No 22: Paul is making a cup of coffee in the kitchen when Mark comes down the stairs. He introduces himself as a friend of Elle’s, and when Paul introduces himself simply as “Paul”, Mark assumes that he is a roommate. Elle appears as Paul talks to Mark and she tries to end their conversation and hurry Mark out, but Paul offers to make breakfast. Elle tells Mark that Paul is her father, not her housemate, and apologises, saying he does stuff like that sometimes, for sport. She apologises again as Paul makes eggs.

No 30 - Kitchen: Libby is rushing about making breakfast whilst Dan and Ben sit at the table, Dan marking papers. Ben asks “why is the sky blue” but Libby and Dan are too busy to reply. Libby is horrified that Dan has not finished marking the papers, which were supposed to be done the week before. Ben continues to ask about the sky, and Libby passes the question on to Dan, who sighs and begins to reply, but Ben loses interest. He asks Libby to sew on his Scout badge and gets annoyed when she says she won’t have time until that night. He stands up angrily and accidently knocks a glass of juice all over Dan’s papers. Libby and Dan try to clear it up, sending Ben to brush his teeth. Libby asks Dan to take Ben to school, but Dan had planned to go to the gym. However, Libby has a meeting, so Ben must go with Dan.

No 24 - Kitchen: Declan, just out of bed, enters the kitchen and takes a bottle of juice from the fridge, and starts to drink from it. Rebecca rushes in from the garden and takes it from him, saying that it is Andrew’s. Annoyed, Declan asks why Andrew has grapefruit juice in their fridge, but Rebecca just tells him to get some water and not to drink straight from bottles. She then asks Declan if she could have the place to herself that night, saying she wants to give Andrew a surprise. Declan looks appalled, until Rebecca says she just wants to cook him dinner. She wants him to go out with Bridget or Ringo, but both are busy, so she gives him money to go to the cinema.

No 22 - Dining area: Elle, Mark and Paul are just finishing breakfast, with Mark saying how great it was. Elle again tries to hurry Mark out before Paul can talk to him properly. As he is about to leave, Cassandra enters with the newspaper. She flirtatiously shakes hands with Mark, and Elle separates them, telling her to go and be friendly with Paul. Mark asks Elle out to dinner that night and she accepts. After he has gone, Cass tells Elle it’s nice to see that she is harnessing the power of jealousy.

Outside No 30: Ben and Dan are getting in to their car when Ben sees Lucas asleep in his car in the street. They wake him up and Dan tells Ben to wait in their car whilst he talks to Lucas. Lucas sees Mark leaving no 22 and getting into his van and look depressed, saying he must have stayed the night. Dan is shocked to realise Lucas has slept out there the whole night, laughing that Lucas is staking out Elle’s house. He asks what Lucas is going to do and Lucas replies that he will stay out of their way. Ben calls to Dan, tapping his wrist and telling him to hurry up.

Dingoes' Den: Dan is lifting weights while Ben stands nearby, trying to talk to him. Dan sends Ben to read his book. After a few seconds, Ben gets up and tries to lift some smaller weights. Dan calls at him to stop because it’s dangerous. Ben goes to get a drink from the fridge and Dan tells him to put it back. Bridget and Declan walk in and Dan sends Ben over to them, who welcome him. Ben thinks he is in trouble with Dan, because he has gone all red in the face, and Bridget says she has some brochures he can fold. He does this whilst Bridget and Declan talk about Andrew Simpson. Bridget says he is brooding and Declan is annoyed that he has to get out just so she can make him dinner. Bridget replies that he can be out with her (though earlier he said that she was working) but he says that it’s the principle – to which Bridget jokingly replies “the principal principle”. She asks if Rebecca is happy and Declan says yes, he thinks so.

Harold's Store: Cassandra enters as Elle, behind the counter, reads the card in a bunch of flowers. Cassandra believes they are from Lucas, talking about the power of jealousy and saying he has been quick off the “mark”. Elle walks away without replying, entering the back room where Rebecca is hiding from Cass. Rebecca also thinks the flowers are from Lucas, but Elle says they are from Mark. Rebecca is happy for her, but when Elle doesn’t seem that happy herself, Rebecca asks if she would rather they were from Lucas. Elle denies this, saying Mark is nice and “much better looking than Lucas”.

