The Flatshare

Tiffy is lying in the bed that she is sharing with Rachel in the castle, waiting for the time when she and Leon agreed to sneak out of their rooms and meet up in the kitchen. She has spent most of the day wishing everyone else would go away so that she and Leon could finally be alone. Rachel can sense her anticipation and teases her, telling her to go find her boyfriend. 

Tiffy and Leon find each other and begin kissing. They begin to undress each other, and Leon stops to ask Tiffy if she still feels ok. She says yes, but seconds later, she freezes, remembering having sex with Justin, and shuts down. Tiffy is frustrated that this keeps happening to her, but Leon understands that this is part of the process and tells her not to apologize.

Inside, Leon is angry at Justin for what he’s done to Tiffy, in a way that he has never been angry before. He does not want this anger to transfer to Tiffy, though, so he keeps his cool and makes her some tea.

Tiffy asks Leon if, as a type of medical professional, he thinks she will always have trouble with intimacy. He thinks it will just take time to work through her triggers and understand what she needs to feel safe. 

Tiffy asks Leon why he chose her, since he likes and feels comfortable with so few people. He tells her that he knew he was comfortable with her even before they met. Tiffy promises him that though it might take some time for her to be fully healed, she will be worth the wait.

Tiffy cannot believe how successful the photo shoot content on social media was; Tasha Chai-Latte generated a lot of media attention, and Katherin has become an overnight celebrity. Tiffy is also a little jealous of all the comments about Leon’s attractiveness under all the photos.

Tiffy goes to counseling, and they talk through how Justin made her feel as if she owed him sex, which has caused problems with her intimate relationship with Leon. Tiffy reflects that she has come a long way since she and Justin first split up, and she is proud of herself and the work she’s doing to dismantle the trauma that his abuse caused her. 

When she gets home, Leon has left a note saying that he is too much of a celebrity to cook dinner, so he ordered Thai food and left some for her in the fridge. 

Tiffy feels that Leon is keeping himself extra busy to take his mind off Richie’s trial; she’s worried that he’s not sleeping enough and notices that they are running out of coffee faster than usual, so he must be tired.

Leon talks to Richie on the phone about restraining orders; he thinks Tiffy should get one against Justin after the incident where he came banging on their door. Richie reminds him that that is Tiffy’s decision, not his. 

Leon is running late for work when his neighbor stops him to tell him that a picture from the castle photoshoot is in a newspaper; he really is a celebrity now. Leon shows the picture to Mr. Prior when he gets to work, which amuses him. Mr. Prior is still ailing, and Leon is concerned that he is declining rapidly. 

Mr. Prior asks if Tiffy is Leon’s girlfriend, and Leon tells him that she isn’t yet. Mr. Prior warns him that Leon shouldn’t let his quiet nature get in the way of letting Tiffy know how he really feels about her. Leon is torn because he does want to fully commit to Tiffy, but she seems like she is still in the recovery process, and he doesn’t want to rush her. 

Later, Leon talks to Richie again, and he agrees with Mr. Prior; Leon is not exactly an “open book.” Richie seems to be in good spirits about the upcoming trial because Gerty is so competent and confident about it. Leon, however, is anxious, and he can hardly let himself imagine Richie coming home.

Gerty and Rachel are at Tiffy’s flat getting ready for Katherin’s book launch. Mo comes over as well; he will be attending the event as Tiffy’s plus-one since Leon and Gerty will both be at Richie’s trial. 

Rachel tells Tiffy that it is obvious that Gerty and Mo are sleeping together, which Tiffy can’t believe. She has always seen Mo as a friend and believed he was asexual, but Rachel insists that there is something going on between him and Gerty. 

While they are getting ready, the landline phone rings, and Tiffy knows it is Richie. He is very nervous about the trial. He tells Tiffy that he does not want to let Leon down because Leon has worked so hard to support Richie and has gotten his hopes up that he will be released. Tiffy reassures him that he won’t let Leon down and she thinks he is very brave. Richie tells her that Leon is crazy about her and makes Tiffy promise that she will take care of Leon if he loses the trial and can’t come home.

