This definitely feels like I've missed the boat a bit... College, exams and a trip to Copenhagen that ended in a little disaster are all to attribute to it.

Anyway, if you follow me on Twitter, then you know that this idea just hit me. And if this is your first time reading the first part of this, then can you just appreciate how right I was at the beginning here? Because I started writing this before the series aired.

This is going to be very ad-hoc. I'm not really finding the time to write. And if I do, then I am not writing as much to catch up for when I haven't been writing... Hence why there hasn't been anything new from me for a while (I've started the next long fic, I've just only written 3 of 25 chapters... so that isn't coming any time soon...)

Please enjoy this and let me know what you think.

One

The whole thing felt very familiar for both of them.

And as the pillow left her hands, they both knew that he was going to move out of the way before it hit him.

Mainly because they had done this so many times in the 17 years that they had known each other now.

"Of course, they had to send you," Kim said as she picked up the next pillow off the sofa that was within her reach. "Out of everyone in the LEA, they had to send you."

"I was the only one available," Andrew said.

At one point, Kim knew that she had loved the sound of Andrew's voice. There were times when she could have listened to him talk forever. But when he was annoying, like he was currently, it was like nails on a chalkboard.

And she wasn't naïve enough to think that the LEA would leave Waterloo Road alone. Too much had happened at the end of term for the LEA to disappear. Lindon hadn't helped things along with Danny Lewis. The kid she was going to use as a shining example had messed things up further for her. And there wasn't a moment that went by where she wasn't trying to work out why Danny made the decision that he did at the end of the last term.

"So the love affair with Rwanda is over then?"

"You know it's too dangerous at the moment. Where I was on the border with Congo…"

"That didn't stop you last time." She hissed.

Maybe one of the best things about their long relationship was that Andrew knew when to back down. And what the silence between them held more hurt than ever before. Because she had needed him and she had begged him to stay and be another shoulder for her to cry on. And he had left.

"Kim," Andrew said softly.

She could feel her resolve go. She was in danger of letting him in again. She was sure that they could do the same dance that they had done over the course of knowing each other. It would be easy to allow their bad history to repeat itself.

"I needed you," Kim said, hating how her voice wobbled.

Andrew shook his head. "You didn't. You needed the time to mourn Dexter without us getting tangled up again."

"You saw how I was."

"Which is why I needed to go. Kim, you weren't going to do what you needed to do with me there."

"I thought you loved him."

It wasn't very often that Andrew allowed his guard to drop and show emotions. It was very British of him and just showed how things had changed in their lifetime. But part of Kim hoped that it did hurt him as much as his face showed. Because maybe Andrew would have been the father figure that Dex supposedly needed. And maybe Andrew would have treated him like his own. And not just because Dex was a part of her.

"You know I do, Kim," Andrew said, with the hurt in his voice clear. "I see him in every six-year-old boy I come across. I sometimes sit there and think about where he would be in his life now. I half expect to see him wandering the corridors and then I remember. I cared about him, Kim. Just as much as you did."

The pillow in her hands turned from a potential weapon to something to comfort her as she started to hug it.

"I'm sorry," Andrew said.

"No. I wanted a rise out of you. I know… I know you loved Dex as much as I love him. And you're right. He should be wandering these corridors."

He sighed and took a step closer to her. "We can't keep doing this, Kim. We go round and round and make the same mistakes." He paused for a moment and Kim knew that he had gone back in professional work mode. "Look, I am not here to take over. I am not him. I am sure Erica would want me to be a little more involved than I plan to be but, and I am only reminding you, I've always said that you would make a brilliant headteacher. I just think circumstances haven't made things easy for you and that is what I am here for. I know you would prefer it if Rachel was standing here but at least it was one of us. Meaning that I want you to succeed as much as you want to. And you haven't got someone who would want to take over or let it go to chaos when it starts to go wrong."

"Okay. But what is the actual reason you are here?"

"To assess the school and senior management and compile a report to show the areas where it is lacking and where more support is needed or if things are too far gone and…"

"I need to be replaced?"

"It isn't going to come to that, Kim."

"Because we are bezzie mates."

"No, because I don't want to see any headteacher and school fail. Usually, it is because the support that they've been crying out for hasn't happened because it has fallen on deaf ears. And as you know, sometimes, people only start listening because the most extreme situation has occurred. But my stance and the LEA's stance does not align."

"Not at the moment, at least."

"I'm just saying that I am not the enemy here."

"Are you sure?"

They stared each other down. This was usual territory for them. The back and forth. The debate. The opposing sides.

It wasn't how Kim wanted them to be when they were interrupted by Lindon and Joe. Although, she wondered what new problems that would bring to the table. As she had a deputy that she didn't trust and one that she suspected only knew the bare minimum of what had happened at the end of the last term. Which wasn't fair on Joe. Maybe she should bring him up to date with everything. Or would that just complicate things further?

