(Poppy's POV)

17 hours and 9 minutes...And I'd counted every second. Everything just felt wrong, it was like she was going to walk in any second...It had really sunk in that she was never coming back. Adam had called Melissa, Rachel's sister and she was going to come down with Phillip, Rachel's nephew. I'd not met either of them but they knew about me, Adam and...I couldn't even bring myself to think her name.

I was trying so hard to hold it together for Rachel, but inside I was crumbling...Rachel had been the rock in my life throughout the last 6 months and I probably wouldn't have made it through that without her and now I didn't know what to do...Where to turn...Everything felt wrong. Eating...Sleeping...Breathing. I couldn't even thing about smiling.

I'd been on the phone since 8 trying to sort out school things, Miss Boston and Mr Mead were going to take care of management stuff and Candeece was sorting the kitchen...I'd been ignoring calls from Lara all morning, she'd make me face up to the facts and I just couldn't face it yet...I needed something to concentrate on and I had the perfect idea that would probably keep me busy all day and all night...

First I went into the pool room and opened up the drains to get rid of the water, then I wet into the kitchen filling a bucket with hot water and disinfectant then I dug out some sponges, a scrubbing brush and a toothbrush to get get in between the tiles. I only had some pale blue skinny jeans and a white vest top on, I rolled up my jeans as far as I could and dropped down into the pool once the water had emptied out.

I got down on my knees and after dipping the scrubbing brush in the water I began to scrub...The tiles seemed like my life...No matter how hard I tried to clean them up they were still a mess. Adam came in holding the house phone...He looked at me on my hands and knees in the base.

"Poppy...What are you doing?" He asked

"Cleaning" I answered simply

"Lara's on the phone, she says your phone is switched off. She wants to talk to you?" He said

"I'm not here" I said

"She says she heard you..."

"Oh for gods sake!" I took the phone from him "What!?"

"Hello Poppy" Lara replied

"Sorry...hi...Listen can we not do this now? I have a pool floor to clean"

"I'm trying to help Poppy" She said "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine...Great...Spectacular...Can I go now?"

"Yeah, I'll speak to you later"

(Adam's POV)

Poppy passed the phone back to me and started to scrub the floor again, harder this time. I left her too it and went into the living room...

"How are you doing with all this?" Lara asked

"I don't know what to do. Rachel's hasn't stopped crying long enough to talk to me and Poppy's just trying to stay strong...Sort stuff out...Keep busy but she's just shutting everything out, she doesn't want to face up to what's happened" I told her

"Everyone deals with grief in their own ways, you just have to be there and help them through it..."

"Well Rachel's sister and nephew are coming down to help out with things"

"That's good. It'll do them good to have more support. If you need any help, just give me a ring"

"Thanks"

Soon after I put the phone down the doorbell rang and I opened the door to see Melissa and Phillip. I'd met Melissa a couple of time but it was a first for Phillip...Mel hugged me before walking straight in, Phillip not far behind.

"Where's Rachel?" Mel asked

"She's upstairs"

"Rachel! I'm here!" Mel yelled up the stairs

Oh god...Maybe inviting Melissa round had been a bad idea? She didn't seem to be thinking before she opened her mouth.

"Where's my new niece?" She demanded

"Pool-" I didn't get chance to finish before Melissa had gone

I rushed after her, Rachel might put up with her but Poppy wouldn't and all it took was for Melissa to push her and Poppy would explode like a bundle of TNT next to a naked flame. Poppy was scrubbing in between the tiles with a toothbrush.

"What are you doing?" Mel asked

"Cleaning, what's it gotta do with you?" Poppy replied

"Poppy this is Melissa, Rachel's sister" I told her

"I'd never guess you two were related..."

"Come on Popsicle, cheer up"

"1. Don't call me that! 2. I'll "cheer up" when you decide to think" Poppy snapped