Thank you so so much to everyone who's reviewed. I can't explain how much every single one means, and just to know you're all enjoying what i'm writing is so amazing- I am truly grateful xx

The next morning, Eddie was early enough to work that his was one of the only cars in the car park. He'd done it on purpose- it meant that when Rachel walked in, he was comfortably sat behind her desk in her office, waiting for her. She did a double take when she saw him, a dozen emotions flashing across her face too fast for him to read. "What are you doing?"

"Waiting for you."

She frowned, came in further to place her bag down. "Eddie, please..."

He held his hands up. "I didn't come here to argue with you again."

"Then what?"

"I came here to tell you I'm not dropping it." He looked at her calmly. "I'm not letting Hordley get away with what he's done. And I would like to be on the same side in this, Rach. But even if you're not, I'm not going to let it rest. I can't."

He'd come to stand in front of her, jaw set and she could only look at him tiredly. "And when he retaliates? Eddie, what then?"

"You haven't done anything wrong, Rachel. There might be some moaning, but you won't be fired."

"You can't be sure of that! And even if I wasn't- do you really think I could stay, carry on as if nothing's happened? Hundreds of parents find out an ex-prostitute's running their kids school- what d'you think they're going to do, congratulate me? They'll be after my blood and I couldn't blame them!"

He shook his head. "It was a long time ago…"

"Do you really believe that will matter? It hasn't to you!" She had her arms wrapped around herself, looking almost too small in the room, and Eddie felt a stab of guilt. "Apart from anything," she continued quietly when he didn't speak, "do you really think I want everyone knowing?"

Eddie had no answer to that.

She wandered over to the window, stared out unseeingly. She was fighting back tears, desperately trying to swallow the lump in her throat and resolutely refusing to look around her deputy.

But it seemed that in itself was enough to raise his suspicions and she heard the rustle of his clothes as he came closer, circling around the side of her. She ducked her head to hide her face, and so missed the stricken look on his. She hadn't been quick enough to stop him seeing the tears. "Don't, Rach," he almost pleaded and for a moment his tone didn't register. Until it did, and she looked at him oddly. It was only another second for her to connect the dots between this conversation and their one in the car park, and she gave a bark of teary laughter.

"Is that what this is about?" she wondered, amusement entering her tone. "Eddie Lawson, undone by crying?"

He shifted uncomfortably, flushing pink and hoped she wouldn't notice. "I don't like seeing women cry," he defended, "especially not when I'm the cause."

She let out a hysterical giggle, covering her mouth with her hand when he looked unimpressed. "Explains last night," she murmured, half to herself. "Well, you can stop feeling guilty. None of this is your fault."

"I made you cry- pretty sure that is my fault."

But she shook her head, pressing her fingers to her eyes. "I'm just tired," she murmured. "You don't need to worry."

"Too late."

She looked up in faint surprise, eyes meeting his and both stilled. They were inches away from each other, far closer than was appropriate for even friends, let alone colleagues. Close enough that Eddie could see the flecks of colour in Rachel's irises, the multitude of shades that made up her unique hue. Could see the way her lips had parted slightly, the way she barely seemed to breathe as they both stood motionless.

For one, long moment neither dared to move.

Eddie's heart was threatening to burst out of his chest, he was certain that she must be able to hear it. It thundered in his ears, against his breastbone, his eyes darkening as he seemed unable to tear his gaze away from hers. She looked uncharacteristically uncertain, frozen in place as she swallowed thickly and Eddie had no doubt that she was feeling exactly the same as him, mouth dry and stomach somersaulting.

"Rachel..."

Her name, no matter how quietly he'd breathed it, seemed to break through the tension and Rachel hastily stepped back, inhaling sharply. He wasn't sure if he was relieved or disappointed- she was his boss, his relatively new boss and they were in the middle of yet another Waterloo Road disaster… and yet, he'd wanted nothing more than to lower his lips to hers. It would have been so easy, for both of them to tilt their heads and lean closer until-

Bad idea, bad idea, he scolded himself, and forced his brain to focus on other matters.

"We'll come up with something," he found himself saying, "something to stop Hordley releasing the article, or blackmailing you further."

Rachel had turned away when he'd been distracted, was determinedly facing the window. "Don't you think I've tried to come up with something?"

"Two heads are better than one. Maybe together we'll think of a plan."

"Eddie…"

"I'm not giving up." He reached out to touch her shoulder but hesitated, his hand hovering an inch away. It fell back to his side without making contact, Rachel entirely unaware. "And I'm not letting Hordley get away with it either." Overhead, the bell rang, and Eddie cursed when he remembered he had students who would be waiting for him. "I'll see you later?"

Rachel nodded silently, not turning around until she heard his footsteps moving across the room and looked just in time to see him disappearing out the door. Only then did she allow herself to blow out a shaky breath, lowering herself down to the sofa on legs that felt like jelly. What on Earth had that been? She'd almost kissed her deputy! What was she thinking?

She pressed her fingers to her lips, taking an unsteady breath in. God, she'd wanted him to kiss her. And what's more, she was certain he'd wanted to as well. What was wrong with her? She was his boss, it was completely unprofessional not to mention a ridiculous way to shatter the reputation she'd so carefully crafted over her entire career. But despite all of that, there was a part of her that was bitterly disappointed that neither had been brave enough to close that gap between them...

