Sup people, I have no idea what inspired me to continue this fic, it just kinda happened. I also have no idea if anyone reads this stuff anymore. I enjoyed writing it however so hopefully its not too bad a read. I've tried to hint at some more stuff for the future. I also had a random inspiration to write an appendicitis fic which is one of my fave tropes to read in the spiderman fanfic universe so that'll be coming up at some point.

I hope you are all well - enjoy (:

The girls woke up at the sound of a phone ringing the next day, and Sam jumped up out of bed expecting a call from the hospital on their mum's condition but she came back shaking her head and for a minute Nat feared for the worse.

"Just some idiot trying to sell me something," Nat felt her anxieties subside a little and settled back into the pillow.

As the phone rang again a quarter of an hour later both girls ran to answer it.

Nat put her head right next to the receiver as Sam answered it so she could hear everything that was said.

At the words: "Your mum made it through surgery," she collapsed on the floor in tears of relief.

Rachel was still heavily sedated when the girls arrived later that day but there was an air of hope fogging the room. Upon their arrival, the doctor had explained that their mum would need further surgeries to help the burns heal but she was out of the worst of it with minimal internal injuries. They sat with her for hours until they were kicked out for the second night in a row.

For the next week, they spent their time in the hospital or waiting for visitors time at the hospital.

Eventually, after what felt like years but was actually only a matter of weeks, Rachel was finally fully aware and conscious. She'd been in a coma for days and had been very out of it for at least a week and yet, the girls had never seen her so strong.

A week before the school should've started back, Rachel was back home. Had both her daughters and Eddie not physically forced her to rest, she would've been at the school overseeing the reconstruction and attending board meetings. She agreed, after much debate, to let Eddie handle it all, as long as he kept her in the loop - which he did… mostly.

Rachel didn't need to know yet what the board were saying about her, he was going to do everything within his power to make sure that she returned as headteacher at the end of September when the school reopened.

He managed it too… just. In the end, it wasn't the board he needed to convince but Rachel herself who had decided the kids could never respect her anymore.

Sam had been the one to get through to her in the end, suggesting that: 'the kids are gunna be able to relate to their headteacher for once, you've got a great opportunity to prove to these underprivileged kids that they can turn their life around.'

Rachel couldn't argue with that.

"You're sure you're ready to go back?" Nat questioned for what felt like the fiftieth time that morning.

Rachel sighed and smiled at her youngest whose face was a picture of worry.

"Sweetie, I know I've scared you, and I know Eddie said he can hold the fort for as long as I need, but I'm okay. I need to get back. I promise I'll be okay."

"But-" Nat stopped herself, they'd had this discussion loads of time over the past week. Nat was taking the doctor's orders of 'taking it slow' vastly different to her mother. Sam had gone back to uni a few days previously so she knew she'd never win.

"Fine, okay. Please just let Eddie help you. Your pride can bounce back, but… but I don't think I can if you get hurt again."

Rachel smiled sympathetically. "I promise." She picked up her bag and keys ready to leave the house.

"Don't be late!" She called just as the door was shutting behind her.

Nat looked down at herself as she stood on the stairs brushing her teeth, still in her pjs and then the clock, "yeah, I'd better hurry," she muttered to herself.

She did, just about make it to school on time, running into her form room as the bell rang.

Miss Koreshi smiled kindly at her as she sat at the back of the classroom next to some of her friends - none of which she'd seen since the fire so, suddenly she was glad to be back.

That was until one of the rowdier kids in the class watched her sit down before announcing, "Are you Miss Mason's daughter?"

Nat hadn't expected that question, "How did you-" It wasn't as if she'd been intentionally keeping it a secret but it was nice for people to not know, especially after what had happened last year…

"Wait, you actually are?! I thought he was just…"

An excited murmur spread around the classroom and suddenly questions were being fired at Nat left right and centre. Although some kids asked about her mothers welfare after she was pulled lifeless from the building, most students were more concerned with… other stuff…

"Okay! That's enough!" Miss Koreshi called the class to attention. "I expect silence for the register, thank you,"

The news of her parentage spread quickly around her year, Nat suddenly found that people were watching her walk down the corridor, their eyes following her as she passed them. It was odd, and very anxiety-inducing to be the centre of attention. As always, the first day back went pretty quickly, and Nat found herself almost enjoying being back in the swing of things. That said, pretty much anything would beat sitting at her mum's hospital bedside for the entirety of the summer holidays. She was very much looking forward to playing football again. It was worth being back just to see the dead rat Mr Budgen had 'grown' on his head over the break.

All in all, it was a pretty average day. Average until Mr Lawson had walked into her history class, she could tell just by his face that something was seriously, seriously wrong. She tried to catch his eye as she took her stuff and filled out onto the playground. Anxiety was pooling into her gut and Eddie seemed to sense it, taking a second to flash her a brief, reassuring smile.

She was a little more relaxed as she spied her mum standing at the front of the crowd of students as everyone left the building. She was safe.

