(A/N): I have another chapter here! I know, I have never updated so often in my life. I will be honest I am avoiding my actual work like the plague, and as I'm not well (again) (also not the dreaded thing, I have chronic illnesses), I've been trying to focus on things that take a little less brain power than my work. I am a graduate teaching assistant right now though, which was a surprise. Didn't think I'd ever do it, to be honest. Anyway, enough about that. I am currently working on a new Waterloo Road fanfic as well. Hopefully I'll be able to post the first chapter soon. But until then, I hope you enjoy the chapter.
What the Heart Wants
Chapter 13
Eddie honestly didn't know why he felt such a high at being invited round to Rachel's house. It wasn't like it was for a date or anything. He had Michael and she had two teenagers. Plus, he was still seeing her sister, even if he was avoiding her place like the plague until her mother left. He didn't want Michael exposed to Fiona. With his luck, his son would become the newest member of the Rachel Mason defence squad and really set Fiona off on one. He hadn't told Michael where they were going, which he knew had confused the little boy, but he was hoping seeing Alia and Rachel would put a smile back on his face. He still didn't quite understand why Michael felt the need to defend the teenage girl mere minutes after meeting her, but then didn't Rachel also invoke the same feeling of loyalty in those she had only just met?
He crunched his way up the gravel drive with Michael at his side holding his hand, noting her silver Mercedes was parked near the front door, so she was most likely in. He knocked, somehow feeling nervous, though he wasn't sure why. Eventually, the door opened to reveal Rachel on the other side, looking slightly more worn out than an hour or so earlier, but more relaxed all the same. She managed a genuine smile in their direction that Eddie couldn't help but return, his smile widening at Michael's delighted squeal of "Rach!" as he let go of his hand and launched himself at Rachel's legs, who had changed into jeans and a t-shirt at some point since he'd seen her at work. Rachel laughed and bent down to hug the child, lifting him easily into her arms and offering Eddie another smile as she opened the front door wider.
"Come on in. The kids are in the living room."
Eddie followed the woman still holding his son into the hallway, shucking off his coat to place over Alia's blazer on the bannister. He didn't bother looking round too much as he followed her and his son through the hallway and into a warmly lit room with brown leather sofas, a large tv and a few shelves holding different books, trinkets and photos. On one of the sofas sat Alia, who had also changed into jeans and a t-shirt, and a dark haired boy dressed similarly. Eddie assumed it was the Jack that Rachel had told him of. Both teenagers were squished together in front of a laptop that was sat on the coffee table, presumably to be seen by the webcam as they nodded in unison.
"Uh huh, thanks for letting us know, Collins." Jack spoke.
"We better be your first contact if anything else happens," Alia added, fixing the screen with a scary, determined look Eddie had seen on Rachel a few times, one that had never failed to scare him ever so slightly. Rachel was still the second scariest woman in the world, after all. Seeing that particular expression on the teenager's face was weird, to say the least. The person on the other end agreed quickly with Alia's demand and the teenagers briefly said their goodbyes before ending the call.
"See, I told you he would be alright. You can both see him on Friday after school," Rachel told them as they finally looked up. Michael broke out into another wide grin at seeing Alia.
"Ali!" He scrambled down out of Rachel's arms and flung himself on the girl sat on the sofa, hugging her tightly as Alia's arms slowly hugged him in return. Eddie marvelled silently at how taken his son was with the two Mason women after such little time. For such a shy little boy, no one would ever know that with the way he was right now. Michael was a great judge of character, he knew, and he was even more ashamed of how he'd treated Alia the day before.
"Michael? What's going on?" Alia glanced between her mum and Eddie before her expression cleared slightly. She glanced at Jack and gestured with her head towards the kitchen. Taking the hint, Jack got up and left the room. "Come on Michael, let's go get you some juice." She stood, holding Michael on her hip and left, though not before shooting both adults a look that told them she'd be demanding answers later.
"Sorry about that, I didn't realise they'd be on video call." Rachel sat down, inviting Eddie to sit down beside her, which he did. Before Eddie could say anything, Jack stepped back in with two mugs of coffee that he placed on the coffee table before offering Rachel a small smile and leaving the room once more.
"So, uh, that's Jack?" Eddie finally said, focusing on the lowest question on his list first. Rachel nodded, grabbing hold of a mug in front of her and picking it up, taking a sip to make sure it was hers and not his.
"Yes, that's Jack. He and Ali have been joined at the hip since they met."
"So, uh, well, I don't really know where to start."
"Me either."
"So…"
"So…"
"Oh for crying out loud!" Both jumped as the door flung open and Alia strode in, hands on her hips. "You two are as bad as each other." She rolled her eyes at their immediate protests. "Jack is watching Michael: they're colouring. He's fine. Now then. I'm sure you have questions, Mr Lawson. But let me guess at some of them, because clearly you don't know how to ask. Why did Rachel never tell you about me? Where was I the previous school year when everything was kicking off with Stuart and everything? Why have I just started school now, not the beginning of the year? Did my parents truly love each other?" She smirked, having asked the last one just to see the bright red, embarrassed faces of the two teachers before her. She ignored the slight warning look Rachel shot her. She should know her better than that by now. "I'll answer it for you. When I was small, the arrangements were a little sketchy. When I first moved in with Rach, I refused to ever set foot in a school again. Rach had spent so long without me that she didn't know how to tell people, especially without revealing any part of her past to anyone. So she wouldn't tell you because she only tends to tell people when and if it happens to come up. Which it tends to not. It's nothing against you personally.
