Thank you so, so much to Paisley and Lori for your reviews. In fact, as a thank you I'd like to write you something—an outtake from this, a one-shot, a short story… take your pick. One each. Obviously WR/Christine-centric, but I'm happy to go canon if you like!Let me know which via pm/review!

Paisley, your reviews make me smile every time. You've been my most faithful reviewer since half-way into the first story, and I thank you for that.

Lori, you don't pull your punches and that's great. I really needed you to point out that things were a bit lacking in drama lately. I'd tried but it lacked oomph, I think! Hopefully this chapter is better and don't worry—there's plenty of Tomstine drama coming soon. I just hope I can give it the welly it deserves!


Miss Spark's room, 11.15am


Louisa was sitting at her usual place in Science, her aunt's voice washing over her. Usually she would have made an effort to at least look interested—just on general family principles—but not today. Not now. Not ever, as far as she was concerned.

She was cold. So cold.

Was Connor right? Was her mother alive?

Had she been alive all these years while her daughters believed her dead—and worse, dead at her own hand?

She tried to pull her blazer tighter but it was so well-cut that there was no spare fabric to pull; for the first time, she found herself looking enviously as Jasmine Maguire, whose tiny form was swamped by her too-large blazer, or even Rhiannon Salt, who customarily wore the extra layer of a cardigan. Louisa had neither for refuge, but she'd a feeling she'd still be shivering inside even if she was sitting next to a roaring fire. Shock could do that, she'd heard, but it was the first time she'd experienced it firsthand.

While Sue directed everyone's attention to an experiment she was performing, Louisa reached for her phone, one finger automatically going through the motions of waking it up. Her heart sank anew when yet again she was confronted with a blank screen.

Come on, Em. We're twins, aren't we? We're supposed to have a special bond. Can't you feel I need you?

She'd spent Break in the most remote loo she could find, desperately hitting her sister's name over and over—to no avail. Not that she was surprised; Emily had told her several times that at Dene Hollow their mobiles were taken off them every night just before lights out and not returned until prep was done the following day. There were ways around it, Louisa knew, but Emily—Head Girl and naturally law-abiding besides—would never attempt them.

Once they'd been close, so close that they'd literally been able to read each other's thoughts. They were identical twins, their only difference as little kids had been that one could hear and the other couldn't. They'd turned it into an advantage, creating a weird and wonderful form of sign-language understood by themselves alone. At times Louisa had felt deaf herself; she'd wondered if Emily had also felt hearing. Two halves of the same whole, never separated even for a night until they were sent to their respective boarding schools at eleven.

Louisa had spent all of first form grieving her sister's absence—a grief that was gradually replaced by a barely articulated ache as she came to understand that Emily did not miss her with the same intensity. To Emily, Dene Hollow was a revelation. Being deaf there was normal. She'd quickly become one of the most popular girls in her year while Louisa floundered in the more rarefied atmosphere of Cheltenham, burdened as she was by the reputations of the three generations who had preceded her. And now … Emily was fully integrated into the Deaf community. Louisa suspected that her twin resented coming home for the holidays, resented having to use the voice which was excellent but perceptibly wrong to hearing ears. The voice that marked her as different.

She's not gonna care what Connor said, Louisa realised as she stared at the infuriatingly empty screen. Her family are her mates and her boyfriend, not me and Sue and Gramps. She'll shrug and get over it, this—this thing about our mum isn't gonna turn her world inside out.

She gulped, determined not to cry. If she started crying now she'd never stop … and the only thing worse than crying in public was crying alone in public, with no-one even attempting to comfort her. Certainly Sue would not try, she was bleakly certain of that.

'Louisa!'

Reluctantly she raised her eyes to the older woman's face. Sue was tight-lipped with annoyance.

'I've asked you three times to join Rhiannon and Jasmine for the experiment. Wake up and pay attention, for pity's sake!'

Louisa was preparing to move when rebellion scalded through her. She'd half-risen; now she sat down with such force that the stool rocked beneath her.

Sue's eyebrows rushed together. 'Louisa—'

'No,' Louisa said clearly.

