I'm sorry... :)

6:34am. Clara hadn't slept, but she'd managed to pretend enough to convince Danny she was so he did sleep. She'd had 6 hours to think over what was going on and she had made a decision so she climbed out of bed, pulling on her jeans and a jumper before grabbing her phone and car keys off the side before making her way downstairs. She made her way out to the car, going through each door quietly so as not to wake Danny who was still sound asleep.

She sat outside Joel's house for an hour before she saw movement. He'd always been a morning person so she knew he'd be up early. She kept reading the email over and over, getting angrier the more she did. As soon as the curtains in the lounge were open she jumped out of the car and stormed to the door, banging on it.

"Alright alright I'm coming!" she heard his voice and her hands clenched in anger at the sound of it. The moment the door opened she took a step forward and slapped him. "Woah Clara! What the hell?!"

"Leave us alone. I don't know what you're getting out of this but it's not funny," she told him, but he still looked confused.

"I don't understand, I haven't seen you in almost a year?" he replied, slightly nursing a stinging cheek.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about! This is stupid, I thought you'd grown out of all this!" she told him and thrust her phone in his hand. He looked down at it and read through the email.

"Clara, this wasn't me," he told her, "I swear this wasn't me, I know my past with you is far from ideal but I would never disrespect what you went through, nor would I disrupt any happiness – I know you deserve it," Joel handed her phone back. "Clara I did love you, I did and I won't lie about that but that was then, this is now and I don't know who this is." Clara stared at him for a moment before realising he was telling the truth and took a step back, leaning against the wall just inside his door and sliding down it.

"I'm so sorry," she cried and Joel went over, kneeling in front of her.

"Clara what's going on? This has really rattled you, do you have any idea who else it could be?" he asked. "Someone has photos of you and this guy who I presume is your new partner? They're threatening you Clara, you need to call the police." She shook her head, pulling her knees up to her chest.

"Danny doesn't need this, he doesn't deserve this. I can't put him through the stress, I'll just tell him I found them and it's sorted. I can deal with it myself, no police," Clara told him and took a deep breath before standing up, but as soon as she did she went dizzy again. Joel managed to catch her.

"Right you, I'm getting you in the lounge and we're calling Danny to come and pick you up," he told her, helping her through.

"No, no Danny can't drive, he's ill he can't… that's why I can't let him get stressed," she sighed, "just give me a few minutes and I'll be fine."

"You are not driving home Clara, no way I can't allow it," Joel helped her sit down. "I'll get you tea, then I'll drive you home myself. Drop you at the door, I won't come inside – promise. In fact I'll drive your car and walk back, that way it won't be left here." Clara couldn't argue anymore, just nodding and leaning back on the sofa while he went and boiled the kettle.

Where are you? Clara looked down at her phone as Danny's text came through. She took a moment before picking it up, replying simply.

I'll be back soon x No explanation, but hopefully enough to keep him quiet for now. She stuck her phone in her pocket and looked up as Joel reappeared with tea. "Thank you, I'm sorry Joel…" she took the mug from him.

"Don't be, I can see why you'd think it was me. You do need to find out who this is though," he replied. Clara nodded, sipping at her tea. "You can't do this alone."

"I can, I will. I'll be fine, I usually am," she tried to smile reassuringly.

Joel shook his head, "listen, I know I won't be able to change your mind right now, but when you realise I'm right you can ring me," he reached over and picked a card up off the table, handing it to her.

"How posh," she replied, studying the card, "moving up in the world?"

"Just helpful, I'm serious – call me if you need to," he told her, "no strings, just a friend Clara."

She didn't respond, just slipped the card in to her pocket and continued drinking tea. About half an hour later she stood up and Joel took the hint, following her out. He did drive her home, parking up on the drive.
"Thank you," she replied, climbing out of the car and walking round, taking the keys from him.

Joel nodded, "it's fine, and don't be a stranger if you need someone." He told her, waving as he headed off back down the road on foot. Clara watched him walk off before finally going inside the house. Danny appeared in the hall before she'd even got the door shut.

"Hey what's going on?" he held her loosely, looking up and down, "you've been crying."

Clara took a moment to consider her reply before responding, "I found him, the guy that sent that message. I sorted it, he's gone now," she hated lying, but it was better this way.

"That's good isn't it?" Danny asked, brushing her hair out of her face.

"Yeah, it is, it was just really hard… facing something from the past. It's done now though," she told him, smiling gently and hugging him, "breakfast?" Clara shrugged her coat off, hanging it up and making her way through to the kitchen.

