Thank you for the reviews :) x

Chapter 23: A Tale of Two Halves

Most unfortunately, Rachel had been entirely right when it came to their ordeal with Ralph Mellor. He was stubborn, she felt the pull to reward him that - promising an 'executive' decision should they not exclude Marley by close of play.

So that was where Rachel found herself now, tapping a pen against the desk as she stared, somewhat, into space. The tick tick of the clock did nothing to quell her nerves, her mind was doing overtime, heart racing faster with the second as she envisaged Ralph bursting through the office door unannounced.

So the softest of knocks was a world away from what Rachel had been anticipating. Frowning, she pulled herself towards the desk slightly, offering a curiosity filled 'come in.'

Likened to the prior surprise, Flick Mellor's appearance was a complete contrast to the possibilities Rachel had considered, especially with her demeanour which was bursting with uncertainty and concern. Was her day only about to get worse?

"Flick… what can I do for you?" Rachel was careful to leave her tone light and airy, unwilling to portray to the girl that her own evident concern was very much shared.

Her eyes were darting from left to right, looking unsure of where to place herself, "oh god. I shouldn't have come," Flick was shaking her head profusely, and before Rachel knew it, the girl had turned on her heel, evidently intending to fly right back out the room.

"Flick, wait!"

To Rachel's extreme surprise, her student turned, with eyes no less panicked than they were two minutes previous.

"Why don't you come on in, tell me what's up, hm?"

An apprehension clouded the atmosphere, and almost suffocating silence surrounding them as Flick considered the proposal, shuffling on the spot slightly. The quiet evaded, Felicity simply choosing to cross the room to the sofas, sitting down to place her head in her hands.

Almost subconsciously Rachel followed, sure that her own features were bursting with a worry which ran deep, mind almost jumping at the possibilities behind the girl's state.

"This is a mess, Miss. And it's all my fault," her voice was muffled, a slight choking sound had Rachel shifting her hand to the girl's upper back, placing it there briefly.

"Hey, what's a mess?"

The last thing Rachel wanted to do was push Flick too far, pry and seem intrusive - but, after all, she had made an appearance here, and Rachel was all too aware that she could only help her student if she was given the root of the problem.

"Is Marley going to get excluded, Miss?"

Rachel was taken aback by the questioning, mouth clamped shut as she was left with far more questions now than prior to the query.

"I… that hasn't been decided yet, Flick. Nothing is set in stone."

The girl swallowed thickly, shutting her eyes whilst she portrayed someone who longed to shut the entire world off, "there's something you need to know."

"Okay…"

"My dad… he swapped the test results. Mine and Marley's. I'm the one who consumed the drugs, not Marley. All because he doesn't happen to like someone I'm going out with."

Rachel felt as though all of a sudden she was treading on ice, brain screaming, telling her that this was exactly the sort of thing Ralph Mellor was capable of, yet equally knowing she couldn't jump to conclusions just yet.

"Flick, are you sure? There hasn't been some mistake? Some… some misunderstanding between the two of you?"

But Flick shook her head profusely, confirming Rachel's initial instinct, "no Miss."

"Then we'd better give your father a call, hadn't we?"

….

No matter how much of an enormous weight had been lifted from Rachel's shoulders, Eddie knew she was yet to relax following on from the events of the day. Ralph resigning from his position as chair of the board as a consequence of his actions was hardly the end to the day they'd been predicting.

The man wasn't exactly in a position to deny the allegation made by his daughter - a simple call to the police station to examine the original results put pay to that. He could tell that Rachel was on tenterhooks, waiting for there to have been some sort of miscommunication, waiting for the moment Ralph would be breathing down her neck once more.

Eddie longed to distract her mind from the numerous possibilities, from the memories of the day that no doubt remained rather prominent. With Philip venturing out with friends, and Rachel choosing a bath as her form of winding down, Eddie had set to work on cooking the pair of them a romantic meal.

He leant against the side, a small smile playing across his lips as he admired the way he'd set the table, shifting slightly upon hearing creaks in the floorboard followed by Rachel's soft footsteps padding down the steps.

It was the pure look of surprise which coloured Rachel's features that got Eddie, had him not wanting to hold back an almost uncontrollable grin.

"What's all this?" She spoke, voice practically a whisper, grin matching his.

"Well," Eddie began to blush lightly, depositing a tea towel on the worktop as he crossed the room, unable to resist the close proximity to Rachel for any longer, "I just thought… with the day you've had, it'd be good to relax, have dinner."

Rachel was frankly lost for words, deep in the hold of Eddie's gaze whilst a huge beam began to play out across her lips. She barely had the thought process to search for words, alternatively surging forwards and crashing their lips together, showing him just how grateful she was for his endless love.

