Hey, so I managed to write another chapter. This one was a real pain to write - my creative flow really didn't want to come but with Christmas music fuelling me I got into the flow of things. It was a real relationship builder between Eddie and Nat which ig is pretty cute. also we've reached that point in the series so that is… fun

I hope you enjoy, and have a good, festive December whatever you celebrate/ do (((:

The next few weeks were far from plain sailing. Nat had to have more than a few tricky questions - with her mum, GP and then with her hip and trendy counsellor who rode a motorbike! But with every conversation, the ropes that tightened around her chest grew slightly looser. It was a tiresome endeavour - but the support her mum gave her made her stronger. Football became, once again, her place for enjoyment - gone were the days where it was her only outing for the 'bad emotions' as her counsellor called them. She said these 'bad emotions' were as important as the good ones as long as you didn't let them pile up like dirty clothes on your bedroom floor. She said a lot of other stuff too - about the importance of breathing, and communication, and healthy coping mechanisms. Nat wasn't sure how they'd said so much in 3 1-hour sessions. It certainly felt weird to be giving someone such an insight into the workings and thoughts that fuelled her mind. She'd told her mum at dinner one evening that it was almost like taking out your organs and showing them to people - but she'd been reprimanded for that, but it was true (as gross as it sounded)!

Recovery was never a linear healing process - there were bumps in the road and massive sinkholes too, as she was soon to find out…

It'd already been a bad, bad day, but the icing on the cake was watching her bag fly onto the school roof out of Earl Kelly's cruel, uncaring hands. It was tipping it down and she was only in her football kit as it was just after training, it was cold and now she had no change of clothes. Her mum was out on a course all day and wouldn't be back till late - it was the first time she'd be going away for the day again, after everything. She'd thought she could handle it, she really did. All day she'd been maintaining some level of calm by practicing her breathing and keeping the positive affirmations going, but the anxiety clawing at her gut wouldn't cease. Eddie had checked up on her a couple of times throughout the day and she'd pretty much snapped at him, wanting to prove that she could do this! That said, she hadn't taken up his offer to phone her mum at lunchtime because she really was coping okay. But the day had dissolved quickly into a spiral of bad things and slowly building panic. Now her keys were up on the roof so she couldn't go home and cry like she really really wanted to. Earl had done it before, she knew. He was a smart boy and learnt from his actions. The part of the roof was unreachable apart from a route promising certain death. It was late, training had run over and she'd stayed even later to practice, and now the school was all locked up and everyone had gone home. She didn't know what to do. The realisation that she was going to have to walk and find someone struck pretty quickly as the cold began to seep within her skin. The car park, as expected, was empty and dark descending quickly on the unlit school grounds. Another realisation then dawned on her that she'd never been to any of her friends' houses. They'd always hung out at the park or the shopping centre. She knew the rough area, but was hardly going to go knocking on doors. The only house she did know the way to, besides her own, was Eddie's. Considering her phone was on charge in her bedroom, in her nicely locked up house. That was what she was going to have to do. It wasn't a short walk, she knew that for sure. The rain began as soon as she rounded the corner from the school. Orange orbs of streetlights overhead flickered - casting long showers onto the pavement. She suddenly felt very alone and vulnerable. Streets look so much more daunting in the dark when you have no phone to call for help or nothing but your school football kit which small shorts suddenly felt very revealing.

Once the familiar street came into view and she suddenly realised tears were falling down her cheeks. Her shoes squelched with every step she took and her walk had slowed to a snail's pace, she was exhausted - physically and mentally.

Reaching the door had taken the last of her energy, she wasn't even sure how she managed to lift her arm to knock a few times, neither was she sure how Eddie managed to hear them, as they'd been barely loud enough for her to hear. The door opening was the remedy she needed for her anxieties to calm as she felt herself falling into the man's arms. She realised she felt safe here. Safe with him. She'd never had a father figure before, but she wondered if this is what it felt like as he rubbed a hand up and down her back as he moved them inside.

