Eddie escorted Rachel back to her office. He frowned as she handed the piece of paper in her hand to Bridget, asking her to send a copy to every member of staff. Eddie groaned, knowing immediately it was to inform everyone that she was resigning. He was right; she wouldn't take the Governor's advice on board.

He followed her into the office, closing the door behind him for privacy. Rachel eyed him wearily as she sat down in her chair, placing her head in her hands.

"You're sending the staff letters when he's given you another six hours to make up your mind?!" Eddie scoffed

"It's already made up. You're wasting your breath. I'm leaving teaching, Eddie" she shrugged

He paused. He'd had his suspicions as to what she meant when she said she was resigning. He wanted to be wrong and thought that she would be moving to another school. But he'd been wrong. She had just confirmed his fear, and it filled him with dread.

"Hang on... leaving teaching?" he questioned

"Yes, a fresh start! Why not?" she snapped impatiently

"Because it's your life?" he pointed out

Rachel shook her head.

"Not anymore. But I'm recommending you for the job"

Eddie frowned at her.

"Me?"

"Yes. You were meant to be the Head Teacher of this school twice. Better late than never, right?"

Eddie scoffed.

"Rach, hang on a minute. I don't want your job, and I'm not going to take it even if you recommend me! I don't want to be here without you... I can't. We're a team! This school is nothing without you as its Head Teacher" he argued

"Well, then, they'll find someone else to be your new boss" she shrugged

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go and see Marley" she added, standing up

Eddie watched as the colour drained from her face. She groaned, putting a hand to her head as the room began to spin.

Eddie sat her back down. He immediately grabbed the bin, passing it to her just in time.

It stopped fairly quickly, to Eddie's relief.

Once he was sure she was finished, he passed her some water, which she refused. Eddie frowned at her.

"Rach, you need to stay hydrated" he told her

Rachel shook her head.

"I can't, I'll just throw it back up. Just give me a minute and then I will"

Eddie nodded, sitting at the table opposite her desk.

"I think I should go back to the Doctors" she admitted, breaking the silence

Eddie was surprised, but relieved to hear her admit that.

"I think you should too, Rach. Do you want me to call and make an appointment? If we can get one for after school, we can go together" he offered

Rachel nodded quietly, resting a hand on her stomach. This was a step forward to putting things right. She couldn't change her mind about her resignation, but she could try and let Eddie in and embrace her new upcoming journey of Motherhood.

Whilst Rachel got her water and sipped on it slowly, Eddie pulled out his phone, dialling the number of the GP surgery. Five minutes later, he hung up the phone, smiling at Rachel encouragingly.

"What did they say?" she asked

"I got you an appointment for 5:30 today, with the Doctor you saw last time" he told her

Rachel sighed in relief.

"Thank you"

Eddie smiled softly, reaching out and squeezing her hand reassuringly.

"How are you feeling?" he asked

"Better" she replied

"We need to get Bolton and Marley into my office so we can sort this out" she added, standing up slowly

Eddie nodded, standing up too.

"I'll go and get Rose, Candeece and Bolton. You check on Marley bring him to your office" he suggested

Rachel nodded, exiting the office as the bell rang out for break.

...

It was finally break time. Steph was in her classroom, burying herself in the last of the books she needed to mark. The fact that she was running out of work to do panicked her. The thought of having to set her classes more homework seemed to be more trouble than it was worth, but she was going to do it anyway. She needed the distraction, especially as she was staying at Matt's and he wouldn't let her touch a single drop of alcohol. She had only managed to last night as he had gone out for the evening and she had nipped to the local corner shop. She'd downed the entire bottle of gin before Matt had got home. When Matt had found her in a drunken state, he'd gone ballistic. She had a feeling he'd be watching her like a hawk from now on. Marking was the next best thing as a distraction to drinking. Well, not quite, but close enough.

Steph hadn't had an easy morning. Every day she had spent teaching at Waterloo Road had been stressful and tiring. If she didn't leave without a headache at the end of the day, something was wrong.

