Thank you for the reviews.

Back to the AU side of this story.

No idea where this idea came from. I think it was more so I could write the next chapter. But maybe, just maybe, things might have been a little different if Rachel had gone to Waterloo Road on the second day... maybe just to check that a certain headteacher was her deputy.


On the Second Day

Rachel didn't really understand her train of thought. But somehow, with the prospect of being at home all day by herself, she found herself standing in the foyer of Waterloo Road, staring up at the football shirt on the wall for Tom. She started to wonder what he would have thought about all of this. Her and, potentially, Eddie being back at the same time.

She knew that was the reason why she was there. She knew it was Eddie's signature on the bottom of that letter but there was a part of her that had to make sure before she got her hopes up.

Maybe when we do, we can find your deputy.

She hadn't had the heart to tell Tommy just yet, just in case she was wrong. She couldn't get his hopes up that she would have an ally against Adam for this new headteacher not to be him.

"Hello? Can I help you?"

She almost found herself laughing at the words. Didn't really help that she was thinking about Tom and those just happened to be the first words that she had said to him.

She turned to the young man, thinking that he probably didn't get the chance to meet Tom.

"Did you have the honour of working with Tom?" She asked anyway.

"I didn't. There were some here during my first year. The new head keeps going on about him."

Had to be Eddie. She thought.

"One of the best teachers I have ever worked with. Always so passionate about his job."

"Can I guess that you aren't here because of Tom Clarkson?"

"No, I'm not."

"Then why are you here?"

She went to open her mouth to answer him but she didn't need to tell him. Because standing at the bottom of the stairs, staring at her, was Eddie Lawson. She started laughing and she knew it wasn't the reaction that Eddie was expecting but he started laughing too.

"Dear God, you haven't changed one bit." She said.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, look at you. You're… still in jeans and an untucked shirt and… you're about to shove your hands in your pockets."

"Still know me so well."

The distance between them was cleared quickly and she was finally back in his arms, hugging him tightly, feeling the comfort that he could always give her.

"What are you doing this far north?" He asked as they parted.

"I could ask you the same question."

"I was asked to come back and… maybe I needed to put some distance between Melissa and myself. Not Sophie though. Sophie is welcomed at any point."

Sophie. They had a daughter. She had a niece.

Rachel didn't particularly think that it was the time or place to reveal that she never knew anything about the baby, who must be coming up to being 13.

"Adam got a job up here a few years back. More flexible hours than what he did have in Rochdale when he decided that he would go back into the kitchen."

"The kitchen?"

"He is a chef."

"So someone who does all the cooking."

"My cooking isn't that bad Lawson."

"Do I really have to remind you of that pasta dish?"

"No, you don't. We promised never to speak of that again."

"Alright, Mason."

Mason. It had been so long since someone had called her by her maiden name. It was nice and even nicer to hear it from Eddie.

"You're the same then." He continued.

"What?"

"Still not over what happened between us?"

"Just… not been called Mason for a while. Plus… I am here because I had to make sure it was you."

"Rach. What's going on?"

She smiled. "13 years and you still know me so well."

"Shall we take this to my office?"

She found herself nodding at him and rather willing to catch him up on everything over the last 13 years.


Eddie couldn't really believe that he had Rachel Mason walking by his side again. They fell into step like they always had done, like nothing had changed between them in the 13 years that they had been separated.

They didn't talk on the journey to his office but there was the occasional glance over where they would smile at each other. He could actually smile properly for the first time in 13 years. All because he had been reunited with Rachel.

They turned into the antechamber and he was slightly glad that Georgina was at her desk.

"Georgina, could I have two coffees? One for myself and one black, no sugar." Eddie said before he turned to Rachel. "I'm guessing you still have it the same way and you still like your coffee."

"Not that much has changed in 13 years."

He did notice the boy coming into the room but he didn't really expect what was about to come out of his mouth, although it made a lot of sense as to why Rachel knew that he was back at Waterloo Road.

"Mum! What the… why are you here?"

Rachel turned to the boy and Eddie could only smile as he realised how alike they looked.

"I… had to make sure of something."

"But Dad…"

"Your father is at work all day because he needs to make that new menu."

"Make sure of what?"

"Tommy, we don't have to find him."

"Your deputy?"

Rachel turned back to him.

"Eddie, this is my son, Tommy. Tommy, this is Eddie Lawson, my deputy."

