(A/N): Well, here we go, the next chapter! I honestly thought I'd already posted this and didn't realise I hadn't. Schwoopsie. (Bonus points for anyone that gets that reference). Anyway, I reference Romeo and Juliet, Of Mice and Men and Animal Farm in this chapter, and I think I mentioned the latter in another chapter. These books/play were the standard books to read at English GCSE at that point in time, though some schools did other books like 1984 or Pride and Prejudice (I got yelled at for writing for the pride and prejudice question instead of the animal farm one that I was meant to). I just wanted to say that these were real GCSE selections and not just ones I made up off the top of my head. I am a little ahead with writing but my laptop is also fighting with me right now so I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up. Hopefully soon though. Anyway, read on, enjoy and let me know what you think.

What the Heart Wants

Chapter 27

Arriving at her home, Rachel couldn't shake the wide smile adorning her face, exiting the car and locking it almost absentmindedly as she relived the moments she'd spent in Eddie's company, the sense of security and peacefulness she'd felt as they'd wandered aimlessly after the restaurant. She let herself into the house as quietly as possible, hearing Steph, Maxine and Janeece talking loudly over the television sound in the living room, but not wanting particularly to intrude and face the inquisition from the sixth formers or Steph. Turning from closing the door and locking it, she jumped in surprise, barely supressing a loud gasp. Sat on the stairs together were Alia and Jack, both of whom were watching her attempt to creep into her own house with amused smiles.

"You both scared me half to death!" Rachel hissed quietly, only fuelling their amusement as she gestured for them to follow her into the kitchen, where she put the kettle on and removed her heels, moving them to the side so no one tripped over them. Jack and Alia took seats together at the kitchen table as Rachel made hot chocolates for all three of them, distributing them round as she took a seat opposite them, wrapping her hands around the warm mug. She smiled at the two teenagers softly.

"So how was your date?" Alia asked with a smirk, her hand wrapped around her own mug.

"Does Steph even know you two are here?" Rachel deflected. Alia and Jack shared a glance before shrugging in unison.

"No, we snuck in." Jack laughed quietly. "Ali and I thought we'd give you as much time as possible before you're interrogated."

"I suppose that's why you were sat on the stairs waiting for me." Rachel raised an eyebrow at the pair.

"You really need to up your deflecting skills. They need work." Alia leant forward slightly. "Spill. What happened once we left? Because you two couldn't take your eyes off each other all night when I was there."

"We were not that bad." Rachel flushed as both teenagers fixed her with identical disbelieving looks. "Were we?"

Alia offered her a soft smile of reassurance. "It was nice seeing you so happy. So?"

"So what?" Rachel knew she was putting off the inevitable, but she was not making it easy for the two teenagers. She was the adult there, not them, even if the inquisition reminded her of her father quizzing Melissa over her first boyfriend.

"Do we have to tell Sam Eddie broke your heart tonight?" Jack asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"What? No. No, Eddie didn't break my heart! We had a nice night I'll have you know." Rachel defended her deputy instantly only to realise that she'd been duped into revealing her night as the teenagers broke into wide smiles. "I forgot how good you two are with the questions." She shook her head at the pair sat opposite her, though she was fighting a smile.

"It's your own fault for trying to hide it from us." Alia shrugged, taking a sip of her hot chocolate. They would never push if there was truly something Rachel didn't want to tell them, knowing when she was hiding things she was completely unwilling to share. "So you had a good night then? Was it eventually classed as a date or not?"

Rachel took a sip of her own hot chocolate, still using the mug to warm her hands. "I did have a good night, and yes, it was eventually classed as a date." She smiled despite her blush as the two teenagers grinned at her. "Though as a punishment for ditching us tonight, you're both being drafted in for the next date." It was her turn to smirk as the two fifteen year olds exchanged confused looks. "Yes, you heard me right."

"Uh, no offence Rachel, but why would you both want us along on your date?" Jack asked.

"We're going bowling." Rachel sighed as the two didn't look any less confused. "It was my suggestion but Eddie agreed right away. I think he's figured out I'm more comfortable around you both. Plus I figure you need to have some form of payback for ditching me tonight."

Alia exchanged another look with Jack before nodding tentatively. "Alright. If we can make it then we will."

"We haven't got a day for it or anything yet," Rachel told them. "Everything is rather hectic right now and Eddie isn't pushing me into anything. The next date will be down to when I want it."

"So like now then."

"Alia!" Rachel hissed, though she blushed at being called out on what her thoughts had actually been. "I want to wait until everything has calmed down a little, at least school and home wise." She gestured in the direction of the living room, where they could still hear the houseguests loudly discussing something, unaware of their presence in the kitchen.

Jack snorted, amused. "Yeah, so never then. Rachel, ever since you started at that place it's all just got more and more manic. I say do what makes you happy." He shrugged at Rachel's searching look, obviously wondering where the sentiments he'd expressed that night had come from. "Li might calm down a little when she sees you're finally happy with the guy." He dodged Alia's elbow easily. "You're both such worriers; Ali just hides it better."

"Like you're not? You've been hovering ever since I got shot." Alia shot back at him, raising an eyebrow in challenge.

