Rachel would be distraught to know that Bolton of all people knew of her past, so Steph knew it was another case for damage control before they once again lost control of what could happen. So Steph found herself sat across from Bolton as he told her everything that Stuart had filled him in on, her anger growing with each sentence as he whittled off information that no child should have any idea about. It was as he was speaking that she noticed just how exhausted the teenager was looking, and Steph felt a pang of the emotions she was sure Rachel felt each time the headteacher fought to protect one of her students. It was just another occasion in which Steph realised she had gotten her boss so wrong, had thought she was simply a busybody who liked to involve herself in others business when in fact she really did care. "Bolton, I want you to listen to me." Steph began as soon as Bolton had finished, having worked himself up to a frenzy whilst repeating everything Stuart had said. "What Mr Hordley has told you, I won't lie to you, it's true. But that doesn't mean you need to think any bad of Miss Mason."

"No, I know that."

"You do?" Steph asked, shocked at the response. She expected that she would be needing to calm Bolton down, to persuade him not to tell all of his mates and have everyone know Rachel's secret by the morning.

Bolton rolled his eyes, not surprised that his French teacher knew he wouldn't have the best intentions. "Yeah, I know that Miss. Look, I've done bad shit.. sorry. I mean, I've done bad stuff before. And Miss Mason didn't care about that when she came here." He shrugged, overcome with gratitude once more for his head teacher and everything she had helped him with. Even with his job being so hard and tiring, it was still another thing he wouldn't have without the help of Miss Mason. He had no doubt that if she hadn't helped him when she first started, he'd no longer be a pupil at Waterloo Road and would be earning his keep some other way. "Why should I care what's she done? But I think Mr Hordley doesn't want her here, and he's going to try and get rid." His anger mounted again at the thought of someone taking Miss Mason's job, someone who didn't care and wanted all the bad kids gone.

Steph had to wait a minute to respond, to fully comprehend what it was that Bolton was saying. She took one look at him and knew she believed him wholeheartedly, knew he wasn't on the bluff to get something else that he wanted. "I think you're right at Mr Hordley, but I think there's a way you could help." She began to tell Bolton of an idea she'd had, a way to put another nail in Stuart's coffin that she couldn't do without him. If he told the governors about the hours he was doing, about his pay and how it was affecting his school work, there was no way that could be disputed. That, alongside the proof Rachel had on Stuart blackmailing her was a sure way to kick him to the curb once and for all. "So, what do you think?" She asked, hoping that he agreed as she really couldn't do it without him.

"If it helps Miss Mason, then I'm in."

"You're a good boy, Bolton." And unusually for her, she meant it. "Come with me."

He trailed after her obediently, but they didn't need to go quite as far as she thought when she spotted Rachel and Eddie up ahead, the former tucked closely against her deputy's side. "Rachel!"

She heard Bolton's footsteps stop dead. "Miss!" he hissed, tone horrified. He might not have cared about his headteacher's past, but he didn't want her to know that he knew.

Ahead of them, Rachel and Eddie both turned and upon spotting Bolton being pushed along by Steph, comically stepped apart as quickly as they could. But there was no way the boy hadn't seen, as shown by the smirk on his face and Rachel flushed red, ducking her head away for a moment before managing to give him a bland look, hoping her blush wasn't too evident. "You're here late, Bolton."

"We have a… development," Steph said, propelling the boy nearer. Eddie tensed.

"What do you mean?"

Bolton had a mortified look on his face as he looked anywhere but the three adults. Steph already knew this wasn't going to go down particularly well. "Stuart told Bolton."

The words echoed around Rachel's head, the colour draining away from her face. She was vaguely aware Eddie had moved closer to her, that Bolton was still looking at the ground as she tried to quell the nauseous feeling in her stomach, tried to get her breathing under control as she fought the urge to panic.

"I think he hoped Bolton would tell everyone else, turn the kids against you," Steph continued, and Eddie's eyes flashed.

"Are you?" He challenged the boy, shifting as if to step closer but Rachel's hand shot out to stop him, fingers gripping his arm.

"Eddie!"

Bolton swallowed thickly as he eyed Eddie, but shook his head. "'Course not." He glanced at Rachel, and was wildly uncomfortable at the almost frightened look on her face, directed at him. "Miss," he began, shifting on the spot and barely managing to avoid glancing towards Miss Haydock, "aren't you the one who told me that we shouldn't let mistakes in our past affect our future? Or something like that anyway."

"Bolton, I don't-,"

"You're the best teacher I've ever had," he blurted out, cheeks hot as he avoided her eyes. "You're the first person who ever saw past the fights and detentions. Not even my mum always could. Hordley's dead wrong about you. And I reckon there's going to be a lot more kids like me who need you here, so you can't let him win. This place won't be the same without you."

As soon as his little speech was over, Rachel had to fight the urge to weep on the spot. Eddie was watching her closely and realised just how emotional she was, and how much Bolton's words meant to her. He knew that even though she was more embarrassed than he was sure she'd felt in a long time with the knowledge that Bolton know of her past, that would pale in comparison to how she'd feel if she cried her feelings in front of the teenager. So he decided to take change, to save her from speaking in fear her voice would break and she'd crumbled in front of them all. He took a step towards Bolton, clapping a hand on his shoulder to show his appreciation. "It's been a long day, for us all." Eddie commented, smiling a small smile in what he hoped was a reassuring way. He was going to have to be the strong one here, for all one then. "You get home and go to bed, you look shattered. Tomorrow, come here and we'll talk, yeah?" Bolton avoided his eyes, nodding his head in agreement and simply itching to get away.

As soon as Eddie removed his hand, the boy made a bolt for the stairs. He took one last look behind him before he sped off. "Thank you, Miss Haydock. For listening." Knowing his street cred was completely out the window at this point in time, especially to these three adults, he decided it didn't bother him half as much as he thought it would when he caught the obviously grateful look on Miss Mason's face. "Don't worry Miss, your secret is safe with me." His word was his bond, and he hoped she knew that as he finally took his leave and ran down the stairs taking them two at a time. He really did want to be home and sleeping as fast as humanly possible, although not without giving his mum a hug first. So maybe he was going soft, shoot him.

The three watched the boy go and Eddie turned back to Steph, wonder in his eyes as he realised just how much they really could rely on her to help them in this situation. "You too Steph, go home.. have a glass of red on me. We'll see you tomorrow." His words left no room for argument, not that Steph was planning on doing that anyway. She was beat, emotionally exhausted after the days events. Plus she had Stuart to sort out, and a meeting to stop before she could really rest.

With that thought she stepped towards Rachel and lay a hand on her shoulder, offering a warm smile to the woman who looked ready to pass out from exhaustion. "I'm going to sort Stuart, okay? That meeting won't happen, you have my word." She truly had no idea where to even begin with it, but was damn sure she'd be trying everything in her power to follow through with her words. "Night you two, make sure she gets some sleep Eddie." With another warm smile, she was off to collect her bag from her classroom and onto the next job she had to complete. Eddie's offer on red wine would definitely be coming, but not until this mess was dealt with.

Now the two of them were alone once more, Eddie turned to ask Rachel if she was okay. Only her face told him her answer, as did her actions when she fell against him and gave out to her exhaustion. "This is a mess." She mumbled against his shirt, her words a jumble as she fought to even keep her eyes open.

"Let's go, we can talk after you've napped. I'll even run you a bath for when you wake up." Unfortunately they were in no position for Rachel to simply sleep away her worries and wake up the next morning, no matter how much she needed it. But Eddie was determined to make sure it was as easy for her as possible, with him by her side with each step they needed to take.