There were some days at Waterloo Road where Eddie genuinely wondered how every child in the school managed to get to the right place at vaguely the right time. Today was one of those days. There was a fight between two year twelves, one of the humanities teacher's hadn't shown up and his class had run riot, some of the ceiling tiles had fallen down in the science corridor and now the whole area was out of action until someone managed to fix them and stop the rest coming down too. The rough weather outside seemed to correspond to the kids running wild, and even the usually loud noise level in the school seemed to have increased, the dark clouds and bright classroom lights apparently triggering something in all of them.

Eddie was done with the day already, and it wasn't even lunchtime yet. Which was why, when Paul dashed towards him down the corridor, his stomach sank through the floor. "Sir! You have to come, the whole corridor is flooded!"

What.

Sure enough, two minutes later Eddie was staring in frustration at a corridor that was rapidly filling with water. Water that was coming, he noticed, from the boy's toilets. And water that must have been there for some time to have gotten to the depth it currently was. "Who did this?" he demanded, but received only giggles and smirks from the group on the other side of the lake.

"What on earth…?"

Rachel's voice sounded from behind him and when he turned to face her, her jaw had dropped open, her eyes fixed on the mess that was rapidly spreading. "Paul's gone to get the site manager," he told her, but she didn't even look at him, running a hand through her hair with a look of frustration.

"Just what we needed."

Her voice was irritated and tired, and he found himself studying her without meaning to. She had more makeup on than usual, but it wasn't quite enough to cover the exhaustion that lined her expression. The slightly pinched look around her eyes, the way her hair had been left unstraightened and merely scooped into a ponytail and most of all, the way she was currently glaring angrily at him. "What?"

"Nothing." He hastily looked away, just in time to see Bolton attempt to shove a year ten into the water. "Smilie!"

W.R.

When the final bell had rung, Rachel was obscenely grateful. The usual sounds of the mass exodus of students were muffled by the pounding rain and wind, and she suspected there would be a number of parents in cars waiting beyond the gates. She couldn't deny that it was kind of calming, however, listening to the rain hit the windows. Calming enough that she convinced herself that she could manage at least half an hour of the paperwork she'd neglected throughout the day.

All of five minutes had passed before there was a cursory knock on her office door before it was flung open, and she didn't even have to look up to know who it was. "Unless it's life or death, I don't want to know."

Eddie snorted, dropped into the chair in front of her desk. "As far as I know, avoiding anyone pegging it is just about the only thing that's gone right today."

She glanced up at him, vaguely amused but refusing to show it. "Did you want something?"

Eddie was silent for a long few beats, long enough that she looked up from her paperwork in vague confusion. He was tapping his fingers on his thigh, looking indecisive before he chose to speak. "I gave you a week…"

Rachel stiffened. "I'm aware," she said coolly, and Eddie winced. It was almost visible, the way she shut off towards him, as if she'd drawn a mask over her expression in order to shut him out. He didn't like it, he decided, much preferred the Rachel he'd only caught glimpses of underneath all the layers. That Rachel's smiles reached her eyes, and her laugh was genuine instead of carefully controlled.

"I want to help you, Rachel," he said quietly.

"I told you-,"

"I know what you told me," he interrupted irritably. "You have a plan, you'll sort it. What plan? Because your last one involved rolling over for Hordley, so you'll forgive me if I'm dubious."

Instantly, he knew he shouldn't have said that. Fury flashed across her face, her entire demeanour darkening. "I don't answer to you," she hissed. "Now get out of my office."

"Or what? You don't have a leg to stand on here, Rachel, you're out of options!"

Rachel let out a bitter laugh. "Don't you think I know that?"

He threw his hands up in the air. "Then why are you so resistant to accepting help?"

"I don't need help," she snapped, "especially not yours!"

"Well, I don't see anyone else lining up to offer!"

Somewhere in the course of the argument, they'd both risen to their feet, leaning over the desk as they snarled at each other. Rachel laughed now, mocking and angry. "That's the answer, is it? You're doing this out of pity, or some sense of self-importance?"

"For God's sake, Rachel!" He slammed his hands down, the sound barely registering against the worsening weather outside. "I'm doing this because I want to help you! Though for the life of me, I can't figure out why right now!"

"Well, neither can I! I never asked for you to get involved in any of this!"

"Because you were managing so well on your own!"

"Don't you dare!" Without thinking, in her haze of anger she picked up the first thing she could get her hands on, and flung it at him.

The shock of it had both of them gaping at each other in silence, Eddie's face a picture of incredulity. "Did you just throw a pen at me?"

It wasn't intentional, nor particularly desired but without her permission, her lips twitched. She pressed them together, fighting it, but made the mistake of meeting his gaze and before she knew it a giggle had escaped her, hand clapping to her lips as if she could stop the sounds escaping. By that time, Eddie had begun to crack a smile as well, and she couldn't hold back the rest of her laughter at the knowledge he was amused as well, stepping backwards away from him with her hand still over her mouth, composure lost. Eddie wasn't faring much better, his chuckles no more restrained and each time he thought he might have sobered himself, he looked at her and lost it again.

He liked seeing Rachel like this. Free in her laughter, no longer the formidable Miss Mason but someone else, someone lighter. Just as she was calming down, he bent, scooped up the pen to deposit it on her desk before looking at her… and they were both gone again.

It was several minutes before either composed themselves. "I'm sorry," Rachel managed eventually, coming around the desk to drop onto the sofa, unspoken invitation clear. He joined her willingly, shook his head.

