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Disclaimer: I don't own Waterloo Road. But Adi and Tom, you are both mine. Get in the box.

Matt buttered his toast speedily, ready to cram it down straight away. He took a mouthful of tea, burning the back of his throat and swore loudly. He was feeling better than he had yesterday morning but only marginally. His head still throbbed dully and he felt generally weak all round.

"Adi, are you up yet?" he asked, knocking softly on the teenager's door. He heard nothing inside. He'd already attempted to rouse his ward through the door twice and he was getting sick of it. Sighing, he cracked open the door and glanced in. Typical. All he could see in the bed was a tuft of messy, gleaming blond hair beside the head board.

He padded across the floor and looked down at Adi. He looked so much friendlier when he was asleep with his mouth shut, Matt thought, smirking to himself. His face was flat and calm and he was still for once, a welcome respite. When he wasn't cursing loudly (Matt had learned rather painfully that Adi's linguistics stretched from a few simple phrases to the most vast and vulgar assortment of swear words Matt had ever heard) or breaking things or lying upside down on the sofa grabbing at dust mites he almost looked relaxed.

The illusion was quickly ruined when Adi's eyes snapped open and he leaped up, yelling, swinging a crippling blow at Matt's stomach. Matt doubled over wheezing and Adi frowned, taking a minute to familiarize himself with the room yet again. Matt spluttered loudly and wheeled backwards and Adi cradled his fist tentatively, a glint of amusement flickering across his face.

He yawned and stretched his arms out and Matt straightened up, catching a glimpse of scars and muscles as Adi dragged on a t-shirt. It looked just as filthy as yesterday's hoodie. He did, however, forage a pair of cleaner looking jeans from the kit bag when he rolled out of bed. And his face wasn't as dirty as yesterday. Matt supposed Adi was as presentable as he was going to get him without a major argument.

"You can not take the punch?" Adi asked cheekily, grinning. He was bouncing quietly from foot to foot, his fingers twitching amicably. Matt tried to smile but his stomach was still smarting from the box. Adi stepped into his trainers and shivered, eying Matt up and down critically.

"Not really. I'm not built for boxing. Are you cold, Adi?" Matt asked. Adi half shrugged and wandered out of the room, pouring himself a glass of water. Matt took a bite out of his toast and rolled his eyes. So far he had been remarkably unsuccessful in his efforts to make Adi eat. He didn't seem to want anything, just plenty of water.

Matt followed him out and gestured vaguely towards the door, snaring his car keys from the table. Adi chugged the water down and placed the glass in the sink gently, glancing from Matt to the door and back again.

Matt reached into his pocket and frowned. His wallet. Where was it? He scoured the table, scratched between sofa cushions, checked behind the telly. Adi watched all the while, grinning. Matt crouched down to look under the coffee table and the wallet collided with the back of his head. Adi smirked, socking his hands in his pockets and Matt scowled. So he was living with a thief.

He groaned inwardly and wondered just how bad the day was going to be.

Marley Kelly gave a frustrated groan as he sorted through the post. Bills. Bills. Bills. Junk mail. And more bills. He set them aside on the table to thumb through later. Earl swaggered into the kitchen and Marley smiled half heartedly at him. Earl cocked his head and slumped down at the table, grabbing a slice of bread and stuffing it into his mouth.

"Earl, are you gonna go to school today? It's just, Prince needs to-"

"No way. I'm not taking him nowhere. Going out with Maxine tonight" Earl dismissed his older brother and for the millionth time Marley breathed deeply, keeping his cool. He would deal with Prince's doctor's appointment. He would deal with the bills. He would deal with the uniforms. He would-

"Maaaaarley! No bog roll!" Sam yelled from the bathroom. Earl chuckled and grabbed his bag, waltzing out the door. Marley glanced back over at the post. Two letters from the school. About Earl. Ugh. He took them and stuffed them into the pocket of his blazer. He'd cover for his brother, even if the letters were getting more frequent.

That's what brothers do for each other, after all.

Tom Mitchell woke up to find his brother's arm slumped across his chest, the morning still dark outside. He whimpered quietly and stiffened when Jed rolled out of bed wordlessly, exiting the room. His soft footsteps padded down the stairs and only when Tom was sure Jed had reached the kitchen did he slide out of bed, leaving the duvet in a tangle behind him.

The morning light strolled dimly through the sheet that covered the window and Tom ignored the mess of magazines and clothes that covered every single inch of the room's scanty floorspace. He'd shared a room with Jed ever since he could remember but it had never been this bad before mam left. The double bed they shared took up most of the room and was the main priority.

Tom rummaged around on the ground and managed to find his jumper and tie. That was a good start. His trousers were filthy, covered in muck and he stuffed them under the bed. He'd wash them later. He pulled on a pair of black tracksuit bottoms instead. They were raggedy and old but they were at least cleaner than his school trousers. He tugged on a white polo t-shirt and threw his jumper over it, knotting his tie.

