Hi everyone, thank you for the reviews as always.

Hope you enjoy this chapter :) x

Chapter 3: A Case of Irrepressible Selfishness

"Rachel."

Eddie's gaze was directed at her first, and from the expression he held, Rachel doubted that he was even aware of Melissa's company.

"Would be nice if you let me leave first, before you start staring into each other's eyes."

Eddie's head darted towards the source of the voice, immediately switching his soft demeanour to an intense glare. Surely what Melissa said can't be true. Rachel couldn't quite comprehend it; Eddie had been living with her sister, they were engaged, he loves her. His feelings for Rachel were long gone, he had made that clear in recent weeks. Hadn't he?

Rachel's eyes were now fixed on her lap, and a hand was fiddling with her necklace. Anything to distract herself from this current situation. In fact, Rachel was so lost in removing herself from this mess that she jumped when the door slammed back into place moments later.

"We need to talk Rach."

Readjusting her mind, Rachel recognised that Melissa was no longer present. Aside from everything, a pang of guilt surged through Rachel's body. There was no denying that Mel had been selfish on arrival at Waterloo Road. Rachel had revealed to Melissa her true feelings towards Eddie, yet still, the blonde had pursued her own desires. Despite all of this though, Melissa was her sister, someone she would care about deeply, no matter the scenario.

"Where's Melissa?" Rachel queried, voice barely above a whisper.

"She just stormed out. I think she needs some time to… think this all through."

By now Eddie had taken a seat next to her on the sofa. His presence was intoxicating; the way the side of their knees were gently rubbing together seemed to suffocate Rachel's thoughts.

"You've ended things with her I take it?"

Eddie nodded, looking marginally apprehensive of his inevitable confession.

"Why?"

Rachel didn't want to assume. In her brain, it was still unlikely that Eddie's feelings for her had lingered all this time. If that was the case, surely he would never have gotten involved with her sister.

"Did Melissa mention anything to you?"

Eddie chose to dodge Rachel's question of 'why' for now. He wasn't sure if he was ready to express the true extent of his feelings, or even if she was ready to hear it. Revealing his feelings too soon had been the cause of all this mess and heartbreak, so Eddie wasn't willing to take that risk again. The time had to be right.

"Melissa was just talking nonsense… she's obviously upset."

Rachel couldn't expose the truth of Melissa's comments. How foolish would she look if they turned out to be a web of lies? Or in Rachel's mind, when they turned out to be a web of lies.

For Eddie, hearing Rachel allude to the fact that Melissa had been talking nonsense had flipped his earlier doubts on their head. Evidently, and as expected, Melissa had divulged his true feelings towards Rachel. On top of this, the apprehensiveness in Rachel's voice was clear, he had to reiterate everything Melissa had brought to light, so that she would believe it. Perhaps it was a case of a now or never moment.

"The truth is Rachel - ''

Eddie didn't get the opportunity to continue. The office door flung open once more, revealing a rather startled looking Tom Clarkson.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we've got a problem."

Rachel stood instantly, closely followed by Eddie. Both parties were mentally and physically preparing themselves for what could have happened. With the past year in mind, it seemed that anything was possible. But as well as feelings of concern and anxiousness, Eddie found himself cursing whatever or whoever had caused Tom to come into Rachel's office at that particular moment. Seemingly like always, time was not on Eddie's side.

"Melissa's just stormed into Grantley's classroom. Something about 'collecting her son and getting out of this place for good'... Philip wasn't best pleased."

Eddie turned to Rachel and sighed, momentarily rolling his eyes in annoyance. Of course it would be Melissa. Meanwhile, Tom was busy glancing between the two senior members of staff, attempting to decipher the wordless conversation they were currently having.

"Eddie," Rachel turned to him fully, placing a light hand on his upper arm, which most certainly didn't go unnoticed, "I think you should leave this one to me - ''

"Rachel - ''

"No, Eddie," she kept her tone lower now, not wanting to expose Eddie's love life to staff room gossip. She trusted Tom, but for Eddie, who she cared about so deeply, Rachel wasn't willing to take the risk, "she's obviously worked up as it is. I just think, talking to you will be the equivalent to adding fuel to the fire."

