Thank you for the reviews (I have seen them all even if they aren't coming up on here).

So we are in the aftermath of what Danny did, how badly has Rachel been affected?

Rebuilding

Eddie knew that Rachel was frustrated. He knew that she was irritated. He knew that the three-hour wait in the hospital for shock was the last thing that she wanted. He was not surprised when she demanded that she could discharge herself. He even pulled the nurse over and asked whether if he vouched to look after her could she be discharged, which was a compromise that she agreed to. He knew that he had to get her out of there as soon as he could and he didn't think that he had signed a bit of paper so quickly before he got back to her to announce that she could go home.

He expected that she was thinking the worst. He knew that she had gone into herself again. He knew that she was replaying something in her head. The call that they'd had cut off and he had no idea what happened in that office, until she told him.

He pulled up on the drive outside of Jane's house and gently told her that she was home. He still got out and was to the passenger door to help her out. He watched her as she wrapped her coat tighter around herself and the front door was already open by the time they reached it.

Jane's arm was straight around her shoulders as she led Rachel into the house. Eddie stepped in, if only to talk to Sally, who was leaning against the doorframe to the kitchen, still in her uniform. He needed to know what they had got out of Danny and Earl, mainly so he knew how to help Rachel. He was at a total and utter loss again. He didn't expect Rachel to stop Jane halfway up the stairs and turn towards him.

"Stay, please."

He nodded before he glanced at Sally. She ran a hand down his arm and he settled for the fact that he was going to stay the night. Once they were in her bedroom, Jane left briefly, with the promise to Rachel that she would be back in a moment. It left Eddie with the task of getting himself and her ready for bed. He concentrated on himself first, managing to find a t-shirt and pyjamas bottoms that he knew he had left there. Peeling the shell shocked Rachel out of her clothes was equally as difficult as it had been when she was drunk. He wanted to give her kisses, just to show her that he was still there, but he didn't know how well received they would be. He was grateful that he'd had the practice with Michael.

"He called me Rachel." She said.

"Danny?"

She nodded.

"Why did he say that?"

"I don't know."

"What did he say?"

"I don't think you understand Rachel. Either I have you or no one does."

"Oh, Rachel."

"He was so close." She said as she started to break down. "If Earl… If he hadn't pulled me out of the way."

"Hey, hey, hey." He said as he cupped her face. "He did. Earl Kelly did the right thing when it mattered and he saved your life."

He couldn't stop the tears streaming down his own cheeks as she fell into his embrace. He had almost lost her for a second time and he hoped for the last time. They pulled back as Jane rejoined them. He allowed Jane a moment to comfort Rachel. He wiped his cheeks, the last thing Rachel needed was for him to break down as well.

"Come here you silly sod," Jane said.

He turned back to them to see that they had laid down. He helped Jane to rearrange themselves so that all three of them were underneath the covers. He placed his arm around Rachel's waist and she immediately grabbed onto his hand while keeping her grip firmly on Jane. It was clear that neither of them were allowed to leave her side.

It wasn't clear how long it took her to fall asleep but Eddie was more awake than he had ever been in his life and he was certain that Jane was the same as she gave him a small smile over the top of Rachel's head. He did his checks to make sure Rachel was asleep before he said anything.

"What are we going to do?" He whispered.

"She shouldn't go in tomorrow."

"I know. But I can't exactly have the time off if she isn't there."

"And I've used up all my sick pay and holiday. Not that I would have been able to take it off anyway. I could take it unpaid."

"But do you really want to do that? Especially with all the time you had off over the summer."

"You have a point there."

"Sally?"

"Day shift and she won't be able to swap now."

"So what are we going to do?"

"How empty is your timetable?"

"Pretty full actually. There might only be one period where I am not teaching." He paused. "At worst, Tom has a pretty empty day. Set her up in the Pastoral Care office, with Tom watching over her. He can always get me if he is worried. He will just have to cover my class. I'll have a look at the cover sheet in the morning. See if I can, at least, cover my afternoon."

"Is that the best way forward?"

"Jane, she shouldn't be going into tomorrow, but also, she shouldn't be left on her own. I'll just have to catch up on her paperwork if she doesn't actually do any work."

"We should probably get some sleep."

"I honestly don't know how she is asleep."

"She'll be worse in the coming days. I think it has just taken it out of her today."

"He called her Rachel."

"Who?"

"Danny."

"Really?"

"I think that is what is playing on her mind at the moment."

"I'll get as much as I can out of Sally tomorrow. Just so you are prepared."

"It is going to be a long few weeks."

"We've done it before."

"I hoped never to do it again."

"Maybe now you can. Maybe this is all over."

Eddie wanted to believe her but it seemed like Danny might not go away so easily. Maybe it was more of a case that it was over for now.

Rachel didn't really know what she was staring at or what she was thinking when Eddie put his hand on her cheek, bringing her back into the room. He smiled at her and allowed her a little bit of time to get herself together, which she was grateful for.

"Away with the fairies?" He asked.

"I shouldn't be in today."

He nodded at her. "No, you shouldn't. And we did talk about this, this morning. At breakfast. We said that me and Jane discussed it and she couldn't have any more time off work, I needed to be here and Sally had the day shift. You were better off where you had the potential to throw yourself back into things but you were also surrounded by people."

She nodded as she looked around the room, surprised when she found herself in the Pastoral Care office.

"Why am I in the Pastoral Care office?"

"Because, other than the draught, I didn't think that you would want to be in yours. Plus Tom had a pretty empty day and was happy to sit with you."

"Where is Tom?" She said as she realised that it was just them in the room.

"Covering my class. He noticed that you literally hadn't moved for half an hour. He thought that it would be best to get me to get through to you. Come on."

