Episode 6324

Extended Summary

Oscar confronts Maddy about Matt being in love with her. Maddy’s speechless and as Oscar gets more worked up about her keeping it a secret, Matt comes back and defends her. Things get heated and Oscar walks away with Maddy calling after him.

Nate’s playing with Casey while Ricky does some research on her laptop. When Nate goes into the kitchen Ricky looks at an email which appears to be from Gavin Cooper, Nate’s father. She reads it then quickly minimises it as Nate comes back.

In the diner Phoebe has a meeting with Greg about her upcoming tutoring. She’s a little apprehensive after her conversation with Ash earlier and when she sees the workload she becomes more worried, but covers well. Alf and Roo chat, but when Roo drops a letter and Alf tries to pick it up for her she becomes furtive and grabs it before he can. Once Alf’s gone we see that the letter is from James, and Roo hasn’t opened it yet…

Maddy tries to talk to Oscar about getting past her keeping Matt’s feelings a secret, saying she was trying to keep the peace, but when Matt walks in and tries to tell them he’ll keep out of their way, Oscar just talks over him and pushes past him, walking away. Leah see all this and asks what’s going on.

Ricky tells Phoebe about finding Nate’s dad. Phoebe thinks Ricky needs to tell Nate. Ash runs into Nate on the beach and they decide to catch up over lunch, together with Ricky and Phoebe, if Ash can drag Phoebe away from prepping for her new job. He finds her with instruments and paperwork all over the floor, stressed out about not being ready. As Ash tells Phoebe they’re going for lunch he picks up her guitar and strums discordantly. Phoebe gets an idea, she can use Ash as a practice student. He’s not very keen but can’t really say no. Phoebe tries to go through the basics with him but he’s awful, and Phoebe starts to lose her patience.

Oscar confronts Matt, asking how long he’s liked Maddy. When he asks why Matt told Maddy, Matt says she worked it out herself, and when Matt admits that of course he hoped she’d reciprocate and have the same feelings, it’s too much for Oscar and he punches Matt in the face. Leah finds Matt icing his eye. As she asks what happened, Oscar enters the house and admits that it was him. Leah is appalled and puts Oscar on cleaning duty for a month. Matt tries to give Maddy space, but she purposely starts a conversation saying she didn’t ask for space. Then she spots his bruised eye and realises it was Oscar. She apologises but Matt shrugs it off, saying he’d fight for her if she were his girlfriend too. Maddy seeks out Oscar and tells him she doesn’t know who he is anymore. When he defends himself she just tells him to sort himself out and leaves. Maddy talks to Roo about it, who tries to calm her and says that people make mistakes. Maddy spots the letter which Roo is still holding and isn’t impressed when she finds out it’s from James. Maddy offers to open it, but Roo declines.

As Ricky and Nate prepare a beautiful lunch there’s a warm, loved up feeling in the air. As they talk Ricky angles towards telling Nate about contacting his dad, but just as she’s about to say something they hear Phoebe and Ash arriving, their bickering preceding them… They sit and eat but Phoebe and Ash continue to go at each other. Ricky calls them on it and Phoebe tries to prove her point by teaching Ricky to play a rhythm at the table. Ricky and Nate are impressed, but the tension between Phoebe and Ash continues to simmer. After lunch Phoebe and Ash leave, still sniping at each other. Ricky tries to tell Nate about Gavin, but misses her moment again. Back at the house Phoebe expresses how Ash made her feel undermined and he tells her he’s her number one fan, that she’s the only one who needs to work on believing in herself. They kiss and make up.

Maddy and Oscar talk again back at the house, with Oscar initially apologising, but also pointing out that she overreacted and should have been honest. Maddy tells Oscar that he assumed the worst about her, and Oscar says that it works both ways, and walks out. Maddy goes and finds Matt, and while telling him that she fought with Oscar, Matt apologises for messing things up. He also asks how she’s feeling after going to the hospital and she’s touched by his care. They have a moment where the chemistry between them grows, and Matt awkwardly breaks it. Is there something between them?

Ricky comes down from Nate’s bedroom and answers a knock at the door, and finds a stranger in front of her. Just as it clicks who he is, Nate comes into view and is shocked to see his father for the first time in years…