(A/N): Here it is, the third and final chapter! Sorry it's taken so long, my muse went for a whole bunch of different fics, none of them for Waterloo Road, and then real life once more showed up to kick my butt. I am not entirely happy with this chapter, but I think it finishes things up quite nicely. As always, read and enjoy and let me know what you think.

Trapped Together

Chapter 3

Despite not wanting to deep down, Rachel forced herself away from Eddie's warmth, pushing herself to her feet in a bid to move as far from him as possible in the small room, facing the shelves. She knew where he wanted to go with everything, what the talk was leading up to, but how could he not already see how badly everything had affected her? Was it any wonder with everything she had going on that she'd get scared and turn him down? What was so wrong with trying to keep the one good relationship she'd ever had in her life the same as it always had been, for as long as possible? She was hopeless when it came to her personal life, awful at romantic relationships and barely managed to keep hold of a handful of friends from her university days. Eddie was her closest friend and the only friend that knew of her past. Changing all of that could ruin so much for her. Her arms moved to wrap around her waist of their own accord, subconsciously trying to protect herself. "Why can't you just leave it alone, Eddie?"

"Because…" Eddie had also pushed himself to his feet, though he'd wisely not tried to encroach on her personal space too much. She was thankful for that; this conversation was already too much for her to handle without his presence overwhelming her as well. "Because I can't possibly be the only one who can feel this between us. Rachel, please. I know you can feel it too."

She scoffed slightly, feeling the tears welling in her eyes and desperately trying to force them down. Turning halfway, Rachel managed to look him in the face, though she couldn't quite bring herself to meet his eyes. "You want to ruin everything over a feeling?"

"No." Eddie shook his head gently. "No, I also think we need to talk about it because it will tear us apart if we don't and that's the last thing I want."

She scoffed again. "I think it's a little late for that, don't you?" Her eyes finally met his as she took in his confusion. "Since that night, you've been outright ignoring and avoiding me at every opportunity and glaring at me when you can't. It's already torn us apart, Eddie." Her voice was small, defeated, but she knew she was right. Whatever was between them had already broken them when she didn't give Eddie the answer he was looking for that night outside the pub. Rachel glanced down at her watch, more for something to do than actually being worried about the time. "It's nearly three o'clock. Half an hour to go."

"How bad is the punishment going to be?"

She furrowed her brow at him slightly. "For what?"

"The staff locking us in here."

"Oh, that." Rachel shrugged. "There isn't going to be a punishment. It's not like they'll ever give up exactly who was behind all this, and their intentions were pure, however misguided they may have been."

"Wait, who are you and what have you done with Rachel Mason?" His voice was teasing, but she wasn't in the mood. She was just tired, tired of it all. Tired of constantly glancing over her shoulder for fear of who would be there, tired of her personal life being bandied round the school in whispers, tired of Eddie and his mood swings where she was concerned, hell even tired of her well-meaning staff members. She was just tired. Eddie sighed at her lack of response. "Rachel, come on. We've managed to talk about everything else. Why not that night?"

"Why are you so desperate to bring it up again?" Rachel deflected, her eyes firmly on the shelf in front of her, trying to focus on the font of the stacked textbooks.

"Rachel."

"Eddie."

Eddie sighed again, his frustration winning out on his features as he waved his hands about slightly. "Okay, fine! If you don't want to talk about it, then fine! We won't talk about it. We won't talk about how one minute I thought we were going somewhere, and the next I've been frozen out like just another one of the teachers, all change in the blink of an eye!"

"Why does it have to change?" She burst out, unable to help herself after his frustrated rant. Why did he not understand? She wasn't any good at this, ruined everything she touched. Was it so bad she wanted to leave him untouched, unscarred by her? "Haven't there been enough upheavals without ruining the one good relationship in my life?"

"Rach…" His face had softened, but she hadn't finished.

"All that day, I should have been nowhere near the school Eddie, absolutely nowhere near. I was terrified, of everything, every sound, every shadow, every murmur in the corridor! And just to add to the fear, the panic, there was a bloody gun in the school!" Rachel was pacing, running a hand through her hair and not really paying much attention to what she was saying. The dam had burst, letting out everything she had kept to herself about that day. "I nearly had a panic attack there and then and I knew I'd come back too soon, that I wasn't ready for it, but I'm stubborn and I couldn't stand another minute in that hospital room on my own. Then, as if that wasn't enough, all I wanted to do was to go home but no, Eddie, you tell me I have to go to the pub, to reassure people when I had nothing to reassure them with."

"Rachel."

"So on top of the awful day I've already had, when all I want is a moment's peace to sort through things, to process everything, I'm followed when I try to leave. And it's even more change I'm not ready for, change forced upon me without a choice. And I knew it'd destroy us Eddie, I knew I'd destroy us." Her tone had shifted from angry to devastated in an instant, despondent now as she finally met his eyes again. "I turned you down to protect you, protect what we had, and I ruined it anyway. I broke our friendship trying to save it. Ironic, really."

"Oh, Rach. Come here." Before she could really register anything, Eddie had enveloped her into his arms, pulling her in for a comforting hug, though she didn't know who it was meant to be comforting, her or him. "You haven't ruined anything."

"Yes I have." She pulled back, wiping at her eyes where a couple of tears had escaped despite her best efforts. "But it's okay. Eddie, you'll find someone great, and you'll be happy with them, and I'll be happy for you, okay?" She did her best to smile at him, though she wasn't sure how well it came across when she felt like bursting into tears all over again.

