Being sat down Weatherfield police station was not how Carla and Peter had wanted to spend their Friday night but as Carla sat with her arms crossed in the police waiting room, she knew that if Peter didn't start to behave himself, that he would end up spending a lot more time in there.
On the way out of her building, they saw Rich stood on the street corner and he was looking very smug.
He grinned at over at Carla and said,
"I told you it wasn't over."
This angered Peter… a lot. He ignored all requests from the Police and Carla to just ignore it and he lunged towards Rich in anger. The police obviously ran after him but Peter was slightly quicker and had got in another punch before they had caught up with him.
They held him back and warned Peter that he would end up being arrested for assault if he carried on with this type of behaviour.
Carla wanted to hit him herself as they both sat in the back of the police car and were driven to the station. She knew that he was just trying to protect her but he needed to control his temper. She didn't want him actually getting arrested for anything and she definitely didn't want to spend the night alone.
As the time passed by Carla wondered just what was taking so long. She and Peter had both been called into separate rooms to talk about what had happened in the pub and Carla's interview had been over for almost forty-five minutes by now.
She had explained all about her history with Rich and about how Peter had just found out about it. She explained how he sometimes struggled to keep his cool where she was concerned and that Rich had been purposely trying to wind Peter up all night.
The police took all of this information and said that Carla could wait for Peter in the waiting room and she had been expecting him to come out shortly afterwards. She looked up at the clock, which read half past eleven and was about to get up and ask someone about Peter, when Michelle suddenly appeared.
"Hey… what are you doing ere?" Carla said, as Michelle came over to her and gave her a hug.
"I just heard… I can't believe he called the police Carla… the flamin nerve." Michelle said shaking her head at her cousin's behaviour. "Ave they actually arrested Peter?"
"I ave no idea Chelle." Carla said, shaking her head in despair. "He's been in there for ages… I just hope he's behavin himself… We saw Rich on the way ere and he went absolutely mental. The last thing I need is for him to get arrested again."
"Oh, they won't arrest him… surely not." Michelle said, although they both knew that they couldn't be sure.
"Chelle y'know what Peter is like… he's got a short temper and a smart mouth… both of which... always end up getting him into trouble." Carla sighed as she sat down on the chair again and Michelle sat down next to her. She watched Carla for a second because she looked worried about something and then asked her,
"Carla… what's on your mind babe?"
"I don't want to lose him Chelle." Carla said, sniffing sadly.
"Lose who? Peter?" Michelle exclaimed, moving closer to Carla and putting an arm around her.
"Yeah… I mean I know I'm being dramatic ere… but the though of one night with out him is giving me heart palpitations." Carla said, as Michelle pulled her close she laughed slightly which made Carla poke her, "It's not funny Chelle… I seriously don't know what I would do without him."
"Awwww you are too cute Carla." Michelle teased, Carla shook her head and sighed as she rested her head against her best friend. "I know it's not the same… but if Peter does end up staying ere tonight… you can stay at my place."
"Thanks." Carla said appreciatively,
"it's… the least I could do eh? After everything with Rich… I owe you." Michelle said sadly,
"Hey… we've spoken about this." Carla said sitting up and looking at Michelle. "It's not your fault. Even if you had stuck up for me a bit more… there is no way people would ave believed ya."
"I know… even so… I was your best mate… I could ave done something." Michelle sighed guiltily.
"You're still my best mate Chelle… don't be ridiculous." Carla said, putting her arm around Michelle this time. "Please can we just try to forget all about this Rich business?"
"Well it's kinda hard… seeing as he is me cousin and Peter is in ere because of him." Michelle sighed, Carla nodded at her wishing she didn't feel so guilty for something that happened so long along and said,
"I know… but as you said, I'm sure they wont actually arrest Peter n once we are out of ere we can all try n move on… okay?"
Michelle nodded at Carla and squeezed her hand as they sat in an companionable silence until Carla looked down at her watch and saw that it was almost midnight.
"Can you believe that in a week's time… Christmas'll be over?"
