Episode 7468

Extended Summary

Ari finishes off a phone call to Mackenzie, telling her to concentrate on Ziggy. Tane asks if he’s going to tell her what’s going on and Ari says he doesn’t want her to know she gave up the porsche for nothing. Tane offers to do the job on his own, since he doesn’t have a record, but Ari isn’t willing to let that happen after what transpired before. At the Morgan house, Christian comments on the presents lying around unopened. Tori says that since Justin wanted to be at the party, they’ll open them when he gets home. She checks Justin is all right to come home and Christian says he’s doing well in rehab and progressing as best as can be expected. Tori notes Leah won’t be home for two hours. Christian jokes there’s an NBA game he wants to see, before Tori kisses him.

At Salt, John checks his phone: He has sent several messages to Cynthia without reply. The waitress brings him the bill. Bella and Nikau come over and ask about his date. John says she had car trouble and declines their offer to sit with him. Marilyn comes in and chats briefly to Bella about her being out and about. She goes over to John, who claims he was there for a business meeting and the flowers are a cultural thing. He leaves them for Marilyn. At the Parata house, Tane tells Ari that what happened to Mikaere wasn’t his fault; Mikaere wouldn’t listen to Ari, just like Tane didn’t. Ari notes he was only worried about Mikaere going to jail, and was he mowing lawns to calm himself down when Mikaere died. Bella and Nikau come home. Bella heads off to bed. Nikau asks if anything’s up and they say no, although they know he didn’t buy it.

Next morning, Tori and Christian are having breakfast with Grace, with Christian noting she’s looking forward to opening her presents. Justin and Leah arrive back; Justin was packed as soon as the sun rose. Leah asks if he needs painkillers or water but he says he’s fine. Later, they are opening the presents together, which include a stuffed animal from Irene and a crystal from Marilyn. Tori opens the present from Jasmine and quickly clocks the similarity with her gift. Leah suggests there’s no reason Grace can’t have two bracelets but Tori feels guilty that she was focused on Grace and didn’t think of Jasmine.

At the surf club, Jasmine asks John how his date went. John admits that she didn’t turn up and says she’s been “spooking” him. Later, at the Diner, Jasmine fills Irene and Marilyn in on what happened. Irene thinks it’s evidence that dating applications don’t work and are too impersonal but Jasmine says John did well to put himself out there. Marilyn notes Tori and Christian found each other without the internet, which makes Jasmine look uncomfortable.

Ari and Tane sit on the beach discussing what to do with Nikau. Tane suggests sending him to live with Mackenzie but Ari points out that’d mean telling him what’s going on. Ari suggests sending him to Gemma, but they conclude Bella won’t leave with him now Colby’s in jail. Tane suggests they treat him like an adult and tell him what’s going on. Later, at the house, they explain why they want him to leave, showing him the blackmail photos. Nikau is reluctant to leave them and Bella, saying they should stick together, but Ari says they owe it to his parents to keep him safe and sometimes being a man involves knowing when to walk away.

Bella meets Nikau on the beach and tells him she can’t deal with any more bad news. Nikau explains that Ari and Tane are in trouble and want him to go to Gemma. He says he won’t leave if Bella needs him but Bella tells him to go, saying she can’t afford to lose anyone else. Nikau asks her to come with him but she won’t without seeing Colby. They kiss softly. Later, Nikau is packing a bag. Bella notes she didn’t realise it would happen so quickly and Ari and Tane explain they booked him on the first flight. They offer to let Bella come to the airport with them but Bella says she’d rather say goodbye here. Ari and Tane leave them to say their goodbyes in peace. Nikau promises to call every day. Bella heads back to the flat. She calls out to Dean without response, then lays on the sofa crying.

Tori and Christian come into the Diner with Grace. Tori goes to speak to Jasmine, saying she only just opened Grace’s present. Jasmine is confused, since she decided not to give it to Grace. Irene comes over and explains about taking it out of the bin. Tori apologises for not thinking about Jasmine and about her trying to involve Robbo. Jasmine says she’d rather forget about it and leaves. Christian suggests it didn’t go as bad as Tori expected but Tori thinks it couldn’t have gone worse. Later, at the Morgan house, Tori tells Leah and Justin that Jasmine was upset but Christian disagrees and thinks Tori’s projecting. Tori thinks Christian doesn’t know Jasmine and doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

Irene finds Jasmine at the gym and suggests she’s hiding but Jasmine says she works there until there’s a new manager. She asks why Irene retrieved the gift. Irene says she thought Jasmine would regret throwing it away but Jasmine thinks it’s a sign that Irene doesn’t trust her judgement, saying she’s tried to get over her issues. Meanwhile, Tori emerges from Grace’s room to find Christian on his own. He says Justin and Leah ducked for cover and wonders how long she’s going to treat him like this. Tori only gives curt responses. Christian says he’ll give her some space but insists that it’s not Jasmine who has a problem but Tori. He says she can call him if she wants to talk.