Emmerdale spoilers: Laurel Thomas comforts upset Arthur as Marshall Hamston rejects him again

The next week, when Marshall Hamston (Max Fletcher) reiterates that they cannot be friends, Arthur Thomas (Alfie Clarke) suffers another heartbreak in Emmerdale.

The adolescent, who revealed his sexual orientation last year, had expressed his emotions for Marshall for a while, but was ultimately saddened when his infatuation made fun of him as part of a joke.

However, Marshall felt bad about what his friends had done and made an effort to put things right by defending Arthur from his homophobic friends, which led to the two of them sharing an explosive moment.

The situation worsened when Marshall admitted that, although agreeing to play along with the prank, everything he had said to Arthur had been true and that he had wanted to go on a date with him.

Arthur was surprised, and the two lads were on the verge of kissing when Marshall’s father, a bigoted councilman named Colin, called and voiced his displeasure with Arthur’s LGBTQ+ assembly at school.

When Colin learned that Marshall was hanging out with Arthur, he forbade his son from doing the same. Marshall then informed Arthur that they could no longer be friends and claimed that he thought being gay was “disgusting” and “wrong.”

Arthur was fully aware that Colin had the homophobic opinions expressed here, not Marshall. The kid, in classic Arthur way, has vowed to assist Marshall as he accepts who he is, but more heartache is ultimately in store for next week.

In subsequent scenes, Marshall speaks with Arthur once more, repeating his former position that their friendship is over.

Arthur is once more heartbroken, so Laurel consoles him and gives him some encouraging words.

Will Marshall be helped by Arthur? Or will Colin compel him to abstain? Time will only tell.

Jacob Gallagher is assisting Arthur while he prepares for his LGBTQ+ project in the meantime.