Updates will be a little slower as I'm back at work now but I'll try to update at least once a week, maybe twice or more if I can on my days off :)

Leo didn't know what to think as he stood awkwardly waiting outside Mrs Mulgrew's classroom. His Dad had given him the choice of talking to Mrs Mulgrew or Mr Lowsley and Leo remembered the first day he'd come to Waterloo Road and Mrs Mulgrew had said she'd be there to talk if he wanted. That was yesterday, when things had gotten out of control.Now, Leo was having second thoughts.

He knew Justin and Floyd's fight yesterday had been his fault, even if he hadn't thrown any punches, and he knew they must all blame him. That had caused a bit of awkwardness when Leo had come down for dinner the night before. He'd barley eaten a thing, which only made him feel even more guilty about worrying his Dad and Allie, even if Allie wasn't his Mum Leo still liked her and her children.

"You can go inside if you want Leo." Mrs Mulgrew said, coming from behind him with his Dad.

"Okay." Leo said, glancing at Vaughan before going into the classroom. Mrs Mulgrew and his Dad talked a little outside before she entered the classroom behind Leo.

"So, how was school today?" Leo shrugged. It hadn't been brilliant. The whole school had found out about his self-harming so he'd been treated to pitying stares and murmurs every time he walked past someone. He knew the school wouldn't care half so much if he wasn't the heads son though and that probably made it a lot worse. "You know I can't help if you don't talk to me."

Leo swallowed, knowing he had to at least give this a go if only for his Dad and Justin's sakes. "It was hard."

"I can imagine. No one likes being talked about."

"But it's' something that I'll have to get used to." Leo bit out, a little more angrily than he wanted. His finger nails were tracing over the old scars but Mrs Mulgrew didn't say anything about it.

"For a little while, yes. But come next week there'll be something new for them to talk about." Mrs Mulgrew replied, sending Leo a reassuring smile which Leo hesitantly returned. "I'm glad you agreed to talk to someone about what's happening. I think it's really brave."

"Not really." Leo mumbled, head lowering again. Mrs Mulgrew remained silent, waiting for Leo to elaborate. "I mean, if I wasn't so messed up then I wouldn't need to talk to someone would I? It's not brave, it's just…" Leo paused, unsure what to say. His mind was going back, unbid to Floyd's words before Justin hit him. Even if he and Floyd had talked yesterday, Leo still felt the sting of those words because Floyd was right. He was messed up. Just like Mum.

"I think it is. It took me a long time to talk about my drinking."

"It isn't the same." Leo argued.

"Yes it is. We all have our own methods of coping and drinking was mine. Just like self-harming is yours." Leo didn't know what else to say then. "Maybe you can tell me why you thought it was a good idea though?" Leo didn't answer, again not sure how to answer and a little uncomfortable about talking about that. "Okay. Then how about your Mum and Dad? How did it make you feel when they split up?"

"Bad I guess. Justin took it worse than me." It was true. Justin had started getting more angry and distant ever since Dad left and would refuse to go and see Dad back when Vaughan still lived close by.

"We're not talking about Justin." Mrs Mulgrew replied.

"I missed him but I could still see him. He just didn't live with us." Leo replied. IN all honesty, things hadn't really hit home until his Dad had moved to Scotland with Allie and her children.

"But it was a big change. It must have hurt a lot." Mrs Mulgrew said, obviously not happy with the answer he'd given.

"It would've been better if Mum and Justin handled it better." Leo said, feeling guilty the minute he'd said it. It wasn't his fault that his mum and brother hadn't taken his Dad's leaving well but he still felt like he'd betrayed them by telling Mrs Mulgrew that.

"They didn't handle it well." Mrs Mulgrew asked.

"Can we stop?" Leo asked, suddenly feeling even more uncomfortable than before. Talking about himself was one thing but talking about his family was something else entirely.

"Okay. We'll continue this tomorrow." Mrs Mulgrew finally said after a moment's silence. Leo sighed in relief, glad she'd listened to him.

As Mrs Mulgrew opened the door to let him out, Leo turned around and quickly said: "Thanks Mrs Mulgrew."

"It's no problem Leo." She said and Leo smiled shyly back at her before heading out of the classroom. He felt a little better having talked with Mrs Mulgrew but there was still the nagging feeling at the back of his head that he'd said too much. As if he'd betrayed Justin and his Mum about telling Mrs Mulgrew about the terrible way they'd handled Dad's leaving.

…

Christine was silent as she watched Leo walk away. She hadn't expected Leo to open up so quickly and had been pleasantly surprised. In lessons, the younger Fitzgerald didn't say much but from this small conversation she'd found he was a sweet kid. The only thing worrying her was Leo's reluctance to talk about his brother and Mum. Of course this was the first time they'd gotten to talk but Mrs Mulgrew just hoped Leo would open up about that soon. She had a feeling that maybe his families' reactions to the split had caused Leo's self-harming, and not actually the split. Either way, she knew she would have to tell Vaughan about this.

…

"How did it go?" Vaughan asked Christine as she walked into his office.

"He opened up a little." Christine replied, sitting opposite Vaughan.

"Good." Vaughan couldn't help but feel a little jealous that Leo had opened up to Christine, and not him, but at the same time he was just glad his son was finally talking about what was wrong. "Did he say anything that might explain why he…" Once more Vaughan trailed off, unable to say the words.

"He mentioned Justin and his Mum didn't take you leaving well." It was obvious Christine was uncomfortable saying this but Vaughan just motioned her to continue. He'd already told her what had happened, so she wasn't surprised when Leo talked about it. Thankfully, Vaughan knew Christine wouldn't be discussing his failed marriage in the staff room.

"I don't think any of them did." Vaughan replied, guilt welling up. He didn't realise his actions had caused so much. "Thank you for doing this Christine." Vaughan said, standing up. Leo was standing by the office door, waiting for the lift home. "I'll see you tomorrow." Christine nodded, said her goodbyes and left the room.

…..

The ride home was silent. Allie, Floyd, Tiffany and Justin had already left so it was just Vaughan in the car. His Dad didn't say anything about the therapy but Leo kind of hoped he would. It was like a heavy weight surrounding them. When they pulled up outside the house, Vaughan turned to face Leo.

"The clinic called to say your Mum's ready for some visitors." Vaughan started and Leo felt his attention prick up. "So I thought we could g and visit her this weekend."

"Yes, that would be great." Leo answered. He missed his Mum and couldn't wait to see her and from the way his Dad smiled, Leo guessed that Vaughan was happy by Leo's reaction to the news. As they headed indoors, though, Leo felt a nagging in the back of his head. The thought of seeing his Mum in the clinic was frightening, if she wasn't getting any better. Or worse, if she somehow guessed what Leo had done.

Next chapter: Olga. Also, hope you enjoyed the little bit of Christine, hope it was alright as I wasn't sure how to write her but felt I needed a little of what she thought in here

Anyway, hope you enjoyed and please review :)