Chapter 21
It was a Friday evening and Rachel was extremely glad to have finished work for the weekend, especially since there was only one more week left of term until they broke up for the Christmas holidays, she'd had a really busy week and was looking forward to some time at home with the girls.
Amy was going straight to a friend's house tonight, so she'd already gone so Rachel just had to wait for Gaby and Hannah to come up before they could set off, she hoped they wouldn't take too long as she needed to pick Ivy up from after school club.
Eventually the two of them came up
"Hey girls how was school?"
"It was alright for school" Gaby said, "Is it okay if Holly stays over tonight?"
"I don't know Gab it's a bit short notice" Rachel sighed, she had been looking forward to a night of peace and quiet tonight
"Well if not tonight maybe tomorrow?"
"Yeah tomorrow will be fine"
"Okay I'll text her"
"How are you Hannah, was school okay" Rachel asked, Hannah had seemed a little bit down over the last few days, so she wanted to keep an eye on her
"Yeah It was okay, would it be okay if I go out with some friends tonight"
"Out where?"
"Just to Sophie's house"
"Yeah, I guess so, make sure you're home for 9 though okay?"
Hannah just nodded her head in response. She wasn't having the best time at school at the moment as she'd fallen out with a few of her friends and so she'd started hanging round with a few different people, however she always felt a bit uncomfortable around them, she hadn't told anyone about what had happened though.
"Should we get going then, we need to pick Ivy up"
The three of them then went outside and got in the car
Rachel drove over to Ivy's school, she was in a bit of a rush as she was already running a bit late for picking her up.
Eventually she got to school so dashed out quickly and left Gaby and Ivy in the car
She returned a few minutes later with Ivy
"Hey Ivy, how was the nativity?" Gaby asked knowing it was there performance today
"It was okay, but Jake was sick on stage" she said
"Oh well that must have been lovely for all the teachers" Rachel said sarcastically
"It was gross"
"Well I hope you don't end up with whatever he's got" she sighed, if there was one thing, she didn't do it was sick.
"There's loads of people in my class off with chickenpox too"
"Marvellous" Rachel said rolling her eyes "Just what we need in time for Christmas"
Before long they arrived home and the girls all got straight out.
Rachel got her stuff out the car and then followed them in.
As soon as she got in, she went straight up to her room to change out of her work things, she always liked being able to get into something comfy as soon as she got home. She tied her hair up and got into her jeans and warm jumper.
After she'd got ready, she decided to make a start on a bit of work in her study, she wanted to get it out the way so she could enjoy the rest of the weekend and not have to think about it. She'd been working for about half an hour when Hannah came in.
Rachel did a double take when she saw her, she had a short skirt on with no tights and a crop top from summer, she also had quite a bit of very poorly applied makeup on.
"I'm just going off now"
"Erm I'm afraid you're not going anywhere like that Hannah"
"What do you mean?" Hannah asked.
Rachel sighed as Hannah stood uncomfortably at the door, she didn't want to be too hard on her as she knew she would just be trying to fit in.
"What you're wearing ..well it's not really appropriate to go out in, especially in the middle of winter" Rachel said choosing her words carefully
"Oh right" Hannah said
"How about you go and change into something a bit warmer?"
"Okay" Hannah said before going off
Rachel shook her head as she left, Hannah was such a lovely girl, but she was very easily led by others, Rachel had also wondered why she was going around to Sophie's house, as it had never really been someone, she had been friends with before.
She waited a couple of minutes before knocking on Hannah's door, she was pleased to see she had changed but she still had the makeup on
"you might want to take the makeup off, I'll get you a wipe"
Hannah didn't argue and started rubbing at her face
Rachel sat down next to her on the bed and put an arm round her
"Is everything okay love?"
"Yeah why?"
"You've just seemed a bit quiet recently that's all"
"I'm okay" Hannah said
"You sure? You know we can always have a chat if you need to"
"Yeah I'm okay" Hannah said, not entirely convincingly
"Alright darling, do you want a lift to Sophie's?"
"Yes please"
Rachel decided to leave Gaby in charge at home and went out to the car with Hannah.