"Exactly. You got shot." Jack rolled his eyes. "It's not like you tripped over your own feet and bruised your arm or anything. Being shot is a good reason to worry about you."

Rachel watched as the two teenagers argued quietly over what was classed as worrying over nothing, fighting the urge to laugh. They could be ridiculous sometimes, but she wouldn't have them any other way. She'd always known that they were similar in terms of what could prompt a debate or argument between them and had been witness to more than a few amusing arguments between the pair. Usually they ended with them both forgetting what they'd even started debating or disagreeing about in the first place.

She finished her hot chocolate during their debate, bringing their quiet words to a halt as she held a hand up to gain their attention. "Okay, time out you two. You're both worriers, but I'll forever worry more. That's the answer, and you two need some sleep." She pointed to the clock, ignoring their protests that it was still early, considering it was Friday and they didn't have school the following morning . "Bed, now, both of you." She waved them out of the kitchen as they bid her goodnight, Jack lifting Alia onto his back for a piggyback so her heels didn't make too much noise on the stairs. Rachel stifled a smile at them, tidying up their hot chocolate meeting before heading upstairs herself, silently marvelling that she hadn't been caught by Steph, who seemed to have a finely honed radar for dates of any description, but especially when it was concerning Rachel or Eddie. How she even found the time to teach with all the gossip she managed to uncover was beyond the headteacher, but somehow Steph was the font of all knowledge when it came to the staff and their love lives, if not quite everything in their personal lives.

Rachel quickly changed into her pyjamas, removing her makeup at her mirror before heading to check on the two nosy teenagers. Jack was in his room, texting, though he glanced up with a smile when he saw Rachel in the doorway. She left the door ajar before moving on to Alia's room, opening the door to find her struggling with the fastening on her shoes onehanded. Suppressing a smile, Rachel entered the room and knelt before her daughter, taking her feet one at a time and undoing the shoes herself, depositing them in front of the fifteen year old's wardrobe to be moved at a later time. She returned to sit beside her daughter, putting an arm around her gently and pulling her into her side.

"Are you alright mum?" Alia asked, looking up to try and see her mum's face in the dim lighting of the room. She had expected Rachel to head straight to bed, to avoid Steph as much as to keep the memory of the night she'd just had alive. She hadn't expected her mother to appear randomly in her room and help her with her shoes.

"I'm good." Rachel pressed a kiss to the top of Alia's head. "Are you sure you're alright with me seeing Eddie?" She asked, the dark allowing her to ask the question that could make or break whatever was starting to happen between herself and her deputy head. She couldn't continue down the road to a relationship with him if it would make her daughter unhappy, no matter how much ending whatever they had would hurt.

Alia frowned a little, pulling back in a futile attempt to make out what was going on with Rachel. "Of course I am. He's a bit of a prat at times, but far less than he could be. You know I don't mind him, and he makes you happy. Why? What's going on?"

"I kissed him."

"What?"

"I'm not repeating myself." Rachel felt herself blush even in the darkness of the room. She'd only confessed it because she needed to tell someone, and though not ideal, her daughter was the only one she could tell without a massive fuss being made over it. Sam would never, ever let her live it down and would tease her for hours, if not days. She couldn't tell Melissa for obvious reasons, knowing exactly how the younger woman would react to what had happened. Her dad would be incredibly overprotective, despite never having been when she was Alia's age, trying to make up for her childhood and wanting to keep her safe. So, Alia it was.

"Okay. Was it any good?" Alia felt a little awkward at having to discuss those specific details of her mother's date with her maths teacher, but she was happy her mum was being open and honest with her, glad she was opening up instead of shutting down.

"Oh god." Rachel covered her face with her hands, feeling the teenager place a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I feel like a silly teenager. It was bad enough when I was a silly teenager. God, I just…"

"Mum, you love him. It's okay to feel like this." Alia shrugged even though the movement would be unnoticed in the dark. "You had a nice night out with him. Focus on that for a bit at least."

"I don't want to hide it from the world but… Is it terrible of me to want to keep it to those who know about it right now, just for a little while?" Her voice was almost pleading.

Alia sighed, knowing where Rachel was coming from but also knowing that it wasn't that simple. "No, it's not terrible. You know Jack and I won't say a word. But this is something you need to discuss with Eddie. He might not see it the same way unless you explain it."

"I didn't have to explain it to you."

"No you didn't, but you forget; I'm your daughter. I already know you and how you think. Plus, according to more than one source, I'm too much like you myself." Alia sighed. "Look, don't go borrowing trouble. Go, get some sleep, let what's going to happen, happen."

"You're just saying that to get me out of your room."

"You caught me," Alia intoned dryly, causing them both to laugh quietly.

"Let's go shopping tomorrow, just you and me." Rachel smiled at her daughter as she pulled her in for another hug. "You can spend way too much of my money and I can pretend to understand the current fashion trends."

"Deal, but only if I get to pick the CD we listen to in the car."

Rachel pretended to think for a moment. "Deal. Now get some sleep."

Monday lunchtime, Alia ducked out of the main building, searching for Bolton. She'd been walking down the corridor when she'd found an interesting flyer floating about the school. She'd only just managed to pick it up before one of the English teachers had rounded the corner near her, forcing her to shove it into her bag before it could be noticed. "You're an idiot, you know that?" She told him as soon as she found him outside on the grass verge of the playground watching the other students, occasionally laughing as a few of them called out to him.

