'And this, is our home for the night!' Carla chirped, getting out of the car as they pulled up outside a small hotel she'd booked for the trip to Blackpool 'All the 5* ones were booked up, so I settled for 4'

'That must've been so painful for you, I do hope you'll recover' Peter teased, grabbing their bags out of the boot

'Oh har har' Carla replied, walking into the hotel and making her way to the reception desk, Peter and Simon close behind her

'Hello! Are you here to book in?' the receptionist asked, averting her eyes from the computer screen to greet them

'We are, the room's under Carla Connor'

'Oh yes, the family suite' the receptionist replied, typing away at her computer before reaching under the desk 'Here are your room keys, You're in room 24, on floor 2. Any extra charges from the room will be added to your bill at the end of your stay. Have a lovely night!' she grinned, handing Carla the keys

'Thankyou' Carla returned the smile, before following Peter and Simon into the lift

'Room 24!' Simon shouted out as he found their room, opening it with the keys Carla had given to him

'One thing!' Carla said, stopping in the door frame, blocking Peter's access into the room 'You and Simon will have to share the double. The only family room left had 1 double bed, 1 single..'

'That's fine' he shrugged, following Carla through to the room and placing the bags down

'Dad, there's a balcony!' Simon beamed, opening the double doors and stepping out into the cold air

'Be careful out there son' Peter called out, perching himself on the edge of the bed as Carla joined him and they took in the surroundings of the room

'Oh very cosy'

'Carla, we shared a bed the other night, I'm sure we're capable of doing it again without our hands wandering ya'know' he laughed, nudging her slightly with his elbow

'Mmm, but Simon wasn't in the room that night. I don't want to confuse the poor boy any more than we are already with this little arrangement of ours'

'I think he'll find it more confusing that he's sleeping in a double bed with his dad whilst you're over in the single. Anyway, we had a nice little cuddle the other night' he whispered, a cheeky grin forming on his face; a face that Carla was all too familiar with now

'So long as cuddling's the furthest it goes' she narrowed her eyes before an uncontrollable smile fell upon her face 'Come on then Simon, what do you want to do?'

Simon re-entered the room, pondering Carla's question a little bit before coming up with a suggestion 'Can we go to the funfair? Amy went to one the last time she came with Aunty Tracy and Steve, it sounded so cool!'

'Course we can' Carla replied, this whole trip was really about treating Simon so she was up for doing anything he wanted to do 'Yeah Peter?'

'Alright..I've got to tell ya though, rides aren't my strong point' he warned, his stomach already churning at the thought

'Last time when we went with Leanne, she tried to drag him on them all but he didn't go on any' Simon explained, shaking his head as he remembered their last trip to a theme park as a family

'Really?! What are you, a man or a mouse?' Carla chuckled, quickly trying to dismiss the Leanne mention. The last thing she wanted was Peter being reminded of his memories with Leanne when he should be enjoying himself

'I'm all man.. you know that' he replied, throwing a wink in Carla's direction


'Wow, look at that one!' Simon exclaimed, pointing towards the biggest ride at the fair

'Oh, that one looks great fun, doesn't it Peter?' she teased, turning back to look at Peter who was dawdling behind

'Yeah, looks fantastic' he muttered, his nerves kicking in now that they were actually there

Carla soon noticed his sudden quietness and linked her arm with his, 'Are you really that bad with rides?' she asked, slightly worried that maybe this wasn't such a great idea after all

'I'm not terrified of them, I'm just not very fond either' he replied

'Nothing'll happen you know, I promise. And if you don't want to go on them, you don't have to'

'Oh no, I won't let it get in the way of our day out! Come on, what one first Si?' he smiled, slinging his arm over the young boys shoulder. After all the travelling and effort Carla had gone through, he wasn't going to let something so stupid get in the way of them having a good time

'Let's go on a small one first Dad to get you used to them' he suggested, making his way over to one of the smaller rides in the park, despite it still being rather big for Peter's liking. Peter stopped at the bottom of the metal stairs leading up to the ride, taking in how it all worked and mentally preparing himself for what was ahead

'You ready?' Carla asked, letting her hand slip into Peter's

'Mhm' he smiled, walking up the stairs with her, their hands not breaking apart


It had been a couple of hours since they'd arrived, and they'd managed to go on every ride in the park. After Peter'd went on the smaller rides there, he'd soon gained his confidence to go on the big ones too and any fears he'd had at first had soon vanished and been replaced by the adrenaline rush of it all

'Dad, can we play hook the duck?' Simon beamed as they made their way round the many games stools scattered across the place

'Come on then' Peter chuckled, 'You having a go Carla?'