Leon is getting ready for the trial at his mother’s house when he gets a text from Tiffy. She tells him that she talked to Richie to give him some encouragement and to text her if he needs anything. He feels a little better as he and his mother leave to go to court. 

When they arrive, he watches the judges, lawyers, and journalists file in. All of them wear expensive clothing, and Leon notes that the judges are all white. Finally, the judge calls the room to order, and the trial begins.

Tiffy is watching Katherin on stage at her book launch party. She and Rachel marvel at how big and fancy the party is for a book on crochet, but Katherin loves an excuse to be extravagant. They see Tasha Chai-Latte and can’t believe such a celebrity is in their midst. 

Katherin gives a speech to thank the people who helped make her book and the party so successful, and she calls Rachel and Tiffy to the stage to give them flowers. They are interrupted when Justin approaches the stage and asks for the microphone. He tells Tiffy to look at him and proceeds to propose to her. Tasha Chai-Latte is capturing the moment on video, and before Tiffy can respond, Justin yells to the crowd that she said yes. Tiffy is stunned and horrified but is frozen while Justin takes control of the stage, the crowd, and her.

Leon is watching the trial, and Gerty is questioning a CCTV analyst. Gerty has her explain how she knows that the men in the footage from the night of the robbery are two different men, not both Richie. Gerty is sharp and intimidating, and Leon feels as though things are going their way. 

During a break, Leon checks his phone and sees that Tasha Chai-Latte has posted a video from Katherin’s book launch. He watches as Justin comes onto the stage, proposes to Tiffy, and yells that she said yes, and his heart is broken.

Tiffy and Justin move backstage, and she tells him that she did not say yes, and Justin argues that she did. She tells him that him telling her that things happened differently than how they really did is called gaslighting and is emotionally abusive. He reaches out for her, and Rachel slaps his hand away. 

Tiffy asks Justin how he knew where she’d be and how he knew about her location the other times he showed up to see her. He tells her that he had asked Martin to keep an eye on her and that Martin was giving him information about her whereabouts and who she was spending time with. 

Tiffy tells him that she does not want to marry him and does not want to see him ever again. He protests and argues, saying that she doesn’t really mean that. Mo and Rachel support Tiffy, and Rachel slaps Justin again when he tries to reach out for her. Finally, a man working backstage tells Justin that he needs to leave. Tiffy feels panicked and scared that she’ll never be able to truly get rid of him or the effects he’s had on her.

After seeing the video of Justin’s proposal to Tiffy, Leon can’t do anything. He is frozen at first and then angry that Tiffy would break up with him on the day of Richie’s trial. He feels this is typical of something his mother would do, going back to a man who had treated her badly because she felt she had no choice. 

When the trial is over, Leon’s mother and Gerty can tell right away that something is wrong. Gerty sees Tasha Chai-Latte’s video. She can’t believe it, but Leon is sure that she really said yes to Justin. Gerty tells him that they won’t get a verdict until the next week, and he leaves.

Rachel and Mo help Tiffy get out of the party and tell her that she needs to report Justin for harassment and file a restraining order. Katherin tells them that they can take the limousine that public relations had gotten for her. As they move through the crowd, people turn to congratulate Tiffy on her engagement. 

Once settled in the limo, Tiffy bursts into tears. When she gets home, she tries to call Leon, but he won’t answer. She wants so badly to talk to him and have her comfort her after such an awful night, and she wants to hear all about Richie’s trial. She has no idea that Tasha Chai-Latte captured a video of Justin’s proposal and that Leon saw it.

Leon is walking around town, letting himself feel angry. He has three missed calls from Tiffy, but he doesn’t want to talk to her and can’t imagine what she could say to explain herself. 

He feels like he has nowhere to go because Tiffy is at the flat and he doesn’t want to go to his mother’s house, so he wanders around before deciding to go to the hospice ward, even though he’s not working that night.

Gerty calls Tiffy and immediately yells at her and scolds her for going back to Justin because she saw the video while at court with Leon. Tiffy is hurt and angry that Gerty would believe that she would go back to Justin. She didn’t even know that Tasha Chai-Latte had posted a video of the proposal and now understands why Leon isn’t answering her calls. She also remembers that Martin had been at the castle photo shoot and had probably told Justin that she was getting closer to Leon. 

