A quick update! Lockdown gives me time to write, but I can't promise consistency XD This is rushed and unedited because I just wanted to get it all out while I was in the groove, so any mistakes or suggested edits are free to be pointed out!

A long overdue conversation is here... just not the one that they're trying to have!

As always, thank you and much love!

CHAPTER NINE

"Rachel!" Tom burst through the door to the office, interrupting a quiet conversation between Rachel and Eddie.

"Tom? How did it go with-?" Rachel asked, standing from her seat.

"She bolted." Tom couldn't stop the panic or the guilt from creeping into his demeanor.

"Okay, have you checked the music room?" Eddie asked.

"No, er- she ran out the gates."

"You're kidding!" Eddie groaned.

"I wish to god I was." Tom said grimly.

"Right," Rachel said, trying to compose herself, "right. Did you get anything out of her before she ran?"

"Nothing explicit, but she more or less admitted she was hiding something. Her reaction when I broached the subject… we're right, Rachel, I'm certain of it."

Rachel closed her eyes briefly and brought her hand up to her mouth in an attempt to suppress the way her lips trembled slightly. After a moment she pulled herself together. "If one of you could speak to Michaela White, that'd be good. There was more to their fight this morning than they told us, and she might know something."

Tom nodded.

"And what are you going to do?" Eddie questioned as Rachel moved to grab her handbag.

"I'm going after her." She replied as though stating the obvious.

"Rach, are you sure that's a good idea?" He raised an eyebrow, knowing full well how tense things were between his colleague and her daughter.

"No, but it's the best one I've got. Someone needs to go after her, and it should be someone she has a connection with, or she'll just run again. I'm her mother, for all my faults, and this is my responsibility." It felt good, to say those words out loud properly. She was Belle's mother, no matter what.

As Eddie and Rachel stared each other down, Tom cleared his throat to draw their attention to him. "Rachel might actually be the best choice… Right now, Belle's scared, and fight or flight kicked in."

"She chose flight." Eddie nodded, following what the other man was saying.

"Right! But she's got a temper- her response is usually fight. Maybe, if she's with Rachel- I mean," Tom shot a glance at his boss, who's keys were in her hand by now, "best case scenario, you actually get her to open up. But, worse case scenario-"

"Her anger overrules her fear, so she won't run away again." Rachel finished for him.

He nodded. "It's just a thought, I'm no psychologist."

"No, you may have a point there," Eddie agreed, "right; I'll stay here to keep an eye on the place; Tom, you go hunt down Michaela White. Rachel- good luck."

Belle didn't stop running when she got to the park gates. There was a small path around the edge of the field that looped around, and she continued running along it.

If she stopped running, she didn't know what would happen; whether she would sob or shout or lose all her ability to function. It was safer to keep running.

Her feet pounding against the ground formed a rhythm that she found herself focussing on- it matched the incessant booming of her heart, and her breaths which were coming out fast and loud as she tried to keep her pace up. Her adrenaline was dying down, though, and she wasn't much of a runner.

There was a small bench just outside the park gates that faced the houses on the other side. Her legs trembling from over exerting herself, Belle lowered herself onto it. The road was a small residential one, off from the main road slightly, close enough that she could hear the cars, but quiet enough that the sound of her own heartbeat in her ears was the loudest thing she could hear.

It was only after a few minutes had passed that she realised she had no plan. She didn't want to go back to school- there would only be trouble and yet more invasive questions from her teachers. Then again, she couldn't go home. Her dad was working from there today, rather than his firm's office. She'd have to explain to him why she'd left school, and how she'd let him down by tipping the teachers off and that would lead to a world of pain- she shook as the thought hit her: she didn't know if she'd be able to survive his anger at this.

A sob escaped before she could stop it, and she buried her face in her hands. The prospect of running away was sounding pretty appealing at this moment, but one thought about what almost happened to Chlo only recently was enough to put those thoughts to bed.