'No?' her aunt echoed.

Rhiannon leaned over. 'Just shurrup an' move. You'll only wind her up.'

Louisa lifted her chin and looked her aunt in the eyes. 'No.'

Sue bristled, visibly indignant. 'I will not tolerate impudence, especially from sixth formers!'

Louisa said nothing. She also remained very firmly fixed in her place.

'I'll send you to the cooler!'

Louisa lifted an eyebrow. 'No.'

The room went quiet.

'Louisa!' Sue actually stamped her foot. 'Do—as—I—say! Cooler, now!'

'No.'

Sue stared. Her lower lip was starting to tremble, but Louisa ignored it. She'd had a lifetime of ignoring Sue's emotional manipulations.

'Why are you doing this?' her aunt hissed, moving closer. 'You're showing me up, you're showing us both up. What's Simon going to think?'

'I don't care,' Louisa said, still with that crystal clarity. She didn't need to hear the rustle at the back to know her voice had carried.

'Come on, Lulu—' Sue placed a hand on her arm.

Louisa jerked away from the touch as though it burned.

'Don't,' she forced through her teeth. 'Don't call me that. You don't get to call me that!'

'Lu—'

'No!' Louisa was on her feet, glaring at the older woman. 'Don't come near me, don't talk to me, don't tell me what to do! You've no right!' Her voice broke.

Sue laughed that tinkling, condescending laugh.

'Of course I have! I'm your teacher, I'm your aunt—'

The reference to their relationship was the last straw. Louisa slapped her, hard. Harder than she'd slapped Connor half an hour before.

Sue returned it with interest, the blow causing Louisa's head to snap back with a vicious recoil that promised pain later; in the meantime, her cheek throbbed white-hot. More than a little dazed, she lifted a hand to trace the heart of it. Her stomach flipped when her fingers came away red, dyed from the laceration created by Sue's diamond ring.

The sight freed the class from their breathless quiet. They exploded as Sue turned hysterical, but Louisa could not stay a moment longer. She slipped out almost unnoticed and started to run, wounded inside and out, instinctively seeking for somewhere to hide.


Mr Clarkson's office, 11.20am


Christine was on a roll, Tom thought, watching her as she paced his office and gesticulated with more than her usual emphasis as she informed him of the latest developments.

'So. I go to the library to supervise Year 12 after Break—or rather, those who have insisted on dropping out of the science module—and narrowly avoid getting run over by Louisa Fox. And yes, Tom, I am fine.'

He shifted sheepishly as his partner paused to fix him with a glare. He hadn't said anything; he hadn't needed to. She huffed and the pacing resumed.

'I demand an explanation when Miss Fox refuses to stop. And who's at the centre of it? I'll give you three guesses. In fact, I shouldn't have to give you any, after this morning!'

'It's not that bad, love,' Tom said. 'At least Connor was honest, wasn't he?'

'Yes, after my sensible daughter-in-law gave him a kick where he needed it!'

He couldn't help grinning. The situation wasn't particularly funny, but Christine's exasperation was—just a little.

'So?' he prompted when several seconds ticked by and she'd said nothing more. 'What's the latest incident?'

Christine gave him a look as she seated herself, resting on her elbows on his desk and rubbing her temples. 'It's… not good,' she began softly, and Tom's amusement fled. 'Connor said… he said that Simon had told him, by accident, that Louisa's mother was a drug addict. Of course it never occurred to him that perhaps it might be useful for me to know this! It makes sense of Sue's hostility… ' She stopped, her lips pressing tightly together and her shoulders slumping.

Tom leaned forward. 'Hey. You're not to blame for their problems, Simon's or Sue's. They're supposed to be adults, and professionals at that.'

'Yeah, but… ' She shook her head. 'I see the damage they've sustained and I cringe. I hope to God I got my act together in time. I couldn't bear it if Connor—'

'He'll be fine,' Tom insisted. 'We'll see to it, won't we?' His smile was tender and after a moment she nodded. 'Right then. Louisa?'

