A few weeks had passed since Lexie's Mum passed away. Lexie had been surprised at how much of an affect it had had on her. She felt extremely lucky to have had so much support from Rachel and all of her friends at school.

Lexie had never felt so cared about. As sad as she was about her Mum, she couldn't help but feel relieved that she was finally being looked after properly and still felt like this was all too good to be true.

Rachel had had a particularly bad day today and couldn't wait to get out of Waterloo Road for the weekend.

Lexie had netball training after school so Rachel waited for Olivia to come up to her office before the two of them left to go and get Daisy from school.

"How was your day love?"

"Good thanks. How was your day?"

"It was okay. I'm ready to relax for a bit tonight though"

"Me too" Olivia said before they fell into a comfortable silence

"Is everything okay Liv?" Rachel asked after a while thinking that Olivia seemed a bit quiet and not herself

"Yeah I'm just tired that's all"

"Me too. We'll have a nice early night tonight and then hopefully we'll both feel a bit better"

They got to Daisy's primary school and Olivia decided to wait in the car while Rachel went into get Daisy.

Daisy had been on a school trip today so her class were a bit late coming out as they'd got stuck in traffic on the way back to school. Rachel didn't mind too much because she was chatting to some of the other school Mum's.

Rachel was looking forward to seeing Daisy and hearing all about it as she knew how much she'd been looking forward to going. It was a surprise to see Daisy walking out of school looking really upset.

Daisy looked like she was close to tears but Rachel knew she wouldn't want a fuss made in front of her school friends so gave Daisy's hand a tight squeeze before quickly saying goodbye to the ladies she was stood with and walking back to the car with Daisy.

"What's wrong sweetheart?" Rachel asked once they'd walked out of the school gates

Daisy didn't say anything but she burst into tears so Rachel stopped and went to the side before wrapping her arms around Daisy.

"Nothing"

"It doesn't look like nothing to me, you wouldn't be crying like this if there was nothing wrong"

"I don't want to talk about it"

"Okay that's fine if you don't want to talk about it love. Let's get home huh?"

Rachel got a tissue out of her bag and wiped the tears off Daisy's face before the two of them walked to the car.

Olivia instantly noticed Daisy's tearstained face so was of course worried about her sister. She always had been very protective over Daisy but had been even more so since their Mum passed away.

"What's wrong Dais?" Olivia asked as soon as Daisy got into the car

"Nothing"

"Yes there is, you've been crying"

"No I haven't"

"Have you had a fall out with your friends?"

"Just leave me alone" Daisy shouted so Olivia turned back around and faced the front

"Just let her be love" Rachel said quietly as she put her hand on Olivia's leg

Both girls were in a mood in the car on the way home. Rachel wanted to cheer them both up so that they could enjoy the evening.

Rachel parked up on the drive so they all got out of the car. Rachel unlocked the door and Olivia and Daisy both went straight upstairs to their bedrooms.

Rachel decided to give them both a bit of time on their own. She unpacked Daisy's school stuff and made herself a cup of tea before going up to her bedroom to get changed.

Once she was changed Rachel went to Daisy's bedroom.

Daisy had pushed the door so it was nearly closed so Rachel opened the door and walked in. She found Daisy lying on her bed in floods of tears.

Rachel went over and scooped Daisy up into her arms before sitting on the bed and rocking Daisy like a baby.

She didn't say anything for a while and just let Daisy have a cry.

"It's not nice being on your own when you're upset. You should have come to find me. Are you ready to tell me what's wrong now?"

"I don't want to" Daisy cried

"Okay that's fine if you don't want to. How about we sit here and cuddle for a bit longer?"

Daisy nodded her head so Rachel carried on holding Daisy close to her.

Rachel had loads of things that needed doing but being there for Daisy was much more important.

Daisy felt a lot better just for being snuggled up to Rachel. She always found the smell of Rachel's perfume and creams really comforting.

"Rachel do you think I'm stupid?"

"No of course I don't because you're not. What makes you think that?"

"Bethany in my class kept saying I was today. She kept talking about loads of things that I didn't know about"

"Nobody knows everything love. I'm sure there's loads of things that you know about, that she doesn't. Take no notice of her, you are most definitely not stupid"

"I am stupid because I only got 5 on my spelling test last week"

"That was my fault Daisy. I completely forgot to help you learn them before" Rachel said. She felt really guilty about it and couldn't help but think that everything that was going on with Max was starting to have an effect on the girls now. She knew she needed to do something to stop it

"I should just know though"

"You can't just know something. You have to learn it first. It was only one test though darling, most weeks you get 10 out of 10"

Daisy was still crying and was looking down at her lap.

