EastEnders spoilers follow.
Callum Highway and Ash Kaur were injured in a homophobic attack from Neil's hate group in EastEnders.
The tragic scenes took place in Tuesday's (January 4) episode, following on from the hate group's unsuccessful plan to bomb The Albert on New Year's Eve.
At the Vic, Ben encouraged Callum to join him for a night outside of Walford, with Eve inviting herself and wife Stacey to tag along.
"We will go out, we will dance, we will get drunk, we will sing until the sun comes up. How about that?" Ben asked the trio. "Yes, someone tried to blow us up, but they failed. We need to let them know that they failed."
They even managed to get Ash Kaur to join them once the doctor saw how much her mum Suki Panesar objected to her daughter having a big night out.
As the five friends headed off to the train station, they were confronted by Neil and the thugs from his hate group. A scuffle broke out when Eve stood up to them, with Ash being knocked to the ground.
Stacey slugged one of the thugs but then rushed to Ash's side once she spotted her unconscious after hitting her head on the curb. The hate group also knocked Callum to the ground and began kicking him.
Ben was horrified as he realised history was repeating itself like with his ex-boyfriend Paul Coker.
Tuesday's episode left off with the hate group continuing to beat on Callum while Stacey and Eve tried to help Ash. Ben remained frozen in sheer terror with the memories of the past flooding back to him.
Soap bosses have confirmed that Callum will end up well enough to stage an intervention, along with Phil Mitchell and Kathy Beale, for Ben next week to help him process his emotions over the attack.
Pam Coker, Paul's grandmother, will also return to Walford to comfort Ben once she hears about what he's been through.
EastEnders airs on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays on BBC One.
Read more EastEnders spoilers on our dedicated homepage
EastEnders has worked with Exit UK, a non-profit network of former far-right members offering help to those who want to leave far-right groups, on Aaron's storyline. If you're concerned about someone who's expressing extremist or hateful views then ACT Early has further information.
If you've been affected by racism and racist hate crime, then organisations including the Equality and Advisory Support Service (EASS), the Monitoring Group, Stand Against Racism and Inequality (SARI) and Stop Hate UK are among those which can offer help and support.
