Elio returns to B. without Oliver. Elio resolves to not wallow in missing Oliver, but everyone at home wants to talk about him. Elio and Vimini go for a swim, and Vimini is upset that Oliver left without saying goodbye to her. Oliver calls to report that he made it back home. He and Elio play with the idea of visiting one another, but it’s a half-hearted conversation. Oliver tells Elio to look out for something in Elio’s room that Oliver took. Elio searches in his room and happily sees that Oliver took Elio’s postcard photo of Monet’s berm. Elio sits with his father, who broaches the topic of the intimate friendship between Oliver and Elio. Elio’s father tells him it's a good thing that he was in love and encourages Elio to submit to passion because that’s what life is all about.

Oliver visits B. during the Christmas break, but things between him and Elio have changed. Oliver is engaged to be married to a woman he’s had an on-and-off relationship with. He and Elio don’t have sex, and Elio doesn’t feel the same passion he did in the summer.