On Monday, Ashley’s hurt to realise that Laurel won’t be returning home anytime soon, and is upset when he has a run in with Doug, who seethes that he needs to see sense about Sally. Sally, meanwhile, covers her delight when Edna tells her that Laurel’s gone.

Doug quickly realises that his family are the subject of village gossip and is annoyed that Ashley isn’t helping the situation by leaning on Sally for support. Doug’s quick to berate him and rails that if Laurel never returns, he’ll hold Ashley fully responsible. Is Ashley about to lose his family and friends as well as his wife?

Meanwhile, Brenda’s annoyed to find that Terry and Val have gone out for lunch to celebrate the restaurant plans, even though he’d agreed to have lunch with her.

Drowning her sorrows in the Woolpack, she reveals to Diane that Val and Pollard are opening a restaurant at the B&B. Diane’s later furious when Val tells her the B&B restaurant will be “much more upmarket” than the pub.

Later, Terry tries his hardest to make it up to Brenda by offering to take a couple of days off work and spend them with her. Will it be pistols at dawn for Brenda and Val?

Elsewhere, Leyla’s amused when she arrives at the pub and David formally introduces himself to her again, before handing her a bunch of flowers.

Eager to save their relationship, Leyla plays along, and as they settle into each other’s company, David kisses her and says that he’s missed her. Have they finally rekindled the magic?

On Tuesday, Ashley’s belligerent as Doug puts pressure on him to persuade Laurel to come home. Doug also insists that he visits Laurel too. When they arrive at the house, Gabby’s pleased to see them but Laurel’s sister Caroline explains that Laurel’s out shopping with their mum.

Eager to see his wife, Ashley’s adamant that he’ll wait for her to return, but Caroline firmly tells him that Laurel doesn’t want to see him. With that, Doug’s forced to usher a defeated Ashley home.

Later, when Ashley questions why Laurel won’t see him, Doug’s determined to protect his daughter and says that until Ashley sees the error of his ways and decides to put his wife first, he has no hope of winning her back.

Meanwhile, Charity’s finding village life hard and she’s deflated when Debbie ignores her in the café. Charity later confides in an unsympathetic Marlon, who offers some sound advice of his own.

Marlon suggests that Charity needs to convince Debbie that she’s finally learned her lesson. He’s shocked though when Charity suggests that it might be better if she simply took the money and disappeared. Will Charity give up and just take the money?

Elsewhere, Aaron suggests a lads’ night out to Adam and Adam decides to invite Holly along, thinking that he’s doing his mate a favour.

Later, when Adam notices Aaron’s nonchalant attitude towards Holly, he questions whether he’s still into her. Aaron, however, claims that he’s playing it cool, hoping that she’ll come running.

On Wednesday, Ashley’s starting to feel like a failure, and his disagreements with Doug aren’t making his life any better. Eager to keep his reputation in tact, Ashley turns down Sally’s offer to look after Gabby.

Later, an ever persistent Sally turns up out of the blue with some dinner for Gabby and insists on looking after her while he works. Exhausted by the situation, Ashley reluctantly leaves Sally to it.

An apologetic Doug returns home and expresses his sincere regret over the words they exchanged earlier in the day. However, when he sees Ashley drinking wine with Sally, Doug’s quick to retract his apology before storming off, leaving Ashley shaken.

When Doug walks down the stairs with his suitcase in tow, he’s not surprised to see that Sally’s there waiting for him. Sally suggests that she leave, but when Doug physically shows her where the door is, Ashley’s quick to step in. Again, Doug’s shocked that Ashley’s choosing Sally over his family. Seething, Doug states that Ashley and Sally deserve each other.

When Ashley orders Doug out of the house, Sally tries to comfort a shaken Ashley. However, he firmly tells Sally to leave, too. Has Ashley finally reached breaking point?

Meanwhile, Holly’s stunned by Aaron’s disinterest in her and is frustrated when her flirting goes unnoticed. Instead, Aaron spurs a play fight with Adam, who abandons Holly, allowing her to walk home by herself.

