Previously
- Leo on a mission for Krista.
- Seb turning up alive and well.
- Paul telling Seb that Leo is off looking for him but apparently where he's headed is dangerous!
- Terese reassuring Paul as they head off to bring Leo home.
There are no opening titles today as it is a special episode, a two- handed episode just featuring Paul and Terese.
Road somewhere
Paul and Terese are on the way to Winton along not very good rural country roads. They try to get Leo on the phone but only get his voicemail, so Paul questions if Seb is messing with them?
Terese is concerned about Paul driving too fast on the rural roads so tries to distract him with tales from Eirini Rising. Thankfully despite the speed he is going at, Paul is able to stop when a kangaroo suddenly cuts across their path. This has shocked Terese so much so that she wants some fresh air before they get going again and when the are both out of the car, suddenly decides that she's going to drive as Paul is too wound up.
Paul though isn't a patient passenger and wants Terese to speed up but she is driving at a safe speed and tries again to distract him by reminiscing about them driving after their wedding. Thankfully reminiscing does seem to have calmed him down although Terese doesn't look too comfortable at the compliment Paul pays to her - that both he and Toadie care for her very much.
Elm Tree Cottage
The pair arrive at the address Leo got from John Wong but there is no sign of Leo or his car, or indeed anyone!
Paul orders Terese to stay back as he makes his way up to the front door. After knocking vigorously, he finds that the door is unlocked and enters - the place has certainly been lived in judging by the mess of discarded food lying around but nobody is home. Despite the warning to stay back, Terese follows Paul into the cottage which scares him! She thinks that Leo saw, just like them, that the place was deserted and has headed home.
PAUL: Something's wrong. Something's definitely wrong, I can feel it.
The pair start to take a good look round the property and suddenly Terese yells out for Paul and when he arrives outside, she thinks a piece of Leo's clothing has been caught on a fence. Paul is sure it's a piece from Leo's jacket and starts calling out "Leo!"
Its unclear how far Paul has checked around the cottage but Terese says they should head back and call the police. They stop at some ravine and Paul again starts shouting out "Leo" as you can't see the bottom due the foliage. Terese is then alarmed when Paul decides to go into the ravine and follows him down to reinforce that they need to go back and alert the authorities.
PAUL: I can't leave until we find him.
"We can't be sure he's down here," Terese points out but Paul is adamant that something has happened to Leo as he "can feel it." Terese now starts to beg Paul but he doesn't want to go.
PAUL: I can't lose another child!
Paul breaks down at this point and Terese immediately consoles him.
(Later)
Paul now wishes he'd been able to stop Leo taking off as the pair walk back to civilisation. Paul's phone bleeps after getting connected to a signal and its notification of a voicemail from Leo - he's telling Paul that he is on his way home and that he didn't see Seb. The pair are relived to hear that message and several more texts follow suit now that they have a phone signal.
TERESE: It's okay. It's good news.
With the good news received, Paul wants to get back home.
Road somewhere
As Terese drives them home, she tells Paul that she 'gets it' and tells him about the panics panic she sometimes gets, that comes out of nowhere for no apparent reason, following Josh's death and the need then to check in with Piper/Imogen to make sure they are okay.
The pair then come across a road closure and Terese gets out of the car to go check what it is about. When she returns, apparently due to a landslip, the only road out is closed until tomorrow and they've been told they will need to stay nearby overnight.
Accommodation somewhere
Thankfully for the pair, they have found somewhere to spend the night until the road opens in the morning.
Before they head inside, Paul apologises for his behaviour at the cottage - the bush/cliff face had him thinking back to how David died. Terese gets it as she feels similar about Josh's death the difference being that she was there when he died.
PAUL: Never goes away, doesn't it?
Terese has come to the conclusion that a loss is "not meant to leave you" but considers loss to be "just another form of love."
TERESE: I mean, imagine if you never felt loss it'd mean you never felt love. How sad is that?
And after that 'happy' thought, she reminds Paul that Leo is safe and he is grateful at the forgiveness Leo gave him and that he is back in his life. He's also grateful to someone else - Terese for forgiving him too.
At this point, it looks like Paul is about to kiss Terese, but she decides they should go inside where they are staying, having located the keys moments earlier… except when they enter, it looks like it has been set up for someone's honeymoon or a romantic getaway
TERESE: Why do I get the feeling we're not the target market?!
Turns out Terese didn't read the listing, just booked it as it was the only place available! The pair at least get a laugh out of the stuff provided before debating who gets the bed [Terese] and who gets the couch [Paul] and with the decision made neither exactly looks happy especially since you can cut the UST with a knife!
