At the pub, Chelsea is eager to hear all the juicy details of Stephanie’s recent adventure with Max in the cave. Steph has a memory of her time with Max in the cave and getting amorous with him. She then asks why Chelsea would assume that anything happened with Max. “Because it was dark, and you two were alone together miles from nowhere,” replies Chelsea. “Excuse me, but I have a boyfriend,” affirms Stephanie. Chelsea reminds her that Jeremy walked out on her and is now a fugitive. “He came back for me,” claims Steph. Chelsea clarifies that Jeremy came back for Steve’s help. Stephanie berates her cousin for still kicking Jeremy when he’s down and referring to him as a loser. “He’s a criminal!” shrugs Chelsea. “Well so are you in case you’ve forgotten!” retorts Steph. Chelsea is stunned by Steph’s words and storms off. Max then approaches Stephanie and insists they need to talk.
Max later reveals to Stephanie that he’s losing everything. Stephanie apologizes for his troubles and states her belief that Jeremy was unaware of Rawling’s girls. Max wonders why she’s still defending Jeremy, since he thought Jeremy was now out of the picture. By Stephanie’s hesitation, Max assumes that Jeremy has contacted her. Steph denies being back in Jeremy’s pocket. They briefly argue before Stephanie reveals that Jeremy was there, then left because Kayla scared him off. Stephanie insists that Jeremy came back because he loves her. Max assumes that everything they said to one another in the cave meant nothing. She proceeds to bail on Max, who insists that whatever Jeremy said to her was a lie. “Because he’s a criminal, or because he was my boyfriend?” asks Steph.
Nick arrives at the pub with Artemis and DeMarquette and sees Chelsea. He coaxes them to go play chess while he chats with Chelsea. Nick sits down with her and asks about Jett. Chelsea informs him that Jett’s still in the hospital and is expected to make a full recovery. She then asks Nick how his first day of teaching went. He admits he loved it, then states he was able to get the boys free tuition at a private school. Nick then reveals that China Lee is out of jail and should be showing up any minute. Chelsea notes that Nick has become attached to the boys, then wishes him luck. He asks Chelsea to stay and help her deal with China Lee. She complies to his request.
China Lee later arrives and thanks “Nicky” and “Shelly” for taking such good care of her boys. Chelsea of course corrects China Lee on her name and gives Nick the credit for taking care of the boys. The threesome sit down together, where China Lee insists she needs to leave the country. Chelsea is convinced that China Lee is scamming them and implores her to be straight. “Nick wanted to marry me! He practically dragged me to the altar!” asserts China Lee. “He had a concussion!” rehashes Chelsea as she defends Nick. Nick reminds China Lee that he’s done his part. China Lee claims she’ll stick to her end of the bargain as soon as they get a few things straight. Nick questions why the boys are so reluctant to talk about themselves. China Lee suggests maybe they’re just shy. She then whines that she has to leave her little angels with Nick for good.
In another part of the pub, Philip approaches a hard at work Belle, who claims she’s just helping out. She asks where Claire is. Phil replies he’s on his way to pick her up from daycare and invites Belle to have dinner with them. Belle reminds him that Shawn’s in the hospital with second degree burns. Philip stammers as he claims he’s sorry about Shawn’s condition. “Do you feel guilty because we almost kissed?” queries Philip. Belle denies almost smooching him in Tulsa. Philip reminds her that he previously told her to go home to Shawn, but she chose to stay. Belle remembers consoling Philip in Tulsa, assuring him that she’d always be his friend. He insists the two of them aren’t over and whatever they had is still between them. Belle suggests maybe things went a little too far. Philip surmises that Belle wanted to kiss him. She claims she was emotional at the time. “Belle why are you fighting it?” he whispers. She affirms her commitment to building a life with Shawn. Philip insists that Belle wants him in his life. “Not if it’s going to drive Shawn crazy,” she points out. “He can’t even deal with the fact that we were married!” exclaims Philip. She admits a part of her will always love Philip, but she’s committed to Shawn. Philip assumes that Shawn made her feel guilty since he got a few burns while saving her life.
Later, Belle claims she needs to spend whatever free time she has leftover with her family. “I thought I was your family,” counters Philip. She clarifies that he is Claire’s second father, but she can’t be available to him anymore. She suggests Billie take over for her in the search for his son. He assumes she’s afraid to be alone with him in another hotel room. She proceeds to leave and asks him to respect her wishes. Philip then receives a phone call from Billie, who relays good news to him. He makes a beeline out of the pub.
Shawn is in his hospital room, where Bo informs him that he has no permanent scarring and will be as good as new once he’s healed from his burns. Shawn admits he feels bad about his grandpa’s freezer. Bo claims it was a good thing, since Shawn’s little bomb got their attention. Bo then presents Shawn with a badge from the police academy so he can start taking classes. Lexie then comes by for a visit. Bo leaves Shawn and Lexie, where they discuss Shawn and Belle’s future career prospects. Lexie brings up the Tulsa trip which Belle recently took with her ex. Shawn shares his theory that Philip’s doing everything he can to win Belle back. Lexie tries to assure him that he doesn’t have anything to worry about, but Shawn is dubious. He speculates that Belle’s lying to herself in regards to her feelings for Philip. Lexie reminds Shawn and he and Belle have been madly in love since high school. Shawn still suspects Belle may have unresolved feelings for her ex. He claims he can continue to play the jealous fool or let the chips fall where they may.
