Thank you for the reviews.

So this one might seem a little weird. Especially because of what the prompt is about. It will be something that I will expand on later in this set of prompts. Basically, you are getting the end of the series of events that leads them to this moment. Okay? We're all clear where this is going?

On with this then...


Seven: Laughter

Your OTP making each other laugh. Jokes? Stories? Tickle fights?


Eddie was sure that from the moment he had heard Rachel's laugh that he constantly wanted to hear it. It was why he always tried to come up with some way to try and make her laugh. Which he got most of the time, from full out laughter to her just snorting and half laughing his name. Making her laugh was even better than making her smile.

And the longer they knew each other and the closer they got, the easier that Eddie found it to make her laugh. Even when he was trying not to be funny. Apparently, him trying to be deadly serious was one of the funniest things in the world to Rachel. Maybe because he had spent so much time being so unserious.

But there had been a few things over the last couple of months that had meant that both of them hadn't smiled or laughed in a while and Eddie definitely felt like it was time to change that. So he worked on making her smile first by buying her flowers and just doing little things to make her smile up at him.

From there, he knew that laughter would come again. And it was starting to come as she started letting out small noises as she smiled at him. He was sure that they would get back to how they once were, it was just getting there.


Rachel realised what Eddie was doing a lot sooner than the reason as to why he was doing what he was doing.

It had been a hard couple of months, bearing in mind the couple of weeks leading up to them were the happiest Rachel had ever been. And knowing that she was moving forward with Eddie in a way that she didn't think would be possible for a woman of her age did make her happy. It was something that she had always wanted but never thought it was going to happen.

For all that to be taken away from her broke her heart and part of her knew that she still had to process all her feelings regarding that. She had only just about stopped herself from pushing away Eddie at that point, knowing that he would be full of promises that they could try again and it was the last thing that she wanted. She definitely had to remind herself that he would be hurting as much as she was, if not more with Stephen.

They definitely weren't the same as they had been and it was when Rachel realised that they had both just been co-exiting with each other rather than being the couple that they knew that they were. And all the little things that Eddie was doing was trying to remind her of that.

Which made her realise that it had been so long since they had made each other laugh.

Rachel loved the little things Eddie would do to make her laugh and she equally loved to make him laugh. She gathered that was what Eddie was trying to do as his more ridiculous side was starting to show again but she also knew that she would have to meet him halfway. Meaning that she knew exactly what she could do to make that happen.


"What's all this?" Eddie said as he entered the dining room just as Rachel finished what she was doing.

"This is a 'I'm sorry'. I'm sorry for not being a better girlfriend." She held her hand up when he tried to interrupt her. "I have been, Eddie. Because I was more than ready to give up on us. I'm not great at relationships, as you can probably tell now. I'm prone to try and find reasons for it not to work than reasons to try and make it work. And I almost did that to you. Even if it was a time where we needed each other more.

"I'm sorry that I hadn't realised that we were just starting to drift. That we have been just existing together rather than living together. And I'm going to be better. Starting from tonight. I know that this has been just as tough on you, maybe even a little tougher because of Stephen. But it isn't only up to you to get us back to how we were. To get us back so we can talk about whether we want it to happen again. So tonight, Mr Lawson, we are going to sit and eat and play a little game."

"Is this one that you can cheat at?"

"For the last time, I did not cheat when we went bowling."

"Alright. Alright. What is this game then?"

"Sit down and I'll tell you."

Rachel quickly ran to the kitchen for their food and placed the plate in front of Eddie before she took her seat opposite him and grabbed a box.

"This was a game that we played at uni but it works for this. We take it in turns to take a card from the box and we have to tell a story relating to what is on the card. I have made the cards myself but that is how we did it at uni. We all made cards and… well, I think I can be a hell of a lot more open with you than I was back then with them."

"Right?" Eddie said.

"Do you want me to go first?"

"Please."

Rachel dug her hand into the box to take a card from the middle, pulling it out to read it out to Eddie.

"Name a time that you did something that you shouldn't have done and blamed it on someone else." She said before she paused for a moment. "The rose bush incident. So Mum had this lovely rose bush and it was the only plant that Mum ever seemed to be able to grow. As you know, Mum used to work nights and I was 14 and my friends persuaded me to try and have a house party. I told my mum that it would only be a couple of friends and to keep Melissa happy and out of my way, I said that she could invite a friend.

"Anyway, it got out that I was having this party and for some reason, it was the event of the summer. I didn't even realise that half the people that turned up even knew who I was, let alone come to this party. Someone's brother or sister had managed to get some alcohol and that was where everything went wrong. It happened that this girl was trying to get this boy off her and they both fell on the rose bush and people threw up and peed on it.

"I got up the next morning and saw what a state that it was in that I ran out to try and sort it out. I had cleared up the house but there was nothing that I could do about this rose bush. I was fairly certain I was on edge for a good couple of days, waiting for Mum to say something. It took her a while to notice and that was only because it was practically dead. I blamed Melissa and her friend when I was asked about it. I think I said that they had been playing in the garden and fell into it or something like that. Mainly because Melissa was on a school trip for a couple of days so I knew I could get away with it a little more.

"Mum went ballistic at Melissa when she got back, so much so that Melissa couldn't get a word in and she was grounded for a week. I think that Melissa didn't speak to me longer than Mum punished her for. I am unsure as to whether I am still forgiven now."

Eddie chuckled. "I always thought you were someone that would own up to what you had done."

