After giving Bolton 30 minutes to cool off, Rachel left her office again, First Aid kit and an ice pack in hand.

She'd hoped giving him some breathing space had given him chance to calm down so he could talk to her. It usually did. She wanted answers as to why he'd suddenly fallen back into old habits, after the way he'd turned things around last year. It wasn't nothing, like he'd kept telling her, she knew that much. Something had upset him, and, after Eddie's revelation, she began to wonder if Earl was the root cause.

But why?

What did Earl have against Bolton?

She wasn't going to push him for answers, that wouldn't help anyone. But she needed something from him, anything, to help her understand.

Calmly, she walked into the cooler, spotting Bolton in the far corner of the empty room. He didn't even acknowledge her when she sat next to him, placing the first aid kit down.

He was holding his right hand, grimacing in pain. Rachel glanced at the bright red, bruised, bloodied and swollen knuckles. His hand was a mess. She wasn't surprised really; he had hit that locker over and over with a powerful force. She wouldn't be surprised if he'd broken something.

Silently, she pushed the ice pack towards him. He took it casually, sighing in relief as he placed it on his swollen knuckles, still refusing to look at her.

Rachel opened the first aid box, taking out what she needed before putting the lid back on.

"Right, here's what's going to happen, Bolton. I'm going to sort out your hand, and then we're going to have a chat, ok?"

"Whatever" Bolton mumbled, sighing heavily

Rachel sighed. She moved the ice pack away from his hand, dabbing away at his knuckles gently with the antiseptic wipe. Bolton winced, his eyes screwed up in pain as the antiseptic sunk into the cuts on his knuckles.

As she continued, she noticed the bandage on her own hand from the glass she'd broken in her anger and frustration last night. She suddenly had an idea.

"You know, Bolton, everyone has different ways of coping when they're angry or upset"

Bolton rolled his eyes

"They don't react like me, Miss" he argued

"You'd be surprised" she sighed

She held up the bandaged palm of her hand. Bolton raised an eyebrow at her.

"Bolton, I'm not perfect, you know I'm not. And I like to think I don't pretend to be. So, between you and me, I broke a glass last night because I was angry, frustrated and upset. I was scrubbing it so hard in the sink, it smashed in my hand" she explained

Bolton wasn't really sure where she was going with this.

"We sometimes do stupid things when we're angry, adults and Head Teachers included. I broke a glass and now my hand needs stitches. You punched a locker multiple times and have damaged your knuckles. We all do it. It's not ideal, Bolton, but we can't always help the way we deal with things. But you know what? You have a wonderful Mum, friends who care about you, and a Head Teacher who is sat in front of you, who wants to hear you out. You can't bottle up your anger like this Bolton, it will only hurt you. You need to talk about it"

Bolton processed her words carefully

"Did you talk about what was making you angry?" He questioned

Rachel nodded

"I did. And you know what, Bolton? It helped"

"That's where me and you are different, Miss. See, I can't talk about it, because all it'll do is land me in trouble" he shrugged

"Bolton, whatever you've done, we can fix! Just talk to me!" She pleaded

"NO!" He yelled

Rachel sighed

"Ok, Bolton. If you don't to talk about whatever is bothering you, that's fine. But tell me about Earl Kelly"

"What about him?" He shot back defensively

"About what he did at,"

"Earl didn't do anything, Miss! I don't even know him!" He snapped, cutting her off mid sentence

"So Mr Lawson imagined him punching you in the privates at lunchtime in Mr Cleaver's boxing session?" She questioned

Bolton paused. She wasn't talking about yesterday's events.

"Oh... that. That was just an accident. No harm done" he shrugged

"Bolton, you don't kick someone in their private area accidentally!" Rachel argued

"We were having a laugh, Miss! Honestly he meant nothing by it!" He insisted

Rachel sighed

"Alright, I'll take your word for it. But I want to know why you were punching that locker, Bolton! You definitely weren't doing that by accident or for a laugh!"

