The bell rang for lunchtime and Hollie glanced up from the notes she was making for her History essay. Seeing her movement, the teacher sitting at the front of the classroom raised her eyebrows and Hollie sighed, lowering her gaze once more. Resting her head on her hand, she tried to concentrate on what she was doing, rather than wondering whether her mother and Eve were together.

With a quiet creak, the Cooler door opened and she looked up once more. Nikki smiled weakly and beckoned her over. Throwing a questioning glance at the teacher at the desk, who simply nodded and left the room, Hollie threw her things into her bag and moved over to the door.

"I'm going to take Eve to the B&B she was staying in and collect her things. D'you want to come?"

"Do you want me to?"

"I'm not going to force you," Nikki said quietly, "but I'd feel better if you were with me."

Hollie nodded in agreement and they started walking slowly along the corridor. "So… you're shipping her off with her dad?"

"I thought you'd be happy."

"I don't…" The teenager sighed. "Look… we both know I have a lot of issues and we both know that they're not going to vanish in the near future. But… Eve's your kid. I don't know the whole story and I don't expect you to tell me if you don't want to, but if you want her to stick around… that's fine. And if you want some time to get to know her without me around then I'll ask Maggie if there's a room–"

"No!" Her mother answered before she'd even finished the sentence. "Hollie, I nearly lost you forever and I told you that I wasn't going to let you out of my sight again. Eve might be here and we might have had AJ too, but you're still my daughter and nothing is ever going to change that. We worked too hard to get to this point in our relationship to throw it away now."

"I don't want you to miss out on having a relationship with Eve because of me, though." Hollie told her softly. "If it was the other way around…"

"It's done, Hollie. Let's just go and get her stuff, OK." Nikki said shortly.

The teenager nodded. "Does she know you've called her dad?"

Nikki paused. "Not yet. Please don't mention it. I'll tell her…"

With another nod, Hollie agreed and they made their way further along the corridor to collect Eve from the classroom Nikki had left her in. She was quiet and barely even acknowledged Hollie's presence as they walked out of the building and got into Nikki's car. She gave the directions to the B&B, but didn't say much else until they were inside the clean, but soulless, bedroom.

As soon as they were inside and she was pushing her things haphazardly into her bags, Eve began to chatter excitedly. Hollie and Nikki stood in the room awkwardly, watching her pack her things evidently under the impression that they were going to take her to their house when she was done. Hollie wondered whether Nikki had even mentioned Tom or AJ or Josh to her. Then she found herself wondering whether Tom even knew what was going on.

"I'm gonna do Law at Uni, I think." Eve announced excitedly. "I kind of want to do English, too."

"Oh, that's my subject." Nikki replied, enthusiasm sparking in her eyes.

"I was considering English if I went to Uni." Hollie informed her with a smile. "But living with two English teachers kinda puts you off a bit."

"Two?" The other girl asked, narrowing her eyes slightly.

With a nod, Hollie glanced briefly at her mother, whose eyes had widened. "Yeah, my stepdad, Tom, is an English teacher at Waterloo Road too."

"You… you're married?"

Nikki shook her head. "No. We're engaged."

"Oh…"

With a glare at her older daughter, who shrugged innocently at her, Nikki turned the conversation back to Eve. "So, you like English? I can't imagine you got that from your dad."

"Dad thinks the Brontë sisters are a girl band."

Nikki chuckled. "You read a lot, then?"

"Write a bit, too. I used to write stories about you, when I was a kid." Eve admitted. Sensing the need to give them a moment, Hollie excused herself to use the bathroom and disappeared, closing the door behind her. "There was this one where your spirit had taken the form of this magical horse… it sounds really weird." There was a pause and Nikki tried desperately to think of something to say. She wished that Hollie would return from the bathroom and break the awkward tension between them. "I mainly write poems now, though. They're probably rubbish, but I... I wrote one for you, if…"

"Yeah, OK." Nikki agreed awkwardly, shrugging a little. She felt a pang inside her chest as Eve smiled brightly and took the sheet of paper she was offered. After a quick glance at it, she folded the paper and put it in her pocket. Having each of her two daughters write a poem for her in the space of a week made her feel a little flustered. Seeing the look on Eve's face, she smiled. "I'll read it later." As the teenager beamed broadly, Nikki glanced at the door. "Right, we should get going. Where's Hollie got–?"

