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Onto Series 4 Episode 5... And just when you thought Melissa couldn't get any more annoying...

And don't worry, there is more Rachel and Philip, with a little bit of Eddie thrown in, in the future... If that is giving nothing away...

Chapter Twenty Three
Addiction

After the date with Adam and Melissa's rant about not giving him a chance, the last thing Rachel needed was them talking down at her, Eddie and Tom. Behind her back, Melissa had organised a drugs awareness day with Ralph Mellor and the worst part of it all was that they had both gotten on their high horses and was talking to them like they didn't know it was a problem.

"I bet you half the parents are either drink or drug dependent," Adam said.

"Definitely. We have to break the cycle or otherwise, these kids will end up like their parents." Melissa said.

"Teaching them the consequences will work. Has done for this one community centre that I worked at."

"You do know addiction isn't as black and white as that." Rachel said.

"I think it is Rach," Melissa said.

"You have no idea why alcoholics and drug addicts around here do what they do. You have no idea of how they found themselves in the position that they are in. There are many factors and you can't just pin it down on one and you can't treat them all the same. Like smoking. You can't judge them because you don't know where they have come from."

"Alright, Rach. Trying to tell me something."

Her eyes flicked to Eddie. She knew that he could already guess where her passion came from. But she knew that he had his own questions. Something he would surely ask about later.

"Melissa. Adam. Maybe just remember where we grew up. I wouldn't like to say that it is too far from the Waterloo Road estate." Rachel said as the bell rang. "I suppose we should get down there. Get this thing over and done with."

Rachel couldn't wait for the day to be over.

"You looked a little uncomfortable earlier," Eddie said as they walked down the corridors.

"It isn't as black and white as they make it out to be."

"I was talking about when Melissa said whether you were trying to tell her something."

Rachel glanced at him a couple of times before she decided that she should say something.

"I have used alcohol as a coping mechanism before. With… you went to clubs and bars to pick people up and once you had a few people that were willing to come back, you made up your clients. To begin with, I used alcohol as a way to push myself through it. I… I never liked what I had to do. I never once enjoyed it or saw the fun in it as some of the other girls would say. I did it for the money. It got easier but when I started to want to get out of doing it, I would try and get myself so drunk that... " She sighed. "The most sober I had been for two years was when I was cooling off in the police cell. It didn't stop after my release but after I changed my name and started my new life, I knew it had to change. It's why I don't drink anything stronger than wine. I don't want to fall into the spiral again."

"Christ Rachel. The more I hear, the less I want to hear."

"Eddie that makes no sense."

"I'm glad that you never allowed it to beat you."

"Why do you think that I throw myself into my work?"

"I suppose."

"There was also a culture of taking drugs. I tried to stay away but there are some points where I wouldn't get away with it. Depends on the clients that were in that day. But it was also like around here where I grew up. People who had got addicted for a number of reasons. I don't know why it seems like Melissa and Adam have forgotten about that."

"I suppose it is easy to forget where you have come from when you have no intention of looking back. Rach, everything you do is to make sure these kids are given the opportunities that you wished that you had. I see that. I know that. And I can't stand here and say that I'm as clean as a whistle when it comes to drugs."

"How?"

"In my youth, I may have campaigned to have drugs legalised."

Rachel couldn't stop herself from laughing. "What?"

"I was misled."

"Right pair of hypocrites." She sighed. "Going back to Melissa and Adam. It isn't that. They don't know addiction because they have never been addicted to something."

"Maybe your right."

"I'm quite glad that I have a new addiction."

"What's that?"

"You."

Eddie laughed. "Very smooth Mason."

"We need to schedule another date."

"We do. Rach. Actually there is something I need to tell you."

They stopped walking and Rachel was concerned at the worried look on his face. It was obviously something that was troubling him and she knew that he was trying to find the right words to tell her. It was something that would happen in his own time, if they hadn't been interrupted.

"Miss Mason, I have the drug test results," Ralph said as he walked towards them.

"Eddie, I swear you are the only thing keeping me from going insane."

"Look on the bright side, Ralph no longer being a governor means that you won't have him breathing down your neck any more."

