If you've already watched all of Netflix's new show Forever then hi, welcome to the club. There's truly nothing better than a heart-warming teen romance series. This show has you laughing, crying, and saying "aweee" more times than you can count and the finale was no less of an emotional rollercoaster. As you likely well know by now, the series follows the (sometimes tumultuous) love story of high schoolers Keisha and Justin as they get together, fall in love, and try to figure out their futures post-high school—especially whether their futures include each other. Keisha has her sights laser-focused on going to Howard, but Justin is being very strongly pushed towards Northwestern by his parents.
So did Keisha and Justin ultimately stay together? And did Justin end up doing what his parents wanted or did he pursue his own passions? Let's get into it.
Keisha and Justin agree to enjoy the year
It's New Year's Eve and Keisha and Justin, who aren't in a good spot after their fight in the pool, happen to run into each other out at a club (thanks to a little help from their best friends Chloe and Darius). When they get home later that night, they FaceTime and agree not to fight anymore and just enjoy the year together. They also reflect on the fact that they've now been together (on and off) for a whole year.
Cut to a montage of Instagram posts showing them having a blast together over the next few months, cooking together, hanging out at the pool, grabbing dinner with friends, and celebrating Justin's birthday. It ends with one last post of them at the Santa Monica Pier for Keisha's school's prom night.
Prom night problems
The kids are all having fun at prom, taking pics in the photo booth and absolutely tearing up the dance floor to Saweetie's My Type. Justin and Keisha break away to have a little convo and Justin, whose classmates are almost all white, says he's never got to experience that kind of Black community before and he really loved it. He then throws out an unexpected idea: what if he doesn't go to Northwestern like his parents want and goes to Howard with Keisha instead? Keisha seems completely thrown off and not at all excited, but very reluctantly says it could be a good idea.
Back at their hotel room that night, there's an awkward silence hanging in the air. Justin asks what's wrong but Keisha says she's just tired. He says if she doesn't want him to go to Howard, he won't. Keisha admits she had already pictured their future together with her at Howard and him and Northwestern, visiting each other and spending the summer together, and she was just thrown by his complete change of plans. Justin says it was just a stupid idea and he won't go to Howard. The night ends with Keisha inviting her friends over.
The inevitable (but heartbreaking) end
The next morning, Justin is on his way to a Northwestern admitted students event and calls Keisha to apologize and make sure they're ok. They talk for a few minutes but after they hang up, Keisha calls back and leaves a voicemail saying she's not cool with them being in separate cities and wants to meet up after he's finished with his event.
Keisha comes over to Justin's house and they start to talk. Justin says he doesn't want to just go to another predominantly white institution his mother picked out for him, but he doesn't know what he wants outside of Keisha. Keisha says she wants to tell him to go to Howard but that it doesn't seem like something he actually wants (and it isn't really something she wants either). Justin says he finally knows what it feels like to really want something, but that it can't just be Keisha that he wants. Keisha asks why he's ending it now and he says if he doesn't, he'll just keep making Keisha his whole world and he won't be able to figure out what he wants to do with his life.
He gives Keisha a ride home and as he's dropping her off, he asks her to tell him that he's wrong. She doesn't. But she says he better make breaking up worth it by fighting for himself and telling his parents what he wants. He then tells Keisha he can't see her for a bit while he tries to sort things out.
Justin finally talks to his parents
Justin sits down with his parents and tells them he doesn't want to go to Northwestern and that he wants to make music instead. His mom, who's a die-hard Northwestern alumnus, tries to convince him he can still go to the school and just apply to switch to the music program once he gets there. But Justin says he wants to defer his admission for a year to figure out where he really wants to go for himself.
A sweet reunion
Keisha and Justin both graduate from high school, and Keisha gives her salutatorian speech about how she came into her school not wanting to connect with anyone because she was so focused on just getting to college, but once she let people in, the village around her helped her and lifted her up.
Cut to two months later and Keisha and Justin run into each other outside the music studio. It's kinda awkward, to say the least, but Keisha says she's leaving for Howard in a week and Justin tells her he's been working at the studio this summer and isn't going to Northwestern next year. Instead, he's taking a music production and engineering course and working at CVS to pay for it. They wish each other luck and start to leave but then Justin stops and asks Keisha if she wants to get dinner to say goodbye before she leaves.
At dinner, Justin brings Keisha the bag he bought her on their first date (the one that kinda spurred their first fight) and said he'd been hanging onto it in the back of his closet this whole time. The two start joking back and forth and seem to be in a good spot. At the end of dinner, they say they're going to miss each other and Justin suggests maybe they'll be ready for each other in 10 years. He kisses her on the forehead and walks away, seemingly bringing their love story to a final end.
