(A/N): New chapter! Yay! I am trying to get these chapters within the timeline of the episodes (the number of times I have to rewatch episodes to get the timings down is ridiculous), I swear. Something I did realise though was that from my earlier ones that I did many years ago now, I put Chlo, Maxine, Janeece and Donte in the year below what they were, so they're in year 12 whilst Alia is in year 11, instead of year 13 as they are in the episodes. This does mean that if or when I get to series 5, they will still be at the school and potentially we get to see the baby Izzie growing up. It never made sense to me that once Josh showed up, Tom forgot all about Chlo and Mika, despite the fact he still lived in their house and then once Josh left the school forgot about him too. I always felt Tom would have been there, the proud granddad of Izzie and the proud parent of all three of the kids. But that's just me. Anyway, enough of my rant and explanations. On with the show and as always, read, enjoy and review.

What the Heart Wants

Chapter 29

A new year, a new term. Rachel pulled up to school a little later than she'd have liked, though thankfully still early enough for there to be no pupils milling about. She pulled her car into the space beside Eddie's, where the man in question was climbing out of his own vehicle. Despite wanting a quiet holiday, it hadn't gone quite to plan she knew, as Alia climbed out of the front passenger seat, silently pushing forward the seat with difficulty so Philip could climb out as well from the back. The first time Alia had really spoken to Philip was Christmas Day, where they'd made awkward conversation for Rachel's sake. After that though, the first time they'd truly interacted was that morning, when Philip had wanted to sit in the front and Alia had informed him that he could either climb in the back seat or she'd stuff him into the boot, his choice. He'd wisely chosen not to push it and climbed into the back seat instead. Rachel knew her daughter was still angry and hurt with the boy and her nephew was still suffering over the fact his mother had fed him such blatant untruths and then abandoned him again. So the holidays had not been fun in her house. The happiest part had been when a copy of Alia's new album was couriered to their house the day after the new year, with the album due to be realised the first day back at term. Alia had rolled her eyes, not wanting the hype she knew she'd have to deal with at school over it. She loved her songs, she really did, but she'd never understood the constant repeats and analysis of every single line of her songs. She was sure at one point the favourite theory was that she was in a relationship with three people at the same time. A couple of songs were about her mother, one about her father, a few were just things that had randomly come to her. The reality was a lot more boring than Lia Rose fans would ever truly know. Rachel had hugged her tightly, telling her how proud of her she was and cooking them all a chicken pasta dish she usually saved for special occasions.

Rachel greeted Eddie quietly, not entirely sure where she stood with him. She'd tried calling a few times, but it had either rung out or he'd been busy. The one time she'd managed a phone call longer than thirty seconds was because he'd had Michael and the little boy had stolen the phone to talk to her. She didn't know what had happened, though Alia had done her best to reassure her, as had Sam, who she had finally confessed all to just before Christmas. He'd been more than understanding, though his teasing had left her rather red in the face, Alia threatening to split them up if they carried on acting like toddlers. Her conversation with Eddie was nothing but awkward but a smile graced her features as Tom pulled up nearby, getting out of the car with Chlo and Donte. Chlo and Donte both greeted her warmly, hand in hand as they made their way towards the library, though Tom stopped before the two senior management, addressing the headmistress with a smile.

"Hey, Eddie, Rachel. Thanks again, Rachel, y'know." He rubbed at the back of his neck a little awkwardly. She waved it off, ignoring the confusion of the maths teacher beside her.

"It's not a problem, Tom, really. How's she doing?" Rachel shouldered her handbag and placed the plastic bag with her paperwork over her forearm, locking her car.

"Better now, yeah. Mika calmed down eventually too." Tom glanced up at the building. "Did you get a new Pastoral Care?"

"I did, and I'm sure you'll be happy with the choice that was made," Rachel confirmed. "She should be here any moment."

"I'd best get up to my room and check on the kids before form. Thanks again Rachel." Tom disappeared up the steps to the school as Rachel smiled after him. She knew the man was grateful to her but she didn't need to be thanked every five minutes. All she did was be there, like she'd promised to be if needed.

Rachel glanced up at the frantic knock on the door, frowning slightly as she glanced at the clock. It was barely ten in the morning on Christmas Eve and she was having a little time to herself, wrapping the last of the Christmas presents as Philip slept in and Alia wrapped the last of her own presents. They weren't expecting anyone, so she couldn't even guess who was at her door on Christmas Eve. She was just praying it wasn't someone trying to sell her something. She stood from where she'd been knelt by the coffee table, abandoning the half wrapped gift to head to the door, opening it cautiously only to end up with a blur barrelling into her, causing her to stumble back slightly, her arms automatically going round their shoulders and feeling their tears seep into her shirt a little.

"Chlo? What's wrong sweetheart?" Rachel managed to close the door, taking note of the distraught teenager's wild looking appearance, a coat being thrown over a more casual outfit and boots unsuited to the weather outside. So something had clearly happened that had caused Chlo to simply grab the first coat and pair of boots she could find and storm out. She manoeuvred them both into the living room and sat down on the sofa, Chlo still nestled into her side as she cried, sobs that tore at Rachel's heart as she tried to figure out what could possibly have happened to cause such distress. "Is the baby alright?"

She felt Chlo nod into her shoulder and relief spread through her that the girl's distress wasn't to do with the baby. Though it didn't explain her current situation, sobbing into her headmistress' shoulder in the middle of the school holidays. "Is it Donte?" Rachel guessed.

Chlo shook her head.

"Tom?"

Another shake of the head.

Rachel frowned, trying to think of what it could be. "Is it Mika?"

The sobs started afresh as Chlo nodded into her shoulder. Rachel patted the girl's hair and stifled a sigh. She'd not known when the elder Grainger sister was getting home for the holidays, but clearly it had been that day and her reaction had not been good, hence Chlo's presence. She made soothing noises, trying to calm the teenager enough to talk. Eventually, she felt Chlo's tears cease, the sobs reducing to sniffles.

"What happened, Chlo?"

