So last nights Corrie...

I am so disappointed, yet somehow I'm not even a little bit surprised.

Was it really too much to hope for a better Carter scene, than the one they gave us?

Not that you can even call those three seconds of screen time, a scene.

I just wanted them to hug or chat or something.

It was so refreshing to see Peter back though, even if it was literally a flying visit.

Also Carla's face after he left gave me a tiny smidgen of hope, Alison King never fails to amaze me tbh.

Anywho after the episode I decided it would be a crime if I didn't write a little one-shot as to what I think/wish had happened.

I've tried to make it as realistic as possible *smirks* and have started off with the scene that was in the show just to kick things off a bit.

Oh and I hope you guys like the picture I chose as the cover for this story, such happy times eh?

*sobs*

It was supposed to be just another boring day in Weatherfield for Carla. She'd left the cafe, armed with one of Roy's Bacon Rolls and was on her way to work when she saw him.

When she saw Peter Barlow, her husband, the man who had left all those months ago and would she'd been trying like crazy to get over since then.

Carla knew that he'd be back at some point. She knew that he would have returned to give Deirdre a good send off but somehow seeing him stood there, only metres away from her, still had her short of breath.

It still took her by surprise.

Peter was surrounded by his family and Carla could have just carried on walking, she could have gone on straight to work but instead she spun on her heel and made her way over to Peter and the rest of the Barlows.

"Hey." Carla said softly, as she reached them. Leanne and Tracy both looked equally unimpressed with her, Ken nodded politely whilst Simon just walked off, presumably on his way to school. Peter on the other hand, was clearly surprised and also thrilled to have had Carla make an effort to come and talk to them all.

"Hey." He said equally as soft as Carla had spoken and equally as mesmerised by her, as she was by him. Leanne rolled her eyes and went about her own business, Ken looked between his son and Carla.

"Why don't we give you two some space." He said and he took Tracy into Number one with him, leaving Carla and Peter alone on the pavement.

"I see you're making a quick getaway then." Carla said with her head on one side, she was looking at the bag he was carrying. Peter looked sheepish and nodded

"I sure am." He said

"Peter… I just wanted to say that I were so sorry to hear about Deirdre." Carla said she paused not wanting to bring up the fact that she ditched the funeral to go and gamble but she knew Peter would have been wondering where she was and she felt as if she owed him and his family some sort of apology. "Ave you got a minute?" She asked but she was looking at the cab driver who was clearly waiting for Peter.

"For you… I've got two." Peter said with a very timid smile. Peter told the cabbie that he no longer needed him, then he and Carla walked over to the bench outside Audrey's and sat on it awkwardly. Carla took a little breath, she wanted to apologise to Peter for not going to the funeral, she wanted to tell him how bad she felt but she simply couldn't get started. In the end Peter spoke first "So… How's the first half of two thousand and fifteen been treating you?" he asked, he was trying sound all light hearted and casual but he was almost overcome with nerves. Carla shook her head and swallowed

"Terrible." She said and Peter nodded understandingly at her.

"Yeah… I'd be lying if I'd said that I hadn't heard about the bus crash and then about the fire." Carla nodded and rolled her eyes

"Course you've heard… I mean who hasn't heard about the fire? I guess Tracy told you."

"No it were Simon actually." Peter said surprising Carla by this fact.

"Really?" she asked, "Well what did he say exactly?" She was more than curious to find out what Simon had told his Dad about the fire.

"That there was a fire in your building and that Kal and Maddie died."

"Is that it?" Carla asked almost screwing up her face, she was so in shock.

"Why? is there more?" Peter asked watching Carla closely.

"Well… Not really I mean not if you don't include me falling asleep, with a candle burning whilst Amy was in the next room." She said

"Si said it was an accident." Peter said as Carla looked as if she might cry at any moment.

"Did he?" She asked "He didn't say it were all my fault or out?" Peter shook his head at her and said

"He just said it was an accident and that he was really glad that you were okay." Carla was so shocked that Simon hadn't blamed her for the fire, that she didn't know what to say. "What is it?" Peter eventually asked as Carla stayed in silence.

"It's just… Well if I'm honest I'm surprised that Simon doesn't blame me for the fire, I mean everyone else does and I blame myself too..." Carla said

"Well you don't ave to explain it all to me, I've been there aven't I?" Peter said remembering how when he had ended up being a responsible for a fire in his flat many years ago.

