SPOILER - about Tristan

Everybody getting all mad at Tristan has to understand Eden barged into his tranquil and quiet life. Eden is nothing more than a stranger to him. The fact Tristan was willing to pay for his medical treatment and make sure he'll be in want of nothing speaks a lot about Tristan's sense of responsibility.

So I read the novel and got to the part where they returned to London, and then skipped to the end. I skipped not because it's boring or bad, but I'm getting to the part of the novel where they're dropping hints and foreshadowing something bad is gonna happen, and I'm just dreading it. I didn't want to read the angst lol.

Anyway, Tristan falls for Eden first, but because the novel is told from Eden's POV, we don't really see when, how, and why Tristan falls for Eden. There was only one chapter from Tristan's POV, and it's towards the first half of the novel.

This whole having sex as a form of treatment for Eden? Tristan becomes obsessed with it. Eden actually recovers enough that he goes back to London for physical therapy and in hopes of restarting his career. So he goes between London and Scotland every 10 days. When Eden is back in Scotland, the first thing Tristan does is drag Eden to bed and have sex with him. At one point, the chef and maid don't see Eden for an entire week because Tristan kept him in bed with him for that long. The sex is also no longer painful btw. It's definitely pleasurable for the both of them now, especially for Tristan (more on about this later).

At one point, Eden delays going back to Scotland due to his interview with his company getting pushed back + snowstorm canceling his flight. Out of desperation, he takes the train from England to Scotland. In the middle of it, though, his seizure comes back. He hasn't seen or been treated by Tristan for 14 days at this point, so his symptoms of separation comes back. When Tristan hears Eden going into seizure, he goes batshit crazy. The secretary and chef try to stop Tristan from driving out into the snowstorm, but he fights both of them. He knocks both of them down and is about to drive into the storm when the chef yells, "If you die, Eden will die with you!" Hearing that, Tristan immediately calms down.

Something that I should mention at this point, it's heavily implied in the novel Tristan values very little about his own life. He's tired and weary of it. The reason he gave up his company and secluded himself in the castle is because he wants to get away from it all. Just disappear. If he dies...then oh well. Though we barely get any POV from Tristan, in the novel, we do see how Tristan acts and talks to Eden when they're in bed together. Tristan even says at one point that his entire life, from everything he does, it's out in the open. Everything single part of his life is scrutinized and posted on tabloids for ppl to gossip. All except Eden. Only Eden is his secret to keep. Only Eden is fully his. Eden is his own patch of peace. (And it's around here that I stopped reading bc oh man, the foreshadowing).

I can't recall it word for word, but at one point, Tristan says something along the lines of if it weren't for his name on Eden's body and the obligation he had to keep Eden alive, he would've disappeared from the world a long time ago.

Anyway, after Eden's seizure incident, Tristan decided to reintegrate himself back with society. We as reader know why Tristan decide to go back to London, but Eden doesn't find out until later in the story. Tristan goes back to London so that he can be with Eden. Eden can get both his physical therapy done and still receive "treatment" from Tristan.

EDIT: I should add, before Tristan moves back to London for Eden, he at first asks Eden to move in to live with him. He will pay Eden to be his personal pianist. Eden can continue to play the piano just as he wishes. He can play whatever he wants, and Tristan won't judge or demand much from him. He just wants Eden to enjoy and play the piano. The two of them can live out the rest of their lives together, just the two of them here, with no one to bother them. However, Eden later rejects the offer. While it is tempting, and Eden almost took Tristan up on it, it's not just about playing the piano. It's about being recognized as a pianist. Eden threw himself into the piano, staked his life to make it as a professional pianist. If he doesn't recognized for it by his peers, then it makes his life meaningless. Although he appreciates Tristan's offer, if he chose it, he might as well be dead. No one will remember him. No one will even know he existed. And so because Eden rejected Tristan's offer to stay in Scotland, Tristan decided to go back to London for Eden.

Also, Tristan uses his money to launch Eden's career. Creates an entire company JUST to launch Eden. Eden is the ONLY pianist managed by the company btw. Tristan really spared no expenses. Eden has trouble finding a studio where he can practice? No problem. Buys an entire building for Eden where he can practice. Eden's original company is about to drop him? No probelm, Tristan creates a company just for him.

