I seem to be setting quite a lot of fanfiction during Josh's coming-out storyline! It was the first episode of Waterloo Road I watched, so I suppose it made a strong impression. Ever since catching up on series three and four, I've wondered what Josh's story would have been like if Matt had been around to offer him support when he came out; here's my attempt to answer that question. I hope you enjoy it!

So Talk

It starts when Matt comes back to the music room early, before the lunch break has finished, to catch up on some admin. He slings his bag onto his desk, pulls out his paperwork, and only then looks up and realises he's not alone.

"Josh?"

Josh Stevenson freezes in the act of creeping towards the door, as if he was hoping he'd be able to get out without being noticed.

"What are you doing here?" Matt asks. As he speaks, he realises that he probably knows the answer. Josh has been the talk of the school today; it's rumoured that he tried to kiss Finn Sharkey this morning. Much of the discussion in the staff room has been about how they can lend Josh some support, whether the rumours turn out to be true or not. "Hiding?"

Josh shakes his head. "Just wanted to work someplace quiet, sir."

Hiding, of course. It's not really his business, but... "How are things going?"

"What d'you mean?"

Matt feels that he should really know how to approach this topic delicately, and he's quite frustrated to find that he doesn't. "Well, you know, how are things going for you? Generally?"

"Now that everyone thinks I'm gay, you mean?" Josh asks, obviously starting to get annoyed now. "You can say it; everyone else does. Apart from that my friends hate me and my dad doesn't want to talk to me, it's fine."

What?

"Wait," Matt says. "Your dad? Tom?"

Josh glances away. "Forget it."

"What do you mean, he doesn't want to speak to you? Tom loves you."

"I said forget it."

Matt frowns. Some of the teachers have been saying that Tom could have handled the rumours better, but he can't imagine that Tom would just shut out his son, particularly over something like this. "Look, all I can say is your dad never seemed to have a problem with me. When Miss Montoya told me he was taking this badly, I didn't believe her."

"It's fine, sir," Josh says, not looking at him. He gives a little smile. It's the least convincing thing Matt has ever seen. "He's just annoyed that people are talking. He knows it's lies."

"Whether it's true or not, he should know that now is exactly the time you need his support," Matt says, his frown deepening. "Maybe I should talk to him."

"Don't do that," Josh says, instantly. "It'll be fine once everyone's forgotten about it, honest."

Matt is thinking. He hasn't spoken to Tom about the Josh situation himself; he's only heard about Tom's reactions secondhand. Because he's hardly seen Tom today. Tom's come into the staff room a couple of times when Matt's been in there, but each time he's quickly made an excuse and left. Does he not want to discuss the question of Josh's sexuality when Matt is around? Because Matt's gay?

"Maybe he did have a problem with me," Matt says, quietly, and then, after a moment, "Sorry, that's not the sort of thing I should be saying to a pupil. Or his son, for that matter."

Josh smiles a little at that, really this time. "You don't have to worry. He's never said anything against you when we're at home. He likes you. He thinks you're a good teacher."

Matt laughs. "Well, that's good to hear. There you go, then. I know for a fact he likes you; if he's fine with me, this shouldn't change how he feels about you. Maybe he just needs a bit of time to get used to the idea."

"But I'm not gay," Josh says, quickly. "No offence, sir."

"All right, you're not. I'm just saying, whatever this is, I think you and your dad will get through it." He pauses, watching Josh. "You know you can always come and talk to me, right?" When Josh draws breath to protest, he hurries on. "I'm not trying to say you're gay. You just seem to be having a rough time at the moment. And if you want to talk to someone about problems with your dad, or about bullying – or about your sexuality, if that is an issue, and if you say it isn't I'll believe you – I just want you to know I'm around. I know what it's like to have people whispering about you."

Josh looks as if he's about to argue for a moment longer, but then he lets out a breath and gives another of his quick, strained smiles. "All right, sir. Thanks."

Matt spends much of his Year Eleven Drama class the next morning thinking about Josh's predicament; Josh isn't in this particular class, but Lauren is, and seeing her reminds him of the situation. When Matt quietly asked around the staff room before the day began, he learnt that apparently Josh gave Tom an ultimatum last night: accept him or let him go. That's a good sign, Matt thinks – at least Josh seems to have a clearer idea of who he is now – but Tom still seems a little odd and tense, and Josh's former friends don't seem prepared to speak to him yet.

