Thank you for reading everyone! We're a few chapters away from the end now xx

Rachel wasn't a suspicious person. She preferred to think of herself as justifiably cautious, something that had developed from years of experience. That same experience drove her to be more observational than most people realised. Which meant that when Eddie's mood suddenly changed without an obvious reason, she noticed.

It didn't grow darker, exactly. Nor did it get lighter. It was just… different. It worried her, but they still seemed to be unofficially avoiding each other outside of work and with the end of term first approaching, both were too busy in work to have an in-depth conversation. And she wasn't even sure an attempt would be welcomed.

The thought sat heavier than she would have liked. In the grand scheme of things, she hadn't known Eddie that long, had been… dating him, for lack of a better term, for even less time. The thought of losing him shouldn't cause her stomach to drop like a stone and yet it did, and she wasn't sure how she felt. And the feeling was made even worse by the fact that this wasn't an argument. There hadn't been a loud disagreement or harsh words exchanged, it was just… flat. Quiet and heart breaking.

She closed her eyes at the thought, buried her face in her hands. Somehow, Eddie had wormed his way into her life and now… now she might just lose him because of it. She should never have let it get this far, she lamented, slowly beginning to gather her thing up for the night. She should have known that being faced with the reality of what she had done was going to be too much for him, but she had allowed herself to hope and now she was just hurt, and why had she let herself trust him? Rachel closed her eyes, felt the grief choke her as she leant against the desk. This wasn't Eddie's fault, she knew. It was hers.

She closed the door to her office and began the walk down to her car, footsteps echoing in the empty corridors. Most people had gone home already, to their families and their children and their friends. She was the only one here, surprise, surprise. She sighed, too tired to be melancholy about that. She just couldn't seem to stop making the same mistakes, she thought, destined to never do things any differently, to be the same person throughout her life.

The thought drew her up short. She was at the exit of the school, staring into the car park, where one other car sat conspicuously half a dozen spaces from hers and she couldn't tear her gaze from it. Because she had changed, had been different and there was one, very obvious reason.

She didn't even remember turning around, the clacking of her heels not even registering this time. Eddie was right where she thought he'd be, sat at his desk with his head ducked low, concentrating on a workbook. The sound of her approach wasn't exactly quiet, and he looked up, eyes widening as she came to a stop, lip caught between her teeth. "Can we talk?"

"Are you alright?" He'd pushed upright, eyes scanning over her and that simple action, that one tiny thing had something warm and sweet bursting into life inside her. She stepped forward, dropped her bag to the floor without really noticing it.

"I've spent most of my life running," she said quietly, and watched his brow furrow in confusion. "And I've gotten really good at it."

"Rachel-"

"Please," she interrupted, stepping closer once again. "Please let me get this out." She waited, heart thumping as he nodded, remaining silent and she took a deep breath to quell the rising nausea in her stomach. "Eddie, I don't want to run anymore. I don't want to run from you."

She watched as her words registered, his jaw dropping as shock settled onto his face and she hurried on before he could interrupt, or she could lose her nerve. "I know I'm a complete nightmare," she continued quickly, "I'm not blind to my own faults. But you make me want to be better, be different in a really big, risk making a complete fool of myself kind of way and if you don't feel the same, please God, tell me now because I don't think- oh!"

She found herself with her lips suddenly occupied, the world centring itself on the man in front of her without warning. Eddie surging forward to kiss her hadn't been the expected reaction, but she certainly wasn't about to complain. One of his hands was cupping her head, the other resting on her waist to draw her closer and it was the sort of kiss that couldn't be described- warm and soft and hard and passionate all at the same time- but the sort that would leave a lingering memory long after it was over.

Even when Eddie had drawn away, Rachel didn't move for a long moment. It was only when she felt his thumb brush over her cheek that she allowed her eyes to flutter open, and found his own gaze fixed on her. "I don't want you to run either."

It took a second, but a slow smile spread across her face. Eddie wasted no time in drawing her into a tight embrace, cursing himself for allowing this to go on for so long. "Rachel…" he pulled back, and swallowed his words. They weren't ready for what he'd been about to say, but by the look on her face she knew exactly what his words would have been. Her eyes went wide, for a long moment, until she swallowed hard and gave him a soft smile.

