A/N - Back from my hiatus. I wrote this in the Dentists, lol. Enjoy.

--

"Miss Slater. You're late." Mrs Elderflowers voice rang out in the classroom, somehow lacking it's usual bite. She didn't sound annoyed, didn't sound angry. Just sounded... tired.

"Sorry." I mumbled, stepping into the classroom for the first time since the night at the ballroom two weeks ago. It had been the last day before a half-term holiday, so I hadn't seen her for those two weeks. She had come into the shop once, but it was a day when I wasn't working, and apparently a 'posh' woman had called my manager Gary the day before, specifically asking when my hours were. It wasn't hard to deduce that she was avoiding me.

"Stay behind after class." Mrs Elderflower said reluctantly, clearly opposed to being in a confined space with me once again but also unable to not punish me when the whole class was watching. I spent the whole lesson sat beside Rachel, my beanie pulled down over my ears and my headphones in. Not a lot of work was done, but art was not a favourite subject of mine anyways, and I had regretted picking it so it was not a loss. I always much preferred admiring others' work in galleries than producing my own. It didn't help that I was pretty rubbish at Art. The only way I got such high grades was the standard of my annotations and all my written work.

"See ya at lunch. I'll save you a spot." Rachel flashed me a smile and picked up her bag as the bell rung. Her brown-and-red streaked hair disappeared around the corner along with the rest of the class and soon we were the only ones in the classroom. The art office was empty, as her class was now, and her voice rang out into the silence.

"Emma... we need to talk."

"I hate it when people say that."

"it doesn't distract from the message." Mrs Elderflower sat down heavily in her chair, rubbing the bridge of her nose frustratedly with two soft, pale, perfectly manicured hands, "That night... we both drank too much," she looked up at me now, her eyes seemingly brimming with tears. It was perhaps the most unguarded I had ever seen her - the most broken, and it pained my heart that I was the reason for it. "It shouldn't have happened. At all. I'm in a position of authority, and I took advantage of you."

"I agree." I began steadily, and her eyes flickered with surprise before she schooled her face into more neutral features, "If you're expecting me to stand here and disagree with every word you speak, I won't. I do agree with you, it was highly inappropriate. There are no feelings involved in this," I lied, taking a step towards her and edging myself up onto one of the old mahogany desks, "It was just a lapse of judgement - on both parts, don't expect me to let you think I was the innocent party - influenced by copious amounts of alcohol. I am sorry for putting you in such an uncomfortable position, this conversation should never have even been needed. All we can do is move on and be sure it doesn't happen again. I hope this doesn't affect our working relationship, though - I've found myself looking forward to your lessons recently. I never really enjoyed Art before, but you're a wonderful teacher."

"Oh. Ok." Was her only response. Mrs Elderflower blinked, and for a second I thought perhaps I could see a flash of disappointment in her eyes. How peculiar it was, the way her emotions merely flashed across her face, fleeting, never settling for more than a moment. I had never experienced anything like it, never met someone so difficult to read.

"I was drunk. You were drunk. But please don't think you took advantage of me, because you didn't. We're both at fault." resisting the urge to fidget and pick at a stray thread on my hoodie, I swallowed and continued, "There were no feelings involved, of course, I think it was just... in the moment. You just happened to be there. I'm sure it was the same for you."

"Yes, yes it was." she whispered unconvincingly, "No feelings involved. It was a stupid, foolish thing to do. We have a good working relationship, we work well together, we shouldn't let that be jeopardised so easily." standing up rather awkwardly, Mrs Elderflower forced a smile and held out her hand, "I'm sorry, that will never happen again."

"I'm not going to shake your hand, Miss." I exclaimed, doubling over with laughter, smiling even harder as she rolled her eyes fondly, thankfully breaking the awkward silence that had descended, "This isn't a business deal!"

--

"Rachel?"

"Yeah? Emma? What is it?" her voice crackled over the phone, "It's two in the morning, why have you woken me up?"

"We need to talk. Can I come round yours? It's... it's about Mrs Elderflower."

--

I want to say things went back to normal with me and Mrs Elderflower, but they didn't. We rarely spoke, and when we did it was short, and only ever about classwork. I had confessed to Rachel everything that had happened between Mrs Elderflower and I. She didn't have much to say. She was just annoyed I hadn't told her sooner, and not as weirded out at me having a crush on a teacher than I had previously thought she would be - than I was myself. Since our conversation, Mrs Elderflower had never been in the same room alone with me, even after four months had passed. Then, she asked me to stay behind after class one afternoon.

