Ugly Love

Tate, Corbin, and Miles go to the Collinses’ house for Thanksgiving since Miles doesn’t have anywhere else to go. On the way out of the apartment building, Cap asks Miles if he’s going home, and Miles demurs. When Tate tries to talk about Miles’s attitude toward Cap, Cap defends Miles. Tate tries to ignore Miles in the car, but she keeps seeing him in the rearview mirror. She offers him a tight, polite smile. She stretches her legs onto the center console in between Corbin and Miles, and Miles wraps his hand around her foot and strokes it. Tate enjoys Miles’s affection but is confused about his intentions. She wonders why he never smiles or flirts, and she can’t figure out the game he’s playing.

When they arrive at Tate and Corbin’s parents’ house, Corbin and Miles are tasked with hanging Christmas lights, and Tate helps her mom in the kitchen. Her mom pries about Miles. Tate pretends like she doesn’t really care about him, but her mom senses the truth.

Miles lies to his father and says he’s visiting his friend, Ian. He sneaks over to Rachel’s house while his dad and Lisa go on a date. Miles and Rachel talk about the kiss and how they shouldn’t have done it, but they know they can’t fight their feelings. The idea of being without each other is unbearable even though all signs point to marriage for their parents. They plan to secretly see each other for seven months until Rachel goes to Michigan for college. Miles plans to stay in San Francisco to attend flight school with Ian.

Corbin nearly falls off the ladder while hanging Christmas lights, but Miles catches the ladder to steady it and injures his hand. He needs stitches, and Tate wants him to go to the hospital. He insists she do the stitches there. Tate and Miles go in the bathroom together, and Tate awkwardly tries to have him avoid touching her in a way that’s distracting as she stitches his hand. She notices he manages the pain very well. He touches her knee and says her name. She tries to step away, but he pulls her close and kisses her. She kisses him back, but then he pulls away. He apologizes for kissing her. Even though Tate says she didn’t mind, he tells her not to let him do it again and leaves.

Later, the whole family and Miles have dinner together. Corbin and Tate’s parents ask Miles if he has a girlfriend. Corbin steps in. He explains that Miles hasn’t had a girlfriend in a long time but implies that Miles hasn’t always spent his nights alone. The parents awkwardly apologize and nonchalantly affirm that Miles is gay. Corbin comically reveals that he’s believed Miles to be gay for years, and they all laugh about the misconception.

After dinner, Tate checks Miles’s hand again, and they don’t talk. Tate feels weird that they haven’t spoken. She goes to bed and hears someone approach her door. She feels sure it’s Miles, but the footsteps head away toward the kitchen. Tate thinks of an excuse to get out of bed and pretends to get orange juice from the fridge. Miles is out there and teases her about the orange juice. Tate asks whether Miles really hasn’t had a girlfriend or sex in six years. He quietly confirms. They talk about sex, flirt with each other, and end up kissing again. Tate’s dad walks in on them and tells Tate to go to bed.

Tate and Miles leave the kitchen but linger in the hallway outside of Tate’s bedroom door. They kiss again, and Miles asks if Tate is okay with what might happen next. Tate wants to be intimate but is apprehensive about Miles’s unknown past and reasons for abstinence. She proposes rules to ease his concerns, and he offers two: They’ll have sex with each other as long as Tate doesn’t ask about Miles’s past or expect a future with him. Tate says she has a rule too, but she doesn’t know what it is yet. Miles laughs and kisses her, but Tate sees his fear.

Miles confides in Ian about Rachel. Rachel and her mom move into the house with Miles and his dad. Miles gives Rachel his room because it has a private bathroom, and he wants her to have the best space. They establish ground rules for their seven months together under the same roof. They agree that they can’t be together when their parents are home, and they can’t have sex. Miles closes the bedroom door, and they kiss.