Hannah didn't really chat much on the way round
"Have a good time love, remember don't be late in"
"I won't"
Rachel smiled at her before driving off
When she got in she went back up to her study as she really wanted to get on with some work.
After about 15 minutes the phone started ringing
She waited a couple of seconds, hoping Gaby would answer it however when she didn't, she got up and went to answer.
To her surprise it was one of her old friends Daniel, they'd known each other since uni and had stayed in touch ever since, however it had been almost a year since they'd last seen each other
Daniel explained that he was living nearby now, him and his wife and split up and he'd ended up getting a job nearby.
After they'd been chatting a while Daniel asked Rachel if she'd like to meet up for a drink.
"Yeah I'd love that" Rachel said
"How about tonight?"
"I can't tonight, Amy's out and I don't really want to leave Gaby in charge of the house, it'd probably be burnt down by the time I got back" she said "You could always come round here though if you fancy?"
"Are you sure, I wouldn't want to intrude"
"Yes of course, it'll be nice to have a proper catch up, I've got a bottle of wine that needs using anyway"
"Right well I'll be round in about an hour then if that's good with you"
"Yep it'll be really nice to see you"
When she hung up the phone up she suddenly felt quite excited, she had always been close with David as a friend but now she started to wonder if maybe there was something more to it than that. However, this also made her feel quite nervous as there hadn't been anyone she'd been romantically involved with since her husband had died, and she still wasn't sure she was ready.
Rachel realised she was probably looking too deeply into this, after all it was just two friends having a drink together, but she still decided to get changed into something a bit nicer.
"Mum who was on the phone?" Gaby asked coming into the study
"Oh it was David, he's coming over for a drink"
"oh that'll be nice, you haven't seen him in ages"
"Yeah it will be I guess"
"Do you fancy him?"
"What? Of course, not he's just a friend Gaby!"
"oh right" Gaby said giggling slightly "But you're still going to get changed for him"
"Well yes because I wouldn't greet any guest we have around in jeans and a scruffy top funnily enough" Rachel retorted
"Well I never dress up when my friends come around" Gaby said
"Well I'm not a teenager, anymore am I?"
"I still think you fancy him"
"Oh, Gaby just button it will you, you've got an overactive imagination"
"Whatever you say" Gaby said before going off
Rachel shook her head at her as she went off before going into her room
She took her hair out of the bobble and straightened it again before reapplying her makeup. She pondered for a while over what to wear as she didn't want it to look like she'd made too much of an effort, in the end she decided on her black v neck cashmere jumper and some nice jeans, she sprayed some perfume too.
Rachel had just finished getting ready when Ivy walked into her room
"Rachel, I don't feel well" she said
Rachel went over to her and noticed she did look a bit washed out and when she put her hand to her forehead, she felt quite hot
"How don't you feel well?"
"I feel very shivery and sick and my back hurts"
"Oh dear, you've probably caught something from school, I'll get you some Calpol"
The two of them went downstairs and Rachel got her some medicine
"I think I'm going to go to bed for a bit I feel tired"
"Alright love, come and let me know if you get any worse okay?"
Ivy just nodded her head and then went back upstairs to bed
Rachel felt a bit worried about her, as it was very unusual for Ivy to ever get ill.
As the time got nearer for David to arrive Rachel started to feel quite nervous, she wasn't sure why exactly, she'd never before felt nervous about seeing him, she wondered why she felt differently this time, maybe it was because it had been a while since she last saw him
A little while later she heard a knock at the door so she went to answer it
"Hiya Rach" David said before coming in and giving her a hug
"Hi, it's so good to see you" she said smiling "Come on in I've got the wine ready"
The two of them went through to the living room with the wine
Rachel soon relaxed, they always did find it so easy to talk to one another, however tonight things did seem a bit different, there seemed to be a spark there that had never been there before. Rachel had always found him attractive, but he had a wife and so had never really seen him in that way before.
They'd managed to get through quite a lot of wine by now and were starting to feel quite tipsy.
All of a sudden David leaned into kiss her.
