When the bell finally rang out for the end of the day, Melissa stormed back into Rachel's office. She was bored of waiting, of no one paying attention to her.

She burst through the office door without even knocking. Rachel jumped, glaring at her sister.

"Are we going or what?" Melissa asked, tapping her foot on the floor impatiently

"You know, there is such a thing as knocking before you enter a room, Melissa?" Rachel sighed, tidying away the paperwork on her desk

"Rachel for goodness sake, I don't have all day!" Melissa huffed

"Fine, let's go" Rachel nodded, grabbing her bag and keys

Eddie joined them as they headed into the car park. Rachel smiled at him, relieved he was by her side again. Her hand interlocked with his as they walked across to their car. Melissa watched the two of them, making dramatic gagging noises. Eddie turned his head, shooting her a glare.

"Right, Melissa, we're going to pick Philip up. You're going to go to our house and wait there for us, aren't you?" Rachel checked

"Well, I don't want to, but if I must" Melissa grumbled

"Good" Rachel interrupted

She handed Melissa the spare key

"And if I were you, I'd scrap the attitude" she added

Melissa rolled her eyes, sighing

Eddie led Rachel away to his car, driving over to Forest Mount. Philip was already waiting outside the gates when they arrived. He jumped into the car, placing his backpack down beside him.

"Hi, Philip. Did you have a good day?" Rachel greeted

"Yeah, it was alright" he nodded, smiling politely

"Good! Your Mum is back at our house. We're all going to sit down and have a chat, ok?"

Philip nodded quietly, suddenly feeling nervous. He hadn't really wanted to see his Mum ever again after last night. But he didn't want to be a burden to Rachel and Eddie either.

They pulled up on the driveway before getting out of the car.

Melissa was sat in the living room when they went inside. Rather than getting to her feet to hug Philip, she rolled her eyes at the sight him.

"You lot took your time" she grumbled

Rachel rolled her eyes, guiding Philip into the living room.

"Let's all sit down, shall we?" Rachel suggested

"Look, Rachel, I'll just say what I need to say and then we're going" Melissa announced

"Ok..." Rachel replied hesitantly

"I spoke to Marcus and told him about the marriages" she explained

Even Philip was surprised at this.

"You did?" Rachel questioned

Melissa nodded

"Yes. Deceiving him like this just felt wrong. He understood, and we've agreed to hold off on the wedding until it's sorted"

Despite being a little shocked, Rachel sighed in relief

"Well that's great Melissa. You did the right thing"

"Yes I know. It wasn't easy, but it's done now. I still think you were making it a bigger deal than it was... but I forgive you" Melissa sighed

Rachel resisted the urge to roll her eyes

"What about Philip? You owe him a big apology" Eddie snapped

Melissa rolled her eyes. She really didn't like Eddie much.

"Yes, calm down, Eddie, I was getting to that" She huffed

Eddie scoffed, about to retaliate. Rachel put a hand up to silence him.

"Philip, I'm sorry for what I did" Melissa mumbled

Rachel and Eddie weren't buying it at all. Neither was Philip.

"You could be a bit more remorseful than that!" Eddie huffed

"Eddie" Rachel hissed

Melissa turned, glaring at him

"Do you ever shut up?" She snapped

"I'll shut up when you've taken accountability for your selfish actions!" Eddie retorted

"Alright, that's enough!" Rachel intervened

Melissa huffed

"Come on Philip, we're leaving!" She announced, grabbing Philip and dragging him out of the room

"Hang on a minute!" Rachel argued, following them into the hallway

"What? I apologised Rachel! Philip's fine with it! I don't have to listen to your idiot boyfriend nagging at me!" Melissa spat

"He has a point, Melissa! There's a difference between sincere apologies and empty ones!" Rachel argued

"Rachel, it's ok, really" Philip piped up

"See? He's fine with it! Come on, Philip, we're going" Melissa grumbled

They rushed out of the house, Melissa slamming the front door behind her.

Rachel scoffed

"She is unbelievable! She can't take responsibility for anything!" She exclaimed

Eddie wrapped his arms around her waist in an attempt to comfort her. She sunk into his embrace immediately, instantly relaxing. He always knew how to calm her.