Chlo sniffled a little, pulling back and wiping at her eyes with her coat sleeves. "I was on the sofa with Donte, under a blanket when Mika and Brett showed up about two hours ago to stay through the new year." She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "About half an hour ago, I needed the loo, y'know." She gestured to her ever growing bump, noticeable in the clothes she was wearing. Rachel nodded understandingly, well remembering needing the toilet every five minutes when pregnant with Alia. "Mika's face when the blanket dropped from my belly." The tears started afresh, though she wasn't sobbing as she had been earlier. "She looked so horrified, but I really needed a wee so I didn't think much of it. I came back down the stairs and she was yelling at Tom that I'd ruined my life, that I had no future. That mum would be so ashamed of me, that she'd disown me if she was still alive." The tears were flowing more freely by that point and Rachel instinctively tightened her hold on the teenager, trying to offer a little comfort. "I just grabbed my boots and coat and ran. I couldn't stay there any longer, listening to her. I got to the end of the street and remembered what you said about coming here if I needed to get away, so I ran here. I'm sorry."

"Oh, there's nothing to be sorry for, love." Rachel shushed her apologies as Alia walked into the room, clearly having been alerted by the sounds of sobbing. Her face descended into concern and worry upon seeing the distraught Chlo in her mother's arms. Rachel offered Alia a tight smile as the fifteen year old sat herself on the other side of Chlo, wrapping her arms around the upset teenager. Eventually, Chlo transferred her hold from Rachel to Alia, having calmed down enough in their presence. Rachel put a mindless television programme on for the teenagers and slipped from the living room to the kitchen, pulling her phone from her jean's right front pocket. She knew if Alia had run from her house mid-argument then she'd be frantic with worry, and so she didn't want to put Tom through that worry any longer than she had. There were no new messages on her phone, but she knew that no one would be thinking logically enough to text round Chlo's friends and their parents. Instead, she scrolled through her contacts until she found Tom's number, hitting the button to dial it and holding the phone to her ear, making her way outside as the call connected so the two girls couldn't hear her.

"Chlo?!"

"Tom, it's Rachel." Tom cut her off before she could say anything else.

"Rachel, Chlo's missing. I need to find her, so I'm going to have to go-"

"Tom!" She cut him off sharply mid-sentence, knowing she needed to tell him before he hung up on her to go hunt for Chlo for the second time in as many years. "Chlo is not missing."

"Yes, she is! Mika came home and saw the baby bump and went mental. Chlo stormed out and we haven't seen her since! Donte tried Maxine and Janeece but they haven't seen or heard from her and her phone is still here."

"Tom, Chlo is not missing," Rachel repeated patiently, knowing it would take repetition for her words to truly sink in for the panicking guardian. "She's here."

"Wait, she's there with you? She's okay?"

"Well, she's understandably upset, but she's alright." Rachel confirmed. "She's currently on the sofa with Alia watching mind-numbing telly. I managed to calm her down enough to tell me what had happened and I called you as soon as I could."

"Oh thank you, thank you Rachel! I'll be there as soon as I can!" Tom hung up before she could say any more. Rachel shook her head slightly and pocketed her phone, moving back to the living room and smiling as the two girls looked up at her entrance, Chlo looking a lot calmer despite the puffy face and red rimmed eyes.

"Did you call Tom?" Chlo asked quietly. "I don't have my phone on me."

"I did." Rachel nodded. "He's relieved you're here and safe. He was panicking that you'd run away again." She saw Chlo wince at that knowledge, still a little ashamed of her actions in running away the year before, though ironically that was to do with Mika as well.

"I'm sorry. I seem to spend all my time crying on you." Chlo flushed a little.

"It's fine, Chlo. Now, what are we watching?" She settled back down onto the sofa and flicked through the channels with the teenagers until they settled on a tv show's Christmas special that seemed lighthearted enough without having to be watched intently.

Tom had arrived soon after with Donte in tow, Chlo haltingly explaining why she'd ran to her headmistress to her husband before Tom had taken them both back to their home. Donte had thought it funny that they were keeping Alia's identity a secret, advising them to keep her last name as Falan and just let people try and figure it out for themselves. Rachel and Alia had had a long discussion over changing her name for her school records, eventually agreeing that it would be best to do so after she'd sat her GCSEs as her coursework all had 'Alia Falan' on them, and she could be Alia Mason for the entirety of her A-levels. Plus, there would be more time to sort everything out in the summer as opposed to the winter holidays.

She smiled as she spotted a car pull up with the new Head of Pastoral Care inside, dragging Eddie along as she introduced him to Kim Campbell, who clearly wound him up the wrong way from the start as she produced a baby from a car seat in the back of her car and proceeded to remind him that a baby was a small human being. Rachel bit her lip to keep from laughing as she led them into the school, pupils starting to arrive thick and fast as Kim confirmed she would also be taking over art lessons as well as pastoral care, Eddie trailing behind as Rachel cooed over the small girl Kim introduced as Grace.

Kim left to put Grace in the creche as Rachel busied herself in her office, waving off Eddie's concern of Kim arriving with a baby, handing over things for the careers event for the year 11s and sixth formers as Kim told them she just wanted to get stuck in. "I'm sure you can scare a few of the teenagers to help you set up," She offered with a laugh. "I'm sure some of them would love to get out of form."

"No, it should be alright." Kim took the items. "Careers event. I like the sound of that."

"So long as it doesn't interfere with the exams," Eddie grouched, ignoring Rachel's mild reproachful look. He didn't mean to be short with her, or awkward, but he'd had too much time to think over the last couple of weeks off, reviewing all that had happened that term and his behaviour, being rather ashamed of how he'd behaved, especially in regard to the headmistress. How could she possibly want anything to do with him after all that had happened? Yet she still seemed to want to talk to him, engage him in easy conversation. It was fairly mind-boggling.

"You might have to talk me through how you think that might happen."

"Exactly, Kim." Rachel agreed. "We can't have them getting their knickers in a twist over revision timetables when they should be thinking about their futures." Sometimes Eddie forgot just how career focused Rachel could be when it came to the kids and their welfare, memories of ROCBEC from the year earlier filtering in. It was why he hadn't thought too much of it when Rachel had organised a career oriented week for her daughter and allowed her the time off school for it. But they'd already pushed back the mock exams once because of the shooting; they really couldn't afford to do so again. Those exams would start next week, allowing for the current week to act as a revision week for the year 11s and sixth formers, with only the NVQ exams taking place that week.

