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Chapter 12: More Than a Dream

"Oh am I happy to see you," Rachel commented as she fell into Eddie's arms upon arriving back at her office.

Eddie welcomed the embrace, immediately wrapping his arms around Rachel's frame. His face landed on her head as he planted a kiss atop of her hair, still cherishing the way she slotted perfectly beneath his neck. Registering Rachel's exact words, Eddie let out a chuckle, adoring how open she was now being about her feelings towards him.

He guided Rachel over to the sofas, retaining as much contact as possible. Eddie was glad that he had gotten another maths teacher to cover his year 10 class, since he wanted to prioritise Rachel and put the divulgence of this situation at the top of his agenda.

Reluctantly, Rachel untangled herself from Eddie's touch, yet didn't much mind when their eyes met lovingly as an alternative. Absentmindedly, it occurred to her the amount of in depth conversations they had shared on this sofa. Even a day later the thought of yesterday's confession of their love made Rachel feel an intense adoration for the man in front of her. This talk in particular was certainly going to be an opposing atmosphere to that of the day before. Rachel was slightly concerned about how Eddie was going to react when hearing that Melissa had made contact. Or more specifically, when she went through the details of Melissa's spitefulness and comments. Rachel had most definitely been unnerved by it, so hoped that Eddie would be able to calm her fears. Warmth ran through Rachel as she realised that that had become a regular occurence over the past 24 hours. The thought of having Eddie's loving presence by her side for the rest of her life made Rachel feel like the luckiest woman in the world.

Sensing Rachel's uncertainty about broaching the events with Philip, Eddie reached across for her hands and began to trace patterns across the backs of them. Something which from recent hours, he knew to be an action which calmed her.

In return Rachel squeezed Eddie's hands lightly and offered a sincere smile. She was privy to his motives, and couldn't help the wave of fondness and admiration which ran through her upon considering them. Rachel had become less panicked and more rational in the past day with Eddie consistently by her side, and this was a quality or ability that she never believed she would find in a person. Rachel herself was innable at calming her own fears and overthinking, so how could someone else achieve it? All in all, she kind of gathered that this was one of the many reasons why she was so in awe of Eddie.

"Melissa… she kept calling Philip. It unnerved him, a lot in fact."

Rachel watched on as Eddie's expression contorted into that of disgust and anger, completely directed at both the mention and thought of her sister. His features seemed to mirror her current feelings perfectly. Rachel felt outraged at the way Melissa had contacted Philip and worked her way into his brain once more, planting doubts which were far from the truth.

Eddie wasn't sure if he wanted to find out the answer to his next question, but knew it was a necessity if he was going to settle any of Rachel or Philip's worries. Ideally, he longed to eradicate Melissa from his mind for good. To Eddie, she was a symbol of his recent misdemeanours and foolishness. Not only that, her selfishness towards both him, Rachel and Philip was immeasurable. Eddie couldn't even bring himself to entertain thoughts of the woman.

"What did she say… what did she want?"

"She was drunk, apparently. Philip said a new man was on the scene, and that she wanted Philip to go and live with them both. Her exact comment was, come and live with us rather than 'your heartless auntie.' "

Eddie scowled now, tension and sheer ferocity very much present in his body, "oh how very ironic. How bloody dare she?"

Rachel shifted her hand to his arm now, hoping that once again her touch would release some of the anger Eddie was righteously feeling. It worked, briefly, and Rachel waited until Eddie's eyes met hers again to continue. Rachel hoped that much like his deep brown orbs often relaxed her, her own hazel ones could bring him a sense of contentment.

"The comments aimed at me, aren't an issue Eddie. I'm not going to let them bother me."

Rachel was about to speak once more when she saw the smile which graced Eddie's lips. The pride emanating from his features was evident and Rachel felt her heartbeat pick up speed at the thought.

"Good. Because that is in no way true. You are the polar opposite of heartless Rachel."

She smiled her thanks and shifted slightly closer to Eddie, his warmth and touch was now far too tempting and inviting. Having spent so many months unable to partake in such in depth physical contact with one another, the pair felt like they could be glued to each other's sides for the foreseeable future. For so long they had only been able to have fleeting glances across a room, or brief touches of shoulders and elbows. It had been far from what they both desired. Which could be why they didn't want to spend a moment of their days apart, every second was utterly reassured by both Eddie and Rachel.

Rachel felt completely at ease as she rested her head against Eddie's chest. The rising and falling of his breathing was enough to calm any of her anxiousness, never mind his support in the form of words. With Eddie, Rachel felt able to open up the string of thoughts often present in her brain. He was someone who she always felt comfortable around, and Rachel had never before anticipated that sharing her deepest, darkest secrets with another human could have ever been a possibility.

"My first thought after Philip's wellbeing, was concern for Melissa. She's my sister Eddie, her selfish ways don't change that. I mean, who on earth is this man she's with and why is she drinking at eight in the morning?"

Eddie sighed before responding, "Rachel, one of the many reasons why I fell in love with you was because of the way you constantly put others before yourself. Even if, they have caused you harm in any way. But please Rach, just this once, put yourself first? I completely understand that you are worried about your sister, I get that, I really do. But just think about this for a moment, if the tables were turned, do you really think Melissa would be so concerned about you?"

"She wouldn't… I know that, for a fact."

Eddie brushed a strand of hair back from Rachel's face as he looked down at her. The conflict in her features almost broke his heart, and Eddie just had to hope that his support was making a difference.

"Do you really think she's entered a relationship with a man in the space of twenty four hours? Surely she's just using it as a way of provoking a reaction from you, or Philip?"

"I don't know Eddie, this is Melissa we are talking about. She's capable of both of those things."

Eddie cringed internally as he thought back to Melissa's first day, entering a relationship with a man in the space of a day was exactly what she had done then, with him. He tightened his grip on Rachel slightly, hoping that it would remind her that he's right here with her, where he should have been all along. Just as Eddie was thinking of words to comfort Rachel, he remembered how he had spent some of his time when she had been with Philip. Despite cooking for Rachel the previous evening, Eddie wanted to further highlight how much she truly means to him. With the weekend just two and a bit days away, he pondered on the idea of taking Rachel away for the night somewhere. Eddie had intended on it being a surprise, but he reckoned that he could just approach the idea of going out for a meal, and keep her in the dark about the staying over part. He wanted more than anything to give her something to look forward to, Rachel most certainly deserved it more than anyone. So Eddie sat up slightly, prompting Rachel to look at him as he made the proposition.

"Why don't we go out at the weekend?" Eddie posed this question and saw the way Rachel's expression lit up entirely. Instantly, he was glad that he'd made the suggestion, "properly I mean, it could be our first date."

Rachel leant into him again now, still making sure that their eyes could meet.

"Our first date?"

"Absolutely. You deserve it, and it'll give us something to look forward to after a long week."

A grin spread across Rachel's mouth and caused all the rest of her features to glow. Eddie couldn't help but feel an immense amount of joy considering his involvement in that expression.

She leant towards his now, kissing Eddie with feeling and giving him a brief moment to respond before pulling away and resting their foreheads together, "okay then, it's a date."