Bolton glanced up as Alia flopped down beside him on the grass unceremoniously. "What you on about?"

"The fight." She rolled her eyes at his immediate denial that anything was happening. "I'm not an idiot, unlike you. And no, Rachel doesn't know." She pre-empted his next question with a snort. "I haven't told her, but I did find this." She pulled the flyer from her bag, handing it to him with a shake of her head at what was going on. "Look, I really need to run, getting the stitches out along with Max in less than an hour. Rach will be looking for me by now." She sighed. "I know you want to prove yourself, but this isn't the way to do it. Your big, sanctioned fight is less than a month away. Don't wreck your chances because Donte's organised some underground fight that could get you hurt."

She looked up, seeing her mother searching for her by the car, Maxine stood beside her already. She must have been running later than she'd thought. Bolton followed her gaze, spotting the headteacher too. "You best go, yeah." He motioned over to the two by the car with his head.

"Don't be an idiot, it's not worth it," She warned him again before getting to her feet and leaving him to his thoughts, making her way over to Rachel and Maxine, who greeted her warmly before the woman bundled both teenagers into the back seat of her car. Steph couldn't find the cover for her class, so Rachel was taking both girls again.

"What was that about, love?" Rachel asked as she directed the car through the school gates and in the direction of the hospital. Alia ignored the slightly panicked look Maxine shot her.

"Bolton dropped something, so I gave it back."

"Alright. Are you two ready to get those stitches out?"

"Can't wait, it's been driving me barmy." Maxine rolled her eyes, picking at the edge of the hospital issued sling. "I know we'll still need the slings for a while, but at least we won't need the bandages."

"Sleeves are going to feel really weird," Alia added. "At least we'll be able to start using our arms again though. Washing one handed is awful."

"So's getting dressed. And texting."

"Not to mention trying to eat. Have you tried cutting up your own food one handed?"

"So pretty much everything then." Rachel laughed.

Both girls shrugged. "Pretty much."

The appointment went by fairly quickly, with neither girl too squeamish about their wounds. It was hard to be, after so long seeing it day in day out from the very beginning. The nurse had warned them that the stitches would tug when she was removing them, and to let her know if it hurt worse than a tug, but both girls waited somewhat patiently, wanting the stitches out more than wanting to avoid a little extra pain. The wounds were healing nicely and the nurse had arranged another appointment in another two weeks' time to check on the healing, as well as a referral to physiotherapy so they could start gaining full use of their arms back. They still couldn't use their arms much, still needing the slings until they had a bit more use back, but they could move them a little now, unlike before. Rachel knew they were happier that they could wear proper sleeves and coats with the sling over the top rather than trying to drape clothing over their arm and sling.

Rachel drove them back to school halfway into the final lesson, letting them go back to class. Not long after they'd returned to their respective classes, Maxine sent Alia a text to tell her that Bolton had tried to ditch the underground fight but Donte had convinced him to go ahead with it anyway. Alia had rolled her eyes but got on with her lesson, which happened to be Music, so more her avoiding doing anything as Matt got increasingly frustrated with her. Honestly, she wasn't sure why he kept trying anymore. She'd ditched that class for two weeks but with the stitches out, she was to go to every class other than PE, which she could spend in the library, the cooler or in Rachel's office. She'd tried to make the case that she could just go home early, but she had quietened quickly under Rachel's lack of agreement.

Not too long after the school day was over, Alia walked out of the building a few steps behind her mother, knowing the unnatural stillness of the school was because most of the kids had rushed out to see Bolton fight, ticket buying at a frenzy all day. How none of the teachers had found out about it yet was beyond her, especially as they hadn't made it much of a secret. She knew Rachel and Eddie had enough reason to be slightly distracted, having seen them dance around each other a couple of times that day, both slightly red in the face but smiling, but surely it couldn't have spread to all the teachers.

She froze a few steps away from the car as the headteacher saw a red flyer attached to her windscreen whilst Rob, Bolton's coach, offered Candice his thoughts for Bolton's grandmother, to which the woman responded with genuine confusion. Alia winced, knowing such a lie had probably come from Janeece, not Bolton. Rachel read the flyer in growing horror before spinning and pinning Alia with a fierce, narrow eyed stare that made the fifteen year old blink in surprise at the intensity. "Did you know about this?"

"Know about what?"

"This." She thrust the flyer in her daughter's direction. "Bolton's little fight."

"Isn't that like a month away?" She tried deflecting, even knowing it was useless.

"Alia, do not lie to me."

Alia sighed. "Yes, I knew. Practically the whole school did." She held up a hand to forestall the anger she could see building up. "I tried to talk him out of it, told him he was being an idiot, but he must've gone through with it anyway."

"You were talking to him at lunchtime. You said he'd dropped something."

"Yes, he had. One of those flyers." She gestured to the one in Rachel's hand.

"Go home. We'll talk about this later." Alia didn't even get the time to protest as Rachel turned on her heel and strode over to Rob, handing him the incriminating red flyer. "Look."

"We'll take my car, shall we?" Both teachers hurried over to Rob's car, climbing in and peeling out of the car park leaving Alia stood alone in the carpark.

