I'm convinced I uploaded this last week... turns out I didn't post it past the doc manager. Thanks to the reviewer for reminding me! :)

I am no expert on the topics discussed in this chapter. I have written them off with WLR have already said & read a few & thought about what I would say so just know that now. I don't know if they should have been more detailed :)

It was a new week at Waterloo Road, Lorraine and Nikki had laughed about Barry's actions and now the two women were about business the second they step through the school doors.

Michael was stood just on the outskirts of the gates, making sure every pupil got in safely.

"Good morning," Christine greeted.

"Good morning," Michael replied. "Got in early I see?"

"Yeah, Connor wanted to meet up with Imogen," she nodded. "Is that Lorraine's car?" Miss Mulgrew pointed over to the red Ferrari pulling up.

"It would seem that way, c'mon let's go meet them."

Back in the car, Lorraine and Nikki were getting their things together.

"Remember: kick ass today," Lorraine pointed to her partner, giggling.

"I shall do," joining in with the blonde's laughter.

"Good," Lorraine whispered before pressing her lips to Nikki's for a brief moment.

"Did you see that?" Christine said in her heavy Scottish accent. She pulled on Michael's arm.

"What?"

"Just then, Nikki and Lorraine."

"No."

"I could have sworn they kissed."

"Settle down, settle down!" Ms Boston projected as she walked into her classroom.

"Where you been, Ms?" Barry asked.

"It's none of your business, Barry," she put her belongings on her desk. "Who let you in here? Wasn't the door locked?"

"Michael, Ms," Barry replied.

"It's Mr Byrne to you Mr Barry," Nikki answered before clapping her hands together to get the attention of the class. "Right guys, I want you to pair up and log onto a computer please."

"Um, Ms Boston?"

"Yes… um, Kacey or Robby?"

"Robby, please," he breathed out. "Can I talk to you about something? At lunch I mean or any time later."

"Yeah, sure, is it about this class?" Ms Boston questioned.

"No, more personal, if that's okay?"

"Yeah, course," she looked around the room. "Um, tell you what, meet me in here at lunch, okay?"

Robby nodded. "Thanks, Ms."

Lorraine was typing away at her desk. She still had issues with the school to sort out. She had putting it off for the past couple weeks to actually focus on being in the school and what was happening with the students.

"Morning, Ms Donnegan," Michael cheered as he walked past and into his office.

Lorraine looked up, confused. "Wha—" she looked over at her sister, "what's with him?"

Sonya shook her head. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure if he was being sarcastic or not."

"I don't know. Why don't you go ask him?" she pointed over to his office door.

Lorraine nodded, getting up from chair.

She knocked lightly on the door.

"Come in."

Lorraine stepped in slowly and closed the door at the same pace. "I was just wondering if you were okay."

"And why wouldn't I be?" he leaned back in his chair.

"Nothing," she stuttered. "It's just out there, you seem a little off."

Michael shook his head no, twiddling a pen between his fingers.

Sensing there was awkward tension between the pair; Lorraine accepted the conversation was over. "Okay then…" she drifted off and headed towards the door.

"Lorraine," Michael spoke up when her hand was gripped on the door handled. "Just… just be careful with what you do with your future."

And on that note, not a hundred per cent on what he meant, she left the room.

"Where you going, sis," Barry followed Kacey/Robby down the hallways.

"Barry, I'm Robby now, please stop calling me your sister," he pleaded. "I'm going to talk to Boston, is that okay with you, brother?"

"Is that why you spoke to her during PRU?" Barry grabbed onto Robby's shoulder to stop him making it any nearer to Ms Boston's classroom.

"Yes," he whispered. "Now let go of me." Robby tried to push Barry away.

"Oi," the brothers' heads turned at the sound of Ms Boston's voice. She had heard them from her desk where she was waiting for Robby. Luckily she had lifted her head from her paperwork in time to see Barry's hold on his brother and stop it going any further. "What do you think you're doing? Let go now."

"You alright, gorgeous? Just wondering why my sister here was going to visiting you, that's all." He smiled.

"Yeah, well, you can let go of him for a start," Boston got in between them, pushing Barry away. "Now leave. Robby, go on into my room."

"What's going on here?" Lorraine questioned walking in on a mess she wasn't expecting. She was purely trying to find out were Nikki was.

"Get him out of here please, Kac—Robby, wants to talk to me about something," Nikki explained, walking towards the door.

"Yeah, course," Lorraine grabbed Barry by the collar. "To the cooler it is for you."

"You're still a girl, Kacey!" Barry shouted as he was escorted out.