"That's crazy… I still ave a million things to do as well." Michelle said sighing, then she suddenly looked excited, "Hey I forgot to mention, Ryan is coming back from Ibiza for Christmas."
"Really… ahh that's great news Chelle." Carla said smiling, she was still upset about the whole Peter and Rich situation but the news that Michelle's son was going to be here for Christmas made her feel slightly happier. "What day is he coming?
"The twenty third, ahhh I'm so excited for this Christmas… me n Steve are married, I've got my Ryan coming… not to mention you n Peter are back together... It's going to be such a good one." Michelle said, Carla nodded and she just couldn't help but feel excited too.
Seeing as Carla hadn't had the best of childhoods she had never been this excited for Christmas in her life. She had never been the kind to count down the days but she recently had been and the thought of Peter being locked up for the duration of it made her get up in anger.
"Right… I've had enough of this." She said, walking over to the desk where a police officer was sat. Michelle got up and followed her but luckily for the policeman, Peter suddenly came through the doors opposite.
"Oh baby, thank god!" Carla breathed, as Peter walked towards her.
"Your husband is free to go." A police offer said, "We've…" he trailed off when Carla practically threw her arms around Peter and kissed him passionately. Michelle raised an eyebrow at him and smirked as Carla let go of Peter who was almost bowled over by Carla's sudden embrace.
"You okay?" Peter asked,
"Me? What about you? Are you okay?" Carla frowned, Peter nodded at her and kissed her again before the policeman who had had escorted him out cleared his throat awkwardly. Peter pulled away from Carla and grinned as Carla said, "Sorry… go on."
"What I was going to say is that we've let him off with a warning seeing as it really does seem as if this attack was provoked." The police officer said, as Peter put an arm around Carla.
"Oh it was… it really was." Carla said, snuggling up next to him and feeling so relieved that Peter wasn't going to be spending the night in a police cell after all.
"We can see that Mr Barlow is very protective of you." The police offer said, smiling now as he was way too used to seeing miserable people in his place of work, rather than two people like Carla and Peter who were totally ecstatic to see each other again.
"As I am of him." Carla said, kissing him on the cheek. She wrapped her arms around him as The Police man stood in front of them looking like he wasn't quite finished. "So can we go now?"
"Well… there is something we need to discuss. The information you have both given us on Mr Connor has been very useful to us and we may have to call you in for some more questioning."
"What about?" Carla asked, wishing that this could all just be over, except it looked like it was just the beginning.
"Does this mean that you are going to arrest him?" Michelle asked, looking concerned, Carla did too and she frowned before saying,
"You can't arrest him right? I mean it was all years ago right?"
"Well we've explained it all to Mr Barlow, but it does turn out that Mr Connor is known to us for using specific date rape drugs and we've been trying to get a lot of evidence together. We cannot discuss this too much with you but just know that we aren't taking this situation lightly."
"Okay…" Carla said with a nod.
"And obviously we don't need Mr Connor to know any of this." The police officer said, "We'll be in touch."
"Okay." Peter said. The police officer walked away from them and as the three of them began to leave the station Carla said,
"I swear… when I see that Rich Connor… I'll kill him."
"Oi…" Michelle said with a smirk,
"Yeah..." Peter joined in, "Don't go around saying that too loud will ya…"
The rest of Carla and Peter's night was spent at her place and they had discussed what happened at the police station.
Peter told Carla that they had suspicions that Rich was also a well known drug dealer they just didn't have any proper evidence and that it wasn't the first time he had been accused of drugging a girl.
"I feel so bad." Carla said, tucked up underneath Peter's arms whilst they lay wrapped up in her bed. "Maybe if I had of done something… maybe if I had actually gone to the police when I were younger…"
"Hey… Carla please don't blame yourself for this." Peter said softly, "The police are doing everything they can now… it's better late than never right?"
"I suppose." Carla sighed, feeling incredibly guilty about everything and wishing that there was something else that she could do.
The next morning Carla was up before Peter, she was up way before him due to the fact that she had had a dream that he had started drinking again.
