Peter Beale (Thomas Law) is left devastated in EastEnders next week when girlfriend Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa) turns down his proposal.

In December, viewers saw Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) encourage his son to pop the question.

Peter was struggling with how best to deal with Lauren’s ill health, following her injuries sustained in the Peggy’s club crush.

With the pain medication not helping her, she headed to the GP in the hope that they could offer her a stronger dosage.

A test confirmed that Lauren was expecting a baby, which was worsening her symptoms.

Knowing that her agony was set to continue, she stole cousin Amy Mitchell’s (Ellie Dadd) liquid morphine and began to swig it from the bottle.

Noticing her odd behaviour, Peter became concerned and accused her of hitting the bottle again. Lauren was outraged, and decided to bin the morphine to prove she was clean.

His mum Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins) had other ideas – and began supplying her with drugs.

Ian suggested that a marriage could be just the thing she needed, as it would show his commitment to her and their children.

With the scandal exposed at Christmas, Peter’s plans for a wedding day were firmly pushed to one side.

In upcoming scenes, Lauren is nervous ahead of their baby scan and he does his best to reassure her.

Later in the day, after heading to work, he becomes distracted as his concerns for Cindy begin to grow. He hasn’t heard from her in a while after she darted off to stay with her old pal Gita to escape the drama.

To make matters worse, Gita phones to reveal that Cindy has gone AWOL, and she has no idea where she could’ve gone.

Peter is alarmed by the matter and misses the scan, much to Lauren’s fury.

She tears strips off him for his careless behaviour and vents her frustration about how – even though she’s no longer in Walford – Cindy continues to ruin their happiness.

Worn down by the day’s events, Peter turns to Ian and grandmother Kathy Cotton (Gillian Taylforth) for support.

They encourage him to make amends, which he does, by finally asking Lauren to marry him.

To his surprise, she says that she can’t accept, and the pair gather for a crisis talk.

What has caused Lauren to have second thoughts about their future together?