"This is Andrew Treneman. He's been sent by the LEA to assess the situation here." Kim said, feeling like that was the best way to explain the situation and felt like it was the best policy to be honest.

By the way that both Lindon and Joe looked between them, it was clear that they saw the tensions that they probably weren't trying to hide. In all aspects, Andrew was the enemy. They didn't need to know that there was history between them as well.

"This is Joe Casey and Lindon King, my deputies," Kim said to introduce them to Andrew, choosing the order carefully.

"Surely this isn't necessary," Lindon said.

"Why? Because Erica has you."

It was already an uncomfortable atmosphere in the office but that added another level of uncomfortableness that shone on Joe's face. And, realistically, he was probably the most awkward and the one that hadn't caused any of the awkwardness.

"So I have competition," Andrew said, breaking the silence.

When Kim threw the pillow at him, she knew that he wasn't going to move. That wasn't the reason why there wasn't the same anger behind it as the one she threw earlier. It was all part of the routine. It was that she could never stay angry at him for very long. She would still hold the grudge. She could do that forever. But, most of the time, she just couldn't stay angry at him. Because he would always come back into her life when she wanted the least but needed him the most. And she hated that fitted into this situation.

Andrew could have said so much more to Kim about the new Waterloo Road. He actually laughed at the gates when there were police officers and the metal detectors.

It was a different school.

But there were aspects that felt like it was the old Waterloo Road.

The Waterloo Road that they both loved.

"So you know Kim then?" Wendy said next to him.

"Yes, I do."

"What was all that about?"

"What do you mean?"

"I've seen her angry but that felt different."

"It felt the same to me."

"If you think I won't ask her…"

Andrew chuckled. "Then you haven't known her for very long. No offence, but she isn't going to tell you any more than I am."

"So you know what you've done wrong."

"Of course. Because what I did was a conscious decision that I had consulted a mutual friend of ours over. The situation wasn't fair or right and I felt like I was doing more harm than good."

Andrew hoped that would feed Wendy's curiosity for the moment. Everything with Dexter was still raw and old feelings had been brought to the surface once more.

He knew why he left.

He knew he had to leave.

Rachel agreed with him that it wasn't helping things.

But maybe he didn't go about things in the right way.

Yet, sometimes, there was no right way when it came to Kim.

"Here we go," Wendy said as they stopped outside of a room. "It's nothing special but that was the brief when I was told to find the LEA representative an office. Oh, and it has its own kettle. Because Kim doesn't want you snooping around the staffroom and upsetting the staff."

"So I've got the box room," Andrew said with a chuckle. "I've been given worse."

He pushed on the handle to find a more spacious room than he had first imagined. There was, at the very least, a full-sized desk and a window. With a smaller desk in the corner with said kettle, a box of tea, a jar of coffee and a bag of sugar. Underneath that was a mini-fridge.

Andrew wasn't lying. This was almost luxury compared to what he'd been given in the past.

"We haven't supplied milk," Wendy said. "We go through enough as it is without having to supply you as well."

"Glad I don't have it in my drinks then." He placed his bag down on the table and turned to look at Wendy who looked a little surprised. "The last office I was given didn't have a window. I almost feel like I am at the Ritz here."

"I won't tell Kim that. Or Donte."

"Donte?"

"He's the caretaker."

"Donte as meaning Donte Charles."

"So you've known Kim that long, have you?"

"Yeah. We've known each other a while." Andrew huffed. "Blimey. It's a small world. That must mean Chlo is about to."

Andrew felt his heart sink at the same pace that Wendy's face dropped.

"She died. On the first day of the new school year."

The news hit him as hard as it hit him when he'd heard of Izzie's death. And once they heard the news, it was too late. They had missed the funeral. He hoped that Kim had managed to say a proper goodbye to Chlo to make up for the one that she never gave Izzie.

"Poor Donte," Andrew said. "And poor little Izzie." He paused for a moment. "But I bet she isn't so little anymore. The last time I saw her, she was a baby."

Silence fell between them and Andrew took those couple of moments to remember Chlo. There were lots of people who didn't deserve to die young. But he knew a couple of the things that Chlo had been through. And for that, he felt like she deserved to live a full life.

"I assume I am meant to stay here and keep my head down," Andrew said to break the silence.

"I think so," Wendy said. "I think I was meant to be of assistance but I might double-check with Kim whether that still stands."

"Trust me. She doesn't hate me that much. By the end of the day, we'll be acquaintances once more."

Wendy looked sceptical at his statement but left him to his makeshift office. He took a moment to look around the room once more before he cracked open the window and settled down at the desk. He needed to re-review the notes that the LEA had already made to come up with a plan of how he was going to try and raise them with Kim. And, hopefully, in that time, he would be able to sit down with her and have a proper, professional conversation.