Chapter 4

Carol and David's relationship was challenged as Carol faced heartbreak when David made a mistake which would test their love. Carol awoke one morning in the summer of 1976. They had had a tough week with Derek really on their case. She was determined to put things right with David after an argument they had had the previous evening about David purposely winding up Carol's brother Derek about his feelings for another local girl Jackie Bosch. Carol had sided with Derek which had really annoyed David and had made him feel pushed away as he had taken the bulk of Carol's aggression. Carol new she had overreacted and was desperate to apologise to David. She went looking for him everywhere she thought he could be and suddenly came across him kissing another girl Stephanie Dobson in the café they often went to.

"David?" Carol said with both anger and upset

"Carol I can explain wait darling" David pleaded

"Don't even bother you cheating ratback!" she shouted as she poured water in his face and slapped him

Carol ran out of the café trying to hide the tears running down her cheeks which David immediately noticed.

"God, what a drama queen". Stephanie joked

"Shut up, Carol's worth ten of you and I love her. You're just desperate" David harshly answered her back. He immediately chased after Carol and caught her up as she was crying and walking down the street. She ignored him until they suddenly found themselves down by the canal where most of their romantic trysts had occurred. Carol sat down at the familiar bench they would meet at and continued to cry with tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Carol please don't cry. Let's talk about it" David pleaded making sure he made eye contact with her.

"Why David?" she cried

"Because I'm an idiot and in a moment of stupidity I felt so pushed away from you that I made a stupid decision. I'm so sorry Carol. I love you." David claimed sincerely

Touched by his honesty Carol allowed him to cuddle and comfort her until she stopped crying. Once she had calmed down Carol boldly said "Where do we go from here then?"

"I still love you Carol. I always will. Please don't push me away because it brings out the worst in me. We are always at our best when it's just me and you. I promise I won't do anything like that again. I can't bear the thought of losing you." David begged as he spoke from the heart. Carol couldn't face letting him go and in a moment of madness kissed him resulting in a quick fumble by the canal. As David zipped up his flyers and held her in his arms she said with a strong warning "If you cheat on me again I'll rip your balls off". They both looked at each other and began to laugh and as they sat there in a warm and loving embrace they realised their romance was strong and they would each never feel love in the same way towards anyone else.

As two weeks shot by Carol and David quickly put David's dalliance behind them and were soon back to their best. They stumbled into the Branning house one evening laughing and joking whilst cheekily kissing one another. They sneaked into the lounge and opened Jim's drinks cabinet looking for some alcohol. They found a bottle of Asti which they took and ran out of the house with drinking along the streets whilst giggling to each other in a tipsy state. Carol drunkenly shouted "I love you David Wicks and I always will" she followed this by passionately kissing and dropping the empty which then smashed on the concrete. They ran down the road laughing and were both a bit wasted. Carol began to feel ill and threw up on the side of the road. David was less drunk and held her hair back for her whilst she was being sick. He walked her to a bench in the park and cuddled her. He then surprised her by saying "I love you Carol Branning and I always will". This showed her he felt the same way as she did which reassured her he would always care for her. As they began to recover David walked her home making sure she was safe.

The next night Carol was getting dressed up; wearing a mini tartan skirt and a low cut blouse to go out with David and her mates. It was Clive Salisbury's 14th birthday party in the community centre which was a good excuse to go out as opposed to having to sneak out of the house to meet David down the canal at night. At the party David was again more arrogant than when it was just the two of them which irritated Carol; it also showed her what a bad boy he was which was in an odd way her attraction to him. As the party went on David started drinking a dodgy concoction of cider pernod and black which got him wasted quickly. He and Carol were kissing when he felt ill which concerned her. She helped him get cleaned up and then held is head in her lap and began stroking his hair making sure she looked after him. It made David realise how special Carol was and how in love he was with her. Carol walked him home when he felt better.

"Thanks Carol, I love you sweetheart" David said as he looked into her eyes longingly.

"I love you too David, let's get you home and into bed to sleep it off" Carol insisted

"Will you join me" David cheekily proposed

"Oi, you need to sleep" Carol laughed jabbing him in the side.

"Go on you know you want to." He said charmingly kissing her neck causing her to giggle and give in.

They crept upstairs to David's bedroom and luckily his younger brother Simon was staying at his mates and so David took Carol in his arms and they drunkenly made love in his bed. They fell asleep afterwards in each other's arms and again both felt each other's love. They were awoken by a slammed door and David's mum Pat walked in and caught them in bed together.

"Get up and get straight downstairs" she angrily insisted

"David what are we going to say" Carol asked nervously trying not to laugh

"Say nothing; she can hardly talk can she? The way she puts it about" David responded annoyed

"David come on she's still your mum, I know you love her." Carol said looking straight into his eyes making him realise she knew him as well as he knew himself.

David and Carol came downstairs and faced Pat's response to their passionate endeavour. She shouted "What do you think you're doing? You are both only 14, I understand you think you love each other but this is only going to end one way. I told you before you are both trouble for each other so I'll warn you again to stay away from each other."

"Pat we love each other; you can't stop us seeing each other. I'll see you at school David" She said as she kissed him

"Bye Carol. I love you" called David as she left the house.

"I'm warning you David you're going to get yourself in loads of trouble with her" Pat said genuinely concerned for her son as she knew of Derek's aggression

David ignored his mum and went back upstairs satisfied he and Carol were back on track and for the first few weeks they were. Their romance was again about to suffer the consequences of their reckless behaviour and bring them to the realisation that they were still just kids and really had no idea what they were doing until it was too late.