She kicked at the ground ineffectually, scowling. She hated it. It was all so much easier when she didn't go to school, didn't have to weigh up just how much she could tell her mother about her day without it incriminating someone else and her ending up an unintentional snitch. She'd thought the day would be a good one, with the stitches being taken out and a limited use being allowed to her for her arm. Now, she was in a whole heap of trouble for something that had nothing to do with her. She hadn't even gone to the stupid fight, meaning it when she'd told Bolton he was an idiot for going through with it. She didn't want to watch two teenagers knock ten tonnes out of each other. She'd heard that particular tone of voice from her mother only a handful of times before and it had always ended badly for her, with the last time her being grounded for four months and no access to her music for that time. She'd only been let off the latter part when her label had started demanding new music from her.

"So, how much trouble are you in, eh?" Alia glanced up in surprise to find Candice next to her, offering her a supportive smile.

"All of it." She scoffed lightly. "She wants to keep me a secret, but also wants me to tell on everyone else's secrets. I can't win."

"Probably doesn't help that complaining to your mum also means complaining to the head," Candice offered, directing her to the wall and perching on it beside her.

"Something like that." Alia buried her face in her hand. "God, things were so much easier when I didn't go to school."

"What? No school at all?"

Alia hadn't removed her face from her hand. "At first she didn't want to push me. Then, she tried something similar to the original deal she made with Bolton, where if she didn't get through to him, he could leave school. Only with me, the deal was if she couldn't make me see school as a viable option, then I could home school myself. I won that deal."

"So why'd you come to school then?"

"She needed me here, though she'll never admit it out loud." Alia finally looked up, showing Candice a tired smile. "I admit, having more friends than just the one is nice."

"And school itself?"

"I was way more ahead working from home than I am here." Alia rolled her eyes. "I don't know why I bother. Rach will never be happy no matter what I do."

Candice tried to reassure her, but she could tell she wasn't getting through to the fifteen year old as Alia's phone buzzed and she pulled it out, reading the text with disappointment written all over her features.

"Is that them that went to the fight?"

"Oh no, they won't have got there to break it up yet. It's in an old warehouse about half an hour away." Alia tried to smile again but failed. "No, it's my one friend I've had before all this." She waved around at the school, phone in hand. "Wants me to come over for a takeout and game night. Better tell him I'm not going to make it for the next two years or so." She typed out a response with a sigh. "Oh, Candice?"

"Yeah, Alia?"

"He'll be alright, you know. Bolton." She clarified. "He's an idiot but he's not such an idiot he'll get hurt over this." She smirked sadly as she gestured to her sling. "Idiocy for no reason is a rare breed round here." She snorted with weak amusement at her own joke before jumping from her perch on the wall. "Thanks for listening Candice, but I'd best be getting home. Got a bus to catch."

Rachel tried her best to stay calm as she pulled into her driveway, taking note of Steph's car already parked there. Her offer on the house next door had been accepted that weekend and her own house was now on the market. Once sold and the paperwork on both places sorted, Steph and Maxine could move into the place next door before Christmas. Janeece had had to go home to her mother that weekend, so it was just Rachel, Steph, Maxine and Alia living in the house at the moment. She'd seen Maxine's face in the crowd at the fight but she'd disappeared in with the rest of the students before she could detain her. She'd not felt such anger and fear intermixed in a long time as she raced alongside Rob as best she could in her work skirt and heeled boots, hoping to stop the underground fight before Bolton got hurt, or worse. She'd tried calling Eddie, but he hadn't picked up, which had only fuelled her panic and anger more, though the deputy head had given her a lift back to the school to pick up her car.

"Stop it!" She raced further along, down the stairs before leaning over the banister again. "I said stop it right now!" She could see she'd gotten through as the excited cheering and chanting ceased almost instantly and Bolton turned to face her with horror as he realised she was really there, furious. She spotted some familiar faces that she'd seen throughout the day, more of their excited interactions making sense now. She burst onto the makeshift ring, placing herself between the two boys, eyeing them all, knowing she was getting through as they bowed their heads from her gaze. Idiots, she ran a school of idiots. She made sure the two boys knew the fight was well and truly over, with even the teenager from a different school thoroughly cowed by the headmistress enough to scarper with his friends before she shepherded her lot from the abandoned warehouse. Along the way, Donte had taken responsibility for the whole thing, though Bolton still looked ashamed of having agreed to it, let alone going through with it.

"I don't think you realise just how serious this is," She told Donte as they all piled out onto the car park. She'd spotted Maxine, but she'd disappeared sharpish, obviously knowing she'd be in trouble later anyway.

"I got your message." She glanced up at Eddie's voice, finding him stood near the coach. Part of her wanted nothing more than to run to him, embrace him and forget about what she'd just had to break up, the number of students that had been in on the underground fight. But she had to be strong, particularly in front of the pupils, and it wasn't like he'd picked up when she'd called him anyway.

"What, were you washing your hair or something?" She snipped, instantly regretting her tone. "I'm sorry. I am sorry. I just really needed you here earlier." She fell into step beside him, knowing Chlo and Donte were following them towards the coach.