He blinked away tears. Mam used to do his tie for him. He used to scoff and her and tell her he wasn't a baby but secretly he liked his mam's little touch. He took a deep breath, composing himself. Things could be worse.

He closed the bedroom door softly behind him, terrified of waking his dad. Before mam left, he'd been the best dad on the planet. But he'd been in an accident at work and started drinking. He was a mean drunk too. Tom's mam couldn't deal with dad and Jed at the same time. She'd just left. And she'd left Tom behind. It still hurt badly to think of it. Like he had a hole that he couldn't plug. Then he remembered dad was missing so he could make as much noise as he wanted.

He headed down the stairs gently to the kitchen where he found Jed, roll up in hand. He wore nothing but a pair of ratty jeans and his blond hair was loose around his face, making him look younger. He looked relaxed; friendly. Sometimes he was. Tom had learned to manage Jed in the year since mam had left but he was still terrified of his brother, even more so than his dad.

Jed looked up with a cherubic smile. "Mornin' T. You going to school?"

Tom nodded. Jed chuckled. He'd as good as dropped out of Waterloo Road long ago. He'd been a thug and a pain in the neck to the teachers for a long time, coming stubbornly every single day because mam made him. He'd had perfect attendance. The teachers just couldn't get him to do anything while he was there.

Tom rummaged through the cupboard for a tolerably clean bowl but there was none. He sighed. Jed watched him in a disgustingly angelic way, content to puff smugly on his rolled up joint. Tom wasn't too worried about it. Jed-On-Pot was good. Pot mellowed him and made him a lot less likely to get into a fight in the street. It was Jed-On-Anything-Other-Than-Pot that terrified Tom. And with good reason. It made Jed different. Unpredictable.

"There's some chocolates there if you want breakfast, T" Jed said, gesturing at a half empty box of Roses. Tom murmured his thanks and dipped in, snagging a few. There was no cereal left, let alone milk. Tom gave up, plunking down in one of the few remaining kitchen chairs. Jed leaned back and rested his feet on the table, grinning wickedly. The smell of hash reeked out the entire kitchen.

Tom would have to be careful. Miss Koreshi was his class teacher and she noticed things that other teacher's didn't. The way she looked at him...he was almost sure she knew already the change in his home life since he'd started. The last thing he needed was for her to notice that he stunk of hash every single morning.

Tom sorted through the post, pushing aside the junk mail and slitting open the important bills. Electricity and water. With a jolt of relief he realized that they'd already been paid for. Sometimes dad did that when he went through a longer patch of sober than usual. Cable was another matter. Tom had thirty three pounds and eleven pence stashed on his at all times, to protect it from Jed's pilfering. He knew it wasn't enough and he definitely wasn't going to let on that he had it. That money was his. For emergencies only.

He'd worked hard to get it, too. Delivering for the pizza shop. Paper routes. Stacking newspapers. Even fighting other boys for money. He didn't intend to blow it on cable. He was going to use his money to get away from Jed and dad. But in the mean time, he didn't want to think they couldn't pay bills for anything.

"Jed, d'you have money for cable?" he asked, quaking inwardly. Jed's eyes snapped open and he grinned again, shrugging.

"I might. What's it to you?" Jed replied. He pulled a can of lager from nowhere and swigged it, his eyes dancing with amusement.

"I'm not cutting any deals. Just wanted to know if you could cover cable this month. It's overdue again and I haven't seen dad in days. You heard from him?" Tom asked, changing the subject.

Dad had been a great father. Even for a while after mam left. He'd pulled himself together for a few weeks, making dinner and getting Jed to go to school. And best of all he had helped Tom do his homework. Tom wasn't good at homework. He wasn't good at much, really. His reading was bad, his spelling was worse and writing gave him a headache. Mam used to help him. Then he'd started drinking again and things had slowly fallen to pieces.

"Nope. But when he gets back, things'll change. You'll see Tom. I'm gonna stop getting high and I'm gonna get a job that's permenant and the old man is gonna be fine. You'll see" Jed said. Tom nodded silently. He listened to the same speech every morning. It was painful to hear the false promises but at least Jed wasn't dangerous on pot.

Tom got out of his chair and yawned, trying in vain to smooth down his hair. Jed jumped up and pulled Tom forward into a bear hug.

"Relax, T. I've got the bill" he said. Tom wriggled away as soon as Jed let go, hoping desperately that the smell of pot and cigarettes wouldn't cling to his clothes. Even if Miss Koreshi guessed about what had happened, he wasn't going to help by turning up at school reeking.