Matt can't imagine that Josh is going to take him up on his offer of a chat, but the poor kid's having a nightmare of a coming-out experience; how is he meant to sit back and do nothing?

When the bell rings and the pupils start packing up, a thought hits him. "Sam," he calls. "Can I have a word?"

Sam nods, hangs back while the others barge out. "I've not done anything wrong, have I?" she asks when the classroom is clear.

"Actually, I wanted to ask you a favour," he says. "You know Josh Stevenson?"

She raises her eyebrows. "Think the whole school knows about him now. Yeah, we've got most of our classes together."

"I don't think he's having a great time at the moment," Matt says. "I think he might need some help."

Sam gives him a very strange look. "What, and you want me to help him? How?"

"I don't know, talk to him. Give him a bit of support. It only has to be until he's back on his feet. I just think he needs someone to keep an eye on him."

"Are you joking?" Sam asks. "Do you know what he did to Lauren?"

"I don't think he's a bad kid," Matt says. "I just think he's confused. Right now, he really needs a friend."

"There's a reason his friends ain't talking to him any more, y'know. I don't care if he's gay, but you don't lead people on like that."

Matt hesitates. It's not something he likes to bring up, but...

"Look," he says, quietly, "I had a girlfriend when I was a teenager. I already knew I was gay when I asked her out, I think. I'm not proud of it; it's just something that happened. I was scared; I wanted to feel normal. I wanted people to stop talking about me."

Sam is staring at him. He finds he can't look her in the eye, starts tidying chairs so he has something else to focus on.

"I'm not saying it was an all right thing to do, but I don't think Josh was trying to trick Lauren or anything," he says. "I think he wanted to trick himself."

There's a moment before Sam speaks again, sounding much less certain than she did before. "Yeah, but..."

Matt waits until it becomes clear that she isn't going to finish. "The point is, I've been through what he's going through now," he says. "I wouldn't want anyone to have to go through that alone."

He finds the strength to look directly at her again. She's frowning a little, unhappy, concerned.

"Think about it, at least," Matt says.

Sam shifts uneasily. "All right," she says. "I'll think about it."

Sam's just stepped outside for first break when she sees Josh. He's sitting on a bench the other side of a straggly patch of grass, his head down and his arms between his knees. Sam stops walking and just stands there for a moment, watching him. Mr Wilding said he needed someone around, and Sam can see his point; Josh looks very, very alone right now. But Josh really upset her best friend. Maybe he deserves to be alone for a while.

And then she sees a gang of kids from the year below pointing and whispering and laughing as they walk past him, and that's when she knows she's going to do this.

Sam tugs on her bag strap, steadying herself, and walks over to Josh.

"Hi," she says.

"Leave me alone."

"Oh, that's nice," she says, dropping down to sit next to him. "Can't imagine why you're not Mr Popular right now."

There's a short silence.

"How're you coping?" she asks.

He gives her an odd sideways look, like he's not sure what she's trying to do here. "It's great," he says, after a moment. "I've got so much more free time now none of my friends will speak to me."

"That why you told me to go away the second I said hello, then?"

He glances away, doesn't answer.

"Look," Sam says, "I know we've never been close. And I know I laughed at you, and I'm sorry about that. But you can't go blocking everyone out. It won't help."

"I'm not blocking anyone out. They stopped talking to me."

"Right, sorry, don't know how I didn't get that with how obviously inviting you're being."

"Why are you here, Sam?" Josh asks. He sounds very tired.

"I'm a friend who's talking to you, you idiot!"

Josh looks startled. "Sorry," he says, after a moment.

"It's all right," Sam says. "I'll forgive you, long as you stop trying to bite my head off. So how're you coping?"

"With what?"

"I don't know." She gestures vaguely. "All this. People talking. You're sitting on your own in a mood, so I'm guessing things haven't all sorted themselves out yet."

An odd little frown crosses Josh's face. He doesn't answer.

"Josh?"

"Did Mr Wilding tell you to come and talk to me?" Josh asks, suddenly.

"Why're you saying that?"

"I know you're close," Josh says. "Dad told me you used to live with him. And he was trying to talk to me yesterday. Worried, like."

