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I'm not telling the police, we need to talk in private. Susan's words rang in Rachel's ears on a loop, it almost seemed to reiterate her earlier suspicions. What Rachel had detected in her mother's voice was fear, and most of all, a distinct tone which suggested she had been manipulated. Only one person associated with her mother could provoke that reaction, and there was no doubt in Rachel's mind that it was her father. For a start, she gathered from past experience with Graeme that he held an exploitative personality, if anyone was going to force Susan to keep her mouth shut, it was him.

Walking out of the station, Susan seemed to be on edge, anxiousness was spilling out from every fibre of her being. Focusing on her expression, Rachel concluded that her mother was expecting to see Graeme waiting for her, and with that, Rachel herself couldn't be more content with Eddie's presence. The warmth of his hand resting on her back was enough to heighten Rachel's reassurance, he was someone Rachel had always put her full trust in, and that wasn't about to differ now.

"Eddie - ''

Rachel turned around to face him, whilst simultaneously focusing her peripheral vision on her mother.

"We'll go back to my place, after taking Susan to the hospital. As long as she feels comfortable doing that."

Allowing Eddie's words to wash over her, Rachel smiled internally at how quickly he had picked up on her trail of thought. Of course, it seemed to be something crossing her mind almost 24/7, but that just seemed to prove how astonishing his abilities were.

"Thank you Eddie," Rachel spoke sincerely, pleasantly surprised at how level and calm her voice was, considering the whirlwind of emotions present in her body, "I mean that, you've done an awful lot for me this past day."

Listening to Rachel now, sparks of hope began to fly around in Eddie's being upon reassessing her earlier words. Prior to Rachel's comment, Eddie had faith that her trust in him was still evident. Despite this, doubt which seemed to swim around in his brain constantly had threatened to surface, and hearing Rachel speak that all important truth, was the only thing to push that uncertainty back to its righteous place. In fact, the look she was giving him now almost caused Eddie's worries to evaporate completely; reuniting with Rachel was something he would forever be thankful for, no matter the horrific circumstances. The pair had been given a second shot at expressing their true feelings, Eddie wasn't about to discard that unexpected yet welcomed phenomenon.

"You'll be sick of me saying this, but you don't have to thank me. I'm just glad I'm here for you, and that you're letting me in."

Eddie's hand which landed on her upper arm following his words, had Rachel questioning what was behind that gesture. As his palm moved down her arm, across the now seemingly thin material of her coat, Rachel's curiosity only deepened. Could it be that it was a gesture of support, a consolidation of their friendship? The undeniable sparks which seemed to shoot up from Rachel's fingertips to her shoulder as Eddie grasped her hand told Rachel otherwise - this was more than reassurance. This contact in particular was reconciling all of the feelings that never really evaporated: love, desire, their never ending need for one another. These thoughts thrashing through Rachel's mind like wildfire, were only emphasised by last night's conversation. You're the love of my life Rachel. I love you, and I need you. Those comments alone added a humongous amount of fuel to that blaze, and she doubted that it would come to a halt anytime soon.

Squeezing his hand slightly, Rachel responded to Eddie's heartfelt words, "let's just say that, I really do appreciate it."

Currently perched in the backseat of Rachel's car, Susan wondered what was taking the pair so long. As she took a glance out of the window, the elder woman found herself not particularly minding the slight wait. Although she had apprehension upon seeing Eddie, he seemed to be good for Rachel, he was certainly giving her more support that she herself ever had. With that thought, tears threatened to form in Susan's eyes, she figured that she would never forgive herself for allowing Graeme's abuse to elongate. Perhaps if she had stepped in, contact with Rachel would never have been lost in the first place.

Yesterday, Susan had made several feeble attempts to intervene during Rachel's visit. Up until this day, she felt disgusted at the way her husband spoke to his own daughter; Susan had just never quite found the confidence to confront him about it. And it seemed that once Rachel had departed, listening to Graeme groan on about how much of a failure his eldest daughter was, a switch had been flicked. Why had she allowed her husband to behave like this? What had she ever seen in him? And so it began, the apparently never ending spiral of events leading to her assault.

Blinking back the salty residue, Susan shook herself out of it - now was not the time to ponder on the ifs and buts, she had to make it up to Rachel, make her understand, allow her time to heal and forgive. Just as she was placing together her plan to do exactly that, Rachel and Eddie entered the vehicle, the woman turning briefly to offer a smile to Susan, which she instinctively accepted, and briefly reciprocated.

"It'll be alright mum, we'll sort this. Let us take you to the hospital first though, okay?" Rachel commented, glancing at her mother through the wing mirror.

Tears emerging once more upon hearing her daughter's kind words, Susan managed a simple nod, before Rachel ignited the engine in a split second.