"You asked to see me, Miss?" I stood in front of her at the back of the classroom. I looked at her, and realised it was the first time I had done so since the last time we were alone in a room together. She seemed much wearier than before, her hair coarser, her eyes greyer and her skin paler.

"Yes, I- I'm afraid it's- it's rather personal." Mrs Elderflower fiddled with the button of her shirt, taller than me in her designer heels.

"Then perhaps you should keep it to yourself." I responded, surprising even myself with my steady, impersonal tone.

"I- I just wanted to know, I had heard you were back together with Kendra, and I- I just wanted to know, is it true? Emma, she's not good for you, she's abusive, mentally, she made you feel so low-"

"I think," I interrupted, "that perhaps you should keep these questions to yourself, Mrs Elderflower. They're not very appropriate to be asking a student."

"Right. Of course." she seemed to grow smaller then, almost retreat into herself.

"Anything else? School related, that is?"

"I- no, no. Nothing." she muttered, reaching up to fix her bun.

It was then that her sleeve fell down to reveal several dark bruises on her upper arm. Without thinking, I stepped forward and held her arm, fingertips brushing the soft skin. I knew what it was as soon as I had seen it. I, myself, had sported matching bruises multiple times, from my brother, father, mother... Kendra. Mrs Elderflower recoiled from my touch, ripping her sleeve down so violently I thought it might come off completely.

"Did Arthur do this to you?" I whispered, sick to my stomach as her husbands name rang out like a curse word, reverberating around my head like a taunting chant. He seemed charming enough when I met him, but distant, and he carried the air of someone who was capable of dangerous things.

"I think you should go now, Miss Slater."

"Okay. I'm going to go." I said, my questions already answered in the way her lip trembled and her fists clenched, "But this conversation isn't over."

"Leave." Mrs Elderflower trembled. She seemed more scared than angry, "Go home, Miss Slater."

--

"Mrs Elderflower." it had been two weeks since I had uttered those two words.

"Miss Slater. Hello." the ice-cold woman responded stiffly. She wore black slacks, a white blouse, a black blazer and black heels. "I was under the impression you weren't working today."

"Yes, well..." I glanced awkwardly around the hardware store. She wasn't even trying to hide the fact that she had been avoiding me, "I had to pick up a few shifts to cover Rachel, as she's currently ill."

"I see."

"I noticed you had an appointment for someone to come and fix your Lathe."

"Yes." Mrs Elderflower nodded, "but if you're busy I can come back another time."

"I'm never busy," - 'when it concerns you', I thought, "You know I never get any customers here." forcing a smile, I stepped away from the counter. As I did, the bell above the door jingled and I spotted Gary. "Oh, actually, there's my boss, he can come and fix it for you instead." smiling reassuringly I stepped back behind the counter. Mrs Elderflower opened her mouth, but her protestations died on her lips as the middle aged man appeared in front of her.

"Elise, what a pleasure to see you again." Gary's voice reached an impossibly low octave as he puffed out his beer belly and grinned, revealing a set of yellowed teeth. His smile - well, grimace - stretched a wiry brown moustache across his face, as he reached out a greasy hand to shake hers. Mrs Elderflower eyed his Wotsit-stained fingers with a practised disdain.

"You may call me Ms Elderflower. I was not aware we were on a first name basis, Mr Brinkwater."

"Oh, of course," he simpered, taking it in his stride, likely used to being rejected, "So I guess I'm finally going to see this beautiful house of yours, then?" Gary winked at her, although I'm not entirely sure why. He seemed to use the word 'house' as a euphemism, although for what I didn't know. I hadn't seen Gary act this way with anyone before. Usually he just sat in his office at the back and ate Wotsits. He ate a lot of Wotsits - a worrying amount. I briefly wondered if he had someone to go home to, clearly not a partner but maybe a parent or sibling he lived with, someone that tried to persuade him to eat slightly healthier. He did come across as someone that still lived with their mum.

"No, that won't be necessary," Mrs Elderflower forced a smile, "Miss Slater has already agreed to fix it for me." at this, my head snapped up.