"Do you really believe that?"

"Okay. He won't be able to influence any other decisions against you."

"The Kellys don't make it easy. They are feuding with everyone and… The problem is Earl. Marley just wants to get his head down and I am sure Sambuca would be the same if it wasn't for Earl trying to cause mayhem wherever he goes and dragging her into it."

"But how are we going to calm him down?"

"Methods like we used on Bolton and Paul and the lot aren't going to work with him." Rachel paused. "The gun."

"What about it?"

"Just thinking out loud. We have constantly been asking ourselves how an eleven-year-old got a gun. It might be a little easier for a 16-year-old to get a gun."

"I suppose."

Rachel's eyes flicked up at Eddie before going back to the paperwork that seemed to pile up on her desk over the course of the day.

"Not that we would have any proof of that unless the person who put the note underneath my door comes forward. I don't think we would know the events of that day properly."

"Rachel, that thing that I wanted to talk to you about earlier." Eddie started to say before the door to her office opened.

"Rach, are you ready to go? I completely forgot that I have to take my car into town for its MOT and I need you to pick me up. They are going to do it tomorrow so hopefully, I can pick it up at lunchtime." Melissa said as she walked into the room.

Rachel sighed. "I can be. Can you just give me five minutes to get some of this paperwork organised?"

"They close at four. I really can't let the MOT run out again."

"Fine."

"And I am sure that this can all wait till tomorrow."

Rachel knew that it could. Just she knew that by the time she got through the papers that were currently waiting for her, the pile wouldn't have changed height because of all the new papers that needed her attention. At least if she took her laptop home, which she was going to do, she could get through the emails that she hadn't had time to read or reply to.

"Eddie, do you want to catch up in the morning? Go through those things that you wanted to talk about."

"Of course."

As much as she wanted to find out what Eddie wanted to tell her, she knew that it would have to wait for the morning. She just hoped that he would get the opportunity. It seemed like he had been trying to tell her all day.

Eddie sat on the sofa, with his phone on the side, trying to work out whether he should just call Rachel and tell her what he had been wanting to tell her all day or just hope that he could tell her tomorrow morning, face to face, as he thought that he should tell her.

He knew the longer he left it, the harder it would be to tell Rachel and the worse it would look on him.

The problem was that he didn't know how to tell her. He had been thinking about it since it had happened on Friday and other than just blurting it out, he couldn't find the words to tell Rachel.

He knew, in the end, it wouldn't reflect badly on him but with what Rachel had said earlier about him being her new addiction and just generally everything that had happened in the last year, she deserved the respect of knowing.

He was surprised when his phone rang and who was calling him.

"Rach?"

"You can't tell her."

"I can. I owe it to her."

"But this is Rachel we are talking about. You know she isn't going to take it well."

"Take what well? Nothing happened and once she has had time to process it, she will realise that."

"Eddie. Did nothing happen?"

"Melissa, stop twisting it. Nothing happened other than you barging into my house."

"Your word against mine. Eddie, there is no point in telling her. You know it will kill her. Especially when she thinks that she is dating you."

"Melissa…"

"The cheek she has to tell Adam that. She gets jealous easily. She doesn't want to see me happy and that is why she keeps us apart. We are meant to be Eddie. Just dump your girlfriend and we can have a repeat of Friday night."

"Nothing happened Friday night. And we aren't meant to be. Melissa, I am with Rachel. I am happy and in love with Rachel and if you are so blind to see that, then I think you need to look at yourself. I am not the one hurting Rachel. You are and I don't know how much more I can deal with it. I am going to tell her."

"But if nothing happened, why do you need to tell her? Something obviously happened for you to feel the need to tell her."

Eddie didn't give her a reply. He knew why he had to tell Rachel. He had to tell her so that Melissa didn't use it against him in the future. Plus she had been so open with him when she confessed that Adam had tried to kiss her. He had to give her the decency of telling her about this as well.

"Just think about it, Eddie. We could be good together."

He groaned as he threw the phone down next to him. Why did everything always have to be so complicated?

Please don't murder me just yet... I know what I am doing... just about