Rachel stormed out, the staffroom door slamming behind her.

Eddie closed his eyes, letting out a heavy and frustrated sigh. He could feel the anger raging inside him as he looked over at Steph. He knew she was grieving and hurting, but she was out of line. Way out of line.

"Steph, you went way too far this time" Matt hissed

"Oh shut up, Matt! Like I care, she had it coming! She only got upset because she knows it's the truth" Steph huffed, rolling her eyes

Eddie walked over to her, glaring at her.

"You owe Rachel an apology" he said through gritted teeth

Steph scoffed.

"I owe her an apology? I think it's the other way round, Eddie! Maxine is dead because of her!"

"No, Steph. Maxine is dead because of Earl Kelly. Earl shot Maxine, not Rachel" Eddie argued

Steph rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, Eddie. She still let him into this school when she knew what his behaviour was like. She had countless warnings from all of us and she didn't listen. Now Maxine is dead. I stand by what I said. I hope she never has children. If she's like this as a Head Teacher, she'll be a hopeless Mother"

Eddie could smell the alcohol on her breath. It repulsed him.

"Get out of my sight, now. Or I'll be suspending you for drinking on the job" Eddie threatened

Steph scoffed, walking out of the staffroom.

Eddie groaned, running a hand through his hair. He wanted to go to Rachel, but he wasn't sure she'd want his company. But he had to make sure she was ok, even if she did send him away.

"Are you ok?"

Eddie turned to see Charlotte standing in front of him. He nodded simply. He was more ok than Rachel was.

"I'll have a word with Steph, get her to apologize to Rachel" she offered

"Thanks. I'm going to go and check on Rachel" he replied, heading out of the staffroom

When he got to Rachel's office, he found her putting some things into a box. She was visibly upset, and Eddie wasn't surprised. There were tears running down her cheeks and her hands shook as she tidied away.

"Rach, are you ok?" he asked, stepping into the office, closing the door behind him

Rachel stopped tidying, dropping her head into her hands as she began to sob. Eddie dashed over to her, pulling her into his arms.

"It's ok, you're ok" he soothed, rubbing her upper back with his hand

"I can't do this" she whimpered

"Rach, just ignore Steph. She's not thinking straight, she's saying things she doesn't mean" he reasoned

Rachel pulled away from him, wiping her eyes with her thumb.

"No, Eddie, she meant it. And I think she's right. Our baby doesn't stand a chance with me"

"That isn't true and you know it" he reassured, placing his hands on her arms

Rachel shook her head.

"If I couldn't protect Maxine from danger, how am I supposed to protect our child, Eddie? There is no way! I'm not good enough to be a Head Teacher, let alone a Mother!" she blurted, bursting into tears again

Eddie sighed sadly. He hated seeing her like this.

"Rach,"

Before Eddie could begin to reason with or comfort her, she was throwing up into the bin beside her desk. Eddie knelt down beside her, holding her hair back with one hand and using the other to rub soothing circles on her lower back.

Once it had stopped, Eddie passed her the bottle of water on her desk. She took a sip, instantly throwing up the water she had just swallowed, like she had this morning. After each sip she took, it happened again. That's when Eddie knew something wasn't right. Usually she could keep down water. The morning sickness was getting worse.

"You need to go back to the Doctors, Rach. You're getting worse" he told her

"I'm fine" she whispered, wiping her mouth with a tissue

Eddie sighed, he was sick of her saying that. She was far from it.

"Rach, for goodness sake! You can't keep down any food, and now you're throwing up when you drink water, that isn't normal! You need to go back to the Doctor!"

"I just told you, I'm fine! I'm not going back to the Doctors!" she insisted

"No, you're not fine, Rach! You're being selfish and stubborn! It's not just you that you've got to think about anymore! We have a baby to think of too!" he snapped

Rachel glared at him.

"Don't you think I know that?" she retorted

"I'm not sure you do, Rach. If it was me, I'd be straight on the phone to the Doctor! It's like you don't care what happens to our baby!" he huffed

"OF COURSE I CARE!" she screamed

It was at this moment that Eddie lost his temper.

