Thank you so so much to everyone who has been reading and reviewing this! Happy new year x

The pub was quiet, most kept home by the weather and so they had their pick of tables, though they ended up veering towards those usually occupied by school staff simply by default. There was none of the usual covering noise but neither was there the usual wait for drinks, which Eddie wasn't entirely displeased about. He placed Rachel's in front of her, but other than a murmured thanks she was quiet as they drank, picking listlessly at the coaster in front of her.

Eddie eyed her worriedly, opening his mouth to say something at least half a dozen times but always thought better of it, and instead took a drink of his beer, watching her out of the corner of his eye.

"So what happens now?"

Eddie jumped when Rachel spoke without warning, her voice quiet and tired. He swallowed thickly, resolving to tread delicately. "I don't know," he admitted. "But we can't keep arguing. You have to let me in, Rachel."

"Why do I?" Her head snapped up to look at him, jaw tightening. "Because you demand it?"

"Because I'm your friend!" Eddie threw the gauntlet down, dared her to dispute it. She visibly faltered, practically shrinking in on herself. "And despite what you think, Rachel, you can't do everything alone."

But she was shaking her head. "You barely know me."

"Maybe. But I think I know you enough."

Her gaze moved to meet his, her surprise visible for a second before her teeth began worrying her lip and she looked away again, cheeks pinking. He longed to reach out, clasp her hand in his as he'd done before but it was probably inappropriate, not to mention unwelcome so instead he tightened his grip on his glass, shifted again in his seat. "I meant what I said before," he told her quietly. "I don't see your past when I look at you."

She swallowed thickly, risked a glance at him. She liked to think she could read people fairly well, was almost positive Eddie was being earnest. But that was that flicker of doubt in the back of her mind, that sliver of fear that she was too close to this to see his true colours and that this was all going to come crashing down around her. "You threatened to go to the LEA."

Eddie blinked at the non-sequitur, then grimaced. "I know. I… hadn't really thought it through," he admitted, rock settled into his stomach. "What it would mean for you. I didn't… I mean… I… I'm sorry, Rachel."

Rachel couldn't help the tiny smile that formed as he stumbled over his words, before sagging slightly in his seat. He was sweet, she thought, before blinking in surprise. Where had that come from? She reached for her wine, took a healthy gulp. "If it gets out, it's not just me that suffers," she said quietly, not looking at him. "The school, the kids… they'd all take a hit. I'm not entirely self-absorbed."

"I know that."

"Do you?" She raised an eyebrow, the starting buzz of the alcohol giving her the courage to challenge him more than she usually would have. Eddie shifted in his seat, frowning slightly.

"Of course I do. There's a resignation letter in my bag that I haven't managed to hand in yet, because of you."

His point missed the mark entirely. Her lips parted in surprise, and she almost visibly reared back. "You're going to resign?"

"No," he said hastily. "I was thinking about it."

She put her glass down, her voice rising in agitation. "You promised me a week! You weren't even going to give me that?"

She made to stand up, but quick as a flash Eddie's hand shot out, landed on her wrist to stop her moving anywhere. "Rachel, no! I've had the letter for days now, I just haven't been able to bring myself to give it you."

She was stiff and tense, but she was listening. "Why not?"

"Because I don't want to leave," he answered honestly, and saw her soften. "I want to sort this."

Rachel pressed her lips together, looked away from him. "I have sorted it," she said in a low voice. "Stuart won't be a problem any longer. The only issue that remains is if you can bring yourself to work with me."

Eddie disregarded her last comment, eyes narrowing. "How?"

"Excuse me?"

"How did you sort it?"

She shot him a cold look. "You don't need to know. You asked me to make sure Hordley wasn't going to be a problem in the future, he won't be. End of discussion."

Eddie's stomach had fallen through the floor. Around them, the rest of the world seemed to have fallen away, leaving them in a bubble and Eddie forgot his intentions of not causing an argument, forgot about convincing Rachel that she could trust him. "What did you do?"

Her voice was practically a hiss, icy and annoyed. "Leave it, Eddie!"

