rachel coming back, checking on the cunninghams a few times a year. she can travel all over (i mean, she’s got unlimited time on her hands and the whole immortality thing probably lessens her anxieties), and as such is able to bring cool presents for jude. she stays through holidays and summers, and orders food to be delivered on the anniversaries of her doomed wedding just in case the family doesn’t have the capacity to cook meals that day. she goes from being an overseer of death to a guardian angel of sorts. every time she returns, feelings she begins to recognize she has for nell grow stronger. they spend hours talking together in the middle of the night, warm in each other’s arms. nell recounting the antics jules and jude partake in, sharing her deepest thoughts, laughing about everyone who was shocked that she and jules were divorced yet closer and more affectionate than before. they play board games, rachel recounts her travels, and one night, when they’re still a little tipsy and the mood of the room shifts just enough, the magnetic pull towards each other becomes too strong to resist. rachel is the one to initiate the kiss this time, wants to show nell that she feels it too, that it wasn’t just a fling the night before her wedding
Rachel Harkin & Nell Cunningham [Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen (2026)]
Warnings: SPOILERS for SVBIGTH, Alcohol (recreational), Drugs (weed, also recreational), Mentions of Blood (nothing graphic though), Themes of past Death and lingering Trauma
Genre: Fluff and Angst
Summary: Two decades may seem like an eternity but there's only so much of a difference they can make when a bond is unbreakable
For @mybodywakesup & @sixdovesinahoodie
~ Hope you enjoy, my lovelies 💌
The whiskey seems to flow like water as Nell throws back her second glass this hour.
It hasn't been an easy day. Hell, the last few months since Jude's wedding invitation came in the mail have been scored by an ominous symphony and dread.
Today is the big day and Nell and Jules have found each other again, for the simple need for comfort, the need to have someone who feels the same pinprick sensation all over their body, fearing what might potentially happen after the vows are spoken and the marriage is sealed as a firm union.
This is the first time she's seen Jules in years and it shows. Her connection to Jude never wavered after the separation but with Jules it's been radio silence. The two had waited for him to go off to college - far too long of a wait for the both of them, all things considered.
Their marriage survived solely on Jules' belief that Nell was his soulmate that fateful night of his younger brother's wedding. Blood, everywhere, seeping into the very foundation of his childhood home. And not a single speck on him. Because to him, Nell was everything. The centerpiece of his life.
But to her, there was always more. There was always greener grass.
Jules was aware this was her resolution long before that night but it only solidified when she kept eyeing him with utter terror in her eyes, waiting for his nose to start dripping blood. Because she didn't believe it. She didn't see a soulmate in him. It's not a revelation that took him by surprise by any means, he'd known deep down. But seeing that look of fear as she thought for certain he was about to drop dead confirmed it to him. Sure, she loved him enough to be crushed by the mere thought of his death, but not enough to be certain he wouldn't die - certain that they were soulmates.
The disbalance in their view of one another ate away at the stability of their marriage until it fell apart.
Nell had been pretty anxious to see him today at Jude's wedding - another anxiety to add to the already huge mass of it weighing on her chest. But the two have settled back into a rhythm. They've always been partners first - because friends sounds too informal. But lovers...it was good while it lasted, now, neither of them miss it.
"It will be ok. Everything will be alright." She reassures him, patting him on the arm. "I've talked his ear off - he's certain she's his soulmate. Without a doubt. I made sure of it. He knows better than to marry Millie if he doesn't believe she's the only one for him. He knows the consequences of such recklessness."
"Yeah...yeah, um, you're right..." Jules sighs into his glass of sparkling water - still going strong and steering clear from alcohol to this very day. "I just hope she shares the sentiment."
It stings, hearing him say it. But Nell has long since learned that what she feels is so far out of the realm of her control, it'd only be self-destructive if she were to keep blaming herself for it. Loving Jules, back then and even now, came naturally. But the soulmate thing....not so much.
"I'm sure she does..." Is all she settles on saying before deciding to leave his side. Mostly so she can breathe but also so she can do a last minute check on all the prep - and especially the groom.
