A week had gone by and before Rachel and Eddie knew it, they had left work and were getting ready to have Melissa and her fiancé over for dinner. Rachel was dreading it, but she felt calmer knowing that Eddie was by her side and would be supporting her through this. She felt like she could get through anything with him by her side.

As she was curling her hair, her mind reflected on the events of the week.

Most of it had been spent trying to get through to Bolton, who hadn't been turning up for school. Candice had tried everything, but he wouldn't budge.

Rachel had gone over to the house to try and persuade him to come into school, Eddie had too. He flat out refused.

It was disheartening. Rachel felt like she was letting him down. He was unhappy and she wanted to help. But he was 17; she couldn't force him to come to school if he didn't want to.

Things had only taken a positive turn yesterday, when, by some miracle, Candice had managed to drag him in. Rachel wasted no time and asked Rob Cleaver to use Bolton's break and lunch time detentions to teach him boxing one-to-one. She thought it would help him by giving him something to focus on and to control his anger.

So far, it seemed to be working. Bolton was enjoying it and, from what Rachel had seen this morning, he was quite good!

He still hadn't talked about what happened with Earl. Rachel had decided to back off and not push him on it. As Eddie had said, he'd come to her when he was ready. It was just a case of being patient. The important thing was that Bolton was back in school, and he was ok.

Eddie pulled her from her thoughts as he snaked his arms round her waist. She put the curling tongs down, leaning into him with a sigh. Eddie could feel how tense she was. She'd been dreading this evening with her sister; she'd done nothing but stress about it. Eddie had begun to wonder if it was such a good idea after all.

"It's not too late to cancel you know?" He told her, kissing her hair softly

Rachel laughed

"It is! And anyway, if we cancel, we have to reschedule. In all honesty, I just want to get it over with" she sighed

Eddie nodded

"Well, I'm here for you. We'll get through this together" he reassured

Rachel smiled. She really did love him.

They stood up, Rachel smoothing down her dress.

"Do I look ok?" She asked nervously

Eddie turned round. He didn't need to look at her really. She looked beautiful in anything. But still, he found himself in awe at how effortlessly stunning she looked.

She was wearing a casual red, silky dress with leggings and a black cardigan. Her hair fell down to her shoulders in tiny ringlets. The red lipstick was subtle on her lips and brought out the colour in her deep, brown eyes. Eddie smiled.

"You look perfect" he nodded, kissing her forehead gently

She smiled, instantly feeling at ease.

"You're not looking too bad yourself, Mr Lawson" she replied, blushing furiously

She meant that. Tonight of all nights, there was something about him that made Rachel even more attracted to him. Maybe it was his goofy smile as he stared at her, or the way he'd styled his hair in the most minimalistic, but equally noticeable way. Or maybe it was because this was the rare occasion where Eddie was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. She was so used to him wearing a suit with no tie.

Whatever it was, she liked the way her heart fluttered in her chest. She loved the way Eddie made her feel.

The sound of the doorbell echoed through the house. Rachel suddenly felt nervous all over again. It was definitely too late to cancel now.

"That'll be our guests" Eddie sighed

Rachel nodded quietly

"Hey. It's going to be fine, I promise" he reassured, rubbing her arm with his hand

She nodded again

They headed down the stairs together.

Rachel took a deep breath before opening the front door to greet Melissa and her fiancé.

Rachel wasn't exactly sure what she had been expecting, when Melissa had told her about her fiancé. Probably a tall, confident, handsome man in his 30s, who was well out of Melissa's league.

She was looking at the complete opposite.

The man in front of her was a teenager, shorter than Melissa, but not by much. He had a mop of unruly, curly brown hair, a pale complexion, and eyes that were the same shade as Melissa's. This was a new low for Melissa, dating a teenager.

"Hi, Rach, hi Eddie. Thanks for having us!" Melissa greeted, handing Rachel a bottle of wine.

Rachel couldn't take her eyes off the teenager.

Was this really Melissa's fiancé?

If it was, Rachel had a lot of questions.

Rachel wasn't the only one who was confused. Eddie too had expected a grown man to be by Melissa's side. Not a teenager. He was wondering whether he needed to call the police.

The boy stared back at Rachel awkwardly, unsure of what to do. Melissa looked between the two of them. She knew immediately that Rachel had got the wrong end of the stick here.

"Rachel, this is my," she started

Rachel put a hand up to silence her. She couldn't bear to hear her say 'fiancé'.

"Mel, I need to talk to you, now!" Rachel hissed

"Rach," Melissa pleaded

"Now, Mel!" Rachel ordered

She dragged her little sister into the living room, Eddie following and shutting the door. Rachel was confused and needed answers before proceeding with any of this.