Sam hesitates a moment too long, and Josh gives a humourless laugh. No point lying now; he'll never believe her.

"Well, at least you know I'm really trying to help you," she says. "I'm not just talking to you so I can trick you or summat. Not like you can be fussy about your friends right now, is it?"

"Oh, thanks."

"He's not bribing me or anything," she says. "He was just asking. I could've told him to shove it, but I didn't. I came to talk to you. Because he's right, isn't he? You do need someone."

Josh says nothing for a long time, looking down at his hands.

"All right," he says, eventually. "S'pose maybe I do." He looks up at her, gives her a small smile. "Thanks."

"People still giving you a hard time, then?"

Josh makes a face. "Can we talk about something else, actually?"

She shrugs. "All right. Like what?"

"Dunno." He pauses for a moment, thinking. "D'you know how my dad met your mum? He's never told me."

Sam takes in a deep breath, lets it out slowly, ruffling her hair. "God, how long've you got?"

They talk for the whole of break, and Sam walks away from the bench feeling accomplished. Maybe this keeping-an-eye-on-Josh thing is going to be less of a pain than she thought. And she's always sort of felt maybe she should get to know Josh a bit better; he is Tom's son, after all. Their parents might not be going out any more, but she and Tom are still close.

There's a whistle, and she turns to see Amy leaning on the bike racks, waving her over. Sam's good mood shifts to wariness; she's still not completely sure if she likes Amy. Still, she can't exactly ignore her. Amy is Lauren's friend now, after all.

"What were you talking to the freak for?" Amy asks, as Sam gets close.

"Don't call him that, he's not a freak."

"Whatever. Why're you being all friendly with him? How d'you think Lauren's going to feel when she sees you hanging around with the guy who broke her heart?"

"I'm sure she knows he didn't mean to hurt her," Sam says. "I think he just made a mistake."

"What, not noticing she's not a boy?"

Sam hesitates.

"All right, Mr Wilding asked me to talk to him," she says, dropping her voice. "Reckoned he needed a friend."

Amy bursts out laughing. "Oh, my God, that's the saddest thing I've ever heard."

"Think he had a point," Sam says, with a shrug. "He's not that bad once you get him to stop snapping at you, Josh."

"I reckon Mr Wilding fancies him," Amy says. "He's getting you to soften Josh up so he can make his move."

"Don't be daft, he's not like that."

"Gay? Pretty sure he is, Sam."

"Yeah, and I'm straight; don't mean I fancy every boy I see, does it? I know Mr Wilding; he wouldn't go after a kid. He's worried about him, that's all."

Amy just smirks.

The door of the music room squeaks open just after lunch has started, and Matt looks up from his marking to see Josh standing awkwardly in the doorway. He immediately pushes his Year Eights' attempts at composition to one side and smiles at him. "Josh, how can I help?"

Josh hesitates for a moment, and then he closes the door, takes a few steps into the room. "Sam came to talk to me."

"Did she, now?" Matt asks, trying to sound as if this is new and unexpected information. "Well, it's good to know you still have friends here."

Josh snorts. "You can drop the act. I know you told her to."

"Ah," Matt says.

"I don't need you getting involved."

"I just thought you might need someone to talk to," Matt says. It sounds a lot more feeble coming out of his mouth than it did in his head. "She's a good person to have on your side, Sam. You can trust her."

"Like I can trust you, you mean?"

In retrospect, trying to arrange a friendship underhandedly was probably a bad idea. "All right, sorry about that."

"It's all right," Josh says, pulling out a chair and sitting down. "Maybe I do need someone to talk to about all this. But I should probably talk to someone who actually wants to talk to me, not just his spy."

"She's not a spy," Matt protests. "I wasn't going to ask her to report back to me or anything." It's only as he's speaking that he realises what Josh is really saying. "Wait, so you want to talk?"

"Are you busy?"

Matt smiles. "Nothing that can't wait." Sitting behind a desk feels a bit too formal, so he hops up to sit on top of the desk instead. "How are you finding things with your dad?"

It's a long conversation, and it takes up most of Matt's lunch break, but Josh seems to get something out of it, so Matt feels it's worth it. Midway through, he looks up to see that Amy Porter is standing outside the room, looking in at them. She winks and waves at him through the window. She's a bit of a troublemaker, and they don't always get along, but he gives her a puzzled smile and waves back.

