Hi everyone, thank you so much to Mrs Carmichael, faeftvanity, RachelMasonFan39 and Celticgirl84 for the reviews, they were all wonderful.
The chapter after this one (chapter 31) is probably going to be the last one... so i hope you enjoy this :) let me know what you guys think x
Approximately a week later, Rachel entered the room hesitantly, scanning every nook and cranny for a sign of her sister. The familiar feel to the environment she had shared several times with Melissa engulfed her. As well as this, it seemed Rachel couldn't escape the abundance of worthwhile memories that washed over her. This only reinforced her longing for Melissa to turn up, so that the two sisters could at least try and fix this mess.
Rachel's disappointment was evident as she quickly realised the woman in question was not yet present. She was already 5 minutes late, and Rachel couldn't deny the trepidation in her stomach when pondering on the consequences of her sister's absence. There was no doubt about it, that would be the final end to their life long relationship.
Considering the jelly like feeling that shot up her legs, Rachel decided upon taking a seat and ordering a drink; in an attempt to suppress her ever growing nerves. Allowing her mind to avert from Melissa for just a moment, Rachel transformed her thoughts into much happier ones. She imagined Eddie with Bianka and Michael, who had planned to go for lunch today, then rejoin with Rachel after. It was unbelievably stunning how natural the whole situation had become in recent days, and with the next step of IVF taken, not for the first time Rachel saw the unmistakable father figure in Eddie. At this thought, several feelings coursed through Rachel's body: excitement; anticipation; and a slight drop of fear. Fear that the process could all go wrong, resulting in nothing springing from it. Except now, things differed from several weeks ago, when Rachel had felt despair to see a negative pregnancy test - whatever happened, her and Eddie had a family together, two amazing young adults to help prepare for the world: Rachel, and equally Eddie, would forever be grateful for that.
Until now, the brunette had been transfixed in her own reverie; until the squeaky voice of her younger sister rang in her ears.
"Hi," the younger woman whispered, furtively, forcing Rachel's gaze to meet her own.
Melissa stood hesitantly, still avoiding taking a seat when attention was prominently focussed on her.
"Mel… hi," the elder sister greeted, noting the clear uncertainty surrounding Melissa's stance, "you came…"
Despite everything, Melissa couldn't help the way her heart melted at Rachel's words. Up until this point, she had been unsure whether or not her sister's phone call was sincere; Mel had herself convinced that there was some underlying motive. Listening to Rachel now though, and witnessing the smile that spread across her lips, Melissa couldn't deny the truthfulness colouring her sibling's tone.
"Yeh, I… wasn't going to. Philip persuaded me otherwise."
Philip. Rachel's nephew's name rang in her ears, causing her to thank whatever force possessed that boy to be so wonderful. Undoubtedly, without his influence, Melissa wouldn't be standing in front of her at this moment, or at all for that matter. With that, Rachel's eyes danced from Melissa's to the chair and back, as if prompting her to take a seat.
Picking up on her line of thought, Melissa pulled the sturdy chair out with a satisfying squeak, and almost forced her body to take comfort in the wood. For a moment, the younger woman considered reversing her prior actions and making a run for it; to never look back. As if reading her thoughts, Rachel wracked her own brain for any form of conversation, any comment that would make her sister stay.
"Would you like a drink?"
Melissa reacted to her sister's words immediately, first hesitating and raking through her previous thoughts, then allowing her gaze to settle on the drink enveloped in Rachel's hands. Although slightly early, it was a Christmas special, a gingerbread latte. Over the years prior to recent ones, it had become a tradition for the sister's to purchase that particular drink at this particular cafe. Of course, Melissa guessed this was Rachel's attempt to pull on her heart strings; and the abnormal thing was, it was working - effectively in fact.
As a result, the blonde allowed a faint smile to itch at her lips before emotively commenting, "a gingerbread latte… our favourite." She received a nod from Rachel in response, previous to turning to join the short queue forming.
