Cath begs Mal to let her go travelling with him, but he says he needs to do it on his own. Darren assures Libby that he’s changed and is serious about proposing, but she says she can’t believe him. Billy is asking Fiona to join him when Anne walks into the Coffee Shop and sees them talking, before running off...

At number 28, Susan is shocked to hear about Darren’s proposal. Libby says it’s turned her right off him and says she can’t imagine what Karl’s reaction would be. Susan says it must have been a difficult decision and Libby says that Darren probably doesn’t even want to marry her, deep down. Susan hugs Libby, while Karl comes in, ranting about the snail repellent not killing the snails. He notices that Libby is upset and then Libby gets up and leaves. Karl wants to know what’s going on and Susan says it’s something he should know, but he mustn’t fly off the handle…

. . .

Mal arrives home and sees Libby leaving the house. He asks if she’s told mum about the proposal and she says she has. Mal says there’s nothing more she can do, and she says that she has to tell herself that. Libby walks off and sees Anne sitting out her house, upset. Libby asks what’s up and Anne says it’s Billy. Libby invites her to the Coffee Shop and Anne says Billy might still be there, so Libby suggests going somewhere else. Libby runs off to get the keys.

Back in the house, Karl is thrilled that Libby turned down the proposal, when Mal comes in and says he’s selling the business. Karl says it’s not wise, but Mal asks him if he’ll look after the business until then. Susan is happy when Mal mentions coming home, but Karl jokes that he’ll probably meet a nice Swedish girl and marry her. Mal ignores this comment and walks off, but Karl continues to go on about having somewhere nice to go for a skiing holiday. Susan suggests that one proposal is enough for now. They both wonder what it’ll be like without Mal around and Susan says that Billy thinks he’ll get a hard time now. Karl wonders if Mal knows how much he’ll be missed and Susan says it’d be nice if he told him. Susan reminisces about when Mal was born and Karl starts to cry, saying how strange it’ll be to have no more yelling over the breakfast table.

. . .

At number 30, Sarah is reading on the coach when Cath comes in and distracts her. She says she’s been thinking and has decided not to go overseas with Mal. She’s going to cash in her ticket and move out of the house, to avoid Darren and the Kennedys. Sarah accuses her of running away and Cath says the decision is hard enough. Sarah calls her a hypocrite, after all she went through with Steven. Cath says she just doesn’t know what to do, but Sarah isn’t happy.

At the Coffee Shop, Libby can’t believe that Billy would kiss Anne and then go after someone else. Anne admits that the kiss was while Billy thought she was asleep and he doesn’t know that she knows about it. Libby says she should own up, but Anne says she’d feel dumb. Libby says that they need to be honest with each other if they’re going to have a relationship.

. . .

Darren is in the park, while two kids play cricket behind him. Darren asks to borrow their bat and then he goes and hits the engagement ring into the pond. The kid is confused and Darren says it was nothing important.

At number 28, Cath arrives to see Mal. She asks about his packing, and he says he has a lot to do. She tells him she’s going to cash in her ticket and has come to say goodbye and to apologise for everything. She tells him to have fun and he promises to send a postcard. There’s an obvious tension between them, and he says he’ll miss her, until Billy bursts in, going on about Anne. He suddenly realises what he’s interrupted. Cath tells him to be happy and shakes his hand, before leaving. Billy apologises for walking in and Mal is upset.

. . .

Later on, Billy and Toadie arrive home with a video and Libby tells Billy that Anne knows about the kiss. She explains that Anne saw him chatting up another girl in the Coffee Shop and Billy runs off to explain things to her. Toadie says he’ll just watch the video on his own, and Libby doesn’t argue.

At number 22, Darren comes down the stairs with a bag packed and Marlene asks him what’s going on. He says he’s going away to catch up with an old mate. Marlene asks if it’s a ‘prison friend’ and he says they’re the only friends he has. She says that those people are trouble and asks where he’s going. He says he’ll stay in the state, but she wants a number to contact him. She worries that he’ll end up in prison again, but he says that if that happens, she’ll know exactly where he is.

. . .

At number 32, Anne opens the door to Billy. He says he has a lot to explain and not to interrupt. He says it wasn’t another girl at the Coffee Shop, it was someone for Toadie to go out with, because he’s jealous of their relationship. She asks if he likes her and he says yes. She then asks about the other girl and he says she was cracking on to him, so he left her. He explains that he knows that she knows that he kissed her and she says she thought it was nice. He asks if they can do it again and she says that the stuff about them being just friends is history. Toadie suddenly bursts in and says that Mal’s farewell meal is getting cold.

At the airport, the Kennedy family are all gathered, but Mal tells them there’s not much point staying, as they won’t be able to go through customs with him. Karl hugs him and tells him to look up his mates in London. Susan then hugs him and he accuses her of trying to break his neck so he’ll stay. She says she’ll miss him very much and to come back in one piece. Libby sets the timer and takes a photo of everyone together. They all huddle up and Karl tells everyone to be sensible, but they’re all pulling faces when the timer goes off.

. . .

. . .

At number 30, Sarah finds a note from Catherine:

Dear Sarah,
I’ve decided that I can’t stay after all. But I’m not running away from my problems either, in fact, I’m facing them head on. I’ll ring you and explain everything as soon as I can.
Lots of love, Catherine

. . .

Mal is sitting waiting for his plane, when Catherine suddenly appears and asks what seat he’s sitting in. He asks what she’s doing there and she explains that she wants to see the world and the only thing stopping her is him. She kneels in front of him and says she wants to see the world with him, but if he doesn’t, they can go their separate ways. She explains that if he wants her, she’ll be sitting in row 37, seat c for the next 16 hours, so he’ll know where to find her.

. . .

Marlene arrives at number 28 to ask Libby if she knows where Darren is. She’s worried that he’s seeing some of the blokes from prison. Libby explains that she has no idea where Darren is. She says she just hopes he doesn’t do anything stupid. Susan and Karl admit that they can just walk away from Darren, but Marlene is stuck with him. Libby says she doesn’t care about him and Karl is relieved that he’s finally out of the girl’s system. Susan says that Darren has some less than admirable qualities and Karl says that she’s a hypocrite after all she put him through.

. . .

At number 32, Anne asks Billy about Mal leaving and Billy says it’ll be weird not having him around. Billy reminds her of last night, before Toadie interrupted and he says he’d like to start again. She says that would be ok and they lean in and kiss each other.

Summary by Steve

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