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Mick phones Shirley and tells her he’s done something stupid. He discovers Shirley’s at Stan’s flat and joins her there. Shirley’s turned the place over looking for cash and insists she’s not coming back while Stan’s at the Vic. Mick tells her what he’s done. Mick notes the height marks on the doorway of him and Tina as kids and rubs his name out - he was in care then. Mick and Shirley talk about Mick’s foster parents and Shirley says he loved his foster mum, Jill.

Mick breaks down in tears when he talks about feeling scared as a child. Emotional, Shirley tells Mick she wishes she could have stayed longer but couldn’t handle it. Shirley notes that Stan’s now out there alone, cold and scared like Mick was. Mick realises he has to go back - he can’t be Stan and neither can Shirley. However, Mick admits it’ll be the longest three weeks of his life unless Shirley helps him. They take Stan back to the Vic and Stan apologises for what he said about Lee. Upstairs, Stan asks Mick if he’s still scared of water.

Shirley tries to stop Stan, but he tells a story about the time someone held Mick underwater in an overflowing bath and he had to pull him out. Mick asks who it was and Stan says Sylvie. Stan says he sent her to Aunt Babe’s that night and it was the last time he saw her. Once Mick’s gone, Stan thanks Shirley for coming round to him staying. He thinks from now on things will run very smoothly… Mick stares into the bath Linda’s running. Stan phones someone and tells them that now’s the time.

Having escaped Sharon and Phil, Lucy tries to leave Lauren but Lauren invites her round to watch a film. Meanwhile, Jake’s cooking and keeping an eye on his phone and the clock. He dresses up and puts on aftershave. The door buzzer goes and he’s disappointed when it’s just Aleks. Whitney joins Lauren, Lucy and Abi at Max’s, distraught after Johnny’s rejection. Lucy slips out to make a phone call - she doesn’t think she can come tonight, it’s not easy lying. The girls watch a film and talk about their dads.

When Whitney says at least Lucy’s got a dad, Lucy’s cruel - if her dad hadn’t died she’d never have met Tony. Later, Lauren finds Lucy outside. Lucy asks her to tell Whitney she’s sorry. Lauren asks what’s up and reassures Lucy when she claims she’s worried about the business. Lauren and Lucy release the ‘2’ and ‘0’ balloons and make a wish, then speculate about where they’ll be on Lauren’s 21st. Later, Jake looks out of his window as Lucy passes.

He explains to Aleks that Sadie’s taking Bella to Dubai the next day, he’s cooked their favourite, moussaka, but they’re obviously not coming. Taking his wedding ring off, he insists he’s done crying over them. Meanwhile, Lucy lets herself into a hotel room and pours herself a drink. Max appears from the bathroom in a towel. He kisses Lucy and they fall back onto the bed together…

Over Chinese, Ian asks about Jane and Masood’s relationship. Denise says they make a lovely couple and wants to make a toast. A grumpy Shabnam heads for the kitchen. Denise follows and Shabnam tells her if it wasn’t for her Jane would be with Ian not Masood. Back home, Shabnam’s pleased when she overhears Jane telling Masood she just wanted Ian to get the message that she’s not interested. Masood explains to Jane his life’s been one long screw up for a while and he’s made some odd choices. He presumes when Jane was kissing him she was thinking of Ian; Jane assures him she wasn’t and kisses him again. Shabnam’s aghast when she finds Masood and Jane canoodling on the sofa.

Sharon and Phil come to the Vic and Linda’s aghast when Sharon reveals what Johnny’s done. Sharon’s upset that Johnny didn’t respect her enough to stay and face her and fires him.