"It is the only time that I haven't. I was a little sick of my mum's 'as you are the oldest, you need to be more responsible' rant." She pushed the box a little closer to him. "Your turn?"

She could see that he was a little reluctant to take a card but did and she could already tell it was going to be a good story because of the way that he scoffed.

"Name the stupidest thing you've ever done to try and impress a girl/boy." He sighed. "I hope you are ready for this. Although I don't really know who comes out best in this story."


Eddie couldn't actually remember the last time that he had laughed so much. Properly laughed as well. The type of laughter that made his jaw hurt and his eyes water. And what he was currently laughing at was that Rachel had taken an ill-timed mouthful of wine that she was currently trying not to spit out all over him.

She, somehow, managed to calm down for a moment, just to be able to swallow the wine before she joined him in laughing.

"You can't be serious." Rachel said.

"Deadly. Tony has never forgiven me for it. And the bollocking I got off Mum. Honestly, I was scared for my life."

"Then you shouldn't have shaved a strip of your brother's hair off. Was it even in a good place?"

"Just off centre. Let's just say that I didn't get any pocket money for the next two months to pay for the haircut that Tony had to make it better."

"Too right." Rachel said before she leant forward. "Last round?"

"Yeah, go on."

She picked a card up and read what it said on it as she fell back into her seat. "Cheesiest pick up line." She said before she huffed. "Oh, what was it?"

"What was what?"

"Melissa dragged me out to a bar to celebrate when I was given the headship to Waterloo Road and there was this guy who attempted to hit on me." She clicked her fingers. "I seem to have lost my phone number. Can I have yours?"

"Oh, God. That's not cheesy. That is just bad."

"Go on then Lawson."

"Do you know what my shirt is made of? It's made of boyfriend material."

"That's no better." Rachel said as she laughed.

"If I could rearrange the alphabet, I'd put 'U' and 'I' together."

"Are you a dictionary? Cause you're adding meaning to my life."

"There's only one thing I want to change about you, and that's your last name."

"Where did you hear that one from?"

"A friend of mine used it. Don't worry, the girl wasn't impressed."

"I think that is enough cheesy pick-up lines." Rachel said as she threw the card onto the table. "Last one Lawson."

Eddie leant forward and picked a card up. "Name a memory that will always make you smile. That's easy. Us, in a bowling alley." He said as he looked up at Rachel.

"I'm not going to disagree with that."

"After I stopped being stupid."

"Yeah, well, I can forgive you."

"I can't. I should never have had that night with Melissa."

"Made me change my mind on whether I actually wanted you or not."

"But I don't like that I made that bad blood between you two."

"Eddie, there is no more bad blood than what was already there. I bet she knew that we liked each other. She has always seemed to want whatever I had."

"I just didn't… Maybe it was more that I didn't really understand why I did it. I knew she was your sister and I knew you didn't have the best relationship. I just…"

"Well thank God for Philip and him setting us up again."

Eddie tried to smile at Rachel but he knew that was the other thing hanging over them. And he had been stupid.

It had been the first time that Rachel had wanted to call time on their relationship, which was equally upsetting because Eddie thought that with her meeting his family, she would have settled a little more into their relationship, especially as they had briefly spoken about having their own child. With the arguments erupting between them, Eddie had found himself storming out of the house and making the bad decision of trying to drink his anger away. Meaning that he was rather bladdered when he, for some reason, ran into Melissa.

The next thing he could remember was waking up in the strange bedroom, being rather naked under the covers, to Melissa walking out of the ensuite and telling him good morning. He had never gathered up his things quick enough and it was bad enough the awkward eye contact that he made with Philip as they crossed on the stairs as Eddie made his way out.

And it ate him up inside. So much so that he walked in to find Melissa standing in Rachel's office, talking to Rachel, and he just confessed it all. Melissa was more annoyed than Rachel ever was, with her screaming at him as to why he said anything.

Maybe Rachel never did take the news as well as he thought she did. Because it might have forced them back together, with the help of Philip, but he was sure that it was another reason against their relationship.

"Rachel, I am really, really, really sorry for that night. I… I really don't know how you did forgive me because there is no excusing what I did."

"There is when I got the truth out of Melissa."

"The.. truth?"

"One that sounded a lot more like you. Because what you thought happened was what she wanted to happen. What actually happened was that you were the perfect gentleman and refused to allow her to go home on her own, meaning that when you got to hers, she practically pushed you out of the taxi to try and get you to move forward with her. Apparently what happens when you have someone who really wants to sleep with someone and someone who really doesn't is that you, blind drunk, was making coffee, unloading her dishwasher... pretty much doing all her housework.

"According to Philip, and hence why I pressed Melissa for the truth and knew that I could forgive you, you lost her when you started dusting the photographs and started talking about how you were going to make it up to me. Philip put you to bed and Melissa." Rachel sighed. "Melissa just made it what she wanted it to be. Maybe she hoped that you would confess to it. Maybe she hoped to… blackmail you with it."

"Why didn't you tell me this?" Eddie said.

"I… I don't know. Maybe because I… I felt bad that I thought the same as you. That you had done it. Maybe… Maybe I wanted to keep it as a reason to keep this going. I really don't know, Eddie."

Eddie just found himself nodding. "I ummm… think that we should get this all cleared away. And then, maybe, we should talk. Properly sort out where we are going from here."

"I think that sounds like a good idea."

Eddie didn't quite know how, in a roundabout way, the night had gone from him thinking that they were going to fall apart at some point to them laughing the night away to them finally going to sort out where they were going with their relationship. And he could only hope that it was going to make them stronger.