Drew and Belle go to drastic lengths to keep seeing one another. Sally feels the pressure of keeping the truth about Emily’s condition from Brad, and Cassie’s shocked when a face from the past makes a surprising return.
Extended Summary
Irene arrives at the Hunter’s to give Beth some support after hearing about Robbie’s charges and Beth asks how Tasha is holding up? Irene says she’s taking it pretty hard – it’s not going to be easy. As Irene heads out she passes Tony, who is devastated after being fired. Meanwhile Brad is feeling terrible about having to fire him as Emily tries to reassure him – he had no choice in the matter. Sally arrives and apologises to Brad for reacting badly about the firing – she knows he had a tough call to make – and invites him and Emily to dinner. They agree and once alone, we see Emily coughing up blood into a tissue – clearly she isn’t as well as she’s making out… Back at the Hunter’s, Tony is trying to reassure his family that all will be fine despite his loss of job, but when alone with Beth, his face falls – 40 years old and unemployed in a small town isn’t a good place to be. Beth takes him in her arms and comforts him – ‘we’ll get through this together’. Lucas is also finding things hard, with Tony’s job, stuff with Mattie, Robbie’s charges – it’s all too much. He talks to Ric and Cassie about it, then Brad walks by and Lucas has a go at him for firing his dad! Next day, Ric and Lucas go for a surf and Ric tries to cheer his mate up – things will get better – just look at him and Cassie, they went through hell and now they’re back together! Meanwhile, Cassie is interrupted at home by a knock at the door – she opens it to a smiling Macca – he’s back in town!
At Leah’s, Drew wanders in and Dan tries to be civil, offering a hello – but Drew intentionally ignores him. Dan wonders if this is how it’s going to be between them from now on – Drew expresses how over this place he is, when the only thing that’s good about it, he’s not allowed to go near – Belle! Drew storms off as Leah tries to comfort Dan – he heads out for a walk to clear his head… At Amanda’s place, Belle is sulking in the back yard, cleaning the pool, not happy about her grounding, while Amanda arrives at the Diner to pick up dinner. She and Dan cross, both frustrated with their respective troubled teen. Belle won’t even talk to Amanda! They both hope things improve or they’ll all go insane! Drew calls Belle and arranges to meet with Belle outside the Surf Club at 10pm tonight – they are over this and miss each other too much! That night, Drew waits for Leah and Dan to crash so he can sneak out – he thinks the coast is clear, but Dan catches him out, Drew admitting to going to see Belle. Dan goes off at him and things escalate to the point where Drew raises a fist at Dan! A tense stand off before Drew backs down and heads to his room… Next day at school, Drew fills Belle in on what happened with Dan – how are they going to see each other? Drew’s face lightens with an idea, let’s wag school! They head to Leah’s – she’s at work and Dan’s at a conference – it’s all their’s! Things get hot and heavy really quickly… Noticing Belle and Drew missing from school, Sally calls Amanda who heads straight to Leah’s and catches a naked Drew and towel draped Belle!
She gives them an earful as they dress and Leah arrives home wondering what’s going on? Amanda lets her know, dragging Belle home with her. Drew tells Leah not to start – but she cuts him off – he’s gone too far this time and the lack of respect has really upset her. She tells him to show more courtesy, before heading out, leaving Drew with food for thought. Meanwhile, Amanda gives Belle errands to do – she isn’t impressed. As she cleans the yard, Drew calls her mobile, he’s going to skip town and wants her to come with him! Belle can’t believe it!
Ric and Cassie are flirty with each other as they set up for dinner, while Sally notices that Emily is a lot sicker than she’s letting on as she has a wobble, and doesn’t want Brad to know about it. Sally’s meal goes down a treat and as she’s organizing coffees in the kitchen she talks to Emily about seeing her moment before. Emily admits she’s getting worse, but doesn’t want Brad to see this just yet – it’s too soon. She asks that Sal keep it to herself. She agrees, but is concerned with how Emily is dealing with this. The following day at school, Brad and Sally chat about dinner that night – he thanks her and comments that Emily had a lovely time and how amazingly well she’s holding up. Sally is forced to bite her tongue.
Later that day, Sally drops by to see how Emily is doing – she thanks her for not telling Brad – but Sal wants to know if she’s thought anymore about telling him. As she says this, Brad appears from behind having overheard his name. Emily quickly covers, then shoots Sal a look of gratitude. When will Emily tell Brad? And how long can Sally keep this news to herself?