Nothing about the dream had made much sense but all Carla knew was that Peter had started drinking because of stress and she was sure that almost spending the night in a police cell could be a cause for stress.
She had got dressed watched him sleep for a while before his alarm had gone off. Peter rolled over and turned his alarm off and remembered why he had set it because they were supposed to be meeting Simon for breakfast at eleven. Carla was sitting on the end of her bed, putting on her shoes when Peter sat up and she looked at him properly, he had dark circles under his eyes and he yawned at her.
"What?" Peter said after noticing her staring at him.
"You look exhausted." Carla said pulling up the zip on her boots. "You didn't sleep did ya?"
"Nope… kept thinking about that Rich n how much of a bastard he is." Peter shook his head when he saw Carla's guilty expression "Hey don't look like that… I'll be okay once I get a good fry up down me."
"Baby… I'm sorry." Carla said sighing, as Peter moved down the bed and went to sit next to her.
"Eh? What on earth are you apologizing for?" Peter said, Carla shook her head at him and looked down at her hands.
"Because… being with me is so dramatic." Carla said. Peter laughed silently and shook his head at her.
"What? And being with me isn't?" Peter yawned again, thinking about everything he had caused Carla in her life.
"You don't need this drama Peter…" Carla began, "You need a stress free life… you need calm." Carla said, thinking about her dream last night.
"Y'know you make me sound like I'm about eighty years old." Peter said as he yawned for the third time.
"Well… you aren't far off." She grinned poking him. Peter rolled his eyes at her joke and moved even closer to her, knowing that she was thinking about his current sober state and how well he had been doing. He could always tell exactly what she was thinking and now was no exception.
"Carla… I know what you're getting at… and trust me… as long as you're fine… I'm fine." Peter promised, kissing Carla on the hand gently. Carla smiled at him affectionately and believed every word that he said, so she leant in a kissed him properly.
"You are not fine… you are exhausted." Carla said, pushing him back down onto the bed. "Go back to sleep n I'll meet Simon."
"You sure?" Peter asked, watching Carla closely and hating the way she had just apologised for what had happened last night.
"Yes… I'm sure... you come n see us later." Carla said and with that she kissed Peter and left him to sleep.
She explained that Peter hadn't slept to Simon and they were walking towards the café, when Rich Connor was seen again. He had a black eye and Simon had heard all about what had happened last night from Amy who had heard it from Tracy. He sneered when Rich walked up to them and said,
"What do you want?" Carla was slightly shocked at Simon's bravery and she hated the way that Rich was looking at them both. Rich didn't have a clue who Simon was so he just looked at Carla instead and said,
"Who's this then? You traded that alcoholic waste of space in for a younger model ave ya?"
"That waste of space your talking about is my father." Simon snapped, showing that he had definitely inherited his Dad's temper. "Why on earth are you still ere? No one likes you."
"Oh be quiet shortie!" Rich laughed in Simon's face which only made him angrier. Carla took Simon by the hand and pulled him away from Rich before he did anything thing else.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Carla said shaking her head at Rich. "You're standing there mocking a teenager."
"Well he can't fight people his own age can he? From what I hear my Dad almost knocked him right out." Simon grinned, not afraid of the man who was stood in front of him. Carla couldn't help but grin too and she wanted nothing more than to tell Rich that police were onto him but she knew that would just end with him doing a runner and after everything he had done, Carla knew he needed to get his comeuppance.
"If I were you… I'd shut that stupid little mouth of yours." Rich said, looking down on Simon in disgust.
"Or what?" Simon replied, still not showing any signs of fear as Rich stepped towards him, although Carla was starting to get nervous now.
"Simon…" Carla warned, but Simon still didn't look worried, especially as he saw his Dad in the distance. Peter took one look at who Carla and Simon were stood in front of and started picking up his pace.
"Oi!" Peter cried, Rich sighed and rolled his eyes but he looked scared, almost as if he hadn't been expecting Peter at all.
"Great…" Rich said as Carla shook her head at Peter.
"I thought you were having a lay in…" she said as he made his way towards them.
