Thank you for the reviews.

So when I started writing this story, to stop myself from writing chapters at work (which I am really terrible for at the moment... Like I spend half my time working, half my time writing and it isn't great but when you are making jobs last as long as possible. It is a good distraction...), I started planning this story out and I think it is also when I had my little meltdown about how long this was going to be and what I wanted to include and all that. Basically part of that outline included something which seems to sum up part of this chapter brilliantly and it is the last thought I am going to leave you with.

S05E11 but with Max Tyler and Eddie.

Chapter Thirty Three
Never Ever Again

"He called our relationship unprofessional." Rachel blurted out as she got home after another grilling from Max.

"What?"

"Max called out relationship unprofessional. It… I didn't want to do something stupid again. I didn't want to push you away but I couldn't tell you but I have to Eddie. I have to tell you or otherwise it will start eating away at me and I will then end up pushing you away again and then Kim's intervention would be for nothing and I can't lose you now Eddie. Not when I need you more than I have ever done before."

"Okay, that explains your behaviour a lot more."

"Eddie… what do we do?"

He sighed before he brought her into a hug. She gripped tightly to his shirt, scared that he would just disappear from her if she didn't.

"When did he say that to you?" He asked.

"After the first day, after he doubted my ability as a headteacher. And then he went and said something today. I… I can't rely on you while trying not to look like I am relying on you. The worst part is… I've seen the way he is with Kim. He calls our relationship unprofessional. If he starts one with Kim, would that be considered unprofessional as well?"

"I would probably expect that it is one rule for us and one rule for him."

"I don't know whether I would like to lose Kim to him."

"You're not going to lose Kim. First and foremost, she is your friend. And secondly, I don't think she likes the methods that Max will use. As head of pastoral care, I think her main objective is the student's welfare."

"How do you do it Eddie?"

"Do what?"

"Just… make sense of everything."

"Because." He said before he placed a kiss in her hair. "I'm not a natural worrier."

"I suppose you aren't."

"We will do this how we have always done things. Together."

"I am just trying not to give Max any more ammunition."

"I know. I know."

Rachel sighed into his embrace a little more, grateful that she had finally told Eddie about what had been on her mind for the past month but also grateful that he was the person that she fell for. She couldn't have fallen for a better man if she tried.

"Tom said you wanted to see me," Ruby said as she closed the door of Rachel's office.

With it being one of the rare occasions where Max was out at one of the other schools, Rachel felt like it was the perfect opportunity to have a chat with one of the most sceptical members of the John Foster's staff.

"Please, take a seat." Rachel said as she stood up, gesturing towards the sofas.

It was just for a chat but she could tell that Ruby was a little sceptical. Probably because it was the first time a headteacher wanted a casual chat by the way Max was. They settled on the sofa before Rachel said anything else.

"I do get it, Ruby. I get that this isn't what you are used to. I would feel just as out of place if it was the other way round. I spent a term at a private school during my teacher training days and I instantly knew it wasn't for me."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"The John Fosters staff and students seem to look to you for guidance. I mean, look at the incident when Bolton was falsely accused of rape. You allowed some of the John Foster girl's to stay in your classroom so they felt safer. I'm not saying you have to love the school, but part of the way in which this merger is going to work is if the staff start showing a little unity.

"I get that some members of staff are a little easier to get on with others. Believe me, I have had many a run-in with Steph and Grantly." Rachel sighed. "Look, I don't think anyone is happy about this merger but it has happened and we have to make the best of it. So it would help if, sometimes, you kept your opinions to yourself. I'll be asking the same of Steph and Grantly but I feel… if the tensions in the staffroom die down, then the students will catch on and we can all get back to our day jobs rather than breaking up fights."

She was glad that Ruby at least thought about it.

"I suppose you do have a point."

"So a little more unity? I get that you care, which for me, is a big thing. I would rather be working with you than against you when it comes to the pupils."

"Yes, there will be a little more unity. But if there is an incident like that again, I am going to try and protect my girls."

"I don't doubt that." Rachel said but her attention had moved towards the filing cabinets. Even now, it still affected her and she hated that Stuart still had that power over her.

"Rachel?" Ruby said after a while.

"That is all. Unless you had something that you wish to discuss." She said as she came back into the room.

Rachel could feel like she wanted to ask the question but didn't. Something that Rachel was very happy about.

Eddie was trying to keep his cool but he jumped for the phone as it rang.

"Hello." Rachel's voice came through the earpiece.

"Rachel, where the bloody hell are you?"

"I'm following them."

"Rachel."

"Eddie, tell the police that it is a white van. L931 UKF. Look they are making a move. I've got to go."

"You promised me that you wouldn't do something like this again." He said but she had already put the phone down.

