For a horrible moment, she thought he was going to argue. But then he side-glanced the group of adults, and nodded his agreement. "You deserve to stay, miss."

She smiled at him, squeezing his arm gently before turning him on the spot and giving him a light push towards the door. Colin came to stand beside her, watching him go. "He's certainly dedicated."

"He was on the verge of leaving school with nothing a few months ago," she said absently. "If nothing else, I did right by him at least."

Bolton's departure from the room had drawn Stuart's attention to the room, and she saw the moment he clocked them, his eyes narrowing slightly. Rachel tensed, in case he tried something with the boy but he barely seemed to notice him. She took a deep breath, hoping that this had all been worth it.

"For what it's worth," Colin spoke louder, glancing back over the room. "I stand with Rachel. That boy is just one example of the good she's done in this school, not to mention all her previous ones. I don't believe a couple of years from the distant past should overshadow that."

The ache within her eased slightly at his words. At least everything she had fought to achieve wouldn't have been completely in vain, not to everyone at least. Colin strode from the room, greeting Stuart with a handshake and expertly guiding him down the corridor, and Rachel recognised the delaying tactic for what it was. He was giving the people behind her time to process, to get over their shock before they had to react to anything else.

She could only hope it would mean something.

Bolton dashed towards the math's corridor, barely bothering to knock before bursting into Eddie's classroom. The teacher looked up, and when he saw who it was and how out of breath he was, he paled. "Alright, carry on with those exercises," he called. "Miss Shackleton, you're in charge."

He barely noticed her eyes widen as he closed the door behind him. "He's here?"

Bolton nodded, still catching his breath.

"He's early," Eddie cursed.

"Miss Mason wanted us to go to Miss Haydock's classroom."

Eddie frowned, beginning to walk. "She has a class in there. Rachel must have forgotten."

He didn't even have to go into the French classroom- Steph caught sight of him and poked her head out. "Give me two minutes."

It took her that long to set some work for her sixth formers, whom she hoped could be trusted enough not to wreck her classroom as she left. "How's it looking?" she questioned as she came out again. Eddie shrugged, giving Bolton an inquiring glance.

His eyes widened. "No one was calling for blood?" he offered weakly. Steph and Eddie exchanged a grim look, and settled down in the corridor to wait for someone to emerge.

Eddie had started to pace again, and Steph was just about to call him out on it once more when raised voices were heard and a door was opened. "You can't be serious."

He moved towards the door, only to soon have his arms full of Stuart Hordley, who didn't even seem to notice that he'd hit a solid block in his path. "You heard me, she's a whore!" He shouted back to the room, most of which had stood up when Stuart began his outburst.

Eddie decided to act then, took a quick look to check Rachel was okay before starting to move Stuart towards the main entrance. "That's enough Hordley, off you go." He took hold of Stuart with both hands, applying all his pressure to get his out of the school as quickly as he could before anyone else had the chance to hear what he was saying.

"Oh here he is, the knight in shining armour." Stuart dug his heels in and turned his head once more to the open room. "I wonder if Mr Lawson still pays for her services now they're shacked up together." He spoke even as Eddie's strength won out and he was soon screaming over his shoulder despite being moved very quickly towards the main doors. Eddie caught sight of the security and called them over with his eyes. He handed Stuart over and took a step back, hands now firmly at his side as he fought with himself not to swing another punch. With the attention of the security and also the receptionists, Eddie turned to them from the middle of the corridor. "He's never to step foot in here again, no matter what, okay?"

"Of course."

"No problem Mr Lawson."

He received the confirmations he needed and set back off to find Rachel, instead finding Steph still stood outside. She hadn't made it into the room, but the door still hadn't been shut completely and Steph was listening out of sight. He caught her eye and raised his brows in question, but received only a worried look in response as he too began to listen.

"We're in a very difficult position now Rachel, the facts still stand that you lied to us."

"I hardly-"

"And now, there's claims of you and Eddie? It's hardly professional is it?" Eddie wasn't sure who was speaking, but he quickly stepped back into the room and found Rachel back in front of them with all eyes on her.

"Now we've hardly been that unprofessional if nobody knew about it, have we?" There she was, his Rachel was back in full swing. He didn't need to interrupt, simply stood by and watched in awe as she took on the room with her head held higher than he'd seen her hold it in weeks.

"I've never lied about anything," she continued strongly. "I may not have disclosed certain information, but that was well within my right to do so. Say what you please about me, but do not accuse me of something I've not actually done."

"Your contract-,"

"Contains nothing about withholding information from my teenage years. I've broken no laws."

Steph nudged him. "Is that true?"

"Technically," he breathed. "The issue was always going to be the fallout from this lot and the parents."

A new voice entered the fray. "I think you're all missing the main issue here," Colin said loudly.

"Which is?"

"Until an hour ago, did any of you have a single issue with how Waterloo Road is being run? With Rachel's performance?"

Eddie found himself holding his breath at the long silence that followed, barely noticing Steph anxiously clutching at his arm. "No," the original voice admitted, and he wondered just who that was. "But the publicity this will bring on the school…"

"Can be weathered," Colin interrupted. "If we are all willing to do so."

"The fact remains that this school's reputation is already a difficult one-!"

"A reputation that has improved over the past few months, thanks in large part to Rachel!"

Eddie made a mental note to buy Colin a very, very large bottle of something. He was so intent on listening, that he didn't notice Steph's grip sliding away, nor notice her stepping towards the door. He only realised what she was doing when she pushed it open and stepped inside. "Steph!"

He had to make a split-second decision- either he followed her in, or continued to hover at the doorway and eavesdrop like a schoolboy. There was no contest really. He quickly moved after Steph, amused to realise their entrance hadn't even been noticed. Rachel was still stood at the head of the room, watching the group bicker with an inscrutable expression on her face. The movement of the pair of them caused her to turn, raising an eyebrow at them but saying nothing as Steph stood right next to her, arms crossed with an unimpressed look. "This lot are in charge of our school?"

Rachel shushed her, but Eddie knew her well enough to catch the flash of amusement in her eyes. It took another few minutes before someone looked up and spotted the newcomers, and suddenly they found themselves with the gaze of the entire room on them. "Who are you?"

"You all know Eddie Lawson, my deputy, and this is Steph Haydock, our French teacher. I'm not completely sure what she's doing here…" Rachel shot her a pointed look.

Steph gave them a flat expression. "Someone round here has to stick up for you and the kids."

Eddie finally had a face to put with the obnoxious voice, as he pinned them with a glare from his seat halfway up the table. "Excuse me?"

"You're all so busy arguing, none of you have thought about what this really all means," Eddie said strongly. "This is a school. It's no secret that the kids here are vulnerable. If you choose to vilify Rachel for her past, you're telling every single child here that change isn't possible. That their mistakes are always going to matter, that it doesn't matter what they do in the future if they messed up in the past. That's not the message we've been preaching to them, it's not what we do here. You're going to ruin so many of their lives if you tell them that."

His words apparently flew right over the man's head. "Miss Haydock, do we take this to mean you were aware of Miss Mason's past as well?"