Thank you for the reviews.

Now... how badly can this dinner go?

This is set after the events of S05E19...

Good Things Fall Apart

I'm coming to terms with a broken heart
I guess that sometimes good things fall apart

The fact that Rachel wasn't feeling well made the idea of the dinner even worse. More so that she felt like she knew what was causing the sickness and the headaches. She hadn't been able to talk Adam out of the dinner and Eddie hadn't talked Melissa out of it either.

Which is how she found herself sitting opposite him, with Eddie giving her a small smile, while Adam tried to find the perfect wine to go with what he had cooked.

Rachel might have tried to make conversation with him and Melissa if she wasn't feeling so sorry for herself and she knew that she was being a rubbish host but it was a dinner party that she didn't want, especially after the week that she'd had.

"Ah, I knew we had a Zinfandel," Adam said as he re-entered the room. "This will go perfectly with this."

"He is perfect for you Rachel. You've never liked cooking." Melissa said.

Rachel shot Melissa a forced smile which became real when she noticed the smile on Eddie's face, obviously remembering their night in where Rachel had insisted on cooking but it has turned out so terribly that they ended up getting a takeaway. A night that was only just over a year ago but felt like it was a lifetime ago.

She was distracted for long enough to not notice that Adam had started with Melissa's glass before he went to Eddie's, but she wasn't distracted when he leant over her to fill up hers, with her putting her hand over the top of the glass before Adam could put any in it.

"Adam, I said that I wasn't feeling well so I wasn't going to drink tonight." Rachel said, harsher than she meant it but she did wonder whether Adam actually did listen to her.

"I was only going to give you a small one."

"And I've had a headache all day and I still have it. Wine isn't going to help."

"Migraine?" Eddie asked.

"I am hoping it is the end of one rather than the beginning of another." She said as her eyes flicked over to him.

"You have had a lot of them recently," Adam said.

"And I've got a doctor's appointment on Monday morning to find out why." She said as she turned back to Adam.

"That is the first you've mentioned it to me."

"Well, things have been a little hectic this week."

Adam scoffed. "You don't believe me still."

Rachel wanted to look over at Eddie and him a roll of her eyes. But that was the problem. There were cracks in her relationship with Adam and they only seemed to be growing. And Eddie would know that.

"Adam, not now." She said as she rubbed a hand across her forehead.

"I didn't kiss Ruby. Nothing happened between us. You saw the mess that she was in."

"And as I have told you, you said that I should have given her more support when I told her months ago that I thought she was suffering from depression. Instead of making her go cold turkey, maybe you should have tried to convince her to talk to someone. Plus, Adam, in that situation, you can only help someone if they want to help themselves. Ruby didn't want to accept my help. What was I meant to do?"

"It is a shame about Philip and Ros," Eddie said, stopping whatever comeback Adam had come up with and completely changing the subject. "I hope that they can go back to how their friendship was before they started going out."

It definitely diffused the situation but the tension hadn't dropped at all.

And it just confirmed to Rachel that this was the worst idea in the world.

Eddie had watched Rachel throughout the meal and he could tell that she wanted it to be over as much as he did. It was why he gave her a few moments, watching her from the living room door as she tried to massage out the headache that he was sure was only building. Although if Adam was the way that he was with her all the time, then he could only imagine that he was the headache that Rachel had.

He hated how they were. If anything, Eddie was ready to hear his heart breaking all over again as Rachel and Adam showed him how compatible they were and that they were the perfect couple.

There was a small part of him that was glad that they weren't but he didn't want that to be at the expense of Rachel's happiness.

He could hear Melissa and Adam in the kitchen and felt like he might have long enough to help Rachel. It was why he walked over to her, keeping her back to him before he started to massage at the base of her skull.

"Eddie." She whispered.

"Is Adam the headache?" He said, keeping his tone the same.

"Go on then."

"Rachel, believe me when I say I want you to be happy."

"But?"

"Are you?"

He could tell that he was doing some good when he could feel her relaxing. He didn't know whether that was because of what he was doing or just the fact that he was there. He allowed his hands to drop when she turned to him. If he allowed himself, he could think that nothing was wrong between them. That Rachel had just had a bad week at work and he was trying to help her wind down from it. But it wasn't. And their conversation was actually about her and her fiancee.

"I do love him." She said.

"Good."

"Eddie, this wasn't how you were meant to find out."

"Well, you have just strengthened Melissa's argument as to why I should get over you."