Erinsborough High - Corridor: Bridget and Declan are at the lockers, with a lot of food. Libby approaches, and Bridget offers her a black jelly bean, which Libby accepts eagerly. Dan walks by and Libby rushes over to him, while Declan shakes his head at “pregnant women”. Libby checks that Dan dropped Ben off okay and asks about the essays. Dan groans and says he’ll get them to her, but he’s really busy. Libby says that he’s not the only one – she’s the head of senior school whilst trying to deal with cravings and needing the toilet every five minutes. Just before she rushes off, she tells Dan that he will have to cover for a teacher who is off ill.

Lassiter's Lake: Elle and Paul are sitting on a bench, eating lunch, and Elle complains that her roll is the most boring one she has ever eaten. Paul tells her she shouldn’t stay up all night if it makes her cranky, referring to her kicking the photocopier, even in her shoes. Jokingly, he says she shouldn’t be playing with the delivery boy on a school night and Elle replies that nothing happened, telling Paul that sat on the couch for ages before going upstairs to throw Mark out, but he had fallen asleep so she slept in the spare room. Paul says he saw Lucas outside and Elle says she doesn’t care what Lucas is doing, but just then he walks past with Lisa. Their eyes meet but he passes without either of them talking to the other.

Erinsborough High - Classroom: A year 9 class are sitting on tables and throwing paper around. Dan walks in and tries to calm them down, sending them all to their seats. He hands out the work, telling them to do it in silence. He sits down, looking thoroughly fed up.

Erinsborough High - Carpark: Libby hurries to Dan as he heads to his car, asking if he left the essays on her desk, but he says he didn’t have time because he was covering the year 9 class. He tries to give her the ones he has done, but drops all his files. Libby looks apologetic as she reminds him not to be late picking up Ben. They kiss and Libby says she loves him as she heads off. Dan reaches his car only to discover that he has a flat tyre.

Charlie's: Rebecca is behind the bar, sniffing at a bunch of carnations and not looking particularly happy. Cassandra enters and comments on the flowers. Rebecca says that Andrew is perfect and knows just what she likes, just as Paul walks in and says that he thought she didn’t like carnations. Rebecca denies this, saying she loves them and her smell, and Cassandra says she prefers and expensive perfume. Paul says she doesn’t need perfume to smell good, causing Rebecca to walk away in disgust. Cass suggests that she and Paul buy each other dinner instead of flowers. Paul likes the idea, but tells her it will have to be another night when he sees Lucas walk in. Cass warns him about interfering in Elle’s love life, but he says he is interfering in Lucas’.

Paul sits with Lucas and tells him he is a quitter, and Lucas says Elle has made her choice. Paul says he should talk to her, but Lucas gets annoyed and tells Paul he doesn’t want any more work from the Erinsborough News. Paul says he only accepts resignations in writing, so Lucas writes “I QUIT” on a napkin and walks out.

Charlie's: Later, Lucas is sitting at the bar when Elle and Paul walk in. Pauls sends Elle over to him, and she asks about his resignation. He tells her he won’t be changing his mind and that he is refocusing his priorities, saying that the garage needs all his attention. He says he’s been thinking about it for a while and Elle says he’s never mentioned it to her, but Lucas retorts that he doesn’t tell her everything that is on his mind. She says she saw him outside her house last night, and Lucas says, rather cruelly, it must have put her off and implies that something happened with her and Mark. Elle denies it, and asks if that is why he is resigning but he turns away and says it isn’t. He says that working there was never meant to be serious, it was just a bit of fun and it got too complicated. Elle gets defensive, knowing that he is really talking about their relationship. She tells him it’s a good job he’s quitting, if he’s not willing to work at anything. He says he’s sure she’ll have no trouble finding someone more suitable and she walks off, telling him to enjoy his engines. Lucas turns back to the bar and his drink as Elle calls Mark.

