Brian, in an early morning attempt to be romantic for Clare, has the alarm clock set earlier than usual hoping for a 'cuddle', but mistakenly setting it for 3:45am causes Clare to be more irritated than intimate. Later during the day, as Clare is walking with her social worker student Megan, she complains about being constantly tired and that she is just as romantic as her pillock boyfriend Brian.

Meanwhile at her workplace, the Sparrowhawk Family Centre, colleagues Ray and Irene are refusing to baby-sit Helen's troubled teenage son Gareth. Helen pleads for help as she has a date, the first in ten years. Irene suggests Clare could baby-sit and then tricks her into doing it. As Brian arrives home at the flat, Clare reveals that they are having Gareth as a guest, who Brian calls 'the delinquent'. During the evening Brian gets increasingly bored and makes an excuse to leave, at which point there is a knock at the door. It is Megan wanting to quit the social work course, saying that she could never be as insensitive as Clare, but she soon finds herself invited to the pub with Brian and quickly cheers up.

With Clare and Gareth left alone in the flat, Gareth just wants to go home but Helen phones saying that he will have to stay the night at Clare and Brian's. During Gareth's hostile attitude he mention's his dad's death, which starts an open discussion between Clare and Gareth about responsibly in relationships. Clare says that women want sensibility in men, and Gareth has it. She offers him another beer before she suggests they go to bed. Later, when Clare is in bed, the bedroom door opens, thinking that it is Brian coming back from the pub. It is only after the alleged Brian gets into bed that the real one comes home.