"Look at my Daisy"

Slowly, Daisy lifted her head up so she was looking at Rachel.

"Is that all that's upsetting you? Or is there something else you want to tell me about?" Rachel asked thinking Daisy seemed very upset over it

"Not really"

"Has Bethany been doing other things that have upset you?"

Daisy didn't say anything for a few moments but then nodded.

"What else has she been doing?" Rachel asked as she took hold of Daisy's hand supportively

"She just kept laughing at everything I said today so in the end I just stopped saying anything. And at lunchtime she kept pulling Millie away from me and running off. On the way home I was meant to be sitting with Millie on the bus but then she sat with Bethany instead so I had to sit all on my own" Daisy said

"It sounds to me like you've had a bit of a rubbish day my love" Rachel said as she rubbed Daisy's back

"I have" Daisy said with tears rolling down her cheeks

"Bethany hasn't been very nice but the thing is sometimes children can be a bit mean. Most of the time they don't mean to upset anyone but they don't realise how much they actually are"

"She didn't need to be mean. We could have played together the three of us"

"I know you could have. I'm sure things will be better tomorrow and you'll have a good day at school"

"How do you know?"

"Well I don't know but if Bethany is still being mean go and play with some of your other friends"

"I always play with Millie though"

"I know you do, but you've got lots of other friends too"

"I guess"

"And if you feel upset again then I want you to tell your teacher about it, okay?"

"I don't want to do that"

"But it's better than feeling all upset isn't it? She'll probably just take Bethany outside for a few words and make her realise that what she's doing is upsetting you"

"Okay, but hopefully she won't be mean tomorrow"

Daisy was starting to seem a bit happier which Rachel was pleased about.

"Let's hope not. Can I tell you something now Daisy?"

Daisy nodded her head.

"I haven't had a very good day today either. Someone was being a bit mean to me too"

"Who?"

"That doesn't matter. I'm just going to forget about it for tonight and hope that tomorrow things will be better"

"If they're still being mean tomorrow you should tell someone so they can stop the other person being mean"

"I think you're right there love. Anyway why don't you changed out of your uniform and then we can do something before I cook tea"

"Can we practice my spellings?"

"Of course we can. Here, let me sort your face out first"

Rachel got a tissue out of the box on Daisy's bedside cabinet before wiping away Daisy's tears. Once she was sorted, Daisy started to get changed.

"I'm just going to see Liv quickly. If you come downstairs when you're changed and we'll practice your spellings"

"Okay"

Rachel then went through to Olivia's bedroom. She was laying on her bed on her phone.

"What are you doing love?"

"I'm just lying on my bed, what does it look like?" Olivia replied with a bit of attitude

"What are you doing on your phone?"

"Just on Instagram"

"Right. Well I was just coming in to check you're definitely alright. You seem a bit quiet"

"Everyone's a bit quiet once in a while. Just stop going on at me" Olivia snapped

"Okay I'll leave you to it then" Rachel said realising that Olivia probably needed a bit of space at the minute

Rachel then went downstairs and spent some time with Daisy practicing her spellings.

After a while Rachel made a start on tea.

She was cutting up some potatoes to make some wedges when Lexie got home.

"Hiya love, how was your day?"

"It was good thank you, how about yours?" Lexie replied as she got herself a glass of water

"It wasn't too bad. How was netball?"

"Tiring and I forgot my water bottle today, I'm so thirsty"

"Tea will be ready in about 45 minutes"

"Okay, what are we having?"

"Salmon and wedges and I'll do some veg too"

"Yum, I'm going to go up for a shower now"

Once tea was ready, Rachel called Lexie and Olivia down.

Olivia was still being quiet but she wasn't as snappy as she'd been with Rachel earlier. Rachel still couldn't think there was something up with her.

After tea, Rachel gave Daisy a bath before letting her watch the TV for a bit. Whilst she was watching, Rachel got her laptop out to do some work. Lexie and Olivia were both up in their bedrooms.

Rachel put Daisy up to bed at about 7 before putting on her pyjamas and a dressing gown and then coming downstairs and pouring herself a glass of red wine. She didn't normally drink in the week but she certainly felt like she needed it today.

