It's been far too long since I updated this, for a number of reasons. Primarily, certain storylines and characters being introduced that completely destroyed my initial plan for this, combined with good old fashioned writers' block. I've changed the direction of this in a few ways, but hopefully these won't notice from the first two chapters I've already uploaded. Re the Darren/Rob situation, I guess they're two separate characters, although in this AU world, Rob is Darren, or Rob doesn't exist, or however it's best to think about it. Blame the show writers, they're the ones who changed Darren's name!
I hope this still makes sense and there's still at some point interest after all this time. To anyone coming back to reading this, thank you!
The tributes had already started to appear on the factory steps as Peter's car pulled up in front of it, a painful mirroring of the events of the night before. Only now, instead of his dying lover, dozens of cheap flowers lay dying there instead. As they stepped out of the car, two sets of footsteps cut through the silence of the street as though amplified.
Neither of the two men knew exactly why they were there - why it had seemed to crucial to return to the scene of the crime, to the place she'd given so much to. It had just seemed the natural thing to do to get into the car and drive the short journey that Carla had taken almost every day for the past 5 years. The journey she would never take again.
The younger of the two paused momentarily, looking the building up and down. "So this is it, then". It was a statement, not a question.
"They're all hypocrites…" Peter was barely audible, his eyes fixed on the limp flowers that covered the first two steps to the factory. He bent and picked up a card at random; screwing his face up as he read it and throwing it back down in disgust.
"Least people are making the effort". Darren's subtle London twang appeared to betray his roots as he moved closer to Peter, who scoffed at his remark as he edged away again, afraid to get too close to this stranger. He may not know him well, but what little Carla had mentioned of her own family hadn't painted him in a good light, and he wasn't about to insult her memory by befriending this man just because he happened to be there at the time.
"Shame they didn't do her the same courtesy when she was alive" He eventually responded without even looking up. He picked up another bunch, tearing off the attached card forcefully, causing a petal to fall from one of the flowers. "With love, Eileen", he read aloud, before throwing this second bunch down too, stamping down hard on it for good measure. "Since when did Eileen give a damn about her? All she ever did was slag her off, same as the rest of them. Where were they when she was raped? Where were they when she was stood in court having flashbacks and being made to look like a liar? In the pub, that's where. Calling her a liar." He was angry now, kicking at the remaining flowers with more force than was represented by the pathetic way in which they spread across the pavement.
Darren was momentarily unable to react, focused on what Peter had just said. Raped? It was only when Peter turned to face the street, shouting at the air, hurling abuse through choking sobs, that he snapped himself awake and grabbed him from behind to restrain him as onlookers began to stare in a mix of sympathy and morbid curiosity.
"She was worth hundreds of any one of you!" Peter spat, his face red. "Than all of you put together. You come here with your fucking £2.99 flowers from the corner shop, pretending like you cared. You make me sick, the lot of you!" All the pent up anger from the past 12 hours suddenly raced through him, pouring from him.
"Come on mate..." Darren tried to reason, guiding him slowly towards the car.
Peter pulled against his grip, struggling free. "Don't 'mate' me! You're just as bad,. Just because you're here with me doesn't mean I like you,. We're not suddenly friends because I was having an affair with your sister". He stopped abruptly. This was the first time he'd publically admitted to the affair, the first time he'd even said it out loud to anyone but Carla. Sure, people had got the idea from his reaction the night before, but now he'd actually confimed it...
"Alright, sorry" Darren replied, raising his hands in surrender as he took several steps back.
"I loved her..." he mumbled almost incoherently, falling slowly to the ground, running his hand along the pavement where the faint remanents of her blood still clung to it despite the residents' best efforts to clean it. "I loved her so much, I..." He was curled into a ball now, sobbing almost silently to himself. A face Darren didn't recognise started to walk towards Peter, but Darren raised his hand to stop him in his tracks. Slowly, Darren walked back over to him, placing a supportive hand on this relative stranger's shoulder. "I know" He told him, pointlessly.
Carefully, he pulled Peter to his feet, leading him tentatively back towards the car. This time, there was no resistance.
Darren switched an empty cigarette packet between each hand aimlessly as he watched Peter across the room, starring just as aimlessly into what must have been sixth cup of coffee that morning. Nothing felt real, nothing made sense. 24 hours ago he had texted his sister to say he was on the train, to which he'd received a blunt, one word "ok" in response. And now he was here, and everything was chaos and he couldn't make sense of anything any more. Why had she been so keen to see him now, after all these years? When he'd tried to say he had other arrangements, which he genuinely had done, she'd insisted with some force that he cancel whatever it was and ensure that he was there the following Tuesday - today. What was so special, so urgent about this day?
He'd scanned his mind for any significance to the date, run through their conversation countless times in his head and even re-read her simplistic texts for any hint of a clue, but had found nothing.
Michelle's arm touching his as she sat down next to him brought him back from his thoughts, startling him. "I don't know what to say to him..." she spoke quietly, almost in a whisper.
"What can you say?" Darren replied, turning to face his former sister-in-law. There was a pause, before Darren spoke again. "'Chelle, she asked me to come here. She insisted in fact. Told me cancel my plans and just get here today. Any idea why?"
Michelle just shrugged, biting the nail on her middle finger. "She didn't mention anything to me".
Like a wind-up doll springing into action, Peter rose from his chair, slamming his mug down on the coffee table with a bang that echoed around the room. He was half way to the front door before he said a word. "I'm going to see Leanne" was all he said, grabbing his coat from the back of the sofa.
"Is that wise?" Michelle stood, concerned.
"I can't put it off any longer" he replied, without breaking his stride as stormed out of the flat.
"Do you want-" Michelle started before the door was shut in her face. "...me to come with you?" she finished her sentence to no one in particular.