Rachel produced the necessary paperwork of who exactly had been invited in to talk to the kids along with a list of the pupils that would be pulled out of their lessons that day for the event. Those pupils included her daughter and nephew, the former of which had protested that her exams were more important when she'd informed the teenagers of what would happen their first day back. Rachel had had to bribe her daughter with a shopping trip the weekend before the exams in order to get Alia to actually go to the event. She dreaded to think what she'd have to bribe her with in order to get her full participation. She fought the urge to sigh as Eddie basically promised to check up on Kim as the woman was halfway out of the door, turning and escaping to her office as soon as she could. It was definitely going to be a long day.

"How was your hols, Al?" Bolton asked as he and Paul found Alia in the hallway talking to Katie on the way to form. She glanced up at him with a shrug, the sling on her arm hindering her movements slightly. She'd pulled her arm a little too much that morning when she'd fought with the passenger seat of her mother's car and was hoping the pain would decrease if she wore the sling for a few hours. Both she and Maxine barely wore them anymore and she'd gotten enough movement back that she could write somewhat, though not for extended periods of time. Her mother had promised she could use a computer for her mock exams so long as it was still under exam conditions.

"Alright, quiet I guess. Yours?" She fell into step beside him, Katie on her other side as they made their way towards their form rooms. Katie was in the room next to theirs for registration. Alia stubbornly ignored a few groups of students she could hear gushing over how quickly they were rushing from school to buy the newest album being released that day. She didn't want to deal with it, not that day anyway. She didn't want to end up ranting in Rachel's office before classes had even begun.

"Good, though everyone's still talking about the party at the end of term." Bolton glanced at her. "How'd your mum take it?"

"She took it just fine thanks." Alia shook her head with a smirk as they pushed against the crowd into another corridor. Bolton and Paul's faces dropped in shock before they grinned widely at a woman that Alia could only assume was the new head of Pastoral Care that Rachel had told her about.

"Yo, miss!" Bolton exclaimed.

"Hi miss! You're back!" Paul added, both sounding happy to see the newcomer, who glanced down at herself in mock shock.

"So I am! Eh, I must've missed you lot too much." She paused a moment, recalling Rachel's advice of drafting in the students to help. Bolton and Paul seemed remarkably changed in the time she'd been gone, in a good way, walking with two girls she didn't know, surprisingly in the direction of their classes as opposed to away. "How would you four like to help me set up for today?"

"Did Mason give the okay?" Bolton checked, further surprising Kim at the clear respect he held for a teacher's opinion and approval of the action. There was a time he'd do whatever he wanted regardless of what any adult thought about it. Was this school into witchcraft now or something to so wholly change the students?

"She did."

"I'm in." Alia shrugged. "Gets us out of form at least." The other three made similar noises of agreement, turning in the flow of students to follow Kim to the hall instead of their form rooms. She set them up working on the noticeboards before nipping to the staffroom to reintroduce herself to people, leaving the four alone in the hall. Bolton immediately took charge, giving himself and Katie the staple guns and Paul the press pins, leaving Alia to sort out the leaflets. He explained that she'd only hurt her arm more trying to use a staple gun and then he'd be murdered for allowing her to come to harm. Alia had rolled her eyes but understood the sentiment behind the words.

A few minutes later Kim returned, shocked to see the four students doing as they'd been told, if with slightly more of an artistic flair than she thought Rachel was wanting for the day. The dark haired girl with her arm in a sling was sorting out some of the leaflets with Paul, who would steal a sample to pin up from each new pile she made. Bolton and the blonde haired girl were using staple guns to pin the banners and itinerary to the boards that had been set up before she'd arrived that morning. "This all looks great, guys." She commented, moving over to help them as Tom entered.

"Ah, so that's where three of my form have gotten to." He grinned at them, showing he didn't mind that they hadn't been at registration as he glanced at the work they'd been doing. "Talk about hitting the ground running." He addressed Kim as the four teenagers moved to one side, though Tom swore he heard Bolton mutter about them having permission from the headmistress to be there.

Kim laughed slightly. "Yeah, it's all your fault. I heard it was you that gave me the glowing reference."

"Me? I told them not to touch you with a bargepole. Nah, there was no-one to come near you, Kim."

"Sounded like you were doing an okay job."

Tom glanced over at Alia, who was watching them closely, smiling a little sadly at the teenager. No matter what kind of job he'd thought he'd been doing, he'd still allowed his personal issues to get in the way, and teenagers under his care had almost paid the ultimate price for it. "Well, okay isn't good enough, is it?" Kim followed his gaze to Alia, who shrugged, not bothering to pretend she hadn't been blatantly listening in to the conversation. "Long story." He added. The bell rang signalling the end of form time.

"How're the girls?" Kim asked before Tom needed to disappear for his first lesson of the day.

"Mika's at uni. And Chlo's… she's getting there. Listen, we'll catch up at lunchtime, or at least some point today." He ignored the confused looks from Alia and Bolton, who were friends with Chlo as he rushed off to his class, leaving Kim to turn to the four teenagers.

"What's all that about?" She asked them curiously. To her exasperation but not surprise, the four teenagers shrugged. Kim knew the students always knew more than they'd ever let on, including about the teachers. So at least one of them knew more about what was going on with Tom.

"He blames himself," Katie told her eventually as they finished up setting up for the career event, handing over the staple gun back to Kim. "Mr Clarkson," she clarified. "For what happened."

"What did happen?" Kim asked, gaining disbelieving stares from the four teens.

"Didn't you read about it in the papers or anything miss?" Paul asked incredulously. "We were on the national news and everything. It were great."

"No it wasn't," Alia contradicted. "I kept expecting reporters to pop up in the flower beds in the garden. Thankfully they kept to the school and didn't try to follow us home."

"Mason would've strangled them with her bare hands if they followed any of us home." Bolton said confidently, to which the other three nodded their agreement. Rachel had been angry enough at the reporters that congregated round the school gates for a couple of weeks following the incident without any of them wanting to face the wrath of the headmistress should they dare to follow any of the students home. It probably helped that should they have tried it with Alia, Maxine or Janeece, they would have faced the ire of the headmistress herself. "Do you really not know miss?"

"Enlighten me, Bolton please." Kim hadn't been home from Rwanda very long and so hadn't had the chance to look up much on how the school had changed before accepting the job.

"Psycho guy in our year had a gun, framed his own brother and later shot Ali here and Max, when they and Jan were at Haydock's place." Bolton gestured to Alia, who waved the arm in the sling with a laugh at Bolton's summary. "From what I heard, they could've died if they hadn't wrestled the gun off of him."

"Yeah, well, we're fine now." Alia assured him.