As she sat at the kitchen table and did some work, she realised she needed to make some changes. Mid-week drinking was becoming a far too regular occurrence and it was a habit she definitely wanted to break.

Rachel was half way through her glass of wine when someone knocked on the door.

Rachel wondered who it was so got up to go and answer it. She couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive as their knock had sounded quite aggressive.

Rachel wrapped her dressing gown around herself a bit tighter. After slowly opening the front door, Rachel was shocked when she saw Max stood on the other side. It was also obvious that Max was drunk. He started to threaten Rachel after she'd told Kim that he was still married.

Rachel felt really vulnerable stood there in her dressing down and tried really hard to get rid of him.

As Max continued to threaten Rachel's heart began to race faster and faster. She just wanted him out of her house, especially as the girls were upstairs.

When Max finally left Rachel closed the door as quickly as she could behind him and locked it straight away.

Rachel felt so shaken up and immediately found herself picking up her phone and calling Eddie.

She hadn't really thought about what she was doing until Eddie picked up the phone.

Rachel tried to say that she'd called him by mistake but Eddie could tell straight away that something was up with Rachel.

"I can tell when you're upset about something Rach, like you are now. Just tell me what's wrong"

Rachel sat at the table and started to tell Eddie all about the problems she was having with Max, as tears began to roll down her cheeks. There was no-one that Rachel found easier to talk to than Eddie.

Little did she know, Lexie and Olivia had come downstairs after hearing someone shouting at the front door.

They didn't know what to do when they heard Rachel in floods of tears. They knew they probably should have gone upstairs, but being as nosy as they were they decided to stay down and listen to what Rachel was saying.

They both hated seeing Rachel so upset. They knew Rachel was having a hard time with Max but they had no idea just how bad it really was.

Lexie looked over at Olivia and saw that she was crying, clearly very worried about Rachel. Lexie wrapped her arm around Olivia; the two girls had grown really close.

Rachel finished telling Eddie everything had been going on with Max but was starting to think it was a mistake. Afterall, her problems were nothing to do with him anymore.

"Eddie I'll be fine. Honestly there's no need for you to come over" Rachel said to Eddie who had said he was coming straight round

"I'm not taking no for an answer Rach. I'm coming over now, I'm not going to let you be on your own when you're so upset"

"I'm not on my own"

"Rachel, what you need is some adult support. I'll be 15 minutes" Eddie said sounding quite firm and before Rachel knew it he'd hung up on her

Although Rachel hated the fact she'd turned to Eddie the moment something bad had happened, she had to admit she was glad that Eddie was on his way over.

Rachel was still letting out the occasional sniffle so Lexie and Olivia went and stood in front of her.

Not wanting the girls to see that she was upset, Rachel immediately wiped away her tears.

It didn't take her long to realise that Olivia was crying.

"What's up Liv?" Rachel asked but Olivia didn't know what to say

"We heard you on the phone Rach, I think Olivia's upset because you're so upset"

"I'm so sorry girls, I didn't know you could hear me. The last thing I want to do is make you all upset" Rachel said as she wrapped her arm around Olivia

"You don't have to say sorry. I can't believe what you've been through with Max. Why haven't you told someone?"

"I can handle it Lex. Don't you worry about me, I'll sort it" Rachel said although she didn't sound convincing

"You should report him so he gets fired Rachel" Olivia said

"I wish it was that simple"

"How is it not?" Lexie asked

"I have no evidence to prove what he's doing"

"They'd take your word for it"

"I'm sure Max would fight his way out of it and then things would only be worse"

"I heard someone shouting downstairs. I came down to see what was going on but by the time I got down you were on the phone so I didn't want to interrupt"

"I was on the phone to Eddie" Rachel admitted "I was so scared when Max was here and I guess I was worried I wouldn't be able to protect you three. So I was a bit shaken up and I called Eddie. He's coming over now, but honestly girls I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me. Everything is going to be just fine"

Lexie and Olivia spent the rest of the time before Eddie arrived trying to persuade Rachel that she needed to report Max.

When the doorbell went Rachel asked Lexie and Olivia to go upstairs so she could speak to Eddie alone.

"I promise I'll come up and see you soon" Rachel said

Olivia and Lexie went upstairs so Rachel went to answer the door.

She checked it was definitely Eddie before opening the door.

Eddie smiled at her as he stood on the other side of the door with a bottle of wine in his hand.

