Thank you for the reviews.

I don't really think I knew what to do with this one. Hence why it might feel like two completely different things... But we are going with it and it is, maybe, an unnaturally small update from me...


Twelve: Shopping

Your OTP shopping together. What are they shopping for? Are they just running errands, or are they buying gifts for each other?


There was something awfully endless about Rachel's list of worries.

Most of the work based ones Eddie found to be rational. No one could question Rachel's commitment to the students and their welfare. It, at times, made Eddie question how much he had done over his career to help out those students in need. He was sure that it was only a drop in the ocean compared to everything that Rachel had done.

But when it came to more personal worries, Eddie found them, mostly, irrational. There were only so many times that Eddie felt like you could reassure a person before realising that you were never going to reassure them. And he was sure that he would never be able to reassure Rachel in their personal life. There were only so many ways that he could tell her that he loved her and was fully committed to the relationship that they had been in for the last nine months.

And Eddie felt like he had been patient. He had thought (or maybe hoped) that she would have worked it out by now. That his commitment to her wasn't just words. He was in it for the long run.

So he attempted to laugh at her worry and indecisiveness as they walked around the supermarket, trying not to get too frustrated with her.

"What are you laughing at?" Rachel said as she turned away from the shelves to look at him.

"Oh, come on Rachel. This is ridiculous." Eddie said as he stood up properly after he started to lean on the handle of the trolley as he waited for her to finish her internal debate.

"Is it?"

"You've met my family. We don't have any allergies and we aren't fussy eaters. So there is no need for this debate every time. Just get the one you would usually do or the cheapest one and let's get this over and done with."

"Yeah but…"

"Rachel. You've made your impression. They love you." He paused for a moment. "Plus this was your idea. I still haven't worked out why you want dinner with my parents."

"Well, they are important to you." She said as she turned away from him.

"Rachel, you can talk to me."

When he said it, he meant it as something for her to think over before they talked about it when they were in the car or at home. The last place that Eddie thought that Rachel would open up to him would be in the middle of an aisle in the middle of a busy supermarket.

"Is it so bad that I want them to like me?" She said, in a voice so small that Eddie almost didn't hear her.

He pushed the trolley a little bit so that he was standing next to her. He knew that he might be causing a bit of a bottleneck but that didn't matter. His rather insecure girlfriend did.

"They do like you, Rachel." He said, keeping his voice at a level that meant that they could have a private conversation. "Mum adores you. She was having a go at me about how she hadn't seen you since my dad's birthday. And then you invite her around to ours. The last time I had seen her that happy, Ella was born. So four years ago. And Dad has never taken much interest in who we are dating until he has had to. I think he just didn't want to know about Alice. But he has such an interest in you and said that he would help protect you from the world."

"Really?"

"Just because you have lived through so much rejection, it doesn't mean that everyone is going to. So can you take this as we aren't going to? That we are all in it for the long run?"

He didn't think that would be the thing that would make her instantly relax. He knew that it would be something that would have to be proven to Rachel. Over time. And she would only accept it when she was ready to accept it. One of the few things that annoyed him about her.

She sighed. "Okay. Okay."

"So you are going to stop worrying about which wine we are going to have with dinner because we are having chicken? Because you drink Merlot and Mum will just drink whatever is open. And Dad will have a beer or something soft if he is driving."

She glanced over to him before she reached out, grabbing her 'old faithful' before she put it in the trolley. He knew that she would glance down at her list, probably reconsidering a couple of things on there before she started walking again.

"Well, we will need some soft drinks then." She said over her shoulder. "What would your dad prefer?"

Eddie didn't quite think that 'anything' was the answer that Rachel wanted, meaning that he knew that he would have to make the choice for his dad (or to just get both coke and lemonade as he knew that they would get drunk).

If anything, he just hoped that it meant that this shopping trip would be over and done with soon.


Rachel knew that Eddie wanted to be out shopping just as much as she did. At least he had the easier job of getting a suit that would fit him. A pair of trousers with a matching jacket. Maybe a new shirt if he wanted to. A new pair of shoes as well if he had none that would go with the suit. She didn't think that she could get him to wear a tie and she found that she didn't mind that. There was something about Eddie being tieless and having the top two buttons of his shirt undone that just suited him. Or maybe she had just gotten used to it as it was how he was all of the time.

Her job was much harder. Mainly because she hated dress shopping.

When the wedding of one of Eddie's cousins was announced to the whole family, Rachel knew, instantly, that she wouldn't have anything to wear. And she had been through her wardrobe three times to try and find something. Twice on her own. Once with help from Zoe.

And she knew that every time she would walk out of the changing room to show Eddie a dress that she was considering, he would just say that she looked beautiful in it even if it didn't suit her.

Maybe that was why they started with him first.

Get the easy thing over and done with first.

And it was just a generic navy suit that he got for the occasion. A suit for any occasion was what he had said once he had found the right size. Rachel wondered whether it would see the light of day again after the wedding.

So with Eddie more or less sorted, it was her turn.

And there had to be a coffee break just for her to recharge after already trying on a dozen.

"What about that red one that you tried on?" Eddie asked.

"It was too small and then the next size up looked massive on me." Rachel reminded him.

"Are you actually looking for anything specific?"

"No."

"Surely you've got some idea of what you like."

"Yes but no. I hate dress shopping."

"Well does it have to be a dress then?"

"Eddie, it's a wedding."

He shrugged. "So?"

"It is an occasion made for wearing a dress."

"Is it?"

Rachel swallowed the groan. It was one of the things that she disliked about men. And she wasn't going to tell Eddie about the fact that it was the way of the world. She was glad that things had opened up a lot as she would not want to be wearing dresses all the time. Skirts were a different thing. She could wear a skirt to 'mix things up'. But to her, work was one thing. A wedding was another.

"Look, why don't we just have a look around?" Eddie continued. "See what is about? Maybe if you stop fixating on a dress, you might find something that you like."

It was a rather practical answer that she expected from a practical man like Eddie.

And with them setting off again after they had finished their coffee, Rachel did feel like she was looking at the clothes in a different light. There were still things that she instantly dismissed but there were a few things that she was more open to.

And she had, actually, picked it up because Eddie pointed it out on one of the mannequins and they managed to find it.

And it was a dress.

But Rachel took a moment to look at herself in the mirror. Longer than she had done for any other dress that she had tried on. She looked at it from multiple angles and she couldn't find anything wrong with it. And the way that Eddie's jaw dropped when she stepped out of the changing room to show it off was probably the reaction that she was hoping for.

"Wow." He stammered. "Just… wow!"

"You like it?"

"Well, it looks amazing on you. It depends on how it feels to you."

"It feels great. I think we've found it, Eddie."

She was sure that Eddie took a sigh of relief. Of course, he would be as happy as she that this was all over and done with. And getting back in her own clothes and going to pay for the dress made it all feel worthwhile. The fact that she had bought something that she could wear on multiple occasions helped as well. Because she was sure that she would wear the dress to death. Especially if it was going to make Eddie react in the way that he did.