There were times when Rachel seriously wondered what went on in the brains of teenagers. Why, for example, did usually sensible students lose their mind the second their hormones kicked in? Or, why did they get together and come up with convoluted ideas they somehow thought were perfectly sensible?

She glared at the group in front of her, all of whom shuffled their feet and avoided her gaze. "Well?" she questioned. "Who wants to start talking?"

Resounding silence.

She sighed, crossed her arms. "All of you, afterschool detention this week and cooler for the rest of today."

That got their attention. "All week? But-"

"Do you really want to increase it?"

The girl who'd spoken shrank back. "No miss."

"Then all of you, march."

She had no doubt that the mutterings were less than complimentary towards her, but she couldn't bring herself to care at that exact moment. Movement in the doorway had her looking up- Eddie was leant against the doorframe, grinning at her. "The wanderers have returned, then?"

"The boiler room. Of all the uncomfortable, unhygienic places…" She shook her head slightly. "And during school hours!"

He chuckled, coming into the room properly. "What, you never bunked off a lesson I suppose?"

"Not for that!"

She sounded so indignant that he couldn't help but laugh. The one good thing about that little group, he thought, was that they'd successfully distracted Rachel. She'd been horrendously tense all day, jumping at every noise and if he'd noticed it in the small time he'd spent with her, he dreaded to think how bad it was the rest of the time. He tilted his head at her, leant against the back of the chair. "You want to talk about it?"

"What?"

"Whatever's got you so antsy."

Rachel stilled, motionless for a long second until her eyes flicked up to meet his. "I don't know what you mean."

Eddie groaned. "Rachel. It's me. I know something's the matter."

For a moment, she actually considered it. She could tell him that she was on tenterhooks, waiting to hear what had happened to Stuart. Or even worse, the knowledge that something was imminently going to happen, and she was the cause. She could tell Eddie what she'd done and why but at the end of the day… Rachel swallowed hard, and managed to give him a smile she was almost certain hadn't reached her eyes. "I'm fine."

"Your words say one thing, their tone and your body language say something else."

"Eddie."

He could hear the growing irritation in her tone, and set his jaw. "Damnit, Rachel."

"What?"

"You're so infuriatingly stubborn!" he exploded. "You're suffering but you won't let anyone in!"

She bit her lip. "I feel like we've had this argument before."

He didn't look amused. "Which only goes to prove my point."

"Sorry." She bit her lip as she flicked her gaze up towards him, saw the hard lines of his expression disappear.

"Rach, talk to me," he encouraged softly, "let me in."

The words were coming out before she'd even decided to open her mouth. "I just… I'm worried. About this place, the kids, the building work, Stuart…" Her eyes widened. She hadn't intended to say that, shut her mouth with a click before anything else could slip out. Eddie didn't seem to notice.

"It'll all be over soon," he soothed. "This will seem like a bad dream."

She choked out a laugh. "Eddie, it's my reality."

"You said Hordley was going to be dealt with, right? It won't be long, and then this will all be over. He'll be gone, someone else will take over the contract. No more blackmail, no more bouncing checks. And no more stress."

Her smile was small and weak, but it was there. "I hope you're right."

"Of course I am." He grinned crookedly at her, hoping to lighten her mood and to some extent it worked, judging by the faint amusement on her face. As she looked at him, it died quickly however and he felt a flicker of worry. But before he could question her, she began to speak.

"Eddie… thank you."

His brow furrowed. "For what?"

She hesitated. How could she put everything she wanted to say into words. "Just… for being my friend."

It was said somewhat timidly, but Eddie understood. She knew he had, from the look in his eyes and the way his whole demeanour lit up, even as he tried to play it cool. "You're welcome."

Her cheeks were hot, and she quickly busied herself with tidying her paperwork, tucking one pile into her inbox while the other was delivered to the filing cabinet.

"So," he said casually, mischief sparking through him, "if you never bunked off to hook up with someone… what did you bunk of for?"

Over her shoulder, she shot him an incredulous look. "Really?"

He shrugged, grinning. "Enquiring minds want to know."

She huffed. "Well, you'll be disappointed- there was nothing sordid or exciting. A few times to run home and check on my mum, once to find Melissa when she'd run off without telling anyone."

"You were a goody-two shoes in school, weren't you?"

"And what were you?" she challenged, coming to lean on the desk in front of him. "Despite the maths, I can't quite see you as a nerd."

He shrugged sheepishly. "Football player."

"Ouch. Sporty, even worse."

"We weren't that bad!"

She hummed. "Doesn't matter which school you go to, there's always that teacher that favours the sporty kids." Eddie was about to argue, then faltered, remembering how much he'd gotten out of because of his place on the school team. Rachel saw it, and laughed. "Told you!"

"And you were a prefect, or head girl weren't you?"

Her smile faded. "No. I wasn't actually that good of a student. Academically successful, but in every other way… well, I had too much going on to care about a vocab test that didn't count for anything or joining a club just to satisfy my head of year."

Did she even realise she was being more open with him than she'd ever been before? Eddie longed to question her further, didn't dare in case she shut off again. So instead, he stayed quiet, until Rachel blinked and came out of her reverie. "Still, better than a member of the football team," she quipped, and he feigned outrage.

"I'll have you know, Miss Mason, that I was quite good!"

"Really?"

"Scored a hattrick in my first away game. Even the year thirteens knew who I was."

"Oh, quite the accolade."