"Miss, what's gonna happen?" Donte asked. She glanced back to him, her ire rising once more as she recalled exactly what had been organised and executed right under her nose.

"Do you know what? I don't know. But for starters, you'll be donating all the profits from this little school trip to Bolton's official training fund. And I'll be sending you an invoice for the cost of the replacement coach I'm about to organise." She was thankful that Eddie stayed silent at her side, not wanting to snap at him any further than she already had.

"Replacement?" Confusion was obvious in the teenager's tone.

"Yes, and I hope you got insurance on that one!" She pointed to the purple coach Donte had originally organised, the entire front vandalised. She didn't stop, stalking off to the gates to order a coach, thankful when the company she'd called said they could have one to her location within ten minutes. She knew Eddie had followed her, leaning against the railings next to her as they watched the milling pupils. "What's the point? We're trying to teach this lot to be responsible. Then they go and pull a stunt like this!"

"Rachel." His voice softened slightly on her name. "They're kids. They're going to do stupid things. I did at their age and I'm sure you did too." They both winced slightly, recalling at the same time what Rachel was doing at seventeen. "Us two didn't have a headteacher like you to pull us out of our messes, but you're here and you're pulling them out of theirs."

"Someone has to."

"No, they don't. You go above and beyond for those kids, Rachel." Eddie sighed, shifting a little as they watched the kids getting cold and antsy, all well aware of the teachers watching them. "Alia apologised for ditching us on Friday at the end of her lesson with me today." He hoped the change in topic would lighten her mood, but it only made her scowl deepen.

"She's grounded until she's at least eighteen at this rate."

"What? Why?"

"What do you think?" She gestured at the abandoned warehouse and the flocks of students. "This!"

"I didn't see her." Eddie glanced about, wondering where the teenager was, though he figured she was probably hiding from her mother and her ire at that point. Rachel shook her head.

"She didn't come to the fight."

"Hold up, I'm confused. If she didn't even come to the fight, how could she possibly be in trouble for it?"

"She knew about it, and she didn't say anything, didn't even try to stop it." She bit out, waving off Eddie's defence as the replacement coach arrived, pushing herself off the railings to direct the teenagers onto it, though she stopped Donte and Chlo, aiming her words solely at Donte. "I'll see you in my office, first thing. Yes?"

"Yes miss."

Rachel let herself into the house, closing the door none too gently behind her and dumping her things in their usual place near the door. She strode into the kitchen, finding Steph in there, marking, though the blonde woman looked up as Rachel entered. "I heard what happened. Sit down, I'll get us both a drink." She ushered Rachel into a chair and grabbed a couple of glasses and a bottle of red wine, pouring them both a glass before retaking her seat opposite her.

"How did you-? Oh, of course, Maxine."

"Both girls, actually. I got here about the same time as Alia, who told me where you'd gone and why. Max came in about five minutes ago and told me what had happened before and after you'd got there." Steph took a sip of her wine.

"Where are they now?" Rachel held the glass but didn't drink from it.

"Upstairs doing homework."

"Alia doesn't have any homework."

"Alright, fine. Max is doing her homework and Alia is hiding from you. Said something about being grounded until she was fifty." Steph shot her a curious look.

"She'll be lucky if it's only until she's fifty," Rachel muttered. "I haven't grounded her yet though."

Steph sighed. "Why are you so mad with her? It's not like she went to the fight. Hell, I'm nowhere near as mad at Max and she was actually there!"

"She knew, she knew all day and did nothing! What if Bolton was hurt, or worse?"

"You mean like your daughter was, just over two weeks ago?" Rachel's mouth dropped open. Steph smiled sadly at her. "Today was meant to be a happy day, what with the stitches out and them both well on the mend. Instead I've yelled at Max for going to an underground fight and Alia's trying to find a way to quit school altogether."

"What?" All the colour drained from her face.

"Said she didn't care anymore, that it wasn't worth it. I tried to talk her round but she wasn't having it. I wonder where she got that stubbornness from." Steph eyed her knowingly.

"She still lied to me about it."

"She's fifteen. I did much worse than lie to my mum at fifteen. What about you? I bet you weren't always this prim and proper."

"…That's not the point."

"She didn't even go to the fight." Steph reiterated patiently.

"Why are you and Eddie both pushing this?" Rachel asked in frustration. "She knew Bolton was going to be in a dangerous situation and she did nothing, said nothing."

"She tried to talk him out of it." Steph corrected her quietly, stopping Rachel in the midst of getting worked up about it all again.

"What?"

"She tried to talk him out of it. At lunchtime. She told him he was being an idiot and he would get hurt, or worse. She thought she'd gotten through to him a little, but Max told me when Bolton tried to get out of it, Donte pulled him right back into it. She tried to help, just in her own way."

"She should've told me."

"And become the biggest snitch of Waterloo Road? I'm sure that'll work out well for her." Steph scoffed. Kids could be brutal, and when they all found out about Alia, she was in for a tough time without also being branded as a snitch. "Face it, she did the best she could in the situation she was in. You can't expect teenagers to get it perfectly right every time. Hell, you can't even expect that from adults."