"Come home with me?"

Home sounded nice, he thought, and nodded.

W.R.

"Do you really think Stuart ran?"

Eddie was glad Rachel couldn't see his face, because he had no idea what expression crossed it when she asked that particular question. They were sprawled on the sofa, bellies full of pasta and the best part of an entire bottle of wine. "I don't know."

She shifted, readjusted her head where it lay on his chest. When Eddie had told her that he needed to talk to her over dinner, the possible fate of Stuart Hordley hadn't been the conversation topic she was expecting, but now, she could think of nothing else. Her teeth worried her lip, her hand finding his without much thought being given to it. "He scared me."

The words hung in the air between them. She hadn't said it aloud before, hadn't really acknowledged it even to herself. Eddie's grip on her tightened in response, stopping just short of painful but she found she didn't mind a bit, pressing into him closer. Eddie kissed her temple, closed his eyes. "He won't touch you again."

"You can't promise that, honey."

"Rachel." He nudged her so that she sat up, looked around at him and he cupped her face in his hand, gaze meeting hers head on. "I swear to you, he won't touch you again."

"You can't be with me every second of the day."

"Why not?" Amusement quirked his mouth into a grin, and she rolled her eyes, laid her head back on his shoulder.

"We'd kill each other within a week."

"I'm not so sure." He brushed a kiss over her hair, leant his cheek against the same spot. "I think kill is a bit of an overstatement. Severely annoy, drive each other to the point of insanity... all possibilities."

She huffed, digging her elbow into his ribs. "Weren't we having a serious conversation?"

"Serious is overrated."

She rolled her eyes again, rested against him and relished in the feel of him against her, in the simple fact that he was here, solid and real and with no intent of walking away. Eddie seemed to feel the same, his arm reaching around her and tucking her in against his side. They lapsed into comfortable silence, content in each other's company until without warning, Eddie sat up and dislodged her, earning a small frown. "What's wrong?"

"This week… it shouldn't have happened."

"Eddie, what-?"

"No, I mean it." His face was set into serious lines, and despite everything Rachel felt her stomach flip. "We were both miserable," he continued, "and we both knew it. But we carried on anyway."

She hesitated, not sure what to say to that. Was she supposed to say something to that?

"It shouldn't have happened," he repeated, and Rachel sighed, leant her head against her hand.

"Eddie, we're always going to disagree on things."

"Disagreeing isn't the problem. Avoiding each other for a week is."

She made a face. He had a point, she knew, even if it made her squirm to acknowledge it. "Okay. What are you suggesting?"

He reached for her hand, ran his thumb over her knuckles. "That we agree not to do it again."

Rachel blinked. "Just like that?" Faint amusement echoed through her tone, but he remained as serious as ever.

"Yes, just like that. We're too old for promises we might not keep and ultimatums that just annoy us. We did it, it was terrible. So let's agree right here, right now, that no matter what happens neither of us will do it again."

He wasn't quite expecting her to lean forward and softly kiss him, her hand cupping his cheek so gently there was scarcely any pressure from the touch. When she pulled away, it wasn't very far and her hand stayed where it was, thumb gently stroking over his cheekbone. "I like the sound of that," she agreed in a murmur. "But I can make a promise too."

"A promise?"

She nodded, humming an acknowledgement. "Eddie, you're…" she hesitated, searching for the right words. "You have become so important to me," she settled on, knowing it was nowhere near vehement enough. "And this, you and me… I can see it going somewhere. I am aware of my own flaws and how I act with other people and I'm going to try, as hard as I can to not push you away or try to run when I get scared. That's my promise. I don't want to lose you."

Her words stole Eddie's breath from him. He knew the enormity of this from her, knew what it meant for her to open up to him this way and the enormity of it settled into his very bones. "You won't," he promised, his hand still gripping hers. "You must know you're important to me too. One of the most important people in my life."

Her answering smile was brilliant, warm and bright and beautiful and the world around them could have gone up in smoke and Eddie wouldn't have noticed.