Thank you for the reviews.

*cracks knuckles* Now I can make some real changes here.

There are two parts of this episode. Mainly because I could think of two different ways as to how this episode could have changed for the better. So we start with the thing that happened first.

Stuart Hordley revealing Rachel's past.


Series 3 Episode 20 I

"Steph, have you found him?"

"No, sorry."

"And have you seen Eddie?"

"Nope."

Rachel sighed as she let Steph go, who wanted a word with Maxine. The last thing she needed was both the head of English and her deputy not making an appearance at the spelling bee. The more she thought about it, the more she felt like Eddie wanted to say something else to her in her office earlier.

Although him, practically asking her out was better than whatever he did want to say. She could sense that he was nervous about saying it and maybe it was the right time for them. It was obviously building between them. She just had to decide how far she was going to allow it to go.


Eddie knew that he should be in the spelling bee, sitting next to Rachel, but he had to do something. It was his fault that Stuart had gone bust and it would be his fault if he allowed Stuart to reveal her secret. Because Stuart didn't have anything on Eddie. It was the reason he had sent the photocopies of the newspaper article.

He wished that he could have been honest with Rachel that morning but he couldn't. He liked seeing her happy and, in all honesty, if he wasn't met with what he was that morning, he was going to ask her out for a drink anyway. It felt right and it felt like it was the way their relationship was heading. He was all ready to tell her about how much she meant to him.

He watched Stuart's car come down the drive and into the car park. Eddie knew that he would park near the entrance. It was where he had always parked. Eddie prepared himself for this to get ugly. The last thing that was going to happen was for Stuart to enter the school and reveal everything.

The sight of Stuart just angered him and he definitely looked like he was a man on a mission.

"Out the way Lawson."

"No way." He said as he pushed Stuart backwards. "You're problem is with me. Not Rachel."

"If it wasn't for her, you wouldn't have bleated to the council. What? Are you hoping that it will help you get into her knickers?"

"I want you off school property now."

"Or what?"

Eddie didn't like the glint in Stuart's eye. But all Eddie knew was that he couldn't allow this to get out. One way or another.


Rachel turned to Eddie as he sat down in the chair as Matt was saying what the last word of the spelling bee was. She took in his bruising eye and the cut on his lip. She knew that he knew that she was going to ask the question, even more so when she looked down at his knuckles to see them all red.

"I'll explain later." He said.

"You bloody will. Look at you. Especially in front of Forest Mount. God knows what opinion they have of us already and now you look like you've been in a fight."

"Well, I don't think you would have liked the alternative."

There was just something about the way that he said it that made her believe him. She accepted what he had said and hoped that as soon as the spelling bee was over, they could get to her office to talk about what had happened. Although she was certain that she wasn't going to like what was going to come out of his mouth.


"We are definitely going to need that drink," Eddie whispered to her as the football match started.

"And you still need to explain your appearance to me."

"I will. I promise."

"I knew today was too good to be true."

"And would you believe me if I said it could have been a hell of a lot worse?"

"In what way?"

"I'll… explain later."

Rachel was trying to still be annoyed at him but she constantly found herself worrying about what had happened rather than being angry at him because it did. It just confirmed to her that she was ready to take the next step with him, if that was what he wanted as well.

"Where are you taking me tonight?"

"Why?"

"So I know what to wear. Just because you might change your shirt, doesn't mean that I am not going to think about it."

"Just to a pub a friend runs. So casual." He paused. "And I am going to change my shirt. For a t-shirt."

"You are unbelievable sometimes."

"You love it."

Her eyes flicked up at him, meaning that both of them missed the goal that Waterloo Road had just scored. She felt her lips part as she thought about what she was going to say to him.

"Of course I do. I wouldn't want you any other way."

"Good. Because I am not about to change."

"Me neither."

She nudged his arm before she turned her attention back to the football match. He was definitely hers, whether that was just as her deputy or as something a lot more. He was hers.