Eddie hadn't expected and visitors that evening as he was pulled from his pile of paperwork and glass of beer but he opened the door anyway, and boy was he glad he did. He'd never seen Nat look so dejected. He'd had a few worries that Rachel going away had been too soon, despite it being only for a day but the girl seemed to be coping well with it throughout the day, but now, as he draped a towel around her trembling shoulders and lead her towards his sofa, he thought perhaps he'd been wrong.

"What's wrong eh love? What are you doing here? Not that I mind you coming of course but your mum'll be home in a few hours, right?"

Nat was quiet leaning into Eddie's warmth, as he was yet to remove his arms from around her shoulders.

"Didn't know where else to go, I'm sorry."

"You're always welcome here, love, always. Surely it would have made more sense to go home or get changed before though - you're literally an ice cube!" He rubbed his palms up and down the towel over Nat's upper arm to try and get her warmed up a little. He couldn't imagine Rachel would be at all pleased if her daughter ended up with hypothermia when she was away for one day.

"I… I lost my stuff," the girl stuttered, "didn't have my phone or my keys. The school was all locked up, I… I just didn't have anywhere else to go. It's been a bad day, Eddie, a bad day."

Eddie startled slightly, it was the first time Nat had called him anything but 'Sir' but recovered quickly, he knew it was unwise to press on any more details and instead positioned himself so he was facing towards her,

"I'm sorry it's been a tough day, love, but I'm glad you felt you could come here and tell me. And I'll be here if you ever want to talk about it, but for now how about we get you home so you can shower and put some dry clothes on before your mum gets back. I would offer you some of mine, but I'm pretty sure they'd swamp you."

Nat chuckled slightly, "yeah, home sounds nice. You'll stay till mum gets back?"

"Of course. I might even cook my famous carbonara." Eddie replied with a sly smile.

It suddenly dawned on him that he was very much part of the ladies' two lives now - as more than a teacher or colleague - this was family. And he was more than happy with that.

It had been a very long and boring day and Rachel couldn't have been more glad to be pulling up outside her house. She'd already decided on the drive home that she wasn't going to cook tonight. She and Nat could get a takeaway and put their feet up whilst watching a film in their pjs. She hoped the girl had coped well with the day, she'd not heard anything to suggest otherwise so was optimistic - she'd always believed Nat would be okay. That said, as she exited her car and made her way to her front door she recognised a familiar car and wondered if perhaps she had in fact been wrong. She didn't know what she was expecting as she stepped into the hallway but hearing playful laughter and… wow that smelt good… was not it. Maybe they'd just decided to surprise her.

"Well something smells good," she announced as she stepped into her spacious kitchen, surveying the scene in front of her: both Eddie and Nat were at the kitchen counter with their backs to her, deep in conversation. Whilst Eddie seemed to be making a pasta sauce, Nat looked to be grating cheese - or was grating cheese, but was now just eating it. Her schoolbooks looked as they'd been previously spread across the dining table before hastily being pushed into a pile so they'd had the space to set the table. The thought of Nat sitting in the kitchen doing homework with Eddie made her swell - she made a mental reminder to thank him for that later.

"You're home!" Nat spun round and suddenly Rachel found herself enveloped in her daughter's arms. "How was the course? Eddie is cooking his famous carbonara."

"Well that's very nice of Eddie," As she spoke, Rachel made eye contact with the man and cocked an eyebrow to question his presence, who in return smiled a little and shook his head as if to say 'tell you later'. "Looks like you're eating it before its even finished though," she added, nodding at the cheese and Nat blushed.

"The course was boring as usual, how was your day sweetie?"

The silence that followed told Rachel everything she needed to know, she was about to change the subject when Eddie nudged the girl, saying:

"You had a good time at football right?"

Nat nodded, "Uh huh, it was really fun we-" Nat went into an animated description of all the drills they'd done and how she'd stayed late to add in extra practice, Rachel could barely keep up. Just as the girl seemed to be finishing her face suddenly dropped, as she, Rachel assumed, reminded herself of whatever else had gone on that day.

Nat looked up at Eddie, "Is the food ready yet, I'm starving!"

