I apologise in advance for the length, I got a bit carried away!
This wasn't how I planned for this chapter to turn out, but I've been watching 2007 Carla recently and I fell back in love with Liam and Carla as a pairing (cousin thing aside). As much as I'm a hardcore Liarla shipper, they won't hook up in this fic because I genuinely do not think they ever did pre-2007, but I am convinced that they both fancied each other for years and just kept it to themselves, so that'll be a theme here. They'll eventually grow apart and be at each other's throats, but for now they're all cute.
Chloe x
20th October 1990
Helen watched warily from the kitchen doorway as her beloved daughter and her rough friend giggled about some boy at their school in the living room, both sprawled across the sofa, Carla's legs resting across Michelle's lap. Helen was tucked slightly behind the wall so that the girls couldn't see that she was keeping an eye on them. She gave a disapproving tut as Carla made a crude joke about the size of the boy's muscles.
"Stop being so nosey," her husband Barry murmured into her ear from behind her.
"I'm not nosey, I'm worried," Helen scoffed, "She's a bad influence on our Michelle."
"I like her, she's a funny girl."
"Funny's one word for her, I can think of plenty of others." Drawing herself away from fussing over her daughter, Helen turned her back on the girls and resumed the washing up that she'd been invested in before she'd overheard part of their conversation. "Michelle never cared for boys until she came along." Barry chuckled.
"That's because she was ten-years-old! Give her a break, dear, she's growing up." Helen muttered unrecognizable words under her breath as she began to scrub a plate with vigor, taking her frustration out on the inanimate object.
"Do they know about Dean?" Carla asked, her voice hushed, tilting her head in the direction of the Connors' kitchen. Michelle shook her head. She hugged one of the sofa cushions to her chest in giddy excitement.
"Course not, unless Liam's said owt. It's only been a few weeks, I'll tell them when it starts to get more serious."
"And will it?"
"Oh, I hope so. He's lovely, Car. He's so kind, and thoughtful, and he makes me feel like I'm the prettiest girl in the school. He's not like other boys his age," Michelle gushed. She and Dean, who was in Carla's year at school, had been dating each other for about a month, which she'd been keeping a secret from her parents as she'd been wanting to avoid her mother's inquisition. Despite being only fourteen years of age, Michelle had matured much faster than her peers – both mentally and physically – but she knew that her mother wouldn't be thrilled at the thought of her only daughter having a slightly older boyfriend. "Anyway… What about you and Luke?"
"What about him?" Carla mumbled, dropping her gaze to the magazine that rested in her lap. Michelle smirked, jabbing her friend's leg playfully.
"Don't be coy, Suzie told me you were speaking to him." Carla gave a deliberate roll of her eyes.
"Suzie needs to learn to keep her gob shut. It's just talking," she replied with a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders
"Yeah, but you fancy him, don't you?" Michelle pressed, excitedly. Carla was unable to conceal the telltale smile that played on her lips.
"Course, he's well fit." Both girls, giggling, failed to hear the clicking of the back door of the house that lead from the kitchen to the small back garden, and further into the ginnel that connected the houses on the street together. It was a regular occurrence for visitors to use the back door if they were passing.
"Hiya," came Johnny's loud voice, causing Carla to glance over to the kitchen doorway in surprise, "Sorry to intrude, the corner shop's out of yoghurts and the baby will start to get grizzly soon."
"How is little Kate?" Helen asked affectionately, retrieving the yoghurts that she stored in the fridge for the regular occasions where Johnny and his young family would visit. Johnny smiled proudly.
"She's a dream. More of a pain in the arse than her brother was, but I wouldn't change her. And I can't believe she's going to be one next month… Cheers for these."
"Hiya, Johnny!" Carla called from the living room, leaning over to the right as far as she could to try and see the familiar face.
"Oh, hello love, what are you doing here?" Johnny asked, filling the kitchen doorway with his large form.
"Trying to turn our daughter into a common tart…" Helen mumbled, though her words were unfortunately loud enough to be heard by the girls.
"Helen…" warned Barry.
