Thank you for the reviews.

So, I've decided that, with NBL becoming a TBC, that I am going to give you chapter 27 (obvs) and 28 today and tomorrow and leave chapter 29 and 30 for next Saturday and Sunday. Mainly it will just make me feel that I am not just sitting on the last chapter for the sake of sitting on the last chapter of this.

And, just so you know, Eddie is going to play the long game with James. Just is he close to a breakthrough.


Permission

Eddie knew the feeling that he had a couple of weeks ago and as everything after Monsieur Legard's visit had calmed down, he felt like it might be the perfect time to try and do something about that feeling. He knew that they had decided to take things slowly but he was sure that a harmless date wouldn't be them taking things too quickly. It would be then up to Rachel whether she was going to stay over or whether she was going home.

Once he had made a few enquiries, he realised that he had two people that maybe he should ask.

With one of them walking into his next class, he knew that he could catch Amelia after the lesson (although the hour seemed like it lasted forever).

"Amelia, a word," Eddie said, once he had dismissed them.

Amelia gave him a smile as she slowed down putting her things away and once it was just them, Eddie closed the door, just to give them a little privacy. Mainly because then he knew that she would call him dad, something that he thought that he would never get tired of hearing.

"Yes, Dad?" She said.

"Just wondering, you don't have anything in your diary. Well, more your mother's."

"Thinking of taking her out then?"

"Well… I think there is someone else I need to check with."

"Mum or Jamie?"

"I was thinking more Jamie."

"What has he said?"

"He's said nothing."

Amelia tilted her head to the side. "You're lying."

"No, I'm not."

"Me and Mum have decided that there are a few… unexpected similarities between you and Jamie. You know, the little things you do. Like when you lie."

"Really?"

"What has he said?"

Eddie sighed. "He umm… said something about me hurrying up and fucking up."

"Oh, he is a fucking idiot."

"I don't plan on it."

"Well forget what he said. He is being a fucking idiot. Was this like a month ago?"

"Yeah."

"He had no right to be in a mood if he is going to say that sort of thing to you."

Eddie caught Amelia's arm before she could storm out of the room. She looked up at him and sighed. He felt like she wasn't about to go and confront Jamie, he let go of her arm.

"He is just a fucking idiot," Amelia said as she sat on the desk next to the door.

"That is men for you. And protectiveness is when we become the worst."

"He doesn't need to be."

"Maybe he feels like he does. You've got to remember how long he has been the man of the family."

"Talking from experience?"

"Maybe slightly." Eddie sighed. "I know how it feels."

"Know how what feels?"

He knew he had said too much and now he had to finish. He had to tell her.

"Just... Don't say anything to your mum."

"Why?"

"Because she will ask me why I gave up so easily with Michael." He sighed. "I… never knew my dad either. All I have ever got out of Mum was that he wasn't up to the responsibility of being a father. I've never accidentally ran into him or… had the opportunity that you have. There were a lot of factors and I never blamed Alison for throwing me out and I never blamed her for denying me access to Michael. Just maybe… I thought because I never had a father, I was never meant to be one either."

"Oh, Dad."

"And I love it. I love it when you call me Dad. And Michael as well."

"And I honestly think that Jamie is trying too hard. Trust me. He will come around. Hopefully, before he has to."

Eddie was entirely sure whether what Amelia had said was true but he knew how he had angered Jamie. But maybe last time he had just tired a little too hard and maybe one way to win Jamie round was to open up to him.


"Jamie, can we talk?" Eddie said.

Eddie was sure that if he ever met his father, then he would want him to treat him like a man. He already knew that Rachel had been treating the twins as adults for a while and he deserved to give them the same respect. In less than six months time, they were going to be 18 anyway. Just maybe Eddie had to accept that he had missed out on a lot and the best way to attack things would be to look at where they are now rather than focusing on what he had missed out on.

"What the hell do you want to talk about now?" Jamie said.

"Well, if we can talk, I'll explain."

Eddie wasn't sure that Jamie was going to take that offer but with a roll of his eyes and a 'go on then', they moved to his classroom, with Jamie sitting on one of the desks as Eddie leant against his. Eddie didn't want to believe Amelia when he said that they were similar but without him knowing Jamie properly, Eddie wouldn't be able to see those similarities. Had they, unknowingly, become the same person?

