The Home and Away writers finally give Xander (Luke Van Os) a storyline next week… but sadly, it just so happens to be his exit from the show.
For the last few months, Xander has been enrolled on a business course, deciding to pursue his dream to run his own business.
The idea came to him after Cash (Nicholas Cartwright) rejected Xander’s idea of buying Felicity’s (Jacqui Purvis) half of Salt off him, and spurred him on to develop the skills to start his own venture.
While we haven’t seen his course progression on screen, he’s presumably been busy studying when he’s not surfing, working behind the bar at Salt, or helping girlfriend Dana (Ally Harris) repair her fractured friendship with John (Shane Withington).
However, with so much else going on in his life, he’s neglected to sort one very important part of his course.
Next week, he tells Mackenzie (Emily Weir) that he needs to do an internship to pass his module, and he needs some time off.
Oh, and does Mackenzie know anyone he can do the internship with?
He explains that he was supposed to have organised his placement by now, but had neglected to do so.
Mac agrees to see what she can do, as we work on the assumption that she has a whole black book of business-owner friends outside of Summer Bay to call on.
The following day, Xander explains to Dana that if Mac doesn’t come up with the goods, he’s going to fail his module.
Dana opines out that failing a module for missing just one (pretty key) part of it seems very harsh, but Xander points out that it’s just a taste of the real business world.
Dana encourages him to stay positive, as Mackenzie comes in and confirms that while she’s contacted a friend and left a message, she hasn’t heard back yet.
Later on, as Mackenzie and Dana sit on the balcony outside Salt, discussing the latest on Abigail’s (Hailey Pinto) plight, Mac gets a text, prompting a huge smile to spread across her face.
“You look like you’ve just won the lottery!” Dana quips.
“Well, someone did, but it wasn’t me,” Mac replies.
Yet the good news comes with a twist. Mackenzie heads inside and tells Xander that she’s heard back from a hotel owner friend about their business internship.
One of their existing interns had to pull out of the programme after an accident, so there’s room for Xander. All the infrastructure is already set up, and it conveniently meets Xander’s course requirements.
That’s the good news. The bad news – it’s in Melbourne, for six weeks, and it starts in two days’ time!
As Dana and Xander share a look, it’s clear that it’s not quite what either of them were imagining.
“Oh, come on, you should be excited,” Mac points out, but Xander explains that he was hoping for something a bit more local, and it doesn’t give him much time to organise things.
“It’s only an hour flight, you’d be good,” Dana encourages, though her face gives away the pain she’s feeling at having her boyfriend so far away.
Xander asks Mac for some time to think about it, but Mackenzie points out that he’d better not wait too long!
Xander remains conflicted; while it’s a great offer, he doesn’t want to be away from Dana for so long.
He suggests refusing the offer and finding one closer, but Dana reminds him how hard it was to find this one (it did take a whole day, after all!).
Xander is surprised that Dana isn’t a total mess at the idea, but she presses him to choose his future – plus, it’s only six weeks; the time will fly by.
When the pair catches up with John, Rose (Kirsty Marrier) and Mackenzie at Salt, where they reveal that Xander has accepted the offer, it becomes clear that Dana is struggling after all.
As Rose and Xander head off to begin packing, John promises to keep Dana so busy that she won’t even know he’s gone.
The following morning, the time comes for Xander to leave.
Rose tells her brother how proud she is of him for doing the intership, reminding him that he was a bit lost before starting the course, and now he’s racing off to Melbourne for a highly sought-after opportunity.
“Summer Bay’s really been the making of us, hasn’t it?” she tells him. “We live in paradise, we’re both kicking work goals, and you finally have a non-imaginary girlfriend! Seriously, I’m happy for you.”
As Xander readies himself to get in his car and begin the drive, he hugs Rose goodbye, and as he gets his final moment alone with Dana, he tells her that he loves her for the first time.
“I love you more,” Dana replies, as they share a goodbye kiss.
With that, he drives away, ready to spend the next six weeks in Melbourne, as Dana struggles to hold back the tears.
This is the first time he’s told her he loves her, and now he’s gone.
While Xander’s plan is to only be away from Summer Bay for six weeks, it’s believed that this is actually a permanent exit from the show for Luke Van Os and his character.
This week’s Australian episodes, which will air in the UK in early April, see Xander decide to remain in Melbourne, leaving Dana with a huge decision – follow her boyfriend to a new city, or end their relationship and remain in Summer Bay!