"What the hell are you playing at, Mel? You're going to marry a child? What's wrong with you?" Rachel exclaimed

"Rachel, you've got it completely wrong! That's not my fiancé!" Melissa insisted

"Then who is he? And what's he doing on my doorstep?" Rachel questioned

Melissa sighed

"Melissa, answer me!" Rachel demanded

"Look, come back into the hall and I'll explain, alright? It really isn't what you think!" She promised

Rachel huffed, throwing her arms up in exasperation

She and Eddie followed Melissa back out into the hallway.

The boy hadn't moved from the doorstep. He was growing more and more uncomfortable.

They all stood in the hallway silently. Rachel stared at Melissa expectantly, waiting for an explanation.

"This is Philip. He's my son, Rachel" Melissa explained

Rachel was even more shocked than before.

A son?

Melissa had a child?

Of course things made sense now, but not much, not really.

Where was her fiancé?

Rachel couldn't wrap her head around it. She needed answers. But now wasn't the time.

"Philip, this is your Auntie Rachel. Rachel, this is Philip, your nephew" Melissa introduced

Philip smiled at Rachel awkwardly; he was clearly as uncomfortable as she was. She hadn't been expecting to come out of tonight with a nephew.

Still, she smiled back at him reassuringly. She wanted him to feel welcome.

"Nice to meet you, Philip"

"You too" Philip mumbled quietly

"And this is Eddie, my... boyfriend" she added

"Hi, mate" Eddie smiled

"Hi" Philip replied

"So, Mel, will your fiancé be joining us at all this evening?" Eddie asked

"No, I'm sorry. Marcus had to fly back to Spain last night, something came up at work. He sends his apologies though, he really wanted to be here" she explained

Rachel nodded, unconvinced. She was beginning to wonder if there really was a fiancé.

"So anyway, since Marcus couldn't come, I thought I'd bring Philip instead. I've wanted him to meet his Auntie Rach for a long time" she added with a smile

It was then that Rachel realised just how much of Melissa's life she'd missed. Melissa had hurt her in the past. That's why she'd walked away. But she now realise she'd paid a price and lost the opportunity to have a relationship with her nephew.

Was there going to be even a small chance of having a good relationship with her nephew now?

Was he too old?

She wanted to get to know him, but did he feel the same?

Eddie could tell she was struggling to process the news that she had a teenage nephew. He could tell by the way she'd gone quiet, disappearing into her own little world. She was trying to make sense of it all. He was surprised too. Whilst he hadn't known Melissa very long, it was clear to him that, unlike Rachel, she wasn't a maternal type. Obviously he was wrong.

Eddie wondered how long Melissa had planned to keep Philip a secret from Rachel. What if her so-called fiancé had turned up tonight? Would she have brought Philip along anyway, or would she have left Rachel oblivious for another year or two?

Of course, he knew the two sisters hadn't been in touch for nearly 20 years. Melissa wouldn't have been able to tell her about Philip, but there were better ways of going about it than turning up for dinner with him and blindsiding everyone.

There was a little bit of tension hanging in the air now, no one had spoken for at least five minutes and it was making Rachel more and more uncomfortable. She had to do something.

"Can I get anyone a drink?" She offered

"Finally, Rach, I thought you'd never ask! I'm parched!" Melissa scoffed

Rachel had to fight hard not to roll her eyes. She looked at Philip, who was sinking further and further into the wall.

"Philip? Can I get you a drink?" She asked

"Just water please. Thanks" he mumbled, smiling politely

Rachel nodded, heading toward the kitchen, Melissa and Philip went into the living room.

Eddie followed Rachel, helping her pour a glass of wine for Melissa, and some water for herself and Philip. Eddie got himself a beer out the fridge.

As she prepared the drinks and got the takeaway menus out, Eddie placed his hand on the small of her back. He could feel the stress radiating off her. He suddenly wished he hadn't suggested doing this. It had been a mistake.

"Rach, are you ok?" He asked tentatively

"We can't talk about this now, Eddie. Go and give those to Philip and Melissa" she replied, a little sharper than she'd meant to, handing him the drinks

Eddie did as he was told, carrying his beer, as well as Philip and Melissa's drinks, into the living room. Rachel was behind him with a glass of water and the takeaway menus.

As soon as Eddie gave Melissa the glass of wine, she took a huge swig, almost emptying the glass. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Long day at work" she shrugged

Rachel only looked on in concern and mild embarrassment.

"Mel, go easy on that wine" she scolded

Melissa glared at her

"I'm sorry, did you pay for it? No, I don't think you did! I paid for it, so I can do what I want with it!" She snapped

Rachel flinched. She sounded just like their Father.

She sighed, choosing not to react to the venom laced in her sister's tone.

"Don't you have to drive home?" Eddie questioned

"No. We'll get a taxi. God, what are you two? 'The fun police'? Back off!" Melissa huffed, downing the rest of the wine

Eddie was about to say something back, when he saw how uncomfortable and embarrassed Philip was. He refrained.

Rachel put the takeaway menus on the coffee table angrily.

"Decide what you want for dinner" she instructed with a heavy sigh

It was going to be a long night.