"Changed my mind didn't I…" Peter said, "And it's a good thing aint it?" He looked at Rich with actual hate and then said, "Did you or did you not get the message last night?"
"Actually… your kid started talking to me first." Rich said with an eyebrow raised. Peter looked down at Simon who nodded and then he looked back at Rich.
"Right… you listen to me and you listen good… I don't care if he spoke to you first… from now on, you leave my son and my wife… alone, do ya understand?" Peter warned. He could feel himself getting angry again, he knew that what happened to Carla, happened ages ago and that Carla was okay but the thought of what Rich did to such a young and vulnerable girl, made Peter feel so angry that he could barley contain himself.
"What makes you think I want anything to do with your wife or son." Rich scoffed but he looked embarrassed that once again Peter seemed to be owning him.
"Oh... I think it's obvious to everyone around ere just how much you want my wife." Peter said. Carla could tell that he was getting angrier by the second and decided that this would play to Rich's manipulative strengths.
"Rich… I suggest that you leave… now." Carla said standing in front of Peter and showing him that the were united. Rich smirked at her but he wasn't stupid enough to hang around Peter for too long and he began to walk away from them.
"Good riddance." Simon called after him.
"Oi." Carla said, nudging him in the side. "I know you think your big n bad but you seriously don't want to mess with that guy."
"Him… he's nothing." Simon said, shaking his head in pity. Carla tutted and watched as Peter couldn't help but look proudly at his son.
"Peter don't you dare." Carla said, rolling her eyes at him and giving him a nudge too because it seemed that he was praising his sons bravery.
"Carla's right Si… whilst it's good that you wanted to stick up for her... that guy is seriously messed up." Peter said as Carla walked into the Café.
They sat down at the table and were halfway through their breakfast they were soon joined by Santana, she had come into Roy's Rolls in a black jacket and black UGG boots and pretended like seeing Simon, Carla and Peter there was some sort of huge shock.
"Hey…" She smiled waving over dramatically, "Fancy seeing you lot ere."
"Yeah…" Carla said suspiciously, "What a coincidence…" She said as Santana and her family lived about twenty minutes away and she didn't normally hang around on the street unless she was meeting Simon.
"Come n join us." Simon said, waving Santana over to their table. She sat down next to him happily and took off her coat whilst Roy came over and said,
"Is everything okay with your breakfast?"
"It's perfect Roy." Carla said with a smile, Peter nodded with a mouthful of bacon and Simon said,
"Yes…" He then smiled proudly at Santana and then said, "Roy… this is my girlfriend Santana, Santana this is Roy."
"Hi… Roy." Santana said shyly,
"Nice to meet you Santana… Can I get you anything?" Roy asked,
"Erm… yes please can I just have a hot chocolate?" Santana asked, Roy nodded at her and then made his way back towards the counter. Peter and Carla watched Santana and Simon for a moment and knew that they were up to something.
"So…" Peter said once he had finished his bacon. "What's up?"
"Why does anything have to be up?" Simon said nonchalantly, Santana was smiling overbearingly at Carla and Peter and said,
"Thanks." To Roy, who had brought over her hot chocolate.
"So you seriously just happened to walk in ere and find us sat ere having breakfast?" Carla asked with an eyebrow raised.
"Yes…" Santana said sipping her hot chocolate, Peter and Carla both looked at each other and grinned but it wasn't long before Santana and Simon caved.
"Simon and I were wondering if maybe now that we have finished school for a few weeks… we could help you out at the factory." Santana said, Carla who was halfway through a cup of coffee raised an eyebrow them.
"You wanna help me out?" Carla asked,
"We need money." Simon said candidly, not afraid to be honest to Carla after knowing her for so long. "N we are looking for work."
"What do you need money for?" Peter asked, Simon rolled his eyes at his Dad and said,
"Errr duh, it's Christmas Dad." Simon said,
"We just wanted to get each other some nice gifts and it's hard to do that when you're broke." Santana explained, "I wanted to get something for me Mum too because she's spending so much on me, Carmen and Gabby... I don't want her to wake up to nothing." Carla felt her heart ache as she watched Santana speak and put her coffee cup down on the table.
