It's me again... Yes even though in one of my other stories I mentioned that I had a crazy month of work ahead and that I might not be able to update as much. For some reason I just cannot seem to stop writing.

Anywho this fic is loosely based on an old song that I heard recently. It would have been put with The Carter Collection but I wondered if it may have the potential for more than one chapter and that's why I've uploaded it separately.

Let me know what you guys think of course and enjoy :)


Peter Barlow knew he shouldn't be here.

He knew he wasn't invited or even welcome and yet he still went and sat at the back of the almost overcrowded room.

He was surprised to see so many guests and he hadn't expected it to be so full of people, some who he knew and some who he didn't.

Peter had chosen the very last seat, in the very last row of the church… he had chosen that particular seat so that hopefully no one would spot him, those who surrounded him did not look familiar and so he knew that he was probably safe, amongst a load of unknown faces.

The only reason he even knew about this fateful day was because his sister Tracy had slipped up. She had mentioned it by complete accident and it was only because of Peter's persistent questions that he'd found out the date, the time and the venue.

The venue was the biggest church in town and Peter couldn't believe that this place had even been agreed upon, then again he could barley believe a single thing about what was happening today.

As people began taking their seats, in the distance Peter could see his Dad, sitting down next to a family friend. He was at least five rows away but Peter still tried to hide his head, as he didn't want his Dad to see him, even though it had been so long since he'd last felt his Dad's warm embrace, too long in fact.

He knew his Dad wouldn't approved of this, in fact he knew if his Dad had any clue that he was sat just a few rows behind him, he would have got up and dragged him out of the church before it all started.

Before the music began and before the bride began to make her way down the aisle.

The bride.

The bride was someone Peter desperately wanted to see but again, he didn't want the bride to see him.

Peter had paced up and down outside for a while before making his way inside, today's weather was sublime, said to be the hottest day of the year so far and as the sun blazed onto those church steps he wondered why on earth he had even considered coming today.

He had almost decided to forget this whole thing and leave but something told him that he had to stick around.

Something told Peter that had to put himself through all of this, he had to remind himself of exactly what he had lost.

Peter had to face the fact that he messed up. He messed up bigger than he'd ever messed up in his life and now she had moved on.

She had moved on big time, she'd moved on so much so that she had gathered all of her friends and loved ones together to witness her new found happiness.

Peter should have known. He should have known all those months ago. He should have known when he got that letter saying that she had filed for divorce, that it was all over.

He signed the papers, he did everything he had to do to keep her happy, because after causing her so much pain and so much heartache, he owed her that at least.

The last time he had spoken to her, she told him that she'd moved on and that she was happy. He should have accepted it, he should have believed it instead of thinking that it was just a lie or that it was just for show. He thought that maybe it was her way of dealing with the pain, or that if she had actually found some one else, that it was nothing too serious.

Peter was sure that one day they would both be reunited and that one day they would somehow end up together.

They had to end up together... they were made for each other, every one said so.

Well that's what everyone one used to say anyway, now they probably felt a lot different but Peter had made sure he kept on telling himself that they'd get another chance someday.

Peter told himself this every day, ever since he left her side but he was now beginning to see that this way of thinking was incredibly naive and that it had got him nowhere.

He should have prepared himself for this eventuality. He should have seriously thought about the reality of this situation because now he was about to watch his worst nightmare unfold and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Standing where Peter should have been standing was Nick Tilsley, in a black suit with a silver tie and also he had the biggest, no, the smuggest smile on his face. Nick Tilsey had always been someone that Peter dispized and now Nick Tilsley was about to take away that last tiny little bit of hope that Peter had left.

Next to Nick was his cocky little brother in a co-ordinating sliver and black suit and he had the same smug smile plastered all over his face too.

The front row on the left consisted of the rest of Nick's family. His sister and her teenage daughter, His sister in law and her children, his mother and his grandmother. They were all smiling at Nick, proudly, excitedly, emotionally and with so much love that it actually made Peter feel sick.

The way Nick's family were looking at him made Peter think of the last time his family looked at him so lovingly.

It was a hell of a long time ago now and Peter knew that if his family saw him right now they would not be looking at him in such a fond way. They would look at him in shock, disappointment and they would probably be embarrassed that he even had the cheek to show his face.

The front row on the right was a little different to the one on the left, none of the bride's family were there... not really. There was Amy Barlow sat next her Dad Steve McDonald and then there was Roy Cropper, sat with a woman that Peter had never seen before. There was also someone who had even flown all the way from L.A to be here for this blessed day.

The other rows in the room were full of faces, some that Peter recognised and some that he didn't. One of the faces he recognised was the one of his young son Simon's.

It was all that Peter could do not to run over to him and hold him tight and the only reason he didn't was because he didn't want to ruin it, he couldn't ruin this day.

He couldn't spoil her chance for true happiness, not again.

There was the soft, yet sudden sound of a piano starting up and everybody quickly rose from his or her seats. Peter knew that he had to get up too, he knew that if he didn't that he would be drawing attention to himself and attention was something that he definitely didn't want.

His throat went dry as he scrambled to his feet. He could almost hear his heart pound away under his shirt as Michelle Connor passed by in a pale blue silk dress, she was holding a matching bunch of flowers and was smiling joyfully as she made her way up the aisle.

Peter knew that Michelle would have been the obvious choice for maid of honour and as she made it to the front of the aisle he knew what was going to be coming next.

His body froze and his heart might as well have stopped too as the bride came into view.

There she was.

Carla Connor, soon to be Tilsey.

The one and only love of Peter Barlow's life.

She looked beautiful… no, not beautiful, heavenly.

She looked so heavenly in fact, that she almost floated down the isle.

Her light brown hair was tied, elegantly up with just a few curly tendrils delicately hanging down to frame her face. Her make up kept simple because she was such a natural beauty that she really didn't need much to make her look stunning and today she literally looked utterly breath taking.

Peter could barley draw breath as Carla began making her way forward. He swallowed hard and even though he couldn't bare the sight before him, he still couldn't bring himself to look away.

Other than on his own wedding day to Carla, this was the most magnificent Peter had ever seen her look.

Her ivory wedding gown was strapless and skin-tight until it got to the middle of her thighs where it spilled out into a stunning fish tale dress.

It truly was astonishing.

She carried a bunch of snow-white roses as she slowly but surely descended up the aisle and as he watched, Peter knew that there was no way on earth that Carla would even notice that he was sat there.

He knew this because Carla had a euphoric smile on her face, a smile that once upon a time she used to only give to him but was now showing off to the world.

Peter had missed that smile of hers the most, in the past it had always filled him with so much joy but it was now torture, made unbearable by the fact that he knew she would never look at him like that ever again.

She looked so happy, she almost let off an enchanting glow and every single person in the church had their eyes on her.

Carla's precious gaze however, was only focused on one person.

It was totally fixated on the man in the black and sliver suit and it stayed that way as she finally joined him at the far end of the aisle.

As the wedding guests all sat down, and as the old woman in front of him turned round to give him an eager grin, Peter wanted to disappear into a big black hole.

Unfortunately there were no holes to swallow him up, no way out to end all this pain and all that he could do right now was smile… and fade into the background.