Just a little take on Peter's view on the Rovers Fire. Not taking anything away from Stella, Karl and Sunita's story. This just popped into my head so I thought I'd post it.
Peter desperately wanted to help with the fire. He had been to fetch the ladder with Jason but Paul had stopped them. As much as himself and Stella had disagreed, he couldn't bear to watch knowing that people were trapped in there. It was all getting too much for Peter, too many feelings were resurfacing, and too many painful memories were replaying through his head. "Thank Goodness me Dad and Deirdre weren't in…..And thank goodness Tracy and Eckles are out now….." Peter said, more to himself than to anyone else, but Carla, who was stood closely next to him with her arms wrapped around his shoulder, had heard him. "Hmmm, where are they gonna stay?" Carla asked.
"Well with us of-course….." Peter trailed-off as if it was obvious. "Peter we don't have any room!" Carla told Peter truthfully. "And? They would have done the same for me…..Infact, they did, after the tram-crash…..And they did again the night you crashed into the Bookies…..So I owe them tonight at the very-least." Peter replied to Carla, and Carla knew that she couldn't refuse now. "Alright sweetheart, one night okay?" Carla suggested to Peter and he nodded with a grateful smile. "Okay then. One night. Thank You." Peter said, kissing Carla on the lips before he then watched-on.
The couple stood and watched in silence for a couple of minutes before Carla spoke-up. "I thought you men would've been right in there trying to be the heroes….." Carla trailed-off, she was glad that Peter had held back, she hated the thought of him getting injured again, but it was just surprising to see the men of Coronation Street just stood watching and not doing anything, not that she blamed them though. "Well we can't. Paul stopped us all from doing anything didn't he?..." Peter excused himself from taking part in all of the action rescues. "And since when has ANYTHING stopped you from doing something that you wanted to do Peter Barlow?" Carla joked with him but for Peter this wasn't the moment for joking-around. "Since the tram-crash….." Peter trailed-off as he had a flashback to that horrible night. "Oh Peter of-course. Listen, maybe we should go home." Carla suggested and Peter nodded as she lead-him back to their flat above the bookies, glad that they were a safe distance away from the fire, but close enough to gather what was going on from the safety of their living-room.
At home, Peter just sat on the sofa in silence. Carla had watched him from the kitchen for a while as she made them both coffees, but she couldn't hold back any longer. Taking the coffees over, Carla joined Peter, sitting next to him on the sofa. "Are you thinking about the tram-crash?" Carla asked-him straightly. "Not out of choice…..The memories just won't leave my head….." Peter trailed-off sadly and Carla put an arm around her boyfriend. "Look at the positives sweetheart. For one, be grateful that you aren't trapped in the Rovers at this very moment, and secondly, you survived that tram-crash, yeah you were a pinch of salt away from death, but the fact is Peter, is that you didn't die, did ya? Yeah you went through hell recovering from it, but you're still alive. You're still here." Carla tried to re-assure Peter that everything was going to be okay, but she knew that it would be difficult whilst he was like this.
"Stella doesn't deserve this Carla. Even through all of this fall-out with Leanne, she still doesn't deserve this. Neither did Ashley. Ashley saved my life that night….." Peter stopped as Carla interrupted-him. "And aren't you glad he did?!…..I certainly am, and yeah you're right. Stella doesn't deserve this, no-one trapped-in that building does, but the fire-fighters are out there now, so let's just hope for the best ey baby?" Carla said, trying to comfort Peter as she hugged-him in towards her chest, kissing the top of his head as she did so. "I feel so selfish Carla, there's people trapped in there, and not only am I terrified of going into save them, but all I can think about is me and what I'm feeling!" Peter said, in a little-bit of an emotional state now as he leaned-back against the sofa and put his hands over his face in distress. "No-One's gonna blame ya for being scared baby. You've been in that situation. You know what they're feeling at this very moment. And that darlin', is gonna come in useful when they are all in recovery….." Carla tried to re-assure Peter and all of a sudden he shook himself out of this emotional state. "I'm sorry Carla, I'm droning on aren't I?!" Peter asked Carla and she smiled at him sweetly. "Not at all baby. I love ya and I just want to help ya that's all….." Carla told Peter quietly and Peter returned her sweet-smile back at her. "I know you are and I can't thank you enough for all of this. And I love you too." Peter said as he placed a meaningful kiss onto Carla's lips before he then rose to his feet and walked-over to the window, where he could see the blazing Rovers to his left and the distress of practically everyone on the street a little further-over.
Carla walked-up behind him, placing her hands around his stomach and resting her head onto his back. "I know how we can help." Carla began and she took Peter's silence as a cue to carry-on talking. "We can do what I did during the tram-crash. I went to the factory. So let's go there, let's see how we can help, and anyone who needs somewhere to have a coffee and a chat, or just fancies a change of scenery from the Bistro, can come to the factory." Carla suggested to Peter gently as he slowly turned-around in her arms to face-her. "There's a reason why I fell for you Carla. And this is why. Thank-You for putting-up with me. And don't even let-me go out of your sight, because no-one will ever understand how much I need a drink right-now….." Peter joked with a quiet-laugh and Carla just smiled at him. "You'll be fine. And I'm sure I'm even gonna let you out of my arms darlin' let alone my sight. Come-On Baby Let's Go." Carla said, gently kissing Peter on the lips before leading him towards the front-door of the flat, and then to the factory.