Because Tristan decided to come back to London after 2 years of absence, he has a lot of paperwork and catch up to do. The two of them can only meet once a week for 30 minutes at first while Tristan is busy. Eden understands and tries to accommodate the short time. At one point when Tristan apologizes, Eden says it's fine. The 30 minute is more than enough for his treatment. Tristan then looks at Eden with a frown and says while it's enough for Eden, it's nowhere enough for him. Tristan actually always goes over the 30 minute allotted time to the lament of the secretary. Tristan tries to linger, but Eden always urges him to go bc he feels bad for the secretary.

The two aren't officially lovers yet. Neither confessed or agree to go out up to this point in the story. However, Eden is well aware he's in love with Tristan right now. Especially when Tristan is so gentle and sweet to him.

Anyway, I skipped to the end. Eden was able to surgically remove Tristan's name from his body, much to Tristan's lament. After Eden wakes up from the surgery, Tristan goes to see him one time. They both know if Eden doesn't stop him, this will be the last time they'll ever see each other. Eden lets Tristan go. For 2 years, the two don't contact each other. From what I gathered, Tristan didn't want Eden to go through with the surgery, but Eden was persistent. Eden unilaterally cut off the connection they had that bound them together.

Tristan pulls away from society again. Eden's career is soaring. He's a world renowned pianist now. Fully recovered. When he returns to London, he visits the studio Tristan gave him and find a card tucked away in a book Tristan gave him. When he calls the number, hoping against all hope it will lead him to Tristan, he hears the voice of Tristan's lawyer. He finds out from the lawyer Tristan gifted him the castle in Scotland. Not just he castle, the entire land. Thinking this is a sign, Eden goes to the castle, going through every nook and cranny, hoping he'd find Tristan. At this point in the novel, you as a reader are just as anxious as Eden. Neither the reader or Eden know if Tristan is still alive...or if he decided to end things once and for all because he's THAT tired of all the noise and life. In the 2 years they've been separated, no one can find Tristan. Not even a trace.

Just as he's giving up, Eden remembers the tree house Tristan took him to. Eden realizes this is the reason Tristan gifted him the land. It's not bc of the castle, but the tree house. In the tree house, Eden finds a secret compartment with a postcard. The postcard has an address of this remote, practically unknown Italian village.

Long story short, Eden finds Tristan in the Italian village. Their reunion isn't sweet as you think. Tristan is still recovering from all the mental stress, and he tells Eden at one point that he didn't want Eden to find him. However, Eden pointed out that if Tristan didn't want him to find him, he shouldn't have hid the postcard in the tree house. Tristan admits that yes, he did hide the post card in the tree house bc he can't give up on Eden entirely. He left the post card to leave himself a bit of hope. Hope that one day Eden might find him, that if he looks out in the street, he'd see him. The hope is what kept him going.

The two are in a very difficult situation, very similar to the one that happened in London. Eden says he'll stay with Tristan, but Tristan stops him. He tells him Eden is meant to be in the spotlight, not waste away his talent in this tiny corner of the world. Eden suffered so much, but preserved through everything bc of his piano. Tristan will not be the reason Eden disappears into obscurity.

Meanwhile, Tristan suggests they move to New York together. He will move to New York to be with Eden. Eden vehemently vetos the idea. Tristan just got back his life together, but bc Eden barging into his peaceful life again, Tristan was about to give everything up for him. Eden didn't want to do that to Tristan.

So while the two love each other and want to be together, one of them will have to sacrifice either their dream or peace to be together.

The novel ends by flash forwarding 2 years into the future. Tristan and Eden come to a compromise. Eden basically works 3 months(?) out of the year, and then spends 9 months with Tristan at his villa. Also, after working for about 4-5 years now, Eden plans to take a long hiatus. He's done everything he's wanted and reached the peak of his profession. So he wants to take a long hiatus. Though it's not said explicitly, the novel ends with Eden running into Tristan's arms that his long hiatus is bc he wants to spend it with Tristan.