As he agreed reluctantly and watched Rachel follow Tom out of the office, Eddie could see her point. On top of this though, with Melissa's truthful accusations at the forefront of his mind, he didn't think that the younger sister would exactly welcome Rachel's upcoming negotiations.

….

With Grantley's classroom fast approaching, it did cross Rachel's mind that if Melissa's revelations were true, she would be the last person she wanted to see. All the while though, these doubts were swiftly outweighed with a second thought suffocating Rachel's brain. For her, the idea that Eddie loves her was next to impossible. Only if the words escaped his mouth would she consider believing them, and Rachel was trying not to dwell on that too much. It didn't do any good for her self control.

The voice of Tom divided Rachel from her reverie, as they reached Grantley Budgen's classroom, "they're in there. Grantley has stayed with Melissa and Philip, I managed to get the rest of the class to make their way to my classroom, where Davina's keeping an eye on them. Didn't think they needed to see the full extent of Philip and Melissa's private life laid out on the table."

"No… thank you Tom, I'll deal with it from here."

"Not a problem," the English teacher spoke as he walked away, "just let me know if there's anything I can do."

Rachel nodded her thanks before taking a deep breath. She caught a glimpse of the three occupants of the classroom and became witness to a furious Melissa, a startled Philip and a rather amused looking Grantley Budgen. Perhaps the English teacher's current state was the least surprising occurence of the day.

Reaching out for the door handle, Rachel braced herself for the worst. This conversation really was a case of making or breaking a future relationship with her sister.

"Mr Budgen, if I could just have a private word with Philip and Miss Ryan."

Turning to face Rachel as he walked out, as ever Grantley was the bearer of witty yet unnecessary comments.

"Me thinks that sister of yours needs putting on a leesh."

Rachel could only be grateful that the statement barely received a roll of the eyes and a scoff from Melissa. Another thing which could have easily spiraled out of control and added to the mess which seemed to have accumulated that day.

"Thank you Mr Budgen, you can go now."

The dismissal was clear, and for once, Grantley followed his orders. A smirk was still evident on the man's features as he emerged onto the corridor, and it didn't go amiss for Rachel as she figured out her next best steps.

"Did Eddie not want to show his face?"

The spite which coloured Melissa's tone was immeasurable, and Rachel felt unsure of how to respond. For now, it seemed that Philip had some questions of his own.

"Mum, what the hell is going on?"

"Why don't you ask your auntie Rachel? Go on Phil, ask her why Eddie has ended things with me."

"Melissa," Rachel interjected, raising her arm slightly in the hope of calming her sister's anger, "whatever has gone on between you and Eddie, it's got nothing to do with me. Now why don't you start, by explaining to me exactly what's happened. You know, help me to understand."

"Oh don't talk to me like that. I'm not one of your students."

Rachel sighed, perhaps realising that she wasn't really going to get anywhere when Melissa was in this state. The blonde was right, she wasn't one of her students. In fact, she was far more difficult to negotiate with. Seemingly, this thought was only backed up with a second comment from Philip.

"Mum. Will you just listen to Rachel for once."

Initially, upon hearing Philip's choice of words, Rachel winced internally. Her younger sister never took kindly to indirect insults, certainly not from family members. But as Melissa glanced at her son, Rachel spotted a new expression. Maybe this was where her younger sister finally dropped the stubbornness and opened up.

Glancing away from Philip's gaze, the woman in question settled her eyes on the floor and perched herself on the edge of a nearby desk.

"Eddie… he just came to me, and said that everything seemed to be moving so fast between us. He mentioned the engagement, and just our entire relationship. The thing was, he wouldn't give me a proper explanation."

Philip and Rachel exchanged a glance, and Rachel found herself not willing to listen to whatever Melissa was going to say next. She could tell that her younger sister was about to repeat her earlier suggestion, and Rachel wasn't sure if her heart rate could take being told that again.

"He wouldn't say why Rachel. But I saw it, I saw it in his eyes. He's in love with you, and I know you feel for him too."

