(A/N): I'm back! Happy, whatever this is. Time is an illusion now. But anyway, despite everything, I have managed to work on this some more. Currently trying to figure out some drama that should be with you in a chapter or two. Oh wait, I just remembered, there is drama of more than one kind. That should give you something to look forward to. Anyway, read, enjoy, let me know what you think. You know the drill by now.

What the Heart Wants

Chapter 25

Rachel knew she would be facing Steph at some point, was waiting for it. She was slightly surprised not to be confronted as soon as she and Alia had stepped through the front door, but the girls had still been in high spirits over the party and the two women had agreed to a later evening meal of pizza so all the teenagers could have a larger meal than the buffet put on for the girls at school. Jack had been amused at their antics, though it was tinged with sadness as he had to go home the next morning, his mother driving round to pick him up about ten in the morning. The topics had remained light-hearted and fun, though occasionally Rachel caught Alia glancing between her and Steph, obviously having caught on to what was going to happen. Once the pizza had arrived and been eaten, the teenagers went upstairs with a clatter, the sixth formers slightly less sure of the rather steep stairs with heels on than Alia was, with Jack bringing up the rear in case any of them fell, but especially the two who still only had use of one hand.

Sighing, Rachel turned to face Steph, who had dropped the easy smile she'd pasted on for the three girls' and Jack's sakes. "Go on," she told the other woman quietly. "Tell me, Steph."

"What were you thinking, Rachel?" Steph asked, keeping her voice down so as not to alarm the teenagers in the house, though the volume did nothing to mask the feeling behind the words. "Did you think you could just fade away and nothing would happen?"

"Something like that." Rachel shrugged, knowing the other woman's comments were more than fair, considering. "I was blaming myself for Earl still being at the school, that he even had the chance to hurt Maxine and Alia. Resigning seemed to be the only way to hold myself accountable for what happened."

"It wasn't your fault. I know I said a lot of stuff at the hospital, but I didn't mean it Rachel." Steph moved to sit next to her. "You're a damn good head. Earl was going after Maxine because she finally wised up. It's only sheer dumb luck that the other two girls were with her and no one is badly hurt, or worse. That's on Earl Kelly, not you."

"I know that now." Rachel managed a shaky smile in an attempt to appease the blonde woman. "Bolton told me that Alia blames herself for what happened, thought I was pulling her out of school to send her away." She nodded in agreement at Steph's shocked gasp. "It's ridiculous but I realised that if I didn't blame my daughter for what happened; that I only blamed Earl, why was I blaming myself? I couldn't very well use that logic on her and not myself."

"Is she alright?" Steph asked with concern. She'd watched the fifteen year old be there for everyone all week but hadn't realised just how hard she was taking it herself. Maybe Alia was much more like Rachel than she'd originally thought of the teenager.

"Getting there. I managed to undo nearly a month's hard work in one day." Rachel ran a hand over her face, utterly exhausted. "Whoever said parents don't get things wrong is a filthy liar."

"Next time talk to us. You're not alone Rachel, and sometimes we have been known to give good advice, me especially." Steph nudged her gently. "There was something else I wanted to talk with you about though, not just your monumental brain fart today."

"Brain fart?" Her eyebrows rose in amusement almost against her will at the juvenile phrasing.

"Yes, brain fart. Something I heard a few of the year 9s come out with. Not the point, or what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Talk away."

"The thing is, if it was just me, I'd move back home, despite the memory of last week. I'd get through it somehow. Probably with a hell of a lot of red wine. But I've got Max to think of too, and I know she's not comfortable with even the idea of going back there right now. So anyway, I've been looking at new places, somewhere me and Max can make into a home, together."

"Alright, that sounds good. Does Max know about this?"

"Yeah, we've talked about it on and off through the week. One of the places up for sale though is the one next door to here."

Rachel nodded. Her house was the largest on the street by far, but the house next door to hers was a spacious, three bed semi detached house with a decent garden. More than enough room for Steph and Maxine, and Rachel knew the family who lived there currently were looking for a quick sale. They'd been very friendly ever since Rachel originally moved into her home and had been especially chatty with Alia, who in turn had relayed everything to her, meaning Rachel knew far more than she'd ever wanted to about her neighbours. "The Solomons. They're moving down to Cornwall, looking for a quick sale."