"Yeah, suppose you ave…" Carla said although she knew she was no where near as drunk as Peter had been when he started his fire, she didn't mention that fact to him though and it was then that she saw Sophie Webster making her way towards them.

Sophie took one look at Carla and then at Peter, She raised her eyebrows at them both before walking straight past.

"See." Carla said gesturing towards Sophie as she walked off into the distance. "Everybody round ere pretty much hates me."

"Oh I doubt that's true..." Peter said shaking his head, Carla raised her eyebrows at him and said,

"You wanna bet? The only people round ere who still talk to me out of choice is Michelle and Roy... Oh and Nick of course, he's been..." Carla went slightly red upon mentioning Nick to Peter. She stopped talking and it was like something inside her made her freeze for a moment. It was crazy because she'd been apart from Peter for more than a year now and she had every right to move on but suddenly the idea of her being with Nick or anyone else for that matter, was suddenly such a ridiculous one that she shook her head a little.

"Nick?" Peter said, a little surprised because Carla and Nick had never really shown much of an interest in each other before.

"Yeah…" Carla paused "He's just a mate." She added quickly, Peter raised an eyebrow at her.

"Really?" He said, not meaning it to come out as disbelieving as it sounded.

"Yeah course… Why who's told you different?" Carla suddenly asked, "I mean he's got a girlfriend for god sake." She was acting so defensive that Peter was beginning to wonder if some more really was going on with Nick.

"No one." Peter said watching Carla closely "It's just… Well you're acting a little on the defensive side that's all… Anyone would think there was something with Nick." Peter said. Carla shook her head at Peter and insisted.

"Well there isn't… We're just mates." It wasn't really a lie, whilst there had been a lot of lingering looks and drunken kisses, her and Nick were still only friends. Carla looked a little embarrassed now as she sat next to Peter on the bench, She hoped that he believed her and that he would change the subject quick.

"Okay… If you insist." Peter said, he was trying to act amused but the idea of Carla being with any other man was sickening, even more so if this other man was Nick. He decided to change the topic of conversation and asked "So if your flat's gone where are you staying right now then?"

"Roy's…" Carla said she watched Peter's reaction and nodded "Yeah… I wouldn't exactly call it a match made in heaven, in fact we almost had a row last week but he's been really good to me so I won't bad mouth him." Peter looked down at his watch, almost as if he was in a rush to be somewhere, Carla had spotted this and then said "Look Peter, I know you've for somewhere to be so I'll make this quick, I just... I wanted to say that I'm really sorry for yesterday and if I could go back... I would have so been there."

"Been where?" Peter asked, puzzled

"The funeral." Carla said

"You weren't there?"

"Of course I wasn't there, I mean did you see me there?" Carla asked irritated. Peter shook his head at her and sighed

"I wasn't there either." He said

"You weren't? Why not?" Carla asked, frowning at Peter, although she knew she had no right to judge, seeing as she wasn't there either.

"Oh there were a whole heap of issues that prevented me from being ere on time." Peter said, hating himself for being so foolish, wishing that he'd come up the night before.

"Well that's you all over init Peter, I mean you'd be late for your own funeral you would." Carla said shaking her head at him.

"Hey don't be like that, besides at least I ave an excuse, where were you?" Peter asked getting a little defensive himself this time.

"I were… busy." Carla said with difficulty.

"Busy?" Peter said with an eyebrow raised. It was highly unlike Carla to have missed the funeral and he was intrigued to know why she had done.

"Yeah... look I'm not proud of it but I made a choice not to go… Okay, and if I'm honest part of that choice... well part of it were because I was scared of running into you there." Carla said sighing. The part about Peter was true, as much as it pained her to admit it, the idea of seeing him again, in such an overwhelming and emotional environment, had almost pushed Carla right into that casino yesterday.

"Why?" Peter asked, still unable to get his head around both Carla and him missing the service.

"Just… because." Carla shrugged and there was a slight moment of silence as they both thought about the fact that they would never get the chance to say goodbye to Deirdre properly again.

"I can't believe neither of us were there…" Peter said sadly, he imagined how Deirdre would have felt to know that they were both absent from her goodbye.

"Yeah… believe me Peter I feel awful…" Carla said just as dejected as Peter was. "Anyways I'm gonna go n apologise to your Dad in a bit and Tracy, if she listens to me that is, after all I am in the doghouse with her too."