"I'm sorry I got angry at Melissa" he sighed

"It's ok. You just said what we were all thinking. That was the worst apology I've ever heard"

"Do you think Philip will be ok?" She added

"He'll be fine, Rach. Philip will get in touch if he wants us" he reassured

"I know, I just feel responsible, that's all. Philip is my nephew, and Melissa is my sister. She shouldn't treat him the way she does" she sighed

"I know love, but it's not your job to fix it. We just have to keep in touch with him" he replied

She nodded

"At least she's told Marcus about the marriages. That's put her plans of moving to Spain to one side for a bit" she shrugged

"That's true. And you never know, it might give her and Philip chance to get back on track" he pointed out

"Mmm, maybe" she nodded, unconvinced

"Come on, go and sit down and I'll cook dinner" he decided

"I can help" she offered

"No, absolutely not. Not with your wrist!" He insisted, guiding her toward the living room and sitting her down

"My wrist is fine, Eddie!" She huffed

"I don't care. Sit down and put your feet up, ok?" He insisted

Before she could even respond, Eddie had disappeared into the kitchen. He came back a few minutes later, handing her a glass of wine. She smiled, taking it from him gratefully.

"Please try not to blow up the kitchen" she sighed, leaning back against the cushions

"No promises!" He smirked, pecking her on the lips

She giggled, sipping her wine thoughtfully as Eddie went back into the kitchen.

...

Philip and Melissa headed home in a stony silence. Philip hadn't wanted to go back with her, not after the way she'd treated him last night. But he'd had no choice.

"Marcus is coming over tonight. I expect you to be on your best behaviour. Do you understand me?" Melissa announced as they drove along the roads of Rochdale

"Yeah, whatever" he huffed, continuing to stare out of the window

"That means no mention of the marriages, yes?"

Philip frowned

"I thought you'd told him?"

Melissa laughed loudly

"You're as dumb as your Auntie Rachel! Of course I haven't told him!"

Philip stared at her in disbelief

"What? Did you really think I'd tell him? No way, Philip! The wedding is going ahead. In a week's time, we'll have tied the knot"

"Mum, you could go to prison for this if you don't sort it out now!" Philip argued

They pulled up on the drive. Melissa calmly got out of the car. Philip slammed the car door angrily, following her into the house.

"Mum, we need to talk about this! What are you going to do?" He questioned once they were inside

"Nothing!" Melissa shrugged simply

"What do you mean 'nothing'?" He frowned

"I mean, I'm going to do nothing!" She stated firmly

Philip shook his head in disbelief. He couldn't believe her!

"The question is, Philip, what are YOU going to do about it, hmm?" Melissa questioned

"I'll report you" he shot back

Melissa laughed

"You wouldn't dare! Little Philip walking into a police station to tell them his Mother is a bigamist? Ha! They will laugh at you!"

"Not if I tell Rachel, she'll come with me if I tell her what you've done!" He retorted

Melissa's fist flew in the air, landing in Philip's face. He fell backwards against the wall, his cheek stinging and throbbing from the impact of Melissa's fist. She stared at him, her face showing no remorse.

"I suggest you get upstairs. Now" she growled

Philip ran passed her, dashing up the stairs to his room. He slammed the door angrily, collapsing onto his bed, holding his cheek, which was already starting to swell.

What now?

That was just it. He didn't know.

His Mum was right, the police wouldn't believe him. But he couldn't just sit there and do nothing.

The doorbell rang, its sound echoing through the house and filling Philip with dread. He heard his Mum opening the front door and greeting Marcus. They were giggling at something she'd said. It made him feel sick. How could she live with herself, deceiving him like this?

He grabbed his phone from his pocket. There was a text message from Rachel:

"Hope you are ok. Eddie and I wondered if you would like to come for dinner next Wednesday after school? We can pick you up. - Rachel x"

Philip smiled; it was nice to know he had someone on his side.

He typed back a reply:

"That would be great, thank you!"

That was when an idea popped into his head.

No one could go anywhere if they didn't have their passport, could they?