"I am still not for this," Jamie said.

"And I get that. But… Jamie, I want to make a go of things with your mum and I think that, after what she said to Steph and I know is true, I should ask whether you are okay with it. Because I am fairly certain Amelia has let me know that she is more than happy enough with this."

"Of course she would be."

"Jamie, I'm not the bad guy."

"But you aren't the good guy, are you?"

"If things were that black and white, I don't quite think the world would be in the problems that it is in."

Jamie obviously didn't like his answer. Something that Eddie didn't know whether he should have been worried about.

"What did Mum say to Haydock then?" Jamie said.

"That you are protective of her. And I might not know everything yet but if I think what happened with Robert happened, then I can see why. She is a woman worth protecting. And so is Amelia."

"Aren't all women?"

"Mate, don't go out there and treat everyone with the same respect that you think that your mum has always deserved. Because you only have to choose the wrong person and then they could treat you like your mum has been treated. I'm not saying don't be a gentleman. I'm saying be careful about the level of respect you give. You only want to be a people pleaser to the right people."

"So how much has Mum told you?"

"The reason you don't like being called James and… about the baby."

"But nothing more than that?"

"Nothing more than that. The rest is my own guesswork. The comment about not trusting Robert with a paperclip was quite a big one. And Amelia telling me that both of you can't really accept that what happened happened." Eddie sighed. "I've got the impression that he was the first one not to run off when he found out about you two and actually embraced it. You let Robert in and he became a father figure and I don't blame you for doing that." Eddie started to panic when Jamie slid off the desk, having enough of the conversation. "And I get it. I didn't know my dad but my Granddad was my father figure."

It stopped Jamie in his tracks and he was certain that it was something that he hadn't expected like Amelia as Jamie turned back to him.

"Sorry?" Jamie said.

"Let me set the record straight from my point of view. The night I had with your mum, I went completely against everything that I had ever told myself about a girl and having sex. Your mum was my first and only one-night stand. I would always date before having sex. I wanted… I thought that your mum had just been used by past boyfriends or whatever. It never crossed my mind what she was doing. What did cross my mind was to give her one night where she could forget about it all."

"How do I know you are being genuine?"

"How much more do I have to lose, Jamie?"

"Fine." He said as he walked back to the desk. "What happened to him?"

"Sorry?"

"You said that your Granddad was your father figure. Was. What happened to him?"

"He died. When I was seven. My mum thought that he had left her some security in his will but he left her nothing. Left me nothing either. It all went to my uncle… who I have never met."

"Then he was a bit of a prick."

"Hmm, especially when my mum ended up working so hard to keep me in her care."

"Definitely a prick then." Jamie paused. "I am guessing Mum doesn't know this. Or otherwise, she would be asking why it took her intervention to get you back with Michael."

"And I would like it kept that way. I… always knew that there was more to the breakdown of mine and Alison's marriage and to her throwing me out than Stephen's sudden death. Your mum was always hanging over us after my friends told Alison about our night."

"Amelia said that she thinks that Alison doesn't like us."

"Maybe not. But Michael, Amelia and you, if you want, are going to be in my life and you are all siblings. No one and nothing can change that."

"I just think that she must look at us and Mum and think what-if. It must be killing her that you have two sets of twins and she is the one left with one."

"Like I said, there is nothing we can do to change that. I wish I could and have for the last three and a half years but I can't. And with you and Amelia. I wish I could have been there for you. But I can be there for you now if you want."

Eddie was sure that he was getting through to Jamie as Eddie watched him think over what he had just said. Little by little, he might be chipping away at Jamie's exterior. Either that or Amelia was right and Jamie was trying too hard to push him out.

"You'll have to go back to yours if you aren't going to bring her home. And be fucking careful."

"Yes sir."

"You don't need to be fucking cheeky about it," Jamie said with a roll of his eyes as he deemed the conversation over. "Fucking hell, is that where Amelia gets her cheekiness from?"