"We'll… Christmas isn't all about the presents y'know." She said watching them both. Simon and Santana both looked down at their laps disappointedly, thinking that Carla was going to tell them no. "I suppose I could do with some help getting all the filing done before we close for Christmas."
"Does that mean yes?" Santana asked excitedly, Carla nodded at her and said,
"Yes, come on Monday at around eleven and I'll find some stuff for you both to do."
Simon and Santana were thrilled at Carla's offer and Santana actually got up and hugged her.
"Thanks Carla!" Simon said. They all sat and had breakfast together and afterwards, as Carla and Santana walked ahead and talked about their Christmas lists, Simon nudged his Dad and asked,
"Hey Dad… what are you doing for Valentines Day?"
"Valentines day?" Peter scoffed, "Si... Christmas hasn't even gone yet."
"I know… but what I ave in mind will take some planning." Simon said mysteriously.
"Oh god… Simon you better not be trying to upstage me ere." Peter grinned, "I've barley been able to get Carla's Christmas present sorted yet."
"Dad… Christmas is in six days." Simon whispered, "You need to hurry up."
"I've ordered it but it hasn't come yet…" Peter whispered back, walking slower so that Carla and Santana were more in front.
"Good." Simon breathed, knowing it wouldn't be worth Peter's while for him, not to have got Carla a present yet.
"So… back to Valentines Day." Peter said, "What exactly did you have in mind?"
"Well… it's also Santana's birthday on Valentines Day which means it has to doubly be special." Simon said,
"Right…" Peter said, wondering where Simon was going with this.
"I want to take her to Disneyland Dad."
"Disneyland." Peter stopped.
"Yeah… and to Paris… it's supposed to be really really romantic there. I was thinking one day in Paris and one day in Disney… Dad it would be really cool there, Santana would love it." Peter grinned at his son's soppiness and couldn't believe how fast he had grown up.
"And just how do you plan on paying for this little trip… Oh and who's going to be accompanying you both on it? Seeing as I know you don't think that you n Santana are going to be traipsing around France on ya own." Peter asked.
"Well… I've been saving up a lot… I thought you could give me some money for Christmas and I also thought… you could come with us… you n Carla." Simon said as Carla and Santana were now stood chatting away to Michelle outside The Rover's.
"Carla… in Disneyland?" Peter said grinning again, thinking about the image of her with Minnie Mouse ears.
"Oh come on Dad… she'd love it… me n you both know that she is nothing but a big kid… besides I know that she would definitely love the Paris part."
Peter knew that Simon was right, that Carla would definitely be up for a day in Paris and as much as she would protest, Disneyland too.
"You know it makes sense Dad. It'll be so much fun… we could get the Eurostar to Paris and... I'll get a job or something… I'll pay my way I promise." Simon begged and it was the desperate look in his son's eye which made Peter say,
"Okay."
"Okay?" Simon repeated, "Really does that mean we can go?"
"Yes. I mean how can I say no eh? Let's get Christmas done and dusted eh n then we'll work out a plan." Peter said as Simon threw his arms around his Dad.
"Thanks Dad! You are the greatest y'know." He said, smiling from ear to ear, still unable to believe his Dad was here with him for Christmas.
"Oi!" Carla called from halfway up the street. "Get a wiggle on you two."
"Come on Si." Peter grinned, "Her highness is calling."
Simon and Santana both kept their promise and turned up to Underworld on Monday morning at eleven am. Simon was dressed in a black jumper and black trousers, whilst Santana was in a black dress with black tights. They had both obviously come in their best clothes and Carla couldn't help but smile adoringly at them as they stood in front of her.
"Awww don't ya both look cute." She said, taking them by the shoulders and pushing them towards her employees. "Right you orrible lot…" She grinned as her employees looked up at her. "This is Santana and obviously you all know Simon… they are going to be helping out for a few days before Christmas so I want you all to be nice n no, they are not here to get you lot your biscuits n your coffees so you can get that idea out of your minds right now okay?"