The following morning, Rachel had finally calmed down enough to dish out a fair punishment to both Donte and Bolton, the former being punished for setting the whole thing up and the latter being punished for the idiocy in going through with it. She dismissed them both, confused when Bolton hung back instead of bolting for the door as fast as humanly possible, like Donte had. The boy instead closed the door again before making his way to the desk, ignoring the stern mien on his headmistress' face. "How'd you find out?"

"Does it really matter, Bolton?"

"It kind of does, yeah." Bolton shifted uncomfortably. "The only people who knew about it were the ones at the fight, miss." It suddenly dawned on her that he had seen how angry she was and was trying to protect her daughter, again. He wanted to know how she'd found out so he could shield Alia from the fallout. It was sweet, but pointless. Then again, he and Paul both seemed to have a streak for protecting her child, particularly from Philip, whose behaviour had not improved, though it hadn't gotten any worse from what she could tell.

"I found out because there was a flyer on the windscreen of my car." She informed him briskly, not missing the relief that washed over him. "Alia's face when I showed it her only confirmed it wasn't a joke." His face fell with her second statement.

"She tried to stop me, miss."

"Bolton, stop. She had the choice to tell me or not, and she didn't. She made her choice and she now has to deal with the consequences, just like the rest of you." She dismissed him, turning back to her work.

Bolton frowned at her, but made his way back to form, about five minutes before the bell for first lesson, slumping into his usual seat beside Paul before grabbing his friend's pencil to poke Alia's leather clad back in front of him. The girl in question turned around in her seat at the unexpected prod, raising one eyebrow in a similar way to her mother's. Bolton took her in quickly, noting the dark circles under her eyes and messier than usual uniform, the sling on over the top of her leather jacket for a change. "What?" She murmured, careful not to raise Tom's attention more than they already had.

"You look like crap."

"Thanks."

"How much trouble are you in?"

Alia shrugged. "Dunno. She hasn't spoken to me yet."

Bolton blinked in surprise. He knew from what he'd been told through the scarily efficient gossip mill and a few comments from the girl herself that she lived solely with her mum, so she had definitely been in the same house as the headmistress the night before. How had the woman not spoken with the teenager yet? "Really?"

"Really. I'm waiting for the punishment to end all punishments though." She sighed. The bell interrupted them, Alia grabbing her things and rushing off to her maths class before Bolton could stop her. Paul nudged him as they made their way out slowly, not really wanting to get to their own maths class.

"What was all that about?"

"Nothing."

Eddie watched, concerned, as Alia appeared in his class five minutes late without so much as an acknowledgement, let alone an apology, slumping into her seat and staring out of the window. He knew she still couldn't write in classes, but she usually paid attention in class, or pretended to. The window staring reminded him too much of when he'd hurt her by dragging Michael away from her and he dreaded to think of what had happened to evoke such a response once more from the fifteen year old. He'd also seen Katie shooting her similarly concerned looks throughout, which only served to worry him more, if her friends didn't even know what was going on with her. By the end of the lesson, he'd had enough and called for her to stay behind, ignoring the jeers of the other students, bar Katie, who shot Alia another worried look before going to her next class. For her part, Alia hadn't moved, still sat staring out the window at nothing.

Eddie moved further into his classroom until he could sit at the table beside her, between her and the window she seemed to find so fascinating. "Alia."

She blinked, focusing on him for a moment, though she didn't meet his eyes. "What?"

"What's going on? This isn't you."

"You don't know that. I've only been here like a month." Alia pointed out.

"I know you're incredibly bright and can focus on multiple things at once. That's how I know you were still listening even if you looked fascinated with that tree out there in the playground. But you usually give the illusion the teacher has your whole attention." Eddie sighed. "Is this about yesterday? How bad's your punishment?"

"I don't know." Alia shrugged. "She hasn't spoken to me."

Eddie winced at the slight hurt that had seeped through her carefully constructed disinterested tone. He knew Rachel had been angry, though he'd tried his best to argue on Alia's behalf that she hadn't actually done anything wrong, but he hadn't expected for her to ignore her own child for the whole night. "I'm sorry, Ali."

"What for? I'm fine."

"No you're not," Eddie rebutted gently. "What class have you got next?"

"Art. Then double English and Business Studies after lunch." Alia rolled her eyes. "Not that there's any point in going."

"What do you mean?"

"What are they going to do, call my mum? Let them, they'd probably have a better chance at talking with her than I have." Alia sighed, knowing she'd have to explain further. "Steph tried fighting my corner too last night, when Rachel got in. She did a good job, but Rach… she was still angry. She didn't speak to me, and I tried to get her to, until about three in the morning when I realised she'd already gone to bed. I tried again this morning but she just waltzed out of the house to work, forgetting I needed to either get a lift with her or the money for a bus pass."

"Don't tell me you walked to school." Eddie knew it was about a thirty minute walk from Rachel's house to the school, much less in a car or on the bus.

"No, I got the bus. I'm not totally reliant on Rachel for money." Alia rolled her eyes. She had an account as Alia Falan that had been changed to Alia Mason, but she also had another for Lia Rose. She'd ran to an ATM that morning to take some money out of the latter for her bus pass and for her lunches through the week. The account held a more than healthy amount, with Rachel refusing to touch it for their everyday expenses despite Alia's claim of not minding if she did, claiming it could be saved and used solely for Alia's benefit. Alia generally only used it for expenses when she was Lia Rose, such as taxis to and from meetings or when she needed new outfits for some event or other. "I've got enough for the bus and to feed myself, Eddie, don't worry." She glanced at the clock before grabbing her bag and standing. "I best get going, I'm about five minutes late for art already."