Seeing Melissa turning away to order her drink, rather than walking off out of the cafe, left Rachel to ponder on her thoughts and the occurrences of the last 30 seconds. The care and nostalgia that coloured her sister's tone caused Rachel to allow the foundations of hope to form in the pit of her stomach. Perhaps Melissa was willing to reconnect after all. Advantages of a short queue, before long, the blonde was flitting back across the room towards Rachel - famous gingerbread latte in hand.
"So how are you doing Mel… I mean, truthfully," the elder sister commented, whilst the latter scooped a spoonful of cream from her glass.
"I'm okay…" she began, before Rachel flashed her a knowing glance, wanting to highlight her prior use of the word 'truthfully.'
"I mean.. I'm missing Philip, when he's at uni," Melissa backtracked and in turn her sister nodded in understanding, "and Katy, I can't believe she's one soon."
This was another phenomenon Rachel had overcome in recent months. If Eddie's child's name, her niece's name had been mentioned nine months ago, she would have probably broke down at the symptoms of reliving her breakup with Eddie. Now though, Rachel had built up a wonderful bond with Katy, and was extremely glad to be that aunt figure.
"Gosh neither can I," Rachel spoke, removing herself from those joyful thoughts as a way of replying to Melissa.
"What about you Rach, how are you?"
There it was. The giveaway that Melissa still cared for her. The huge contrast between her words the previous week. As a result, Rachel couldn't quite believe it, so quickly gulped down the lump in her throat that seemed to be forming.
"For once… I think I'm happy," she spoke honestly, glad to be able to do so. On arrival at the cafe, Rachel had been worried she would have to conceal the truth from Melissa, as a way of guarding her sister's feelings. She didn't want to upset her in any way, shape or form with regards to Eddie. Now though, hearing Mel's tone shift so dramatically, Rachel didn't feel inclined to obscure the facts.
"That's great," Melissa beamed, expressing her approval. Rachel was delighted to witness this glowing expression in her sister's eyes, so a flash of concern ran through her body upon seeing Mel's manner turn cloudy and far darker.
"Look, Rachel," her words caused the elder sister to shift forward slightly, tilting her head to the side as a form of encouragement, "I'm so sorry for how distant I've been with you over the past year - "
"Mel, we are both equally to blame, don't beat yourself up about it."
"I just wanted you to know," Melissa continued, following on from her sister's interjection, "that I'm happy for you and Eddie. It was difficult at first, but I've come round to it. And seeing you now has just confirmed that for me."
Rachel nodded, about to attempt a response, however, held back upon noting her sister's desire to speak once more, "It's hard to admit, but this whole mess is my fault Rach. I knew you and Eddie were in love with each other my first day at Waterloo road… I was selfish. I thought he could love me too."
It was then that Rachel's gaze was removed from the swirling coffee, and locked with the woman sat opposite. The amount of emotions that Melissa's words had evoked were overwhelming. Part of Rachel was glad her sister had seemed to accept her relationship with Eddie, however, deep down, she felt a great sense of guilt towards the obvious sadness that still lingered for Mel. How could this be put right?
"Mel I…"
"It's okay Rach, you don't need to say sorry. I just had to tell you that," the blonde interrupted, blinking back those threatening tears rapidly, "I'm not bothered as much by it all now," Mel inhaled sharply, grasping Rachel's hands across the table as she did so, "I meant what I said, I am happy for you and Eddie."
The sincerity in Melissa's voice was evident for Rachel, and she squeezed her sister's hand lightly in response, hoping to portray her gratitude. The pair still had a long way to go if they were to return to their prior strength, but for now, ridding their minds of underlying feelings was enough. Enough to relinquish the foundations of their sisterly bond.
….
"You okay?" Eddie spoke in the form of a whisper, stretching his hand across to Rachel who was sat adjacent to him.
Bianka and Michael had decided on the cinema for their afternoon treat as a family, so the group were now sat munching happily on various bags of sweets, to get them through the seemingly endless trailers.
"More than," Rachel leant into Eddie as much as possible, gently resting her head on the top of his left shoulder.
Unbeknown to the two adults, their expressions were not far off identical. Two unbelievably huge smiles spread predominantly across their faces, almost causing their skin to split in half. Glancing across at the two young adults, the couple couldn't quite believe how far they had come in the space of four months.