Merry Christmas, I wasnt going to update today, but I thought why not, i really appreciate all the reviews that have been left, thank you all!
Carla was on her way to Michelle's flat where she would be meeting her to discuss anything she wanted really, Carla was willing to give information, any information that ranged from marriage to kidney disease, to why she chose to lie about Peter. Worrying about the reception she would get, Carla was getting increasingly anxious, shifting her weight from one foot to another waiting outside of Michelle's flat to be let in
"You best come in" Michelle smiles softly trying to keep her calm, beckoning Carla into the flat
"Ta"
"So then, Peter came to see me yesterday which is why I wanted to see you" she lies, trying to stir things up with Carla and Peter, especially if Peter hadn't told Carla
"I know he did" Carla smirks knowing exactly what she was doing "I wanted to say thank you for letting me have this opportunity to explain everything"
"Not a problem"
"So what do you want to know?" Carla questions as Michelle places a coffee down in front of her
"When did you and Peter rekindle whatever this is?" she waves her finger around in the air as Carla snickers, Michelle rolling her eyes
"Rekindle" Carla mutters shaking her head in amusement "It was around when I first got my diagnosis, Peter he was in the area at the time, something about helping one of his ex alchy mates or was it navy mates?"
"So how did you bump into each other then?" Michelle interrogates, intrigued so far where the conversation was heading
"So you know where my house was situated, there was that guest house at the end of the road-"
"The one that was next to the beach?"
"That's the one, it has that little café, so I went for a coffee like I do every Sunday, and guess who was sitting at one of the tables?"
"Peter Barlow" Michelle laughs, she had to laugh at the utter coincidence
"Indeed, obviously I was intrigued, you could hardly blame me, he said he was down helping one of his mates fix up a boat at the harbour near my house"
"Men ey?"
"Mhm anyway so we got talking one coffee turned into four, he then offered to take me for dinner, I was sceptical at first but then I thought what have I got to lose? Especially if he was leaving shortly after , it was nice to have someone relatable you know, someone who shares the same background-"
"Then let me guess you invited him back for a night cap?"
"Yeah, then he kept questioning why I wasn't drinking and that I could around him because he had been sober since he came out of prison" Carla sighs tearfully, replaying the memory, Peter, the first one she told about her illness
"He kept interrogating and I snapped of course, he reassured me that everything would be alright and that he would help me get better, he said some lovely things, some really lovely things"
"Like what?"
"That he felt the same, you know when he was lying in that hospital bed when he was in prison, he said he did the right thing in the end, letting go of me and that he wanted to help me get better hoping that the strength of me seeing him would influence me to get the help I needed like when he saw me that time in hospital, he realised that when he saw me it gave him the strength to get help he needed, in this case moving to Portsmouth, I felt warm inside, when he said it, like I was slowly healing, the coldness had faded" Carla looks up from her mug to Michelle's tear stained face, her cheeks covered in the black mascara and eyeliner which originally highlighted her eyes
"I didn't mean to make you cry" Carla frets knowing she went off on a tangent which was somewhat deep
"I'm sorry"
"What for?"
"Not being there for you, I feel bad that you had to rely on Peter" Michelle sighs wiping her eyes, Carla taking her hand and holding it gently
"Its partly my fault as well, I shouldve told you, been honest from the start but with Peter, it was different he didn't treat me as if I could possibly die he treated me as if I was healthy as if I had a life to live"
"So when did you two become boyfriend and girlfriend? You know make it official"
"Well that night cap happened and of course we ended up in bed together, and I will tell you think it was the most mind blowing sex in the world he took complete control of my body" She grins replaying the memory embarrassed to some extent, her cheeks flushed with it
"At least you got some good sex out of it" Michelle shrugs as Carla grins rolling her eyes, trust Michelle to say that
"Anyway he told me he was staying around for a week, so I gave him the opportunity to prove to me that he was a changed man"
"I'm guessing he did?" Michelle questions as Carla sighs closing her eyes, the tears pooling their not evident to Michelle
"I don't know if he did, I collapsed Michelle I was heating up some food and I fell, knocked my head so he immediately got me the help I needed, and that's when I thought, maybe we could make this work"
"You were alright though?"