"Oh I've been there as well, in fact I'm kind of in there right now with all of my lot, especially Si?" Peter said,

"What because you missed the funeral?" Carla asked

"No because… well because I'm going to Antigua."

"Antigua?" Carla exclaimed, She shook her head a little and then asked "What for?"

"I got a job with a boat company..." Peter answered, he could tell that Carla was a little surprised by this news, even though she was trying hard to keep casual.

"Wow…" She said quietly, it was one thing for Peter to be in Portsmouth but for him to be in a whole other country, she couldn't quite imagine it. "When is all this happening then?" She asked

"Next week, Simon was far from impressed when I told him, I kinda get the feeling he thinks I'm being selfish." Peter said and Carla couldn't help but let out a shocked laugh.

"You are being selfish." She said, still in disbelief at the way Peter was acting as if him going to Antigua wasn't a big deal.

"What?" Peter asked, "Are you being serious?"

"Oh I am deadly serious, your Step mother just died, your family are in bits, they need you Peter, your son needs you. Blimey it was bad enough when you were in Portsmouth and now you're swanning off to the Caribbean." Carla said

"Y'know I really don't need you to tell me how much Simon needs me Carla…" Peter sighed

"Oh I think you flamin well do, I mean the kid is totally messed up, I can see it in his eyes."

"Oh stop it." Peter scoffed, he knew that Simon was having a tough time but he also knew that Leanne would be able to handle it.

"I'm serious Peter, he's quite pleasant to me but I've seen him be really rude lately, especially to Leanne, that boy has been through so much and a good majority of that is because of you and now you're running off to a whole other country." Carla said bluntly. Peter shook his head at her, hating what she had to say.

"You know what I've actually had enough of this, I've got a train to catch n you've had your two minutes, so I think we should end this conversation now." Peter said getting up to leave.

"Fine by me." Carla said getting up off the bench as well. "Nice speaking to ya n all that, ave a nice trip." She began storming off in a huff but she soon stopped before she'd even got across the road. She sighed heavily and then turned back on her heel. "Peter…" She called softly, making him turn around to face her. She walked back over to him and bit her lip "Look I'm sorry… I don't wanna leave things between us like this."

"Me neither." Peter agreed, Carla gave him a soft smile and said

"Look I know you said you've got a train to catch n all but if you don't ave to rush off…"

"Well I don't, not really." Peter began, he had been planning to stop off somewhere before going to the station.

"Good" Carla nodded "Seeing as me n you both missed yesterday… I think there's something we need to do."

It was almost an hour later and they were in the cemetery, stood right in front of Deirdre's grave. Peter had been planning to go there that afternoon anyway and when Carla had told him what she had wanted to do he was in awe at how alike they obviously still were.

Carla had got her car and driven them to a local florist. They both spent a while choosing a bunch of flowers, each to place on Deirdre's grave. Peter had chosen some large white Daisy's, nice and simple whilst Carla had picked a very colourful collection of flowers that were wrapped in pink tissue paper.

Once they had arrived It had taken them a while to find Deirdre's grave, neither of them knew exactly where Deirdre was buried, so they had to awkwardly walk around the cemetery and take a look at all the recently buried graves. It was a haunting experience, seeing just how many people had died recently and it made Carla and Peter both think about just how quickly someones life could come to an end and how quickly things could suddenly change.

Eventually Carla had been the one to find Deirdre's grave. She called Peter over and they both put their bouquets down amongst the others that were obviously left from yesterday.

"Our Deirdre would ave been well annoyed to see just how much money people ave spent on these." Peter said looking down at the wreaths and large bouquets that surrounded her grave. There were a lot of flowers there and some had even been taken home with Ken because Deirdre was just that popular with everyone that there wasn't enough space for them all.

"Yeah… But it's one of those things that people do init." Carla said looking up at the clouds. They had been having so much lovely weather in Wetherfield recently but it seemed since Deirdre died, that everyday was a grey one. "D'ya wanna say something?...Cause I know I do." Peter nodded and wiped a tear that had fallen down his cheek.

"Yeah… go on." He said but Carla shook her head at him.

"No you go first." She said quietly. Peter cleared his throat and sniffed, he didn't even know where to begin with all the things he wanted to say to Deirdre.