"Five minutes, Love," Eddie said with a chuckle

"Why don't you go put your books back in your room and then by the time you've done that, it'll probably be about ready, then I can kiss my boyfriend in privacy," Rachel suggested, smiling as Nat hurried off, red in the face but she was smirking too.

"So, boyfriend huh?" Eddie commented once they'd broken away from each other.

"I hardly think 'deputy' quite covers our relationship anymore," she replied with a laugh, "especially since you're pretty much parenting my daughter."

"I… I hope I haven't overstepped a mark."

"Of course not, silly. She looks happy around you, which is all that I could ever ask for. But I would quite like to know what went on today?"

"I haven't got the full story yet, but in short: came knocking on my door, sopping wet and obviously distressed. Something happened after football I think, she says she lost her stuff? But I brought her back here so she could put some dry stuff on and then the rest you can see, I hope that's okay." he gestured around him to the food and the discarded towel on the back of one of the chairs.

Rachel took Eddie's hand and planted a light kiss atop it, "Sounds like you dealt with it all well, thank you. I guess I'd better go speak to her."

Eddie tightened his grip on her hand, "No to thank me Rach, she's a great kid. But how about we eat first, then talk. We've all had a long day by the sounds of things, and you must be hungry, not to mention thirsty. Glass of red?"

Rachel smiled, since when did he know her so well, "Please, only a small one though."

Dinner was pleasant, Nat wasn't sure when she felt so comfortable bantering with her mum's boyfriend/ her deputy head - it was a complicated situation but she was fully fine with it. Once all their plates had been emptied, and she'd had seconds, they put all their dishes in the dishwasher, and her mum led her to the sofa. Eddie looked as though her was about to excuse himself but Rachel motioned for him to join them.

"So, Sweetheart, how did you find today?"

Nat sat, thinking for a moment, she'd known this question would come at some point but that didn't mean she wanted to answer it.

"I… It… Yeah, I was okay. I mean, I couldn't… I wasn't fully calm but I practiced the breathing technique stuff and it was manageable. It wasn't until Earl… after football that it all went wrong."

Her mum placed a hand on her knee, "I'm glad you managed okay sweetie."

"What happened with Earl?" Eddie added, a hint of protectiveness shining in his voice.

Nat didn't speak, instead opting to cover her face with her hands and then shook her head. Her mum's hand moved from her leg, instead rubbing up and down her back.

"We need to know sweetie, does this have something to do with you losing your stuff?"

She nodded, "you… you can't say anything to him. He'll know I've snitched, it'll just make things worse."

Her mum and Eddie shared a look for a moment, before Eddie spoke calmly:

"Earl's a smart boy, he must have known your mum would find out Love. How about you tell us what happened and then we'll go from there."

"He threw my bag on the roof, it had my uniform in it, and keys, and well everything - besides my phone luckily. It was the high up bit that you can't climb up to, and the school was all locked up. And it'd been a long day. He… he said some stuff too.." she suddenly realised tears were brimming at the corners of her eyes.

"It was just words I know, but… but he's…" She just couldn't find the words and suddenly found herself in her mum's arms, melting into the embrace.

Nat sat, enjoying her mum's embrace for a long while, before eventually Rachel spoke again: "You're still shivering Love, you can't still be cold?"

"Not really, I don't know," She replied hesitantly, sniffing to rid herself of a forming runny nose.

Rachel hummed and brushed her fingertips gently across her daughter's forehead, "well hopefully you're not getting ill. Maybe you should head to bed soon, it is getting late," she added as Nat yawned and leant into her side, "But don't worry about Earl okay sweetheart, we'll get it sorted and we'll get your stuff back."

Nat nodded and gave a little smile, "you always sort things out," she mumbled sleepily, "think I will go to bed now though."

The next morning Nat woke up aching, with a pounding head, there was no denying it, she was sick. As she grew less sleepy she remembered all that had gone on the previous day, whilst at first she felt anger at regret, the memories were soon replaced with warmth and love. She rolled out of bed and wandered down the stairs to where she could hear her mum and Eddie talking quietly in the kitchen, she didn't bother to get dressed, hoping that they'd let her take a day off school because although she didn't feel all that awful - there was a large part of her that couldn't bare to see Earl again. There was something about him, which she couldn't quite put her finger on, that told her he was bad news, bad bad news.