"I stayed in hospital for a couple of nights, much to my annoyance, he bought me magazines, snacks and everything I wanted, he even bought me a teddy, a teddy 'Chelle, Carla Connor with a flaming teddy!"
"Carla Barlow actually" Michelle corrects her as Carla smiles
"Well I wasn't a Barlow then, anyway he extended his stay, especially after they found out my kidney function had dropped, so I said he could stay with me which made me feel safe, I didn't want to pass out again, alone as well that would've been scary to imagine"
"Why didn't you let us help you? We would've you know"
"You only just lost Ruairi-"
"Hang on, but Peter was with Toyah then, before that even"
"So, he told me that he would need to get back, I didn't know what he meant, whether he meant Portsmouth or Weatherfield, so I decided to outright question him asking him if he was with anyone"
"Please don't tell me he lied to you" Michelle sighs as Carla shakes her head
"No he didn't, he said that he was seeing someone in Weatherfield, but he still wanted to help me, that was when I got the consultation through for the next week, he promised he'd go to it with me, which he did" Carla sighs tearfully as Michelle gives her hand a gentle squeeze
"Go on"
"That's when we found out I would definitely most likely need a transplant, Peter got tested but he wasn't a match and then we heard about this trial for treatment abroad, I had half of the money saved up I just needed the other half then Peter came up with this ridiculous plan, I still cant believe we pulled it off, to pocket half of the profits fro the Rover's into my savings account, unbeknownst to Toyah"
"Wow"
"My thoughts exactly"
"Come July of that year, Peter proposed to me well I say proposed it was a joke at first, he was mocking some guy on the dock who hasdjust proposed to his girlfriend, he was trying boost my mood knowing I was feeling down about everything, then I thought, would it be a bad thing if we did make this real?"
"Did you have a knock to your head or summat?"
"God knows" Carla groans thinking how stupid it was "But anyway, we went back to the house, and I sat him down and I just blurted out saying 'let's get married' didn't I? Trust me his face was a picture"
"You pick your moments don't you?" Michelle grins rolling her eyes at how amusing the situation was
"At first he was very confused, but the more he thought about it the more he thought 'maybe Toyah isn't right for me ' then he started to open up about his relationship with Toyah, bear in mind I didn't know it was Toyah at this point"
"Wait, so you didn't know he was seeing Toyah? So he lied?" Michelle questions raising an eyebrow wondering how foolish Carla was, if it was true, for her to go back to Peter and have him outright lie to her face
"No, I knew he was seeing someone, it wasn't until December I found out it was Toyah, I was around five grand off my treatment, so when I did find out, I didn't care, I knew he was sleeping with her, it wasn't cheating as such, it wasn't it was more like saving my life I guess?" Carla sighs realising how bad it sounded Michelle giving her hand a squeeze knowing it must be hard for her
"Wait, is that why you came back?"
"No, Aidan came to visit me, he wanted me to invest in the factory, of course I couldn't I needed the money for the treatment, Aidan told me that Peter was seeing Toyah didn't he? I wasn't shocked, not as shocked as I would be if it was an affair I knew he loved me, he was pocketing half of the profits for months 'Chelle, I didn't doubt his love and it would be rather hypocritical of me to tell him off when I suggested that he carry on seeing whoever he was seeing, especially as he was helping me on the money side"
"Wow, you two, he's like your flaming kryptonite" Michelle grins, tracing her finger along the rim of her mug sighing as well knowing that the love of Carla Connor and Peter Barlow was damn right unbreakable
"Alright 'Chelle" Carla rolls her eyes at the cheesiness
"I still don't understand why you lied, about Peter, about your kidney disease?" Michelle sighs shaking her head wanting to get to the bottom of all the lies
"My kidneys was definitely my pride, I know that sounds bad but I hate to feel like a burden, but I wish I told you sooner because it felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders when I did finally tell you, and as for Peter, do you hardly blame me? I mean I know what you're like you'd march me down to the solicitors and force me to get a divorce"
"I guess, but I just hate being lied to, especially about secret marriages"
"I'm sorry, for all the stress and upset, I just want my best friend back" Carla sighs as Michelle smiles gently taking a hold of Carla's hand
"I know you do, I forgive you, I guess I just jumped to conclusions" Michelle smiles tearfully as Carla gives her a hug
"I'm so sorry 'Chelle I mean it, if there's anything I can do to make it up to you-"
"You don't need to, is it ok if I see Peter, I need to apologise for the way I acted yesterday" she bites her lip guiltily as Carla nods, getting up off her seat and giving Michelle a hug as they leave the flat and walk to the pub
"Peter, can we have a word?" Carla questions, Michelle behind her approaching the bar, Michelle biting her lip guiltily
"Sure come through" he smiles as Carla quickly takes Michelle's hand and leads her through to the back room
"What can I do for you?"