They were both grinning, the tension in the room lifted as they teased each other. Eddie struck a pose, put on an exaggerated expression. "I was just that great."

Rachel broke into laughter. An open, light-hearted sound that had Eddie's breath catching, arms falling back to his sides. He liked seeing her smile, liked seeing her when she wasn't so closed off and now, her head thrown back and more carefree than he'd ever seen her, he couldn't take his eyes off of her.

But she caught him. He'd been watching too long and now she was looking at him oddly. "What?"

He shook his head, pushing to his feet so that she was no longer taller than him, hands shoving into his pockets. "Nothing. Sorry."

"Eddie, what?" she insisted, still laughing slightly as she darted out to catch hold of his wrist, stop him from leaving. He shrugged, looking awkward.

"I was just thinking…"

"About?"

She was certainly persistent, he thought with a sigh. "You," he said bluntly, and saw her eyes widen. In for a penny, a voice in his head said- it sounded suspiciously like his father. "It suits you, being like this. More relaxed, less uptight."

"I… don't know what to say to that."

He shrugged. "You wanted to know."

She tilted her head at him. "I'll go with thank you," she said softly. Eddie wasn't sure when they'd drifted so close to each other, but here they were, and it would have been so easy for him to reach out to touch her. Something she'd noticed as well, judging by the way her breath suddenly caught in her throat. Rachel's eyes flitted between meeting his and down to his lips, but she didn't back away and it was so simple for him to stretch out his hand, gently brushing her hair away from her face.

That was it. Until now, they could both pretend. Pretend this was professional, or nothing more than a friendship. Pretend that neither felt what they did, that the other didn't feel the same but that movement, that single movement that leapt across the boundary between what they were and… more. That movement shattered all pretence.

Eddie held his breath, could only wait and hope that Rachel didn't spook as they looked at each other. He searched her expression for any sign of doubt, the slightest hint that she didn't want this.

He found the complete opposite.

He wasn't sure who had moved- maybe both of them. But suddenly they weren't looking any longer. The kiss wasn't fierce, or hard, but soft and blissfully slow. Eddie's hand slid around Rachel's waist without conscious thought; she didn't have her jacket on, and the heat from his touch was like a burn. She was painstakingly aware of it as she opened eyes she didn't even remember closing.

They stared at each other for a long moment. Rachel wasn't sure what he saw in hers but in his there was nothing but desire and awe, and she didn't even allow herself to stop and think as she tipped her head up and captured his lips once again.

This time, there was no tentativeness. Neither questioning their actions, doubting themselves. There was just them, pressing even closer together as Rachel's arms wrapped around Eddie's neck, not minding a bit as his own hold on her tightened until they were as close as it was physically possible to be. She could smell the remnants his aftershave, felt the way his movements became more and more confident as the seconds passed.

It was only when oxygen became an issue that they finally parted, both breathless and wide eyed. Silence settled over the room, almost tangible between them. Rachel bit her lip, fingers touched to her mouth as Eddie swallowed hard. He wanted to say wow, but even if he'd managed to get his tongue working he wasn't sure it would be appreciated. Rachel looked almost frightened, tense as she stepped backwards and Eddie let her go, hands falling to his sides.

"What was that?" Rachel's voice was barely over a whisper.

"I don't know. But I can't say I'm unhappy about it."

She took another step backwards, hand trembling slightly. "Eddie, be sensible."

"What's not sensible about it?"

He stayed deliberately calm, and Rachel stared at him incredulously. "None of it! This... you..."

"Rach." He held out his hands, but she practically scrambled backwards and he froze. "Rachel," he began again, voice low, "it's okay."

"No! No, it's not!"

"What are you panicking about?" he questioned. "Because you're my boss? There are no rules against it, and we'd be professional."

She gaped at him. "Eddie..."

He was baffled. "What? I don't understand what the problem is."

Rachel's jaw dropped. She was stunned to see the genuine confusion in his eyes- he wasn't playing, wasn't pretending. He had absolutely no idea what she meant. "You... really don't, do you?"

"No!"

"Eddie… I was a prostitute, and-,"

"You think I care about that?" he interrupted, a little hurt and she shook her head at him.

"How can you not?"

He covered the space between them in two large strides, not giving her time to retreat before he took her hand in his. "Your past is just your past, Rachel." His voice was quiet, gaze boring into hers. "It's a part of you, and nothing more. Of course it doesn't affect anything now."

Her eyes were suspiciously wet, but when she spoke her voice didn't waver. "You can't mean that."

"Why not?" His fingers brushed against her cheek, and she wanted them to stay there more than she'd ever wanted anything. "Rachel, you and I… there's been something for a while. Before any of this- your past, my past, it's all incidental. Of course it doesn't matter to me."

One beat passed, then two. Three, Four, Five. And then her face crumpled. "Eddie, we can't. I'm your boss, if anyone found out…"

"We'll be discreet."

"We both know there's not much that stays secret in this place." She shook her head. "Please… please just… be my friend. You said that's what we were. Can we just…"

"Okay." He couldn't bear the distress in her voice, the wetness in her eyes and agreed before it could grow, his hand engulfing hers. "Okay. If that's what you want."

She nodded, expression still pained and dismayed but he let her hand drop. Every step away from her sounded thunderous even against the carpet, hands numb as he clasped the door handle and left the office. He got all the way into the corridor before allowing himself to sag, leant heavily against the railings as his insides lurched and twisted.

Back in Rachel's office, she was collapsed onto the sofa in exactly the same way.