Because the wedding is in an hour.
Guests have poured into Sommerhouse, fewer than the last wedding that happened here over a decade ago. It mostly consists of Jude and Millie's friends as well as the bride's parents and siblings. Jude only wanted Jules and Nellie from his end. Not that he had many to choose from.
Nell revels in the anonymity she has obtained in the sea of unfamiliar faces. Not a single pair of eyes looking at her with that 'curiosity' nosy family members have whenever they catch wind of something going wrong in your life. She had to dodge several calls from the remaining family members on Jules' side - some she can't even figure out how they got her number. Surrounded by college kids right now, most of them high as kites already - she feels like she's dawned an invisibility cloak and it's doing wonders for her nerves.
But then she closes her eyes and sees an image printed onto the backs of her eyelids - a bloodied Jude and the look of terror on everybody's faces. And the cycle of fear continues.
A quick assessment of the room leaves Nellie pondering. She can't spot Jude anywhere. Millie is mingling with some friends, Jules is still in his lonesome corner - no trace of the groom though.
Panic swells inside her and sends her out on a search party, quick clicking footsteps carrying her out into the hall.
Realistically, he could just be in the bathroom. But Nell is plagued by the idea of him having second thoughts and backtracking - the latter of which can set in motion an entirely different disaster.
She can hear her own heartbeat as she rushes through the hall surrounding the box. It's not snow-covered and idyllic in a winter wonderland sense the way she remembers it being when she saw it last. This is spring wedding. There's no ominous greyness surrounding the house, the sky is bright without a cloud to mar it. Nature is in full bloom. It's a drastically different picture than the bloodstained one etched into her memory.
She'd begged and pleaded with Jude to choose any other venue under the fucking sun. A castle in Europe, a submarine, on the literal moon. Just not this house. But Jude wouldn't hear it. He was convinced that the house needed a cleanse from what had happened - yes, that's how confident he is in this marriage he's about to step into. Or rather dive head-first into.
It's among that picture-perfect depiction of spring, confined tightly within a glass-walled box in the center of the looping hall, that she spots Jude sharing a joint with a face she finally recognizes.
Her shallow breathing turns into a gasp at the sight.
The sound is clearly loud enough - all though it was silent to her own ears - to grab the attention of the subjects she's observing.
"Want a puff?" Rachel has extended her arm in Nellie's direction, holding the joint out to her, a light bright smile on her face.
"Jesus fucking Christ..." Nell is still none the wiser to the fact that she's voicing all the thoughts crowding her brain out loud but she's slowly coming to, taking hesitant steps out into the box. She looks like she's approaching a wounded wild animal, or rather an apparition that might disappear into thin air if she got too close. For a moment, the sun rays reflecting off the glass walls creates the illusion that she has indeed disappeared, a specter of Nell's warring mind that still carries so much trauma on the back burner.
But no, the next step she takes breaks the spell and she's looking directly at Rachel, in the flesh, not a day older than she remembers her.
The last person to see her that fateful night was Jude but he was just a kid back then. He remembers the horrific sight she was - blood soaked skin, reddened wedding dress, hair damp from melted snow. But the key detail was fed to Nell by Nicky - he mentioned her haunted eyes. Devoid of all emotion to a point where she looked upon everything like nothing mattered. Nothing differentiated from the crimson staining and surrounding her.
There's not a trace of that left in her.
Rachel looks back at her with a smile that hasn't even been touched by the passage of time, eyes twinkling as if they've pocketed specs direcctly from the sun itself only for her use.
"Sorry to get the groom high before the ceremony. He could use a good kick in the pants. Didn't want him getting too into his head." Rachel explains unprompted because Nell has not said a single word since using the Lord's name in vain a couple minutes ago.
"Are you?" Rachel asks gently, as if reasoning with a child.
"I won't be if I turn up late at the altar. Millie will kill me." Jude says, handing the joint back to Rachel, "You two take your time though." He bids them a temporary farewell to go get ready, giving Nell's hand a squeeze as he passes her.