It took Rachel by surprise, but she leaned in too.
She couldn't believe this was happening, it all seemed so sudden, but it felt right at the same time
After a while they broke off
"Wow" David said "I'm sorry I don't know what happened I just .."
"Don't apologise" Rachel said smiling "We should probably go somewhere a bit more private though, how about we go upstairs?"
"Rachel are you sure? I mean I wouldn't want to do anything that makes you feel uncomfortable"
"It's what i want David"
He didn't need telling twice, the two of them went upstairs and into Rachel's room. Luckily Ivy was asleep and Gaby was in her room watching a film so neither of them noticed the two of them coming upstairs. Rachel couldn't believe what she was doing, but she didn't want to stop.
He slowly started to get undressed and so did she.
Ivy had been asleep for a little while when suddenly she woke up, she felt terrible and she also realised she must have had an accident while she'd been asleep as her bed was all wet.
She felt upset about this as it hadn't happened in ages, and she couldn't understand why it had happened tonight. However she decided to go and get Rachel straight away as she'd always been really nice about it if ever it happened.
Ivy was feeling really dizzy and sick and as soon as she got out of bed began to shiver. She went downstairs looking for Rachel but couldn't find her down there, she was confused as she didn't think she'd be in bed by now
As she was coming up the stairs, she bumped into Gaby who was coming down for a drink
"Ivy I thought you were asleep, are you okay you look awful"
"I need Rachel" Ivy said crying
"Is she not downstairs?"
"No"
"Oh right, I thought she had David round but maybe he's gone, she must be in her room"
Gaby was worried about Ivy as she really did look awful and she was shaking
"Do you not feel well?"
"I feel really poorly" Ivy cried "and I've had an accident" she said which made her cry even more
"Oh don't worry about that, Mum won't be cross or anything I promise, come on we'll go and get her now"
"Okay" Ivy said tearfully
Gaby helped her upstairs, she knocked once on the door before walking in
Gaby got the shock of her life when she saw her Mum laid in bed next to David, both of them had no clothes on however luckily the quilt was covering them
Rachel gasped when she saw the two of them, it was hard to tell who was the most embarrassed Gaby, Rachel or David
"Ivy needs you" Gaby said before running off, she couldn't believe what she'd just seen
Ivy was a bit confused but clearly didn't register what was going on.
"Erm ivy what's the matter?" Rachel asked her cheeks burning red
"I really don't feel well" Ivy said "And I've had an accident"
"Alright love go and wait in your room, I'll be along in a sec" she said as calmly as possible
Rachel couldn't believe what had just happened, she didn't know how she was going to face Gaby and explain it to her
"Oh my god Rachel I'm so sorry"
"It's hardly your fault" Rachel sighed
"I should probably go" he said, quickly getting changed "I'll call you"
He went as quickly as possible leaving Rachel alone, she felt absolutely mortified about everything. She wanted to try and sort things out with Gaby there and then, but she knew she had to sort out Ivy first, she just couldn't believe the timing of it all
She quickly put some pyjamas and her dressing gown on before going across to ivy's room
When she went in Ivy was sat on her bed
She really did look awful, she was sweating loads and her face was as white as a sheet
"Hey love, are you feeling awful?"
"Yeah and I've wet the bed" Ivy cried
"I know, it's okay don't worry about it, it's just because you're not feeling very well that's all, come on jump up let's get you sorted"
Ivy changed her pyjamas as Rachel stripped the bed
"Rachel who was that man in your bed?" Ivy asked curiously
"Erm he was just a friend" Rachel said as she bundled the sheets together
"Why was he in your bed?"
"Pass me those pyjamas Ivy" She said desperately trying to avoid the conversation "I'll just nip down with these things, wait here I wont be long"
As Rachel put everything in the washing machine, she kept going over what had happened, she really did feel awful about it and it was setting such a bad example to Gaby.
She went back upstairs and into Ivy's room to put down a fresh sheet.
"Rachel why was that man in your bed?" Ivy asked again
"Well he needed somewhere to stay tonight that's all"
"Oh okay" Ivy said
Rachel sighed with relief, Ivy didn't seem to want to question it anymore
"You look awful Ivy" Rachel said, "Where does it hurt?"
