Thank you for the reviews.

Honestly, by the time I am done with Danny, you will want to string him up, staple his mouth shut and place Rachel in bubble wrap, just so the outside world doesn't hurt her anymore. Believe me, you won't trust me with her again.

Now... this chapter... what to say about this chapter. I don't know where the beginning came from but like the smoking, it is now a thing. I'll leave you to fill in any gaps.

Broken

There were many ways that Rachel knew that she had been in the shower for too long. One, she had sat down and was hugging her legs. Two, the hot water was starting to cool. Three, Eddie had knocked on the door. She didn't want to worry him any more than she already had done but Danny's words kept replaying themselves in her mind and she couldn't stop herself from pulling away from him.

"Rachel? Are you okay?" Eddie said through the door.

There was a simple answer to that. No.

No, she was not okay. And she tried to stop herself from thinking that this wasn't fair on him. The problem she had was that Eddie wasn't like the other guys that she had dated. He wasn't going to give up on her as easily. Which she supposed was a good thing. Just not when she wanted to go into self-destruct mode.

"Rachel?"

"No."

"Okay." He paused. "What do you want me to do?"

She found that he had been asking her that question a lot. It was obvious that he didn't know how to help her and hoped that she knew. In all honesty, she didn't know how to help herself. The last time she was like this, Jane just did everything she thought she could do.

Although, with all the thoughts in her head, she didn't know why she was thinking what she was. There were a few ways that she knew that Eddie made her feel slightly better about herself. One that she had liked particularly over the last couple of weeks was just curling up on the sofa with him. There was also the way he would hold her, always pulling her as close to him as possible.

Their relationship hadn't been physical for a while. Mainly because they both thought that with talks about her trauma, sex would be the last thing to happen. But, in the cooling water, part of her wanted that closeness again, knowing how good Eddie could make her feel.

"Can you come in?" She said.

"If you want me to."

"Please Eddie."

She looked up at him as he stood at the door of the shower cubicle, his shirt already unbuttoned and coming off his shoulders.

"Well if you are naked, why shouldn't I be?"

"Eddie…"

"Just, tell me how I can help?"

She pushed herself up as he finished undressing and joined her underneath the water. She knew what he was looking for. He was looking for signs that she had hurt herself. She wasn't about to do that to herself again.

Her hands went to his neck to bring his head down to kiss him. There wasn't that much room in the shower and her back was already against the wall as he closed the distance between them. She could sense his hesitation as he pulled back.

"Rachel…"

"Show me."

"What?"

"Love."

She knew that she would have to explain to him soon why she told him that but he didn't need anything else for the moment as he kissed her slowly. She allowed him to go at the pace that he thought was appropriate. Because as much as she loved passion-filled sex, the slow pace that Eddie had set felt perfect for the mood she was in. She couldn't help but gasp as his lips met the spot on her neck while he lifted her up to wrap her legs around his waist. Her arms wrapped tighter around his shoulders and he looked up at her, making sure that this was what she wanted. She kissed him again, hoping that would answer his question.

If there was one thing for certain, Eddie might not know how to help her, but he could read the situation perfectly.

Eddie's eyes kept flicking over to Rachel. As much as he wanted to believe that she was okay or getting better, he knew that he couldn't. Mainly because her mood could change from day to day. The day before had surprised him and he was certain that he had seen a different side to Rachel. He'd obviously seen her vulnerable before, it was hard not to with Danny about, but it was a different side that he didn't know how to broach the subject.

He wished he knew how to fix things but he knew it wasn't that simple. He was picking her up and dropping her back home again, just so there was no chance that she could be left alone with Danny. It sickened him to think what Danny might do.

He double-checked what was cooking before he opened a bottle of wine and poured a glass out of them both. He placed the bottle as high as he could before he handed her the glass. She knocked back half the glass and Eddie was worried that she would have done that.

"Eddie… I don't blame you. If this is all too much for you." Rachel said, not looking at him.

"I just wish I knew how to help."

"There is nothing you can do."

"You might be right. But I am not about to leave your side. Not when you need someone there."

"That doesn't have to be you."

"What if I want it to be me?"

She was taken aback by the question, but it made her look at him. He knew that she didn't totally believe the words that she was saying. Maybe it was because she wasn't used to anyone else by Jane sticking with her. He crouched down and took the glass out of her hand before taking both of her hands into his.

