I'll keep you safe

Chapter 30

Rachel was sat on the sofa when she heard the front door open. She was surprised Eddie had come back so early, she hadn't been expecting him for at least another hour. Still, she was happy. She'd missed him.  The silence of the house, even with the TV playing in the background, was starting to unnerve her.

"Hello? Rach, it's me, I'm back" he called

"In the living room!" She called back

Eddie walked through the hall and into the living room, his bag in his hand. His eyes fell on Rachel, who was sat on the sofa, dressed in a loose fitting top and leggings. They smiled at each other. He was relieved to see her. It felt like a lifetime since he'd left her to go to work this morning.

"Hey, Rach" he said, putting his bag down by the door

"Hi. How was the first day back?" She asked

"Yeah, good! No disasters!" He nodded, laughing

"There's still plenty of time for that!" She laughed

Eddie smiled. She wasn't wrong!

"So you had a good day then?" She questioned, breaking the silence

"Yes, I did" he confirmed

"See? I told you, you could manage without me, Eddie!"

Eddie disagreed with that completely. But he wasn't about to say anything to her.

"What about you? What have you been up to?" He asked, changing the subject

"Not a lot really, I went to the shop and then came back home" she shrugged, sighing

"Good. You should be resting" Eddie pointed out

"Mmm... I can't wait till I'm fully recovered so I can start applying for a new job!" She groaned

Eddie ignored this comment. The thought of her working elsewhere hurt him. He sat down on the sofa, kicking off his shoes.

"I should make a start on dinner" Rachel decided, standing up

"I'll give you a hand" Eddie offered

They went through to the kitchen together. Eddie carried his bag through with him. He was desperate to show Rachel the petition, but wanted to find the right moment.

Rachel gave him the task of chopping up the vegetables because of her wrist. Eddie busied himself with that, whilst thinking of how to bring up the subject of the petition.

"So, Tom and the rest of the staff are going for a drink later if you want to join? I might go" he said, cutting up a carrot

"No, I think I'll stay here. You go and have fun though" Rachel replied, busying herself with putting two pies into the oven

"Come on, it'll do you good to get out for a bit! We don't have to stay long" Eddie reasoned

"I doubt they'll want their ex-boss and an ex-prostitute there spoiling the fun Eddie" she argued with a light chuckle

Eddie sighed

"Rachel, all they've done today is ask after you, the kids too! Don't think they don't care about you, because they do!"

"I'll believe it when I see it" she huffed

Eddie saw this as the perfect moment.

"Ok" he said simply

Rachel frowned at him

"Ok, what?"

Eddie put the chopping knife down, opening his bag. He pulled out the massive pile of papers Bolton had given him, passing them to Rachel. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Paperwork? Really, Eddie? That's your job now!" she reminded

"Would you stop being so stubborn and just look at it?" Eddie instructed her

Rachel rolled her eyes, taking the papers from him and reading the first page. Eddie watched in hope.

"What is this, Eddie?" She asked, her tone emotionless and difficult to read

"Well, Bolton heard you weren't coming back, so he started a petition. He set all of this up himself. You wanted proof, its right there in your hand! All the students and staff want you to come back, Rach, especially me" he explained

Rachel looked up at him. There was no smile spread across her face, her eyes hadn't lit up or welled up with tears, as he'd hoped. No, she was angry.

"You told people what happened, didn't you? They knew Stuart attacked me, you told them!!" She accused angrily, turning away from him

Eddie was confused

"What... Rachel no, of course I haven't!" He insisted

She turned around to face him again, her eyes filled with rage.

"Why has every student and staff member signed this then? Hmm? Out of pity?" She cried

"No, Rachel! They all signed it because they want you to come back!" Eddie argued

"How am I supposed to believe you?!" She questioned, glaring at him

Eddie sighed, desperately trying to find a way to put this right. He couldn't lie and say nobody knew, because someone did know. But it didn't change anything.

"Alright look, the only person who knows what happened is Steph,"

Rachel practically blew up in anger at this

"You told Steph?! Eddie of all people!! Why? You had no right! How can you tell me no one knows when you told the biggest gossiper I know! The whole of bloody Rochdale probably knows now!" She shot back, cutting him off mid-sentence

"Rachel, she hasn't said anything to anyone! Look, I called her when you were in the Hospital, right after I'd found you in your bathroom. I needed to talk to someone, I didn't know if you were going to make it, so I,"

"So you called the least trustworthy person!" She finished

Eddie didn't know how to respond. Anything he said just blew up in his face.

Rachel, however, wasn't done talking.

"I don't believe you Eddie! Do you think what I went through was something to use as a source of gossip?"

"No, Rachel. No! You know I don't!" He argued

"Get out, Eddie" she mumbled, refusing to look at him

"Rachel, please! Will you just look at the petition?" He pleaded

"NO, GET OUT!! Get your stuff and go! I'm not coming back to Waterloo Road and I never want to see you again!" She screamed

Eddie sighed in defeat

"All right, I'll go. I'm sorry, Rach" he replied softly

"Just get out of my sight" she muttered

Eddie left the kitchen with tears in his eyes, heading upstairs to pack his things. On his way out, he put the petition on the coffee table in the living room, hoping she would change her mind.

With a heavy heart, he left the house, driving away in his car to the pub.

Rachel ran into the living room, slamming the door behind her. She collapsed onto the sofa, sobbing uncontrollably. Her heart felt like it was about to shatter in two. She had trusted Eddie with everything she had, she'd let her guard down. He'd made her feel things she hadn't felt for years.

True happiness.

Real happiness.

And like everyone else in her life, he'd let her down and betrayed her. How could she have been so naive?

It was definite now, she wasn't returning to Waterloo Road.