"Do you, really? Because you've got a funny way of showing it, Rach! You've been acting funny since you found out you were pregnant, and this is more than just about Maxine dying! You're distant, you've barely spoken two words to me, you're sleeping in the spare room and you don't seem to care about your health! You say you want this baby, but your words tell me one thing, and your actions tell me another!"

"BACK OFF, EDDIE!" she yelled

Surprised by both her outburst and his, Eddie retreated a little. The silence that fell between them made him feel uncomfortable.

Rachel sat down at her desk, placing her head in her hands as she let out a shaky sigh. She hadn't meant to snap, and she was sure Eddie hadn't either.

"I'm sorry, Eddie. I just... I can't do this right now" she admitted

Eddie nodded.

"Fine, I'll leave you alone" he decided, walking out of the office

Rachel flinched as the office door closed a little too forcefully. She instantly burst into tears. She was messing everything up. If she wasn't careful she would lose Eddie forever. She couldn't let that happen.

Her hand moved to rest on her stomach where the tiny baby was growing inside of her. This little life was depending on her, and she couldn't help but feel that she was already letting them down. The guilt stabbed at her heart.

"I'm sorry. I will fix this, I promise" she whispered

...

In the Gym, the sound of the punch bag being swung back and forth echoed through the room. With every hit, Bolton imagined his fist colliding with two different people. Earl Kelly, and himself.

His reasons for envisioning that he was punching Earl were endless. He was punching him for killing Maxine. He was punching him for bullying and taunting him and Paul. He was punching him for just moving to Rochdale and walking into Waterloo Road.

He was envisioning punching himself for different reasons. Mostly for keeping quiet. All this time he and Paul had known Earl had, had a gun. They had seen it for themselves; they had been in the changing rooms when Earl had threatened them with it. Denzil Kelly had taken the blame and had gone to prison for having his Brother's gun. And they had said nothing. And now Maxine was dead. Why hadn't they reported Earl, instead of being cowards and letting him bully them into silence? The kid was a year younger than him for crying out loud!

Bolton hated himself for what he and Paul had done. If Earl had been arrested on his first day at Waterloo Road, if he and Paul had spoke up, Maxine would still be alive. It was all his fault. Maxine had been his friend, and he had let her down.

Bolton hated himself for being so stupid and naive, thinking Earl had only had access to one gun. Of course he hadn't. Getting hold of a gun was easy if you knew where to get one from.

Paul knew the guilt was eating away at Bolton. It was eating away at him too. Bolton's way of dealing with it was to hit the punch bag over and over again. Paul's way was to stay silent, although he was having second thoughts about that. It felt wrong to stay silent when they knew so much about Earl Kelly. The wrong kid had gone to prison because of their cowardice. And now Maxine was dead.

Now Earl was behind bars, Paul felt they were in a better position to tell the Police what they knew. He hadn't wanted to at first and had persuaded Bolton not to. But now, he was having second thoughts. Telling the Police wouldn't bring Maxine back, he knew that. But it could get Denzil released from prison and would release Bolton from the anger and guilt that he was holding inside him.

"Bolton? We've got to get this sorted, yeah?"

Bolton rolled his eyes before throwing another punch at the bag. Paul flinched.

"Bolton!" Paul hissed

Bolton glared at him, throwing heavier punches at the bag as Mr Cleaver walked into the gym. Paul sighed, knowing this conversation would have to wait for another time.

He watched as Mr Cleaver scoffed at Bolton's punches.

"Is that the best you can do? Next Friday, I want you hitting your opponent, not tickling him"

Bolton ignored him, his punches getting weaker. Mr Cleaver sighed.

"Ok, mate. Are you going to tell me what's going on?" he asked placing his hands on the punching bag to stop it swinging

Bolton frowned at him.

"What?"

"Next week when you step into the ring, I want you to be focussed. This week it's like you're not even there"

Bolton rolled his eyes.

"I'm here, right? I'm training" he huffed

He landed one final blow to the punch bag before Mr Cleaver told him to go and get changed. He stormed off, leaving Paul in the gym.