Monday
A hesitant Amy returns to Hollyoaks and finds it difficult to settle back in. Mike works hard to make her feel comfortable now that she's back but he's still mourning Sarah's death. Lydia tries hard to accommodate Amy and although Amy seems frosty at first, the pair soon begin to bond over their dislike for Zoe.
Mike tries hard to encourage Amy to spend time with Leah and Lucas. Amy, however, has no interest in her children and goes to see Michaela instead. Michaela and Amy catch up over a manicure and discuss Amy's feelings about the children. When Michaela criticises her attitude, Amy snaps and storms out.
Meanwhile, it's the first day of the school merger with Abbey Hill. Lauren seems distracted by a postcard from her mum and when Theresa makes a comment about the pair having lousy mums, Lauren's furious. As the trio arrive at school, a confrontation ensues between them and the new kids. Gaz, however, springs to their defence much to their surprise. As
As Gaz and Sinclair begin to argue, Rae interrupts them. Newt's shocked, though, as it's not the Rae he previously met at the abandoned warehouse. When Newt goes to the toilet, Rae and Sinclair threaten him. Newt tells Lauren about the incident, who, in turn, tells Gaz. Lauren asks Gaz to defend Newt in front of the other kids. Gaz agrees to help for Lauren's sake only and the pair share a moment, much to Newt's annoyance.
Gaz approaches Sinclair in the schoolyard and a fight breaks out. As Newt walks home, he sees a figure in the skate park. He cautiously approaches and realises that it's Rae. For some reason, she seems afraid and tells him to keep away from her. Newt, however, reassures her that he doesn't want to hurt her but she tells him to stay back. Rae warns Newt that he'll bring her death, before fleeing the skate park.
Elsewhere, Loretta tells Jake that she's planning to go see Nancy. Jake thinks that it's a bad idea but Loretta's adamant that she'll make Nancy understand. Later, Nancy's annoyed when Loretta appears at her door. Loretta promptly apologises and tries to explain but when Nancy refuses to listen, Loretta hands her a pile of letters - those that she and Jake exchanged while he was in hospital. Loretta explains that she was the one writing to Jake, not Hannah. Nancy's horrified.
As Nancy reads the letters, Loretta tells a furious Jake what she's done. Jake asks Loretta if she's sure she wants to start a relationship as it would mean everyone turning against her. Nancy soon offers Loretta an ultimatum - she'll forgive her if she walks away from Jake. Jake tells Loretta that he would understand if she did but she refuses. With that, Nancy offers Loretta a warning and storms off.
Also, Cindy becomes paranoid about growing old but Tony appears unsympathetic. When he returns home after work, he notices that Cindy's been looking at a website for plastic surgeons. Cindy enters the flat and hides her face, before running to the bathroom. Tony approaches and attempts to make her feel better as she reveals the results of a disastrous chemical skin peel.
Tuesday
Amy decides to visit Ste at work. When she arrives, he blanks her and continues his conversation with Natty. On her departure, Natty confronts Ste about his attitude and tries to persuade him to give Amy a chance. Ste becomes angry and tells him that it's none of his business. Natty continues to try and talk Ste around when Amy arrives with Leah. Amy hopes that by turning up with Leah, Ste will see that she's changed. However, he ignores her and takes Leah around Relish.
When Amy and Ste return to the flat, Mike asks her to change Lucas. She refuses, though and Ste challenges her. An angry Amy explains that she can't do it. Lydia also backs her up. Ste storms out, insisting that he can't put up with it any longer.
Meanwhile, Lauren becomes suspicious of Newt's feelings towards Rae when he becomes annoyed with Theresa for gossiping about her. When Lauren catches Newt watching Rae from afar, she confronts Rae and telling her to leave the school. Clearly uneasy with the attention from Newt, Rae explains that she'd leave if she could. Lauren's persistent, though, and begins to push Rae, who says she doesn't want to fight. Newt jumps to Rae's defence and tells Lauren that she's acting out of jealousy. Seething, Lauren turns on Newt and exclaims that she hates him.
Sitting outside the headmaster's office, Newt explains what he loved about the Rae he knew. The conversation saddens Lauren and as she walks away, she tells Newt that he's just described her without even realising it.
Later, Newt approaches Lauren and apologises for not realising sooner. He acknowledges that she was right and attempts to build bridges. However, as far as Lauren's concerned, it's too little too late. She tells him that she'll always be his friend, but never be his girlfriend.
Frankie and Steph mock Darren as he shops in Drive 'N' Buy. They go through his shopping and laugh at how little he knows about living with a woman. Darren appears hurt by the comments.
Later at Mobs, Steph tells her mum that she should give Darren a break. Theresa sits opposite them looking miserable and Darren walks over. He tells Theresa that she has a face like a slapped backside, prompting her to rush off. Steph and Frankie shake their heads before Frankie leaves. Steph becomes annoyed with Darren and tells him that she's been trying to defend him in front of Frankie and that he needs to take more care of Hannah.
Darren bumps into Theresa and tries to make amends for his earlier comment. After a chat, the pair go through Darren's shopping and Theresa points out where he's been going wrong, before taking him back to Drive 'N' Buy. As they leave the shop, they walk past Frankie and Steph and Darren boasts about his new purchases. Steph points out to Frankie that Darren's trying.
Also, Zak's surprised to see Sheila wandering out of Elliot's room. When Elliot mentions Leila, Sheila becomes jealous. A frustrated Elliot tells her that their relationship is just casual and Sheila storms out.