Belle was alone- she had no one, in her mind, that she could turn to. Her friends would go to the teachers, her teachers would go to social services, her dad would find out… it was a dangerous game of dominoes to play. She didn't see a way that she could win. She had no one.

Following the way Tom had seen the girl go, Rachel drove round the streets near the school, keeping her eyes peeled for a familiar head of red hair. So far, she was having no luck. She didn't know her daughter well enough to know where she'd head to either. Turning down yet another side road, she was close to losing hope when she saw her: slumped on a bench with her head in her hands. Rachel's heart almost broke at the sight of her.

Parking nearby, she made her way over, walking slowly so as not to startle her but making enough noise that she would know she was there. Belle froze slightly and seemed to hold her breath as she approached, but made no move to stop her.

Rachel sat down next to her and, acting purely on instinct, wrapped her arms around her daughter and pulled her close. To her immense surprise, Belle didn't pull away, but leant into her, letting out the breath she'd held and allowing herself to cry, still not moving her hands from her face.

"Shhh...it's alright, it's going to be okay…" Rachel rubbed Belle's arm comfortingly as she murmured idle nothings in an attempt to soothe her. "You're going to be just fine, I promise you."

Eventually, the girl calmed down and sat up, and Rachel let her arms drop from around her, sensing that if she tried to hold onto her, she'd only succeed in pushing her away- both literally and figuratively.

Belle wiped the tears from her face and heaved several deep breaths before eventually speaking. "How much trouble am I in?"

Rachel smiled softly at that being the first thing out of her mouth; avoidance and practicality all in one- definitely her daughter. "Not as much as you think."

"I ran away from school."Belle said bluntly, with an air of disbelief. She didn't look at Rachel directly still, but she turned her body towards her, which her mother counted as a minor victory.

"There were... extenuating circumstances. Nobody's angry, just concerned."

"I wish you'd all stop being so bloody concerned about me."

"You know that's not going to happen."

Belle looked up properly to find her mother's gaze already on her. "Why did you leave me?"

Tears pooled in Rachel's eyes before she could stop them. She knew it was a distraction tactic from the real issue here, but she also knew that it was a genuine question, and it was Belle's way of determining whether or not to trust her. "I didn't mean to, not at first."

"No, I know all that," Belle cut across her, "let me rephrase: why did you let me go? Why didn't you try to see me again?"

"I suppose…" Rachel spoke slowly, admitting to herself as well as her daughter, "I was scared. You may find this hard to believe but I wasn't always an upstanding headmistress. There are parts of my past that I'm not proud of, and I was scared that I never really stopped being the person I was back then. I was terrified I'd mess up being a parent."

Belle frowned. "So you just decided not to be one?" There was anger in her voice, but mostly she just sounded exhausted, and upset.

"You were happy, Isabelle. While I was finishing my studies, I spoke to you and your father on the phone and you were happy, and when I returned during the holidays your dad was taking care of you so well. You didn't need me."

"I can understand, sort of, but- it wasn't your call as to whether I needed you or not."

"Believe me, I realise that now. There is nothing I regret more in my life than leaving you."

Belle looked away again, staring across the street. "Mr Clarkson said that I should give you a chance."

Rachel dried her eyes quickly and dared to allow her hopes to rise. "He did?"

"Yeah. I had a bit of a breakdown, shouted that you were a hypocrite. Which I still think you are," she added sternly, "he listened to me, and he said I should give you a chance."

Rachel nodded slowly. She was a hypocrite, she knew. She couldn't blame her daughter for thinking that. "And what do you think?"

"I think he would never have said anything other than that because you're his boss."

Rachel let out an involuntary chuckle.

Belle shot her a reproachful glare, "but! I think he might not have been totally wrong. Not because you deserve it, but because I need someone. And you're my mum."

Rachel cautiously reached out to hold her daughter's hand, and Belle gripped it back tightly.

"I'm here, Belle," Rachel said, and the girl's eyes shot up to meet hers at the first use of her nickname, "for however long you need me, I'm here."

So there we go. Finally some progress between these two! Will it last? Pffffft, probably not...