"It is all still too raw."

"It is."

Eddie knew that he could drown in her again. He knew that it wouldn't take a lot to take her face in his hands again and to try and encourage the unshed tears in her eyes to fall. He wanted to comfort her. To tell her that everything was going to be okay. He wanted to kiss her, like he had done a year ago. He wanted to be reunited with her more than just physically. He wanted to be entangled with her, whispering about plans that they never got to do.

His hand rose by itself, resting on her cheek, and he was glad when she leant into his touch. He could have pulled her towards him with his free hand if she hadn't surprised him by turning her head slightly and pressing a kiss into his palm.

It was strange how much that action told him. Because now he wanted to speak his mind about his worries about Adam. He wanted to tell her that he didn't think that Adam was right for her and he wanted to save her from the heartbreak.

But with Melissa and Adam's voices getting closer, Eddie's hand dropped to his side and they walked off in opposite directions to create the space that they both needed. Because this was probably harder than both of them were expecting. Eddie knew that he felt like he was struggling to breathe. This was worst than when she told him that she couldn't be with him because Melissa was pregnant with Evie and she wasn't going to let him give up the second chance that he had been given.

"This time next week, we will be in Italy," Adam said as he entered the room.

"Lovely. Always wanted to visit Italy." Melissa said.

"It should be nice." Rachel said.

"Why don't you both come on Friday?" Adam said. "It will mean that there will be more at the ceremony other than Philip and some randomer at this rate."

Eddie turned so that he was facing everyone, knowing that it was going to be the last thing that was going to happen. He endured this dinner because Melissa practically made him. He could not sit there and watch Rachel get married to Adam. No way in hell.

"I have said that you can invite your brother and sister." Rachel said.

"Rachel wanted it lowkey. Although, I am amazed that we have organised it so quickly. We haven't even been engaged for a month."

"Well, we are not getting any younger, Adam."

"I am amazed that I am dragging her away from the school for the day."

By the look on Rachel's face, Eddie assumed that Adam was not dragging her away from the school for the day. In fact, Eddie wouldn't have expected any different from Rachel. But Eddie knew that he would be okay with that because he knew that is who Rachel was. Did Adam know that?

"We will have to see." Rachel said.

"Rachel, for Christ sakes, the school can do without you for one day. Has she always been like this?" Adam said, directing the last bit at Eddie.

"Of course. She will give her all to the school, no matter how long she stays." Eddie said.

There were three different reactions to what he had just said and Eddie focused on Rachel's smile rather than the eye roll from Melissa or the huff from Adam.

If anything, Eddie'd had enough. He'd had enough of listening to a man that didn't know Rachel but was having the honour of marrying her, talk in a way that was just making him angry. It was why he looked at his phone for the time, knowing that he had the perfect excuse to leave. Even if he had to lie to get the evening to be over.

"Philip has just tried to call me." He said.

"Has he?" Melissa said.

It didn't take long for Eddie to find Philip's number before he placed the phone to his ear.

"Are you alright mate?" Eddie said.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Evie is having another meltdown."

"You do know I am now going to have to get her to start crying now."

"Look, mate, we won't be long."

"Is it really that bad?"

Eddie hung up on Philip, hoping that he would be able to do something to get Evie to cry. Although she was teething so there was every chance that she could actually be crying once they got home. And Eddie would reveal all to Philip when they got a spare free moment.

"Really?" Melissa said.

"She is teething and it is gone nine. We should try and get her to bed. It isn't fair on Philip to do that."

Eddie almost didn't think that Melissa was going to play ball when she huffed loudly but they said their goodbyes and Eddie hoped that this was the last time he was going to see Rachel. Because he didn't think his heart could take seeing her again.

"Was it really that bad?" Melissa said as Eddie pulled off the driveway to head to Melissa's.

"Melissa, I know you hate me reminding you, but I love her. I love Rachel so much and I am not going to have gotten over her in a year. I might never get over her properly. But that is what you didn't seem to understand. Because Rachel is putting up a front that she has moved on in the hope that one day she does feel the same about Adam that she does me. But you can't see that. What if this dinner that you insisted on has messed that all up? What if Adam can see what you can't?"

"Don't be daft."

"If she had doubts before, she definitely has them now."

"And this is why you need to get over her. You are seeing things that aren't there."

Eddie didn't know why he tried explaining things to Melissa. She would never understand and he had no idea how she was so blind to it.