Eddie didn't answer his last question but he knew that maybe they both had, somehow, inherited part of his personality or quirks without realising. Which he couldn't understand how that happened but it had.


Rachel wasn't going to lie. She was rather impressed with the place that Eddie had chosen and even more impressed that he had actually dressed for the venue as well. She was also glad for Amelia's input in her outfit as Rachel would never have believed that Eddie had booked a table at the place that they were at (deeming it too posh for Eddie).

They sat down at the table and started by looking over the drinks menu to order them straight away before turning to the food menu. There was a part of Rachel that wondered whether Eddie was trying a little too hard to impress her. He had impressed her years ago. He didn't need to do it all over again.

"Eddie, we didn't have to come here." She said.

"Why?"

"Why? Because you don't need to impress me."

"Because you are impressed by the suit."

"Because you impressed me 17 years ago by being a gentleman and giving me the first taste of love. You don't need to impress me."

"No, maybe I don't. But this is one of the only places that I could think of where we aren't going to run into anyone from school. Faculty and students. I want to talk, Rach. And I understand. I understand that because the four of us are still working this all out that it is hard for us to think far ahead. But I do think I have made a bit of progress with Jamie."

"Really?"

"Yes. And I know I don't seem like the type but I have a plan."

"A plan?"

"I have this feeling that Amelia is checked off the list."

"Okay?"

"And by the end of the school year… I hope that we are more comfortable together. Then it is just Jamie to go. Maybe, this Christmas will be the first one we spend together."

It didn't seem like a completely implausible thought and Rachel did quite like the idea of it. And she knew that it wouldn't take that long. James was obviously dragging his heels for a reason and she wished that she could work out why. Maybe she needed another chat with Amelia about it.

"That does seem like a plan." Rachel said, smiling at Eddie.

"So you think it could happen?"

"I just need to work out why James is so against it. I never expected him to be jumping for joy over finding you. No offence. But I didn't think that it would take this long. Maybe." Rachel stopped herself, knowing that if she revealed a part of what happened with Robert, she would have to explain it all. Something she was still not comfortable doing yet. "Maybe it is one of my unhealthy habits."

"Or he has just watched his mum fight for everything that she has and he doesn't want her to lose that."

"Like you are going to make me lose it all."

"Rachel, I think you hit the nail on the head when you told Steph how it was. Jamie is protective over you and Amelia. Probably has been for a very long time. The man of the family after all. As much as he might want to give up that job, it probably isn't an easy job to give up."

"Maybe not."

"He knows who the most important people in his life are and he wants the best for them. I don't blame him for being overprotective."

Rachel wasn't going to tell Eddie that she felt like James did want to give up the job of being the man of the family and that was what she didn't understand about the whole thing.


"Do you always think loudly?" Eddie asked.

If anything, Rachel thought that he had already fallen asleep after she had decided that she would go back to his. They hadn't rushed into things like they might have done before, with Eddie giving Rachel one of his t-shirts for her to sleep in. They had snuggled and Rachel was more than content at listening to his heartbeat as she attempted to drift off.

But she was finding it hard to. Because a thought entered her mind, that she had been thinking over the last month. She felt like Eddie might be a safe bet when it came to that thought. Because she was sure that he would calm her down.

"It has been a bit too quiet from Tess and Stuart." She said.

"He's backed off like we asked him to."

"But I've told you all along. We aren't playing Stuart's game, we are playing Tess'. She always had a good poker face. She knows who you are. What is she planning?"

"They still have the contract."

"She wanted more than that. That was Stuart. I just worry about what she is planning. She has had 17 years to plan how she was going to get back at me."

Eddie pulled her a little closer to him. "Then we will deal with whatever she throws at us together."

"I just have this bad feeling Eddie."

There was nothing that Eddie could say to get that bad feeling to go and Rachel wondered whether she was right to have the feeling of dread wash over her. Because every day that Tess stayed silent, the more Rachel would dread what she was planning. And she wondered whether that was part of Tess' plan. To make her worry so much that she ends up making mistakes and lets her guard down. Because Tess was only going to strike when she was at her most vulnerable and Rachel knew that she couldn't wait for that.