Josh hangs back to talk to Matt again after his music lesson the next day, and drops in on occasional breaks over the next week or so. Things seem to be improving for him, Matt is relieved to note; the school seems to have become bored of talking about his sexuality and moved on. Finn is speaking to him again. Sam is still spending time with him; despite the manipulated beginnings of their friendship, it seems to be laying down roots. He's even started worrying about what his dad might say if he tries to bring home a boyfriend. That doesn't sound like a good thing, granted, but at least Josh can now entertain the idea of having a relationship; during their first real discussion, Josh spoke as if he expected to lead a loveless, celibate existence for the rest of his life.

And then he just... stops. He doesn't just stop coming in for a chat; that would be fine, Matt would take that as a good sign, a sign that Josh doesn't have anything to get off his chest at the moment. He stops coming to Matt's lessons, and that's a problem.

"Hey, Josh," Matt says, hurrying to catch up with him when he sees him in the corridor. "Didn't see you in Music earlier; where've you been?"

"I can't talk to you," Josh says quietly, keeping his eyes ahead.

Matt frowns. "What?"

Josh stops and turns to look at him, and although he keeps his voice low the anger in it comes through clearly. "Everyone thinks I'm shagging you."

"What?"

"You said you wanted to help with the bullying," Josh says. "It's worse than ever now. Should've known this would happen."

"Josh," Matt says urgently, seeing visions of his career falling away beneath his feet, "who exactly is saying these things? What are they saying?"

Josh averts his eyes. "I have to go."

"Wait," Matt says, and he grabs Josh by the shoulders to stop him leaving and knows immediately that he's made a horrible mistake.

"What're you doing?" Josh demands. "D'you think that's going to help?"

Matt lets go, and Josh wheels around and stalks away, straightening his collar.

There's laughter from the end of the corridor, and when Matt turns he sees a little gang of Year Ten girls standing there, one holding a mobile phone.

It all goes pretty sharply downhill after that.

It's like being seventeen all over again, laughter and wolf-whistles following him wherever he goes. Worse, in fact; when Matt was seventeen, he didn't have to worry about losing his job or getting arrested. A couple of Year Twelve girls even proposition him, which is frankly terrifying.

All he can do is hope that it'll all die down in a couple of days. A couple of days later, though, he's accosted at the school gates by a small group of parents.

"You Mr Wilding?" one demands.

"Er—"

"We're here to tell you to stay away from our kids," she says. She spits on the pavement at his feet. "You'll not be teaching here much longer."

Matt just stands there for a moment, frozen with shock, and then his mind starts working again and he walks past them and towards the school as quickly as he can. Bellowed abuse follows him. He looks around desperately for help, but there's only Josh, who's really the last person he needs to be seen with right now, hanging back and looking stricken.

So that's it. These rumours have spread to the parents. Only four today, but there'll be more tomorrow. He might as well resign now.

Matt bangs his bag down on the desk in the music classroom, opens it and realises only then that he's forgotten to bring back this class's exercise books. Sort of scuppers today's lesson plan, then; it'll have to be a practical. Which might be just as well; his head isn't really in the right place for musical theory right now.

"Er," he says, trying to get his thoughts straight. "Sorry, I don't have your homework with me today. Er..."

"Is it true you're a paedo, sir?" one of the kids asks, sniggering.

Matt needs to get out of here.

Sam is almost on the verge of tears as she half-runs through the corridors, but she manages to keep herself steady by keeping her mind focused on her mission: find Josh. She asks everyone she passes whether they've seen him. One good thing about him being the laughing stock of the school: people know where he is.

She tracks him down in an English classroom, sitting alone in a corner. He glances up at the bang when she shoves the door open so hard it hits the wall. He doesn't look shocked; he just looks tired and frustrated.

"You here to mock me?" he asks, and for a moment she could just about strangle him before he looks away. "Sorry," he says. "I know you're not."

"What people are saying," she says. "About you and Mr Wilding. It's not true, is it?"

"'Course it's not true," Josh says, flatly. "Good to know there's at least one person in the school that's got it right."

"So you've got to clear his name," Sam says. "He could lose his job over this, you know that?"

"I know. I hate it. Who's going to listen to me, though?"