Tiffy is desperate to speak to Leon to clear up the misunderstanding. No one can reach him, but Gerty decides to call Richie and explain what happened so that Richie can call Leon because Leon will always answer Richie’s calls. 

Gerty calls Tiffy several times, but Tiffy won’t answer at first because of how Gerty yelled at her. Eventually, Tiffy answers and Gerty apologizes, saying that she is proud of her for getting away from Justin and that she should have had more faith in her. 

Tiffy believes that Justin orchestrated the proposal and the video just to break Tiffy and Leon up, not because he really wanted to marry her. Now that Leon isn’t speaking to her, she realizes how much she likes him and wishes he had trusted her.

Leon moves around the ward in a daze. He avoids Mr. Prior’s room because he knows he’s dying, until someone asks him to sign off on a morphine dose for him. When he gets there, he sees an older man sitting in the hallway outside Mr. Prior’s room and realizes it is the sixth Johnny White, the one that he and Tiffy met in Brighton.

Leon admires the strength it must have taken for him to find Mr. Prior, and he realizes he needs to be more proactive in his relationship with Tiffy. He leaves the ward and jogs back toward the flat. His phone rings, and it’s Richie. He tells Leon that Justin manipulated Tiffy and coordinated the whole stunt and that Martin was the person giving Justin information. Richie reminds him that Tiffy is not the same as their mother, and he knows that he is projecting his mother and her patterns onto Tiffy. He encourages him to run home to Tiffy and make things right.

It is 2:30 am, and Tiffy is sitting on her balcony, miserable. Leon finally calls and apologizes for not believing in her; he is walking toward the flat carrying a huge bouquet of flowers. When he comes into view, they shout at each other, Leon saying that he messed up and Tiffy saying that she is never going back to Justin. Their neighbor opens a window and yells at them to be quiet because he needs to sleep before getting up to do antigravity yoga. Tiffy and Leon burst out laughing because they had been wondering what that neighbor had been up to for months. They also ask him what he does with all the bananas because they’ve seen stacks of banana crates outside of his flat. He tells them that he distills them to make banana cider, which makes Tiffy and Leon laugh even more. 

Leon throws the bouquet up to Tiffy and climbs a drainpipe to reach the balcony. Tiffy helps him over the railings, and they embrace. At that moment, Mo arrives with fish and chips and takes the food to another room to give them privacy.

After they reunite, Tiffy is ready to sleep with Leon. He is not sure she’s ready, but he also doesn’t want to deny her. She convinces him, and they agree to take it slow. They move to the bedroom and are finally able to fully connect intimately.

After they have slept together for the first time, Tiffy and Leon lay in bed, talking and basking in the glow of new love. When Leon gets up to shower, Tiffy writes a list of things she needs to do, including getting a restraining order. 

Gerty calls to check on Tiffy and is glad to know that she hasn’t ruined everything between Tiffy and Leon. Tiffy says they should get together soon because she wants to know how Gerty and Mo got together now that she knows. Gerty tells her they also need to talk about getting a restraining order against Justin. 

After talking to Gerty, Tiffy calls Rachel and tells her that she and Leon have finally slept together. Rachel is thrilled and can’t wait to hear the details. Tiffy has to hang up because Leon has come out of the shower. It turns out he already knew she would call Gerty and Rachel, and they joke about how much she and Rachel overshare with each other about men.

Leon and Tiffy spend the weekend together blissfully, and on Monday, Leon decides to call his mother after he realizes that no one told her that Tiffy hadn’t actually accepted Justin’s proposal. They talk a bit about Tiffy’s ex and how he was like the men his mother would date. His mother regrets that her relationships made Leon’s and Richie’s childhoods difficult, but they agree that she seems to be getting better, more independent and confident, over time. Leon tells her that he knows that it wasn’t her fault. 

Next, Leon calls Gerty to see if she has any news about the trial. She is short with him and tells him that she does not and that she will call him when there is news. She abruptly hangs up on him.