Elsewhere, Maisie’s intrigued when she and Ryan share a flirty moment at the bar. Ryan then uses Jamie as an excuse to flirt with her further.

On Thursday at 7pm, Aaron’s thrilled when he gets tickets to a gig. He’s further made up when Ryan lends him his car so he can take Adam and Holly. When Aaron arrives to pick them up, Moira warns Adam to keep an eye out for Holly as she doesn’t trust Aaron.

Later, at the bar, Holly’s fed up and feeling left out as the boys continue to talk about cars. With that, she heads over to see some friends from college. When Aaron’s asked for some ID in the bar, the boys are forced to leave. Amused that they’ve been thrown out, they decide to drive home.

On their way home, Aaron’s too busy looking at CDs and as he veers onto the wrong side of the road, he doesn’t notice an oncoming car. Adam quickly grabs the steering wheel, which sends the car out of control. As they career into a verge, they come to an abrupt halt. Banging his head on the steering wheel, Aaron’s in a state of shock.

Adam’s concerned for his friend when he notices an injury above his eye and as he leans in to take a closer look, an overwhelming feeling of desire comes across Aaron, and he moves in to kiss him.

Shocked, Adam realises what’s happening and instinctively recoils then questions Aaron, who’s left embarrassed and reeling by his own actions.

With no intention of leaving the village, Charity attempts to talk to Debbie. At the café, Debbie’s hopeful that Sarah and Noah talking will thaw Debbie’s frostiness towards her.

Later, Debbie’s furious with Charity when she realises that her mother’s using the kids to manipulate the situation. Stunned by Debbie’s hatred, Charity tells her that she doesn’t plan on going anywhere as her kids mean the world to her. Can Debbie find it in her heart to forgive her mother?

Elsewhere, Sam feels guilty for lying to Lisa when Samson mentions that he’s drawing a picture for Olena.

Later, Shadrach and Zak return to find Sam talking to someone and when they question him, it’s clear that he’s up to something. Determined to discover his secret, Zak heads upstairs.

Before Sam can stop him, Olena steps out and gives herself up. Seeing how upset Sam is when Olena packs to leave, Zak allows her to stay for a few more days.

At 8pm, reeling after Aaron’s attempt to kiss him, Adam questions his friend and unable to handle the accusations, Aaron gets out of the car. Refusing to let the situation drop, Adam follows him and questions Aaron’s sexuality. Desperate to erase the previous five minutes, Aaron gets back into the car and with his blood boiling, he recklessly drives towards Adam, who dodges the vehicle.

John and Moira are concerned when Adam returns home limping, but he doesn’t tell them the full story. As they quiz him though, Holly returns home. Adam’s defensive as he’s interrogated by his parents and further irritated when Holly believes that he and Aaron rowed about her. Disbelieving his story, Holly questions Adam, but she’s left confused by his sudden, strong disliking of Aaron.

Elsewhere, Paddy’s alarmed when Aaron snaps at him for being concerned about the cut on his head. Later, when Chas finds Aaron in the village with his head in his hands, he’s quick to tell her to get lost. With that, he runs off.

Letting off some steam on the bridge, Aaron’s shocked when Lizzie finds him. Still angry about what happened earlier in the evening, Aaron pushes past her, sending her bag into the water and causing Lizzie to fall to the ground.

Full of fear and self-loathing, Aaron’s in turmoil as he reflects on the night’s unexpected turn of events. Will he face up to his feelings?

Meanwhile, Ashley feels a little uncomfortable when Sally speaks with him outside the village hall. He’s unable to brush her off, though, and she follows him through the village. Spotting them, Val makes a spiteful comment about the state of Ashley’s marriage.

When Ashley later comes face to face with Nicola, he’s irritated by her rudeness towards Sally and her insinuation that he’s not missing Laurel. Sally tries to follow Ashley home but he finds the strength to turn her away, before going inside, leaving Sally affronted by his sudden coldness.

Elsewhere, Nicola’s hungry to get her hands on Scarlett’s inheritance and so organises an extravagant birthday meal for her. Jimmy despairs when she tells him that she’s booked a glamorous restaurant.