"Erm… I'm sorry I didn't make it here yesterday Deirdre." He began "Y'know me… Useless when it comes to public transport but I hear you had a good send off though, it sounded like it was everything that you ever wanted…" Peter cleared his throat again as he was beginning to get very upset, Carla wiped away a tear of her own and then she did something rather unexpected. She reached out and gently took hold of Peter's hand.

It was unexpected for him too, he looked down at it and the back up at Carla who was still looking down at the grave.

"I'm not exactly sure how we're all supposed to go on without you, to be honest. I mean whilst we were so far apart, let me tell you that your phone calls and text messages would really make my day. You were the light of me Dad's life and I just don't know how he's gonna cope... but I know that he's got some really wonderful memories of you and so do I. I wish I'd of told you how much you meant to me, I just assumed that I'd always have the time to and now…" Peter sniffed hard, trying to keep it all together as much as he could. "Now you're gone and you're the closest thing I had to a mother... I know that you truly loved me like I was one of your own, you've given me some of the best advice I've ever been given and also some of the best laughs I've ever had too. I know that you ave always believed in me, even when I didn't believe in myself and for that I am eternally grateful... Thank you so much for being you Deirdre and where ever you are right now I hope you're at peace because you truly deserve it... We'll see each other again, One sweet day." Peter wiped away another tear with his free hand as Carla still had hold of his other one. He then smiled softly and added "Oh and make sure you say Hi to Blanche for me.. don't cause too much trouble eh?"

Carla let out a sad giggle whilst Peter chuckled at the thought of Deirdre and Blanche being reunited too. They both kept hold of each other's hand and Peter gave Carla's a little squeeze before saying.

"D'ya wanna say something now or…" Carla nodded and sniffed hard.

"Yeah… Just gimme a minute." She said softly. She, just like Peter, didn't know where to begin, she had so many different things that she felt like she should say but first she knew that she had to apologise.

"I'm Sorry too Deirdre" Carla began "I should ave been ere as well. At least Peter ere had an excuse…" She said giving him a slight nudge, he smiled but Carla looked far from amused. "It were a poor excuse mind, but me… I don't ave one, not really. I were being selfish, I… had my priorities all wrong and I was off doing something so… well it doesn't matter now... this isn't about me." Carla paused and bit her lip sadly as Peter watched her closely "Y'know you were probably the nicest Mother in law I've ever had n I've had a few so that's saying something really... In fact you were the one who gave me the crazy idea of proposing to this clown." Carla gave Peter another nudge again but this time it was different because she had tears pouring down her cheeks. Peter didn't know that Deirdre had been the one who had given the idea to propose and thinking about the happy times he'd had with Carla made things even more upsetting than before. "The streets not gonna be the same with ya Deirdre... You were so full of laughter and life, that's something that people round ere are really gonna miss but me... I'm gonna miss those cheeky glasses of wine we used to ave down The Rover's, I'm gonna miss the way you would always see the best in people... even me, Oh and of course those delightful family dinners of yours..." Carla was now smiling reminiscently "Y'know now that I think about it, the last time I saw you, I were at one of your dinners n you threw a trifle across the room."

"Never a dull moment when you were around eh Deirdre?" Peter said also with a smile. Carla nodded and looked down at the hand she was still holding. She didn't know much about God, heaven and all of that stuff but she wondered if maybe Deirdre was watching them right now, she wondered if Deirdre would be happy to see them holding hands so lovingly, because at times Deirdre was Carla and Peter's biggest fan. "Do you remember that night we were round n Tracy was doing that cold calling job?" Peter asked Carla, reminding her of all the jokes they'd all had that night. Carla nodded and actually laughed out loud at the memory of it.

"Yeah…that were amazing." She said "Or that time she'd had way too much wine and had us all dancing around the living room to her ancient records." Carla said, sighing sadly. She swallowed and then looked back down at Deirdre's grave. "I wish I'd got to say a proper goodbye to you Deirdre but Peter's right, we've got a whole load of hilarious memories to look back on so thank you for all of the good times you gave us and goodbye."

"Rest in peace Deirdre." Peter said. Carla nodded at him and also said

"Rest In Peace."

Carla and Peter both stood in silence for a while at Deirdre's grave before eventually deciding that it was probably a good time to go. Peter had thought about getting a Cab to the train station and was wondering just how he would say goodbye to Carla but she insisted on giving him a lift to the station. She was only planning on letting him get out and waving goodbye to him, that way would have been so much easier to say goodbye than them both standing face to face but she found herself parking the car, getting out of it and walking alongside Peter.

