Written in the Stars

Summary: AU after the end of 9A. Term has begun once again, and there is no more hiding their relationship, as Simon and Sue return to school as a married couple. But with Waterloo Road just as hectic as ever, and more dramas along the way, can the Lowsleys prove to each other and the world that they were written in the stars? My first Waterloo Road story.

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to its rightful owners.

Chapter One

As the gates of Waterloo Road came into sight at last, both Simon and Sue Lowsley breathed a heavy sigh at the sight of it. In truth, the sighs had been of mixed emotions, as the younger of the two of them had not been looking forward to a return to the school, but even so, both were glad to be back in their home town, after having spent a blissful two weeks on honeymoon in Tenerife.

As the man drove the car through the gates, coming to park in the space that had been reserved for him as the Deputy Head of the school, the redhead noted that this was the first occasion on which both of them had proudly walked into the building together, as for the sake of hiding their relationship from the students, one of them had almost always entered the gates first, while the other had come in later, and even after they began walking in at the same time, Simon had always protested that they were car sharing, so as to set a good example for saving the environment. But now, with a ring on her finger and a new name on her door, there was no need to pretend anymore. Finally, they were free to show their love in the vicinity of the building which now meant so much to the pair of them.

The car had come to a stop when Sue finally realised that she had been daydreaming again, and when she turned her head to the side, she saw that her husband was staring in her direction, a smirk of amusement lighting up his features. That smile in particular always reminded her of the one that had adorned his face, only a few moments before he had set the date for their wedding, and the memory alone made her smile along with him.

"So, are you ready, Mrs. Lowsley?" Simon asked, deliberately mimicking the words that she had spoken to him on their wedding day, and the slight chuckle he gave at the end of the sentence told her that he did not do so in malice, only in playfulness.

"Yes, Mr. Lowsley." she returned, playing along to his jesting, although she was not certain that the words were true when applied to this situation. Mind you, she was not sure that she would ever be ready to return to Waterloo Road, no matter what name she would have on her door, but she would try her best to be strong enough to negotiate the day ahead of them, taking her own advice that they should take things one step at a time from now on.

When they stepped out of the car, Sue took yet another deep breath, hoping that her husband had not noticed the amount of times she had done so. Luckily, he seemed to be more occupied in speaking to Christine Mulgrew, who had just stepped out of her own car, about the arrangements for the January exams to notice the change in her behaviour. The woman found that she had never been so relieved to be ignored.

"Sue, I'm going to have to go." Simon told his wife, and though his expression seemed neutral, she could see the slight regret in his eyes. "Will you be alright to lock up and go in on your own?"

Immediately, the redhead found that she wanted to let her mind take over, to speak the words patterned across her head for once in her life. 'No!' she wanted to cry out to him. 'No, Simon, I can't do this alone! I need you here with me!'

But, of course, she did not. She merely nodded her head, plastering a smile onto her face. Seeming to be convinced for now, the man thrust his hand into his jacket pocket and threw the car keys to his partner, before turning and entering the school with Christine, leaving Sue alone.

Once her new husband was out of sight, the woman finally allowed herself to sigh, slamming the boot of the car after retrieving her large bag full of books for her classes, as well as her handbag. After the fiasco her previous job had caused when it came to light, she had decided to leave her wheeled trolley at home, not wanting to spark their comments once again, and so had replaced it. The new bag was, of course, extremely heavy, but it was worth the pain to avoid the awful nickname she had acquired the previous term.

'At least I'll get to have a little time in the staffroom before I have to face the kids, so I can be at least a bit more prepared for my classes.' she reasoned with herself, trying to find some sort of a positive within the sea of worries that filled her mind. Granted, there were more positive things in the world than spending a quarter of an hour listening to Audrey McFall preach non-violence to the rest of the staff, but at this point in time, she would take any positive that she could get.

This being the first time she had entered the school on her own since her first day, Sue paused just outside of the door, ignoring the protests of the students that were trying to get past. Now that she was about to enter the school once again, she found herself unsure once again that she could do this alone. Throughout her honeymoon and even that morning, she had been convinced that she could cope with her classes, but now, she did not think that she could do this, especially not without having Simon reassure her first. She had never known just how much comfort her husband's presence had given her, but now she knew.

Suddenly, the bell rang, signalling that there were five minutes to go until lessons began. The students began to forcefully push past the redheaded woman, but she did not put up a fight, just moved slightly to the side, shaking her head to bring herself out of the daze she was standing in. It seems that there had not been fifteen minutes to go after all. The time was here, after all, and there was no time to worry any further.

And so, breathing deeply to try and calm herself sufficiently, Sue retraced the well known steps to her classroom, trying to ready herself for her first lesson of the day. 'And if I can get through this,' she told herself. 'Then I can get through anything.'

A/N: Please review this first chapter, because it's my first Waterloo Road story, and Sue/Simon is my OTP for this fandom! By the way, more Twinkle in the next chapter, I promise!