"Does this mean that they are coming to the Christmas party in ere on Wednesday night?" Sean asked from his sewing machine. Santana and Simon both looked hopeful at Carla, who narrowed her eyes at them and said,
"Maybe… now get to work."
Simon was asked to help Kirk pack whilst Alya took Santana off to help her learn how to file things away. They were very popular in the factory and even though they were there to work, they had a lot of fun messing about and listening to the Christmas music that they had playing from the speakers.
It was one in the afternoon when Peter knocked on Carla's office door. She was sat with her knees under her chin and was fiddling about with a pen, deep in thought when he walked inside and said,
"Working hard or hardly working?"
"Hmmmm the first one." Carla said as Peter came over to her, bent forward and kissed her on the head.
"Really because it looks like it's the second." Peter grinned, sitting on the chair opposite her.
"I am... anyways... you're one to talk about working hard... what are you doing ere eh?" Carla asked with her head on one side.
"Finished early for the day n I thought I would come and take you out to lunch… so how's the two mini apprentices been this morning?" Peter asked.
"Fantastic actually, they're currently on their lunch break with the girls… and Sean of course" Carla said putting her feet back down onto the ground and smiling at Peter. "I already love having em ere, I wonder if I could get away with making em quit school n work ere instead."
"Hmmm I think that is what more commonly known as Child labour." Peter said, reaching forward and poking Carla. She giggled and leant forward to kiss him lovingly before he asked,
"So… d'ya fancy coming to lunch or not?"
"Not…" Carla said, pulling him towards her by his coat. She kissed him so passionately and in a way where he could tell exactly what she was thinking.
"Carla…" Peter breathed as she started kissing him on the neck. "I've already made reservations."
"Mmmm so ave I baby…" She grinned as she ran a hand down Peter's body. The factory door then suddenly closed and before Carla could stop and pull her self away from Peter, Sally Webster had stepped into the office.
"Oh… I'm sorry." She said, flustered by what she had just walked in on. Carla sighed and pushed Peter away from her as he chuckled silently.
"Don't worry about it Sal." Carla said, getting up off her chair and picking up her jacket off the back of it. "How comes you've come back early?"
"Oh I left everyone else in the café, Simon and Santana ordered milkshakes…" Sally rolled her eyes, "Well they would because they are kids but then Beth and Sean decided to order some as well n then they started a ridiculous who can down their milkshake the fastest contest and… well I won't go into details but they were all acting very juvenile so I thought I'd come back ere n get some work done instead." Sally said, in total sucking up mode as Peter laughed, "It's not funny Peter… Roy looked very overwhelmed by it all."
"Eh don't look at me…" Peter said nodding towards Carla as he got up off his chair too. "They're her employees not mine."
"Eh? Who is this her?" Carla frowned, poking Peter in the stomach but grinning at him lovingly afterwards. "Me n Peter are going to go for lunch Sally… so I'll see you later." Carla said, pushing Peter towards the door. "These reservations you ave… they better be good."
"Peter… there are no restaurants down ere." Carla said, as Peter parked his car on a street that was fifteen minutes away from the factory. She double checked and yes, there were no restaurants around them.
"I know…" Peter said, taking her hand and leading her towards a Tattoo studio that was just across the road from them.
"Peter… what are we doing ere?" Carla asked as he opened the door for her to go inside.
The tattoo shop was surprisingly bright considering and was painted white inside with a red carpet. There was a huge Christmas tree in one corner, which was decorated with skulls, and there was loud Christmas music playing over the sound of the tattoo needles that were buzzing away in the background.
There were black books piled up on a sofa where two people were sat waiting and the walls were covered in endless amounts of flash work. There was a heavily tattooed girl sat at a desk who smiled at Peter when he walked in behind Carla and said,
"Hello… do you have an appointment?"
"Yes at two o'clock, the names Peter." Peter said as Carla gazed around her and shook her head.
"This… was your reservation?" She asked with an eyebrow raised.
"Well… Yes... I'm getting one of my tattoos touched up." Peter began,
"And…" Carla said because it sounded as if he was going somewhere with this.