"So… This trip to Antigua… How long's it for exactly?" Carla asked as they strolled though Manchester Piccadilly.

"Six months..." Peter paused,

"Wow... I gotta admit I'm slightly jealous, I mean how can they actually be paying you to go to Antigua for six months? How is that work?" Carla joked but Peter was still being serious.

"Do you still think I'm being selfish?" Peter asked, watching Carla for her honest opinion. She thought for a moment and rolled her eyes,

"Okay honestly… Yes." She said and Peter nodded dejectedly at her. "But y'know what Peter you've gotta do what you've gotta do and if you honestly think that being in Antigua is going to be good for you in the long run, then who am I or anyone else for that matter, to stop ya."

"I don't think Simon's gonna see it that way." Peter said,

"Well Simon's a kid, he doesn't understand just how pressuring it can be for you sometimes." Carla said "He'll come around and you've just got to be patient with him, I mean I get where he's coming from, it were alright when you were only a train journey away but a plane journey… Even I'm having a tough time processing that information to be honest." Carla said because the idea of Peter being so far away was something that she was secretly dreading.

"Would you do me a favour?" Peter asked Carla as they continued walking around the station, they were almost walking in circles but neither of them said anything about it because they were too busy talking and avoiding the obvious goodbye that they had to say to each other.

"That depends…" Carla grinned

"Would you keep an eye on Si for me? I know Leanne's looking after him but you know what she's like, she'd never admit she's having a hard time with him, not to me anyway, I just need to know if he gets too out of control and then If he does I'll be back ere like a shot." Peter said.

"Well... Leanne's not exactly me biggest fan but suppose I could keep an eye out for ya. Carla said nodding. Peter smiled at her appreciatively, they walked some more before stopping at a coffee shop, they both looked at each other and headed inside for a coffee seeing as Peter's train wasn't leaving for a bit.

They sat opposite each other at a table in the corner, and whilst it was silent at first Peter eventually asked something he'd wanted to ask Carla for a while now.

"Can I ask you something?" He began Carla nodded at him apprehensively, she wondered what he was going to ask but made a joke out of it all the same, just to ease the tension.

"I dunno can ya?"

"This thing that you were doing yesterday then…"

"What about it?" Carla asked, slightly nervous now because she knew that Peter had this ability to get any information he wanted out of her.

"Were you off drinking somewhere?" He asked because he knew all about Carla's love for a bottle of wine. She rolled her eyes and shook her head at the suggestion.

"No I wasn't." She said stirring her coffee as she spoke.

"Well what was it? I mean it's nothing dangerous right?" Peter asked beginning to get slightly concerned,

"No." Carla scoffed "Well… it's only dangerous for me bank balance." She added.

"Shopping?"

"Nope..." Carla said and as Peter thought for a moment, she sighed deeply, because she knew that he was putting two and two together and ever so annoyingly coming up with four.

"You weren't gambling or something?" Peter asked, watching Carla. She found it completely impossible to lie to Peter, even now and so she found herself nodding. "Seriously?"

"It's just a bit of Poker and Roulette that's all…" Carla said trying to make it all sound like nothing.

"A bit? Carla gambling is such risky business." Peter warned,

"I'm sorry, did you or did you not run a bookies for a good few years?" Carla asked,

"Yeah so I know exactly what I'm talking about." Peter said sighing.

"It guess it's kinda ironic really, me being married to an ex bookie." She chuckled, still trying to make this a light hearted conversation but Peter clearly was having no of it.

"It's not funny Carla, I've seen these types of things get out of control very quickly." Peter said, he knew full well how much Carla could get addicted to something and for her to have missed Deirdre's funeral, he knew she must be addicted.

"Peter relax okay, it's not a big deal... I just like the buzz of it all y'know. It's a nice distraction from all the crap I've got to put up with that's all… It's under control."

"Is it though?" He asked and Carla sighed again,

"Yes it is, Honestly Peter…" He didn't believe her but what could he do about it? He knew that this time he was spending right now with Carla was precious and that if he pushed her too far she would probably end up walking away from him.

"Well I suppose it's better than drinking your way out of your issues I suppose." Peter said, although he was scared to see her go, he was still holding nothing back.

"Oh the hypocrisy of it all." Carla replied as equally as blunt as Peter was being to her.

"Well I'll ave you know that I haven't touched a single drop of alcohol for over a year actually." Peter said proudly.