"Then how come you've got the sling on today?"

"I hurt it getting out of the car this morning. I'm just resting it for a bit." Alia rolled her eyes as none of the teenagers looked reassured with her explanation. "Honestly, I will take myself to first aid if it hurts worse than it does right now, okay? We've got a career event to attend." As if on cue, the other students began to pile into the room for the event, most looking at least vaguely interested in what was happening that had got them out of classes for the day. Kim saw Steph stride in looking as unflappable as ever, though Kim's head was still reeling from the knowledge that Tom resigned because two of the pupils got shot in Steph's house, one of them being the teenager under her care. She definitely wouldn't be okay with it, no matter when it was, and she wondered how both the dark haired teenager and the French teacher seemed so calm about it all.

Steph made her way up to them but addressed Alia with a smile. "Ali, your mum and I called the physio and pushed next Friday's session back to the week after so you and Max can sit your mocks."

"Thanks. Is it still the same time and day?"

"Yes, it is. Hi, Kim. I see you've reacquainted yourself with our troublemakers here." Steph grinned as the boys immediately protested their innocence whilst the girls rolled their eyes at their antics. "I'll watch this lot if you want to go round up our little celebrity speakers for today." Kim agreed, needing to get out of there to clear her head. She'd certainly jumped into Waterloo Road craziness right from the off.

Kim pushed her way to the front of the hall, making a note that the pupil numbers seemed to pretty much match the register she'd been given. She'd found all the speakers except the 'celebrity' one, but she couldn't put off the event any longer. "Alright everyone, can I have some quiet please?" Most of the hall quietened and turned to look at her. "I'm Kim Campbell, Art teacher and Head of Pastoral Care. Some of you may remember me. I'm going to be running this session today. Quiet please. Thank you very much." She noticed how Maxine and Janeece had found Chlo, who had been joined by the dark haired girl that had been helping set up, all four seeming really close, none of the teenagers seeming to give a second thought to Chlo's rather obvious bump. She couldn't wrap her head around that, or the shooting she'd been informed of. She had a lot of questions for Tom and Rachel about those things, but for now she had a session to run. "Okay, now as you know, today is going to be a little bit different. Rather than your usual lessons, we're going to have the chance to meet some people who were once just like you, as in they were Waterloo Road pupils. And now… well, they're all sorts of different kinds of things." She gestured to where the former pupils stood together with Steph. "I think we can guess what Pete Sutherland is."

"Is he an astronaut, miss?" Paul piped up, causing ripples of laughter to erupt amongst the teenagers, though Marley did swat at him with a leaflet for his comment.

"Any more comments like that and it's you who's going to end up in outer space." Kim let the warning seep through her tone as she introduced the other former pupils, mentioning that the celebrity one hadn't arrived yet, and fielding off an excited Janeece's queries about the final former pupil. She was still trying to corral them into some form of order by asking them what they wanted to be when they left school when she noticed, to her irritation, Eddie skulking about the back of the room, standing towards the back of the pupils. She almost sighed in relief at seeing the headmistress walk in with Sarah-Leanne behind her. "Miss Mason."

Eddie used the wolf-whistles and exclamations as a cover, approaching Alia and nudging her gently with his elbow. She glanced at him curiously, turning slightly. His eyes narrowed automatically in concern at seeing the sling. "What's wrong?" She asked quietly.

"Is your arm hurting?"

"Just sore. I'll probably take it off in an hour or so. What's up Eddie?" She glanced around the room, where everyone except Kim and Rachel were going mad at the arrival of Sarah-Leanne.

"How's Kim doing?" Eddie asked, nodding towards Kim, who thankfully was more focused on the newcomers than on them. Alia shrugged.

"She seems alright. A bit bossy, like she'll tell you what's best for you, but she seems like she means well." Alia glanced at him again. "What's happened to make you dislike her?"

"Nothing, I just…" He rubbed the back of his neck in agitation. "She winds me up, okay?"

"Okay." Alia bit back a smirk. "By the way, you should talk to my mum. She's been worried about you all hols."

"I'm pretty sure I screwed up there, Ali." Eddie sighed.

"You won't know that unless you talk to her, but for what it's worth; I don't think you have. And I'm rarely wrong about these things." She nudged him towards Rachel, who had noticed his presence in the hall and didn't look too happy about it. "Go on. I bet you're going to get yelled at for spying on Kim."

"Probably. Hey Ali, no matter what happens or doesn't happen between your mum and me, you can still talk to me about anything. You got that?"

"I've got it. Now go before you get us both into trouble." She pushed him with her free arm towards her mother, who did not look impressed. Reluctantly, Eddie followed Rachel from the hall as Alia shook her head, thoroughly amused as she turned back to the front of the hall. If it wasn't one being daft then it was the other and she didn't know how long they could keep dancing around it.

Alia fixed Bolton and Paul with a glare as Kim frogmarched Philip away from them, her eyes narrowed and hands on her hip. Her sling was in her bag after she'd rested her arm for a while. "You're both divs." She bit out. "It's not bloody funny!"

"Oh come on Ali, it was a little bit funny!" Bolton tried to defend himself.

"Oh yeah? And how funny do you think it's going to be when Philip has to face his aunt over sexual harassment accusations?" Alia demanded, causing the boys to redden in shame, having not thought of it like that. Alia didn't particularly like Philip at that moment in time, but it was a family matter, personal, and she would still defend him when she was able to. Bolton and Paul had pushed it too far that time and she was more than angry about it. It wasn't just making a little fun at his expense or ignoring him. He could be up on serious charges over the two boys pushing him into Sarah-Leanne like that. She glared at them again before rounding on her heel and storming off, ignoring the whispers wondering why she was so angry as she ran up the nearest set of stairs, hoping to head off the discussion before her mother went completely mad at Philip. For once, it wasn't Philip's fault.

She burst through to the antechamber, ignoring Rachel's assistant as always as she heard Kim tell Rachel that the teenager had just assaulted one of the guests. She pushed her way through into the office, panting at the exertion in trying to get there as fast as possible. She barely even noticed Eddie rush to her side, holding her upright so she could breathe properly.

"I was pushed!" Philip tried to defend himself as Kim turned to the girl that had just barged in on the meeting.

"What are you doing here? This is a serious conversation. If you need Miss Mason you can wait outside." Kim ignored the dirty look Eddie shot her for her words to the year 11 girl.

