When he and Rachel heard the full extent of what Grantley had covered up, Eddie wanted to explode at the man. Actually, if he were honest he wanted to explode at the entire department, because how had none of them thought to mention that they hadn't had a single meeting all year, or that some of the kids had grades that didn't make sense? How had none of them noticed? And how in the world was Rachel managing to sit there as if she hadn't been on the verge of a complete breakdown an hour ago?

It was only after they'd both had more meetings, she'd suspended Grantley and given Tom temporary department headship that he managed to get her alone, relief running through him when she slipped into his classroom and firmly closed the door behind her. "This is a disaster," she stated tiredly, and allowed him to slip his arms around her for a moment.

"I can't believe Grantley managed to hide it."

"I can," she sighed, pulling away in case anyone looked in. "We have been a bit distracted these past few weeks."

"What now?"

"Now? Now I leave my successor with massive damage to this school's reputation."

"Rachel…"

She waved her hand. "Don't. Separately these would be damaging enough but together? Eddie, even you must see there's no hope."

He crossed his arms. "I refuse to believe that."

She smiled fondly at him, swallowed back tears. "You're an eternal optimist." She kissed him gently. "I need to go talk to our visitors. Won't that be pleasant."

"I'll come," he offered immediately, but she shook her head.

"You have a class in five minutes and a mound of paperwork you think I don't know you haven't done. I'll see you later." She managed to smile at him, escaping before he saw through the expression and braced herself to face the corridors once more. At the rate this was going, she'd almost be glad not to be returning to Waterloo Road.

Rachel headed towards where Jeff and Forest Mount were huddled into one room, calling on the man who had offered her a job only hours before. She'd protested with claims of loving the school and also the slight problem of her being pregnant, only now was facing an entirely different obstacle. "I'm so sorry about this, as you can tell we've had some dramas this morning." She braced herself as she faced a room full of students, all who seemed to go quiet as she entered and looked at her in shock for showing her face.

Jeff also noticed the room go quiet, but couldn't deny his admiration for the fact that she'd even entered the room. She sure was brave, he'd give her that. "Well, the pupils did have the front row for one of them." He couldn't help but drop it in, knowing that he had to care for his pupils and do some damage control before he returned back to his school.

Rachel braced herself, she knew it was coming and had expected some backlash. This paled in comparison to anything she would receive from her own staff or students, so took it in her stride. "I can only apologise for that. If you can give us half an hour, I'm sure we can get the football match underway." She needed to see this through, to make sure the rest of the day went off without a hitch so she could at least leave with some sense of control within the place.

"I don't think so."

"Why not?" Rachel followed his gesture and stepped outside, her stomach sinking as she realised she really wasn't going to like whatever was said next.

"Look, the Forest Mount parents were a bit unhappy about us being here in the first place. I appreciate that a large part of this is prejudice, maybe even snobbery-"

"Yeah, that's what I'd call it." She couldn't help but interrupt, she knew she could take any personal digs thrown her way but would not accept anything that was only about the school and it's previous reputation.

Jeff accepted her interruption, but didn't allow it to slow his train of thought. "But the stories that these kids are going to be coming home with, it's not exactly going to change their point of view."

Rachel had to resist rolling her eyes, had to concentrate really hard on not letting her facial features speak for her. "And what stories will they be Jeff?" She didn't really want to know the answer to the question, but had to ask it any way.

"Well for a start it turns out that my pupils have been involved in gambling. I've discovered they were conned into it by one of your girls."

"Conned? Well, I take it they lost." Rachel had to ask, defending her students as a small gambling problem was the least of her concerns for the day and really, she wasn't sure why it was being mentioned. She knew Jeff's problem wasn't with the gambling, and she wasn't sure why he was trying to hide the fact.

"That's beside the point."

"That's not really your problem, is it, hm? Your real problem is me." Even as she said it, the words cut through her like a knife. She didn't really want to hear the answer to that question, not ready for yet another knock.

Jeff noticed the way Rachel's hands moved to her stomach, as if shielding her baby from hearing any more negative words said about her and it tugged on his heartstrings. "This has obviously been a difficult day for you, and I don't want to add to any more stress in your condition. I personally don't think it reflects on you as a headteacher."

Rachel smiled at his small effort for make her feel better, appreciated the fact that he was the first person to actually say something kind her that wasn't Eddie. "You know that job? That you were talking about this morning? Is it still open? Because I might need it when I no longer look like this." She looked down at her stomach and as if on cue, was rewarded with a soft kick of where her hand was resting. Jeff followed her line of sight and then back up to her face, his features telling her what she needed to hear as her heart plummeted further into her stomach. "No, I didn't think so. Excuse me."

She raced down the stairs as fast as she safely could, wanting to escape onto the playground and get some much-needed fresh air. She hoped she could sneak off for at least a few minutes of peace on her own, but wasn't to be so lucky. As she turned a corner carefully, she was faced with none other than Stuart Hordley making his way up the stairs towards her and clapping his hands as he did so. "Oh here she is, Joan of Arc. I loved your little martyr act."

"Why are you still here?" she demanded. "Don't you get it? It's over!"

He blocked her from moving past him. "It is now your life is as much of a mess as mine is!"

Was that really what this had all been about? He hadn't just shredded her reputation, he'd destroyed the career she'd spent half her life building, damaged Eddie's at the same time, cost her the life she'd been hoping to build. Not to mention turned what should have been a joyous into a nightmare- she had no idea how she was going to raise her twins when she didn't have a job, nor much hope of getting one.

Rachel saw red. "Get out of my school!" She lashed out of him, only to have him catch her hands and scoff, shoving her backwards.

"Your school?"

Fear lanced through as he forced her off balance- she was acutely aware of how close the stairs were, of how much damage he could do to the tiny babies inside her. The babies there was every possibility of her losing if he managed to harm her. "Get away from me!" She pushed at his hands, curling an arm defensively around her stomach. "If you don't leave, I'll find someone to make you leave!"

He sneered, but didn't touch her. "We're the same, you and I! We did what we had to do to survive!"

"I did not hurt anyone!"

"Except yourself?"

He loomed over her, but she barely registered the threat, too angry and grief-stricken. "You tried to destroy me."

"You can blame your precious boyfriend for that, for talking to those people from the council."

She laughed bitterly, tried to push him away but he only gripped her arm. "You're not walking away from this, Rachel!"

Something punched against her stomach, a foot or a hand, she wasn't sure. Either way, the feeling brought her back to earth, reminded her of where she was and who she was carrying, and she laughed. "Yes, I am," she told him, and saw his eyes darken furiously. "That's exactly what I'll do. I'll walk away, from this job, from this school and within a few years I'll be a myth. The headteacher who was a prostitute. I'll go somewhere else, where no one knows Rachel Mason, and I'll find a new job and I'll raise my children with the man I love and that'll be the end of it. And meanwhile, you'll be rotting in prison, because you wanted to cut a few corners. Was it really worth it, Stuart, all of this?"

"You…"

"Get out of my school," she hissed. "NOW."

For a moment, she was afraid she'd gone too far. Riling him up when he was already furious, and they were alone, was probably not the best decision she'd ever made. He grabbed her by the shoulders, as if to shake her, and without thinking she brought her knee up between his legs as hard as she could, grateful her belly wasn't so big yet that she couldn't do this. He made a wheezing sound, doubling over and crumpling to the ground.

That was satisfying, she thought, managing to hide her grin as she stared down at him motionlessly. "You need to leave."