"I reckon you could do with a glass of this" Eddie said holding up the bottle

"I've already had a glass, come on in. I'm so sorry about all of this Eddie, I shouldn't have called"

Eddie stepped inside and Rachel closed the door.

"I'm so glad you did. I only wish you'd called sooner" Eddie said as the two of them walked through to the kitchen

"You must have your hands full with the baby" Rachel said as Melissa had given birth to a baby boy about a month ago

Eddie didn't respond to this.

Rachel poured another glass of wine for herself and one for Eddie before the two of them went into the lounge and sat on the sofa.

Eddie touched the small of Rachel's back and Rachel couldn't help but burst into tears all over again. The feelings that she'd been bottling up were all coming out now.

Rachel fell into Eddie's warm embrace and he held her while she cried.

Once Rachel had calmed down, they had a fairly long conversation and Eddie managed to knock some sense into her. Rachel realised that she really needed to put a stop to what Eddie was doing. Not just for her, but for all of her pupils.

"So first thing tomorrow you're going to tell the governors exactly what has happened, right?"

"Yes I will"

"And you're not just saying that to shut me up?"

"No, I need to do this. It's the right thing to do for everyone and you've made me realise that"

"You could have talked to me about this before you know. I know we're not together anymore, but I'm still here for you if you need me Rach"

"You've got enough to be dealing with, you've got Melissa and a new born baby to look after. You don't need me to look after as well"

"They aren't my problem Rach" Eddie said as his face suddenly turned very serious

"Well I know Melissa can look after herself but I know looking after a baby takes up a lot of time and energy"

"He's not my baby Rach" Eddie said whilst looking down at the floor

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Melissa lied. The real father turned up about a week ago demanding to see his baby. Melissa ended up having to tell the truth so I demanded a paternity test. I'm not the father"

Rachel was speechless. She never thought Melissa would do something like this.

"I'm so sorry Eddie, I know Melissa is a pain in the butt sometimes but I definitely didn't think she was capable of doing something like this"

Now it was Rachel's turn to comfort Eddie. There wasn't much she could say but Eddie was so grateful to finally be talking to Rachel about this. He'd picked up the phone so many times to ring but had chickened out each time as he felt he didn't deserve her support.

The two of them carried on talking for ages and drinking a fair bit of wine.

Suddenly, Rachel realised how long Eddie had been over for and felt bad for not going to see Olivia sooner.

"I need to go and check on Liv, she was upset earlier because she heard me crying on the phone to you. I won't be long"

When Rachel stood up she realised she was feeling quite tipsy and definitely needed to stop drinking before she woke up with a hangover the next day.

Eddie wondered if Rachel was hoping he would leave now but Eddie didn't want this time to end, so he stayed sat on the sofa while Rachel went upstairs.

Rachel told Lexie and Olivia her plan to tell the governors everything tomorrow which they were both extremely relieved about.

Olivia was ready to go to sleep by this point so Rachel tucked her up in bed and sat with her for a while

"I know you think I'm going on but I really am worried about you, you haven't seemed yourself tonight. I'll just ask one more time though and then I promise I'll stop, are you sure you're okay?"

"I promise I'm fine, I really am just tired"

before going back down with Eddie.

When Rachel got back downstairs, Eddie was still sat on the sofa.

"So Mel hasn't told you any of this then?" Eddie asked

"I haven't had much contact with Mel recently. I saw Jacob when he was a couple of days old but I haven't seen them since. I still find it difficult to see Mel without thinking how different things could be if it wasn't for her"

Rachel and Eddie ended up getting into a deep conversation about their relationship. After another hour of talking Rachel found herself kissing Eddie.

The kiss lasted a little while before Rachel pulled away. She couldn't believe she'd just let that happen.

"You should go Eddie, it's getting late"

"What now? Don't you want to talk about what just happened?"

"There's nothing to talk about"

"It didn't seem like nothing to me"

"Eddie I really appreciate you coming over tonight for me but I really think you should go now"

Eddie knew when to give Rachel space so he got up to leave. He knew she needed time to process what had just happened and what they'd talked about tonight

"That shouldn't have happened. I know how hard things must be for you at the minute though, so if you do want to talk again then let me know. We can have another talk, as friends" Rachel said

"I'll call you tomorrow Rach"

Eddie left so Rachel locked up and went upstairs to bed. She tried to go to sleep but she had so many thoughts whizzing around her head.