"Oh, it's fine, I'm used to it after the last three years," Carla replied, flashing Helen a sarcastic smile, "Me and Helen have level of understanding now. I know she likes me really, it's all just a front, ain't that right Helen?" To diffuse the tension, Johnny moved into the living room to speak to the two teenagers and tried to change the subject.
"What gossip have I missed?" he asked, perching on edge of the radiator that faced them. Carla grinned mischievously.
"'Chelle has a boyfriend."
"Carla!" Michelle hissed, smacking her friend's stomach with the back of her hand, "So does Carla!"
"Does she now?" Johnny asked, raising his eyebrows in surprise. The thought of the little girl that he'd watched grow into a beautiful young woman being messed around by some teenage spotty oik terrified him, and he felt an automatic duty to protect her. "What's his name?"
"I don't, she's just talking crap as usual," Carla answered quickly, flashing a warning glare at the younger girl, knowing full well how unreasonable Johnny could be when it came to her welfare, "She's just trying to deflect. Doesn't want Mummy and Daddy to find out that their little princess isn't as sweetness and light as she seems." Michelle glanced nervously over to the kitchen doorway and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that her parents had disappeared again, obviously not interested enough in a conversation between a pair of teenage girls. She didn't even react as the front door opened and slammed shut again, and her older brother sauntered into the living room dressed in a mud-splattered football kit, his dark hair disheveled and a superficial graze across his cheek.
"Don't worry about me, Uncle Johnny, my boyfriend's lovely," she assured him.
"And hers?" Johnny asked warily, nodding to Carla, "What's he like?"
"'Ey up," Liam quickly interrupted, his blue eyes growing wide as he looked down at his raven-haired friend, "Who's Carla's boyfriend?"
"Luke Strong; year below you," Michelle sung, earning her a swift kick from Carla, who swung her legs off Michelle's lap and glanced up at Liam.
"He's not my boyfriend!" she repeated, "We're just talking a bit." Liam wrinkled his nose in distaste.
"Luke Strong's a right prat, I've played football with him a few times, dead cocky and that. Anyway, he's shagged everyone, what are you interested in him for?" Liam sneered, his face darkening with an unreadable emotion, causing both Carla and his sister to frown at him in confusion. Not wanting to hear any more about Carla's blossoming love life, Johnny quickly rose from his position and backed towards the kitchen to rejoin his cousin.
"I'll leave you kids to it, this is getting way too much information for me," he announced before slipping out of the room. Michelle continued to watch her brother curiously, narrowing her eyes.
"What's up with you?" she asked, bluntly. Liam gave a casual shrug of his shoulders.
"Don't know what you're on about. The guy's trash."
"Not jealous, are you?" Michelle teased. This time, Liam and Carla both spun to look at her, Liam's cheeks filling with a distinct pink colour.
"Jealous of what?!" he retorted, awkwardly starting to rub the back of his neck with his hand as he always did when he was nervous.
"Oh, come on, we both know you've fancied Carla for years!" Michelle announced triumphantly, pleased to be getting one over on her brother. Liam tried to hide his discomfort with a snort.
"You're such a kid, 'Chelle," he mumbled, conscious of the burning sensation that he felt across the whole of his face and praying that Carla didn't look back at him, "You obviously aren't interested in my advice, so I'm going upstairs." As he turned to leave, Carla quickly grabbed hold of his wrist, causing him to stop dead in his tracks.
"'Ey, your dad's given us some money to get a chippie tea. You coming with?" she asked. Liam tried to ignore how good it felt for her to be touching him and gulped down the lump that seemed to have formed in his throat, disguising it with a sarcastic comment instead.
"Is it just going to be me and you, or does she have to tag along as well?"
"Ha ha ha. You'd love that, wouldn't you?" Michelle shot back, poking her tongue out at her sibling.
