"Why are you angry with me?" Eddie had practically bundled Rachel into an empty classroom, losing patience with the icy tone she'd taken with him ever since he'd gotten back to school after meeting with Hordley. She looked at him disbelievingly.

"Do you really have to ask?"

"Because of Stuart?" he guessed, and her eyes flashed.

"I asked you not to go!"

Eddie sighed. "Rachel, I will not sit back and do nothing," he told her evenly. "You can't ask me to."

"Because Edward Lawson always knows best, is that it?" Impossibly, her tone had grown even colder.

"Rachel…"

"No." She jabbed her finger at him. "My turn now. You completely ignored my wishes, dismissed my concerns, treated me like one of the kids who you need to look after. You've put my entire career at risk, hell, everything I am is now at risk! All because you needed to feel like the big man.

"I have spent a lot of time being told what to do by overbearing men," she continued flatly. "I will not put myself in that position again, not even by you. And if you can't treat me like an equal…" she trailed off, unwilling to voice her thoughts allowed as she shook her head slightly, and made to leave the room. But she barely had the door open before Eddie was there, reaching over her to slam it shut again, so hard the frame around it reverberated.

"Don't you dare!" he hissed. "Don't you dare compare me to those men! We both know that's not fair."

"Right now, I'm finding it hard to make the distinction!"

He flinched back, an unbelieving look of hurt rippling across his face. Guilt began to melt her anger away, and she let her hand fall from the handle with a sigh. For a long moment, silence hung between them.

"I know you're trying to help," she said quietly. "And I do appreciate it. But I'm not a child, Eddie, you can't just disregard my opinions because you think they're wrong."

"I know. But you can't ask me to do nothing." He looked at her pleadingly. "I had to live with knowing I sent you home to an abusive father every day of our relationship, and a good portion of our friendship, because I couldn't do a damn thing. You cannot ask me to sit back and let someone else harm you now."

But she was looking at him in shock, realisation crashing over her. "Is that what this is? You feel guilty because you couldn't protect me from my father and you're trying to make up for it?"

The expression on his face told her everything she needed to know and she was in front of him before she'd even fully processed moving, cupping his face in her hand. "Nothing that happened was your fault. Nothing, Eddie, do you hear me?"

His hand came over hers, voice quiet. "He hurt you, and I couldn't stop him."

"You were a child! We were both children!" Her other hand came up as well, thumb brushing over his cheekbone. "He would have hurt the both of us if you'd tried, and your parents would have taken you away. There was nothing you could have done, sweetheart please believe me."

There weren't enough words in the world to stop him feeling guilty, but something eased within him at her adamant refusal to accept it. He swept her into a hug, felt her arms tighten around him and closed his eyes against her.

But his comfort didn't last long, and they were able to spring apart in just enough time as they heard footsteps approaching quickly. Eddie luckily took a large step backwards to give them space between one another, just in time for Bridget to walk through the door without even knocking in her rush to get to Rachel. "I'm sorry Miss Mason, but there's a Mr Hordley here for you." She looked panicked, scared even after noticing just how furious Mr Hordley had looked when walking the corridors. She left immediately after delivering the news, not wanting to leave the office and phones unmanned for too long.

"Oh god.. now what?" Rachel turned back to Eddie, her face pale as she realised that this was the showdown she'd been dreading. He'd be royally ticked off now after the previous threats from Eddie, and she knew she was about to have a fight on her hands.

Eddie moved back towards her and cupped her face in his hands. "Now we go and face him together." He pressed a quick kiss to her lips before moving back and taking hold of her hand. As they walked the corridors together, grateful that they were the only two crazy enough to still be at work, he told her of his idea of how to get Stuart gone for good. Luckily for him, Rachel seemed to hold no objections and she set her phone to record as Eddie promised to be quick in retrieving the sheets of paper he'd printed off before they had dealt with the departure of Sameen.

Rachel entered her office to find Stuart waiting for her, and she tried to hold her head high as she walked herself over to her desk. Her legs felt like jelly, but she tried to hide it well as she finally took her seat and turned to face him.

"I thought I'd start off as politely as possible, under the circumstances."

Rachel resisted the attempt to roll her eyes, placing her hands in front of her on the desk in order to stop herself fiddling with her fingers out of nervousness. "I don't see the need for manners when dealing with scum like you."

"Let me make this clear Rachel. You get your croney off my back or I will blow your Pandora's box wide open."

"How long are you going to keep blackmailing me for Stuart?" She knew that was the one question she needed answering, the admission she needed on record to ensure that Eddie's plan worked.

"For as long as it takes."

Luckily for her, he didn't disappoint. She was about to reply when the door opened, and they both turned to watch Eddie enter the room. Rachel caught a look past him to realise he'd sent Bridget home, and she was grateful for one less set of ears that she needed to be worried about.

"Hello Stuart. Do you know, I'm sure I told you to keep away from Rachel." He fumed, had really hoped that their earlier meeting had scared Stuart away from her. But his presence in front of him proved that Stuart's involvement was about more than the training centre and his company. It was about Rachel, plain and simple. "But, as you're here, I think you should see this."

"What is it?"

Eddie let out a quiet laugh, secretly grateful that Stuart had thrown the papers without reading them. He would take much pride in telling Stuart exactly what he'd discovered from his research. "Employment rights for young people. Of course if you've broken any of those laws, you'll probably never work again."