There was a lot of confused muttering as sirens began to grow in the distance and then silence for a split second as a shot ran out. Screams filled the air as teachers ushered all the students backwards. Suddenly her mum was hurrying back into the school.

"Mum!" She called, voice full of panic not caring whether anyone heard.

"Rachel!"

Eddie's voice sounded as if it was underwater as her ears began roaring with blood. Unwelcome memories spiralling through her mind. She tried to run after her but Miss Koreshi seemed to have preempted it and stepped forward to block her from advancing. Tears began to spring to her eyes as her breath began to catch in her throat.

She felt numb as armed police filled into the school, emotions swum around but didn't settle. She couldn't go through this again.

Eventually, her mum reappeared, (still alive and well, thank God) with a kid at her side. Police swarmed the two, Nat couldn't see what was happening anymore and tried to block out the shouts as she worked to regain control of her breathing.

The students were sent home at half three, as if it had been a normal day at school. Her mum had gone, she assumed, to the police station, but hadn't said anything to her. Nat managed to reassure herself that her mum was just busy.

When she got home, she headed straight to the local park to practice football. She'd played a few times over the summer once her whiplash had finally cleared up - it had become somewhat a coping mechanism for her growing anxiety fuelled by solely her mum's escapades. She was angry. Angry that she refused to look after herself. Angry that she couldn't see that the people around her cared about her.

After a few hours, it was growing dark and Nat began to head home. Her phone still had no messages, she hoped that once she got home, her mum would be waiting to give her an ear bashing for not telling her before going out.

The lights were still off and the car wasn't in the driveway, unsurprisingly, Rachel was still not home.

Anxiety pooled in her stomach again as her brain spiralled, suggesting all the possible things that could have happened to her mum. It was only early, but she went to bed - no longer hungry. Deep down she knew that her mum was most definitely fine, but nonetheless, she couldn't stop panicking.

She lay on her bed staring at the wall for what felt like hours before she finally heard the front door open.

The anxiety died away and she shut her eyes, willing sleep to come quickly.

She woke up the next morning after an uneasy sleep, dreams full of her mum's body on a hospital bed and other awful things she'd rather not think about. Residual anxiety made her feel a little sick as she made her way down the stairs, where she could hear her mother in the kitchen. Last night's panic was now replaced by only anger and she considered going back up to her room before her mum saw her but it was too late.

"Morning sweetheart," Rachel called from the kitchen. "you're up early."

Nat took a deep breath, pushing the anger back down, her mum had been through enough recently without her problems stuck on top.

She looked up at the clock that rested opposite the fridge and realised her alarm wouldn't usually have gone off for another quarter of an hour. Her being up that early was nearly unheard of.

"I went to bed pretty early last night," she said stifling a yawn, "maybe I'm motivated this year."

Her mum laughed but looked a little concerned, "I thought you were asleep when I got in yesterday. You still look pretty tired though love, are you feeling okay?"

Nat nodded and shrugged, "I'm fine, I just didn't sleep all that well. Anyway, don't you need to leave soon?"

"If you're sure," Rachel didn't look convinced but didn't push it, especially as she really did need to get a move on. "I should be home earlier today, shall we have a film night. God knows I need it, how it's only been one day of term I'll never know."

After school, Nat stayed behind to train with Maxine ahead of the football try-outs the following week. As they trained, Nat noticed that one of the new students, the brother of the kid with the gun she thought, was watching them from the edge of the field. Nat was a little creeped out but the older girl seemed to have either not noticed, or had but didn't care. That said, Nat didn't bring it up, despite both her and Maxine looking over quite regularly. The younger girl couldn't quite work out whether Max was put off or intrigued by his presence. They ended up training longer than expected as they lost track of time, by the time Nat had retrieved her bags, both Max and the boy had gone.

She headed up to her mum's office, hoping that she would be free - she didn't really want to be walking home after the tough session, the new secretary was packing up her things when she walked into the outer office and she looked up at Nat.

She was so used to Bridget knowing who she was, she was a little caught off guard when she wasn't recognised.

"Ms Mason is still in a meeting sweetie, was she expecting you?" The woman asked with a smile.

"No, it's fine. I'll just wait, thank you."

Nat waited about twenty minutes after the secretary had gone home before getting bored - her mum still showed no signs of being nearly done. She sighed and began the walk home, more slowly than usual to cater for the lactic acid build up in her legs. She hadn't trained with anyone for around half a year as a result of her injury so she was a little out of shape.

Around half an hour after she got home, in which time she had a long, hot shower to reduce the muscle soreness her mum finally got home, it was well past six, which she was sure was much later than she used to get home the previous school year. She settled on the sofa with a blanket to choose a film and to order a pizza for the two of them. It was only then she was reminded of how tired she was after her restless nights sleep and long day at school. Once she had a full stomach, the film suddenly seemed to become a great lullaby and she found herself drifting off to sleep on the sofa cushions. Being able to feel her mother sat beside her washed away all the anxiety and she felt properly calm and relaxed for the first time since the fire.