Viewers will remember in the first movie, Lara Jean (Lana Condor) and Peter only pretended to be a couple, but by the end they’d developed real feelings for each other.
In To All The Boys: P.S. I Still Love You Lara Jean begins to doubt her relationship with Peter. The movie starts with the pair’s first official date. It’s Lara Jean’s first date ever, and instead of getting ready on time, she dances around her room with glee. The night consists of a dinner date and a special lantern release. Their connection seems strong and both seem pleased to be in an official relationship after months of pretending.
Things get a bit complicated, though. Lara Jean’s love letters, which were sent to every boy she’d ever loved in the first film, come back to haunt her. She receives a handwritten love letter from John Ambrose McClaren, the boy she may have loved the most. While she tries to write him back, everything comes out wrong and too romantic. Lara Jean reminds herself that she has a boyfriend, and she shouldn’t be thinking that way about someone else.
In casual conversation, Lara Jean tells Peter about John Ambrose’s letter. He implies she’s made him jealous because she wanted to write John Ambrose back and later Lara Jean comes face to face with John before she responds to his letter.
Their meeting comes after she chooses Bellville, a senior community center, as her school volunteer hour project and discovers that John Ambrose has also picked the same center. Though they haven’t seen one another for years, the pair still have a special bond. Further complicating the situation, John Ambrose and Peter used to be friends.
As time goes on, Lara Jean spends more time around John Ambrose. All the while, Peter is seeming less like the person she loves. On Valentine’s Day, Lara Jean is upset that he doesn’t send her carolers in class as he did for Jen, his ex-girlfriend and Lara Jean’s ex-best friend. She also witnesses a flood of Valentine’s notes fall from Peter’s locker and begins to feel second best. Then, Peter writes her a beautiful poem that Lara Jean is later told is an Edgar Allen Poe poem.
In a plot twist many viewers may hate to see, Lara Jean breaks up with Peter after seeing a photo of him hugging Jen. The film shows Lara Jean struggling with the idea of Peter’s ex, the fact that he’s already had sex and that he still communicates with Jen.
Lara Jean gains the clarity she needs when she calls Jen. The two talk about their broken friendship and Jen reveals her parents are getting a divorce. She says she only calls Peter so much because he gets it, as his parents split up, too. She also claims Peter is crazy about Lara Jean and tell her that often.
The film concludes with Lara Jean sharing a kiss with John Ambrose. While the moment could send Lara Jean into a new, loving relationship, it solidifies what her heart feels. Lara Jean realizes she’s in love with Peter and runs to win him back. It turns out, he felt the same way, and he’s already outside when she leaves Bellville to find him.
Lara Jean ends up with Peter at the end of the film, and he tells her to break his heart over and over if it means he can love her.