The next few weeks passed without incident. School was as straight forward as it never was, but they made it through together as they always did. More emails came through, but Clara hid them from Danny. She started noting things down, trying to work out who it could be. There were more threats, but nothing that seemed realistic and she started to be able to push it by for now, acting like everything was okay. It almost seemed easier Danny not knowing, he was able to distract her. It was Thursday night and Clara had just got home from yet another after school meeting, getting in to find Danny cooking dinner. She dropped her bag on the sofa and walked in, wrapping her arms around him from behind and kissing his neck gently.
"Hello you," she smiled, but he didn't respond, "hey what's up?" she asked.

"I had a visitor tonight," he told her, still facing the oven where he was stirring something on the hob.

"Oh?" Clara asked, letting go of him and moving to stand beside him, only now seeing his face. "Your cheek?!" she immediately went in to inspect it, but he stepped back. "Danny, please let me look…" she took his hand carefully. "What happened? Who came? Did they do this?"

"No, I was just so upset I hit myself in the face," Danny replied sarcastically and Clara sighed, letting go of his hand.

"I'm just trying to help Danny, why are you being like this?" she asked him.

"Because you lied!" he finally shouted. Clara jumped a little at this, shocked at his response.

"I was sorting it, I didn't want you to stress and I had no idea they'd do this!" Clara didn't know what to do; she just stood there looking at him. "I'm sorry, I thought I knew who did it but I was wrong…"

"Stop lying!" he shouted; now she was confused.

"I'm not, I got it wrong…" she tried to explain, but he wasn't having any of it.

"You were round his house for over an hour Clara! And you lied about it!" Clara couldn't understand, why would Joel tell him? Only then did she realise what must have happened.

"No Danny, no you've got this all wrong," she told him, taking a step forward, but he took another step back and pulled a photo out of his pocket, throwing it at her.

"You can't deny it anymore!" he told her. Clara picked up the photo from where it had landed, shaking her head as she saw. It had been taken through Joel's front window and showed him helping her through to the sofa, but she could see why it could be taken very differently.

"Danny no," she replied, "no you're getting this all wrong. Who came to see you today?"

"I've no idea Clara, I've no bloody idea but he told me all about this little thing and when I tried to defend you this happened!" he pointed to the cut on his cheek, "he gave me the photo and left. So I hope you're happy, enjoy dinner." Danny told her, walking away.

"No you need to listen to me!" Clara tried to follow him but he ran and before she knew it he'd disappeared from sight. She went back in to the house, turning the oven off and picking the photo back up, staring at it for a moment before screaming and screwing it up, throwing it at the wall. She went to grab her phone to call him, but quickly realised Danny's was still on the side. Instead she ran upstairs and found Joel's card that she'd put in a drawer, dialling the number.

He was round within 10 minutes. Clara told him to let himself in which he did, running in to the lounge where she was curled up, staring at the picture lying on the floor.
"What happened?" he asked, following her gaze, "can I?" Clara nodded and he walked over, picking it up and uncurling it to see the picture of them. "What the hell is this?"

"Whoever is doing this, they showed that to Danny…" she started, taking a few deep breaths as she tried to keep calm, "they hurt him, hit him, told him to stay away from me and then showed him that. They told him I've been cheating, the evidence is there I don't blame him for believing them but I couldn't get him to listen, I need to explain," she couldn't think straight.

"Clara I'm so sorry, I had no idea…" he stood up, walking over and sitting beside her.

"It's not your fault, I just need to work out who this is, I need to stop them," she wiped her eyes, grabbing her laptop and opening it. "I've put everything together, all the messages, but I don't know. It has to be someone who knew Tom and I, someone who could be this angry that I've moved on…" she sighed, staring at the document she'd put together.

"None of this makes sense, why now? You said you'd been together over 6 months. Who has found out about you recently?" he asked.

Clara scoffed, "everyone…" she sighed a little after, "we only told everyone after Christmas. The only people that knew before were my family and Adrian, anyone else has found out in the new year, so it doesn't really narrow it down."

"Is there anyone at work?" he asked; "I assume you're still at Coal Hill?" she nodded.

"No, no everyone loves Danny, that's why we did this the way we did. School is ruled out, but I don't get who else it could be, outside of school I barely have a life let's be honest here," she smiled a little in an attempt to lighten the mood a little.

"If you're sure it's not someone from work, then it must be someone outside work. Can I look at something?" he pointed to her computer and she nodded, handing it over. Joel started going through her Facebook. "You posted a picture from your holiday just before this started, look," he turned the laptop to face her and she shrugged, nodding.

"Well everyone knew so I figured that was allowed," she explained, "why?"