"Would you mind if I went for it?" Steph asked. "I saw it yesterday with Max and we both love it, but I figured you might've had enough with us in your house this long, let alone us moving in next door."

"Steph, we've never lied to each other yet and I'm not about to start now. The idea of you and Max moving next door would once have made me want to whack my head off the nearest door frame. Now though, I know the people next door will look out for my daughter, are her friends, and I hope mine as well. You're really rather far down on my list of nightmare neighbours, Steph."

"I'll put in an offer tomorrow then, call the estate agents." Steph smiled. "And yes Rachel, I'd probably call us friends at this point too. A bloody weird pair of friends like, but definitely friends."

Saturday passed in something of a blur, with Jack leaving in the morning around the same time that Tom had shown up with Chlo, the girls having arranged to spend a few hours together earlier in the week. Tom had stayed for a brew with Rachel and Steph as Chlo disappeared up the stairs with the three other teens, ending up staying the whole time his charge did just chatting with the two women. He'd officially handed his resignation as head of pastoral care to Rachel, and though the women couldn't talk him out of his decision, they'd managed to convince him to keep the role on until the Christmas holidays, giving Rachel enough time to find a replacement. Chlo had been surprised to find her guardian sat in the kitchen when they'd all tumbled down in search of food but had been happy enough for the very late group lunch before Tom had to get her back home. They'd left just as Eddie had shown up with Michael, the four year old insisting on spending more time with Rachel and Alia before he had to go home, the pair staying until Michael's bedtime and leaving under many protests from the young boy. During the day, Steph had also managed to put in an offer for the house next door and was just waiting on a response before she put her own house on the market, though the estate agent that was dealing with the place she wanted had assured her her own house would be easy to sell and sell quickly. After tea, Rachel had settled at the dining room table with some paperwork, with Steph poring over marking opposite her. Maxine and Janeece were sat watching tv in the living room, whilst Alia was upstairs, packing a small bag. She hadn't been able to get out of all the London meetings she had scheduled, so she was being picked up by her aunt the following morning, being brought back Tuesday evening to then attend meetings either in Manchester or over Skype. It wasn't ideal, especially so soon after being shot, but she knew she had to, couldn't put it off.

Downstairs, Rachel glanced up from her paperwork to Steph. "Alia won't be in school next week." She cut off Steph's immediate protest on her daughter's behalf, appreciating the misguided attempt for what it was. "We've both known about it for weeks now, this is not some knee jerk response to last week. She has to go down to London for a couple of days before coming back Tuesday night. But she'll still be busy the rest of the week so she won't be in school. I don't want her on the train by herself so her aunt will be here to pick her up tomorrow."

"Is all of that really necessary? I mean she was shot just over a week ago."

Rachel shrugged. "It is what it is. But Ali's future could depend on it."

Steph eyed her for a moment before nodding. "Don't think for a moment I'm letting this go, but I do believe what you've said to me."

Both women jumped as the subject of their conversation walked in with a smirk that only widened when she saw their guilty faces. "Thought I could feel my ears burning," Alia commented, grabbing a glass and pouring herself some juice. "I'm guessing it's to do with next week."

"It is, missy." Steph turned to face her. "Are you alright with all of this?"

Alia wrinkled her nose slightly before nodding. "I guess. It's a necessary evil, but I do get why I've got to." She glanced at her mum. "Rach isn't shipping me off, by the way. This has been scheduled for over a month. I tried but couldn't get out of most of it." Alia made her way over to the table, falling into a seat between the two adults. "Steph, I know this all seems weird, but this is just how it is."

"You're just a child and you're treating this all like you're in a bunch of dry business meetings."

"I am." Alia rolled her eyes. "Mum would be the first to tell you that I'm rather driven when I put my mind to something. Well, I've been working on a career for a few years now and these meetings are required to advance it a bit more. I'm sorry I can't tell you more."

Steph eyed the mother and daughter duo for a moment with a narrowed stare. "Okay. I might need Wednesday off."

"Why?" Rachel frowned.

"Because if she," Steph pointed her pen at Alia, who looked confused, "isn't home by Tuesday night, I'm going to have to spend my Wednesday driving to London to hunt her down."

Rachel relaxed as Alia rolled her eyes. "I promise Steph, this has all been on the books before she even started at school. But sure, if Alia isn't home by midnight on Tuesday then I'll find cover and leave Eddie in charge of the school, and we'll go hunt her down together."

