Hollyoaks' Maxine Minniver and Sienna Blake look set to become unlikely allies as they start to protect each other's secrets.
Maxine receives yet another setback next month as she is ordered to carry out community service as punishment for lying to the police.
The surprise twist comes after Maxine's abusive partner Patrick (Jeremy Sheffield) orders her to change the statement she made against Jason Roscoe, which accused the teenager of assaulting her.
As Maxine still can't bring herself to be honest about Patrick's violence, she accepts her punishment and is put to work litter-picking around the village.
Maxine lies to Patrick by telling him that she merely walked away with a warning, as she fears his reaction to her 'embarrassing' community service task. However, when Sienna spots her cleaning up the village, Maxine fears that she will reveal all to her ruthless father.
Nikki Sanderson, who plays Maxine, told All About Soap: "Maxine tries to make up an excuse, saying she'd been round there the other day and thought it was a bit messy so decided to clean it up.
"Sienna sees right through it, and although Maxine's scared she'll tell Patrick, Sienna actually supports her. But unfortunately, it comes at a price."
Maxine's life takes another twist when Patrick comes up with a new way of controlling her. His actions soon have an unexpected outcome as Maxine uncovers one of Sienna's secrets.
Sanderson added: "He gets Maxine a little pooch called Dexter and everyone thinks he's being really sweet, but what they don't realise is it's another way of controlling her. He tells her she can't leave the house as she's got to stay in with the dog and she has to walk it at specific times.
"Then Dexter, being a puppy, runs around and chews up something very personal of Sienna's - a diary. [Maxine] learns something Sienna probably didn't want her to know, and then the bargaining starts."
you never know with hollyoaks lol!