"Ali, what was so urgent you had to run all the way up here?" Eddie asked kindly as she got her breath back. Alia smiled at him in thanks before turning to Rachel.

"He's not lying; he really was pushed." She informed the headmistress. "For a change it wasn't his fault."

"By whom?" Kim demanded, barely giving the teenagers time to bite their lips, not wanting to snitch even with the consequences. Alia knew she was going to get Bolton and Paul back for what they'd done, but it wouldn't involve her mother or any of the senior management team. "Yeah, exactly. I saw it with my own eyes."

"Then you clearly need glasses," Alia shot back, glaring at the teacher and regretting telling Eddie she was doing alright with them.

"Sorry, I'm a bit shocked." Rachel finally found her voice. "Philip's my nephew." She swallowed a little, hating what she had to say next but knowing it was necessary. "Don't expect to be treated any differently because of that, Philip."

"I didn't do it, okay? What she said…" Philip was breathing heavily at that point, panting as his panic increased. Alia glanced at Eddie in concern, to which the deputy moved over and clapped Philip on the shoulder. Whatever his mother had done, the boy wasn't a part of it. Philip rambled on a little longer until Rachel interrupted, obviously also concerned about her nephew.

"Could you take him to the cooler, please? Get him to calm down a bit." She requested of Eddie, who escorted the boy out, though not without a parting dig at Kim on the way. Rachel then turned to Alia, who had watched the events unfold with concern. Whatever her issues with her cousin, she was worried for his health with the way he was panicking. "Alia, tell me the truth."

"That is the truth. He was pushed into the woman."

"Oh? Who by?" Rachel felt like whacking her head off her desk at the mulish, devious look her daughter sported. Why couldn't

"Can't tell you, but I promise they'll regret it." Alia smirked, already thinking up ways to get back at the boys for pushing her cousin.

"Ali." Rachel sighed in exasperation. She knew her daughter wouldn't snitch, but she couldn't allow vigilante justice either. "You can't do that. Plus, I thought you weren't even on speaking terms with Philip."

"I'm not. But that's personal, between me and him. Doesn't mean other people can get him into trouble like this and I'm not going to defend him."

"Alia." Her face tightened before she levelled a look at her daughter. "Straight to the cooler. All day."

"What for?"

"Threatening behaviour." She rounded the desk, placing a hand on the fifteen year old's shoulder. "Go on. I'm sure you've enough work to be getting on with in there."

"Okay." Alia stepped back, the smirk never leaving her face. "Your efforts are admirable, but futile." She turned and left, ignoring Rachel's exasperated shout of her name and Kim's questioning on just how she thought she could interrupt an adult's meeting like that. She knew Rachel would fob her off with some excuse or other, making her way straight to the cooler and letting herself in, finding Eddie handing Philip a glass of water. "She believes you were pushed at least." She told them before seating herself a few desks away from Philip and pulling out her sketchbook.

Her ears pricked up as Philip broke down a little, telling Eddie about how he hated it all, that she and Rachel didn't want him living with them and his mum definitely didn't want him around, abandoning him once again. Her heart went out to him, it really did, but taking that mood out on them was hardly the way to go about it. She felt Eddie's eyes on her as he comforted Philip, ignoring him as she focused on her artwork until she felt him tap her arm, gesturing for her to follow him out of the room. Reluctantly, she left her things at the table and followed him out, her arms folded over her chest defensively. "What?"

"His mum left him?"

"What did you think Rachel meant by not knowing how to cope with him this morning? Or him arriving to school with us?" Alia asked, referencing the awkward conversation she'd overheard between Rachel and Eddie that morning. "Mel left just before the boxing match at the end of term. Usual procedure for leaving Philip alone for god knows how long."

"I know he was being nasty to you before Christmas, but don't you think the lad deserves a bit of sympathy?" He sighed at Alia's set jaw, just as stubborn as her mother. "Fine, go sit back down. Why are you in the cooler anyway?"

"May or may not have threatened to get even with those that pushed Philip in front of two senior management." Alia smiled widely as they walked back into the cooler. Eddie pinched the bridge of his nose at the positively gleeful expression on her face. He actually felt sorry for Bolton, being convinced it was him behind it, worried about just what the teenaged girl was cooking up as revenge.

"You're scary sometimes, Ali. Now, I'm going to leave you two in here whilst I go sort this mess out, okay?" He left before they could answer, an awkward silence filling the air between them as Alia returned to her sketchbook.

"Ali."

She turned reluctantly at the sound of her whispered name, finding Philip's tearstained face watching her. "What?"

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have believed mum about any of it and I'm really sorry for calling you and Rach whores." Philip swallowed down the lump in his throat as tears welled in his eyes once more. "I know you'd never be with Eddie like that but I just wanted to believe in her so much… believe she wasn't going to leave me again."

"I'm angrier that you called my mother a whore than anything else. The thing with Eddie is just gross. I'm sure it pushed even the limits of Aunt Mel's imagination to come up with that one."

"I really am sorry, Ali."

"Tell Rachel that." She sighed at his look of incomprehension. "Apologise for calling her a whore, to her. Then I'll forgive you. Got it?"

"Got it. Thanks."

"Not your fault your mum's a nutter."

Kim made sure to make the time for Tom near the end of the day, wanting to not only go over what had happened to make him quit the role she'd taken over but also about Chlo and her situation. She made them both a hot drink, handing Tom's to him as they both perched against the desk in the pastoral care room. "So, what's this long story with you quitting?"

"Things were too personal, and I couldn't see past it." Tom took a sip of his drink. "It ended up with two girls paying the price of that. I couldn't carry on, knowing that I'd failed them like that." He sighed tiredly. Despite hearing that it wasn't his fault from multiple sources, he still harboured guilt over his blinkered approach to the Kellys. "Maxine was going out with a lad called Earl. I hated him, couldn't see past it and it coloured all my dealings with the whole family. Anyway, she broke it off with him and she bunked school with little Janeece and a year 11 girl, Alia Falan. She was helping you set up this morning."

"She seemed quite nice until she stormed into Rachel's office to defend Philip, threatening to go after the boys that had pushed him. It had nothing to do with her." Her confusion only deepened at Tom's snort of laughter. For his part, Tom knew the lads were not in for an easy time of it. Alia was too much like Rachel sometimes, and as you definitely did not want to get on Rachel's bad side, you also didn't want to get on Alia's.

