Another week had gone by at Waterloo Road, and things were a little more manageable.

Tom was still in a mood, but he was nowhere near as bad as before, to Rachel's relief. His car had been repaired and Earl had received punishment for his actions. Steph and the rest of the staff were still weary and sceptical of Earl, but it all seemed to be starting to blow over.

Rachel was in a much better headspace. Eddie's plan to take her away from work for the night had worked, and not just because of the sex (although, it did play a part!). Escaping from the world of work for the evening had given her the opportunity to return to work the next day, with a fresh outlook and perspective on things. And she'd gotten the chance to spend quality time with Eddie, something they hadn't had much time for recently. She planned to make going bowling a regular thing, just so she could beat him at every game!

Having that evening with him, just the two of them, had calmed her significantly. She felt so lucky to have a man like Eddie Lawson in her life. Someone who looked after her, spent time with her and grounded her easily. She really did love him.

Taking the next step in their relationship and finally having sex, was something neither Rachel nor Eddie regretted. If anything, it had been worth the wait. That evening they'd had, had brought them closer together in more ways than one.

Eddie was relieved that she was feeling better, and that she'd finally let him help her out with the paperwork. It had taken at least some of the pressure off her. She was a lot calmer and seemed to be back to her usual self. And she was going to bed and sleeping at a decent time.

...

It was 4:30AM on a Wednesday. Eddie was wide awake. He'd been awake for the last 30 minutes, unable to go back to sleep.

Rachel was fast asleep, her head resting contentedly on Eddie's chest, her body curled into him. Eddie was watching her quietly. She looked so peaceful, her chest rising and falling in a gentle rhythm. Her soft, brown hair fell delicately around her face. Even when she was sleeping, she was beautiful. He loved her so much.

Suddenly, she stirred, her eyes fluttering open slowly. She stared at him for a moment, her face lighting up with a smile. She'd never get tired of the way her heart filled with love the minute she looked at him, or how amazing it felt to wake up beside him. She was living a dream come true.

Eddie smiled back at her, stroking her soft cheek with his thumb. She hummed contentedly, wrapping her hand in his.

"Morning" she whispered sleepily

"Morning" he replied

She turned her head to look at the clock, frowning at the time, which read 4:30AM. Eddie never woke up at this time. She did, but not him. It was very rare that Eddie was awake before her.

"Couldn't you sleep?" she mumbled, cuddling into him

"Not really" he sighed, draping an arm over her shoulder

"How long have you been awake?" she questioned

"Not long, about 30 minutes" he shrugged

"Something on your mind?" she asked, drawing circles on his chest with her finger

"Only how pretty you are, and how lucky I am to have you" he grinned sheepishly

Rachel giggled, blushing furiously as she kissed his cheek

"I love you, Rach" he whispered, placing a kiss in her hair

"It's too early for your soppy nonsense, Lawson" she replied, pushing him away playfully

He chuckled

"But I love you too" she added, squeezing his hand

"Is that right, Miss Mason?" he smirked, raising an eyebrow

"Mhm" she smiled, kissing his lips softly

She groaned as her alarm went off. She'd set it a little earlier this morning so she could have a shower.

She sighed, turning off the alarm and sitting up a little. Before she could even swing her legs over the edge of the mattress, Eddie grabbed her, pinning her back down and pulling her into his arms again. She squealed, giggling as he peppered her cheek and neck with kisses.

"Eddie, I need to have a shower!" she huffed, trying to wriggle free from his grasp

"Five more minutes?" he pleaded

Rachel smiled, cuddling into him. She couldn't resist the adorable look on his face.

"So needy" she laughed, shaking her head

Eddie smirked, wrapping an arm around her shoulders gently.

Rachel sighed contentedly as her head sank further into Eddie's chest. She felt so relaxed in his arms, she thought she was going to fall back to sleep.

"If I don't get up soon, I'll fall asleep for another hour" she yawned

Eddie shrugged

"What's wrong with that? It means I get to cuddle you for longer"

"No, I need to get up" she insisted

"I'd be more convinced of that if you were actually moving, Rach" he chuckled

"I'm just so comfy" she sighed, smiling softly

"I know what'll get you moving" he whispered playfully

Rachel started to giggle as Eddie began to tickle her stomach. He laughed as she kicked and wriggled, giggling breathlessly as she begged him to stop. Her ribs were aching from laughing by the time he was finished.

