Set after the reveal of Leanne's affair with Nick. Peter let Leanne go to London and is now living alone with Simon.
Peter sat idly puffing away on a cigarette, secretly wishing he was smoking something a little stronger. Even if it were to only to take the edge off and distract him from reality for a short while, he had never tried drugs but right now he would happily swap his one addiction for another, anything to get away and forget what a fool he'd been.
He sat in his pokey flat pondering what was to become of him and why this had to happen, all he could think of was it was comeuppance for his past unsavoury behaviour of bigamy and alcoholism. It's funny how your whole life can change in a couple of weeks, a near death experience was obviously not enough to bring the new year in with, a nice dose of good old fashioned adultery had to be thrown in there too. The humiliation of being lied to and cheated on was so raw that his denouncement of Leanne at the church in front of everyone was bittersweet and not nearly as satisfying as he first thought it would be.
He chuckled coldly to himself as he thought back to all the opportunities he had to cheat on Leanne with her best friend Carla. It had taken all his willpower to resist her as she was the envy of all women, a beautiful goddess who could have anyone at the click of her fingers. Yet she chose Peter. He wished he had given in back then, not just for revenge, but to really see if the feelings he developed for her were just addiction or something stronger. Then again what good was it now, things with Leanne were over for good, Carla probably pitied him rather than still loving him and now he was all alone with Simon who probably hated him or would grow to.
Peter was interrupted from his deep thoughts by the sound of Simon's video game in his bedroom next door, at least Simon was doing something to preoccupy his mind and keep him busy during this tough time. He got up slowly and made his way to the fridge, craving a cold drink for his dry mouth after smoking excessively for the past few days. Peter stopped and looked at the fridge door as he was about to reach for the handle and just glared at the stuck-on photographs of their 'happy little family'. There was Leanne smiling happily and innocently like butter wouldn't melt when who knows, she could have been screwing Nick Tilsley just a few hours after the photo was taken. Little whore. Peter ripped off the photos of Leanne and threw them angrily to the floor, not caring to make a mess or even bother picking them up after, to him she was where she belonged, strewn across the floor alone and unwanted.
After he'd grabbed his drink he just downed it hastily, out of boredom and hatred for the world in which he lived in. It was all well and good him having to cope with something like this but putting Simon through it when he'd already been through so much was just so selfish and hurtful of Leanne. Peter decided he couldn't just sit moping around the flat all day, he needed to go and get some fresh air and clear his head, some time away from Simon's constant mood swings and repetitive questions.
After Peter had rung his dad to come round and look after Simon he left the flat and headed away from Coronation Street to somewhere more private away from prying eyes and gossiping pensioners, and eventually found himself heading for the red wreck. He walked slowly and moodily, staring at the vast amount of families here at the park, most had the conventional two parent-two children set up, which Peter envied. He just wanted to fast forward time so he could move on and find a loving wife and start the secure family unit he had came so close to. Failing that, he just wanted to be happy again, find someone who could prove that Leanne was nothing special and bring some spark and excitement back to the old Peter.
He leaned over the bridge on the red wreck breathing in the free air and glanced onto the large pond in front of him, watching the ducks and swans swimming around each other. He couldn't help notice some of the ducks were less than relaxed, many were jumping over one another fiending for some food. Someone was chucking bread into the water and they were going mad for it as they were quite big chunky bits of bread, not your usual past the cell-by-date milk-roll most people throw into the pond. He glanced up to see who was causing this amusing feeding frenzy and almost laughed in disbelief as he saw a peaceful looking Carla Connor throwing these bits of bread in for the wildlife. Carla Connor at one with nature eh, most people would have laughed at the thought but after a minute or two he realised he wasn't so surprised. He'd realised for months that she wasn't the person she makes out to be and he had found out that she was a softie at heart who enjoyed doing all the things regular people do.
She hadn't noticed Peter across the way staring over at her watching her and would have imagined she'd have felt a bit silly if she knew, from the last time all that Peter knew was that Carla was humiliated and upset at Peter's blessing and now he needed to go over there to tell her there was no reason to feel that way at all.