"I know you claim to have no life outside work, but I would guess that not everyone on here is a colleague?" Joel opened up the picture further, looking through the likes and comments.

"Well no I guess not..." Clara replied, "what are you thinking?"

"You need to go through your friends list, it might give you some answers," he handed the laptop back. Clara took it but put it down on the table, her head in her hands.

"I need Danny back, he can't think I've done this, I need to find him," she stood up, grabbing her keys off the side.

"Clara you can't drive like this," he told her, "let me..."

"If I turn up with you there will that really help the situation? You need to go Joel, in case he turns up you can't be here. I have to do this myself," she told him.

"Because that went so well last time?" he replied and she looked up angrily. "Just saying Clara, you can't do this alone." Joel told her before leaving. Clara watched him go before leaving the house herself, climbing in the car and starting to drive anywhere she could think he might be,

It must have been hours she was driving before she ended up back home, still no closer to finding him. Clara walked through the door, calling out in case he had turned up but there were no signs. It was getting dark outside, cold too and he hadn't taken a coat. She checked her phone again, not sure what she expected to see. Clara scrolled through her contacts again, eventually calling Adrian. She explained what happened, crying down the phone. Adrian drove round, letting himself in and immediately hugging her. "You should have told me Clara, I understand why you didn't want to tell Danny but why not me?" Clara hugged in to him like she hadn't done for months.

"I don't know, I didn't want any of you to worry, I thought I'd work it out and it'd be fine. I was so sure it was Joel at first, I was so convinced, but I was wrong," she told him. A few seconds later, Clara sat up and grabbed her laptop. "Joel said he thinks it could be one of my Facebook friends. I posted a picture once everyone knew, well, you saw, he thinks whoever this is saw that and that's how they know, that's why they're angry. It still doesn't make sense, but it might help me find out who did this," she told him.

"Wait, step back, why would Joel see your Facebook?" Adrian asked.

"He doesn't, at least not in the way you're thinking. I called him after Danny left, he came up with the theory, had a look through and saw the picture, he suggested I look through my friends but I went looking for Danny instead, maybe he's right, maybe this is the answer," she clicked through to the list.

"Am I hearing this right? Did you really call over the man your fiancé walked out over round the moment he'd left?!" Adrian asked, really confused over her actions.

Clara looked up at him, "I wasn't thinking, but there's nothing going on Adrian! He knew about the messages, well the first one, he was the only person I could think of. He's changed, it wasn't him, he just wanted to be a friend Ade."

Adrian sighed, nodding, "we can't change that now, let's look through this together an see if we can work it out."

They scrolled through, ruling people out (and deleting a few unnecessary friends at the same time). Adrian got up to make tea after a little while, leaving Clara on the sofa. He was just stirring the mugs when Clara shouted through. "Adrian I think I know who it is," she replied. He ran through and she pointed at the screen.

"Fraser? Tom's brother?" he asked, "how did you work that one out?" Adrian quickly went back in and grabbed the mugs, bringing them out and handing her one.

"I didn't, not straight away, but something drew me to his page, and that linked me through to his twitter and... well, look at this," she changed the screen and Adrian read what was on there.

Letting down the one you love is bad enough, throwing it in their face? Even worse.

That wasn't all.

You deserve everything you get, my brother deserved better.

Clara kept scrolling, showing him the latest tweet from this morning.

You'll pay for this. You'll lose him too.

She slammed the lid of her laptop shut, putting it on the table. "I don't get why he's so angry at me! I didn't do anything to him!" She screamed, kicking out.

"Clara, relax, don't go back there again. Look at me," he grabbed her arm and forced her to turn to him. "We're going to sort this, we're going to stop him and get Danny back home, but you need to relax." He kept making eye contact with her until she calmed, waiting for her to nod. "Much better. Now look, it's getting late. You need to sleep, we all have work tomorrow - Danny will be there and I will talk to him - you stay away. Once he's on side, then we focus on Fraser. I know he's watching, but he can't be inside the school and he can't hear us, so just keep calm."

"I wish it was that easy," she sighed.

"I know, but we will get through this. Now come on, bed," he told her, "I'll stay if you want?" Clara nodded.

"The spare bedroom is made up. Thanks Adrian," she stood up, making her way upstairs and taking both hers and Danny's phones up with her.

She didn't sleep, how could she? But she did lie in bed and scroll through Fraser's social media sites, making notes on everything that might help explain. He'd been a big support to her immediately after Tom's death, coming round frequently to check on her, even doing shopping for her. He couldn't stay forever though, eventually moving back to Liverpool where he worked. She stopped talking to him as she did with everyone when she retreated, and recently she hadn't really thought about him at all. None of Tom's family spoke to her anymore, she'd just accepted how it was. Clara kept going through and realised something - just as this had started he had also started hiding his location on all this posts. "Oh Fraser what are you doing?" she sighed, continuing through until morning.