Rachel gives him an encouraging nod then refocuses her attention on Nellie. "Can't tell if you are or aren't happy to see me." She lightly teases, taking it upon herself to shorten the distance between them.
"I-I am. I'm too happy to see you I don't wanna believe it in case you're..."
"That's ok, take your time. I have a wedding to bear witness to anyway." She tosses the butt of the joint in the grass, stubbing it out with her heeled foot. "I'll see you inside."
"Wait!" Nell panic-grabs Rachel's hand before she can leave. "You'll...you'll stick around after the ceremony, right?"
Rachel gives her hand a reassuring squeeze, "I have a feeling I might. For a while, too." She brings her hand to her lips, pressing a feather light kiss to her knuckles.
Her feeling proves correct when the only red liquid spilled at the wedding is wine. Here's to a happy marriage that may last an eternity, and the bonds that have just been rekindled.
Rounding up a week of Hollyoaks Favourites (Originally aired Christmas 1997)
Hollyoaks favourites this week had a real treat in store for us, as we flashed back to Christmas 1997. Prepare for dodgy fashion, dodgy hairstyles, and some seriously dodgy acting!
Wednesday (Originally aired 18th December 1997)
It was almost Christmas in the village, but things were far from merry. The Bensons were facing their first Christmas without Ollie, who was recently killed in a car crash, whilst Kurt and Ruth couldn’t stop arguing. Ruth was hurt by Kurt’s reaction to her Christmas present, a car (complete with cassette player!) and stormed off to her work’s Christmas party. When she returned home later that evening to find Kurt still in a mood, she demanded that he sleep on the sofa.
Meanwhile, 16 year old Cindy Cunningham was feeling unwell, and had taken to her bed. Mum, Angela, believed that she was suffering from the flu, and ordered her to quarantine in her room (sound familiar?) as Cindy’s older sister, Dawn, was going through chemotherapy. However, Dawn was perfectly safe, as you cannot catch what’s wrong with Cindy! Mandy called round to see Cindy, and tried to convince her to come out with her, but Cindy refused. After Mandy stormed out, Cindy doubled over in pain...
Finally, Jack was struggling with his new houseguests, the Patrick family, particularly Sol, who had not taken to the new set up and was determined to make everyone as miserable as he was.
Thursday (Originally aired 22nd December 1997)
It was Christmas Day, and over at the Cunningham’s, Cindy was still feeling unwell, and hiding the fact that she was pregnant. She sloped off after dinner, snuck into Tony’s video shop, gave birth alone and went on to abandon the baby.
Dawn and Jambo also made themselves scarce from the Cunningham’s celebrations and went for a romantic trip on a stolen rowing boat. Dawn was delighted when Jambo proposed to her, however, in emotional scenes, Dawn, who was suffering from leukaemia, later passed away in Jambo’s arms.
Elsewhere, it was a busy day for Tony as he faced the prospect of three Christmas dinners, thanks to his three girlfriends! Rob and Lucy spent some time alone together whilst Kurt and Sol’s behaviour spoiled the festivities over at The Dog.
Friday (Originally aired 29th December 1997)
It was Dawn’s funeral, and the family were struggling to come to terms with her death. Jambo in particular was finding things tough, and he broke down after the funeral.
Meanwhile, Cindy was struggling following her dramatic birth, and collapsed at the funeral. Emmerdale’s Ashley Thomas, posing as a Doctor, called round to see her, and horrified the Cunningham’s when he revealed that Cindy had recently given birth!
Elsewhere, Kurt and Ruth patched things up, whilst Carol was keen to do likewise with best mate, Lucy. Finally, Sol continued to be a little shit.
Cast:
Juliette Benson, Lucy Benson, Kirk Benson, Kurt Benson, Ruth Benson, Angela Cunningham, Cindy Cunningham, Dawn Cunningham, Gordon Cunningham, Holly Cunningham, Jude Cunningham, Max Cunningham, Carol Groves, Rob Hawthorn, Tony Hutchinson, Jambo, Jack Osborne, Gina Patrick, Jill Patrick, Kate Patrick, Sol Patrick, Lewis Richardson, Mandy Richardson.