Wednesday
Kris, Elliot and Zak become exasperated with Sheila and their jobs at the call centre. Elliot tries to talk to Sheila about her three-year plan, but as the team isn't on target, she ignores him. Kris is later infuriated when Sheila refuses to give him the day off so he can go and see Zoe in prison.
After the altercation, Elliot confronts Sheila about her attitude towards Kris. Sheila snaps at Elliot, before apologising and explaining that she's under a lot of pressure - if their sales targets don't pick up, then the company will be relocated.
Kris and Sheila argue, resulting in Kris being dismissed. Elliot explains that everyone's trying their best but Sheila continues to push her team and creates a new script for them, promising customers that they'll be entered into a fictional prize draw if they buy the product.
Elliot tells Sheila that what she's doing is immoral but she then threatens Elliot with the sack as Zak walks out, followed by other members of the team. Elliot stays behind and talks to Sheila, who reveals that she's been offered a new job in Belfast if she meets her targets. She then asks Elliot to go with her but he explains that he needs to concentrate on university. With that, the pair end their relationship.
Meanwhile, Steph's reluctant to let a poorly Tom stay with Jake and instead leaves him with Darren. Darren, however, struggles to adapt to married life and Hannah becomes frustrated by his laziness. When Steph drops Tom off at Darren's, she reminds him that Hannah's fragile and needs to be taken care of.
Hannah heads to work, leaving a thoughtful Darren to play games with Tom. Darren decides to take to Tom to The Dog for lunch so he can catch up with Hannah. Tom admits that he's skiving school to have lunch. Hannah joins them and Darren notices that she's a little tipsy. He questions her and she claims that she's having fun. Darren reminds her that the last she had alcohol-fuelled fun, she ended up marrying him!
While Darren warns Hannah about her drinking, he's oblivious to the fact that Tom's been drinking a leftover cocktail he's found on the table. Jack, Frankie, Jake and Steph approach The Dog and as they do, Tom emerges from the pub and throws up. With that, Tom's taken to hospital and Steph tells Darren to stay away from her and the rest of the family.
Elsewhere, it's the first day of Jacqui's new job as a dinner lady at Hollyoaks High. Des pays her an early morning visit to wish her luck on her first day. Gaz and Rae wait in the dinner queue and when Jacqui spots Gaz, she lunges for him, leaving a surprised Des to break up the fight.
Jacqui later explains to a sympathetic Des that Gaz mugged Mercedes. Des makes her promise that she won't do it again and then approaches Gaz in an attempt to persuade him to not say anything more. When Gaz turns cocky, Des makes him aware that he knows his father. Gaz is silenced.
Thursday
Neville sacks Darren from The Dog following the incident with Tom the previous day and on hearing about him losing his job, Hannah apologises. She also expresses her gratitude to Darren that he didn't say anything about her drinking. A helpless Darren comes under fire from Cindy, Tony and Steph and scrabbling for an excuse, he explains why he wasn't watching Tom - he was worried about Hannah's drinking. Cindy is impressed by Darren's selflessness and she soon begins to question her own relationship with Tony.
Hannah's attempts to get Darren's job back fail as Neville flatly refuses. Darren tries to persuade him otherwise and Hannah soon steps in and takes some of the blame, lying that Darren was distracted because she was ill. Neville softens slightly and asks Darren to confirm Hannah's story. Darren then tells Neville that he promised Hannah that he wouldn't tell anyone. Neville thinks for a while, before relenting and offering Darren a job as a glass collector.
Returning to the flat, Hannah notices that Darren's reading the racing pages in the newspaper. Cautiously, she approaches and asks if he's fallen back into old habits but Darren denies it. Hannah grabs them both a drink and asks Darren to explain why gambling is so appealing. He explains that it's the thrill of not knowing and the buzz he gets when - and if - he wins.
As Darren reminisces about his betting days, a tipsy Hannah falls asleep. With that, Darren left tempted by online gambling.
Meanwhile, Amy continues to feel threatened by Mike and Lydia's close relationship. While Mike and Lydia sort through Sarah's old clothes, Amy feels that she can't get involved. Mike tries to engage her in conversation and the pair reminisce about their childhood. Lydia draws their attention to another top of Sarah's and Mike tells her that she can keep it. Lydia thanks Mike with a hug, much to Amy's distress - Amy feels that it should be her helping Mike and not Lydia.
Amy's frustrated as Lydia claims Sarah's old clothes. She makes no bones about her mood when she accuses Mike of trying to replace Sarah with Lydia. Amy then issues Mike with an ultimatum - if Lydia stays, then she will leave. An angry Mike dishes out some home truths to Amy when he reminds her that he's bringing up her children. Upset, Amy tells Mike that she misses Sarah.
Later, Amy and Lydia sift through Sarah's belongings together. Mike watches on and hopes that their situation has turned a corner.
Elsewhere, Elliot's struggling to revise with thoughts of Sheila running around his head. Concerned about her, he persuades Zak to go with him to visit her. As the pair approach the office, they notice that she's the only one there. She reveals that she's manned the phones all night in a bid to reach her target. Trying to take Elliot's mind off Sheila, Zak offers to become his personal trainer, claiming that a fit body means a fit mind.
Before they get started, Elliot receives a text from Sheila asking him to meet her. He goes to see her and they chat, before agreeing to one last night of passion.
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