Holy hell guys, thank you so much for the reviews and your support.

Now the good news. From now on, the chapters are going to be about 2,000ish words. Although I doubt any of you will be complaining about that.

Here is the start of you needing to know sort of what happens in the episodes. I have obviously changed a few things but to get the gist of what happened. So were are on Series 3 Episode 17.

Also, I realised that sort of 'dating' the episodes are so hard. Like I know the British school system (I lived it from the age of 4 till 18) and like I know when the school year begins and when each (full) term begins and ends but I really can't date when the episodes occur... Save for Series 3 Episode 11... I believe Tom and Davina were talking about Christmas when they were talking about their holidays being quiet.

Chapter Four
A Little Protest

Over the next couple of weeks, Rachel couldn't help but feel better about herself with Eddie's support. Their working relationship was back to back to how it was before he found out about her past and their friendship was going from strength to strength. She had finally felt better enough to move back into her office and it had helped that she hadn't heard a peep from Stuart since she had told Eddie what he had done, save from a few emails. She suspected that Eddie probably had something to do with that, not that she minded at all.

In all honesty, the last thing that she wanted was a phone call from the builders on site, telling her that two of her pupils had ran out in front of one of the JCBs and were refusing to move. Rachel instantly knew that the two students were Brett and Mika. She didn't particularly mind all their eco-warrior stuff. She actually thought that it was great that they were both passionate about something. Although she felt that Brett might not be in it for the same reasons that Mika was.

It was just as she put the phone down that Eddie walked into her office.

"Just the man. We have a little protest on our hands. Down on the building site."

"Mika and Brett?"

"They are the only two that I know of that would be stupid enough to run in front of a JCB at the moment."

"I'd better get down there. The quicker we get them back working, the less likely Stuart is going to contact you."

"My thoughts exactly. Maybe see if Tom is teaching and if he isn't, take him with you. Maybe he can talk Mika down."

"You okay though?"

She smiled at him. "Like you said. The quicker we get them back working, the less likely Stuart is going to come round here. Let's try and stop that from happening."

"Don't worry. I am on to it."

Both Eddie and Tom were riled by the time they got back inside. The bell had, thankfully, gone for the first period and there were no students about. Eddie couldn't help but groan as the one person he hoped he wouldn't see today walked through the entrance to the school and turned towards Rachel's office.

"Stuart," Eddie called out.

"Eddie, what the hell is going on?"

"We are sorting it."

"I need to talk to Rachel about this."

"You can't. She is in an emergency LEA meeting."

The lies that Eddie was coming up with were getting more and more natural. It just felt like the only way he could keep Stuart away from her. Although he could tell that Tom was confused at what he had said. It wasn't like Eddie could tell him either. Rachel had trusted him by telling him. He couldn't break that trust again.

"Her car is still here," Stuart said as he pointed towards the car park.

"It is a conference call. Anything you need to say to Rachel can be said to me."

"I have half a mind to call the police."

"Stuart, it is an internal problem and we are sorting it. No need to be so rash about it."

Eddie didn't like how Stuart was just a little bit taller than him. It meant that when they were close, he had to look up at the man that he hated.

"Sort it then. I want them digging a hole before lunchtime. If not, I am calling the police."

Eddie's mood hadn't changed by the time they had reached Rachel's office and he was glad that Tom was behind him, otherwise, he would have slammed the door shut.

"Any luck?" She asked.

"None," Tom said.

Eddie moved to the window, trying to calm himself down. It wasn't helping Rachel that he was this angry and he was more likely to make the situation worse rather than better.

"Eddie?"

"Stuart has already been here, wondering what is going on. He has given us till lunchtime to sort it or he is going to call the police."

"Explain why you are so angry," Rachel muttered. "Okay, we need a plan of action. I am sure the last thing that Mika and Brett want is a criminal record. Tom, how are your persuasive skills?"

"I don't really think she is going to listen to me."

"I think we should let them stew and give you both time to calm down. I will get it around the staff that no one is to join the protest. Let's hope we can get this sorted by Stuart's deadline."

"In all honesty, I thought Eddie was about to knock him out when he was speaking to him," Tom said before he left.

Eddie heard Rachel sigh and he knew that he wasn't making things any easier for her.

"Sorry. I just can't stand the man." Eddie said before he dropped down onto one of the sofas.

"I can't stand him either."

"He's been coming every other day. I wonder when he will stop accepting my excuses. I've even asked Bridget to not let any of his calls through unless they are urgent. She is good. Not asked any questions. Apparently she has been telling him to email you if he thought it was still important."

"Thought you might have been behind the fact that I haven't seen or heard from him."

