A gunshot rings out over the Square from Phil’s house. Inside, Sharon is hysterical as Phil lies on the floor covered in blood, unconscious. As Sharon screams at Shirley to get an ambulance, Shirley backs away and leaves the house. Dean discovers the gun’s missing from under the sink and exits the Vic to see Shirley covered in blood. He leads Shirley away but not before Ronnie gets a chance to clock that something’s happened and she heads into Phil’s.
Ronnie gets Sharon to check for a pulse as she calls an ambulance. When it becomes apparent that Phil has been shot by Ronnie’s gun, Ronnie tells the operator that she doesn’t know what happened. Ronnie wipes the gun clean with a curtain. Dean gets Shirley back to his flat and in a fluster, tries to get Shirley to change and clean up. He places her coat in a bin bag and gets her some of Tina’s old clothes to wear. Ronnie tells Sharon that she needs to leave, with the gun, immediately as the police will soon be involved. Sharon begs her not to go, but Ronnie ignores her pleas. Back at the Vic, the mood is sombre. Ben is still adamant that no-one can dance until Sharon and Phil have had their first dance.
Ben, Billy and Jay see an ambulance pull up outside Phil’s house and sprint in; Ronnie joins them. Whilst the paramedics deal with Phil, Ronnie takes Jay and Ben aside and tells them where she’s hidden the gun in the Arches; she’s adamant they need to retrieve it and dump it in the canal. As the police arrive on the Square, a crowd gathers, all speculating about what’s going on inside Phil’s house. Ronnie persuades Sharon to leave Phil; she can’t be around when the police arrive. As the paramedics go to take Phil away, armed police arrive before anyone can leave the house. Babe finds Shirley in Dean’s flat and tells her that they need to get her far away from Walford. Jay and Ben find the gun in the Arches; it’s exactly where Ronnie said it would be. Ben breaks down at the thought of losing Phil; Jay comforts him. Mick questions Dean – where’s Shirley? Dean confesses to Linda, Mick and Nancy; Shirley shot Phil. Sharon, Ronnie and Billy are led out by armed police in front of a watching crowd. Billy announces to the crowd that Phil has been shot.
Shirley receives a text from Aunt Babe that says, ‘now’. Dean appears and Shirley apologises; she needs to go. Dean begs Shirley not to leave him and asks to come too; he needs and loves her. Shirley appears to relent and Dean heads to pack his stuff. When he returns to the kitchen, Shirley is gone. A devastated Dean runs outside just in time to see Shirley and Babe speed away in the rialto and Dean is left screaming for his mum...
Abi is hysterical that she has run over Tramp and begs Max to help, but Max states there’s nothing they can do; Tramp is gone. Emma walks past and takes an emotional Abi inside to comfort her. Jay gets a call from Max, asking him to come over. Max drags Jay into the house and fills him in; Abi ran over Tramp after he dumped her, therefore it’s his fault. Abi storms out; she didn’t want to see Jay anyway.
Emma asks Max how Jay knows about the two of them; she’s worried he’ll report her but Max assures her he won’t. When Max asks Emma what she was doing back on the Square, she admits she misses him and the pair kiss. Emma goes to check on Abi. Emma’s attempts to comfort her fall on deaf ears, as Abi flatly tells her that ‘things die’.
Lauren races down to the tube station and finds Peter about to leave. She tells him how angry she is that he’s abandoning them. When Peter explains that Ian and Cindy are fine and don’t need him, Lauren points out that it’s her who needs him. Lauren and Peter sit outside the tube station – Peter confesses that he’s spent his whole life either loving her, or pretending he doesn’t. Peter has an idea – whichever song the busker outside the station plays next will be their song.
The song turns out to be ‘Happy Birthday’, much to the pair’s amusement. Lauren tells Peter that she loves him and asks him not to leave. Peter kisses her, crumples up his goodbye note and drops it on the floor, while the pair giddily run off back to the Beales’. Once the two are out of view, DS Bryant appears and pockets the note. Show less