"I was here some of the time the whole Stuart thing was going on, and I helped at home where I could, but I have other stuff to do and I wasn't here the whole time. I was, however, the one looking after her after the fire. That's why I didn't start school at the beginning of the year," Alia lied, knowing she couldn't tell the real reason, that her mother needed protecting from him and his thoughtless words and actions. She just hoped Rachel played along with the lie. "She wasn't meant to start back when she did; she was supposed to be off for a few more weeks at least. I came to school when I was scheduled to start." She saw the look of relief that Rachel quickly hid at her all too believable lie, which wasn't that much of a lie, as she had been looking after Rachel since the fire, almost completely alone as Melissa tended to visit rather than stay, and Rachel had been told to take more time off to recuperate than she did, therefore making the only lie about her scheduled to start school.
Alia still didn't like Eddie much, but she knew it wasn't down to her. If it was, she would have gone at him already for hurting her mum as he had done. It had been bad enough the year before, when she'd been at home during her mother's first few months at Waterloo Road. She'd seen the way Rachel had gone straight into talking about Eddie at every opportunity, no matter how much she denied having feelings for the man. Alia had never seen her fall in love so quickly, the only one coming close being Mark the maths teacher (who incidentally had left less than a week after meeting Alia. Rachel's past never even made an appearance in his leaving). But she'd also been there to see her devastation as Eddie found out about her past and his reaction to it all. She'd been the one to convince Rachel to go into school every morning, that she couldn't change his mind on resigning, and she didn't need to feel pressured into going to the police or the council. Not Eddie. Even when Stuart had shown up on their doorstep and threatened both mother and daughter. And then with all the stuff with the fire, she was convinced she'd have seen Eddie at the hospital, or even after they'd gotten home, over a month later, but there had been no sign of him and she'd watched Rachel pull back into herself more and more. Alia knew that if she weren't her daughter, then she'd be pushed away just as much as everyone else. And then Eddie managed to make the worst day possible even worse with his awful timing. She didn't need pushing that first day back. She needed understanding. And after calling her special and seeing the proof Rachel thought she had as to why it was a bad idea, he'd turned right around and started a thing up with Melissa. The most selfish woman in the world. Only a blind person wouldn't be able to see the love Rachel held for her deputy, and if Melissa didn't see it then she was being wilfully blind about it. Eddie though, he was an idiot, she knew. And she honestly didn't know how they were going to bridge the gaps between them after all that had happened. Let alone be comfortable enough together to reveal the rest of the secrets in the Mason household, not least of which being Lia Rose.
Eddie could only sit there, mouth agape and eyes wide at the teenager's hurried explanations. He'd expected more reluctance from Rachel, which he'd gotten, but he hadn't expected the rambling words from the fifteen year old. He'd thought he would still be on the shut out list after the day before but looking closer and trying to put on his Rachel Mason facial expressions vision, he could see that she didn't actually like him, wasn't comfortable at all. Which could only mean she was doing it for Rachel's sake. Why she felt the need to, he didn't know, but he could tell that she wanted nothing more than to push him away, something he was more than used to with the elder Mason. He offered both of them a small smile, noting how Rachel became slightly less guarded at his gesture, but his phone rang, disrupting both the atmosphere and what he had been about to say. Fishing out the mobile, his heart surprisingly sank at the caller ID. Mel. Well, he couldn't put it off forever.
"Hello?"
"Eddie, where are you?"
"Why? Where am I meant to be?"
"I just… I thought you'd still be marking in your room. It's not even five yet."
"I have Michael for two weeks; you know that. I had to pick him up."
"Can't we do something, just us? I can get Phil to watch Michael, it'll be fine."
"I am not leaving Michael with someone he doesn't know. Besides, isn't your mum still staying with you?"
"Michael will be fine with Philip. And yes, mum is still staying with me, what of it? We can always go back to yours instead."
"Mel, no." Eddie could've sworn the temperature in the previously warm room reached artic conditions as soon as Melissa's name left his lips. "Look, I'll see about a sitter one night this week, but like I told you yesterday, Michael comes first. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
"Hmm, fine. Love you Eddie."
"Yeah, you too." He hung up and turned back to the rest of the room to find Rachel's expression the most closed off he'd ever seen her, somehow even moreso than when Stuart had been blackmailing her. Alia and Jack had sat either side of her, their expressions eerily similar to Rachel's. Michael was sat on Alia's lap, his hands clutching one of Rachel's tightly even as he watched Eddie with round, sad eyes. They looked like a family, and it was all Eddie could do to try and push that image out of his mind. No. Rachel had turned him down, she didn't want him, and he had a good thing going with Melissa, the recent issues of her mother and finding out of her abandonment of Philip notwithstanding. He was just so lonely, and Melissa was there, and god knew he needed this to work out. A tiny, treacherous part of his heart was screaming that the woman he loved was sat on the couch holding his son's hand, that the family he'd always dreamed of were here in this room, but that part was firmly squashed as he pocketed his phone and stood up. "Hey Michael, we've got to get going. I need to get you your tea and your mum will have it in for me if I don't." He saw Michael look almost mutinous before glancing between Rachel and Alia, his little face morphing into a resigned expression. All Eddie could do was watch as Michael hugged each of the couch's occupants, saving Rachel the last and longest hug before clambering down and walking over to him.
Eddie grabbed their things and hustled Michael towards the door. He needed time to think, but mostly he needed to get out before he did something stupid like kiss the woman who haunted his thoughts and dreams. The woman who had stood up to follow them to the door.
"Eddie, I…" Rachel sighed, one hand on the door as Eddie hustled Michael out onto the doorstep. "Nevermind."
"Rachel." Eddie paused, not knowing what to say. What was there to say? He finally settled on "See you tomorrow" before turning and walking back down the driveway with his son, ignoring how wrong it felt to do so.
TBC…