"Thanks" Tom replied, turning away. If mam hadn't left... But she had. He forced himself to forget about her. She'd left him behind to deal with dad. And Jed. Not long after she left Jed had gotten worse without her. He'd always smoked but he started getting into heavier stuff. Started with acid and then he'd moved up to coke and heroin. It was mam's fault, Tom reasoned.

Without another word he grabbed his raggedy bag, slinging it over one shoulder.

"Catch you later, T!" Jed said brightly, raising his joint in salute before turning his attention bag to the lager. Tom darted out of the kitchen. No Jed. You'll never catch me in one of your traps he vowed silently.

By the time Tom had reached the school his home fears were tucked away in a drawer at the back of his mind and his school fears paraded through his head. He wasn't scared of any of the kids. He was short but tough. He had barely any friends because the others were wary of him. He could see it in their eyes. Nobody would dare tease him just in case the rumours about his fighting proved to be true.

He was avoided more than anything else in school.

It was the teachers he was scared of. The work. He'd been able to cope while he had mam to help him with her gone and dad always drunk things had gotten worse. He dumped all over work because he couldn't do it. He hated the tellings off. If he didn't like a particular subject, he didn't bother to show up. What was the point, anyway? He'd just get bored and get told off for day dreaming. And then the teacher would yell at him and he'd yell back and trouble would take over.

They couldn't tell his parents because for all intents and purposes, he didn't have any. On the off chance that dad was sober he never answered the phone anyway. The school hadn't been in contact with his home in months. Soon he'd drop it, like Jed. Get a full time job. Until then he'd just coast through and-

"Tommy Mitchell, in my classroom! Now!"

Tom groaned. Miss Koreshi. She'd want to talk about what had happened yesterday when Mr. Clarkson had brought him back into the school. Tom's eyes narrowed at the memory. Jed had texted him to tell him that dad had disappeared and he'd raced off to help find him only to have Clarkson nearly kill him. Stupid prat had dragged Tom back to the school. And then Haydock had thrown him out because he threw a chair at Bethany Lambert.

He tried to ignore her and continue walking but she followed him, calling his name. After a minute he turned around, glaring. She had her hands folded across her chest and she looked mad. Wordlessly she gestured for him to get into her classroom and he did so without protest. He perched on one of the desktops and she stood in front of him, frowning. He waited for what was to come, flinching inwardly.

"Tommy, what has gotten into you? Ever since we got back you've been in trouble constantly. You won't go to classes. You're teachers are all complaining. Something's gone wrong, hasn't it? Is it you? Me? The work? Something has to change, Tommy" she said softly.

Tom shifted his bag slightly on his back and waited for her to continue.

"I've noticed you're very solitary. You've not got many mates here, have you? Are you trying to get thrown out, Tommy? Because you're going the right way about it. What can I do to help you make-"

"Nothing, alright!? You can't help me so get it outta your head that you can! I never asked for you help so just leave it!" Tom yelled angrily. His voice crackled a bit towards the end and Miss Koreshi smiled. Tom waited a second and then grinned back crookedly, tilting his head to one side.

"Not quite there yet, you know. You're a bit short to be yelling at teachers like that" she said, laughing. Tom let his smile widen and he laughed for the first time in what felt like ages. He felt a yearning inside of him. Miss Koreshi reminded him of mam. He could tell her everything, couldn't he? She would help him with Jed and maybe then they'd find dad and-

Clarkson came into the room then, his eyebrows low, furrowed, worried. He signalled for Miss Koreshi to go out with him and Tom waited patiently while they talked. They both glanced in at him through the glass but he ignored it. Maybe with Miss Koreshi's help he could write to mam. With proper spelling and nice writing and stuff. Maybe if he could prove to mam that he was smart she'd want to come back and...

"Tommy" Miss Koreshi came back in with Clarkson. They stood side by side, looking at him with blatant pity. Tom's fists clenched tightly, his nails digging into his palms. What had he done now? Did they know he couldn't do reading? His stomach churned and he felt himself blush. If they ever found out that he couldn't do what little kids could, he'd never get over it. He'd been getting by it for so long, if they found out now....

"Tommy, the police have just called Mr. Clarkson. It's your father, Tommy. He's been found" she said. Tom's world spun around him. They knew now that dad was a drunk. They'd nick him and everybody would find out. Stupid Flick Mellor would know first because of her poxy dad. They'd take him and Jed to the social and he'd never find mam. The whole school was going to know about his dad. They'd all talk about it, whisper behind his back and it'd go round every time anyone said anything. All the teachers and...

"He's dead".

Wait. What?

There you have it. Another chapter. Do you think I should give Colin back to Matt? What would Adi think? *grins*. Poor Tom. I've decided to rope him into the story. And don't worry. Rachel and Eddie will have a chunk of the next chapter.

Au revoir, the update will be up in the next few days!

-DIBAW