This morning had been the worst to date. If she was honest, she just wanted to be in bed, sleeping the day away. But she couldn't. She had to keep it going, for Maxine's sake.

It had started during lesson one, with Danielle and Aleesha teasing her about how her breath stank of alcohol. The two of them wouldn't let it go. Usually, Steph liked to have a bit of banter with the students; it made it easier to teach them. But not today. Not when she already had a pounding headache and a broken heart. She had been tempted to send the two best friends to the cooler.

Lesson two hadn't been much better. The students had been more subtle about teasing her, but the sniggering behind her back and the whispering was something that she found more irritating than Danielle and Aleesha directly insulting her.

And then there was the chat she had, had with Janeece first thing this morning. Steph did feel slightly guilty for snapping at her the way that she had, but she couldn't control it. She didn't want to talk about Maxine's death- or Maxine for that matter. She didn't see how it would help or change things. If she was honest, she just wanted to forget. Janeece was making that impossible for her. That was why Steph had been avoiding her.

She had wanted to go to the memorial yesterday. When Janeece had texted her to invite her, she'd thought it was a lovely idea. But when the day came, she just couldn't do it. She couldn't face Janeece, it was too painful. So she had stayed at home, with a bottle of gin for company.

She wanted to be there for Janeece, she wanted her to have someone to confide in and to be there for her. She knew Maxine would have wanted that too. But she just couldn't. She was a mess, how could she be there for Janeece when she couldn't be there for herself? When she was around Janeece, who was openly grieving, Steph's reality stared her in the face. Maxine was dead, she wasn't coming back. It was too painful.

A knock at the door caused her to groan. She turned in her chair, rolling her eyes when she saw Charlotte.

"Have you come to search my classroom for alcohol?"

"No" Charlotte responded

"What can I do for you then?"

"I just wanted to check in with you, make sure you're ok" Charlotte explained

"I'm fine" Steph mumbled, unconvincingly

"Steph,"

"I'm fine!" she snapped

Charlotte nodded, retreating a little.

"Did you go to Janeece's for Maxine's memorial last night?" she continued

"Oh, so it was you who cooked that up?" Steph grumbled

"Janeece wanted to do something in memory of Maxine, but she didn't know what she could do. We came up with the idea together" Charlotte shrugged

"Yes, well, I didn't go"

"Why?" Charlotte questioned

"I was... busy"

"Janeece really wanted you there, Steph. She misses Maxine and,"

"Then I'll tell you what I told her. She needs to get over it" Steph spat

Charlotte didn't miss the tears that were forming in Steph's eyes as those harsh words left her lips. As she expected, Steph was hurting more than she was letting on.

"I don't think you mean that, Steph"

"Don't I?"

"No, you don't. I know you're hurting just as much as Janeece is. She needs you just as much as you need her. You're both grieving and I think if you both just sat down and talked, it would help. You can support each other"

Steph shook her head as she sniffled.

"I can't be there for her in the way that she needs me to be"

"She doesn't want anything from you other than to talk"

"She has you for that" Steph pointed out

"Yes, she does. But I'm leaving at the end of today. Whilst I know that she can confide in me and has confided in me, it isn't the same. I wasn't there when Maxine was killed, I didn't know her. You were there and you did know her. Janeece finds comfort in the thought of talking to you, and I think you could too. Stop pushing her away and let her in"

Steph remained silent. She didn't appreciate Charlotte waltzing into her classroom and telling her what was what. The only reason she was holding her tongue was because she knew if she put another toe out of line, it would give Eddie or Rachel the ammunition to either suspend or sack her.

"Look, I have a session with Janeece at two o'clock. Why don't you come along and you can both sit down and talk?"

More silence.

Why was this woman so insistent on meddling in her life?

"The offer is there if you want it. Have a think about it, ok?"

As Charlotte left, Steph leaned back in her chair with a heavy sigh. She already knew her decision and she wasn't going to change her mind.