"Who else are they going to listen to? I've been shouting it all over the place, but your story's the one that matters. Just tell everyone it's not true. Tell your dad; he'll listen."

"You think so?" Josh asks, frowning.

"You've got to at least try, haven't you? I know you don't want Mr Wilding to get kicked out either."

"No," Josh says. "'Course not."

"So help him."

"Dad," a voice says from behind him, and Tom turns instantly. He's been keeping an eye out for Josh since he became aware of the rumours flying about; they're just rumours, obviously, but they still can't be a good thing for his son to have to cope with.

"Josh, good to see you. Everything all right?"

It's a stupid question, he knows as he asks, and unsurprisingly Josh doesn't bother answering it. "These stories," he says instead. "They're not true."

"I never thought they were," Tom says, bemused. "I mean, it's good to hear you say it, but I thought it was just kids giving you a hard time. You know, because of... you know."

"Yeah, but it's getting really bad."

Tom frowns. "I know you didn't like them, but I really think those self-defence classes could help you."

"I don't mean for me," Josh says. "I mean for Mr Wilding. There was parents shouting at him from the gates this morning."

Oh, no. Not one of these. There are daft rumours flying around all the time, but when they start to spread outside the school, particularly when they're about something as sensitive as this...

"You need to tell all the other teachers he's done nothing," Josh says.

"All right," Tom says. "I will." He pats Josh on the shoulder, sets off towards the staff room.

"Really?" Josh asks, sounding unconvinced.

Tom stops and turns back. "What? Why wouldn't I?"

Josh is frowning at him. "If you thought it was true. I mean, he's gay, and I know you've been looking at me differently since..."

"Doesn't change the fact that I know he's a decent bloke," Tom says. "I swear, I believe you." There's a horrible feeling growing in his stomach. "You think I've been looking differently at you?"

"Well, you're not exactly comfortable around me now, are you?"

"Josh, no, you can't think that. Nothing's changed. I just..."

This is serious. Josh is scared about what his dad thinks of him, and they need to sort it out together, right now.

Tom bottles it. "Maybe we can talk about it this evening."

Josh looks coldly back at him. "Yeah, I bet."

And he turns around and starts walking away.

"Josh?" Tom calls after him. "You know I still love you, don't you?"

Josh doesn't answer.

"Matt not around?" Tom asks, scanning the staff room as he crosses to the tea station.

Cesca shakes her head. "I think he went home. Can't really blame him, all things considered." Then she seems to realise who she's talking to, looks sharply at him. "You're not going to..."

"I'm not looking to have a punch-up with him, if that's what you're worried about," Tom says. "I know they're just whispers in the playground."

She looks relieved. "No, of course. I don't believe anyone who works at this school would do something like that." (Next to Tom, Chris pours boiling water all over the countertop, missing his mug entirely, and swears under his breath.) "Least of all Matt. And Josh is only just beginning to accept his sexuality; do we really think he'd jump straight into an affair with a teacher?"

"I agree," Tom says. "Josh says it's all nonsense, and I believe him. Matt fostered Sam for a while, you know; she never had a word to say against him. And I don't think either of them would be that stupid, all else aside."

"Someone should talk to him," Cesca says. "He must be going through hell."

Tom can't find Josh after school. He tries asking a group of pupils from his year if they've seen him.

"Maybe he's eloped with Mr Wilding, sir," one of them suggests, and they all dissolve into laughter.

He gives them lunchtime detention for the next day – some might say that's harsh; frankly, the mood he's in, they're lucky not to go away with worse – and keeps looking. Eventually, though, he gives up and drives home; Josh can walk it if he has to.

When he gets home, he finds that Josh is already there, on his own in the living room. He's not doing anything; he's just sitting there. The television's off. The lights are off.

"You all right, mate?" Tom asks, pausing in the doorway.

Josh says nothing.

"Josh?"

"You think it's true, don't you?" Josh asks, not looking at him. "'Cause he's gay, and you've got a problem with that. He said you always seemed all right with him, but you weren't, were you?"

"Josh," Tom says, again, and now Josh turns to meet his eyes.

