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Please enjoy this chapter, and let me know what you guys think :) x
With both Bianka and Michael settling for a rather early night, the two adults were contently settled on the sofa, bodies intertwined with Rachel's face nuzzled into Eddie's chest. Planting a kiss into her hair, Eddie glanced down hoping to grab Rachel's attention. Upon noting her silence, Eddie ultimately questioned Rachel's wellbeing and tightened his hold on her lovingly.
"How're you doing?" he questioned lightly, not wanting to push Rachel into opening up, even if she had become rather accustomed to it in recent weeks.
With that, eye contact was made and positions were shifted: Rachel swiftly tucked her legs up beneath her, in order to level her gaze with Eddie's. A hand manoeuvred around the back of Eddie's neck and in turn, her fingers gently encircled his hair.
"I'm happy," Eddie raised his eyebrows in jest as a response, "no really," Rachel chuckled, causing Eddie's lips to break out in an infectious smile, "I know you might find it hard to believe Mr Lawson," she stopped, allowing her face to inch closer to Eddie's, before mumbling these final words against his lips, "but I am."
A tender kiss was shared as a response, Eddie voicing his true thoughts, "I'm glad… because Rachel Mason, that's exactly what you deserve."
A grin tugged at Rachel's mouth, before she glanced down after reassessing her thoughts of the previous hours. Automatically, Eddie sensed this change of demeanour and cupped his hand around Rachel's cheek as a form of reassurance.
"What is it Rach?"
"Earlier," she began, pulling apart from Eddie slightly, but ultimately maintaining a close proximity, "seeing Bianka and Michael reunite, made my mind wander back to…" upon observing Rachel's uncertainty, Eddie nodded briefly, hoping to encourage her words, "back to Melissa."
Rachel moved her face back slightly, in an attempt to gauge Eddie's response. The pair had come into contact with Melissa several times over previous weeks, although it was purely for the benefit of Eddie's daughter, Katy. Only a simple hello and goodbye were exchanged between the sisters, and the more Rachel pondered on it, the more it broke her heart. In her mind, now was the right time. Rachel's reconciliation with Melissa was part of the puzzle that had become Rachel's life.
"If it's what you want Rachel, of course I'll be there to support you. Reconnecting with Melissa isn't going to come between us, nothing can."
Eddie's words washed over Rachel, momentarily forming a pool of happiness in her heart. In that minute, her love for Eddie grew dramatically, to an extent she previously didn't believe possible. So acting on instinct, Rachel pulled their bodies as close as possible, given their positions, before tugging on Eddie's neck as a way of pulling him down on top of her. The man smiled with awe in response, shortly before he began to trail electrifying kisses across Rachel's jawline and neck.
….
The following morning, Rachel awoke enveloped in Eddie's arms, to see him glancing over her sleepily.
"Good morning," he spoke, whilst attempting to stifle a yawn - and failing.
"Didn't realise how much I bore you Mr Lawson," she teased, patting him on the cheek slightly to indicate her jest.
"Quite the opposite," he responded, tone turning serious.
He received a brief smile in response, before Rachel swung her legs round the side of the bed, reluctantly making a move from the warmth of the covers - and Eddie.
"I should go check on Bianka and Michael, see if they're up," Rachel commented in reaction to Eddie's pouting.
"Of course, I'll be right after you in a moment."
"Yeah right…" she joked, grinning whilst turning round one last time before leaving the room.
….
"Have you thought anymore about Melissa?" Eddie queried, casually joining Rachel at the breakfast bar.
Several hours had passed, and in normality, Sunday had been Bianka and Michael's 'homework day,' so the adults had decided to leave them to it in the dining room.
"Actually, I was thinking of giving her a ring when I've finished this," Rachel replied, gesturing to the coffee Eddie had made her moments earlier.
The man nodded in agreement, backing up his spoken thoughts of the previous evening. Eddie was more than willing to support Rachel through thick and thin, and he wanted to make that clear to her.
"I'll be here whatever the outcome," he added, and received a rub of his shoulder in reply. Then he gazed on as Rachel drank the remains of her coffee and made a move for the phone.
….
"Hi Mel, it's Rachel. How are you?"
Rachel's own words cut through the tense atmosphere that had been built up by the ominous dial tone. As a brief silence elapsed, she found herself questioning whether this was the right thing to do, and even considered simply ending the call. Simultaneously to her thoughts, Rachel felt Eddie's presence behind her as his arms wrapped around her waist in support. This was all Rachel needed to spur her on, to know that everything would be alright as long as she had Eddie.
"What do you want Rachel?" hatred coloured Melissa's tone, piling further doubt on top of Rachel's shoulders.
"Just to talk… properly," in response to her reasoning, Rachel heard a slight sigh escape her sister's lips, and she couldn't help but wonder what she was truly thinking in that moment.
"I don't know Rach… we've drifted apart so much, I don't see a way back from that."
In a way, Rachel acknowledged her younger sister was correct, they had grown extremely far apart, in fact, they weren't far from strangers nowadays. Despite the distance, they were siblings, who had stuck together the majority of the time prior to recent years. Surely, it wouldn't take all that much to return to their close proximity?
"No harm in trying though, hm?"
"Not sure I want to witness you and Eddie being all lovey dovey with one another. Like I said, I'd hoped I was wrong about you two."
Now it was Eddie's turn to sigh, Rachel sensed his evident frustration as he pulled away from her slightly. He still remained close though, with a hand across the small of Rachel's back. Not for the first time, Rachel considered how grateful she was for Eddie's steadfast presence.
"Look Melissa, the offer's there. Meet me next weekend at that coffee shop in town, you know which one I mean. It'll just be me."
Emotion overcoming her, Rachel ended the call, not waiting for Melissa's response. All she could do now was hope her sister would turn up the following weekend, for Rachel, it really was the final straw.
Attempting to push these thoughts to the back of her mind for now, Rachel swivelled around in Eddie's arms, and slowly collapsed into his embrace.