Rachel had kept it casual, copying what she thought Eddie would be wearing. A t-shirt and a pair of jeans. She even dug her trainers out, not really looking forward to wearing heels again. Bearing in mind, she knew that Eddie wore trainers to work, she knew he wouldn't be wearing smart shoes.

He picked her up, eight o'clock on the dot and his eye and lip had finally finished bruising. His knuckles were still red but she couldn't tell whether they were going to bruise as well or just be sore. She had gone over a number of scenarios in her head as to the reason why Eddie looked the way that he did and she always came back to the same conclusion.

Stuart must have turned up.

It would make sense as to his comments that the day could have been worse. She waited for him to get the first drink before she brought up the subject again.

"What happened this morning?" She said.

"Those envelopes that I had this morning? Well, they contained a photocopy of that article. The one that has your picture next to it. I gathered them all up, even took yours. Before I left the staffroom, Steph told me that Stuart had gone bust. I… I couldn't let him get away with it Rachel." He paused. "I had a word with a mate of mine in the council. Told him about Hordley using illegal labour on council contracts. He obviously did look into it because he had lost all his contracts. He was going to take it out on you rather than me. I… I couldn't let that happen, Rachel. I knew he would turn up at some point. Maybe I am glad that it was halfway through the spelling bee. I wasn't about to let him ruin you because of something I did. He didn't like it and… we exchanged a few punches."

"You must have done something to make him leave."

"I had already called the police. Told them that Stuart was stalking and harassing you and the fact that they sent a police officer around to take a statement is the reason that he was arrested. I told them that I would get you to go down to the station in the morning to give over a statement as he had threatened you that morning and wasn't up to give a statement. They are going to hold him until they get your statement."

"Eddie…"

"I know. I should have told you. But… you were so happy this morning and… the last thing that you needed was for me to tell you that there was a chance that your secret could come out. We do need something to tell them tomorrow though."

"We could tell them the truth. I could say that I hadn't told you about the blackmail and you just saw it as him stalking me when he was making sure I was keeping my end of the bargain. I mean, they can have access to the schools CCTV. They will know that he showed up at all times of the day."

"Are you sure?"

She nodded her head at him. "Yeah. And thank you. Yes, today could have been a lot worse if I had to also deal with my past coming out. I… I don't think that we would be sitting here now if it had."

"I think the day would definitely have had a different tone to it."

"It could still come out."

"And if it does, we will deal with it. I can't see how it will though. I think we can finally close this part of Waterloo Road's history."

"Although I am not happy that you got hurt because of me."

"I think this is the better of two evils. Me getting hurt because of you or your secret coming out because of me?"

She placed a hand over his. "I'll just glad he didn't hurt you too much."

His thumb stroked the tips of her fingers. He smiled down at their hands before he looked up at her. The same nervousness that he had in the morning was back.

"Anything for you Mason."

"Really?"

"Of course."

"My deputy looking after me."

"Someone has to."

"I suppose they do."

"You've let me in now."

"I know."

"And I want you to keep letting me in."

"Naturally."

"Rachel, we work. Don't we?"

She smiled at him. "Of course we work."

"And… you feel it too?"

"Of course I do."

"I just… didn't want it just to be me."

She felt like he needed a little bit more confirmation than just words. It was the only reason she could come up with as to why she leant closer to him and pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth. She was going to say something when she had returned to her original position but Eddie had turned his head and made it more than it first intended to be. Of course, she wasn't complaining as her hand made his way to his hair and she wished at the corner of the table wasn't in their way of making the kiss the best one that she had ever had.

"You know, this is a B&B. My friend says that there is a spare room if you want to."

"Sounds to me like you had this all planned Lawson."

"Maybe I just didn't expect us to get to this point so early in the night."

"I didn't either."

She hoped that she had the same glint in her eye that he did. They picked up their drinks and made their way to the bar where Eddie spoke to his friend before they were taken to the room. Maybe things were happening a bit quicker than they both expected but it was building between them. This was how they were meant to be. Together.