"Give me ten minutes to get changed and I'll be good to go," he said, responding directly to Carla and ignoring his little sister. Carla nodded, satisfied, and Liam slipped out of the room. Carla felt a bizarre sort of pang in her chest that she'd never experienced before at the thought of Liam being jealous over her blossoming situation with Luke. She put it down to surprise at how concerned he seemed to be about her. Michelle scooted closer to her on the sofa, again glancing over at the kitchen doorway to make sure that Johnny was out of earshot.
"'Ey, I know I like winding him up, but I swear to God, Carla, if you ever think about shagging my brother, I'll flamin' deck you."
"Behave," Carla laughed, though she realised that it was harder than expected to block the thoughts of her and Liam from her brain, "He's just protective. Speaking of which, thank you for dropping me in it with Johnny, by the way."
"You did the same."
"Yeah, but he won't be worried about you. Me, he'll give me a flamin' police-level interrogation. I don't know why; he's a funny one, that one…"
On the roof of the Connors' three-bedroom house, larger than average for the area, was a small hatch with a skylight into the attic-turned-bedroom that Paul used on the rare occasions that he was home from university. The hatch had a ledge that could just about fit three small bodies on it, and had become a regular hiding spot for the trio after hours, when Helen had demanded that Liam and Michelle be home as it was after curfew. Technically, they were at home, but hiding up on the roof kept them away from their mother's prying eyes and ears. For Carla, whose mother didn't care enough to notice if she was home let alone set her a curfew, it gave her a few additional precious moments with her friends where she could escape to a more normal life than she had at home. Fitting on the ledge had become more of a struggle now they were bigger than they were at ten, eleven and twelve, but that night they'd clambered onto the roof, large bag of chips in hand, and had squashed themselves into the small gap, Carla wedged between the two warring siblings, the bag of chips open on her lap.
"You're not really going out with Luke Strong, are you?" Liam asked, stealing a chip. Carla shot him a small, almost knowing smile.
"What's it to you?" she queried, trying in vain to read his veiled expression. Liam shrugged in an act of false indifference.
"He was shagging three girls in my year at the same time last year," he explained, embarrassed at how much he cared for the girl sat beside him, "Just… I don't know. I just worry. I don't want you to become another one of his victims." Carla pressed her lips together in a smirk and leant back against the hatch, looking down at the quiet streets below them. It wasn't very busy for a Saturday night; there was a faint buzz of music coming from the nightclub a few streets away, but otherwise there was an almost eerie silence filling the atmosphere. Liam couldn't help but watch her intently – she looked so pretty in the dim light of the moon.
"Do I look like a victim?" It was a rhetorical question, but Carla turned back to him with a challenge in her eyes, and Liam found himself obediently shaking his head.
"Not at all," he whispered back, and though he still felt a desire to protect her, in that moment most of his worries drained away. So many people had tried to hurt her already in her short life, but Carla Donovan had fought back stronger every time. Carla tilted her head to the side and rested it comfortably against Liam's shoulder, the little sign of affection making his heart quicken.
"It's cute that you care, Leebugs," she replied, her opposite hand coming to rest on Michelle's leg, which Michelle found with her own hand and laced her fingers through Carla's, "Both of you. I don't know where I'd be if I hadn't met you two."
"Still standing just as tall as you do now," Michelle assured her, "Though you'd look a state because you'd have no one to let you pinch their mascara." Carla laughed at that, though she quickly turned serious once again.
"You both know I'll always have your backs, don't you?" she asked. Liam allowed his hand to roam from his lap across to her thigh, which he gave a gentle, affectionate squeeze. He was sure, but aware that he may have been imagining things, that he heard her breath hitch at his touch.
"Course we do. And we'll always have yours. If you need me to beat that Luke kid up, you just say the word," he joked, though sincerely meant every word he said. Carla lifted her head and looked into his eyes, so familiar yet with an older, wiser glint to them that she'd never noticed before when they'd been mere children.
"It's going to be weird without you at school this year," she said. Liam smiled.
"You two will be fine, though. You've got each other." The three sat in silence for a moment longer, enjoying the company without needing to utter a word, just listening to the revving of engines below them. Eventually, Carla disrupted the quiet.
"One's of you's gonna need to take these chips, my thighs are flamin' burning."