"She's a good kid." Tom defended mildly before his face dropped into a more serious expression, his mind slipping back into the main part of the conversation. He still had trouble believing it had all happened at times. "They were just hanging out together when Earl showed up at Steph's place with a gun." He nodded at Kim's shocked gasp. "He threatened them and the three girls rushed him for the gun. He shot Maxine and Alia. Somehow, Janeece got the gun from him and Alia knocked him unconscious with it."

"That's mental. The poor girls. How'd Steph take it? How did Alia and Janeece's parents take it?" Kim asked, concern overpowering any other emotion as she took a sip of her drink to calm herself.

"Steph wanted to be there for Max, but she did have Rachel looking out for her the whole time. She moved house though, her and Max, couldn't bear to go back to the place Earl had hurt her. Janeece's mum didn't really care and Alia's mum was unbearably worried."

"What about Alia's father?" Kim asked. She already knew of Maxine and Janeece's home lives from before she'd left for Rwanda, but the other girl was a complete mystery to her.

Tom shrugged. He'd only heard mentions of the man from Alia or Chlo and from the sounds of it he wasn't around, plus Rachel had made it clear she lived alone with Alia, so he probably wasn't in the picture. "Not around as far as I know. She lives with her mother." It wasn't his place to tell Kim just who her mother was. "They're healing well and seem to be back to their somewhat normal selves. Max and Ali will wear slings occasionally, and Steph takes them to physio every Friday but none of it is anything to worry about. No real safeguarding concerns with any of them right now."

"I saw Chlo." Kim changed the subject, anxious to cover everything she needed to discuss with Tom. He smiled. "She's pregnant?"

"Yeah, that was a bit of a shock, I can tell you." Tom shook his head slightly. "But I have to hand it to her, she certainly seems to know what she's doing."

"Are you sure she's alright Tom? Only I saw her talking to Rachel earlier, thanking her for something?"

"Oh, that." Tom waved it off. Chlo would often find Rachel if she needed something or wanted to talk about something. He swore that the headmistress knew of Chlo's scans and things before even Donte did sometimes, let alone Tom himself. "Rachel helped Chlo tell me she was pregnant in the first place and if Chlo needs a female point of view she generally tends to go to Rachel over it."

"Aren't you with Davina?" Kim asked, having heard it through the grapevine that day. Tom nodded, looking confused about what his love life had to do with anything. "Why would Chlo talk to someone so wholly unconnected then?"

Tom let out a light laugh. Things certainly had changed in the time Kim had been gone. "These kids are flourishing Kim. And a large part of it is because of Rachel. The kids trust her, know she won't judge them no matter what they've done. She's been in their shoes and risen from it, made a name for herself. She's even earnt the respect of Bolton Smilie and his little cronies. And that's no mean feat." As if to prove his point, they both watched as Bolton sloped down the corridor, stopping when he saw Rachel coming up the other way and schooling his expression into a more respectful one, though it was full of mischief as he addressed the headmistress. She laughed, saying something lightly back as she turned to walk with him past the office. Kim watched in slight amazement.

"Is she superwoman or something?"

"Or something," Tom agreed, chuckling. "Look, I'm sure Steph and Matt will tell you absolutely everything you need to know about Rachel down the pub tonight if you get them drunk enough and they're not in earshot of Rachel or Eddie. Really, Kim, I think you're going to be great for this place. Just give the new ways a chance, yeah?"

Eddie managed to corner Rachel in her office, knowing that Alia had decided to walk home with Philip as they were to head to the pub for a little while. First day back and everything. It was like a rite of passage or something, though he knew Rachel said it was because the school turned them all into alcoholics. Rachel was stood near her filing cabinet, though she looked over as Eddie entered, offering him a smile. "What's up? I thought I was meeting you all down the pub."

"How's Philip doing?" He asked, setting his bag down on the table.

"He's still fragile."

"That might have had something to do with his mother up and abandoning him." He noted how her face instantly shut down. "Why didn't you tell me, Rachel?"

"Because it's not your problem anymore, Eddie." Rachel sighed, closing the filing cabinet and turning to face him properly. "And that's not me being mean, I mean after what she did-"

"What if I wanted it to be my problem?" Eddie interrupted quietly, his heart hurting as his words caused her to blink in shock. How he wanted to protect her from the world that had made her have to deal with everything all by herself. "He's suffering, Rach."

"I know, I get that. I get why he's angry. God, I'm angry with Melissa. Could kill her, for all she's done to us." She sighed again, knowing she'd have to explain that comment as she directed him to sit on the sofa, sitting beside him and offering him a wan smile that didn't reach her eyes. "I found out over the holidays, why Philip had been verbally attacking Alia."

"Oh? I thought Alia was trying to keep you out of it."

"She was, in a stupid, misguided effort to protect me." Rachel ran a hand over her face, knowing she had to tell him just in case Melissa had spread her lies further than her son. He needed to know. "That day in this office, when you ended things with her, she went home to Philip and told him some lies. She told him they were true and he believed her. That's why he's been trying to snipe at Ali all the time."

"Does that woman ever quit lying?"

Rachel shrugged. "Mel told him that she'd caught you, with Alia." She sighed at his look of incomprehension, knowing that she probably had had a similar expression when Philip had finally told them why he'd been so angry. "Together, in a romantic way." Eddie immediately pulled a disgusted face at her words. He'd never be interested in a child in that way, and to hear that Melissa had been spreading lies to that effect made him feel sick to his stomach. Rachel nodded knowingly at him. "She also told Philip that you blackmailed her to keep quiet about it with the bigamy." She swallowed, knowing she had to tell him all of it. The worst part was over, but the part concerning herself needed to be mentioned as well. "She said I knew about the pair of you and didn't care, because I was sleeping with you too."

"Rachel, woah." He blinked in shock. She nodded.

"You can probably understand why Alia's still so angry with him, though apparently she only tried to hit him when he called me a whore." She nodded at the anger that crossed his face. "See, you and Alia are both protective over my past. I'm not surprised she went for him. I'm more surprised at how calm she's been over the whole thing. I think Tom told me about that incident, where Paul held her back before both he and Bolton locked Philip in the cooler for an hour to try and temper his behaviour, not that it worked."

