A/N: This is set after s2e8, just focussing on Janet's drama. For the sake of this fic just pretend Rachel's drama with Dom and her mum didn't happen! Hope you enjoy, review and I'll love you forever! :)

Disclaimer: Unfortunately I don't own Scott and Bailey, or the dialogue I've used from the script. Also, there is a bit of swearing so if you're easily offended don't read it, like!

Chapter 1

As Janet unlocked her front door she was glad to be home, more so than usual. It had been a long day. To most people a promotion is a cause for celebration but all Janet felt was guilt. She'd never meant to poach Andy's job and she knew an apology was more than necessary, but tonight she was looking forward to an evening in with the girls, watching some mindless television and not having to think about work for a few hours.

None of the usual mayhem greeted her as she stepped over the threshold, the television was silent and Lady Gaga wasn't providing backing music. The house was eerily quiet and Janet immediately began to wonder what was going on. As she walked through the tidy hallway she could see Adrian's silhouette sitting at the kitchen table, unmoving.

"Hello. What's up? Where are the girls?" Janet asked in a sharper tone than she had planned, tiredness getting the better of her.

"Dorothy's taken them to Pizza Express for their tea… in a taxi." He answered, adding unnecessary detail which still left Janet none the wiser as to what was going on, although it had squashed her immediate fear that something had happened to one of her family. She dealt with death at work on a daily basis and for every child they saw, she thanked her lucky stars it wasn't one of the girls.

Avoiding any pleasantries, she decided to try a different track "Are you moving back in?" She willed him to answer more quickly, her patience having already evaporated at about midday. Her husband wasn't usually a man of many words but it was apparent that something was wrong. He hadn't yet made eye contact, his eyes fixed on a point on the kitchen wall close to a painting Taisie had done in nursery school.

"I was. Then I had a phone call."

"What phone call?" Janet responded immediately, her exasperation beginning to show, which in all honesty didn't bode well if he were to move back in. But before she had a chance to analyse this he spoke again.

"From Andy." He finally turned round to look at Janet and she could see the anger in his eyes. The penny dropped. Andy. Fuck.

Her first emotion had been shock; it hadn't even crossed her mind that Andy would do that. She didn't really hear the rest of Adrian's tirade even though it was no doubt the most he'd said to her in months.

He got up from the kitchen chair, anger now visible in all of his actions. "You bitch," he spat, his usual reserved demeanour gone as he slammed his bag down on the kitchen table.

Janet didn't even try to defend herself, knew there wasn't any point. She couldn't even play the 'drunken mistake' card because there had been other times too, like her first day back at work. She didn't know how much Andy had said but even so, now wasn't the time for more lies. They'd already got her into enough trouble.

He'd chucked her out. Well, as good as.

xxx

Janet was still reeling as she drove across Manchester. Her heart was still thumping in her chest and her hands were still shaking, half anger towards Andy for his spiteful behaviour and half fear over what would happen next. Obviously she was worried about the girls. There was no doubt Aide would tell them, he'd have to in order to explain his presence and her absence. The uncertainty lay over how much he'd tell them, whether in his anger he'd include the sordid details or for both her and the girls' sakes edit his account. She hoped to god he did otherwise she didn't think Taisie and Elise would ever be able to respect her again.

When Janet got into her car she hadn't thought about her destination, she just needed to escape. Her sensible side – although let's be honest, Janet is mostly sensible – knew better than to allow herself to think about what just happened else she'd cry, which would definitely hinder her escape.

Janet could have gone to her mother who no doubt would've offered her a shoulder to cry on. She could've gone to her oldest friend Gill who no doubt would've offered her a glass of red wine or three. But instead she was driving to her best friend who no doubt would offer both of these things.

As she pulled noisily into Rachel's gravel driveway, it occurred to Janet that Rachel might be out, or be having a romantic evening in with Sean. But she needn't have worried as Rachel had the front door open before Janet had even climbed the steps at the front of the property.

"Gravel," she said by way of explanation, with a smile. "Best burglar alarm on the market." Then the smile faded as it occurred to her that she wasn't expecting Janet and had seen her an hour earlier at work, looking far too glum for someone who'd just been promoted.

xxx

Janet had only needed one minute to explain what had happened, but half an hour and a bottle of red later (demolished mostly by Rachel) it was still the main topic of discussion.

"He's such a dickhead, Jan. First he tries to get you kicked off MIT and when that doesn't work he goes running to Aide," Rachel said as she sat forward on the sofa in outrage and gestured at the opposite wall.

The conversation reached a lull as both ladies ran out of insults for the lanky sergeant. The atmosphere changed with Janet becoming tangibly more serious as she let out an enormous sigh.

"Thanks Rachel, for all of this. And for taking my side."

"Don't be silly, that's what I'm here for. It's my turn to look after you, after everything you did for me last year."

"Can I … stay?" Janet was hesitant about asking despite the fact Rachel had stayed with her after the whole Nick Savage fiasco. As Rachel herself had pointed out, Janet was usually the one doing the looking after and that's what she was accustomed to.

"'Course, stay as long as you want. You've already got the spare key," she pointed out with a chuckle. Rachel was always losing things; her contribution to the fridge at work demonstrated her level of disorganisation. A few months previously, after locking herself out for the second time in three days Rachel had conceded that leaving spare keys with the most organised person she knew was in fact a good idea, and Janet had the so-called honour.

"Thanks mate," Janet visibly relaxed and phoned the girls again, trying to get an answer.