Tommy laughed. "That makes so much sense. Like everything that I heard yesterday makes so much sense now."

"You'll have to tell me later."

"What are you doing out of class Tommy?" Eddie asked.

"Mr Andrews' computer isn't working properly. He can't take the register so he is doing a paper one. I got asked to deliver it to Georgina."

"Right."

Tommy handed over the paper before making his way out. He turned back.

"Mum, are you going to tell him?"

"Go on. Get back to class." She said, "And Tommy, yes." Rachel turned back to Eddie. "You might want something stronger than coffee once we are done."


Rachel gave Eddie the time to process everything that she had told him. If it hadn't been so close to the end of the summer holidays, she probably would have shrugged off her difficulties with Adam. But Eddie deserved better than that and Tommy deserved better than the household that he had grown up in. This was the first time that she could actually see her getting away from Adam.

"Rach… He's hurt you?" He said as he stopped pacing and turned and looked at her.

"Not recently."

"And Tommy?"

"Not to my knowledge. I don't think I would want to know if he had. I… don't give them a chance to be alone together. Because I am scared of that happening."

"And no ones tried to help you."

"We put up a good front that everything is okay. Eddie… in all honesty, I don't know what Adam is capable of. It is why I start to build up the strength at the end of the last term of the school year and then my birthday hits and I start to second guess myself and then… I decide not to leave him. It has been the cycle for the last six years."

"Well, I am going to help you break that cycle."

"Didn't Melissa say anything to you?"

"About what?"

She could sense his confusion and she knew that Melissa wouldn't have said anything. Why would she have? She knew that Eddie would be round there in an instant if Melissa had said that she had been round there and seen Rachel with a cast on. Although it was obvious that Philip never said anything to him.

"She… That Christmas, Christmas 2016, I stayed at Philip's for a couple of days before I went back for clothes and a couple of things for Tommy. Melissa, she showed up and pushed her way into the house and I ended up entertaining her for a little while before Adam returned. He made it seem like everything was okay between us."

"That bloody Christmas."

"What happened that Christmas for you?"

"It was the Christmas that I walked out on Melissa. Not Sophie, just Melissa. I went back for a couple of things and Sophie was left with me for a couple of hours. I… I didn't really think much of it."

"I wonder." Rachel started but then met Eddie's eye.

"Stop trying to see the good in her. She is and always will be selfish."

"She is my sister, Eddie."

"Who didn't ask about how you looked."

"We never have had the greatest relationship. The best we have ever been was when she was dating you."

"And that was it at the best?"

She laughed. "Eddie."

"Yes, Rachel."

"I need your help."

"And I will help you. We… just need to know the best way of doing it."

"And no."

"And no what?"

"No, I'm not over what happened between us. It is the reason why Adam doesn't know anything about you and the fact that I thought it was safer for Tommy to know you as my deputy than to call you by your name."

It did slightly surprise her when Eddie moved to sit on the coffee table, to be opposite her. She felt like he wanted to grab her hands but didn't until she offered them to him. She knew that she would remember the way that he rubbed his thumbs against the back of her hand. A memory and sensation that she knew would bring her a huge amount of comfort for the days when it was bad with Adam.

"How protective do you want me to be?"

"How do you mean?"

"Am I allowed to punch him if it feels right to?"

She laughed again. She couldn't remember the last time she laughed this much.

"Yeah."

"You are my first responsibility. Always have been and always will be."

"What about Sophie?"

"Sophie isn't here. Sophie is with her mother 400 miles away. You are here. Asking for my help. You should know that I would always come running if you call."

"Just… help us, Eddie. I can't… I can't put Tommy through that again. Adam has always hated this place. It will make him worse again."

"Let me talk to a few people. I'll get some advice."

If it wasn't for the fact that she had promised herself that she would stay faithful to Adam, mainly because she was scared of what he might do to the other person, Rachel might have kissed Eddie there and then. He was still her deputy, her friend, confidant and she still loved him.

Maybe she wouldn't regret coming in on the second day of term. Maybe it would be the thing that saved her. Because Eddie was back by her side. What could go wrong with him by her side?


So I know that it is Mother's day in the UK and I toyed with the idea of writing a chapter, but like I put on Twitter, it would just be Tommy (who is 8) doing everything he can to make Rachel happy and Sophie (who is 10) trying to get through the day without starting an argument with Melissa.