Episode 8491

Extended Summary

Leah arrives home, laden down with bags. Justin apologises for having a go at her earlier but Leah says Theo is coming over for dinner and she’s making his favourite. Justin isn’t keen on the fact she rocked up on his doorstep unannounced. Leah points out he lives above the Diner so she didn’t need to go out of her way. She then adds that Lacey’s coming too and Theo insisted.

Lacey turns up at the Diner flat and says she didn’t have any luck with the job hunting, since no-one wants to hire someone with gang affiliations. Theo tells her Leah’s invited them both over for dinner. Lacey realises Theo told Leah to invite her and thinks it’s a bad idea since Leah hates her. Sonny turns up as Theo agrees to Lacey taking a shower and suggests talking to Bree about her moving in too. Lacey says she likes her independence. Theo wonders why Sonny isn’t still partying at Remi’s. Sonny says he wasn’t in the mood but insists it’s not because of Dana.

At the coffee cart, Dana complains about how gorgeous Sonny is. Marilyn says the gorgeous ones are the worst and Irene says to remember she’s doing the right thing. Harper suggests she and Dana go out for dinner. Irene is happy to babysit and Marilyn quickly volunteers to help out. Dana agrees, saying she won’t ditch Harper for he who must not be named.

Sonny tries to get Theo to come clubbing with him. Theo says he’s a long way off that and explains about dinner at Leah’s. Sonny thinks she won’t mind him gatecrashing. Lacey comes in as Theo is saying he needs it to just be them. Sonny asks them to at least bring him back some leftovers. Lacey is still uncertain, saying Leah doesn’t really want her there. Theo asks her to do it for him.

Harper is chatting about Archie as she and Dana eat at Salt while Dana looks a bit distracted. Harper says there’s plenty of sensible non-criminally-associated fish in the sea. She suggests there might be someone cute at the hospital. Dana says she got close to Sonny there and it’s a constant reminder, like she can’t escape him. At that moment, Sonny enters behind her and Harper tells her not to turn round, which she immediately does. Dana (while adjusting her outfit) starts insisting Sonny’s obsessed with her…only for him to walk straight past her table. Harper asks if there’s someone cute at the surf club and Dana tears her eyes off Sonny long enough to ask if she’s seen their uniforms.

Justin comments that Theo must be serious about Lacey to bring her to dinner. Leah says she has to accept Theo’s an adult making his own choces and to accept Lacey if she means a lot to Theo. Theo and Lacey turn up and Leah gives Theo a hug and Lacey a slightly awkward welcome. Theo thanks her for having them and Leah says it’s his home. Theo insists it’s not and Leah says it’s just an expression.

Sonny is drinking on the balcony when Dana appears, wondering what he wanted to talk about earlier. Sonny says he just wanted to clear the air and understands why she broke things off. Dana asks if he thinks it’s a shame they didn’t have closure. Sonny flirtatiously agrees. They are inches away from each other when Harper appears and insists they have to go, dragging Dana away.

As they eat, Justin asks Theo how he’s settling in at Bree’s place. Theo stresses it’s his new place and says it’s good. Justin asks where Lacey’s living. Lacey says she’s at Reefton Lakes Backpackers for now. Theo says she’s welcome to move in with them. Leah is shocked that they’ve talked about living together and Justin hastily adds there’s nothing wrong with that. Leah asks what Lacey does for work and she admits she’s between jobs and basically broke and homeless. Leah attempts to say she’s at least got away from the River Boys, before offering more food. Lacey decides to go, thinking they have things to work through. Leah apologises to her, saying it was wrong to blame her for what happened, and suggests they have a nice dinner.

At the Diner, Irene prepares to take Archie home while Marilyn says he’s had a lot of fun. Harper and Dana come in arguing, with Dana saying it wasn’t her fault Sonny was there and Harper suggesting it was her fault she nearly kissed him. She decides to walk home with Archie, saying she’ll take Marilyn up on her offer of babysitting if she ever leaves the house again. Irene quizzes Dana about Sonny being there. Marilyn calls it the universe bringing them together. Irene says it’s a small town and they’re bound to bump into each other. Marilyn tells Dana to follow her heart. Irene gives up and leaves.

Theo decides to get the rest of his things. Lacey says she’ll help Leah clean up and Justin goes to help Theo. Lacey thanks Leah for the apology and Leah thanks her for taking the stand against the River Boys. She wonders how Lacey knew to plant her phone in the car for the police to track. Lacey hesitates before saying her dad’s into crime thrillers and she did what they do in the movies. She adds that Sonny wanted leftovers.

Up in the Diner flat, Sonny is pacing and looking up Dana’s contact details when Dana arrives. She comments on not having to get past security anymore (with Sonny commenting he thought it made her feel like a groupie) and suggests they talk about closure. Sonny says he didn’t think “closure” had anythng to do with talking. They kiss and go to the bedroom.

Leah piles up Lacey with food, saying it’ll only last a day with Theo and Sonny. Theo and Justin return and the women joke about them appearing right after the washing up’s done. Theo says he’s got nearly everything and Justin drily offers to bring the bookcase over in the ute. Leah says farewell to the pair, saying they can come to the Diner any time. After they’ve gone, Leah accepts Theo’s not coming back, admitting she thought he might if she was nice to him.

Dana and Sonny are lying in bed together, saying they can finally move on now they’ve done that. Dana says she should go and Sonny says she can if she wants to. Dana starts to move but then hears Theo and Lacey coming home and suggests she should wait. Sonny suggests she stay the night so they can work through more issues and they start kissing again.

On the other side of the door, Theo thanks Lacey for making an effort with Leah and Lacey says she understands Leah being protective of Theo. Theo asks about her family. Lacey says it’s just her, her dad and her sister and not to expect any dinner invitations any time soon. She decides to stay the night.

Next morning, Harper arrives at the coffee cart with Archie’s pram and asks Irene if she’s seen Dana this morning, Irene hasn’t, despite leaving early. Moments later, Dana and Sonny appear and say goodbye with a rather formal handshake. Irene hands Dana a coffee and Dana says she didn’t get much sleep. Harper doesn’t look pleased.

Leah arrives at the Diner on her morning off to collect the books. Marilyn is about to take some coffees over to Theo and Lacey but Leah decides to do it. Leah asks Lacey how she feels about working there. Lacey says Leah doesn’t have to offer a job out of pity. Leah says Lacey would be doing her a favour but it’s up to her. Theo tells Lacey that she’s family now and Leah will do anything for her. Lacey makes an abrupt exit, saying she’s left something upstairs. Meanwhile, Leah arrives home. Justin points out it’s the first day off they’ve had together since Theo moved out. Leah isn’t enthused, saying she’s used to the house being fun and lively,

Theo finds Lacey in the bedroom upstairs. Lacey says she thinks she’s preferred it when Leah hated her because her being nice reminds her of her mum. She explains her mum died in an accident and she never got to say goodbye.