"I told her earlier she needed to give him more sympathy and she set her jaw like you do when you're being stubborn over something." He told her, smirking as she automatically protested that they were not stubborn at all, let alone had a specific way they moved their jaw about it. "Everything makes a bit more sense now though. Rach, I'd never-"

"I know that, Eddie." Rachel cut him off before he could finish his sentence, knowing exactly what he was going to say. She hadn't believed it for a moment, knowing with absolute certainty that neither Eddie nor Alia ever would do something like that. "I know. You needed to know though, what she'd told Philip."

Eddie stared at her, drinking in her features, so open and honest when it was just them, despite her exasperation with him most of the day. He knew he couldn't go on being an awkward sod around her, needing her too much to be able to push her way. Plus, pushing people away was her specialty, not his. Not that he planned on letting her push him too far away. He'd promised to wait for her, to be what she needed and he fully intended on keeping that promise. "Rach?" He took hold of her hand as she hummed in response. "I'm sorry, for being such an awkward sod. I just… I had too much time to think over the break and I honestly couldn't understand why you're even still talking to me, let alone wanting anything more. I've been a prat to you and I'm sorry."

"Eddie, it's fine." Rachel squeezed his hand gently. "I understand. There's nothing to be sorry for. You, uh, you haven't given up have you?"

"Given up on what?"

"Waiting." She admitted in a tiny voice that had Eddie's heart breaking that she'd even thought such a thing was possible.

"Never," he assured her, gripping her hand tightly. "I'll never give up waiting for you." He promised thickly, Rachel nodding her head with a smile she couldn't contain at the reassurance he hadn't changed his mind about her. He was astounded that she still wanted him to wait for her, that she still wanted him, but he wasn't going to knock it. "Pub?" He asked, taking note of the time and realising they'd been in there longer than he'd expected.

Rachel nodded, standing and collecting her things for the night as he picked up his bag, walking out of school together, with Rachel offering to give Eddie a lift to the pub if he wanted more than one drink. She fully intended on only one glass of wine before going home to her daughter and nephew. Eddie accepted the offer, climbing into the passenger seat of her car. She drove carefully as they spoke of lighter topics, pulling up in the pub carpark only five minutes from the school. She swore that the teachers were the ones keeping the establishment afloat. They seemed to be there more often than not.

Entering the pub, Eddie immediately went to the bar to order himself and Rachel a drink whilst Rachel managed to find two chairs in the teachers' usual corner, greeting an already tipsy Steph who proclaimed her arrival loudly. She sat down in the chair nearest Tom, who murmured that Chlo was nearly finished with her uni application and that Donte had passed his Mechanic NVQ. She offered her congratulations to him as Eddie approached, setting her glass of wine before her as he practically flopped into the empty chair at her side, Steph on his other side. The blonde woman smirked knowingly at him before engaging the entire table in conversation over the day's events, which inevitably turned to Philip and then wondering over what had happened with Melissa, all eyes turning to Rachel and Eddie, even Kim's despite not knowing who Melissa was before the conversation began.

"Melissa is gone," Rachel told them all shortly. "Philip is staying with me until she decides to resurface again."

"What happened between you and her, Eddie?" Jasmine asked curiously. "Things were going so well and then all of a sudden you weren't together anymore."

Eddie knew both Rachel and Steph had stiffened instinctively either side of him, both obviously knowing the entirety of what had happened that day from Alia and Maxine respectively. He fought to keep a calm façade. "I found out she'd lied to me, and when I confronted her about it, she tried to tell me I was wrong and blamed everyone else for it." He abbreviated the truth in a clipped tone. Thankfully, it seemed to be enough for the nosy collection of teachers, as the conversation then moved on to other topics. Rachel stayed for her one drink before making to leave, Steph joining her once she'd taken note of the time, having promised Maxine she'd be home in time to watch the soaps with her. She offered Eddie a smile before she left, the emotion reaching her eyes as she caught his gaze. She didn't know what was happening, but she was in too deep now. Eddie returned the smile, his eyes silently assuring her that whatever mood he'd been in since the winter break was long gone and they were right back on the track they'd been on before the break.

Lia Rose fever had gripped most of the student population as of that Monday, her new album By Any Other Name selling like hotcakes up and down the country. Rachel had fought valiantly to keep the amusement and pride from her features, not even able to traverse a corridor without hearing her daughter's songs playing from someone's phone or mp3 player or hearing the album and Lia being discussed. Sure, there would probably be a new album by a new artist soon enough, and the fever surrounding Lia Rose would die down a bit, but until then, she was proud of what her daughter had accomplished and amused at the way her daughter's face would tighten every time she heard someone mention her other persona. So, she was honestly quite surprised it took Alia until Wednesday lunchtime to stalk into her office when Bridget was on her lunch, nearly slamming the door shut before dropping her bag and pouting at the headmistress. "They're doing my head in," She complained, flinging her arms about randomly. Rachel fought the urge to laugh, thankful she was on her own in her office, not sure how to explain her daughter's mood or behaviour to anyone else. Rounding the desk, she took her daughter into her arms, holding her tightly as Alia let out a long breath, not realising how wound up she was until she'd relaxed in her mum's embrace. "Every single bloody conversation is 'Lia Rose this', 'Lia Rose that', and I regret telling my label to release it the first day of school. Why couldn't I have done this before Christmas, let it die down before school started up again?"

"Because sales are better after Christmas, when everyone has money to spend and no more holiday music to listen to," Rachel pointed out rationally from the top of her daughter's head, as Alia had buried her face in Rachel's shoulder. "I'm proud of you, sweetheart. Isn't there rumour of one of your songs being number 1 in the charts this week?"

"Yeah, I think my manager said it was Mine for Now that was climbing the charts. I'm going to have a hectic few weeks, what with filming three music videos, sorting out press releases and interviews, setting tour dates and locations, plus my mocks on top of all that. I'm only fifteen."

"You're sixteen in March." Rachel smirked into Alia's hair. "That's only two months away." She held her daughter tighter for a moment. "I'll help you love, with everything you've got. Invite your friends over for a revision evening on Friday and we can go through all your subjects. I can help organise the tour dates and places with your manager, so don't worry about that. Plus, the press side is why you even have a manager. Let them figure out that side of it for you. Just focus on your exams and the music videos for now, okay?"

"Okay. Please don't remind me about my birthday; I'm not ready to face being sixteen yet. Anyway, it's Phil's in just over a month's time, so I get a whole month to call him old before I'm the same age." Alia pulled away slightly to smile up at Rachel. "Thanks, you know, for listening and helping and that."