When Tiffy goes to work, she and Rachel confront Martin. He tells them that Justin asked Martin if Tiffy could stay at his flat because she was looking for a place. Tiffy didn’t know that Justin was behind Martin’s offer of a room. Justin had also asked Martin to keep him posted about her whereabouts, which is how he knew she was at the cruise ship and the book launch party. 

Martin protests that he thought he was helping Justin and Tiffy get back together, but he admits that Justin paid Tasha Chai-Latte £15,000 to come to Katherin’s party and film his proposal and paid Martin another £2,000 for organizing it all. Now he is concerned that Justin is mad at him. Tiffy says that she doesn’t care and that she will be taking Justin to court for harassment and that Martin should be prepared to testify. Martin is stunned as she walks back to her desk. 

Later that day, Tiffy gets a call from Leon. He says that Richie has been cleared and will be released from prison that day. He will be coming over to their flat that evening. Tiffy shrieks with joy and tells him that she will come home soon so they can welcome him together.

Leon is working at the hospice, counting down until he can leave and Richie will come home. He is in the kitchen when Tiffy rushes in. She is crying, also overjoyed that Richie will be home soon. Leon takes her down the hallway, where everyone they pass seems surprised to see her.

They get to Mr. Prior’s room and peek in. They can see the sixth Johnny White sitting with him, holding his hand. He has been with Mr. Prior for three days. Tiffy is amazed that the Johnny White she met in Brighton was the right one. She wonders what kind of magic happened to make this the best day ever, and Leon responds that it is just a really good day. She agrees that they were overdue for one.

Tiffy, Leon, Mo, and Gerty gather at the flat to welcome Richie. Tiffy is worried about what to wear when they hear the doorbell. They buzz them up, and, instead of Richie, Justin appears. He wants to talk to Leon. Gerty tells him that if he takes one step into the apartment, his lawyers will need to talk to her. Tiffy tells him that they are done and that she will be getting a restraining order. Justin tells her to stop being such a child, and she slams the door in his face. 

Gerty calls the police, and Leon locks the door. Justin is yelling and slamming his body against the door, but the noise stops suddenly. Leon presses his ear against the door and can hear Richie talking to Justin. When it seems like Justin is further away from the door, Leon allows Richie to come in. Tiffy finally meets Leon’s brother, and Gerty tells them that the police will be there in 10 minutes. They all move out onto the balcony so that Justin’s pounding and yelling won’t disturb their happy reunion. Tiffy feels safe and secure with Leon and her friends around her.

The police take Justin away, leaving blood, chipped paint, and a dented door behind. The five friends stay up late drinking beer and talking. Richie tells them stories from his time in prison, and he says he knew right away that Leon was going to end up falling in love with the woman who was sharing his bed. Mo and Gerty said they initially thought the flat share was a terrible idea, given Tiffy’s experience with Justin, and had tried to convince her not to do it. 

Tiffy tells Mo and Gerty to explain how they got together. Apparently, they had decided to be flatmates first, and then they started a relationship because they had both liked each other for a while before moving in together. After witnessing the good luck Leon, Tiffy, Mo, and Gerty have found in their living situations, Richie says that it seems like he needs to find a flatmate.

Tiffy comes home from work and finds a Post-it on their door warning her of a romantic gesture. She goes inside and finds another series of notes telling her to prepare for an adventure. The notes direct her to take the train to Brighton and, once there, how to find a particular chair on the beach. 

Once seated at the beach, Tiffy finds a letter from Gerty and Mo, telling Tiffy that Leon asked for their help and blessing. They tell her that they love Leon because they have never seen Tiffy so happy. There is a box along with the letter, and when she opens it, there is a ring with a note from Leon. He asks her to be his wife and says that she can come find him in room six at the Bunny Hop Inn, the same room they stayed in after Tiffy twisted her ankle. She runs to the inn and leaps onto the bed where Leon is and accepts his proposal. She also puts it in writing since they have always loved to write notes to each other. 

Tiffy wonders if something terrible is going to happen now that they’re so happy, and Leon responds more optimistically, saying that sometimes good things just happen. She tells him that he smells like home, and he says that she is home: His flat was never home until she lived there.