'Oh, why not' she smirked, taking the rod he was offering her as he handed over the money to the man running the stool

'Right guys, if you get a duck with a blue sticker on the bottom, you get one of the small prizes, red's medium and green's large' the stool owner explained, as they all began to try and hook a duck

'I got one!' Carla grinned, lifting her duck in the air

'You got a red one me lovely, so you win a lolly' he smiled, handing her the jar to pick one

'Wow. That's one of the only things I've ever won, and all I've got to show for it is a flamin' lolly' she rolled her eyes, unsatisfied with her prize

'You got a green one sir!' the man grinned, looking down at Simon 'You get to pick any one of the teddies hanging on the roof'

'I'll have this one please' Simon exclaimed, pointing to the giant Tigger, smiling triumphantly when the man handed him it

'And last of all, yours is a blue one so any of the prizes displayed around the centre' the man spoke as he unhooked Peter's duck

'Pick one then Carla, come on' he smiled, gently grabbing her hand and pulling her towards him

'Aw I'll have the giraffe please' she grinned as the man handed it to her

'You a little more satisfied with your prize now maddam' Peter laughed as they walked away, his arm round Carla's waist

'I always was! Our Ryan did used to have one like this when he was younger though' she smiled remembering how fond he used to be of that teddy

'Aw, You have to call him Peter though'

'Oh alright. And I promise to take him to bed with me every night, thankyou' she smiled, kissing him on the cheek

'Ohh he's a very lucky fella. You could always just take this Peter to bed with you instead though' he winked

'mmm, I'll bare that one in mind' she bit down on her lip, enjoying their flirtatious banter 'Right Si, Icecream time!' she grinned, opening the door to the icecream parlour as Simon slid through, keeping a firm grip on his prize

'That teddy's almost the size of him' Peter laughed, watching his son struggling to carry the oversized tigger

'Bless him' Carla chuckled 'They're quite big sundaes in here Peter, do you want to just share one together?'

'Ohh, sharing a flat and a bed, now an icecream. Are you sure this isn't moving too fast?' he joked

'You might be right, maybe we ought to slow things down' she laughed, playing along with his banter as they took their seat at a near by table

'What do you want then Si?' Peter asked, scanning the menu

'The double chocolate sundae sounds really yummy' he replied, a smile glued to his face

'Mmm it does. I don't really want anything with nuts Carla, I'm not too keen on them'

'Aw, I love 'em!'

'I bet you do' he smirked as she narrowed her eyes towards him, shaking her head at his comment

'Right then, nothing with nuts!' she laughed


Both sundaes had now arrived at the table and they had all began to enjoy them; Simon especially, 'Thankyou for today, I had soo much fun!' he beamed, looking up as Carla laughed at the amount of chocolate he'd gotten on his face 'I can't wait to tell Amy all about it'

'Well, it's Carla we've got to thank, it was her idea' Peter replied

'It was my pleasure! What with everything my favourite two people have done for me, you deserved a treat' she smiled

'Are you guys sleeping in the big bed together tonight?' Simon asked out of no where, locking his gaze on both Peter and Carla

'Erm, yeah we are son' Peter answered, waiting for Simon's response

'So are you boyfriend and girlfriend now?' he continued

'No, we're just close friends Simon' Carla answered this time before turning her body towards Peter, 'I told you it'd confuse him!'

'You're not confused, are you Si?' Peter pondered, wanting to make sure Simon understood fully

'No. Me and Amy sometimes have to sleep in the same bed but we don't love each other in that way' Simon explained, tucking back into his icecream and putting Carla's worries at ease


It was coming up to 9pm as they finished their dinner at the hotel's restaurant and began making their way up to their room

'We may as well just take the stairs' Peter said as they'd just missed the lift. After letting Simon go first, he moved aside for Carla 'You next madam' he grinned

'Oh no, I know your game'

'What games that then?' Peter replied, feigning shock

'The 'Oh you go first madam whilst I check out your ass as you make your way up' game' She laughed

'I'd never do such a thing! Jheeze, you try and be a gentleman around Carla Connor and ohh no, there's some ulterior motive behind it' he joked, the pair of them still standing at the bottom of the stairs