"It's what I'm here for, Ali."

That Friday evening, not too long after lessons had ended, Eddie found himself on Rachel's doorstep, wondering just how he'd been roped in to helping with a last minute revision session. If he was completely honest with himself, he'd caved the moment Rachel had turned her wide hazel eyes to him, the orbs pleading for him to help her out as a bunch of teenagers would be at her house Friday after school to work on last minute revision. He'd agreed reluctantly, but the relieved smile she'd graced him with had made it worth his agreement. Knocking, he waited patiently for someone to open the door, his thoughts turning to the woman whose house it was. She was definitely in, the TT she loved driving parked in its usual spot in the driveway. Things had been easier between them after that first day back, a few more interactions with the headmistress enough to convince him she really did still want him, that despite all he'd put her through, she was still willing to give him a chance. He'd meant what he'd said about waiting for her, and he knew he would wait forever for her if he needed to, though he hoped it wouldn't actually take that long. The door opened to reveal the subject of his thoughts, dressed more causally in a t-shirt and jeans as she smiled gratefully and let him in, closing the door behind him as he shucked off his coat and dropped his bag beside hers in the hallway.

"Thanks for coming, Eddie. I don't think I could have dealt with them on my own." Rachel thanked him as she hung his coat over the end of the banister and led him in the direction of the living room. "I can help with some of it, but I'm still atrocious at maths." She led him through the open door into the room, where the teenagers all sat on the floor randomly, books open between them. It looked like chaos, and Eddie knew that was half the reason she'd asked him to help. The group of teenagers consisted of Alia, Philip, Maxine, Janeece, Chlo, Donte, Bolton, Paul and Katie, the latter two of which seemed incredibly uneasy at being sat in the living room of their headteacher. "Paul and Katie only found out about me being Alia's mum when they arrived about ten minutes ago," Rachel murmured to him. "They look ready to bolt at any moment." She raised her voice to be heard over the chatting teenagers. "I know nothing about maths so I dragged Mr Lawson in to help you with your maths revision." The teenagers that had seen Eddie in the house before simply nodded, whilst those who hadn't looked wary at another teacher being present. "I'll go put the kettle on for you." She disappeared to the kitchen, leaving Eddie stood awkwardly at the edge of the teenagers. Thankfully, Alia spoke up to break the awkward atmosphere.

"Oh good, mum's awful at maths. Could you go over quadratic equations and factorising with us?" Alia motioned for him to sit between her and Philip, hiding a laugh as Eddie tried his best to fold his limbs in order to sit on the floor. "We've been arguing over the best method." She handed him her maths book and Eddie jumped straight in, thankful for the girl making the situation slightly less awkward. Rachel joined him after a few moments, handing him a coffee before sitting herself between Eddie and Alia, nursing her own cup of coffee. Slowly, the teenagers relaxed in the presence of the two most senior teachers, to the point where they were laughing over Rachel and Eddie arguing over one of the poems in their English anthologies.

"You are an eternal optimist Eddie, if you really believe that love is the interpretation there." Rachel waved Alia's anthology in his direction, page open to the poem they'd been discussing. It had started as a discussion between the teens but had quickly been hijacked by the adults, who had been interested in their interpretations.

"Oh? And what exactly do you think it means, Miss Pessimist 2009?" Eddie waved Philip's anthology back at her, both teachers having pretty much stolen the books from the teenagers to prove their respective points. Alia snorted in laughter at the pair of them, setting off muted giggles in the rest of the teens.

"Control. It's all about control, not love." Rachel pointed at a particular line. "Like this part, he's talking about owning them, controlling them, not loving them."

"But you can't rule out love as a factor."

"Hence why you're an optimist here."

"As opposed to your ever so cheery outlook, you mean?"

"Okay time out, both of you." Alia interrupted them as the other teenagers had lost the battle in hiding their amusement with the two teachers. Rachel and Eddie turned to the fifteen year old in surprise, only just noticing the laughing group around them, having been completely lost in their debate with one another. "You're both right, you're both wrong. It doesn't matter. We can say whatever we like about the poem so long as we can back up our points from the poem itself. But you two are going to end up killing each other if you carry on with this argument."

Rachel and Eddie flushed in embarrassment, handing the anthologies back to their respective owners. The teenagers shared a collective glance before putting their anthologies away and bringing out a different lot of work, an unspoken agreement not to allow the two adults the chance to argue over another poem. Alia, Maxine and Janeece had seen them like that before, but they could see that it had surprised the other teens somewhat as most of them pulled out their science work, Chlo and Maxine pulling out their French work and Donte settling in to help Chlo. After a couple of hours, Rachel ordered pizza for the group, not wanting to send them home hungry, especially as they'd all been working surprisingly hard at their revision. The nine teenagers tucked into the food with gusto, hungry after the long hours at school and the work they'd been doing for revision. An hour or so later, the group slowly disbanded, Katie and Paul walking home, Maxine, Bolton and Janeece all going out for the night and Tom picking up Chlo and Donte, leaving Rachel and Eddie with Alia and Philip.

Eddie made his excuses to leave, Rachel following him towards the hallway and doorway, watching him with a smile as he put his coat on. "Thanks Eddie, I mean it."

"No problem. It's actually quite gratifying to see them taking their revision seriously."

"Next Friday."

"Huh?" Eddie furrowed his brow in confusion as Rachel practically glided up into his personal space, placing a hand on his chest and short-circuiting his brain, his eyes flicking between hers and her lips involuntarily. A small smile played at her lips.

"You should book a lane for next Friday. Bowling. Jack's staying the night here and I think it would cheer Philip up too." Rachel elaborated, fighting a shiver as Eddie's hands automatically found their way to her hips.

"You sure?" Eddie asked, knowing she'd understand that he was asking if she was sure about going out with him again, even though it would feel more like a family outing than a date. He didn't know what sounded scarier and could only imagine how someone who ran from emotions like Rachel did would be taking it. To his surprise, she nodded without the slightest hesitation.

"Yes, I'm sure." She rose up on her toes to press a sweet kiss to his lips, her hand clutching his shirt to steady herself before pulling back with a soft, slightly unsure smile. "Goodnight, Eddie."

He leant in for another kiss, keeping it short and sweet as she had, knowing they couldn't get carried away when they hadn't even officially been on even one date yet and there were two fifteen year olds in the house. "Night, Rach."

TBC…