"I have?"

"Yes." she widened her eyes at me and mouthed 'Just go along with it!' behind Gary's back. Gary, who was none the wiser, simply shrugged and gave up, wondering back to his office. I watched through the window as he picked a bogey from his nose, rolled it into a ball, flicked it and rejoiced as the blob stuck on his wall. Wrinkling my nose, I turned back to the matter at hand.

"You owe me for saving your ass then." I muttered, momentarily forgetting how we were no longer on a joking-around basis with each other.

"I don't think I do, Miss Slater." Mrs Elderflower rolled her eyes.

"Um, yeah, you definitely do, mate. My shift is supposed to be over in half an hour, but it's going to take at least fifteen minutes for me to convince Gary to let me borrow his truck and another fifteen to drive to yours, then likely an hour to fix your machine... Unless you would rather Gary just fixes it?"

"No, that won't be necessary." Mrs Elderflower grimaced at the mere mention of his name, "And you don't need his truck. Just come in my car, idiot."

"Don't call me an idiot. Idiot."

"Language."

"We're not in school love, try again." snorting, I grabbed my tool box and sauntered out, as Mrs Elderflower gave an exasperated sigh and followed me out of the shop.

"This is a new car, so be very careful." Mrs Elderflower warned, gesturing to the black vehicle as I put my tool box in her boot.

"Bloody hell, what car is this!" I exclaimed.

"A Bentley Continental Gt." Mrs Elderflower responded flippantly.

"You're the first teacher I've ever seen driving a Bentley, I'll give you that." I said, settling into the passengers seat beside her. The interior was white leather and I felt like I could almost fall asleep in my seat, it was so comfortable.

"Sorry for the mess, by the way. The cleaner wasn't able to make it into work." Mrs Elderflower mentioned as we arrived at her house, entering  the marble hallway. She sounded irritated, and her heels clicked intimidatingly on the floor as she strode further into the belly of her house. Nothing seemed to be out of place - in fact, the floor appeared to be so clean you could eat off of it. She must just have extremely high standards. "Would you like anything?" We arrived in her kitchen, which, like the rest of her house, looked like a showroom. "Some water? A beer?"

"A beer would be nice." I responded. I was over 18, so legally able to drink. It was nice to get served and get into clubs, but it didn't really change much. I drank before that, just a lot more discreetly.

"Cheers." I muttered as she handed me a bottle.

"You know where the garage is. I'll wait in my study, come and get me when you're finished."

"Will do." all of a sudden, I felt nervous, and unable to think of a witty retort to anything she said to me. it was unusual, and I sighed as I navigated the large house and located her garage. This was going to take me a long time.

--

"Oi! Miss!" I watched Mrs Elderflower turn around to face me. Another month had passed since I was at her house, and we hadn't spoken much since. She hadn't returned to the shop since. Mrs Elderflower was walking quickly down a corridor in the Science block, which was a horrible, ugly, concrete building built in the 90's, long after Hallway house itself was built.

"Emma." she greeted me with a guarded smile, "As eloquent as always."

"Shut up." I giggled and rolled my eyes, falling into step beside her, "Are you heading into the main building?"

"Yes, I'm going back to Art."

"Ah."

"So, why did you shout me down in the middle of the corridor in such an unladylike manner?"

"I hate that term," I wrinkled my nose, "I'd rather you just call it 'rude' or 'uncouth' or something else posh. Not unladylike. Why are men allowed to say it and not women?"

"Sorry." Mrs Elderflower chuckled, "I never really thought about it like that. I suppose it's just habit. My Mother would often say that to me when I was a child."

"What!?" I gasped, "You were a child? I just assumed you were born a fully grown, terrifying, walking dictionary."

"How quaint." she rolled her eyes.

"And the answer to your question is, I just wanted to walk with you. Is that a crime?" I joked, laughing.

"Miss Slater..." Mrs Elderflower's voice held a warning tone, as she narrowed her eyes and looked at me sideways for the first time since I approached her. I didn't miss how she had reverted to referring to me by my surname. We left the building and headed towards the castle, her heels crunching on the gravel. She waited a few moments before adding, "Be careful with what you're saying."

"I'm just telling the truth," I sighed, "Nothing untoward."

"Untoward? Who is the dictionary now, Miss Slater?" Mrs Elderflower joked; however, there was now a slight edge to her voice and a certain stiffness to her posture as she walked.