'You can go up first!' Carla grinned

'Nuh-uh, the game works both ways. Now you're just trying to find an excuse to check me out' he laughed

'No I'm not!' She shook her head in dis-belief, a grin still remaining on her face, 'Come on, we'll just go up together like we could've done in the first place if someone hadn't tried to be a perv' She said, taking Peter's arm as they walked the stairs together


Carla rolled over in the bed, looking at the clock on the bedside table; 2:37am. She was boiling, despite being dressed in nothing but some shorts and a vest top. She glanced over at Peter who was facing the other way, before pulling the cover back and climbing out of the bed they were sharing. She walked across the room, grabbing the shirt he'd left on the chair, and putting it on herself as she made her way over to the double doors and stepped out onto the balcony for some air

'Hey, you okay?' a voice came from behind her a couple of minutes later as Peter stepped out, wearing a dressing gown provided by the hotel

'Yeah, it's boiling in there. You're like a flamin' radiator in bed' she chuckled, leaning against the bars of the balcony

'Mmm, it's 'cause I'm in bed with you' he winked, leaning himself up against the bars as well

'Must say, you've done very well. I've not felt no mysterious objects digging into me' she smirked, looking out at the city lights as she spoke

'Why do you think I was facing the other way?' he teased 'No, I'm only messing with you, you're clearly just not attractive enough' he continued to joke with her; one thing their conversations never lacked was banter

'Or you're just not man enough' she goaded as the wind picked up and swept her hair off her face

'Trust me, I'm man enough. I'd be more than willing to prove it to you if you'd like' he grinned as she laughed at his boldness

'I'm alright Barlow, I believe ya' she smirked 'So come on then, I'm intrigued. What's your usual type in a woman?' She questioned, turning her body towards him a little more

'Well, going on my past partners, I seem to have gone for a lot of blondes, and I mean a lot' he chuckled 'I've not really gone for dark haired women'

'Except for Michelle' Carla added, still finding it weird trying to imagine her two bestfriends as a couple

'Yeah, I think she was the only one'

'Well, that receptionist downstairs is blonde, reckon she has the eye for you n'all, I've caught her staring a few times now as we've walked past' Carla smirked

'Oh no, not for me' he chuckled, remembering who Carla was referring to 'Maybe I should avert to dark haired women' he laughed, purposely looking at Carla in a suggestive way 'Seriously though, I think my bar's been set pretty high now that I've gotten closer to you'

'What d'ya mean?' she pondered, her full attention now on him

'Well, you're stunning. And I'm more than happy to admit that I'm attracted to you looks wise so if I don't meet someone who I think is equally as beautiful or near enough, I'll probably end up feeling disappointed' he shrugged, 'unless my connection with them was just off the scale' he reasoned, finally making eye contact with Carla

'Aw Peter, you are capable of being a gentleman!' she chuckled, 'You'll meet plenty of people better than me though, honestly, I'm not all that'

'Oh come on Carla, you're perfect'

'Perfect doesn't exist Peter' Carla replied, her voice almost a whisper

'Well, if it did, you'd be the prime example of it' he said, before feeling extremely embarrassed and shifting his gaze down towards the streets below them

'I feel like I'm in a movie' Carla laughed, genuinely flattered by what Peter had just said to her 'Thankyou, Peter' she smiled gently, reaching her hand out to stroke his forearm 'Peter, What would you honestly describe our relationship as?' she asked, breaking the silence as Peter thought about her question carefully

'I'd say we're like boyfriend and girlfriend, just without the love, the complications and the rewards' he chuckled, explaining it best he could

'And do you want those three things?' Carla smirked, intrugued at his explanation 'And no, this is not me asking you out' she quickly added

'Well unfortunately the love's not something that we can just request and it'll appear' he chuckled before continuing, 'The complications I definitely don't want, and the rewards, well who in their right mind would say no to them?' he laughed

'Fair enough. I think the bestfriend title is much easier to understand' she laughed as the wind continued to blow her hair 'It's a bit nippy out here now, do you want to go back in?'

