Vienna and Henry are broke; Alison busts Gwen and Maddie talking about her; Luke and Noah go for broke after a late-night swim; Carly's rescue attempt is a bust!
Henry is having a panicky moment. A clueless Vienna presses him about what’s going on. “You’re broke,” he tells her. Vienna brushes it off, refusing to believe it’s true and thinking Henry is blowing things out of proportion. But Henry tells her it’s true – that the blown up penthouse was the last straw – and even her jewelry isn’t worth any money anymore. His panic rising, he tells her to go find another, richer, man if she wants to. Vienna tells him that she’ll never go anywhere else. She says not to worry – “as long as we have each other we’ll be fine.”
At Gwen and Will’s party, Noah and Luke are joking about being guys at a baby shower, the two of them being friendly and relaxed with one another. But not everyone’s feeling friendly, as in Gwen’s bedroom, Alison has walked in on Gwen and Maddie talking about her. She’s just confronted them about it, challenging them to say whatever they have to say to her face rather than behind her back. Maddie and Gwen try to pass it off, as Will comes in and tries to smooth things over. But, not one to be brushed off, Alison is persistent, wanting details about what was said. Dusty walks in behind Alison, to rescue her, and ultimately suggesting that everyone just let it go. “This is supposed to be a party,” he says. Everyone agrees and Gwen and Maddie apologize to Alison for talking about her. They all go back into the living room, leaving Alison and Dusty alone. Alison tells Dusty that he shouldn’t have come to her aid, saying she just wants the whispering to stop – to get it out in the open and let it go. Dusty suggests that instead, Alison might want to try to become friends with Maddie and Gwen.
Getting back into the party spirit, Gwen and Maddie bustle about the living room, talking about Casey and Maddie’s current love life. They do the girly heart-to-heart thing, with Maddie telling Gwen that she and Noah are going to go out and have fun, but that it’s nothing fairy tales are made of.
Meanwhile, Silas and Ava are trying to get settled in the new place, a dark and dingy hole in the wall, with a tied and gagged JJ looking on in the background. Silas calls them “one big happy family” and takes the tape off of JJ’s mouth. Immediately, JJ makes it clear that he’s not playing with this whole “big happy family” idea and refuses to go by the name Jacob. Silas’s nasty temper flares and he comes within inches of hitting JJ. Ava stops the fight by screaming that she’s not going to stay in this dump, especially once she realizes that the stove is broken. Ava tells Silas to call Kit to have someone come out and fix the stove. Silas doesn’t want to do that because whoever comes will see JJ, but Ava reminds Silas that they should have ditched JJ long ago. She says they could be living large right now if it weren’t for JJ, and gives Silas an ultimatum – get the stove fixed or she’ll walk and turn him in for kidnapping.
Carly is working at the bar, taking on drunk rough-types under Jack’s watchful eye in the background. It’s driving Carly crazy that they’re surrounded by people who probably know where JJ is, but Jack tells her not to be the hero, not to do something stupid. Kit bursts in, upset with Jack (“Ned”) and telling Carly that he “has been lying his damn fool head off ever since he showed up here.” Carly tells Kit that she trusts Jack (“Ned”) now, but Kit says she overheard him on his cell phone out back talking to “some bimbo.” Carly gets back to work, while Kit sends Jack off to make a delivery. But before Kit lets him go, she threatens him with a tire iron, saying if she hears him cheating again, she’ll do “a little marriage counseling, Kit-style.” Alone again at the bar, Carly is disgusted at Jack for getting caught talking on the phone to Katie. He tells her not to worry about him and Katie, but to be careful while he’s gone making this delivery and not do anything stupid or reckless. Carly tells Jack not to worry, they both want the same thing – to get JJ back. Jack leaves.
At the party, a toast. Will gets honest about how hard the year has been and how much Gwen has helped him get his life back. Everyone is touched – Alison giving Dusty a sidelong look, Noah reaching down to give Maddie a peck on the cheek, Luke jealous, looking at his shoes.
An exhausted Carly’s taking a break. But just as she’s heading back to the bedroom, she overhears Kit on the phone with Silas, who’s called to get someone to come out and fix the stove. Kit says she’ll come and immediately heads out. Carly tries calling Jack, who’s on the road, but his phone’s not getting reception. Unable to raise Jack on the cell, Carly decides to follow Kit herself. “I have to,” she tells herself, “It’s for JJ.”
The party is wrapping up and everyone’s leaving, starting with Dusty and then Alison, who’s been watching Dusty like a hawk all evening. Alison takes Dusty’s advice about befriending Gwen and tells Will and Gwen that she’d like to hang out together sometime and then scurries out the door.
Maddie, Noah, and Luke are getting ready to leave, too, and make plans to go swimming tonight. But just as the plans are made, Maddie gets a phone call from Vienna, who asks Maddie to come be with Henry, to hold his hand while he’s having this little money crisis going on. Maddie tells the boys that they’re on their own for swimming and leaves. The boys reluctantly follow her out. Luke offers to nix the swimming idea, but Noah wants to go, so they head out for a swim.
At the diner, Alison finally shows up for her late-night shift, only to find Dusty there. He offers to leave, since she’s done nothing but resist him for days. She tells him to stay, to give her company. She thanks him for all he’s done lately for her family and for coming to her rescue at the party. They have a talk about kids and lots of other personal and sentimental things, clearly getting closer to one another.
The party over, Gwen and Will are alone, cuddled on the couch together. They’re musing about parenthood, and going over possible names for the baby. They pick out some silly “temporary” names and fall into the couch, kissing.
Maddie joins Vienna at dinner, where Vienna’s sparing no expense, ordering champagne. Henry rushes in and, in panicky Henry-style, stops the waiter from opening the bottle. Henry and Vienna bicker a little about money, Vienna obviously not getting this poverty thing, but Maddie is annoyed by their fighting. She offers to do what she can to help. They tell her that they don’t need any help, but ultimately they decide to let her leave so she can go swimming with Noah. Alone, they decide not to have dinner after all – they pay for the champagne and head upstairs.
Kit shows up at Silas’ house, where Silas has ordered Ava to take JJ into the other room. Carly, who has followed Kit, is prowling around outside, trying to be invisible and look into the windows of the house. After Kit leaves, Silas lets Ava bring JJ back out into the kitchen. JJ sees Carly’s face out the window. Silas follows JJ’s gaze, but Carly has ducked and Silas doesn’t see her. Instead, he tells Ava to close the shades. Cold air is coming down off the mountains tonight, according to Silas, and they need firewood. He has Ava go outside and collect firewood with him, leaving JJ alone. Carly sees her opportunity and makes a move – coming in to save JJ. She manages to rip the tape off his mouth and begins untying him, but that’s all the further she gets before Silas bursts in on them.
At the farm, Noah and Luke are alone. In their swimsuits, they talk and joke together. Noah opens up about his family, but Luke is giving Noah’s half-dressed body a once-over with his eyes. They move outside where they talk and joke some more. “Could it be any hotter out here?” Noah asks, and they plunge into the pool. Back inside, wet from their swim, they begin slapping each other with towels, horsing around, and end playing tug of war. Luke wins, bringing Noah flying on top of him against the counter, right into his arms, their faces just inches from one another.
On the next As the World Turns:
Maddie busts in on Noah's and Luke's compromising position.
Faith grills Lily about the fate of her marriage.
Brad needs Katie's help.
Jack is searching for Carly.
Carly and JJ are in big trouble with Silas!