"I think you were right, Rach," Eddie said with a small chuckle as she appeared in the doorway, "Nat's journey in the rain has caught her a cold."

"Aww Sweetheart," Rachel ran her hand through Nat's slightly sweaty hair, "I did think you were looking a little pale yesterday. You can stay home today if you'd like, Melissa doesn't have to be in until the afternoon so she can pop in this morning."

"It'll give us a chance to sort out the Earl situation too, I think I rather you weren't there anyway, in case he decides he needs an outing for his anger."

Rachel slapped his arm lightly to chide him, before pulling out her phone to call her sister.

Nat ended up camped out on the sofa with a pile of blankets and steaming hot tea whilst her aunt blabbered on about men and other such boring stuff. She drifted in and out of sleep for the remainder of the morning. She realised she remembered her aunt doing this before when she was little. At lunch, she was roused by Melissa dumping a bowl of soup infront of her, commanding her to eat before leaving for work but not before assuring her that Rachel or Eddie would be back after school had finished for the day so she wouldn't be alone for long.

"And if it gets too much you can always give me a ring. The perks of teaching adults." She added kindly but Nat blushed nonetheless, it felt weird for her to know about her anxiety tendencies.

The door slammed and Nat realised she wasn't really hungry. But she began to eat extremely slowly anyway, knowing that if her mum came home, and she still had a full bowl, she wouldn't be happy.

Something pulled her from her nap and she groaned loudly. She glanced at the clock and assumed based on the time that it was someone coming in, but when she blinked her eyes opened properly and sat up, she realised the house was still empty. Her phone went off and she realised that that was what had woken her up. She had a missed call from her aunt and then, surprisingly, a text from Philip telling her that they were driving to pick her up. She phoned him straight away, panic rising in her throat - no breathing technique was going to stop her spiral as she found herself fearing the worst.

"Hey Nat," Philips' voice rang through her phone. They'd been texting on and off since he'd joined the school and they had lunch together occasionally too. "We're about 5 minutes away, how are you feeling?

"Rachel wanted you to come back to ours for the evening - it's been one of those days of endless drama so she's got loads of work to do, I hope that's okay?" Melissa assured, knowing Nat's tendencies to panic.

Nat nodded, before realising that they couldn't see and instead croaked out a yes. She knew she had to occupy her mind and so forced herself to her feet and took her dirty dishes to the kitchen. It took a lot longer than it usually would and she groaned at the thought of going upstairs to the toilet but the tiredness overtook the anxiety.

Philip came to the door, and she immediately asked him what was going on. He just shook his head saying he didn't know.

"Aunt Rach just said that they were going to be busy all evening and she didn't want you alone. We had an inspection today, it's probably linked to that."

Nat nodded understandingly, she knew what chaos inspections could cause - if years of having a headteacher for a mother had taught her anything, that would be it.

It wasn't her mum that picked her up from her aunt's house that evening but Eddie.

He patted her on the shoulder gently to rouse her from her doze on the sofa.

"Go and wait in the car sweetheart, I need to talk to Melissa quickly." One look at his face told her that something was very, very wrong.

She wanted to speak up and ask what was going on, but something deep inside her told her it wasn't a good time so instead she forced herself to her feet, ignoring how much it made her head spin and trudged out the front door - falling onto the back seats and laying down as to get rid of the pressure in her skull.

After what seemed like forever, Eddie got into the driver's seat. Nat eased herself into a sitting position despite the ache it caused in her head. Through the rear view mirror the man looked exhausted.

"Your mum wanted to tell you herself but she is a little preoccupied with Steph love so she wanted me to tell you (something about not having any secrets) - but you look awful, so if you're not up to it, it can keep."

Nat almost laughed, "Of course I want to know - the suspense is literally making me feel worse."

He turned in his seat to properly face the girl and Nat could see the pain shining behind his eyes as well as the exhaustion.

"It's Maxine…"