okay, so i was a little confused with the end of atoning... because as a reader, the way it was written made it sound like chloe and derek were waiting to have sex, yet..? and i really don't know how I feel about derek leaving to go to college, but im glad

Jumping ahead in the my question queue to address this one…

They are waiting to have sex :) The last chapter is a circle back to the first, where Chloe says that, after Derek runs, they’re no longer in a hurry for him to dress, and that while they aren’t having sex, there are many other things they can do. So when you get to that last scene, and they’re lying in the forest after his run and mostly undressed, that’s what you’re seeing. It’s not post-sex…it’s post “other forms of entertainment” ;) I wanted to address the issue of sex in a long term teen relationship and make it clear that, after 18 months of dating, they’re doing more than kissing, but I didn’t want it to be too explicit, knowing I have some younger readers for this trilogy.

It’s always possible I’ll return for more stories. I’m still waiting to get a sense of how this one did in terms of readership—were many readers actually still around to follow it or have they (understandably!) wandered away from this series by now.