"Wait a second." He stood also. "How's your arm doing? Weren't you meant to be getting the stitches out yesterday?" He managed to get a genuine smile from the girl as she removed her arm from the sling and pulled down her sleeve, showing the raised, puckered wound hiding beneath her coat.

"It's healing well. I had a bit of trouble with it last night, but it's not too bad this morning."

"Trouble?"

"I've slept with a bandage protecting it for a fortnight. I caught it on something in the little sleep I did get. It's fine now though."

"Good, I'm glad it's healing well. Alright, go on, off to your class. And if you need to hide at any point, I've non-contact times this lesson now and fifth, plus I'll be in here at lunch."

She righted her coat and adjusted her arm back into the sling before smiling at him. "Thanks, Eddie."

"Rachel, we need to talk." Rachel glanced up from her paperwork as Eddie stormed in, nearly slamming the door behind him. Inwardly, she felt a sense of dread she couldn't place, but put her pen down to focus on her deputy.

"What about?"

"Alia." He nearly growled as her face shut down automatically at the mention of her daughter, deciding it wouldn't do any good to leap to the teenager's defence, but playing it a different way just might gain results. "I'm here to complain about her again."

"What?" Her mouth fell in shock. She'd expected another spirited defence of her daughter, not a complaint about her.

"She waltzed in late without so much as a sorry, then blatantly ignored my whole lesson, including any attempt to engage her with the topic. The tree out the window must be particularly fascinating today."

"I'm sure she didn't mean it," Rachel defended on autopilot.

"Oh, she meant it alright. I kept her behind and all she said was she planned on being late for her next lesson anyway."

"I'll have a word with her, Eddie," Rachel sighed.

"You sure?" Eddie checked, his tone causing her head to snap up to his.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, I just think it's doubtful you'll actually speak to her, given you've been ignoring her for nearly a whole day at this point." His face softened at the sight of her stricken features; he couldn't help it. "She's only fifteen, Rach, and you've given her the cold shoulder all evening and morning."

"She… no, I definitely…" She trailed off as she realised what he was saying was true. "Oh god, Eddie. I didn't mean to. I could've sworn I talked to her last night. I mustn't have done. Oh god."

He quickly rounded the desk and guided her to her sofa, sitting beside her and taking her hands in his own gently. "I know you wanted her to tell you about the fight. I know the rules are different when the pupil is your own child. I know all that. So does she. But you can't hold her to a different standard than everyone else just because you gave birth to her. She's got a good head on her shoulders; I mean, she never even considered going to that fight, did she?"

"Steph told me she even tried to talk Bolton out of it. Bolton told me that too, now I think about it. Donte pulled him back into it."

"See? She did try and stop it." Eddie squeezed her hands reassuringly. "Rach, you need to go easier on her. She's only been in school a month. She's got no real clue how high schools work, but she's swimming along amazingly. And that's in this mad house."

"I suppose I've been too hard on her," Rachel conceded, staring at their intertwined hands. "I really didn't mean to ignore her. I thought I'd talked to her, I really did. Oh god, I was meant to give her a lift to school this morning."

"She got the bus."

"How? I didn't leave her any money." Rachel swore under her breath. "I'm awful at this parenting thing."

"She said she wasn't reliant solely on you for money. It sounded a little ominous but I figured one of you would say something if it was as bad as it sounds." Eddie squeezed her fingers again. "And honestly? I'd be more worried if you didn't get things wrong with parenting. No one is perfect, Rachel. Stop trying to hold yourself to that standard."

"She's going to hate me."

"No she's not. She's hurt, but she doesn't hate you." Eddie told her softly. "Tell you what, why don't I go get her from art? It's not like she's doing much in lessons right now."

Eddie strode down the corridor from the art classrooms, fighting the urge to run his hands through his hair. Rachel had agreed that he should collect Alia from her lesson, but when he'd poked his head into the room, the teacher had informed him that she hadn't shown up thus far, though the teacher wasn't too bothered as she tended to just sit at the back and read or do her own thing. He had thanked the teacher before leaving, deciding his non-teaching time needed to be spent looking for the wayward pupil. How was it when he managed to get one of them on board, the other would disappear? As he was passing the doors to the playground, he spotted a small figure sat beneath the tree Alia had been staring at throughout his lesson. It had to be her, didn't it? He pushed open the door and stepped out onto the carpark, gravel crunching beneath his feet as he approached the pupil, closer inspection indeed revealing it to be Alia, who was staring blankly into space.

"Alia."

She glanced up to him. "Eddie. Or is it Mr Lawson right now?"

"Eddie's fine. Your mum sent me to get you."

"Yeah, right." She scoffed lightly.

"She did." Eddie bent down, taking hold of her arm and helping her to her feet. "I went to see her. Turns out she thought she had spoken to you last night. She's currently beating herself up for ignoring you." He led her gently back into the building, though she didn't seem too reluctant. "Why weren't you in art?"