By the time Christine had finished telling him everything she'd heard from Connor and company Tom was cringing on his own account. What a tangled mess; no wonder the girl had run off.

'I said I was going to talk to them,' Christine was saying, 'but I don't know. It's none of my business and I'm not Head any longer. I should just leave it alone.'

His grin was full of affection. 'You can't do that. Because you, Christine Mulgrew, know the damage secrets and lies can do—and you wouldn't be able to live with yourself if you didn't at least try to put it right.' He blew out a gusty sigh. 'That poor kid, she's not gonna know where her head's at right now if she's honestly believed all these years that her mum's dead. And by suicide!' He swallowed as an old memory played in his mind's eye. 'Chris, if she's right, if that's what happened, we need to get her help. Suicide … it poisons grief. More than murder, I think.'

'Because you don't have someone to hate?' Christine suggested, her gaze softening. 'Are you OK? Is it… Lorna?'

He nodded. 'Yeah.' His throat tightened as he thought of all his hostages to fortune, past and present. Especially the ones he'd failed. 'Just be careful, eh? You and Squirt?'

She rolled her eyes. 'You're not going to call it that!'

'Why not? Nice and neutral, innit? I won't need to change to something gender-appropriate when it's born.' He grinned, but the anxiety he was feeling for her—for them—must have shown. Christine was shaking her head.

'Tom, I don't want you worrying about me, not because of the baby. I had no problems last time, there's no reason to believe there'll be any this.' He opened his mouth and her eyes narrowed. 'Stop right there, Clarkson. If you say "eighteen years" I may have to hurt you.'

He laughed and held up his hands. 'OK, OK, I'll stop hovering. I can't help worrying, but I'll try not to annoy you too much.'

Her lips twisted in a half-grin. 'Good. I can live with that.' She pushed to her feet and he leaned back in his chair to look up at her.

'Gonna get the ball rolling?' She nodded and he rose. 'Need a hand?'

She chewed her lip. 'Just keep an eye out later? For Sue?'

'Sue?'

'Yeah. Connor's feeling guilty—with good reason, I think—and he and Imogen will do their best for Louisa, I'm sure. Sue… she could be the wild card here, Tom. You said yourself that her relationship with Simon seems rocky and she's hardly going to confide in me.'

'She could do worse,' Tom pointed out as he joined her at the door. 'Well, you know where I am if you need me.'

Christine put her arms around his neck. 'Yeah, right behind me, ready to catch me if I fall.' She paused. 'I don't say it enough, but I love you.'

He hugged her hard, warmth and love and joy gushing inside him. The memory of the little velvet box in his desk nagged at him. 'Chris, there's something—'

Rhiannon Salt burst into the room, cutting him off. 'Oh good, you're 'ere,' she panted, hardly seeming to register what she'd interrupted. 'Sir, miss, you gotta come, Louisa an' Miss Spark, they went for each other, Lulu's bleedin'-!'

Tom met Christine's eyes and she nodded understanding. Ignoring Rhiannon, he took her hand and pulled her out of his office, both moving at a fast clip. The velvet box would have to wait. The school came first.


Head's office, 11.50am


'I'm gonna have to suspend you, Sue!' Simon was shouting as Christine and Tom entered his office. 'You assaulted a student. It doesn't matter that she hit you first, it doesn't matter that she's your niece. You hit her, hit her hard enough to make her bleed, for God's sake!'

'But Simon, I—'

'Sue!' Simon bellowed. 'You don't get it, you were in the wrong! You can't excuse this, this is the unforgivable sin in teaching! Tell you what, I hope you've kept in with your flying mates because at this rate you're gonna need them!'

'Simon,' Christine interrupted sharply. 'Hold on, OK? I don't think you've heard the full story.' He looked at her, his jaw so tense that for a moment she thought he was going to order her out of his office.

Instead, he deflated, moving away from his desk. 'Fine, go ahead.' He went to collapse on the sofa. 'And sit down. That chair's always been yours anyway,' he ended, throwing his fiancee a bitter look.