The door opened and the older teenager appeared, almost on cue. She smiled and leant against the chest of drawers casually, pretending not to notice the atmosphere in the room. "We nearly done here?"

"I'll just go and get my stuff from the bathroom." Eve said, motioning towards the door before heading out.

As soon as she was gone, Hollie straightened and moved towards her mother. "You OK? You still want to do this?"

"Hollie."

"I just… I don't want you to do something you regret. She thinks she's coming to stay with us, doesn't she?"

Nikki frowned. "I'll tell her."

"Have you told Tom?"

"Hollie, stop it. Let me deal with this."

"But are you dealing with this, or are you just–?"

"Stop!" Nikki almost shouted, reaching out and grasping her daughter's biceps tightly. "Just stop it!" Seeing the expression on Hollie's face, she let go at once, raising a hand to her cheek. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I just don't know what to do for the best, OK? Sending her home with her dad is the right thing to do, but she's going to hate me."

"So explain." Hollie suggested gently.

"I can't, I don't know how."

Hollie was about to speak, when the door opened and Eve reappeared. She took one look at their proximity and the tenderness with which Nikki was regarding the teenager, one hand still on her face, before looking down and shoving her toiletries into her bag. They stepped apart quickly and turned to the younger girl with a smile.

"So, ready?" Nikki asked lightly, jangling her car keys in her hand. "I've got to get back to teach my next class."

Both girls nodded and Hollie helped Eve carry her things down to the car. After the younger girl witnessing the moment between them, Nikki was careful to avoid any display of any affection whatsoever to either of them, allowing the girls to put the bags in the boot and getting into the driver's seat. Hollie offered the front passenger seat to the younger girl, but Eve refused, climbing into the back instead.

As soon as they arrived back at Waterloo Road, Hollie excused herself for afternoon registration while Nikki showed Eve to a classroom where she could wait. The woman ran a hand through her hair nervously as she informed her that, as it was a double lesson, she wouldn't be able to come and see her until the end of the day. Eve nodded blankly and pulled a book out of her bag.

With a sigh, Nikki headed next door where the year 13 English class was already waiting. Hollie shot her a reassuring smile from her seat beside Kevin and the lesson got underway. Most people had heard about Eve by that point, although no one was quite sure how, which meant that all through the lesson Scout, Zoe, Connor, Imogen and Dynasty were sending the mother and daughter intrigued and concerned looks.

Kevin put his hand on Hollie's knee as they were supposed to be reading silently, trying to attract her attention to ask if she was OK, but the girl pushed him off. Hollie shook her head at her boyfriend, indicating that she didn't want to talk about it.

"Again and again, The Return of the Native questions the nature of relationships between its characters." Nikki told the class towards the end of the double lesson. The teenagers had all been more subdued than usual, mirroring their teacher's demeanour. "Are there any true love affairs here, or are they all just idealised fantasies? And does the novel even believe in the possibility of the success of these affairs?"

"Hardy's not saying love doesn't exist, though, is he?" Imogen asked. "He's just saying to be careful of romanticising it."

"Or is that exactly what he's saying?" Hollie argued. "What if he's speaking ambiguously and his intention is to hint at the fact that the notion of love is just in people's heads? It's all an illusion created to… I dunno, make people feel better about themselves and their lives?"

"He's saying it's a load of rubbish." Dynasty snapped bluntly.

"No, I think he maybe means friendship is more important than mad passion."

"Right, 'cos that's all blokes are interested in; friendship."