It took all of Eddie's strength to not pick up the phone and lob it across the room. This was all Grantly's fault and Rachel was putting herself in danger once again for one of her students. She may have said to Chris that a judge somewhere had said that he was a danger to his children, but that probably meant that he would be a danger to anyone that tried to stop him as well.

"Eddie, I need you to calm down," Kim said.

He wrote down the number plate that Rachel had given him and gave it to Kim.

"Call the police. I'm going for a walk and you better get word to Grantly that it would be best if he stayed out of my way."

"Eddie."

"Kim, I better go on that walk."

Kim's conversation with Rachel did nothing to calm Eddie's fears and as the police and Mrs Vale left, he couldn't take it anymore. He heard Kim shout after him but he didn't stop until he had reached the staffroom and was in front of Grantly.

"Are you happy now?" He shouted.

"Eddie?" Tom said.

"I don't know what you mean," Grantly said.

"You allowed a child to be abducted from our care and guess who feels responsible for that? Rachel. Guess who is putting her life at risk again for another pupil. Rachel. I swear to god Grantly, if she harmed in any way…" Eddie stopped and took a deep breath. "You had better hope that she comes back unharmed. Because I would think that your days are numbered here if not. And don't bother talking about the union. I am sure they would love to know the lazy, incompetent teacher they have representing them at Waterloo Road."

"I'm…"

"Sorry isn't good enough Grantly. Because the last thing this school needs right now is another death and another new headteacher."

If the situation wasn't so serious, there probably would have been a joke made about him taking the role. Eddie was glad that Tom followed them back as they returned to Rachel's office. It meant that there was someone who could stop him when Chris opened his mouth.

"Eddie, if you want to be angry at someone. Try Rachel. She has a duty of care to everyone in this school. Not just one student."

"And you haven't been here long enough. You want to know why Rachel cares for every single one of those students? Why she will make time for them? Listen to them intently? Because she wishes that one of her teachers did that for her. Yes, she has a duty of care to everyone in this school but sometimes there is only one student that needs protecting from some outside force or themselves. And Chris. I am angry with her but the worry that I have is just pushing that out at the moment."

The phone ringing was the best distraction in the world as Chris walked over to answer it. Tom gave Eddie a small smile in understanding. The problem Eddie had was that he knew he had to sort himself out before Rachel got back. Because she was going to need him and so was Philip, probably.

Rachel had hoped that Eddie would have been waiting for her in her office when she returned but Kim had assured her that she would get him and that he would be by her side in no time. She had even heard her tell Chris that now wasn't a good time as she closed the door to her office behind her.

She knew that Eddie was going to be angry at her. She had promised not to put her life at risk again after the last incident with the gun. But this felt like something she had to do and as she dropped down on the sofa, her mind filled with the memories of the fire and the guns and she started to breakdown.

She didn't hear the door open and closed but the next time her vision focused for a few moments, Eddie was knelt in front of her and she couldn't stop herself launching forward into his embrace. He held onto her as tightly as she did and the sobs came.

"I'm sorry." She said.

"You have nothing to be sorry about."

"I have everything to be sorry about. I promised you."

"And it isn't in your makeup to leave a student in danger. Just, please. Never ever again."

"I will try." She pulled back to look at him, her hands resting on either side of his face. "While I was in that caravan, struggling to breathe because of the gas, all I thought about was you and Philip and how I didn't want to live without you both and… also how I don't want the both of you to live without me. I love you so much."

"I love you too."

She wanted to kiss him but the door opened and she could tell that Kim wasn't too happy that Max just burst into her office like that.

"The papers might just be right about you. The bad omen of Waterloo Road might be its own headteacher. I pay you to run a school, not to run off and abandon it." Max said.

She didn't have the energy to argue with Max but she was glad that Eddie did as he stood up.

"This is a conversation we can have tomorrow."

"I'm not finished."

"And we are not having this conversation now."

"She needs to know her place and for her own lack of regard when it comes to the school."

"Lack of regard? I think we are talking about two different people here. And we aren't doing this now."

"You don't get to talk to me like that."

"I do when I'm the one that has to get her home. Which is what I am doing right now."

"I'm in charge here."

"Maybe but I know what is best for Rachel." Eddie turned back to her and offered her hands. "Come on." He said, his voice softer than how he had just spoken to Max. "Let's get you home."

She allowed him to pull her up and she landed against his chest as the day's events took the strength out of her, mainly because she was trying not to cry in front of Max. Eddie quickly grabbed her bag before he led her out of the school.

She knew that it would probably have been better for Max to have his rant now but she couldn't deny that she needed Eddie to take control and to look after her, again. She just needed to get herself to a position where she could actually face going to work.