"I wanted to apologise, for yesterday, and I wanted to say thank you" Michelle smiles as both Carla and Peter frown, confused at why Michelle was thanking them
"Why?" Carla laughs slightly, a laugh of confusion
"Thank you Peter, for looking after her, for making sure she was alright especially when her pride got in the way" Michelle replies tearfully, launching herself at Peter, trapping him in a hug, her way of thanking him
"Chelle he can't breath if you do that" Carla grins as Michelle smiles letting go of Peter, dipping her head
"Sorry"
"Get her a bottle of red on me" Carla smiles patting Peter's chest as he grins going into the bar and returning with two glasses
"One for you, I don't want you running that kidney into the ground" Peter sighs placing a glass down for both Carla and Michelle, filling them both
"Ooo a special treat for me 'Chelle" Carla grins as Michelle laughs taking a sip of her wine
"So then how you doing living here?" Michelle smirks as Carla slaps her gently on the arm
"It's alright you know, me and Peter support each other when we want to drink so overall we're doing really well" Carla smiles biting her lip taking in the delicious consistency of her drink
"That's good, I think it suits you" Michelle grins as Carla smiles gently nodding slowly wondering if it did actually suit her
"I don't know though, I mean don't get me wrong, it was pretty nice listening to peoples petty excuses for gossip rather than the factory lot bleating on about trivial nonsense" Carla drones somewhat bored of the gossip when working at Underworld
"How are you coping with Aidan gone?" Michelle questions tearfully, Carla grabbing her hand and giving it a squeeze
"It's hard, I miss him but I know at the end of the day I have Peter here to help me through the way I am feeling, he's been great, he really has" Carla smiles as Michelle nods glancing down to her drink
"So what's next for you two?"
"I don't know really, I mean-" Carla goes to close the door "-Peter wanted us to try for a baby"
"Oh wow, I mean, I take it you don't want to?"
"No not really, I just don't see myself as being a mum right now, I'm the happiest I've been at underworld, I feel so career motivated, I just, I don't know" she sighs as Michelle takes her hand knowing that it was probably because she didn't want anything to go wrong
"Look is it's any help, I think that you would be a great mum whatever you decide, just make sure Peter understands, I don't want him pushing you into things-"
"Michelle, you're doing it again"
"Sorry, I just worry ok, I know that man can be very persuasive" Michelle smiles as Carla rolls her eyes, more than capable of handling the situation herself
"It's good to have you back, I thought I lost you forever"
"So did I, but I was being a stubborn cow, but don't worry I'm back now and don't worry, me and you will be just fine" Michelle smiles as her phone goes off glancing down at it, frowning softly
"Look, I need to head off its Robert, we'll talk later yeah, you can finish the rest off, I won't tell Peter" Michelle gestures for Carla to take her glass which she smiles accepting it, as Michelle leaves the room quickly answering the phone
"Johnny?... Woah hold up, I have some news…yeah I'll pop over…alright see you in a minute" Michelle ends the call heading out of the back door of the Rover's
"You alright?" Peter questions entering the back room noticing the door was now open
"Yeah, I'm fine, me and 'Chelle we're building bridges, obviously after I recited the 'Devon life story' but yeah, we're doing alright" Carla retorts sarcastically as Peter laughs ruffling her hair
"To be honest I thought she was going to kill me when she hugged me, I'm surprised she didn't have a pocket knife"
"To be fair, I did too, I don't know if I trust her yet, but we'll see"
"What do you mean?" Peter questions "You seemed fine, I mean it was as if you never fell out"
"Well I just thought she would give a little more fight"
"You're pretty convinced that wasn't genuine then?" Peter confirms as Carla sighs
"Yeah, but we'll see, I guess"
What is the plan? Is Michelle being genuine? I guess that's a mystery to be told...