Episode 6538

Extended Summary

We open on a beautiful day, with preparations for the beach volleyball competition well underway outside the surf club. Brody bumps into a gorgeous girl but she disappears before he can go after her. He spends much of the day trying to find her, with the excuse to return what he thinks is her bracelet.

At the diner, there’s some awkwardness between Nate and Tori, which Duncan picks up on when Matt approaches them all to sign up to play. Nate tries to get out of it, but is talked around.

Pheobe goes around to the Morgan house to try and persuade Justin to partner her, but finds him in a funk. He’s not in the mood and she leaves, worried about his state of mind. She mentions it to Tori, who goes home to check on him. Justin is upset, and lashes out at Tori – when they went into witness protection, all she left behind was a guy who cheated on her. He left behind his little girl. His pain is raw and Tori carefully tries to get him out of the house but he’s not interested. He tells her to go and she does, reluctantly leaving him to his misery. Pheobe returns later, trying again to gently pull Justin out of his dark mood. He opens up a little, saying that when he went into witness protection he had to leave behind his whole life, hinting at something more… Phoebe doesn’t press, seeing how he’s struggling. She has to get to her game.

John signs up to play, and Phoebe isn’t overjoyed when she finds that she’s partnered with him, but is happily surprised when they play well and win their first round. Matt’s very happy to see his partner is the mystery girl, Jeannie. Evelyn’s a little put out by how made up he is. Duncan’s happily partnered with Ellie until Nate tells him he drew Tori…

Nate finds Tori, telling her that they’re playing soon. Tori confronts him about a call that she got from the hospital earlier – about Nate going to CareFlight full time. She asks if he’s really leaving Summer Bay? While they play against Phoebe and John, they argue. As Phoebe serves, Justin appears, cheering her on. Nate and Tori clash as they both go for the ball, falling together with him on top of her. There’s a charged moment, which isn’t missed by Duncan. As they get up, Nate grimaces in pain, his injured shoulder hurting. John calls out that they should forfeit. As Tori and Nate move off, John and Phoebe do a victory dance. Brody realises that Matt’s partnered with Jeannie and impulsively makes a large donation to the charity in order to replace Matt as Jeannie’s volleyball partner. Evelyn’s quietly pleased that Matt is no longer playing with Jeannie.

Back inside, Tori wants Nate to stay and talk about the CareFlight thing but he’s terse and leaves. She’s at a loss but Duncan’s points out it’s pretty obvious that Nate still likes Tori.

Later, there’s a trophy presentation – Phoebe and John win the tournament! After Evelyn thanks Brody for his generous donation, Matt cheekily tells her that he knows she didn’t like him playing with Jeannie… and that she’s not his type anyway. Evelyn covers her reaction, unsure how she feels. Brody tries to give Jeannie her bracelet back, but it turns out it was Ellie’s. He turns back from talking to Ellie, only to find Jeannie’s disappeared again. Justin thanks Phoebe for giving him the kick up the backside that he needed and they share an understanding smile.

Tori finds Nate in the diner, picking up dinner. He tries to make a quick getaway but Tori stops him and asks the loaded question – are you leaving Summer Bay because of me?