Joe and Graham were talking in hushed voices when Rebecca entered the kitchen. They stopped abruptly when they saw her. "Coffee?" asked Graham.

"No, thank you." Rebecca looked at Joe. "What's going on?"

"Nothing." Joe shrugged.

"Don't give me that. You're both acting weird. Don't treat me like a child, Joe, you said you wouldn't do that."

"I'll leave you to talk," said Graham awkwardly. He sidled past Rebecca and left them alone, Rebecca looking impatiently at Joe.

Joe sighed. "Simon's been arrested. That's the guy who attacked Ross."

"Well, that's good, isn't it?" Rebecca was confused.

"That's not the whole story." Joe leaned against the kitchen counter. "Debbie paid him to do it. And Ross wasn't the intended target. I was."

Rebecca's eyes widened. "You?" She shook her head. "I can't believe Debbie would do that."

"She didn't know he was going to use acid. She just wanted me beaten up."

"Still, that's..." Rebecca pulled out her red book and started turning the pages urgently. "Have you told me this before?"

"No, this is the first time."

"So this Simon..." Rebecca looked up again. "How did you find out?"

"I tracked him down. There was CCTV of him at Home Farm, around the same time you broke in. I paid him not to tell anyone that Debbie had hired him." Joe hesitated. "I tried to blackmail Debbie into getting back together with me. That was before I really got to know you."

He avoided her eyes, not wanting to see the inevitable disgust on her face. But when he finally met her gaze, he saw something even worse. Pity.

"Joe..." she started quietly. "That's practically rape."

"I didn't make her sleep with me. It wasn't about that," he pleaded. "I just wanted someone to love me. When I realised I couldn't force her to do that, I ended it. I told her I'd keep her secret. What happened to Ross was as much my fault as it was hers."

"Poor Ross." Rebecca shook her head as tears pricked her eyes. "So now Simon's been arrested..."

"He's going to dob Debbie in. Which means the police will probably find out that I paid him off, too. I could be charged with perverting the course of justice. Oh, and Debbie could tell them about the blackmail..."

"What a mess." Rebecca tentatively stepped up to him.

"Still love me?" he asked, not looking at her.

"You're an idiot, but yes." She kissed him on the cheek. He pulled her against his chest and held her.

"Every time I see Ross, I think that could have been me."

"Thank god it wasn't."