"Rach, I get it." He said. "You have been broken beyond repair before and you have been fixed by Jane to the best of her ability. I am not going to stand here and say that I could do a better job, because I am totally out of my depth, but I can and will give you my support wholeheartedly. I don't want to leave your side and I'm not about to disappear. I know that it isn't going to be easy. But I am not going to be scared off easily."

"Just." She said before she looked down at their hands. "What he said."

"What part?"

"No one could or would love you." She paused. "I… do think it a lot. And all the times that you have told me that you love me and… as much as I want to believe you, I can't. Because nobody in their right mind would love me. I'm damaged goods. Why would anyone love that?"

His heart broke for her and, as much as he wanted to tell her that he did love her, he knew that she wouldn't accept it. He tugged on her hands to pull her forward so he could hug her. If she wouldn't accept his words, maybe he had to think of a way to show her how much he loved her.

Eddie was usually a 'head hits the pillow and asleep' type of person. He could always sleep wherever he was. Except he found himself feeling rather awake as Rachel slept next to him. The only time that had happened was just after Stephen died and both him and Alison didn't do much sleeping, worried that the same thing might happen to Michael as well.

He watched the back of her head for a few moments before he rose onto his elbow and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek. She stirred slightly but didn't wake, meaning that she was definitely asleep. Whereas Eddie was usually dead to the world, Rachel was a much lighter sleeper. He found that out when he accidentally walked into the corner of the drawers one night and she woke up with a start as he tried not to call out in pain.

He carefully left the bed and tiptoed across the room. With one last check that she was still asleep, he gently closed the door to the bedroom before making his way downstairs. He knew the reason why he was wide away. Because he had been asking himself the same question ever since Rachel told him that she couldn't believe that he loved her.

How can I show Rachel that I do love her?

He dragged his hands through his hair before he grabbed his laptop and started it up. If anything he did have a few ideas of his own but as soon as he googled How to show someone you love them, he had more of an idea and started to form how he was going to prove it to Rachel.

If there was one thing that Rachel knew that she could always rely on, she knew that Eddie had a horrible habit of not being an early riser, therefore she was always awake before him. Depending on where they were, she would either try and go back to sleep or go and make them coffee or just pick her book up and read, waiting for him to start to show the signs that he was waking up.

So it confused her when she reached over to Eddie's side of the bed, still half asleep, to find his side not only empty but feeling rather cold as well. She shot up, in a panic that she had finally scared him off when she remembered that she was at his house. He wouldn't have left her in his own house, although she did double-check that his car was still on the drive.

Knowing that he was somewhere in the house, she debated with herself for a few moments. It still was quite cold for late March and she hadn't realised the pyjamas she had packed was only a strappy top. The shiver she felt made her mind up as she grabbed the shirt that Eddie had been wearing the day previously and threw it over her head. As much as she tried not to get too overly attached, she couldn't stop herself from bringing the collar of the shirt to her nose and taking in the smell of his aftershave. It had become one of her favourite smells and she had to stop herself from rummaging through his things to find out what it was.

Her lips curled up into a smile as she found him in the kitchen, making them breakfast. She stood in the doorway as she watched him, in his pyjama bottoms and a t-shirt that had seen better days, move around the kitchen, mumbling along to whatever song was playing on the radio.

She knew that she had said to him about not being able to believe him that he loved her but she was certain that she was in love with him. The guilt in her built up and there was an ever-growing part of her that started to long for the day that she could let him in properly. That he would know everything that had happened in her youth and still be by her side.

It was as she was deep in thought that he noticed her. If anything the small frown on his face wasn't what she was expecting.

"You aren't meant to be out of bed." He said.

"Why?"

"Because I was going to surprise you."

"I've never been someone who can lie in bed for long."

"Well, I think I need to change that." He said as he walked over to her.

"Oh yeah?"

Her arms went around his neck as his went around her waist. A very common position to find them in private.

"Yeah. Maybe you should stay the weekend and I'll teach you how to do the Sunday lie-in properly."

She found herself smiling widely at him. "Maybe, I'll have to think about it."

Maybe it was just the way that he smiled at her or the fact that her walls had started to come down, but she couldn't help but believe that he might feel the way that he did about her and maybe someday, she would believe him.