Christine hesitated but Tom indicated the seat behind the desk with a nod. Slowly, she returned to it, the mantle of authority dropping once more on her shoulders as she settled. The mantle was heavier than she remembered, and the chair no longer so comfortable.

She drew a deep breath, summoning every ounce of energy and patience she could muster.

'First, I've got the prefects looking for Louisa. She'll be here as soon as they find her. I hope. Secondly. Simon, have you given Sue a chance to explain?' Simon's gaze twitched away, and Christine carried on. 'Or were you too busy tearing strips off her to actually listen to what she might have to say?'

Simon's eyes flickered up and away again, his cheeks darkening at the reprimand. Christine turned to the young Science teacher.

'And you, Sue. Simon's right, you know. You should be suspended, no matter what. But—' She sighed. 'There's wheels within wheels, aren't there? And I can't help feeling responsible, since all this is partly Connor's fault.'

'Connor?' Simon echoed.

Christine's gaze swivelled back to him. 'Yes. Something about Sue's sister and drugs?' The younger pair whitened. 'H'mm. And unfortunately your niece, Miss Spark, has been exercising her usual talent for winding people up, with the usual results. Connor let it out—only to find that Louisa didn't know anything about it, that indeed she believes—or believed—that her mother killed herself!'

'What?' Sue gasped.

'That's what she told Connor, and Kevin and my daughter-in-law backed him up. She's deeply upset. I'm not surprised she went into her next lesson looking for a fight.'

'She—she w-wouldn't to a-anything I asked,' Sue sniffled. 'She just wouldn't.'

'That's not like her,' Tom put in. 'Granted, she can be insolent, but she's clever enough to keep it veiled. It's so subtle that it's difficult to pull her on it. If she was openly defiant did it not occur to you to investigate?'

The younger woman's copper head dipped. 'I … I was too embarrassed,' she muttered. 'Humiliated.' She sniffled and glanced up at Christine through her lashes. 'It's easy for you to say she's not openly insolent. Maybe she's not to you or at school, but at home—' She shook her head and sniffled again. 'She treats me like dirt.'

Christine waited for several beats before asking gently, 'And how do you treat her, h'mm? She's a teenager, Sue. Nearly eighteen, isn't she?' The copper head dipped again. 'Almost an adult, then. I know, it's a difficult line to walk, but you need to give her the benefit of the doubt and treat her as you would … any other adult.' She scoffed. 'Or perhaps I should say, an adult you respect.'

Sue's cheeks rivalled her hair at that and Christine felt ashamed. That was an unnecessary dig. 'I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that, it was wrong of me.'

'Sue?' Simon prompted when Sue remained quiet. 'Anything to say?'

A wave of compassion for the younger woman rushed over Christine, surprising her. Sue had messed up and no mistake … but so too had she in her time, and she'd been given a chance to make amends. Proud as she was of what she'd achieved professionally in the past year, she was even prouder of the bridges she'd built with her son, her daughter-in-law, and their friends. Didn't Sue also deserve that chance?

'It's OK,' she said softly. 'I don't need you to say anything to me, Sue. I'm not headteacher here, that's Simon. It's up to him what he chooses to do. And I'm not going to preach at you about parenting because I have no room to talk to anyone about parenting—'

'Parenting?' Sue echoed, her head coming up very slowly.

Christine gestured. 'Not parenting, then, you know what I mean. She's your niece, I couldn't think of a better way of putting it—'

'You—you were right the first time,' Sue choked into her hands.

'What?' Simon exclaimed as Christine and Tom exchanged startled glances.

'Charlotte isn't the twins' mother,' Sue rasped, looking up. 'She—she adopted them. I'm their mother, it's me, but they mustn't know.' She grabbed Simon's hands. 'Louisa mustn't know!'


TBC!

Next time: Sue fumbles, Simon makes up his mind, bridges are built and the Mulgrews and Tom take an initiative that annoys Christine.

Please, please review. Even if it's negative—I'd rather people reviewed to say what they didn't like or wanted more of than just disappearing, because then I haven't got a clue! See you next time, ox.