(Later)
Suitably dressed in matching red dressing gowns sitting on the sofa scoffing the provided chocolates, the pair discuss their Christmas plans and Paul hopes that if they do run into each other, its "a happier encounter than last year!" Terese concedes that she did say "a few harsh things" and likewise Paul knows he deserved it too.
PAUL: You know, I didn't think things could get much worse than last Christmas, but they did.
TERESE: We just never know what's round the corner.
As it's time for admissions, Paul would rather forget about the whole Chelsea episode especially since at the time, he was "just looking for anything to make me feel better."
The conversation suddenly stops after that admission from Paul and again, you can cut the UST with a knife and it is Terese who breaks the tension and suggests that since its late, they should get some sleep and Paul readily agrees. And as Gymnopédie No. 1 plays, the pair set about using the convenient privacy dividers to split the room up so each has a bit of privacy. However, after they say their 'good nights' to each other, you can tell they don't really want to be apart.
And as the night progresses, it looks like neither have managed to get any sleep, indeed Paul has relocated himself outside and is sitting in front of a blazing fire pit fire. Terese grabs a blanket and joins him outside.
When she joins him, he cuts to the chase and asks what is happening between them. Terese reminds him that they've "been here before" including the fact they "hurt each other" before adding that after a bit of time, they start to "see the good in each other" as well as mellowing.
PAUL: Yeah, but we never stop loving each other, do we?
TERESE: It's always there on some level… even if I don't want it to be!
Paul reminds Terese that they agreed they'd "accept each other for all our faults."
TERESE: You're it for me.
Paul silently nods his head and reminisces of back then, he needed her "to convince me to make a go of it." He then wonders if, given all that has happened, it has been some sort of test. "A test for what?!" Terese immediately replies back with!
TERESE: How much pain we inflict on each other before we get back together and the cycle repeats? Paul, it's so dysfunctional not just for us, but for everyone around us.
Both agree that it is no way to live but Terese is glad that they are talking like they are.
TERESE: Whatever's happening… we don't have to act on it. We can just learn from the past.
PAUL: Yeah, but we can stop ourselves from hurting each other again.
Terese shakes her head at that one before standing up and saying that they need to try and get some sleep before then proceeding inside the house… however neither seem to manage to get any sleep.
(Next day)
As Claire De Lune plays, Paul is surprised to see that Terese isn't in the bed when he gets up from the couch. On dressing, he heads outside and eventually spots Terese and goes to join her. Her first words to him is that they should head off as the closed road will soon be open, but before they do head off, he wants to clarify something she said about loss.
PAUL: Does that apply to us too?
TERESE: What do you mean?
PAUL: Well, the heartache. You know, the pain, that it's better to feel it because the alternative means that you've never loved at all. Well Terese, I want to feel it again and I think you do too.
Terese reminds him that they agreed to stop hurting each other, but Paul counters that "maybe I want to hurt" which confuses Terese.
PAUL: Well, if you think about it, that's only a part of who we are! The rest of the time, we're good, you know! In fact, we're better than good, we are amazing!
Given that Terese is continuing to shake her head, he's not convincing her but that has never let Paul stop him, so he continues on!
PAUL: Terese, fate keeps throwing us together. I mean, here, now of all places! I mean, what does that say to you?
Terese doesn't reply, so Paul shows her the crystal heart he's been playing with since he found it at their accommodation.
PAUL: See this? This is us.
TERESE: What, a silly stone?!
PAUL: We can throw this to the ground, we can even throw it at each other and it might chip or crack, but it will never break.
Terese knows what she can do with it and goes to throw it into the body of water they are standing in front of but then suddenly stops mid- action.
PAUL: See! You can't, can you? You can't throw us away. Neither of us can.
Paul then holds Terese by her arms and looking directly at her, reminds her how previously she was the one convincing him… now he wants to "let me try and convince you."
PAUL: I want you Terese. I want to give us another chance.
Terese is shaking her head and eventually says "no" before loosening herself from his grip and walking away… however after a few steps she stops and literally rushes back to the devasted Paul and begins to pash him!
All you got is aptly playing as the pair pash away in between flashbacks to their history from their first meeting and their pash history (and weddings!) to where they currently are still pashing away!
Coming up on Neighbours
- Leo alive and well just like Seb is!
- Seb coming clean with Krista.
- Yaz tempting Nicolette!
- Paul and Terese back in the real world and wondering what now...