Episode 7187

Extended Summary

Colby and Mackenzie are arriving back at the flat and wonder how they’re going to manage to go slow when they’re there on their own. Mackenzie considers having dinner there. Colby decides to text Bella: Not to check on her but to see if she’ll be at home soon so she won’t interrupt them “watching a movie”. At the caravan park, Ryder and Blake bring in another crate of beers. Bella immediately takes one despite Ryder’s protests. She gets a text from Colby asking if she needs a lift. Ryder says she needs to answer or he’ll come looking. Bella hands him the phone and Ryder sends a text saying she’s just chilling.

Colby gets the response supposedly from Bella. He and Mackenzie start kissing but she quickly breaks it off before it can lead to more. They sit down to watch a movie with Mackenzie requesting nothing sexy, scary or romantic. At the Diner, Alf and Roo order a tea and a decaf. Alf wants to leave it at that and get home but Irene and Roo point out it’s only just got dark and they need to really trust Ryder. Alf agrees to stay for some mud cake. Roo asks Irene about Bella and Irene notes she seems fine with testifying.

Ryder finds Bella sat feeling ill. She tries to go home but Ryder says if Colby sees her he’ll kill her and arrest him. Dean and Ziggy arrive, with Dean noting they need to get to bed early since he has an early shift and Mackenzie isn’t as cool as Ben. Ryder hides Bella from them and takes her to the house, sitting her down round the back and saying they need to sober her up before she goes home. As he’s checking inside, Alf and Roo arrive and wonder why he’s there instead of at the party. Ryder says a bunch of gatecrashers turned up and he couldn’t get rid of them. Alf and Roo go to sort them out, with Ryder sending them the opposite way to where Bella is. He takes Bella upstairs where she immediately slumps on his bed. Ryder outlines a plan to give her drink, food and painkillers and then sneak her home when everyone else has gone to bed. However, Bella is already asleep and won’t be woken up.

Alf douses the party’s campfire with water and he and Roo ask Blake and another boy, Tyler, where the booze came from. They both claim it just appeared. Alf says if they don’t go he’ll call the police and Roo says she’ll call their parents…which gets all of the teens fleeing in a panic. Dean and Ziggy emerge; they don’t know where the booze came from but Dean takes the rest of the beer for safe keeping. Alf and Roo ponder that they should have got the teens to clean up before they left. Back at the house, Ryder takes Bella’s phone, uses her thumb to unlock it while she sleeps and sends Colby a text claiming a group of them are staying over.

Colby gets the message and notes to Mackenzie that they have the place to themselves. They wonder if they’re still taking it slow, then conclude that they lasted until the end of the movie before kissing, undressing and heading for the bedroom. Meanwhile, Ryder gets a glass of water and some painkillers ready, drapes a blanket over Bella and settles down to sleep in a chair.

Next morning, Colby and Mackenzie wake up together and wonder how long they’ve got before Bella gets back. They hear footsteps and wonder if it’s her but in fact it’s Dean, who just walks into the bedroom to invite Colby for a surf. Everyone is embarrassed and Dean hastily retreats. Meanwhile, Ryder notes a call from Colby on Bella’s phone. Bella wakes up and Ryder quickly jogs her memory of the previous night. Bella needs to throw up and Ryder gives her a bin to do it in.

Downstairs, Colby arrives and tells Alf and Roo that he’s come to pick Bella up. This confuses them, since as far as they know Bella isn’t there. Comparing notes quickly makes them realise either Ryder or Bella has been lying. Upstairs, Bella’s shirt is soaked with vomit. Ryder gives her one of his to change into, turning his back until she’s decent…but naturally, it’s while she’s sat in the bed with her shirt off that Alf and Colby come in. Colby is horrified.

The four of them go downstairs (Bella now wearing Ryder’s shirt). Both Bella and Ryder insist nothing happened but Colby isn’t exactly believing it and gets Ryder to admit he sent the messages from Bella’s phone. Bella insists she and Colby leave, while Ryder explains to Alf and Roo about her getting drunk. As Colby and Bella walk home, with Bella still maintaining it was innocent and Colby still assuming Ryder did something to her, they run into Dean and Ziggy. Ziggy thinks Ryder’s a good kid but Colby snaps that he’s not a kid and wants to go back and confront him. Dean says Colby’s not in the right headspace so he’ll do it. Mackenzie approaches Ziggy and notes that Dean’s meant to be starting a shift in fifteen minutes. Ziggy says Dean tends to set his own hours.

Alf chides Ryder for bringing alcohol to the party, reminding him of his RSA training. He says there’s not going to be another party and Ryder notes they’re not what they’re cracked up to be. Alf tells him to go and clean up the mess. After Alf’s gone, Dean arrives and angrily demands an explanation from Ryder. Ryder explains that he bought some booze and just looked after Bella after she wrote herself off. Dean believes him. He calls Colby and says Ryder didn’t touch Bella but they may have a bigger problem. Back at the flat, Bella has changed and is lying on the sofa. Colby asks her why she got drunk. Bella explains about Irene’s visit, needing her to testify in person. She says she wants to help Irene but it makes her feel sick.

Dean shows up at Salt but Mackenzie tells him she’s arranged for someone to cover his shift. Dean says she can send them home but Mackenzie says the roster is arranged so she can run the place and he’s an employee. Dean tells her to stuff her job. At the Diner, Colby tells Irene about Bella and that she can’t testify. Irene says she’ll talk to her lawyer about making it easier but Colby insists she can’t testify at all. Irene says that’s okay, but after Colby’s gone she looks extremely worried.