Bolton went silent again

"Fine, don't tell me. I won't push you, Bolton. But if you change your mind, you know where I am, ok?"

Bolton nodded

"If that doesn't heal in a few days, you need to go to the doctors" she added, pointing at his hand

"Alright Miss" he mumbled

"And since you're not going to justify your behaviour and tell me what's going on, you're in lunchtime detention for the next two weeks, and I'll be speaking to your Mum" she explained

Bolton nodded calmly.

Rachel was surprised at his reaction, or lack of. She'd expected him to kick off, not just sit there, staring at the table.

"You can stay in here until four o'clock. If you decide you want to tell me what's going on, I'll be in my office, ok?"

When Bolton didn't respond, she left the cooler, sighing deeply. This was incredibly out of character for Bolton. He was shutting her out, and there was nothing she could do.

Eddie was waiting for her in the office when she got back. She was relieved to see him. If they weren't at work, she'd lie on the sofa with him and melt into his embrace.

Instead, she smiled at him as she wrapped her arms around his waist. Eddie pulled her into his arms, feeling her tense body relax instantly. She looked up at him lovingly.

"Everything ok?" He asked

She nodded, pecking him on the lips

"Bolton won't talk to me. I tried, but he just shut me out. Even when I gave him two weeks lunchtime detention, he didn't bat an eyelid" she sighed

"I'm sure he's fine, Rach. He's probably just having a bad day. It's not the most dignifying thing to be kicked in the balls by a kid who is a year younger than you"

Rachel shook her head

"No, it's more than that, Eddie. He wasn't right this morning, before that even happened. Something is really troubling him and causing him to lash out"

"Rach, relax. Maybe you're right, maybe you're not. Just give him a bit of space and he'll come to you when he's ready to talk, ok?" Eddie reassured, rubbing his hands up and down her arms

Rachel nodded as Eddie kissed her forehead gently. He always knew how to put her at ease. It felt odd, being so affectionate with Eddie in her office, but at the same time, it felt so perfect, so right. Eddie had the power had the power to calm her down and make her feel at ease in an instant. He had a solution to almost every problem. She'd never met anyone quite like him.

"Do you want me to have a word with Bolton? See if I can get through?" he offered

"No, I don't think he wants to listen to anyone right now. I tried to use my bandaged hand as a way to get through to him, to show him he wasn't the only one who had trouble controlling his anger. It made no difference. He seems to think whatever he's done, or whatever is upsetting him, he has to keep secret, otherwise he'll get in trouble" she explained

"In trouble with who?" Eddie frowned

"That's just it, I don't know" she shrugged with a sigh

"I'll talk to Candice; see if she knows anything, ok?" Eddie suggested

Rachel nodded

"It'll be fine, Rach. Why don't we go and talk to her now?"

"Ok" she mumbled

They headed out of the office together and walked down the stairs in the direction of the canteen. All the while, Rachel couldn't brush off her concern about Bolton. She hoped Candice would have some answers.

Meanwhile, Bolton sat in the cooler, feeling guilty. He knew Miss Mason cared and would help him in a heartbeat if he'd let her. She was the kindest, down to earth teacher he'd ever had. She was the reason he'd been able to turn his life around. All the other teacher's had taken one look at him and turned away, giving up on him to the point where Bolton gave up on himself.

But Miss Mason hadn't given up. Miss Mason was the reason he was still in school, the reason he'd stayed out of trouble and was getting good grades. He knew he could go to her if he needed help, but not with his issues with Earl. Someone would get hurt.

He didn't care about the lunchtime detentions. If anything, he was relieved. It was an excuse to keep out of Earl's way, to not have to worry about bumping into him.

Even so, the secret, the fact he knew Denzil was in prison when he'd done nothing wrong, was eating him alive. Earl should be the one behind bars.

But what could he do? It was too late, too dangerous to report him now.