Episode 8611

Extended Summary

Alf runs into Mali outside the surf club and comments on him looking well, suggesting his time away with Abigail did him some good. Justin comes hurrying past. Alf asks how Leah went at the newspaper office and Justin says she’s been arrested. At the police station, Leah is pacing in the interview room while Sonny tries to calm her. David comes in and tries to get Leah to explain to him, saying she refused to leave multiple times and they called the police. Leah calls it an overreaction and Sonny says she’s not much of a threat. David asks why he’s there and Leah says he’s her friend and she called him. David says she could be facing a fine or worse, since it’s a second offence. He tells Sonny to talk to her and Leah to listen, leaving them to it. Sonny suggests Leah could apologise to the newspaper and move on but she refuses. David runs into Justin who asks why he wasn’t called. David says Leah only had one phone call and rang Sonny.

Dana arrives at the Diner, looking for Sonny, saying he isn’t upstairs or at Salt and isn’t answering her calls. Marilyn asks if Harper’s met their mother and how long it’s been since she saw her, getting brief answers. Marilyn gushes about how it will be a great reunion before Dana snaps that it’s clear she doesn’t want to talk about it.

Justin comments to Sonny that he didn’t expect this. Sonny assumed he was called because they couldn’t get through to Justin. Justin says he’ll take it from here. Sonny sees his missed calls and texts from Dana and leaves. Justin goes in to see Leah who apologises for stressing him out. He asks what’s going on and she says the receptionist wouldn’t let her see the editor and she didn’t know the police had been called. Justin asks why she called Sonny, sparking off an argument.

At the surf club, Alf leaves a message asking about Leah. John turns up, singing the presidential anthem. He tells Alf and Mali that he’s brought gifts, which turn out to be pens that were free from the hotel. John says it’s the thought that counts, prompting them to crack up. Meanwhile, Sonny finds Dana on the beach. She asks where he was and he starts to answer but she assumes he was with Eddie and gives him a hug.

Leah accuses Justin of not being in her corner. David comes in and Justin says Leah didn’t mean any harm. David says the offence will be recorded but she’ll be let off with a warning. Justin says Leah gets it and he’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again. Leah isn’t happy at the comment and asks David if she can go now. He says she can. Outside the surf club, Dana has filled Sonny in on what happened with Harper and wonders if she’s overreacting, also feeling bad about taking it out on Marilyn. Sonny says he wishes Harper had listened to her but she can’t control what Harper does. Dana agrees to not panic yet.

Justin has set the table and convinces Leah to come through from the bedroom to eat. Leah says she doesn’t want a fight but Justin again asks her why she called Sonny and not him. Leah returns by questioning his friendship with David. Justin says it’s because they’re friends that Davd didn’t take out an AVO on her. Leah says Sonny’s the only person on her side and ends up walking out.

At the surf club, John chats to Mali about all the sights he saw with Irene. Mali comments on what’s been going on there and John says they were devastated to hear about Theo. Dana and Sonny turn up and, after a brief catch-up, John says he has something for them. Mali says not to get too excited as John hands them their pens. He’s going to see Justin and Leah but Sonny advises him not to, so he says he’ll see Dana on patrol in the morning. Sonny gets a text from Leah saying she needs to see him but doesn’t reply.

David arrives at the Diner to collect a takeaway. Alf asks about Leah’s arrest, which is the first Marilyn has heard of it. Leah listens from the doorway unnoticed as David says she was let off with a warning. Marilyn thinks Leah would appreciate it but David thinks she won’t appreciate anything from him or his family and says she doesn’t get endless passes. Alf hopes it’s a circuit-breaker.

Up in the Diner flat, Sonny tells Dana about managing to win Eddie over. Dana notes he was right about Harper: She shouldn’t worry about something that hasn’t happened and Harper might decide she’s made a mistake. There’s a knock at the door which turns out to be Leah. She says everyone’s judging her apart from Sonny. Dana is a touch bemused but goes to put the kettle on.

Next morning, Justin arrives at the Diner looking for Leah, telling Marilyn she hasn’t been home and isn’t answering her phone. David comes in and Marilyn tries to tell him but Justin says he’s handling it. He notes that Leah doesn’t like them being mates and if he’s going to convince her he’s on her side, he needs to keep his distance. David accepts it. Up in the flat, Dana notes Sonny is up early given she didn’t hear him come to bed. She then clocks the fact Leah is still sat on the sofa and realises they spent all night talking. Leah thanks Sonny for being a good listener and leaves. Dana asks Sonny what that was about.

At the surf club, John asks Alf and Mali if they’ve used their pens yet. Alf drily says he’s saving his for a special occasion. Justin comes in looking for Leah. John shares a brief reunion with him and says he’ll let him know if he sees Leah on patrol. Mali says similar before heading to take a class. Justin tells Alf he can’t call the police because of how Leah feels about David.

At home, Leah is calmly making a drink when Justin arrives back, astonished and wondering where she’s been all night. Leah is initially dismissive before saying she needed space. Justin says he thought they were in it together. Leah accuses him of talking to David behind her back and says she was with the one person who doesn’t make her feel like everything she does is wrong. Justn realises she means Sonny.

Sonny agrees with Dana that Leah being there all night was weird but says he can’t kick her out of there. He doesn’t want to get involved in her marriage and Dana comments on him having boundaries about that. Sonny thinks things will be fine now Leah’s back home. Meanwhile, Justin tries to understand why Leah went to Sonny rather than one of her other friends. Leah says Sonny makes her smile and forget how bad things are and she wants Theo’s friends in her life. She ends up walking out, saying she needs some air.