Rachel chipped in then, holding up her phone after ending the recording. "And as I have our very interesting little blackmail chat on record, I think we've got enough evidence to ensure that we do not see you here again." She snuck a glance at Eddie, caught the proud look on his face and tried desperately to fight the blush that was threatening her cheeks.

"You're bluffing."

"Investigations into Hordley Constructions? 5 years at Her Majesties for blackmail? It's all starting to sound very tiresome. If I were you, I'd quit while I was ahead."

Stuart turned on Eddie then, realising his gig was up and that his plans had well and truly been rumbled. "You think it's a good idea having her run this place, do you?"

"Yeah. I do actually." He looked at Rachel, confirming his words with a smile and wishing the two of them were alone already.

"Mm, I bet you love working for a two bit hooker, don't you? I bet she gives it to you for free."

If it had just been the words, Eddie would have been angry enough. It was deliberately vile, purposefully cruel. But it wasn't just words- it was the meaning behind them, and he knew it was going to have been like a punch in the gut to Rachel, a direct hit on every one of her fears and insecurities about being in a relationship. He looked towards her, saw the shame, the uncertainty. He already knew what he was going to do, shot her a look that was half apology, half resolution. her eyes widened slightly, realising what his expression meant.

The entire interaction took moments. And then Eddie turned, a red haze covering his vision as his fist met Hordley's face.

He was vaguely aware of Rachel gasping behind him, of the slight pain lancing through his knuckles. It all faded in the face of the mildly shocked expression on Hordley's face, the way he raised his fingers to his split lip that Eddie eyed with no small amount of satisfaction. The little priss didn't know how to play with the big boys, and now he was paying for it. With a bit of luck, would be for a while, every time he tried to have a drink or something to eat.

"If you wouldn't mind pissing off, Hordley, you're starting to irritate us now."

The look on the man's face was priceless. Eddie wondered if he'd pay for this, if he would be foolish enough to press charges but if he did, he'd only be opening himself up to charges as well. Eddie couldn't see there being a prosecutor in the world who would go after the man who'd hit the person threatening the woman he'd loved for over two decades.

Rachel was staring at him in shock, eyes fixed on him and he felt his cheeks heat, shrugging at her. "What?" It was ridiculous, and they both knew it. Her hand flew to her mouth, hiding a grin while he shoved his hands into his pockets, tilting his head at her. "You okay?"

"Am I okay? You just punched someone!"

He held his hand out, wiggled his fingers. "Not the first time," he dismissed, and she made a choking noise he thought might be a laugh.

"I need to check he doesn't trash the school or something."

He nodded, followed her without a second thought. They'd have to talk about this, he knew, but for now he allowed himself to just hope that this could actually be over.

Rachel watched the car speed off before she turned back to Eddie, taking hold of his hand and holding to delicately. "Does it hurt?"

"Of course not."

"Eddie.." She knew him, knew when he was lying and knew exactly what the slight puff of his chest meant. He was trying to hide it, refused to show any weakness in front of her. It had always been the same, and she'd always loved him for it. Especially now, when he's truly come to her rescue. Even to this day, she'd had doubts about just how Eddie was able to accept her past. She didn't let herself truly believe that he'd ever be able to feel anything for her again after knowing what she'd done. But his actions had proved her wrong, and she'd never been so grateful about the fact.

He sighed in defeat, knowing she had him well and truly rumbled. He didn't want to hide anything from her anyway, had meant his promise of no secrets between them. "A little, but it was worth it." He rolled his eyes, and then tightened his hand on hers to prove his point. It hurt him to do so, but again, it was a price he was willing to pay. He'd taken a great thrill out of punching Stuart Hordley, and he'd do so again in a heartbeat. If he needed to punch a million different men to prove to Rachel her own worth, he'd do just that. His own knuckles be damned.

"You silly man."

"I'd do it again."

"Why?" She couldn't help asking, hated just how meek and pathetic she sounded. But she needed to know, for her own sanity. It was nothing to do with ego, was in no way a way to boost her own opinion of herself. She just struggled to see herself through Eddie's eyes, couldn't help but wonder what on earth he saw in her.

"Why? What do you mean why? Because I love you."

She gulped, swallowing deeply as her eyes moved from his eyes to his lips automatically. "We need to go."

Now was Eddie's turn to be confused, and he cocked his head as he tried to make sense of her reaction. "Go? Where? Why?"

"You need ice." She tried to reason, tried to backtrack on her own reaction as she felt her face turn beet red under his gaze. But it was no use, and she rolled her eyes before smirking at him. "And we need to go somewhere so I can show you my appreciation. In private."

Ah, now he understood entirely. He stepped even closer than her, swaying them both together as his other arm wrapped around her waist to pull her against him. "Then by all means, lead the way Miss Mason." His voice was husky, full of emotion as he resisted the urge to kiss her in such a public place. He was sure their current position would cause questions anyway, but kissing her in the school car park would surely be a step too far.

"I do appreciate it Eddie, everything you've done for me, defending me like that-"

"Hey, I did what was right. He had no right talking to you like that, and I won't be hearing it."

He was doing it again, his words lighting a fire within her that would not be put out even if she tried. Not that she wanted to, she quite liked the way his words made her feel. "Let's go, now." He quickly pressed a hard kiss to his lips before practically marching him away to get ice. As soon as that was sorted, then the second part of her plan could take place; and that's definitely the part they were both looking forward to the most.