[28] Then Jordan barges in to waive the scary-big-brother talk, in exchange for SAT tutoring he'll pay for himself.[29]

Critical moments

  • Lucy returns to Roseville High, and Mike is the first to see her, frozen in the classroom doorway.[6]
  • At the lunch table, Paulo reveals why he really left the con early: Abbey choked him there.[12] When Daisy condemns the assault, Abbey breaks up with her in front of the whole cafeteria.[13]
  • On her lunchtime walk, Lucy finds Augustus by the track and vows to fight for his future this school year.[17]
  • Lucy introduces Augustus to her family as "the boy who saved my life," sending the story into flashback.[19]
  • In the flashback, Lucy jumps from the roof of the old furniture building off Northern Highway.[21]
  • Augustus finds Lucy broken in the snow. The phone call she takes for a betrayal turns out to be for an ambulance.[23]
  • Lucy's dad offers Augustus the guest room until graduation.[25] After insisting it must be a prank, Augustus accepts.[27]

Character dynamics

Augustus lies back on his new bed with his arms spread wide, smiling.
Augustus settles into the guest room rather quickly.
  • Abbey and Daisy: The couple came into the chapter reconciled, with one old sore spot: Daisy taking Paulo's side, which already caused a fight back in Golden Hour.[30] Once the chokehold comes out and Daisy calls it assault, Abbey hears one defense of Paulo too many and ends things publicly.[13]
  • Lucy and Augustus: Nobody in the friend group knew he'd pulled her back from a rooftop ledge in Ten Seconds to Midnight,[31] or that they'd stayed in touch during her absence.[32] Now it's all out in the open: she vows to fight for his future, and by nightfall he's living in her family's guest room under her rules.[17][28]
  • Augustus and Lucy's family: He goes from "Who's the creep" to houseguest in a single evening. The reveal earns him her mom's tearful gratitude, her dad's guest room, and a paid tutoring pact with Jordan.[18][25][29]
  • Paulo and Mike: The two were genuinely close. Paulo was still giving Mike advice about Sandy one chapter earlier in Model Girlfriend.[33] Choking him with his own scarf and blaming him for Lucy's distance leaves that friendship in open hostility.[10]

Trivia & observations

  • Veronica has said the Augustus reveal was planned as "a big surprise," and that he was deliberately kept "barely appearing" in the background until Lucy's return.[34]
  • Lucy's flashback self-condemnation, "I'm a parasite," is the exact word Mike threw at her in December.[35][36]
  • Lucy's dad makes his first in-person appearance. Until now he'd only been seen on TV, winning a race qualifier in Dinner Time.[18][37]

Related chapters

  • Breaking Up: The chapter this one exists to answer; the flashback here finally shows what put Lucy in that hospital.
  • Ten Seconds to Midnight: Augustus pulled Lucy back from a rooftop ledge on New Year's Eve; this chapter's flashback completes the picture that one left hanging.
  • Guest of Honor: The con chapter where Abbey cornered Paulo in a restroom — the assault Paulo exposes here.

References

  1. ↑ Chapter 95: Love Again, page 1
  2. ↑ Chapter 95: Love Again, page 2
  3. ↑ Chapter 95: Love Again, page 3
  4. ↑ Chapter 95: Love Again, page 4
  5. ↑ Chapter 95: Love Again, page 5
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Chapter 95: Love Again, page 6
  7. ↑ Chapter 75: Breaking Up, page 4
  8. ↑ Chapter 95: Love Again, page 7
  9. ↑ Chapter 95: Love Again, page 12
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Chapter 95: Love Again, page 14
  11. ↑ Chapter 95: Love Again, page 15
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Chapter 95: Love Again, page 16
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Chapter 95: Love Again, page 17
  14. ↑ Chapter 95: Love Again, page 18
  15. ↑ Chapter 95: Love Again, page 20
  16. ↑ Chapter 95: Love Again, page 22
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Chapter 95: Love Again, page 23
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 Chapter 95: Love Again, page 29
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Chapter 95: Love Again, page 30
  20. ↑ Chapter 95: Love Again, page 32
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Chapter 95: Love Again, page 36
  22. ↑ Chapter 95: Love Again, page 38
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Chapter 95: Love Again, page 41
  24. ↑ Chapter 95: Love Again, page 42
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 Chapter 95: Love Again, page 45
  26. ↑ Chapter 95: Love Again, page 46
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Chapter 95: Love Again, page 47
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Chapter 95: Love Again, page 48
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 Chapter 95: Love Again, page 50
  30. ↑ Chapter 90: Golden Hour, page 20
  31. ↑ Chapter 73: Ten Seconds to Midnight, page 13
  32. ↑ Chapter 86: Trapped, page 35
  33. ↑ Chapter 94: Model Girlfriend, page 43
  34. ↑ . 2026-01-20 https://bittersweetcandybowl.tumblr.com/post/806218240887062528/veronica-this-is-a-very-thoughtful-interesting. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  35. ↑ Chapter 95: Love Again, page 33
  36. ↑ Chapter 68: December, page 30
  37. ↑ Chapter 65: Dinner Time, page 19
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