"Did you sleep with him?"

The world froze. For a long moment, neither moved, neither spoke. Eddie felt the floor fall from beneath him, his heart drop so far down he was pretty sure it had followed the ground. Rachel didn't cry, she didn't even shout. Instead, her lips twisted into a bitter smile. "Because that's all I am, isn't it?"

"Rachel…"

"Goodnight, Eddie." She rose from her seat, was walking away before he'd even processed what had happened. Once he had, he scrambled to his feet, cursing under his breath as he darted after her, out into the rain. It was the sort of downpour that soaked you through in seconds, so cold it took Eddie's breath away.

"Rachel!"

He wasn't even sure she could hear him over the weather. She hadn't gotten far though, and he raced across the car park to grab her, catching hold of her arm and spinning her around. She scowled at him, opening her mouth to speak but he hastened to get there before she could. "I didn't mean it like that!"

"Then how the hell did you mean it?"

They were having to shout over the wind and the rain, Rachel's hair plastered to her face, water droplets running down her throat and disappearing into her neckline. Eddie didn't dare let go of her arm, even if it did get him slapped soon. "Rach…"

"You can't even admit it to yourself!" she screamed at him, and the back spray splashed around them. "You don't see it! I cried in front of you, and suddenly I wasn't your boss or the ex-prostitute, I was a damsel in distress you had to go all caveman on. But the second you allow yourself to forget that, I'm back to being the prostitute!"

"That's not true!"

She shook her head, pulled her arm out of his grip. "Maybe you should hand that letter in, Eddie."

He felt like he'd been punched. He couldn't even manage to call after her, to stop her as she disappeared into the night, away from him.

W.R.

For perhaps the first time, Rachel was unbelievably relieved that the kids were misbehaving. She'd half been expecting an ambush by Eddie in her office that morning- instead, it was one by Mika and Brett, first with the lights and then with the trees. It meant that she could repeatedly send Eddie away from her, despite the looks he sent her way, managing each time to slip out of the confrontation he so desperately wanted. And he did want one. It was obvious in his expression, his body language, the way he hovered to try and get her alone. But so far, she'd avoided him, and she had every intention of continuing that.

Her mood wasn't improved when she picked up the phone, only to find a very annoyed Stuart Hordley on the other end. Instant nausea rose up. As repulsive as the man was, she'd condemned him to… something, and she disliked the idea immensely. She disliked talking to him even more. "I'm afraid any compensation claims will need to go to the LEA," she told him coolly, and was delighted when that was met with silence. "What? You don't want them prying into your affairs?"

"Just get it sorted, alright?"

She wasn't even surprised when the phone cut off. But the entire encounter told her one important thing- nothing had happened to him yet. She wasn't sure what to think of that.

Eddie wasn't oblivious to her attempts at keeping him away from her. Finally, however, with Mika out of her tree and everyone in more or less one piece, she had nothing to distract him with. Not that she would be pleased to see him, he thought grouchily, tapping his fingers on his desk. They seemed to have an unerring habit of annoying each other, and he wasn't sure how to fix it this time.

Until he froze, fingers suddenly motionless. He had one, slightly risky idea, but it might just work.

Rachel was signing paperwork as quickly as she could, hoping in vain that she could clear everything urgent before Eddie got it into his head to come and see her. She'd been expecting him as soon as the bell had gone, wasn't sure what to feel that he hadn't made an appearance. But it seemed she'd spoken- so to speak- too soon and it was the sound of footsteps storming into her office that had her glancing up, entirely unsurprised to see Eddie. She was more startled, however, when he unceremoniously tossed an envelope onto her desk. "What's this?"

He looked at her with a blank expression. "What you asked for."

For a long moment, she was baffled, until crashing realisation set in. There was only one thing it could be. She felt like she'd been punched, staring at the envelope without touching it, as if doing so would make it real. "I see."

She could feel Eddie's eyes on her as the seconds passed. "Is that all I get?" he questioned incredulously, when he could no longer bear the silence. "I see?"