"Everywhere and my back feels really sore" Ivy said
"Oh dear, we'll have to keep a close eye on you" she said, "Do you want to go in my bed for tonight?"
"Yes please"
"Okay, I won't be along for a while though but shout if you need anything"
After ivy had gone off into her room, she knew she'd have to speak to Gaby, she really didn't know how she was going to face her though
Felling quite nervous she went over to her room and knocked on the door
"Gab can I come in?"
"Yeah" Gaby said
When she walked in Gaby didn't want to make eye contact, she felt so awkward about what she'd just seen
Rachel went and sat down on the bed next to her "Gaby I'm really sorry, you shouldn't have had to see that"
"It's okay" Gaby mumbled her cheeks burning red
"No, it's not okay, I know it shouldn't have happened, it's always going to be difficult seeing me with someone who isn't your Dad and it was totally stupid of me especially while you were in the house"
"I don't mind seeing you with someone that isn't dad, I'd just rather not see you in bed with them"
Rachel cringed hearing Gaby say this
"I know and I'm sorry, really I am, we'd had a lot to drink and …"
"Right I'll try using that excuse when I start properly going out with boys" Gaby said laughing slightly now
"You better not!" Rachel replied "Although I know I'm setting a terrible example"
"It's okay, you can do what you like"
"No I can't, I need to think of you and I know you wouldn't want me to move on from your Dad"
"Mum Dad died nearly 2 years ago now, we need to move on from him, I still love him but he wouldn't want you to never love anyone else again" Gaby said "I don't mind you having another boyfriend … I mean obviously I mind seeing .. you know … but I wouldn't care if you started seeing someone else, I've always liked David"
Rachel couldn't believe how mature Gaby was being about it all, she thought she'd be furious
"So are you and David going to get together?"
"Oh I don't know Gaby it's very early days, we rushed into things tonight and we shouldn't have done"
"Well I don't know how I'm ever going to face him if you do see him again" Gaby said laughing "but I hope you do"
"Thanks Gaby, thanks so much for understanding and I really am sorry for what you saw"
"Don't worry, it'll make a funny story to tell people at school"
Rachel looked horrified for a moment but then she saw Gaby's face and realised she was joking
"This goes no where Gaby" she said sounding strict
"Don't worry Mum, you know I'd never do that"
"I bloody well hope you not" she said, "Do you fancy watching some TV together or something?"
"Can we watch love actually, it'll make me feel Christmassy"
"Sure, come on let's go downstairs"
"Is Ivy okay?"
"She's not very well at all, she's saying her back hurts which might mean it's a kidney infection, I hope not though, they can be really nasty"
"She looked awful before, I'd better go and check on her actually" she said "You get the film set up and I'll see how she's doing"
She went back up to her room and went to check on ivy, but she was fast asleep
Rachel and Gaby had been watching the film for a little while when suddenly Rachel realised Hannah hadn't come back yet and it was way past 9
"Gaby Hannah isn't back" Rachel said sounding worried
"She was meant to be back ages ago"
"I know I said be back for 9, oh god I hope she's okay"
"Why don't you call her"
Rachel grabbed her mobile and called Hannah but there was no answer. Suddenly she started to feel worried, she wondered what could have happened.
"Gaby will you try calling her"
"Sure"
Gaby tried calling her but there was no answer.
"Oh I've got her on snapchat I'll see if she's got her maps on we'll be able to see where she is"
"I didn't know Hannah had snapchat and she better not have that stupid maps thing on, I hate the idea of it" she said
"Well it'd be kind of useful if she did right now wouldn't it"
Gaby opened it up and saw that Hannah was in some woods nearby
"What the hell is she doing there, loads of teenagers hang out there doing all sorts" Rachel said worried
"I'll try calling her again" Gaby said knowing she was more likely to answer her than Rachel
This time Hannah answered
"Hello"
"Hannah where are you?"