Eddie stared at her for a long moment, his eyes dark as he studied her. "Alright. Yeah, okay. You know, I have met someone." Rachel felt her heart sinking at his small, measured words, his eyes never once leaving hers. "She's beautiful, and passionate, and god only knows I don't deserve her." He stepped closer, barely a foot of space between them.

"You deserve everything Eddie." Rachel mumbled out, both hoping the mystery woman was good enough for him so he'd be happy, and hoping that she wasn't, so she wouldn't lose Eddie completely. "She sounds lovely." The words were like ash on her tongue.

"She had me wrapped round her little finger from almost the first moment I met her. She isn't afraid to tell things like they really are, and can be so damn stubborn I'm amazed she hasn't made the tide change through sheer force of will. She makes a difference to every single person she meets, for the better. I've been caught more than once staring at her, in awe of her. There'll be no one else like her, ever." Eddie stepped closer again, hardly a breath between them. "There's just one problem."

"What is it?"

"She has no damn clue about any of it, because she doesn't see herself the way everyone else does. We really need to work on your self-esteem, Rach."

Rachel's mouth fell open in shock as his hand gently moved to caress her cheek, tucking her hair behind her ear. No, he couldn't possibly have been talking about her, could he? "What?"

"You have absolutely no idea just how beautiful you are, or how much of a difference you being here, at this school, in the kids' lives, in my life, means to us, do you?" Eddie's voice was barely above a murmur, dark eyes boring into hers and leaving her no place to hide. Her hand moved up on instinct to cover her chest, despite the barrier of her shirt, only for him to catch hold of it with his free hand and move it back down to her hip. "Your scar only adds to you, Rachel. It's beautiful, just like the rest of you. Sure, it's a reminder of how damn stubborn you are, how everyone is put above you and your irritating need to save everybody, but it's you, Rach. It's a part of you. How could it be anything but beautiful?"

Rachel searched his eyes, not entirely sure what she was searching for. All she found reflected in his gaze was acceptance, with a slight hint of exasperation she knew he got when she was especially stubborn for whatever reason, and a deep affection that still scared her slightly. She definitely did not want to try and find a label for that affection just yet, even if deep down, she knew exactly what it was, and that she returned it fiercely. Could it really be so simple? "I ruin every relationship I've ever been in." She warned.

"Rach, I know you. I know who you are, I know about your past and I know that there will be many times the school and the kids will come first." Eddie replied evenly. Rachel sucked in a deep breath. It was true, Eddie was the first person she'd liked in a romantic sense that knew about her past and it didn't seem to have fazed him beyond his initial reaction. Plus, he'd only asked her on a date well after he'd gotten over his shock and been firmly on her side once more.

"Eddie, I was a prostitute." She felt the need to remind him, more like warning him.

Eddie simply shook his head with a half-smile. "So? Why should that make a blind bit of difference? Two years as a teenager doesn't define you, doesn't define who you are."

"People will talk."

"So let them talk. Rachel, just give it a chance."

"A chance?"

"A chance for you to be happy, genuinely happy." With that, Eddie leant in slowly, giving her more than enough time to pull away if she so chose to, before his lips covered hers and Rachel's mind went blissfully blank.

…

Steph Haydock was wary about opening the door to the storeroom, dreading just what was going to happen to her when she did. Which was why she had Tom and Matt as backup with her. Not that she was scared of Rachel Mason, no way. Okay, so she'd never admit it out loud anyway, but that woman could actually be quite scary when she put her mind to it. God only knew how bad she and Eddie had taken their forced proximity for the last two hours, and no doubt it would trickle down to the rest of the staff, as most of them were in on the scheme. Really though, the staff had been running out of ideas on how to deal with the two most senior teachers, the cupboard being a last ditch attempt to sort things out before they started really paying the price of whatever falling out they'd had.

Thankfully for the plan, Eddie had had a free lesson last thing and the teachers had banded together and quite successfully herded the students through the day with none of them the wiser of the absence of the headteacher and deputy, let alone that they were locked in the maths storeroom together. Now, most of the kids had completely left for the day and as promised in the letter, the duo were due to be set free from the tiny room.

Steph steadied her hand surreptitiously as she turned the key in the lock, freeing the two senior teachers and bracing herself to face the consequences as she pushed down on the handle to open the door. Her jaw dropped and she heard Matt and Tom swear behind her as she found herself watching Rachel and Eddie pressed up together, Rachel's back against the shelves and Eddie kissing his way down her neck like a starving man who'd just found a feast. Neither of them had even noticed the door opening, let alone noticed they had an audience.

Matt cleared his throat loudly, prompting the pair in the cupboard to stop their actions, both flushing a brilliant red as the embarrassment at being caught making out like a couple of teenagers caught up with them. Eddie helped Rachel right herself, neither quite daring to look the other in the eye as they stepped out of the room together.

Rachel managed to offer Steph a knowing smile. "Yes, Steph, you won the betting pool."

Steph just about kept the surprise from her features as Rachel and Eddie both left without another word, though all three teachers swore they saw Eddie's hand reach round her waist once they were a good few feet away, whispering something in her ear none of them could hear. Of course Rachel knew about the betting pool the staff had going, and knew that Steph's bet on them ended the following morning. It was the other reason Steph had been so anxious for them to sort out their differences. Not that she was doing it solely for the money, of course. Helping two of her colleagues find happiness was a good thing, but the three figure bet she'd just won definitely helped.

"She knew the whole time?" Matt questioned faintly.

"Seems like it." Tom shook his head incredulously. "I thought for sure we were all in for it."

"Never mind all that." Steph turned to the two men with a smirk. "Who wants to bet when they'll move in together?"

The End.