"I'm sorry too. I didn't come up here to argue with you. Again."

She let out a small huff of laughter. "We seem to spend a lot of time arguing."

He didn't even think before he reached out, enfolded her hand in hers. Rachel's breath caught, her eyes widening, gaze sliding down to where they touched before looking back up at Eddie, who barely seemed to notice her reaction. "I'm sure there's a saying about people who argue frequently," he mused, wracking his brains. "Can't remember it though."

Rachel swallowed down the dryness in her throat, and had her own offering. "That they'll eventually end up killing each other?"

"Or throwing pens at each other."

She winced. "Sorry."

"I'm joking." He squeezed her hand gently, gave her a lopsided grin. "Alison threw a bookend at me once- least there was less chance of a concussion with this one."

She smiled tentatively, tilting her head at him. "You're a peculiar man, Eddie Lawson."

He continued to grin, shrugged. "Maybe."

"There's no maybe about it," she muttered, but her tone was good-natured and he let it slide away.

"Can I ask you something? Without you getting angry?"

It was like a switch was flicked. Instantly, she stiffened, wariness not-so-subtly hidden in her gaze, but she gave him a tense nod, allowing it. Which was half the battle, he thought, resisting the urge to blow out a breath.

"Why are you so against allowing me to help you?"

"I don't need-"

"Yes, you do," he interrupted. "You do need help, Rachel, everyone does. Even if it's just someone to stand beside you saying you're not in this alone. Why won't you accept that."

She wrenched her hand away from his, rising to her feet and wrapping her arms around herself. Eddie had to fight the urge to go to her- she probably wouldn't appreciate his thinking how small and vulnerable she looked, curled around herself and illuminated against the window. She didn't turn to him, but he saw her take a breath in preparation to speak. "My entire life, Eddie, no one has ever been on my side. Not ever. Not a parent, not a teacher, no one. And anyone who has ever offered has always wanted something in return. I fight my own battles because I've never had a choice, and neither you nor Stuart bloody Hordley is going to change that."

She spun with her final words, eyes flashing. Now, Eddie stood, coming closer so that they weren't talking across the room. "It isn't a weakness to accept help," he said gently, and she didn't quite manage to hide her flinch. "You've had some crappy people in your life. I don't want to help you because I have some ulterior motive or because I want something from you, I want to help you because you're my friend, and I hate knowing that you've been dealing with this alone for however many weeks."

But Rachel was shaking her head, taking a step back from him. "I'm not an idiot. I know what you think of me."

"And what's that?"

"You said yourself, you don't know me! You know I'm lying because my lips are moving, remember?"

Eddie grimaced. "Rach-,"

"You think I don't know that you meant every word you've said to me over the past few days? You think I don't realise that whatever I achieve, those two years of my life as a teenager will always be what defines me? I know what I am and I know how you see me and I'm not so stupid as to think it'd ever be possible-"

"Rachel!" He yelled it out, stunning her into silence. Her eyes were wet, but he had no doubt that once she got over the shock, she'd be furious. "None of that is true," he told her quickly, hoping to head off her anger. "Not even a little bit."

She looked entirely disbelieving. "That's not what you said before."

"I was angry, and… well, a bit of a prick," he admitted sheepishly. Her entire countenance softened, so minutely that he wouldn't have even seen it if he hadn't been watching so carefully. But he did, and it spurned him on. "I think I do know you, Rachel. I know how much you care about the kids, and this school. I've seen how hard you fight for them. Your past doesn't define your present."

She pressed her lips together, blinked hard. "Eddie... that is the complete opposite of your views before."

He sighed. "I know. I am sorry, I was angry. I didn't mean any of those things like that. Your past… it affects the present- it is affecting the present- but it doesn't define who you are. I know that."

"Nobody changes their mind that quickly."

He gave her an exasperated look. "You're incredibly infuriating." She didn't smile, and he sighed. "Rachel…"

"I'm going home."

He frowned at the abrupt declaration, watching as she turned away from him and began to gather up her things. "We're not done here."

"Eddie, please. I'm tired, and I don't want to argue with you anymore."

There was something so defeated in her tone, and he just couldn't do it. He couldn't let her go home alone, where he knew she would take his words and twist them in her mind until she'd convinced herself they had some ulterior meaning. "Let me take you for a drink?" he offered quickly. "My shout. And no more talking if you don't want to."

She hesitated. She wanted nothing more than a glass of wine- or something stronger- but she cast a dubious look out of the window, where the rain had somehow gotten heavier, lashing against the class. "We might need a canoe. Or a submarine."

He chuckled. "I'll do the paddling."

He was so earnest and hopeful, she couldn't find it in her to say no. "Okay."

Eddie beamed at her. She moved past him, intending to put her coat on but misjudged, stumbled, and was kept upright only by Eddie deftly catching hold of her. "Careful…"

She was pressed against him, hand clutching at his arm. "Sorry."

"No need." His voice was rough, lower than it had been before and he could only hope she hadn't noticed. He was acutely aware of every point that she was touching him, her hand still clasped in his, bodies pressed together. He didn't dare move, was barely daring to breathe.

There was a loud crack from outside, and they both jolted. Rachel hastily stepped backwards, out of his grip, and he had to fight to keep the disappointment flooding him from his expression. "I hope that wasn't something expensive," she commented, glancing towards the window.

"Sounds like the wind might have done some damage."

She hummed an agreement, not looking at him. "If we want to make it to the pub, we should probably leave before it gets too much worse."

Avoidance it was then, thought Eddie in resignation. But he wouldn't allow it for long.