Hollie shrugged. "Dynasty's got a point."

"Hey!" Kevin complained from beside her.

Rolling her eyes, his girlfriend turned to face him properly. "No, seriously, though. What guy would be happy to stick with friendship if there was something more on offer? I've never met a single one."

From her new position, Hollie could see through the windows that lined the classroom. A man was walking past and, following her daughter's gaze, Nikki turned to look as well. From the instant change to her expression, Hollie knew exactly who the man was.

It was perfect timing as, a second or two later, the bell rang and signalled the end of the day. Everyone immediately reached for their bags, pushing their books and notepads away hurriedly. Hollie was quicker than everyone else and on her feet instantly.

"Alright, your essays are due in two weeks." Nikki said in a flat tone as the scrape of chairs was added to the noises in the classroom. "Any questions, come and see me."

When everyone else had filed out, Hollie leant against her mother's desk. "Is that him? Is that Eve's dad?"

"Hollie, go and find Tom."

"What? You want Tom to… what? Be backup?" Hollie asked in confusion, screwing up her face as she stared at her mother.

Nikki sighed. "Of course not. I want you to go home and let me sort this out. Someone needs to go and pick AJ up."

"I wanna say bye to my sister." Hollie told her defiantly.

"No, you want to be nosy." The woman replied, tidying the books on her desk and not meeting her eyes. "You want… you want to defend me."

"So what if I do?"

"I don't deserve your protection, Hollie."

The teenager folded her arms. "You're my mum… And I'll defend you whenever I bloody well like." She grinned. "I'm not going anywhere, so get over it."

"Just…" Nikki sighed. "Just give me a minute to speak to him first, OK?"

Hollie nodded and perched on the desk as Nikki moved towards the door. She glanced over her shoulder, as though checking her daughter hadn't followed, before walking out and closing the door with a firm click. Instantly Hollie was on her feet and moving to look through the window. She let them talk for a couple of minutes, before opening the door and walking through.

Nikki looked exasperatedly at the teenager, who was regarding the man in front of her with a mixture of interest and suspicion. He stared back, obviously wondering what was going on. Glancing at her mother, who she guessed wasn't about to make any introductions, Hollie raised her chin and stared at him.

"I'm Hollie Boston… Nikki's daughter. You must be Eve's dad?"

He blinked in confusion, before glancing at Nikki for an explanation. When she didn't deny the fact, he looked back at the teenager. "Stuart Cooper."

"We should… go and find Eve." Nikki suggested weakly, before grasping her daughter by the arm and pulling her along the corridor, leaving Stuart to follow them.

They headed through the corridors in silence towards the main entrance. Nikki glared at her daughter, shaking her head sharply to indicate that she was less than pleased with her. Hollie just shrugged and smiled innocently.

As they pushed through the double doors to the entrance hall, Eve's face fell instantly as she spotted her dad ahead of the two females and she turned an accusatory glare on her mother.

"What is he doing here?" She demanded furiously.

Stuart bent and picked up her bags. "Time to go."

"Did you call him?"

"I had to." Nikki told her, shooting a look at Hollie that clearly told her to keep her mouth shut. For once the teenager decided to do as she was told. "He didn't know where you were, Eve!"

"Is this all of it?"

"I'm not coming back with you!" She argued fiercely. "I'm staying here!"

"Eve…"

As the girl turned and began making her way through the corridors, Nikki indicated that Hollie should wait for her there. As soon as she followed Eve and Stuart through the doorway, Hollie was on her heels.

"Hollie!"

"Like hell I'm staying there!"

"Don't make this worse!" Nikki pleaded.

The girl shook her head. "I won't, but I'm not letting you face this on your own."

"It's my mess."

"She's my sister and you're my mum."

The woman sighed. "Is there any point arguing this with you?"

"None at all." Hollie replied with a grin. She reached out and squeezed Nikki's hand. "I'm coming."