"I want you to pick something." Peter said pushing Carla towards a wall with some delicate looking flash work on it.
"Y'what?" She exclaimed. Peter chuckled and put his arms around Carla's waist from behind.
"Choose something… after what you said on the weekend about being with you means drama… I want you to know that I would rather be with you than anyone else in this world and I spoke to Michelle who had said how scared you were down at the station about losing me... So I want to get a tattoo for us... to prove that no matter what... you are never going to lose me" He said, Carla turned to him and then shook her head.
"Peter… you can't…" she said in shock, almost in tears from the gesture.
"Why not?" He asked, taking off his jacket and putting it down on the sofa next to them.
"Because… tattoos last forever." Carla replied with another shake of the head.
"Yeah… I'm aware of that." Peter said dryly, then his tone of voice softened and he said, "Unless you don't think that me n you will last forever that is."
"Of course I do…" Carla assured, turning back to look at the wall in front her.
"Well then… pick something." Peter said kissing her on the cheek still from behind.
"Like what… Peter gimme a clue." Carla begged,
"Anything baby… something special… something that will always remind me of you... something that only we'll get." Peter insisted.
Carla took a while to look at the walls in front of her. She couldn't pick something and it soon came time for Peter to get his current tattoos touched up. He left Carla outside to make up her mind. She gazed up at all the generic looking tattoo ideas and racked her brains for inspiration... then she saw it. She eventually emerged into the room where Peter was getting his tattoo touched up and smiled as she went and stood next to him.
"So… ave you decided yet?" he said, not even flinching at the pain because he was more than used to it by now.
"I sure ave…" Carla grinned mischievously.
"Uh oh." said the tattoo artist who was inking Peter. "I've seen that look before."
"What is it?" Peter asked nervously, looking at the sparkle in Carla's eyes and becoming slightly afraid of what she had chosen.
"Well… I want you to get my name… in big celtic lettering… right across ya chest." Carla said holding her hands in the hair and looking deadly serious.
"W… what?" Peter stammered, the tattoo artist who had finished what he was doing, raised an eyebrow at Carla and said,
"We're pretty liberal in ere but even we really don't recommend the names of your other halves."
"Why not?" Carla asked,
"Because… y'know the old saying. Ink don't come off… even if rings do." the artist said. Carla nodded at him slowly but she was unable to keep the serious look on her face for much longer. She broken into a grin and started laughing, making Peter realise that she was just messing around with him.
"Oh… ha ha." Peter said, shaking his head at her.
"I couldn't resist." Carla said with a cheeky smirk. "I did pick something though… d'ya wanna see it?"
"I think I'd better." Peter nodded as the tattoo artist continued to touch up his old ones. His name was Dave and when he was done wrapping Peter's arm in cling film and throwing away all the needles he had used, Carla took him outside and left Peter in the chair.
"Oi…" Peter called, "I thought that you were going to let me see it."
"I am…" Carla called back, Peter could tell that she was up to something. When she and Dave finally returned, she gave Peter a little shove said, "Budge up then." She sat down next to him on the bed, as Dave came over to Peter with a image of a delicate moon. It was no bigger than a five pence piece and next to it was also a picture of a rocket.
"What d'ya think?" Dave asked, Peter leant forward and looked at it properly.
"I like it… I really like it… it's perfect." Peter said, smiling down at it.
"Are you sure?" Carla asked intently, "D'ya get it? you know what it means right?"
"Yep." Peter beamed, "Fly Me To The Moon." He said, reminiscing to five years ago when she and Peter had spent the night singing old Frank Sinatra songs to each other one night whilst at The Rover's.
"That night... it's always meant a lot to me." Carla said, on the same wavelength. "We had such a good time together and even though we were just mates I knew that one day... one day we would be something and look at us now eh?"
"I aint gonna lie... that's pretty damn sweet." Dave said with a nod.
"So… where am I getting this cute little tattoo then?" Peter asked, truly touched at Carla's idea because it was something that was going to be so meaningful to them.
"I think it'll look cute on the wrist… what d'ya think?" Carla suggested although she was still a little nervous about this whole idea.