Eddie himself was taken by surprise, before he grinned, melting into the kiss and winding his arms around her waist.

Rachel could barely tear herself away, only doing so with thoughts of Eddie's meals set out on the table, breathless as she did so. Happiness evaded them, foreheads pressed together lightly.

Eddie couldn't resist another swift kiss, yet it was Rachel again who pulled back, deliberately teasing him, he would imagine, "come on Lawson, your food will be cold."

With Rachel in his arms, he'd almost forgotten all about his efforts.

It wasn't until the pair found themselves washing their plates as a duo, that their thoughts and conversation reverted back to the goings on of the latest day at Waterloo Road.

"Flick was actually mortified, what with the whole drugs scandal, losing head girl."

"It was only right though," Eddie shrugged a shoulder, "though, I didn't see Ralph calling for a permanent exclusion when it came to his child."

Rachel scoffed, turning towards him to raise an eyebrow, "well he wouldn't would he. Although, I do think there was an element of him having an urge to humiliate Marley Kelly, as well as not wanting to taint his daughter's reputation."

"Oh?" He sounded relatively surprised, pausing his movements as he prepared to listen intently.

Rachel hummed as a way of confirming her previous comments, "something along the lines of him disliking Marley. You know, with him and Flick dating."

"I don't think that bloke likes a lot of people. Poor Felicity."

"My thoughts exactly. I mean, imagine being in his presence twenty four seven. Obviously, we don't know what he's like at home, though I wouldn't want to give it a try."

"Well, look on the bright side. You and I don't have to be in his presence at all now. Resigning as chair of governors."

Rachel huffed out a breath, still attempting to wrap her mind around the debacle, "now, I somehow didn't see that coming," she faced Eddie fully now, dishes forgotten as a familiar position was taken up - her hands on his chest, with his own respectively resting on her hips, "but I'm not about to complain."

He snorted in laughter, glad that the evening had emanated the desired effect of allowing Rachel to wind down, "I bet."

She looked thoughtful, chewing on her lip slightly as she scanned his expression, "thank you for tonight."

"No thanks necessary. I've enjoyed it just as much as you have."

Her head tilted, smile dazzling, "oh, how could you not with my amazing company."

Eddie couldn't hold back his chuckle, hand sneaking up to Rachel's ribs, tickling her lightly whilst she squealed in delight, "Eddie!"

….

Philip found himself in two minds when it came to his mum's lack of contact. He'd wanted to be apart from her, couldn't stand what she was doing to herself, to him, and yet… he was still a child, wasn't he? Still craved that attention from his mum that he never seemed to get.

Similar musings had seemed to wash over him the following evening when Melissa had rang him, conflicting feelings arising as numerous possibilities bombarded his mind.

It had almost been a deflation, to find that the call had been entirely purposeful to his mother, and no one else. The cheek of it was that she wanted Rachel's accompaniment to the court case - as if his auntie hadn't done enough for her.

Yet it was as the conversation came to a close that Philip had felt the panic setting in, questioning how on earth he would raise the subject with Rachel.

Apparently he had somewhat underestimated her abilities to decipher his moods, only realising this as he sat down for breakfast the following morning, to notice his aunt gazing at him with a nonplussed expression, brow furrowed.

"Good night last night Philip?" Rachel wasn't blind to Philip's state, her question only a mere inch of the way to finding out what was on his mind, she knew.

"Was alright. Film was a bit… rubbish though."

Rachel crossed the room, concern unwavering as she lowered herself into a chair opposite her nephew. Thoughts of him holding back from confiding in her continued to buzz around in Rachel's brain, and she couldn't help the worry which arose almost naturally.

"Is everything alright with you, love?"

The last thing Rachel had anticipated was for Philip to drop his facade, features melting as he allowed his spoon to drop into the bowl. But he knew there was no hiding, knew he had to reveal all to Rachel before she figured it out herself.

"Mum rang last night."

She couldn't exactly ignore nor deny the way her stomach dropped heavily, Philip's tone setting an ominous precedent, "she did?"

"Yeah. She erm…" he scratched the back of his neck, half expecting Rachel to tell him to spit it out, "wants you. At the trial."

She swallowed thickly, not sure if she'd ever locate her voice again, "I see."

"Are you erm… gonna go or?"

Rachel had a sudden urge to be in Eddie's arms, the only place where she could seem to forget about such issues.

"I don't know Philip, I… I've got to finish getting ready for work. We'll speak later, okay?"

He couldn't for the life of him comprehend how his aunt had managed to fathom a smile, albeit strained as she forced it on her lips. Philip frankly felt terrible, having watched Rachel's previously content state disappear in front of his very eyes. He cursed himself, cursed Melissa and the world in general. Did he ever get a break?