Eleanor & Park Chapter 42 Summary

Park

Park's family is going to be out all the next day at a boat show. Park really doesn't want to go, and he tells his parents he'd rather stay home in case Eleanor comes over; Park's mom agrees to let him stay.
Park vacuums and cleans up, not sure what to do with his free time. He falls asleep on the couch and wakes up to the doorbell, already knowing it's Eleanor.

As soon as Park opens the door, he pulls her inside, embracing her. She asks if he was sleeping, but he doesn't answer and kisses her instead. He finally pulls back, asking if she's okay. "He was touching her all the places she was afraid to be touched," Eleanor thinks, and "tried one last time to be embarrassed" (42.33-34).

For a minute Park's worried he went too far, because Eleanor doesn't respond to the embrace, but finally she touches him, and it's a different kind of touch than he expects.

Eleanor touches Park the way she imagined touching him in her head: "softly, gingerly, just in case she touched him wrong" (42.45).

Park relaxes into Eleanor's touch, and thinks that now's not the time to be shy.

Eleanor can only think that at this moment, Park is hers, and not only that, but he wants her to touch him. And "once she started touching him the way she did in her head, it was hard to stop. And because… what if she never had the chance to touch him like this again?" (42.53).

They make their way to the couch awkwardly, and Park tells her he loves her. "I know," Eleanor says, and Park answers, "You're not the Han Solo in this relationship, you know" (42.61), referencing the famous Empire Strikes Back quote.
He pulls up her shirt and says if she's Han Solo, he'll be Boba Fett and "cross the sky" (42.68) for her.

Eleanor makes a mental list of things she's just learned in the past two hours. This includes the wonderful discovery of Park's skin (which is smooth and wonderful), her own skin (covered with "super-powered nerve endings") (42.71), and also includes the revelation that "she wanted Park to touch her more than she could ever feel embarrassed" (42.72).
Eleanor doesn't want Park to stop touching her, and she doesn't feel any limits—she doesn't want to stop him, wherever he decides to touch her: "Nothing was dirty. With Park. Nothing could be shameful" (42.74).

Once it starts to get dark, Park thinks they should probably get themselves together in case his parents come home. They can't seem to stop touching each other, but eventually they manage to restrain themselves. Park asks Eleanor if things are going to be weird after this, and Eleanor says no, but then decides it will be weird, though "only for a minute, only a little" (42.48).
Park asks Eleanor about why she was upset the previous day, because she still hasn't told him. She tells him about what happened after gym class, but then stops, saying she doesn't want to talk about it. Park thinks, "maybe Tina really was a monster" (42.110).
Eleanor asks Park if the way he acted today had something to do with seeing her in her gym uniform yesterday. He admits that it did, and he's afraid of Eleanor's response, but she says: "Tina would be so pissed" (42.117).
Excellent reaction, Eleanor.

Park's parents get home and seem "genuinely glad to see Eleanor" (42.118).
When Park walks her outside that night, on Eleanor's way home, he embraces her instead of kissing her. "Do you think we'll ever be alone like that again?" (42.125) she asks. Park says yes, but he's not sure when.
Richie's awake when Eleanor gets home. She needs to use the bathroom, which means she has to walk in front of him. Richie asks where she's been, and Eleanor says she's been at Tina's house.
When Richie asks her what she spent her Christmas money on, Eleanor says she bought a necklace.