Nikki rolled her eyes and took a deep breath in before stepping into the room to a sadden looking confused teenager.

Nikki didn't say anything, instead she grab a chair and sat next to him.

"What's this about then?" she started.

"Remember last term you told me I could talk to you about anything if I needed to?" Ms Boston nodded. "Why was that?"

"Because I understand what you're going through—"

"How could you understand?" Robby started to raise his voice. "You have no idea what I'm going through."

"Hey, hey, calm down." She breathed. "I do. The confusion. The trying to figure out who you are, what you are and what you want to be. I've been there myself."

"What, were you born a boy or something?" He looked directly at her as if he had finally found someone else that understood, unlike his brother.

"No."

"Then how?"

"If you'd let me finish?" Nikki chuckled. "Now if I tell you this, you have to promise to keep it to yourself, okay? Just like I will keep this talk between the two of us," she held her pinkie-finger out. "Promise?"

Robby laughed at Ms Boston's actions. "I'm not eight Ms… but… I promise."

"Okay then," Boston dropped her hands to her lap. "I'm gay. So all the hurt and confusion you're going through, I've been there. I know it's not quite the same but I, like you, had to figure out who I am."

"How old were you?" Robby didn't make eye contact; instead he kept his eyes fixed on his own hands that were shaking.

"About your age, this is why I'm telling you. I've been in that bubble, if you want to call it that, of denial, wondering why it has to be me that was gay, or transgender in your case. Why couldn't it happen to somebody else, am I right?"

Robby nodded.

"Is that what you wanted to know or have I just said something I could later regret?" Nikki looked at the confused boy.

"No, I won't tell anyone," he shook his head. "I just knew that you'd be one to understand and you telling me your story has helped me with my feelings. I know I'm not gay. I'm attracted to women but I see myself as a guy, I imagine a girl calling me Robby being able to walk on a beach without a shirt on I don't see myself looking in the mirror and saying 'you're a proud lesbian,' I'm screaming 'you're a boy' and it hurts to know I don't have my brother or my mother's support." He wiped the tear that had fallen.

"Hey, it's okay. It gets better, I promise you," Ms Boston touched Robby's hand for a brief moment. "Let's wrap it up there, yeah? You should get something to eat but if you ever want to talk about this again, you know where I am."

"Thank you, Ms Boston. You're alright, you know," he smiled. "Don't listen to those who don't like you for running laps, they don't know you properly."

Nikki let out a small laugh. "You're welcome, Robby. You're a good kid." The two of them stood and shook hands before going their separate ways.

What neither of them knew is Barry had escaped the cooler and had been listening to everything the two of them just discussed.

Lorraine unlocked the door to her penthouse. It was twilight by the time she and Nikki got off at work. The way the sun shone through her windows made the place feel warm—the perfect setting for Lorraine to get into her trackie-bottoms, as she called them, put the fire on and watch a movie with a bag of popcorn.

After enjoying their well-earned pizza, Lorraine and Nikki had made their way to the couch where Lorraine turned her radio on a low volume and they began to enjoy a glass of wine. Lorraine had gone and changed into something more comfortable. It wasn't going to be her trackie-bottoms, sadly, as she did have a guest over, a regular guest at that, but she was going to make sure what she did chose was the tight dress she had been in all day.

The time Lorraine was out of the room, gave Nikki time to in take her surroundings. It was clear Lorraine was rolling money—it wouldn't shock her if Ms Donnegan has had a "bath in money". It made Nikki wonder what the blonde saw in Nikki. She wasn't rich; she just about managed to scrap two pennies together before her job at Waterloo Road. She drove a truck for Christ sake. How was that supposed to compare to Lorraine's Ferranti?

The penthouse had to be at least five times the size of her little flat. It was beyond clean; you could see your reflection on her tilled floor. Maid? Probably. Every piece of furniture looked like it had been brought from Harrods or some other expensive store that Nikki didn't know the name of. She'd dread to think about the clothes in the wardrobe.

Nikki laughed at her thoughts for a second. She had been spending time here for the past two months.

"You alright?" Lorraine questioned as she walked past Nikki to sit on the end of the cream couch. She was tying up her hair into a messy bun as she walked, dressing in a plain jumper that fell off one shoulder and a pair of leggings. Nikki couldn't help but think what this beautiful woman saw in her.

"Uh?" the brunette was snapped from her thoughts.

"You looked out of it," she giggled, picking up her glass and bringing it to her lips.

"Yeah, sorry," Nikki shook her head, wiping her hand across her forehead. "It's been a weird couple of days."