"Great. Just what I need, two mental teachers on my case." Alia rolled her eyes again good-naturedly, standing up. "Well. I have to go finish packing, and Aunt Gabby said to let you know that she'll be here about lunchtime."

The following lunchtime had Maxine and Janeece gawping at the living room window at the slightly more luxurious sports car that had pulled up beside Rachel's, Steph stood slightly behind them. They'd been told the night before about Alia's brief departure to London, and Rachel and Steph had ignored the two sixth formers sneaking into Alia's room late that night, including the talking they could hear well into the early hours. A tall, slender woman in her early forties stepped out with dark hair similar to Alia's, wearing jeans, heeled boots and a cream jumper. They watched as Rachel stepped over to the woman and they opened the boot to put Alia's bags in.

Rachel offered Gabrielle Falan a smile as they made their way to the boot of Gabrielle's car. "Thanks for doing this. I would've hated her being on a train on her own."

"No problem Rachel." Gabrielle helped her lift the bags into the boot. "I nearly didn't believe her when she called and told me what had happened. How is she?"

"She's getting there." Rachel sighed. "Sometimes I think I'm dealing with all this much worse than she has."

"You're doing better than you did with the whole barbed wire thing," Gabrielle told her, closing the boot gently. "I'm surprised you're letting her out of your sight."

"It's hard, but I know she needs to, for her own confidence as much as because she needs the new album sorting." Rachel shrugged. "Maybe being head of the mad house school is rubbing off on me more than I thought."

"That's one way of looking at it, I guess." Gabrielle placed a hand on Rachel's arm. "Ali will be fine. I'll look after her."

"I know you will Gabrielle. Thank you for looking after her so much this spring by the way."

"Not a problem. She's my niece and I love her." Gabrielle shot her a shrewd look. "I'm guessing it had something to do with your own teenage years." She smiled reassuringly at Rachel's panicked expression. "My brother told me many years ago, when Alia was little. It's never bothered me. My niece was very cagey about you this spring is all."

"I was being blackmailed over my past. I thought it was finished but, the blackmailer… he came here, to the house. He saw her." Rachel closed her eyes briefly, nauseous at the thoughts of what could have happened. "He threatened us both, asked what I'd be willing to do to protect her."

"Bastard." Gabrielle swore, tightening her hold on Rachel's arm. "What happened?"

"I sent Alia to you so he couldn't get to her. The final day of term, he told everyone what I used to do, used to be. Then the school blew up. And I do mean that literally." Rachel tried to offer a smile; aware it came across more of a grimace than anything else. "He's dead by the way, so he can't hurt anyone anymore."

"The school blew up?"

"It's Waterloo Road," Rachel told her. That alone was explanation enough, particularly around there.

"Are you alright?"

Rachel's hand immediately moved to cover her scar, despite her high necked t-shirt already doing a more than adequate job of concealing it. "I am now. I was in hospital the whole of the summer holidays. Its why Alia didn't come to see you like she usually does."

"Why did no-one tell me?"

"I didn't know you hadn't been told until a couple months after the end of term. I was… I was in a coma for a while, and Alia didn't tell anyone other than Jack. Jack told me she couldn't bring herself to say the words out loud, let alone tell people. He got his mum to act as her guardian for a while, though Alia was pretty much on her own." Rachel swallowed heavily. "By the time I was awake and functioning, I was focused on making sure she was okay and getting back to work. It never occurred to me to mention anything."

Gabrielle opened her mouth to reply but their conversation was cut off as Alia exited the house, dressed warmly though her arm was rather obviously still strapped to her chest with the black sparkly sling Janeece had found for her and Maxine. Her mouth dropped further as she fully took in her niece. It was one thing to hear she'd been injured, shot, but another to see it in person. She exchanged a glance with Rachel, silently promising the other woman to keep an extra special eye on the fifteen year old whilst she was in her care.

"I've got to stop walking in on people talking about me." Alia smiled. "Hi Aunt Gabby."

"Ali." She made to hug her niece but paused before her, unsure what to do without hurting her. Alia solved it for her by stepping forward into her embrace and wrapping her good arm round her waist. "We were talking about the summer actually."