Matt is lying fully-clothed on his bed, his hands over his face, contemplating whether he should brave going to work tomorrow or just leave the country while he still can, when the handset by the front door rings. Someone is buzzing for access to his flat. Matt answers it warily; it hasn't happened yet, but he has a horrible feeling that at any moment hordes of Waterloo Road parents might come by to kick down his door and accuse him of molesting their children. "Hello?"

"Is that Mr Wilding?"

It takes Matt a second to place the voice, and the moment he does it feels like his stomach just up and goes, leaving a gaping void in its place. "Josh," he hisses, "you can't be here. You'll get me arrested."

"I just wanted to say sorry."

"It wasn't your fault, Josh, please just go."

"I've got my dad with me," Josh says. "I've not come to your flat on my own; I'm not an idiot."

"Oh," Matt says. He considers for a moment. If Tom is here with Josh, that means – obviously – that Tom knows Josh is here and hasn't stopped him from coming, which means that Tom doesn't mind his son being near Matt, which means that Tom presumably doesn't believe the stupid rumours that have left Matt's life in such a mess. First bit of good news he's had in a while. And both Josh and his dad visiting will tell a very different story from Josh visiting on his own, if news of this visit gets out. "All right, I'll let you in."

Matt spends the entire minute between buzzing them in and the knock on his door trying to think of a way to open the conversation that won't be incredibly uncomfortable. He thinks he might just about have something, but then he pulls open the door and meets Tom's eyes and his mind goes completely blank and he just blurts out, "I swear I don't go around feeling kids up."

There's a moment of complete silence.

"Oh, God," Matt says. "No. Sorry."

But Tom is laughing, at least, rather than punching him in the face.

"I really am sorry," Josh says, while the kettle's boiling. "I never meant for this to happen. It was horrible, what they was shouting at you."

"You really didn't do anything wrong, Josh," Matt says. "I said you could come and speak to me about anything; all you did was take me up on it. I should've thought about how it would look to a schoolful of teenagers."

He keeps half an eye on Tom as he speaks; he's not sure whether Josh has told his dad about their discussions or not, and he knows from past observation that Tom can blow up when someone acts as if they know how to raise his kid better than he does. Tom doesn't say anything, though; he actually looks a little embarrassed. Maybe this means he's going to try to be there for his son more often, now? Matt hopes so; he obviously can't offer Josh much more support himself.

Nobody speaks for a while once the tea has brewed and they're all seated. Eventually, Josh asks, his voice a little unsteady, "D'you think you'll have to leave the school?"

It's not a question he likes to think about, but that hasn't kept him from thinking about it more or less all day. He takes a long drink of his tea, giving himself a little time to get his answer straight in his head. "I don't know. I don't know whether I'll be able to recover from this." This is the part he really doesn't want to think about, but he has to face it head-on. "Maybe I should just hand in my notice."

Tom shakes his head. "You don't want to look like you're running away."

"What am I supposed to do, then? Go back and try to teach at a school where everyone thinks I'm a paedophile?"

"Everyone in that staff room's on your side. And these rumours don't have anything to back them up, which means people will forget about them soon enough."

Matt gives a flat laugh. "Do you really believe that?"

"I've been where you are, mate," Tom says. "Worse. You try waking up with a student in your bed, see how easy that is to explain away."

Matt chokes on his tea.

"I was asleep," Tom clarifies, quickly. "She was a friend of Chlo's, staying the night, and she just... crept in there with me. She was just a very, very deluded girl."

"Right," Matt says. "Right. Wow."

"Anyway, I'd say that looked worse than this does, and people forgot about it in the end. You'll be fine."

Matt glances away, not really convinced, but then he catches sight of Josh's face and has to hide his expression in his mug of tea. It's very difficult not to burst out laughing.

"She was in your bed," Josh says. He looks as if someone's just simultaneously told him the most hilarious joke he's ever heard and emptied a bucket of live spiders over him and he's not sure what to react to first.

Tom shrugs. "Apparently people forgot about it to such an extent that it hasn't even got back to my son. Good to know. Shame I've just ruined it."

Matt's future still looks like a bleak ocean of ostracised joblessness to him, but for the first time since this all began he starts to feel a flicker of something else: maybe, just maybe, there's the tiniest chance that everything could be all right.

When they leave, Josh walks straight out of the flat and heads for the main exit. Tom doesn't follow him for the moment; he pauses in the doorway, looking as if he's not sure whether to speak or not. Matt waits, puzzled.