"At Stanley woods" she said sounding really uncomfortable
"Why are you there?" Gaby asked "You were meant to be home by 9"
"Oh I forgot"
Gaby could hear loads of people shouting in the background
"Do you want me to walk and meet you" Gaby offered "you don't want to walk back alone"
"no erm it's okay" Hannah said
Gaby was about to reply when Hannah hung up
"She can't walk back from there alone it's rough as anything"
"I'll go and pick her up" Rachel said but then she remembered how much wine she'd had "Or on second thoughts I'd better walk, you stay here and look after Ivy"
Rachel grabbed her coat and boots and set off
It was only a 10-minute walk but even Rachel felt a bit intimidated walking over, there were loads of teenage boys shouting stuff at her
Eventually Rachel found Hannah, she was sat with a couple of friends in her year and a load of other kids a lot older than she was
Hannah felt mortified when she saw her auntie
Rachel felt really angry at Hannah for staying out so late but didn't want to make a fuss in front of all the others, especially given some were her pupils
"Hannah come on we're going home" Rachel said causing the others to laugh
"No I'm staying here" Hannah said
"No you're not we're going home, come on"
"Sophie, Lucy and Kate hadn't you better come home too?"
"No Mum said I can stay till 10"
Rachel didn't think this was very safe but there wasn't really much she could do
"Hannah we're going come on"
After quite a bit more arguing Hannah reluctantly got up and followed Rachel
"Have you got any idea how angry I am at you" Rachel said as soon as they were out the way of the others
"I don't care"
"What the hells gotten into you?" Rachel said raising her voice now
"Nothing"
"You can lose the attitude with me right now young lady, you're in real trouble"
"I don't care" Hannah said again, although tears were starting to form in her eyes
Rachel chose to ignore her and practically dragged her home
"I'm going up to my room"
"Oh no you're not, you can stay here and answer a few questions"
"I don't want to"
"Tough, I want to know what you were doing with all those people"
"I don't want to talk about it" Hannah shouted
"Don't you dare raise your voice at me"
"You're not my mum so don't try and pretend to be, you never wanted me to stay here, you hated my Mum I bet you're glad she's dead"
Rachel was shocked at her saying this, she didn't know what to say
Hannah ran upstairs, and Rachel didn't stop her
"Mum what was all that about?" Gaby asked when Rachel walked into the living room
"Oh god don't ask" Rachel sighed "I found Hannah with loads of older kids and then she was really disrespectful to me so obviously I got annoyed and then she just came out with all this stuff about how I hated her Mum"
"Oh that's not like Hannah"
"Yeah and it's not true either, I loved Mel even if she was a pain in the butt, I was devastated when she died"
"Yeah I know, Hannah knows it too she's just annoyed at you"
"I don't know, she seemed really upset"
"Just give her some time to cool off, she'll be fine after a while"
Rachel sighed, part of her wanted to confront Hannah straight away, however she knew it was best to let her cool off for a bit first.
She sat with Gaby for a while before deciding to see Hannah, she'd calmed down quite a bit by now so hoped Hannah had too.
She went upstairs and knocked on her bedroom door
When there was no answer, she walked in
Hannah's eyes were red so she could tell she'd been crying
"Rachel I'm sorry for what I said and for not being home on time"
Rachel sighed and went and sat down on the bed next to her
"It wasn't true what you said you know, I absolutely do want you here and I loved your Mum to bits"
"Why did you always argue then?"
"Darling adults argue all the time over really stupid things, but it doesn't mean anything. Do you never argue with Gaby or Amy?"
"Yeah I guess"
"So don't you ever think that I wanted anything bad to happen to your Mum, because that couldn't be further from the truth"
"I know, I don't know why I said it. I fell out with all my friends the other day and I've just been really upset ever since"
"Why didn't you tell me you'd fallen out with them all"
"I don't know" Hannah said starting to cry
Rachel put an arm around her "Oh love, do you want to talk about it"
"No not really"
"Okay, but you know we can chat whenever"
"I know and I really am sorry"
"It's okay, but please don't let me catch you in those woods again its not safe"
"It won't happen again"
"Okay, I love you"
"love you too"
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