No 24 - Kitchen: Rebecca is rushing around in an apron, trying to make her special meal for Andrew. Declan enters and says it smells awesome. He sees the carnations and Rebecca says once more how lovely they are. Declan says he thought she hated carnations, which she denies, and he says she told him to never by them for her. He asks if she is going to tell him, and Rebecca says no, it’s the principle, causing Declan to joke about the principal principle. He tells her they ought to be honest with each other if they’re getting married. She says she is always honest about the important stuff, but Declan asks how she knows what is important and what’s not. Rebecca doesn’t reply, but hugs him and says thank you for wanting to give her relationship advise. Declan says if she isn’t happy about something she should tell him, or he will. He moves away and says he was just popping in to check the meal was going okay, and leaves, telling her she has flour on her chin.

No 30 - Kitchen: Dan is trying to mark his essays when Ben walks in, asking why he can’t have the TV on. Dan says he is trying to concentrate. Ben starts to play with Bob, but Dan asks him to go outside. Ben says it’s dark, and his feet hurt. Dan apologises, saying it’s wasn’t his fault and he had called after school care, but Ben says that it took him hours to walk home, saying he could have been kidnapped or anything. Dan tries to be in a good mood, getting up to serve Ben some dinner. He hands him his plate of mince, but Ben says it looks “yuk” and he doesn’t want it. He demands popcorn instead, but Dan refuses. Ben storms off yelling, “nothing then!”

Harold's Store: Bridget and Declan are sitting at a table, trying to decide what movie to see. Declan is distracted, agreeing to a documentary on sanitation in ancient Peru. Bridget puts the paper down and tells Declan to get used to the fact that Rebecca is marrying Andrew. Declan says he doesn’t think she’s happy and that she’s trying too hard. Bridget says maybe she just wants it to work. Declan says she’s not even telling Andrew when she doesn’t like something and Bridget says it took her ages to find out that Declan didn’t like documentaries. He says that’s because he was trying to impress her and realises, and Bridget’s look, that that could be just what Rebecca is doing. He asks Bridget how come she’s so smart and she replies that it is because she watches a lot of documentaries. He hugs her and they kiss.

No 24 - Kitchen: Rebecca has set the table and lit two candles when the phone rings. Andrew is calling to say that he can’t come because someone has broken into the school. She tells him not to worry, because she had got caught up at work herself, so hadn’t had time to cook anything and was going to make him eat pizza. She sits down at the table, looking at her engagement ring, and blows out the candles.

No 30 - Kitchen: Ben walks in with his school bag and puts his lunch box on top of the essays that Dan is still trying to mark. He starts to search through his bag. Dan says he told him to get ready for bed and Ben says he is cleaning out his school bag. Dan, getting annoyed, tells Ben to put his lunch box in the sink. Ben says that Libby promised to sew on his Scout badge, but she won’t be home till late. Dan tells Ben to go and get ready for bed, but Ben replies no, saying he won’t go until Dan sews on his Scout badge. Getting more annoyed, Dan says that Ben will do as he’s told and put his lunch box in the sink and get ready for bed. Ben says “make me” and Dan, just as Libby enters, says he will make him, threatening to smack him. Libby is horrified as Ben hurries out.

Regular Cast Credits

Guest Cast: Tottie Goldsmith as Cassandra Freedman, David Corroll as Mark Chaplin, Anna Jennings-Edquist as Lisa Hayes, Julia Perri as Student #1, Max Chanesman as Student #2

Trivia Notes
• Bridget and Libby both express a liking of black jelly beans
• The Maths teacher at Erinsborough High is Mrs Harris
• Bridget likes documentaries
• Rebecca doesn’t like carnations. Interestingly, it's been mentioned in the past that neither Susan nor Miranda likes them either
• Number 32 has a new back door • Declan tells Rebecca that he can’t go out with Bridget that evening because she is working, but later he is out with her anyway
• Anna Jennings-Edquist previously appeared in 2002 and 2003 as student Tahnee Coppin

Summary by Sian