"Jealous, are we?" I jested, the lightness in my voice that was originally in our conversation gone. We reached the main building. Mrs Elderflower sighed, and held open the door for me.

"Indeed." she muttered.

"Cheers," I stepped through the door, "Do you have a class now?"

"Currently a free period, then in about half an hour I have my Year 10 GCSE students," she sighed, "Then, as you know, after that I have the Year 13's - your class.

"You sound excited."

"About as excited as I can be." she chuckled mirthlessly. "It's not the Year 13's, it's the Year 10's I don't particularly... enjoy teaching." we continued to walk down an empty stone corridor, until she spoke up again. "Do you know a boy named Brandon Tucker?"

"Yeah, I do, actually. Why?"

"He's the biggest troublemaker," she crossed her arms as we stood at a fork in the corridors. Left went towards the languages class where I had my next lesson, right eventually ended at the lift up to Art. "Always refuses to do his work. All his friends are too scared to talk back to me, but Brandon..." she sighed, "He's a good artist, even if he only chose the subject because he thought it would be easy."

"How wrong he must have been." I smirked, speaking from experience.

"What do you have now?" Mrs Elderflower questioned.

"French. Whoop." I groaned.

"Big whoop. Have fun. Make sure you behave."

"Ditto." I smirked. "Bye."

"Goodbye." she smiled softly, and I watched her walk away for a few seconds before I turned to the left and headed towards my next class.

French passed surprisingly quickly, and before long I was on my way to my next lesson. The Languages corridor wasn't far from Art so I wasn't surprised to enter the classroom and see I was the first to arrive.

"Miss Slater," my art teacher began, emerging from the Art office. She appeared to have all of a sudden permanently decided to call my by my surname," You're on time. I'm impressed."

"I even got here before you. I'm unimpressed, Mrs Elderflower!" I declared mischievously.

"That you are," she rolled her eyes, "Seeing as you're early - well, on time, which is early for you - why don't you make use of your time and help me clean the sinks?"

"God, are the Year 10's actually incapable of clearing up after themselves?" I exclaimed, glancing at the sinks for the first time and noticing how they looked as if a paint bomb had exploded everywhere.

"Apparently so," Mrs Elderflower grimaced, "your help would be greatly appreciated." she added, and we set to work. Five or so minutes later, most of it was cleaned up, and a few more students had arrived.

"W-wha-" Mrs Elderflower stuttered all of a sudden. I looked up as she glanced down, perplexed, at a bright yellow splodge of paint on her otherwise somehow pristine cleaning apron.

"Gosh, you're very messy." I commented.

"I'm not!" Mrs Elderflower exclaimed indignantly. "Hmm..." she eyed me suspiciously.

"What!?" I couldn't hold back my laughter, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Did you have anything to do with... this?" the blonde woman gestured to the stain on her white apron.

"No!" I giggled.

"You're a terrible liar, Miss Slater. This is Chanel!"

"I'm not lying!" I exclaimed, now laughing my head off, "Also, serves you right. Who in their right mind buys a Chanel apron? Aprons are supposed to get dirty!"

"Not if you're careful! You did this, didn't you? I know you did," She wagged a finger at me and huffed, "You laugh when you lie, I've noticed!" Mrs Elderflower huffed.

"Yeah, well that's great, but I dunno why you're telling me this when I didn't actually do anything. Besides, it's weird that you're always wearing that apron, literally all the time, and never seem to get it dirty. I mean, it's just unnatural!"

"Oh, just get on with your piece!" she gave up, "Your coursework is overdue." Mrs Elderflower rolled her eyes and stormed away, although not before I caught a ghost of a smile on her lips.

Halfway through the lesson, I was standing by the sinks, squirting a tube of acrylic paint onto a palette.

"Shit!" I exclaimed, cursing loudly as the tube suddenly somehow split in half, bursting all over the sink, the floor, the side of my joggers and both of my hands. Everyone in the class looked over, and Rachel burst out laughing as everyone began to clap. "Piss off!" I shouted at my class, laughing along with them, feigning annoyance.

"Quiet, please!" Mrs Elderflower huffed, striding over to me, heels somehow clicking on the linoleum floor. The class quietened down, but you could still hear the odd snigger to