'yeah, let's go' he smiled, following her in and closing the doors behind him as she removed his shirt and they got back into the bed, the both of them facing each other as the lights from outside shon on their faces

'Erm Peter, what's that sticking into my stomach?' Carla teased, referring to earlier

'Don't even joke about that or it'll end up happening for real' he laughed, pulling her body a little closer into him

'Would that be such a bad thing?' she bit down on her lip, enjoying teasing him 'Let's take a picture together'

'A picture?' he chuckled

'Yeah, it's what friends do Peter, keep up' she laughed, reaching over to the table and grabbing her phone

'It's pitch black Carla'

'Oh seriously grandad? They have invented a flash on camera phones now, believe it or not'

'You're so funny' Peter replied sarcastically as Carla held the phone above them

'And smile' she grinned, pressing the capture button and turning the phone to look at the result 'aw look at that, now we'll always remember the time we shared a bed together in Blackpool' she laughed, showing Peter the picture before placing it back on the bedside table. She moved her body back in towards his, raising her hand to his face and stroking his facial hair, her own face only inches away from his. They were so close now that she could feel the warmth of his breath against her cheek. 'Thank you for everything you've said to me tonight, it means a lot' she smiled slightly, looking up into his eyes before her gaze slowly fell to his lips. Before he even had the chance to reply, or she even had time to think about what she was doing, she'd moved forwards and gently placed a peck to his lips. She re-opened her eyes as she pulled back, looking straight back into his. Something, she wasn't sure what, was drawing her in again though as she pressed her lips against his once more, this time slipping her tongue into his mouth as their kiss started to become more passionate. Underneath the covers, Peter's hand had slipped under her top a little and had began stroking the bare skin of her waist, his other hand resting against her face. Their kiss was still as tender as ever though, as their hands continued to roam one another's bodies under the covers; the bed now feeling even more hotter than it had done before. Peter rolled over slightly so that he was on top of Carla as their kisses continued to grow hungrier by the second. Suddenly though, Carla remembered exactly where she was and exactly who was in the room. 'Peter stop..stop' she reluctantly requested inbetween their kisses until Peter finally pulled away, resting his forehead against hers as he caught his breath, his body still remaining on top of hers. 'Simon' she sighed, pulling her hands up so they were both resting on the sides of his face

'We're only kissing' he replied, placing another gentle peck to her lips 'as friends' he added, causing Carla to giggle beneath him

'What if he wakes up though?' she asked, looking towards the bed he was sleeping in

'He's not going to, if we're quiet' he grinned, gently biting down on her lower lip and sucking on it for a few second, eager to continue their kiss

'Well, considering it's only as friends..' she smirked, resuming their kiss before pulling back 'nothing further though' she warned as he gave a gentle nod of agreement and they resumed their 'friendly kiss'. After a couple more minutes though, Peter pulled back, rubbing his nose against hers and placing one last peck on her lips before collapsing down into his original place in the bed

After they'd both managed to regain their breath back he spoke up, 'little Peter was beginning to get a little bit too happy' he chuckled as Carla smiled, biting down on her lip

'mmm, I noticed' she laughed, rolling onto her side again and facing Peter 'I literally have no idea what just happened' she looked down, not able to remove the smile from her face

'Like we said, just a friendly kiss, no big deal' he chuckled, gently massaging her head with his hand

'What if Simon hadn't have been in the room though? aren't you a little worried about how far that could've gone just then?'

'I know we wouldn't have let it get that far, we're not stupid' he smiled, placing his forehead against hers

'Hmm, that kiss says otherwise about our stupidity. Anyway I don't think little Peter would agree with you on how far that could've gone just then' she laughed

'Don't know why we're calling him little Peter, should be big Peter to be honest' he winked as Carla shook her head in amusement 'Seriously though, little Peter has a mind of his own, I know what I'm doing. We don't have feelings for each other in that way, we both know I'm a little attracted to you sexually but that's normal for a lot of men to feel that way about woman in general, Especially woman who look like you. I'm sexually attracted to some women I see walking down the street though, so it doesn't mean anything'

'Yeah, but you're not in bed, half naked, making out with them women are you?' Carla laughed, 'Let's just blame it on the fact we've been deprived from kissing someone for so long, yeah?'

'Deal' he agreed

'And we must never let it happen again' she warned

'Never again'

'Right now get some sleep Barlow, you n'all big Peter' she smirked, nestling her head into his chest 'Oh, and Peter?'

'Yeah?'

'That small amount of sexual attraction is mutual by the way' she smiled, biting down on her lip as Peter grinned down at her

'I know.. That was also one amazing kiss'

'Feeling's mutual on that too' she smirked

'I'll definitely be dreaming about you tonight' he teased, as his hand found hers under the covers, their fingers intertwining together

'Shut up Barlow'