Thank you for the reviews.

I said on Twitter that there was only one way to go about this prompt and I definitely think that this was the best way to do it. Because they have two first dates, don't they? (obviously, we are back in canon now).


Four: First Date

Your OTP's first date. Where'd they go? Did the date go well or go horribly?


The Unofficial First Date

It was something for the three of them. For her, Eddie and Philip.

And maybe Eddie was right that they all needed to get out. Melissa's disappearance hadn't helped anything and the more Rachel thought about it, the more she wondered whether this was the first time that it happened. God knows who was looking after Philip if this wasn't the first time but there must have been a reason for the way that Philip was lashing out. His behaviour wasn't the boy that she knew.

With the boy in question not showing up, getting a better deal, it meant that the night turned from being for three to just the two of them.

At first, she was rather aware of her behaviour, constantly reminding herself that Eddie was almost her brother-in-law. That this man had spent the last couple of months dating her sister. Things between her and Eddie felt complicated enough without adding that to the list.

If anything, she was trying to rebuild their friendship. They had seemed to be in this constant phase where they were always in between work colleagues, friends and, maybe, more.

It was something that she wished to break. She wanted to solidify that Eddie was the person that knew her best in the world and that, before the fire, she loved the friendship that had blossomed between them (with the day of the fire feeling rather bittersweet as she couldn't bring herself to remember the way that they were that morning).

But the playfulness definitely turned into flirting and Rachel was tired of telling herself that it was too soon or the awkwardness of the things that had happened.

"I wanted to go for dinner. 'No,' she says, 'let's go bowling, Phil loves bowling.' But where's he now?" Eddie said.

Rachel couldn't stop herself from laughing. It was clearly the sore loser in him coming out as he was definitely trailing her. And she wanted to make a comment about him saying that he wanted to go for dinner. He had never said that is what his intention was when he said about them going out that morning.

Plus, Rachel was enjoying herself a lot more than she probably would have done if they had gone out for dinner.

"He's having a good time, while I thrash you." She said, tapping his chest with both her hands. "You're rubbish!"

"All right, get on with it. I don't believe you."

Bearing in mind the scores already, Eddie better believe it. How did he think that she knew that Philip liked bowling?

"Aw, chill, watch," She said as she got ready to take her go.

There was another line of encouragement (she took it as encouragement) from Eddie before she took her go, letting go of the ball, knowing that it was more or less going to go down the middle. She felt like his shout of foul was meant to put her off.

"My foot was behind that line." She said, knowing that she was behind the line.

"No way!" He argued back.

"It was on the line!" She said, mainly as a way to compromise.

"All right, McEnroe," Eddie said, walking away from her. "If that's the way you want to beat me."

She couldn't help but follow him, giving him a gentle push. "Excuse me, are you calling me a liar?"

He turned to her. "Oh, I'm far too much of a gentleman to say that."

There was a moment or two when she just focused on what he had said and couldn't help but agree with him. But her mind caught up to how much they were in each other's personal space and she couldn't miss the way that his eyes flicked down to her lips. She felt her own eyes do it as well but she knew it was coming.

It was in the way that they were acting with each other. They were both more than ready to finally cross that line. To become something more. Maybe to be something that they were always meant to be.

And he leant it. That short first kiss, probably because he was making sure that it was what she wanted before he leant in again, her hand making its way to his neck so that it could land in his hair.

If she was honest with herself, the whole world faded away and nothing else mattered other than Eddie Lawson.


Eddie could definitely say that he felt like he was dreaming. And he was fairly certain that he was going to go to sleep with the biggest smile on his face.

And it was weird how they left the bowling alley, with Rachel being victorious, close enough that if he wanted to, he could reach for her hand and take it into his. He didn't but they didn't say anything as they walked to their cars, probably with a plan that they were going to go their separate ways.

"Why don't we go somewhere?" Rachel said, taking him by surprise.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I am just realising how hungry I am. We could go and get something to eat."

"There is a curry house down the road."

"Oh no." She said, sounding disgusted by the idea. "Sorry. Last time I went to a curry house was with Stuart. One of the two rather awkward meals I felt like I was forced to go on with him."

"Two?"

"I think he wanted it to be more. I think… he wanted more. The man still gives me the creeps."

"Well… he can't hurt you anymore."

"He did a lot of damage in the first place."

"Okay then," Eddie said to move the conversation on, "There is a Chinese buffet near me. You can park at mine as I can guarantee that there will be no parking there."

There was a sort of open invitation that she didn't have to go home if she didn't want to. He knew that the sisters were opposites and from the small amount of time that Eddie had spent in Rachel's home, he suspected that their personalities also reflected in their home life. And Melissa was rather laidback with Philip and just general home life. Eddie found himself doing more around the house because it seemed like Melissa wasn't going to. Rachel, on the other hand, had a perfectly clean house and, by the sound of things, wasn't as laid back with Philip.

Maybe part of the friction was that Rachel was being overbearing, with her heart completely in the right place as it was in concern, and Philip just wasn't used to that sort of attention and concern.

So maybe they needed a night away from each other. A night where Rachel could be Rachel and Philip could be Philip.

Plus, nothing was going to happen that Rachel didn't want to happen.

"I can do Chinese." Rachel said. "I'll follow you."

Eddie didn't quite know why his stomach was doing flips. He had done the hard part. He had already kissed her. But there was just something about their night continuing that made him equally happy and nervous. But maybe, he could convince Rachel that this was something that they should pursue. He was happy to take things at her pace. He was never expecting the same whirlwind romance that he had with Melissa, with Rachel. But he couldn't wait to see whether a relationship with Rachel matched up in reality to the one that he'd had with her in his head.


