"Are you going to be okay?" Rachel asked as she walked Eddie towards the coach. She felt unbelievably nervous, and not even his presence calming her as she thought of what she needed to do in his absence. Melissa's reappearance was something she needed like a hole in the head, especially on a day as busy at the last day of term. Her sister knew was she was doing though, and that was another reason Rachel knew she needed to discuss what it was Melissa was hoping to achieve with the stunt she had pulled. "Thank you for going in my place, it's just.." She looked back towards the school and then back to Eddie. "I need to sort this with Melissa, as sisters."

Eddie nodded in agreement, grateful for any excuse to get away from Melissa before he said something he really did regret. It was only his love for Rachel that had stopped him really laying into her, knowing that she wouldn't appreciate him letting loose with his words on her little sister; no matter what she'd done. "Yeah, of course I am." He pacified her, knowing how excited she had been about the choir competition before the likes of Melissa and Ralph ruined their day. It was supposed to be so amazing, a last hurrah for the school before half term began. He only hoped that the holiday they had planned was still going ahead, as lord knows the two of them needed it now more than ever.

Rachel seemed to stop in place, frozen to the spot and oblivious to the students around her as she stopped Eddie also and pulled his attention back to her. The wind whipped around them and she cursed herself for forgetting her coat in her quest to catch up with Eddie and say goodbye before the coach departed. "Eddie, let's deal with this when we're back. We've got a competition to win and all that." She tried to lighten the mood, but one look at his face proved that no amount of jokes could take away from the severity of the situation. It was the unknown for both of them, and neither knew what they would be coming back to when the competition was finished.

"Yeah, well. You lock up and follow right behind me when you're done?" Eddie asked, hoping to get Rachel away from the place and the drama that the school brought for even an hour.

Rachel nodded, mentally lifting all the things she still needed to do before she could even consider the sit down with Melissa that was truly needed. "Okay. I've got the sixth form drinks to sort as well." It wasn't an excuse, per say, but she didn't want to make any promises if it meant breaking them only minutes later.

"Don't worry, you'll get it all. Just.. take care of yourself." He took looked back towards the school, knowing she was going to have a conversation with her sister that would change all of their lives. If Rachel decided she couldn't do this, if she didn't want to deal with the added stress of a new baby, then everything would change once again. He couldn't blame her, he wouldn't blame her no matter what it was she decided to do; he only wished that it wasn't a decision she was needing to make.

"Okay. Let's get you all on." She turned towards the students, herding them onto the bus to hurry them up. The sooner she could speak to Melissa alone, the sooner a plan could be put into place. She didn't want to halt on her plans, didn't want to lose her one chance of happiness with the one man she had ever truly been in love with. They had ideas for their future, places they wanted to visit together and things they had always wanted to do. Michael had been included in their plans, Phillip too. A factor that hadn't been included was Rachel's little sister and a baby that would be related to both of them.

"Bye then."

Eddie's voice sounded so broken that Rachel wracked her brain for something to say to him, a reason to keep the conversation going. "Oh Eddie? I got the watch, thank you so much." She let the last of the students on before stopping Eddie as he climbed on and turning him back towards her. She looked up at him and took his face within her hands before he got too far away from her reach. In a move completely out of character for her, she pressed her lips against his delicately and hoped to Gods she didn't believe in that it wasn't to be their last kiss. They shared a small smile before the loud cheers of children interrupted their private moment, and they moved away from each other reluctantly. No more words were said as Eddie took his seat at the front of the bus, not paying anyone else attention as he stayed looking at her until the engine roared and the coach began to move. She waved to him and he waved right back, hoping his eyes were deceiving him and he didn't really see a tear make its way down her cheek as the school disappeared from him view, taking his view of Rachel with it.

Rachel blew out a breath as the coach disappeared, quickly composing herself for the few remaining students and flashing them a smile. Chlo was holding her baby, wrapped in a pink blanket and it felt like a stab through the heart.

The advantage of a mostly empty school was that there was no one to stop her as she hurried up to her office, thankfully closing the door and leaning against it. Perhaps it was a little dramatic, but she was alone and there was no one to see her as she slid down to the floor, closing her eyes and pressing her fingers to her lips as she finally allowed herself to break.

She knew how this ended. There was only one way it could… only one way she could allow it to. Melissa was her sister, and for all that she'd done, Rachel had always loved her. Right now, Rachel had never hated her more.

She allowed herself ten minutes, ten minutes to weep for the loss of Eddie, for whatever remained of her relationship with her sister and quite possibly with Philip as well, depending on what the boy chose to do. Ten minutes to mourn the loss of the future she'd allowed herself to hope for. And then she took a deep breath, swallowing hard and going to the bathroom the splash cold water on her face in an effort to conceal the evidence. She had work to do.

Drinks, chairs, a sign- all good things to focus on. The school was empty and her footsteps echoed as she moved around setting everything up, but she barely noticed, beyond being absently grateful or the silence and lack of need to communicate with anyone. She almost wished she'd gone on the coach, just so she would have had a distraction to focus on.

Footsteps from behind her had her glancing round, resisting the urge to mutter a curse when she saw Philip. She loved the boy, but right now he was one of the last people she wanted to see.

She swallowed hard, and carefully blanked her face. "Hello love," she murmured, before silently cursing. He hated endearments, barely tolerated them from his own mother.

"Hi."

She carried on working, only glanced up when Phil hovered without saying anything, looking awkward. "Something wrong?"

He shuffled his feet. "She didn't go in."

She paused, and let out a bitter laugh. "Why do you sound surprised? She was never going to."

That probably wasn't fair on the boy, but she was furious and heartsick and Melissa had known what she was doing when she walked back in on the final day of term at a time the corridors were swarming with students and staff alike, with a swollen belly and a definite plan. She blew out a breath, grabbed another bottle and pretended not to notice when Philip stood silent for another minute, before slinking out the room.