Adrian left for work early, leaving Clara to wait just in case Danny arrived home before going in, but he didn't. She sat in the living room, watching out the window, uneasy knowing Fraser was probably out there but trying not to focus on that. Eventually she got a text from Adrian telling her Danny had arrived there so she left, grabbing her bag on the way out. Adrian had taken Danny's bag, it was easier than her trying to approach him until he'd spoken to her.

Back at the school, Adrian had watched as Danny walked into the staffroom, made coffee and walked straight back out. Only then did he stand up, heading over to his classroom - this needed saying in private. He knocked on the door and Danny looked up, sighing on sight,

"I have your bag," Adrian told him, walking in and placing it down, shutting the door on the way through. "Where did you go last night?" he asked.

"Hotel, not that it's any of your business," Danny didn't look up, "thanks for the bag."

"Do you really think Clara would ever do this to you?" Adrian asked, "she's the most loyal person I know."

"I didn't, not until I saw the proof. I was fighting her corner until he showed me the photo," Danny replied, a tinge of anger in his voice.

"And what did you see in the photo?" Adrian pulled it out, laying it on the table, but Danny brushed it straight off. He picked it up, putting it back again, "just look Danny, what do you see?" Eventually he gave in and Danny turned away from his computer, looking at the picture.

"They're falling back on the sofa, he's embracing her, what more evidence do you need? She lied to me about where she'd been, she lied to me about this being sorted. Except she didn't, she did sort it, by sleeping with him!" Danny scrunched the photo up in anger, but Adrian pulled it back from him and lay it flat once more.

"He's helping her to the sofa, she nearly collapsed in the hall after she'd burst in and accused him of sending that email. She was wrong, it wasn't him. His name is Joel, he used to work at Coal Hill and he fancied Clara and used to hassle her a lot, especially once her and Tom got engaged. That's why she thought it was him, but she was wrong this time. You're both being played Danny," he told him. Danny looked up at him, "she didn't want to worry you, either of us, she was trying to deal with it herself, but then this happened." Danny suddenly looked shocked, realising the assumption he'd made was far from right. "She doesn't blame you. Do you recognise this man?" Adrian pulled out his phone and bought up the picture of Fraser.

"Yes, that's the man who came to the door, he said he was a friend of Clara's…" Adrian almost laughed.

"That's what we all thought too. This is Tom's brother, it seems he's not a fan of Clara moving on," Adrian told him.

"I need to go and see Clara, is she in?" he asked.

"She should be, just be careful?" Danny nodded. "And we'll all talk later about where we go next."

"Thank you, for being there for her." Adrian nodded, moving to let him leave.

Danny walked down the hall and through the corridors to Clara's room, he knocked on the door but didn't get a response. Looking through the window there was no sign of her in there so he went in, checking the cupboard. There was nothing in there either. Her bag wasn't by the desk, she always put that in her room before going anywhere else. Nonetheless, Danny made his way to the staffroom and looked around. He walked over to Beth and Helen who were sat at the table. "Have either of you seen Clara around?"

"Not this morning, didn't you come in together?" Helen asked.

"No, I was out last night, stayed elsewhere… thanks," he walked out again, going back to find Adrian. "Are you sure she's in?"

"She text me just before I came into you saying she was in the car and about to leave… is she not here?" Adrian asked. Danny shook his head and Adrian quickly pulled out his phone trying to call her. "It's going straight to voicemail, that doesn't make sense."

"I need to get home, this isn't like her at all," Danny looked at the clock. "The bell will be going soon," he ran a hand over her head, trying to work out what he was going to do.

"You can't drive, we can't both go. I'll get Helen and Beth to combine tutors with mine and Clara, you go to yours as normal. Relax, let's not panic before we know anything." Danny took a deep breath and nodded.

"Keep me updated?" Danny asked and he nodded. Slowly Danny left the room and went off to his classroom.

Tutor wasn't easy, they were playing on the fact something was clearly up but he quite frankly didn't care. It felt like forever before his phone flashed. He told the pupils he'd be right back and left the room, going round the corner out of sight before he answered.
"She's not here Danny, she definitely left, but I can't find her. You need to tell Frances what's going on and get down here. I'll call the police." Danny didn't know how to respond, shaking his head in denial.

"Right… see you soon…" Danny hung up, staring at his phone and running off to get everything sorted - he needed to find Clara.