"You know I'm behind you all the way, mate," Tom says quietly, once Josh is out of sight. "I didn't believe this of you for a second. Got me thinking, actually." He hesitates. "If my son turns out like you, I think that'll be something to be proud of."

It takes a moment for what he means to come through to Matt, and when it does he laughs. "We're not some sort of hive mind, you know."

"I know I've been a bit weird about... everything that's come out recently," Tom says, and then he frowns. "That's not the way to put it."

"I know what you're saying," Matt says. "I think Josh was feeling a bit... isolated. If you're prepared to support him, though, that's great."

Tom presses a hand to his forehead. "God, I've made such a mess of this."

"Tom," Matt says, gently, "he's lucky to have you as a father."

Tom doesn't look at all confident, but he nods, and gives a quick smile, and then he leaves.

Tom catches up with Karen in the car park before school starts.

"Don't think Matt's coming in today," he says, as they make their way towards the building. "I think he's worried you might not want him."

She raises her eyebrows. "Well, surely he could have asked me that. I take it you don't believe the stories either?"

"Josh still says they're not true, and he's inherited all his lying skills from me. Bad news for him if he ever wants to be a lawyer, but good news if we need to be sure he's telling the truth. He's not lying."

"Glad to hear it," Karen says. "So really it's just a matter of damage control. It's not the first idiotic rumour about a teacher, and it won't be the last. The children will all have forgotten about it in a few weeks, provided it's well handled." She glances at the front gate, frowning slightly. "He should be here. I can understand not wanting to face it, but staying home will only make people think... oh, for goodness' sake."

Tom follows her gaze. There's a man walking quickly to intercept them, and Tom feels his heart sink; he knows a reporter when he sees one.

"Don't say anything," Karen advises him, quietly. "You're too close to this, and if they find out you're Josh's father they'll never leave you alone."

Tom barely has time to nod before the man is upon them, blocking their path.

"Rochdale Gazette," the man says. "Can I ask a few questions about the allegations that have been made against a member of your staff?"

"Interesting that you know what's going on around my school better than I do," Karen says, with a thin smile. "I wasn't aware of any allegations."

"What we've been hearing is that one of your teachers, a Mr Matt Wilding, has been accused of an inappropriate relationship with one of your male pupils. A lot of parents are threatening to pull their kids out of the school if he's still allowed to teach here. What do you have to say about that?"

Karen sighs. Tom is about to claim she's got something to do and hurry her away, get her out of this situation, but then she speaks.

"Let me be perfectly clear," she says. "This is not news. It is not an investigation. The pupil concerned, and by that I mean the pupil who appears as a character in these absurd stories, has made no allegations and insists that Mr Wilding has done nothing wrong. These are baseless playground rumours, and I will not abandon a valued member of my staff because of some ridiculous gossip. One would think the Rochdale Gazette would have more important things to report."

"Matt Wilding lived with a male partner a couple of years ago," the man says, undeterred. "Is that right?"

Karen looks very hard at him. "What on Earth does that have to do with anything?"

"Well—"

"No, please, do enlighten me. Unless his partner was a schoolboy, I really don't see how that's relevant. And I'm almost certain that publishing anything before an official allegation has been made will fall foul of libel laws, so you can tell your employers that, rather than ensuring a dedicated young teacher will never find work again for the sake of shifting a few papers, they may want to fill their space with something they can actually substantiate instead. Now please get off school property."

"I was going to offer to rescue you back there," Tom says, holding the front door open for her. "Don't think you needed it, really."

Karen laughs. "Thank you, Tom." They fall into step side-by-side as they walk along the corridor. "I trust whether I still want Matt is now clear."

"Well, it is to me. I don't know if I'm the one who needs to know."

She smiles. "You can let him know that I expect to see him in this afternoon."

Tom can't really focus on his work that morning; he keeps dwelling on that 'male partner' insinuation the reporter made. It's just as well Karen told him to stay out of it; 'Waterloo Road teacher decks reporter' would definitely have been news. It's not something that would really have bothered him before, but now, with Josh... well. That lad is going to have a difficult road ahead of him, no doubt about it.

Still, at least he'll be able to face it knowing he has the full support of his father. Tom'll make sure of that.