Strangely enough, out of all the thoughts floating around Susan's head in that moment, one seemed to stick out. This was the first time she had been in a car with Rachel, the first time she had even seen her drive. This musing saddened the elder woman deeply; she had missed out on precious time with her firstborn daughter that she would never get back. Reiterating her earlier actions, Susan snapped out of it. The present time was about making up for that lost communication, not yearning for the days they had never spent together.

So sitting back in her seat, a sigh emanated from Susan's lips as she glanced between the two other adults present. Replacing her slight forlorn expression, a faint smile tugged on her lips as she saw both a verbal and physical exchange break out between the pair. It was limited due to Rachel's current priority of driving, but the intentions were clear. To Susan, Eddie and Rachel were in love with one another. Even after spending years apart from her daughter, Susan gathered that it must be a mother's instinct.

….

Reaching the hospital, the trio emerged from Rachel's car and began to make their way into the building. As soon as the main doors came into view, Eddie sensed Rachel's whole demeanour stiffen, and he gathered flashbacks of the previous day spent here were rather imminent in her brain. Resisting the urge to wrap his arms around her and never let go, Eddie made eye contact with Rachel, hoping to portray his inner thoughts through his hazel orbs. As he received a brief smile in response, Eddie was satisfied that his look of love and affection was enough to reassure her.

Just as they arrived at reception, Rachel shifted her focus to Susan, and assessed her current state. Before long though, Eddie's eyes met hers once more, except now several words were communicated.

"Eddie, why don't you go find - ''

Pinpointing exactly what Rachel was about to say, Eddie forced himself not to sigh externally. It was evident that she was attempting to get him to go and see Isabelle, to find her and Philip who would also be in the hospital. He knew that Rachel was stubborn, and Eddie had accepted that; he just wished she would believe everything he was saying. Eddie wanted to be there for her, there was no way he was going to let her walk away so soon after he'd got her back.

"Rach, I know what you're gonna say, and the answer is no. I'm staying with you, exactly where I should've been for the past 3 months."

Looking on at the situation unfolding in front of her, Susan's earlier wondering was brought back into question. Or more so, it was answered. The way Eddie shortened Rachel's name to Rach, the way he was willing to be at her side with every passing moment. He cared about her deeply, and it was clear the pair had history, Susan just wasn't quite sure what. Listening to Rachel's response though, the elder woman hoped to find out, she aspired to be there for her daughter, to make up for the time lost. Hard to stomach however true, that was only going to be if Rachel would let her.

"I'm sorry Eddie," a whisper escaped Rachel's lips, which was almost inaudible to Eddie.

"Hey," he responded gently, bringing a hand up to her shoulder, "you've got nothing to apologise for, you've done nothing wrong Rachel, nothing," Eddie voiced his exact thoughts, using his free hand to discard the few tears on Rachel's cheeks.

Smiling to indicate she was pulling herself together, Rachel found the temptation of simply falling into Eddie's arms hard to resist. Instead, she sought comfort in the soft feel of his left hand on her cheek, or the warmth of his right one on her shoulder. Remembering the rather prominent presence of her mother, Rachel decided to focus her attention on her, and finding out exactly what had gone on.

"Come on mum," Rachel began, hesitating before wrapping an arm round the elder woman, "let's get you seen to then we can sort this mess out, alright?"

Seemingly frozen in the moment, Susan took a few seconds to drink in her daughter's features, seeing stark resemblances with her own expressions. Finalising her thoughts, Susan brought a hand up to Rachel's cheek and brushed her skin with her thumb tenderly.

"Thank you darling. I'm so so sorry, please forgive me. I never meant for any of this to happen."

By now Susan had broken down completely, sobs escaping her lips by the second. A piece of Rachel's heart seemed to break away upon noting her mother's meltdown. As an instinctive reaction, she wrapped her arms around Susan, and breathed in her scent, hoping the reassurances that she was mumbling were effective. Rachel doubted that she could ever fully forgive her mother. She couldn't help but think how different her life could've been if Susan had informed the police of Graeme's abuse or if she had intervened. From experience though, Rachel knew that dwelling on past occurrences wouldn't do any good, and she concluded that she could exonerate her mother's lack of defence enough to build up a relationship with her. Deep down, it was something Rachel had always longed for, and now that she was presented with that chance, she wasn't about to let it slip away.

Watching all this play out across Rachel's expressions, Eddie allowed himself to smile briefly. In the midst of their relationship, Rachel had confided her true feelings surrounding Susan and that motherly influence she never really grasped. Knowing it was something Rachel would want to progress, Eddie was glad to hear the sincerity etched within Susan's apology. It was clear that the elder woman regretted her past actions, perhaps much like Eddie felt remorse over his mistakes. And now, similar to himself, Susan seemed willing to support for Rachel every step of the way.