"Oh?" Alia pulled back, glancing between her aunt and mum.

"I had to explain about the school blowing up." Rachel raised an eyebrow as Alia looked vaguely guilty at having kept her aunt in the dark about it all.

"Anyway, I've a copy of your schedule and a few days off work." Gabrielle changed the topic smoothly. She shushed the teenager's protests. "You're in no state to do all this by yourself and I'll just introduce myself as a relative of Rachel's." Everyone at the record label knew of Rachel, though it was still a well-kept secret that she was her mother, with more than a few people scared of the ballsy, confident woman that fought for Lia Rose's benefit tirelessly. "If traffic holds out, I'll have her back about seven on Tuesday night."

"Stay the night then, travel back Wednesday. It's the least I can do after you're doing all this for us. You may end up in Jack's room for the night though." Rachel warned her.

Gabrielle laughed. "Those two, joined at the hip. Of course you'd have a room for him. Alright, thanks. That'll help a lot."

Rachel hugged her daughter tightly after making sure she had everything she needed, making the girl promise to at least text her every night so she wouldn't worry quite as much. Alia had managed a shaky laugh, promising that Rachel would be thoroughly sick of her before she'd even got home. After another goodbye and a wave at the three in the living room window, Alia climbed into the car and left with her aunt, leaving Rachel stood on the doorstep, trying her best not to give in to the sinking of her heart as the car left her line of sight. She couldn't wait for Tuesday night already.

It was Monday morning and Bolton had slunk into the form room at the last possible moment before the bell, tumbling into his usual seat beside Paul, who glanced at him but otherwise drew no attention to the fact he was nearly late. Bolton nearly zoned out as Tom began the register for the day but sat bolt upright as the teacher skipped over Alia's name entirely, going from Ben Edwards to Chloe Franklin. His eyes narrowed, but he decided to give it the benefit of the doubt. Maybe they'd decided to use Alia's real name, the same last name as the headteacher. However, it was obvious Alia's name wasn't going to be called once Tom had reached Philip and then Bolton in the register, both boys answering sullenly to their names. Once the register had finished, Bolton grabbed a pencil and jabbed Philip in the back none too gently, schooling his expression as Philip turned in his seat with a scowl. It was hard sometimes to remember that the boy was related in any way to his headteacher and the currently missing girl.

"What, Bolton?"

"Where's Ali?" Bolton gestured to the empty seat beside him, his eyes narrowing further in annoyance as Philip's scowl deepened. He had no idea what had prompted the switch in him, but he didn't like the remarks Philip had been making about his cousin and aunt recently.

"How should I know? Maybe she's been kicked out. I don't care." Philip turned back to the front, jerking in his seat as Bolton kicked his chair leg in response to his attitude.

Bolton spent the next five minutes watching the door, hoping to see the fifteen year old walk in with no care in the world that she was late, leather jacket on instead of her blazer. When it didn't happen, he'd had enough. He'd made that deal in good faith and had seen the headmistress' car in the playground that morning. He stormed out of his classroom, ignoring his teacher's yells to come back, making his way directly to the head's office, knocking on the closed door and storming into the small room when he heard a "come in".

Rachel glanced up from her paperwork as Bolton stormed into the room, his face like thunder. Setting her pen down, she gestured for him to take a seat in front of her desk. "It's only form. Don't tell me you've somehow managed to get in trouble already."

"Probably for storming out, but that ain't the point." Bolton crossed his arms over his chest. "We made a deal."

Rachel blinked in confusion. "We did, yes."

"If I talked then you both stayed." Bolton reminded her. "So why is only one of you here?"

Rachel nearly swore as she realised she'd forgotten Alia shared form time with Bolton and he'd automatically assume the worst had happened. Maxine and Janeece didn't know that Bolton knew about her and Alia's relationship and so wouldn't even think to mention it. "I have not withdrawn Alia from school, Bolton."

"Then where is she? Cos if you hadn't then she'd be here."

"She's with her aunt, in London." She wasn't ready for Bolton springing up from his chair, furious. She stood automatically in response as he paced before her desk.

"How could you? You sent her away just because she did what she thought was right! God, that's just…"

"Bolton."

"She told me it would happen, but I thought with the deal-"

"Bolton!" She finally gained his attention, partly irritated at his outburst but partly proud that he would have the guts to confront her over perceived wrongs. Not many people would confront their headteacher head on like that. "I have not sent her away. She'll be back in school next week."