She got up, smiling at Eddie lovingly as she went into the bathroom.

As she stepped into the shower and the warm water rushed over her head, she thought about the day ahead. They were having a drug awareness day at school, with a guest speaker from the Rochdale Police coming in to do a talk. She wasn't exactly sure who the guest speaker was, but she was hoping they would encourage the kids to stay away from drugs and to understand the dangers of them. Rochdale was rife with crime, drug dealing being the biggest problem, along with knife crime. Nipping it in the bud now would decrease the crime levels in Rochdale in future. Or Rachel hoped so anyway.

...

It was 8AM. Rachel and Eddie were stood outside the school building, chatting away as the students piled in. They were waiting on their guest speaker from the Police to arrive.

Rachel was admiring the graffiti art banner that had been hung up on the front of the building. 'Waterloo Road says no to drugs!'. The Year 12 art students had made it for this specific event.

"So, are you ready for this?" Eddie asked, nudging her

"Yes, it's going to be great. I'm glad the LEA organised it" she nodded

Rachel's smile suddenly dropped when she saw Ralph Mellor walking towards them.

"What's Ralph Mellor doing here?" she asked aloud

"I guess he's the one doing the talk. He's Chair of the Board of Governors, and he's a Policeman. It makes sense" Eddie shrugged

Rachel groaned. Ralph Mellor hated her. She wanted to say the feeling was mutual, but Rachel wasn't the type to hate anyone. If he wasn't always so rude and spiteful toward her, maybe they would have gotten along. All she knew was that it was going to be a long day if he was the one in charge of this drugs awareness event.

Eddie caught onto Rachel's anxiety, rubbing her arm comfortingly to reassure her. He wasn't a huge fan of Ralph Mellor for the way he had treated Rachel, especially after the LEA had learned of her past. Whilst she'd been recovering from Stuart's attack, Ralph had called a vote of no confidence against her. Even though the LEA had shut it down immediately, deciding that Rachel was more than capable of running the school, Eddie had still seen it as Ralph kicking Rachel while she was down. That was why he hadn't told Rachel about it until weeks after the LEA had shut down the vote of no confidence.

"It'll be alright, Rach" he reassured as Ralph approached them

"Hello, Ralph" Rachel greeted coldly

"Rachel" Ralph nodded, smiling weakly

"I suppose I should say thank you for getting involved" she said, offering her best false smile

"It's a pleasure. Anything that tells the community that we care about the kid's welfare. I've got a mate coming from the local paper to do a story about it" he explained

Rachel groaned internally, repressing the urge to roll her eyes.

"I'm going to go and check if Rose Kelly has arrived" Rachel decided

Eddie nodded

"She must be scared as hell. First day's work in over a decade" he breathed

Rachel walked down the steps, ignoring Ralph Mellor's eye roll.

"Everything is set up in the hall ready, Ralph. I'll be in there once Rose is settled" she told him, walking away

Ralph turned to Eddie, rolling his eyes and shaking his head.

"The time we've wasted on that family" he huffed

Rachel shot him a glare. She might have been walking away, but she'd still heard him.

Eddie sighed, following Ralph into the school.

...

Earl and Maxine were queuing up outside the hall together.

Maxine was fed up with Steph. She had banned her from seeing Earl during the week. Obviously she could see him at the weekend, she knew that, but, if Steph had it her way, Maxine believed she'd ban them from seeing each other all together! It wasn't fair, and it seemed to be one rule for her and another for Steph. It was unacceptable for Maxine to be around Earl, but it was completely fine for Steph to go around flirting with 'Security Dave'?

It was ok though. Maxine and Earl had a plan. Maxine was turning 18 soon. Once she was 18, Steph had no control over her. She was moving out of Steph's, and she was going to be with Earl. She couldn't wait.

"Have you told Haydock our plans yet?" Earl asked as they moved up the queue

"No. But I'm going to, today" she told him

"Good. Because I can't be bothered waiting much longer" he grumbled

"I told you what she's like! I've just got to persuade her" she huffed, taking a drug test leaflet from the box as they went into the hall

They sat down on the middle row, behind Grantly and Steph. Maxine watched as Earl put something on the top of Grantly's wig. She smirked.

"What are you doing?" she asked, frowning

"Shh" Earl replied, sitting down beside her