She shook her head slightly, frustrated with her line of thoughts. She couldn't fool herself- it had been a moment of weakness, a physical reaction on Eddie's part brought on by the heightened tension in the room and how they'd been standing. As soon as he realised who he'd been in front of, he'd be disgusted. There was no way he'd want her, not after everything he knew.

Best to forget it, she thought decisively, and resolutely ignored the small, wistful part of her that wished she didn't have to.

W.R.

Eddie wasn't sure how Rachel had done it, but somehow, she'd managed to completely vanish in a school of eagle-eyed teenagers. He'd gone to see her at breaktime, but she'd been missing from her office. She'd briefly been in the canteen, according to Tom, but left within minutes and Eddie had no idea where she'd gone. And unfortunately, the twenty minutes of morning break wasn't enough to find her.

He tried again at lunchtime, only to find himself in the same scenario. An empty office, a few sightings but no sign of the woman herself. Eddie's jaw was set, eyes darkened as he stalked through the corridors of the school. He wasn't fooled for a second- this wasn't a coincidence.

It was almost the end of lunch by the time he tracked her down, on the playground where he'd already checked twice. She was deep in conversation with one of the year seven's, and glanced up when she felt his eyes on her. He saw her tense, an inscrutable expression flashing across her face before she quickly turned away.

That was okay. Eddie could be patient. He crossed his arms, leant back against the wall and didn't take his gaze away from her. He could see her shoulders growing stiffer, saw the way her fingers twisted in her coat for a second before she forcibly relaxed.

Eddie saw the conversation winding down, readied himself to intercept Rachel before she could hurry away. They needed to hash this out, and hiding from him in the middle of the school day was plain ridiculous, not to mention-

"Eddie? Fight in the canteen!"

For the love of… he closed his eyes, obediently turned to follow Matt away and so didn't see Rachel's glance, her small sigh of relief when she spotted her deputy leaving. It was childish, she knew, avoiding him like this, but it was the only thing she could do. He was so set on dealing with Hordley; she knew better, knew that men like that couldn't be dissuaded. Not by tame Eddie Lawson, at least.

She froze mid-step, inhaling sharply as her mind whirred. It hadn't occurred to her before, probably wouldn't have if Hordley had been blackmailing her about anything else. She had spent two decades trying to shove Amanda into the recesses of her mind but now, she'd been dragged firmly into the present, and perhaps for once in her life Rachel could use that to her advantage.

She barely remembered the journey back to her office, found herself pacing and chewing her lip as she worried over the idea that had occurred to her. It might just be possible, she thought, but did she really want to go there? She picked up her phone, put it down again. It would be opening up a can of worms, thrusting her back into a role she'd sworn she had given up. But on the other hand, it might get rid of Stuart before Eddie did something foolish. She unlocked her phone, but paused. Did she really want to do this?

She locked it again and threw it down. Maybe Eddie was right, maybe she should just go to the police. She'd have to swallow the consequences but at least Bolton and every other child would be safe.

But they wouldn't. She slumped back against her chair with a frown. It would be her word against Stuart's, and she didn't have a bit of proof while he apparently had a whole folder. Her phone was back in her hand, but she merely stared at it indecisively. She tossed it into her bag, turned to her laptop. Grabbed it again, didn't get further than the phonebook.

Rachel groaned, and ran a hand through her hair. This was ridiculous. She was a grown woman. She needed to make a decision, and stick with it. Especially as she'd been sat here for well over half an hour and hadn't even managed to take her coat off.

She'd just hung it up when she heard footsteps storming in her direction, and knew even without seeing that it was going to be Eddie. He burst in, pinned her with a glare. "You've been avoiding me."

She ducked her head, turned towards her desk. "I don't know what you're talking about."

The bang of her office door had her jolting, barely over the shock when she found herself being forcibly spun to face Eddie, the movement sending her stumbling and grasping at anything to maintain her balance. "Hey!"

Eddie quickly steadied her, faint guilt rippling across his face. But he said nothing, instead forcing her to look at him. "Don't lie to me. You usually live in your office, but you've spent more time out of it today than in."

"Don't you have a class to teach?"

"Non-contact time. Don't change the subject."

She swallowed thickly. "Eddie, I asked you to leave it."

"And I told you that's not going to happen."

Rachel sighed, sagged against her desk. "I… have a plan," she admitted reluctantly. "But you have to stay out of it."

"Rachel-"

"I mean it!" Her tone was fierce and resolute, and he fell silent. "I don't want you involved. I need you not to be. Please, Eddie?"

There was something in her tone that had him pausing, prevented him from his instinctive refusal. A note, one he couldn't quite pinpoint but one that had him nodding slowly before he'd even consented to agreeing. "A week," he said slowly. "You have a week."

Her mouth was suddenly dry, stomach heaving. "A week," she agreed, and he cast one, measured look at her before he spun on his heel and was gone.

She closed her eyes, stumbled to the sofa and sank onto it. She didn't know when she'd picked up her mobile, but it was in her hand and she dialled the number from memory, the digits burnt into her brain even all these years later. The line rang twice, precisely, until it was picked up. There was silence on the other end.

"It's Amanda Fenshaw." The name felt wrong in her mouth, tasted of ash and stale tobacco. "I need to call in the favour you owe me."

Silence. She counted her breaths- one, two, three exhales. And then a voice. "I'll be there tonight."