She levelled him with a stare, as though asking why he was asking such a stupid question, holding up her hand on the arm he was still holding enough to point to her sling. "It's not like I have anything to do in there."

"You have a book."

"I finished it in form. Plus I can't just read forever. Please don't mention reading the set texts. I've read all three of them multiple times at this point. Napoleon will haunt me in my nightmares for years. And don't get me started on Lenny and the rabbits." Alia rolled her eyes as Eddie chuckled with her assessment of the texts she had to read.

"What's the play?" He asked, knowing that the English department had every student study two set books, the set list of poetry and a play the teacher chose for their own classes.

"Romeo and Juliet. Real original. You know, if they weren't so idiotic, it would've ended in their favour."

"It was external factors forcing them apart." Eddie tried to dredge up what he could recall from the play itself as they climbed the stairs towards Rachel's office.

"But there had to be internal factors too, or it wouldn't have worked so well in actually keeping them apart." They reached the office and Eddie offered a nervous Alia a reassuring smile.

"In you go. I'll be in my room if you need me."

Alia nodded sharply, entering the office without knocking and closing it quietly behind her, spotting her mother sat on the couch, her face in her hands.

Rachel looked up at the sound of the door opening and closing, relief blooming on her features at the sight of her daughter stood there. "Ali." Alia sat stiffly on the other side of the sofa to her mum, not knowing what to think with the sudden relief Rachel had shown. Where was the yelling, the punishment, the argument? Rachel seemed to read her thoughts directly from her face. "I'm not going to yell, love. And you're not in any trouble." She winced at Alia's blatant disbelief written all over her features. "Really, you're not. Yes, I was angry, but I never meant to ignore you, especially not all night. It's been pointed out to me near constantly that you did try to stop him from being idiotic and they're right. You can't be expected to tell me every secret that goes round the school just because I'm your mum. I don't think we thought that part through when we arranged for you to start here."

"I'm pretty sure we both thought I'd have no friends to know any secrets." Alia offered the olive branch in a near whisper.

"You definitely surprised me in that." Rachel took the branch offered gratefully. "I thought it would forever be just you and Jack."

"You swore that we'd be okay if we just talked to one another."

Rachel winced. "I know, and I'm sorry." She moved over to sit beside her daughter, grateful when she didn't move away from her. "I'm sorry, Alia. Thank you, as well."

"For what?" Alia asked in surprise.

"For not going to the fight."

She shrugged. "I didn't want to. I told Bolton he was being an idiot and I meant it. What did I want to watch two teenagers trying to beat the living daylights out of each other for? We get that enough within the school, let alone paying to watch it."

"Either way, thank you for showing the sense of not going. I can't believe I'm running a school full of children who thought an underground fight was a good idea."

"It was a Donte Charles plan."

"I know. Somehow that makes it worse." Rachel ran a hand through her hair. "I swear he makes up some new plan or scheme every five bloody minutes. If only most of them weren't hare-brained in nature."

"He's only like seventeen."

"I know. Doesn't stop me from despairing that somehow I've ended up in charge of a madhouse." Rachel took a chance, placing a hand on her daughter's shoulder. She couldn't help the smile when Alia didn't shake her hand off. "Listen, yesterday was meant to be a good day. You and Max finally got the stitches out and physio is being organised for you both. Steph may have to take you both depending when it is, by the way. How is your arm?"

Alia shrugged a little. "It's alright, stopped bleeding again now anyway."

Rachel felt the blood drain from her face as she took in the teenager's words. "What?"

Alia blinked a little. "I thought Eddie told you."

"No, he didn't mention your arm. What happened?"

"Well, the bandage came off yesterday didn't it? When I finally got to sleep last night I must've caught it on something. There was a bit of blood, the wound's a bit sore but that's about it." Alia sighed as her words did nothing to calm Rachel down. "I swear if it was still bleeding or whatever I'd have taken myself to the hospital this morning. It's fine." She removed her arm from the sling and pulled her sleeve from the wounded limb for the second time that day, exposing the healing wound to her mum. Rachel took her arm gently, eyes cataloguing the healing skin and the slightly angry redness surrounding it from where she must've caught it. "Really, Rach, it's fine."

"If it weeps any or gets any worse in terms of soreness, come and find me straight away," Rachel ordered her, though Alia could hear the deeply laced concern in her voice. "We don't need it getting infected. Hang on, I think I've still got a dressing or two in my bag." She strode over to her desk, reaching beneath it for her bag, rooting through until she found two small waterproof dressings. She made Alia hold still as she fixed the dressings to either side of her arm, where the bullet had gone straight through. "There. If you see anything through the dressing, we'll go straight up to the hospital."

"I'm fine," Alia tried to tell her again, her assurance falling on deaf ears as Rachel helped her get her arm back into her jacket and the sling.

"Let me worry about you; it's my job."

"Pretty sure your job is headteacher of this zoo."

"My first job will forever be that of the mother to the most stubborn child in the universe."

"You had another kid without telling me? I'm hurt."

"When did I even have the time to have another child?"

"Well there was that time when I was thirteen-"

"We are not talking about that!" Rachel blushed bright red as Alia smirked. "I've never been so embarrassed in my life."

"I was mentally scarred from that."

"You'll live."

TBC…