Lorraine gave a small nod with a side smile. "You don't think he saw us this morning, don't you?"

"Huh? Wha—who?" Nikki looked at her.

"Michael."

"What about him?"

Lorraine placed her glass back on the coffee table. She shifted, bringing her legs under her, she faced Nikki. "I think he saw us in the car this morning."

"What like every day since we got back?" she let out a small laugh.

"No," Lorraine pushed on Nikki's shoulder briefly. "I mean do you think he saw us… kiss… this morning?"

Nikki sat up a little herself. "What, that was, like, a second long? I doubt it." She tried to ease Lorraine, seeing her expression change.

"Yeah but he's been off with me all day—" Nikki went to interrupted her but Lorraine waved it off. "You don't understand, I've known that man since I was at school. He was my teacher. He was the one that pushed me to make my own goals so to see him like this it's normal."

"Okay," Nikki rested a hand on Lorraine's knee, "I understand. Why do you think it will affect your relationship with him?"

"I don't think it will in term of 'oh is she gay,'" she brushed off. "I think it has more to do with what I said to him first day back."

"Which was?"

"I told him he should not get too involved with Christine in case it affects the workplace."

"And," Nikki was confused.

"Well, it's hypocritical, isn't it?" Lorraine appointed. "I can't judge him, tell him to see a fellow staff member if I'm doing the same, can I?" she scratched the back of her neck, nervously.

Nikki simply smiled at the blonde. She pulled her blazer off, feeling the room get hotter. She picked up her wine and ran her finger round the ring of the glass before putting it back down, realising she didn't want it.

"How old were you when you figured it out?" Nikki whispered. She was desperate for a subject change. The thought of knowing someone she worked with knowing about the possible relationship she was in made her nervous although she wasn't sure the topic she had changed to was going to be less comfortable.

Lorraine breathed out heavily. Normally she liked to avoid this subject but this was Nikki, they had been seeing each other for some time now and she knew it would come up sooner or later and she felt comfortable with this woman—comfortable enough to share her story. "Okay, bear with me."

Nikki realised she had make Lorraine uncomfortable. "No-no, it's fine you don't have to te—"

"No, I want to," Lorraine breathed again. "It's just something I've never been open about."

She composed herself before starting. "I think I was fifteen, fourteen when I started realising I wasn't like my friends. They were always talking about boys—how they wanted to get a boyfriend, loving all the boy bands. Talking about sex—that made me cringe, they're saying what they'd do to them and when it came to me having to explain I felt awkward saying how I had never thought about and then I'd get the 'are you a lesbian then?' questions, you know?" Nikki nodded. "And I would deny it straight away I would simply say I'm focusing on my school work; they weren't my priority like the other girls. Around about that time was when I started business in the playgrounds so the excuse worked and it was when Michael became my teacher as well. I was a bit of a wild child before him, I was selling the wrong things, I guess you could say it was illegal and I was a bit of a bully," Lorraine looked at Nikki who was focused on her, she smiled. "I think that was taking my anger and frustration out on them, that's what all bullies do. I realise that now. It was me denying myself of what I was and Michael taught me how to make it into a real business."

"What's that got to do with coming out?"

"Well, you know Portia De Rossi?" Lorraine asked. When she got a confused look back, she added: "Ellen DeGeneres' wife?" Once Nikki nodded, Lorraine continued, "I was like her—I put business before pleasure. I made work forget what was going on inside. Yeah, I had one night stand both male and female during my time at college but it didn't feel right, those are not my kind of thing. I also didn't tell my Mum until I was in my late teens—she's a very old fashioned woman, I was scared what she might say but she was supportive then I got a serious girlfriend and that was get until she ran out with a man she'd known since her childhood."

"Like Ellen, then, with that Anne woman?" Nikki added.

"Very similar," Lorraine nodded. "I was heartbroken. I was with her for a very long time so I threw myself into business." She looked down at her lap. "You've got to be my first relationship in about ten years."

Nikki went to open her mouth to say something but closed it and let the blonde's words sink in. They sat in silence for a moment.

The darkness of the penthouse, just the moonlight and a few candles made the place look like something you see in an advertising magazine.

"I had no—"

Lorraine didn't let Nikki finish. She shook her head and moved herself closer to Nikki and pressed her lips gently to the brunette's. Nikki didn't object instead she parted her lips gently and placed her hand on the blonde's neck as Kiss Me by Ed Sheeran played in the background, Nikki felt Lorraine's hand undo the first few buttons on her blouse…

My heart's against your chest

Your lips pressed to my neck…