"What?" Bolton backed down slightly from his furious stance at Rachel's calm, almost amused tone as she rounded the desk and directed him to the sofa, sitting beside him and handing him her scheduling diary she'd picked up from her desk.

"Alia has some meetings down in London, scheduled way before any of this happened." She directed him to look at the book. He glanced down, finding the entire week circled in red, with the words in Rachel's neat hand: Ali in London for initial meetings, staying with Gab. "It's all been scheduled for over a month now. We've managed to rearrange things so she'll be back from London tomorrow night instead of Friday, but she's got more meetings and appointments for the entire week, so even though she'll be home she won't be in school. She will be back next week though."

"Miss I-"

"It's okay, Bolton." Rachel smiled at him understandingly. "This week couldn't be helped. Text her if you want, ease your mind."

"No, that's, that's okay."

Rachel shook her head and pulled out her own phone, dialling her daughter's number and pressing the phone to her ear.

"Don't tell me the school's blown up again."

"Nice to speak to you too." Rachel rolled her eyes. "Bolton needs to talk to you." She handed the phone over before either teenager could object, taking her diary back from Bolton and making her way back to her desk, ignoring the teenager using her phone for the next five minutes as she got on with some of her paperwork. Eventually, she looked up from her paper as Bolton placed her phone in front of her, looking sheepish.

"Sorry."

Rachel pocketed her phone and stood up. "It's okay, Bolton, really. Did talking to her help?"

"Yeah, she explained she had a bunch of boring meetings she couldn't get out of but she'd text me, Jan, Max and Chlo when she could." He rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously. "I didn't mean to go off on one like that."

"I think there are many worse things you could have done than storm in here to ask where my daughter was when you were worried about her." Rachel waved off his embarrassed apology as she approached him. "Come on, let's get you back to form before Mr Clarkson sends out a search party."

"Oh I'm definitely gonna get it for storming out of form like that."

"No you won't, I'll explain things to Mr Clarkson." Rachel led him back to form, chatting to him about lighter topics on the way. She caught Eddie's concerned glance from his classroom as they passed and smiled to reassure him. Clearly, he'd seen Bolton storming to her office earlier and was worried about what had happened. They reached the English classroom and Rachel opened the door, ushering Bolton in as Tom looked up with concern. "Go sit, Bolton. Tom, a word." She motioned Tom out of the classroom, closing the door behind them. "He's not in any trouble," She started, smiling at the clearly worried teacher. "Alia wasn't in form and though I explained things to her teachers, I forgot to tell Bolton. Max and Jan told Chlo this morning I believe. He was worried about where she was. Honestly, I think it would probably hinder more than help if we punished him for caring."

"At least it explains why he stormed off after kicking Philip's chair." Tom sighed at Rachel's puzzled look. Clearly no one had let her know what was going on there. "Since last Monday, Philip has decided if he can't get away with ignoring Alia, he'll make little snide remarks, snip at her. Wednesday was particularly bad, with Bolton and Paul getting between them. I honestly thought Alia was going to go for him, even one handed. Paul had pulled her back before both boys pushed Philip away. I thought that would be the end of it but the boy just seems to be getting worse, attitude wise."

Rachel blinked at the new information, not sure what would make her nephew behave like that, though she'd hazard a guess at it being something to do with his mother. "Things… happened on Saturday, after the briefing on the shooting."

"You mean after you walked out looking for all the world like the mother of Eddie's child?" Tom's mouth twitched as he teased her, fighting the urge to smile as Rachel flushed red.

"Yes. Anyway, Melissa and Eddie are no longer together. I don't know why, but it seems my nephew may be taking that out on my daughter. It's strange though."

"What's strange?"

"He didn't want them together, was actively trying to break them up to protect Eddie." She waved off his curious expression. "Long story. Why would all that change now? And how on earth could any of it be my fifteen year old's fault?"

"I'll keep an eye on him and an eye on both of them when Alia is back next week," Tom promised her. "I best get back for the last five minutes before they completely wreck my classroom. And yeah, Bolton won't be punished for storming from my class this time."

"Thanks Tom." Rachel walked away back down the corridor, wondering when everything got so complicated, even when her daughter wasn't there.

TBC…