"Sounds perfect." Peter nodded looking down at his wrist.
"You can only get one though." Carla said, "So hurry up n pick one… the rocket or the moon."
"Eh?" Peter exclaimed, as Dave was busy putting the image of the two onto the transfer papers.
"Pick one." Carla insisted, hoping that Peter would pick the moon.
"Okay the moon." Peter said in haste as Carla nudged him again.
"Good." She said nodding as Dave came over and sat back down in front of them.
"What are you doing?" Peter asked as Carla rolled up the sleeve on her jumper, exposing her bare wrist.
"Well… if you're getting the moon… then I'm getting the rocket." She said.
Peter thought he misheard her, he shook his head for a moment and then said,
"What?"
"I said I'm getting the rocket." Carla repeated, as Dave wiped her left wrist clean.
"How's this?" Dave said, pointing in the middle of Carla's wrist. She nodded at him as he placed the transfer paper down onto it and removed it to leave the image of the rocket on her wrist.
"Perfect." Carla said smiling nervously down at it.
"Carla… are you sure about this? I mean tattoos last forever." Peter said as Dave moved over to Peter's left wrist and wiped it clean.
"I'm aware of that Peter." Carla smirked, "Besides… it's like what Dave said… ink don't come off… this way... no matter what happens... me n you will be connected forever."
"Okay…" Peter nodded in awe as Dave placed the moon image onto his wrist.
"You can do his one first." Carla said anxiously, looking down at the tattoo needles that Dave was now preparing.
"Carla…" Peter said, double-checking that she was okay with all this, "Seriously baby a tattoo is a huge commitment… you don't need to do this."
"I know I don't… but I want to…" Carla promised, kissing Peter on the cheek roughly before saying. "Come on Dave… get on with it will ya." Dave raised an eyebrow at Peter as he moved his chair towards him and said,
"She's a bossy one aint she?"
"She sure is." Peter grinned, feeling such a rush of love for Carla right now that he was sure he probably wouldn't feel the pain of this tattoo at all.
"Wait!" Carla cried, as Dave went to start on the moon tattoo.
"What?" Peter breathed, startled by her outburst. "You know now is not the time to be shouting like that... just as the guy with the needle is about to stick it into my skin."
"Do me first… that way I don't chicken out." Carla said, thrusting her wrist towards Dave. He looked at Peter who nodded and then moved his chair back in front of Carla.
"You ready?" Dave said, watching Carla closely to see if she was ready.
"Yeah…" Carla said taking a deep breath.
"You sure?" Dave asked, just because he always made sure he asked twice.
"Go on… I'm ready." Carla insisted.
Peter took hold of her other hand and squeezed it tight as Dave got started on the rocket tattoo. Carla took a sharp intake of breath as the needle was switched on and started to buzz but when it hit her skin and started to actually make a mark, she looked a little relieved.
"Oh…" She said, thinking that the pain wasn't half as bad as she had expected.
Peter smiled at her and kissed her softly on the cheek as Dave got on with the tattoo, she winced once or twice but it was fairly small so it only took a few minutes or so. Dave got up and put the needles he had just used on Carla and put them in the bin, as she moved her wrist up towards her face and looked closely at her newly inked skin.
"How was it?" Peter asked leaning in as Carla admired her rocket.
"Not as bad as I thought it would be." Carla smiled as Dave came back and began wrapping her wrist in cling film. "I love you baby..." She said kissing him softly and feeling immensely proud.
"To the moon n back eh?" Peter grinned, Dave rolled his eyes at how soppy it sounded but Carla didn't care.
"Absolutely." She said as Dave finished wrapping her wrist.
"You ready Peter?" he asked, getting out a fresh packet of needles and sitting back down in front of them.
"Course I am." Peter nodded, holding out his wrist so that it could be connected with Carla's forever. He still couldn't believe what Carla had done for him today and now every time he looked down at his wrist he would be reminded, he would be reminded of his beautiful wife and just how much she loved him.
Sorry this is slightly late. I hope you enjoyed it and don't forget to review :)