"I've only just got you back in here. I can't have him driving you out again. I can lie to him but I think everyone else is going to see through the lies eventually."

He liked the way that she smiled down into her lap. It made him feel happy that he could bring her some sort of comfort after what happened. She had been having a really bad term and he hoped that he could make the rest of it okay for her. Even better if he could get Stuart off her back.

"Thank you, Eddie."

Rachel's day seemed to be going from bad to worse and she knew that it would only be a matter of time before Stuart burst into her office, demanding to know what she was doing about the protest, and she had this bad feeling that Eddie was meant to be teaching all afternoon. Whether he was teaching or helping out Tom, it didn't help her.

She wondered what was the moment that she had decided to put all her trust and faith into Eddie. Part of it scared her. The last time she had put her trust in a man, he had slowly worn her down and made her enter her two years of hell.

She turned her thoughts back to the recent developments in protest. Mika had called in some eco-warriors that had not only trespassed but also thrown two bricks through two different windows. She couldn't help but agree with the staff. It wasn't safe and there was a need for her to do something about it. The problem was, she knew what something like this could do to Mika's future. It was why she was reluctant to call the police. If it was just the eco-warriors, she would have called the police as soon as she knew about it.

The threat of exclusion hadn't done anything and nothing Tom was saying was helping. She had wondered whether she could talk Mika down but other than repeating what she had told Tom to tell her, she felt like she was running out of options.

Rachel couldn't focus as the clock slowly made its way towards lunchtime. She had no idea when Stuart was going to come back or whether he was just going to call the police. She could hope all she liked that it was the second one but as soon as the bell rang and her office door opened, she knew that she wasn't going to be that lucky.

"Been avoiding me?" Stuart asked.

"Just been busy. You know, I have got a school to run."

Rachel was glad that Eddie had told her some of the things that he had said to Stuart. At least she felt somewhat prepared for when he arrived and if he asked.

"I thought you had just told your little lap dog that you didn't want to see me."

"What do you want?"

"I gave you until lunchtime. But your little protest seems to be still going on. And it seems like it is more than just your pupils."

"We are dealing with it."

"Not fast enough Amanda."

Even though she knew that he wouldn't try anything while there were people about, she still felt like the threat that he could do it again to her was there. She had never been so relieved for her door to swing open, even if it was Tom instead of Eddie. It was someone.

"Well, that has cleared nearly all of our lot. Only Mika is left up there. I can't talk her down." Tom said.

"Give us till the end of lunch. Once our students are out of the picture, you can do what you want."

"And why should I allow your pupils to get off scot-free? This might be some big game to you but I am five grand down before a hole's even been dug." Stuart said.

"Because they are my pupils and I will deal with them in the way I see fit. Come on Tom."

Eddie had seen Stuart storming into Rachel's office. He wanted to follow straight away, knowing that he didn't want to give Stuart any chance to threaten her again. He left it a minute before he started to clear the rest of the corridor. He was glad when Tom appeared and walked into Rachel's office. At least it would look like he was constantly watching her office.

The moment Rachel walked out of her office, he knew that Stuart had said something to her to unnerve her. She didn't look as confident as she did that morning and Eddie tried to swallow his anger. He followed her and Tom as they left the building and walked towards what should be a building site.

"You okay?" He whispered to her.

"Just had to get out of there."

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know but I can't allow one of my students to have a criminal record for something that she is passionate about. Just wish it was something else she was passionate about." She held her head up a little higher as they reached the tree. "Mika, can we talk?"

"Not the way I wanted things to end today." Rachel said before she sighed. "But I suppose it will keep Stuart happy."

She knew that he was thinking the same as she was. It should have got to Tom falling off a ladder as he tried to speak to Mika but it was the only thing that got a reaction out of her. She had given her speech to Brett and she was planning on giving hers to Mika in the morning, giving her the time to think over the events of the day.

"I know I said I wouldn't push it, but we can't keep going on like this Rachel."

"I know."

"Like what did he say to you before Tom entered your office? It looked like it really unsettled you."

"He called me Amanda again."

He sighed. "The problem is that he thinks he has all the power and he is going to remind you of it all the time. He isn't going to stop Rachel."

"I think that is what worries me the most. How far he will go."

"I think he has already proved that he is willing to go to extreme lengths to make you feel alone and isolate yourself."

"We need something on him. Other than the blackmail and… we need something that will just reflect badly on him."

She knew what he had done to her that night wouldn't reflect badly on her and she knew that she could play it off as a man trying to place his dominance over her. But it was his reasons as to why he did what he did that linked to the other thing that she wanted to hide.

"As I have said, I think Stuart would stoop very low to get what he wants. There must be something else on him."

"I hope you are right."