"Good, I'm glad to hear it." Carla said firmly and she went to take a sip of that coffee she'd ordered. Peter sipped his too and before long they were both finished. As they left the coffee shop Peter saw that his train was now boarding and he knew that his time with Carla was up.

"Well… I guess this is it." Peter said rather unhappily.

This was going to be harder than either of them had realised.

"Yeah… I guess it is." Carla said also sad. Both of them stood awkwardly together for a moment, as if they were unsure of how to end things between them. They were both avoiding eye contact as well as being stood in silence and it was only when their gaze connected that Peter said.

"Thanks Carla."

"What for?" She asked, hating that he was going to go and leave her life once more.

"Today... it was good to talk y'know." Peter said and he meant it. This morning he was so gutted that he had missed the funeral and also missed his chance to maybe see Carla again but now he was so glad that she had made the effort to come and talk to him in the morning when she could have just carried on her way to work. He was glad that he and Carla had both got to say their own private goodbye as well. It was made even more special because it was just the two of them.

"Anytime Peter." Carla said calmly although she was clearly finding it hard to say goodbye to Peter again. He gave her a quick nod and went to turn away from Carla but he was so thrilled to hear her voice say "Y'know you could give me a call sometime… if you want?" He turned back and smiled enthusiastically at Carla. "I could let you know how Simon is and stuff." She said complacently.

"I'd like that." Peter said moving closer to Carla,

"and maybe I'll call you sometime too…" She said, as Peter got even closer to her, he nodded and then said,

"I'd like that too…"

"Good…" Carla replied softly.

"Y'know I might be asking for too much ere but can't a guy at least get a goodbye hug?" Peter eventually said. Carla nodded at him sheepishly and went in for a hug. As Peter's arms went right around her and held her close she felt a lump in her throat.

It had been so long since she had been held like that, that someone who'd truly cared for her, had their arms wrapped around her, holding her like they would never let go. She swallowed back her tears knowing that she couldn't let them loose, not this time.

"Bye Peter."

"Bye Carla." He said, finding it difficult not to cry himself, he'd be lying if he said he wasn't worried about this gambling thing but he was satisfied that at least she wasn't causing herself any physical harm. "If you ever need anything… please let me know, Okay?"

"I'll be fine Peter." Carla said but Peter let go of her a little and held onto her shoulders instead

"Seriously Carla… anything okay?" He said looking at her attentively. She was fascinated by his gaze and nodded

"Okay" She replied quietly, expecting Peter to then let go of her.

But he didn't.

Something else happened instead, something that neither one of them had expected or even knew how it happened but suddenly, their heads had got closer, their eyes had closed and their lips were now softly touching.

There was a slight moment of confusion from both parts of the kiss but Peter then felt Carla's bottom lip move desirably against his and he knew that this moment was right. He suddenly dropped his bag and one hand of his went tenderly around one side of Carla's face, as their kiss intensified in the most gentle way possible.

The fact that they were in the middle of a crowded train station didn't seem to affect Carla and Peter in the slightest, they could have been all alone in this world for all they knew and The idea that this kiss could very well be their last, seemed to make it feel extraordinary, it was as if they would never have such a kiss like this one ever again.

There were a few more sublime seconds before their connection came to a reluctant but natural end. Then there was a tiny moment of silence whilst they both let the feeling of the kiss linger.

"What would Nick say about that eh?" Peter whispered, his head still extremely close to Carla's, She smiled to herself and opened her eyes simultaneously with Peter's.

"He'd say nothing because we are just mates." Carla said giving Peter a playful push. They both watched each other for a torturous moment and suddenly there was another call for Peter's train to Portsmouth. "You better go." Carla said. Peter nodded at her obediently

"I think you're right… hey if you ever fancy a holiday to Antigua let me know eh, you could come and stay with me." He grinned.

"Ohhh don't tempt me Barlow." Carla said giving him a little poke as he picked up his bag off of the floor.

"I'm being serious." Peter said sincerely.

"So am I..." Carla grinned alluringly. Peter took a deep breath and gave Carla a cheeky wink before turning away from her, properly this time, and even though he desperately didn't want to, even though all he wanted was to turn back again, he began forcing his legs to walk away from her.

Carla watched him as he disappeared into the crowds, as he walked away from her once more and even though she wished that he didn't have to leave her again, she knew that it was only goodbye for now.