She allowed him to pull her out of the chair and pull her over to one of the sofas, with both of his hands in hers, walking backwards to make sure she was okay. He sat down first before he pulled her down and tucked her underneath his arm. Her eyes closed briefly as she placed a hand next to her face before moving it to his chest. The hand of the arm that was around her shoulders started to stroke her side before his other arm came around her, adjusting their position slightly, and he held onto his wrist, fully eloping her in his embrace.

"You know, Melissa confirming to everyone that we are dating is probably the best thing that she did for us. Probably the only thing she is going to do for us. At least I can look after you properly this time." Eddie said.

"Did you not look after me properly last time then?"

"You know what I mean. I can comfort you in school without us feeling like we will get caught. Like now. We wouldn't have done this before."

"I suppose you're right." She paused. "Have you heard anything from Sally?"

"He is easily going to get five years for the gun. They have applied for a warrant to search his house and any other properties in his name. Apparently that is the hold up at the moment, finding all the properties that he owns." He paused. "Although, Sally says that she knows someone who owes her a favour. Going to break into the properties that they have found and check for drugs. If not, a lot of cocaine is going to be dumped somewhere."

"They will already find drugs."

"Will they?"

"Yep, his own deadly mix. It's what Mum and Dad were hooked on."

"She is going to make sure that he is put away for a very long time. So you will never have to see him again."

"Just… everything that he said. I could tell that even Earl was uncomfortable."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She paused for a moment. "The three youngest grandchildren are Danny, me and Melisa. In that order. I said that Mum's side of the family was full of girls. If there was anyone that should have tried to keep us in line, it should have been Ben. He was the second oldest. He would have definitely had more of a chance. Except he was the son of Mum's oldest sister. Basically, not in line to inherit it all. Danny was. Just… he never, obviously, gained the same respect that Ben had. Because he was one of the youngest."

"Okay."

"His… obsession with me. Eddie… I think he loved me. More than a cousin should do."

Rachel could almost hear him think it over. It was something that she was sure that she had replayed over in her mind a number of times.

"But." He said before he stopped. "That does make much sense. Does it? With everything that he did and said."

"Don't you remember when he said that no one could or would love me. Not like he did." She paused. "He was giving us hints all along. I think that part of this was all revenge but the other part… I do think that it was what he said yesterday. Either he was going to have me or no one was."

"But all the crude comments?"

"I haven't worked that one out yet."

They didn't say anything else as the bell rang out, signalling the end of lessons. The corridors erupted in noise but neither of them moved. Rachel knew that Eddie was right. With everyone knowing about them, she didn't feel any pressure to break from the comfort that he was giving her. The chatter from outside quietened down before the bell rang for a second time, signalling the beginning of the next lesson.

"I should probably get back. At least get the class started for Tom to take over."

"And then you'll be back?"

"Of course. Why don't I also ring Jane while I'm gone? Tell her that I'll come round tonight and cook for the three of you. Saves her doing anything and we know that she is going to be worried about you. You can start to try and play down her fears over what happened."

She looked up at him. "Will you be doing the Lawson special?"

"Most definitely."

"And then you will stay the night again?"

"Of course I will." He placed a kiss on her forehead. "I'll be back in five minutes."

She gave him a small smile after they had untangled themselves. She knew that she would have to let Eddie know how much she enjoyed it when he kissed her forehead. Because it brought her so much comfort. So much that she didn't know how to put it into words.

Rachel felt like a teenager as she exchanged glances with Eddie. She had been moved back to her office, purely because Ralph said that he would drop in at some point over the day. She suspected it was something to do with what happened in her office but she couldn't be too sure. Eddie had managed to clear his timetable, giving him the day to sit with her and help her through her paperwork. She wasn't in the best frame of mind but Eddie just being there was helping her a lot.

It was just after half two when Ralph finally made an appearance and Eddie only stood up when they both realised that this wasn't anything to do with the police investigation but with the school as Ralph spoke about the plans that him and the other governors had come up with.

"You are now holding governors meetings without me." Rachel said.

"We needed to. We couldn't wait for you to be ready. The governors have to have a response. Time and time again, you have put the pupils of this school in danger. This is the plan of action that the governors came up with last night."

Rachel had no other choice but to take the envelope off him and pull the letter out. She noted that all the actions had Ralph's name next to it. It was clear who ran the meeting and who was then going to organise it. Although there was probably no better person when most of the actions were all regarding the safety of the school, with help from the police. She handed the list of actions to Eddie before she started to read the letter beneath it, becoming more and more concerned the more she read.

"Ralph, this is my school." She said, sounding hurt.

"That might be the case. But as more details come out, the governors have agreed that we don't trust your decisions and judgement after what has happened. The LEA agreed with me this morning. Danny Sutton is your cousin and also one part of Hordley and Sutton, the builders that were meant to be building this state of the art training school that you promised would provide instant results. Not only is there no training school, the other half of Hordley and Sutton died in the fire, which you reported that he started.

"There was an anonymous tip-off from the school about their behaviour, Danny's in particular. But what I was more concerned about was the meeting about who was going to build it. You threaten to walk as well as implied that one of the members had a personal gain from who got the contract. Didn't you?"

"And can't you put two and two together and see what she was being blackmailed by them," Eddie said.

"Or maybe that is what she wanted you to think. Maybe we should start a police investigation into you as well. Run a proper DBS check on you. Maybe you are using the school to create a breeding ground for the next wave of criminals."

Rachel was quick to stand up and grab Eddie's arm. As much as she would have loved to see Eddie punch Ralph lights out, she knew that it wasn't the way to go. Part of her knew the game that Ralph was playing. Maybe she just had to play along for the moment.

"Fine. But I still have the final say. I'll talk to the LEA later. Just so I know their side."

"He starts Monday. I think you will like him."

Rachel already knew that she wouldn't. Why would she?