With Luke refusing to live with his dad, Paul is staying at honeymooning Leah's house. Single-parent Ally begins to feel the strain, while a distressing event from the family's past has a surprising present-day echo.
Ally fears she might lose her job and her mind as the company collapses and her HRT medications become unavailable. Luke's panic attack ends Paul's leisurely life at Leah's. An increasingly isolated Ava faces a huge change.
A back injury leaves Paul high on Leah's supply, as he raids her collection of heavy-duty painhuggers. As Luke and his dad get closer, Ally and Ava drift further apart, and Ally looks for someone to blame.
Ally and Paul each learns the truth about a thing that has been terrifying them - for Ally, her job and for Paul, his MRI result. Ava and Luke both feel frozen out by the people they care most about.
An ambitious Ally sets out to save the company and throw a memorable birthday party for Ava, just as Paul, passed over for promotion yet again, wonders if he ever had any ambition to start with.
A devastated Paul is forced by his new boss to make funding cuts. After Ally's attempt to impress Ava ends in humiliation, she tells Paul some home truths, just as Jackie realizes a terrible truth about a dying friend.
After an apparent reconciliation with Ally, Paul's rage returns with a vengeance when he realizes that Ava has done something that could ruin her life. Luke and Jacob reunite, but things are becoming more complicated.
Paul takes his parents on a day-trip to the countryside, to recreate a cherished memory. But the revelation of a number of secrets leaves all three of them reeling.
Jim and Jackie are both struggling under their new circumstances. Luke has to choose between Jacob and Ruby. At Alex's 65th birthday party, Ally meets someone who makes her see Paul in a new light.
A furious argument between Paul and Ally is interrupted by Ava's news about Jim. Luke is happier than ever, a newly confident Ava stands up to her dad, but Paul and Ally need to decide - is this it?