"What do you want me to say?"

He stared at her for another few seconds, before scoffing. "Nothing at all."

All at once, she couldn't take his eyes on her anymore. She shoved backwards from her desk, walked across to her window and assumed that he'd left when there was no sound behind her, until all of a sudden, he spoke. "Rachel?"

"Just go."

"Damnit Rachel!" He strode forward, throwing caution to the wind to catch hold of her by the shoulders and forcibly spinning her around to face him. "Would you say something? Do something?"

"What do you want me to say?"

"Anything!" He gave her a shake to emphasise his point. "Do you really want me to resign?"

Her eyes flashed. "Seems to me you just did!"

Eddie ground his teeth together. "Don't get clever," he said lowly. "You tell me, right now. Look me in the eyes and tell me you want me to leave."

For one, awful moment, he thought she was going to say yes. The complete flurry of emotions in her expression, the way she was tense in his grip. But then... then she deflated slightly, expression stopping just short of crumbling. "No. Of course I don't."

Eddie couldn't deny the flood of relief that hit him. He thought it was probably visible, judging by the way her lips twisted slightly as she looked at him. "I don't think you're just your past, Rachel," he said softly for what seemed like the thousandth time and her chin lifted a little, eyes meeting his.

"What do you think?"

"I think you're extraordinary."

He could see the shock enter her gaze, mouth dropping open before her eyes slid away, her cheeks flushing pink. "Eddie, don't..."

"Don't what?" His mouth quirked. "Tell you the truth?"

She shook her head at him, cheeks uncomfortably hot. "You're insane. I am the furthest thing from extraordinary."

"I disagree," he said simply. He knew what she was going to say next before she'd even opened her mouth and pre-empted her. "And I know what I said before. But the thing about me, Miss Mason, is that I have a bit of a temper, but once I'm over it I'm actually quite logical."

She blinked. And then, to his joy, gave a quiet laugh. "Well, at least you're honest about it."

Hope sparked inside him. "I'm not going to pretend I like what's happened with Hordley," he said honestly, "but Rachel, that has nothing to do with what I think of you."

Somewhere along the way, his hands had slid down to rest on her upper arms instead of her shoulders, and now Eddie almost jumped when one of her hands landed on his wrist, her head tilting slightly as she looked at him. "Promise?"

There was something in her voice that told him it was more than a flippant tease. She looked almost afraid of his answer, gaze fixed on his as he lightly squeezed his hands, voice as soft as hers had been. "I promise."

Rachel swallowed thickly, trying to ignore that she was fighting to stop her hands from trembling. "I really don't want you to leave," she told him quietly, and he gave her that crooked grin of his that she was beginning to look forward to seeing.

"That's good, because I didn't really want to either."

She let out a huff, feigning annoyance. "Calling my bluff?"

"I was out of other ideas."

They both had faint smiles, eyes fixed on each other. And it was only then that Rachel realised what this would look like if anyone walked in right then, which was a distinct possibility since Eddie hadn't bothered to close the door when he'd entered. She wet her lips, suddenly very unsure of herself. Eddie noticed, and quickly let his hands fall away from her, stepping backwards. She wasn't sure whether to be relieved or disappointed, hiding her expression by ducking her head to tuck her hair behind her ear while Eddie shoved his hands in his pockets. "You do realise Hordley has to go?" he said quietly. "That's the only way we can work together."

She nodded, lips pressing together. "I know. I wasn't lying when I said I'd sorted it."

"How?"

The question slipped out before he could stop it and he froze, remembering what had happened the night before. Her expression contorted slightly. "Don't ask me," she almost begged, and Eddie had never hated an answer more.

He closed his eyes. "Swear this isn't going to harm you in any way?"

She made a movement that was almost a shrug. "Only in me feeling guilty."

He was studying her, and she felt like he could see every part of her for an uncomfortably long few beats, until eventually he nodded. "Then I won't ask."

She blew out a breath, feeling the sudden urge to sit down. Instead, she gave him a grateful look, and sent up a silent prayer that his promise would last.