Once again, Rachel was left speechless. Familiar feelings washed over her entire being and left her wanting to believe what Melissa was saying. She couldn't though, Rachel had her little sister to think about. Yes, Melissa had disregarded Rachel's feelings at the start of the school year, but that didn't mean Rachel would feel comfortable with giving the blonde a taste of her own medicine. On top of this, Rachel still stood by her earlier conclusion. She couldn't deem this revelation truthful until she heard it from Eddie himself.

"Melissa… do you not think that you've perhaps got the wrong end of the stick here?"

The blonde shook her head violently, backing up her next words, "no. And there's something else you should know. Maybe then you'll accept that I'm telling the truth."

Rachel felt sick to the stomach. She couldn't think what else could possibly be revealed today. Not trusting her legs to remain standing, the elder sister took a seat opposite Melissa on the desk next to Philip.

Finally grasping to courage to once again meet Melissa's exasperated stare, Rachel glanced up at her sister who took the gesture as a signal to elaborate.

"That night… my first day. When Eddie and I went to the pub, and you didn't feel up to it. We drank too much, the both of us. But Eddie he in particular… he started telling me all about his feelings for you. The way you had pushed him away the previous day and how… madly in love he was with you."

Rachel's earlier nauseated state seemed to be replaced with the inability to breathe steadily. She had known all along that Melissa was capable of selfishness, but not to this extent. How could she be so heartless?

"He was well and truly down in the dumps Rach… and I'll admit, I took advantage of that. Flirted with him when I should have been giving him advice. When he wanted me to be giving him advice. Of course he didn't remember the next day, he was too drunk to. I think if he had recalled the conversation, there's no way we would've progressed in our relationship."

Rachel found herself searching for something, anything to say. Several things sprung to mind. She wanted to scream at Melissa, ask her why and how she could've done such a thing, both to her and to Eddie. But her current state took over and she had lost the means of speech.

"Why mum? Why would you do that?"

Rachel glanced up at her nephew to be met with an expression of disbelief. She guessed that the boy looked exactly how she felt at that moment. Confused and utterly shocked at Melissa's manipulative personality.

"You wouldn't understand Philip," Melissa said, turning her attention away from Rachel, "your auntie has always got her own way. So I decided to change that. Just this once."

"Oh Melissa. That's not true and you know it," Rachel spoke in an exasperated manner, hoping that the tremble in her voice wasn't evident.

"Yeh.. well that's how I've always seen it. Even after being a whore people still wanted you."

It was a low blow - Philip, Rachel and probably even Melissa herself knew that. Swallowing a lump in her throat, Rachel made a move to speak but was beaten to it by Philip.

"Do you realise how sick and twisted you sound right now? I mean… from what I know, Rach has been nothing but nice to you. She gave you a bloody job here for god's sake."

Rachel managed to discreetly flash her nephew a small smile. She was appreciative of his efforts, and his sincere words were something that Rachel would always remember.

"Like I said Philip, you wouldn't understand."

Silence elapsed for a few moments, an uncomfortable one at that. Hazarding a guess, Rachel presumed that Melissa was anticipating some sort of response from her, and maybe Philip wanted to reply to his mother's previous comment but couldn't quite find the words.

"Right, well. I'm not staying here," Melissa began, "so you're going to have to find a new head of extended services. I'm fancying a change anyway, might move down south somewhere."

Philip remained quiet, and Rachel was intent on returning his favour.

"Do you really think that's fair on Philip? I mean… hasn't he been moved around enough?"

"I don't think that's for you to decide."

Philip stood now and took a few steps closer to his mother, "no, maybe it's not for Rach to decide. But it is for me to, and I'm not going anywhere with you mum, not after this."

Melissa scoffed before glaring at her son, "and where are you going to go exactly? A youth hostel?"

"He can stay with me," Rachel responded to this in an instant, receiving a thankful look from Philip.

"Should've seen that one coming," Melissa muttered, more to herself than anyone else.

Philip and Rachel looked unsure of what was to come next until Melissa stood and made a move for the door. Reaching the exit, she turned one last time to face Rachel in particular.

"Enjoy Eddie Rach. I'm sure he's now got everything he's ever wanted."

With that, the blonde turned and left; leaving Rachel to pick up the pieces.