The Official First Date

"D'you think it's a good idea, Eddie?"

Eddie understood Rachel's reservations about the whole school being invited to her house but he also saw it as the one night that Philip could actually be a normal teenager.

"Yeah, he needs you cutting him some slack after Kim's been messing with his head all day." He said, knowing how he was going to take her mind off Philip already. "And, we need some time to ourselves, as well. First date."

She giggled. "First date."

He didn't quite know why she was laughing but it made him laugh as well. Maybe it was just the way that they had been out like this, many times before, but it was the first time as them being settled in their new way. It was the first time as them admitting that they were something more.

"Yeah, one rule." He said

"What?"

"No mention of school and no mention of Philip, just us."

As much as Eddie knew it was the two things he had in common with Rachel, he did want to find out more about her. He knew that she was a private person but he didn't want to know her as Amanda, not anymore, he wanted to know her as Rachel and what she had done with her life and what else she wanted to do with it. He wanted to know her future so that he knew how he could be a part of it.

"Okay, just us."

He felt like he had her. Finally, they could talk about personal things and work out where they were going to go. But, of course, there was something that was going to stop that from happening. And that time was the arrival of Bolton and Paul.

He scoffed as Rachel fell straight back into headteacher mode but he could slightly agree with the little chat that Rachel had with Bolton. In a weird way, maybe it was a chat that was needed. Most people weren't going to listen to Philip if they did something that they shouldn't do. Bolton, on the other hand, they would listen to.

Rachel freaking out about more people turning up after Janeece, Michaela, Chlo and Donte showed up was something that he could see happening but she did seem to follow his lead and got into the car.

"It's a party, Rach."

"I think you forget that I was a teenager as well once. I know how out of control these sorts of parties can get."

"Well, you have Bolton on the job now. Rachel, I think you need to give them the same respect that they do for you. Because they have a hell of a lot of it."

He didn't think that Rachel's sigh was due to her accepting what was happening but he definitely felt that they might be getting back on track with how the night was going to go and he couldn't have been happier when she finally left the driveway.


Rachel was nervous for two reasons. One, the party at her house and she hoped that Eddie was right in saying that the students had a lot more respect for her than she thought. Two, the fact that Philip had a bad day and she was worried about the lengths that Philip could go to in trying to curb his embarrassment earlier. Not that she actually thought that Philip was capable of doing anything like that, she just didn't know how he was going to react to the peer pressure.

"Will you just relax?" Eddie said.

"No." She said. "Eddie, I'm always going to be worrying about something. I always have done."

"I could see you freaking out about exams."

"I don't know why I did. I always got good marks in the mocks that we did and it did translate into the exams." She let out a small laugh. "I could imagine you though. So laid back that you only walked into the room with a pen."

"The only time I freaked out was when I forgot my ruler for a maths exam. And the exam hall and maths block were on opposite sides of the school so I sprinted there to ask my teacher if I could borrow a spare and sprinted all the way back and got there just before the doors closed. That was back when I played more football than I watched."

"Ah, one of the sporty kids."

"Football and maths are the only things I've ever really been good at. What about you?"

"English was my subject. That and history."

"But in the school hierarchy?"

"One of the nerdy kids. But not too nerdy. Me and my friends sort of were in the middle. We didn't get picked on by the popular kids but we weren't the popular kids."

"Right."

"I equally loved and hated school."

"I didn't mind school."

"But your parents probably told you that it was important to go. That they cared if you got your homework done or not." She let out a small laugh. "They probably, at the very least, turned up to parents evening."

"Wh-when you said your parents…"

"I did mean it. School was a break from home but when I got home it just felt like they saw school as a burden. That we should be out earning instead. I mean, I did a paper round before school and helped out in the shop at the weekends. But I was never going to bring home a lot at that age."

"What about?" Eddie said as Rachel knew that he just didn't want to say Melissa's name.

"She got away with murder compared to what I got away with. I was just told that I was the older one and needed to be responsible. And I needed to start earning when I could."

"You should never have had that pressure on you."

"So whether I am a born worrier or a made worrier, you can tell why I do worry. Definitely, the times that I sneaked out as well and I had to make sure I was back before my dad woke up."

"Did they know?"

"I told them that I had a night job and when I was putting £500 in the money pot every week, they weren't too fussed to ask questions. I kept half as I was planning to get away. Go North and make a life for myself. Didn't plan for the raids and the long investigation that followed. I went home to get a couple of things before I was put in a safe house by the police. I was willing to cooperate. If they knew, I have never found out."

"I still think that everything you have gone through does make a lot of sense when you see how you are with the students."

"You didn't think that at the time."

"I don't actually think there are enough words for me to say how sorry I am for that reaction."

"I never expect anyone to take it well."

"But I could have taken it better."

"Well, we can't change things now."

The sentence seemed to hang in the air, with them both averting their gaze to anything else. Because there were quite a few things that they both would change if they could.

"I'll get the next round." Rachel said, just to break the tension and a hope to move the conversation on once she had got the drinks.

She sighed as she reached the bar and she managed to get the attention of the bartender quite quickly and she ordered the drinks. She knew that she was going to go back and try and get Eddie to talk more about himself. Because she had really said all that she needed to say about herself. And she wanted to know about the man who thought he only had maths and football as the things that he was good at. And maybe she wanted to know how he got into teaching. Because there were some teachers that it just made so much sense that they were teachers. He was one of them but she still wanted to find out his story. Because she always had something about a story. Maybe because she never wanted to tell her own.