Survival

"How?"

"I should be asking you why" she comments as he sighs "So tell me Peter, or you dont have to but consider I know exactly what happened that night...Did Simon murder his mother?"

"No"

"Liar!" she accuses getting off him, she paces the room "You can tell me you know"

"Well if you're so sure why don't you arrest him, go on" Peter challenges her, she glares at him "Oh wait, you can't because you tried to pin it on Nick then our little night together would come to light"

"Why are you doing this? Out of love because you love your son, they always say that a parents bond is unbreakable"

"I wasn't in Simon's life for the majority of it-"

"Until the responsibility was landed on you" she snaps back, he gulps and shakes his head "I don't blame you, I would have freaked out"

"Never wanted children eh? Mind you you're so career-driven"

"You deserve a slap" she warns him, her eyes channelling into his body as he smirks "Come on Peter as I know who did it give up the act"

"Carla you said-"

"I say a lot of things!" she hisses at him as she bends down by the side of the bed looking into his eyes, she undoes the linen that was keeping his arms attached to the headboard "You need to start speaking, tell me everything"

"No"

"Fine have it your way" she picks up her phone, Peter grabs her body and shoves her up against the wall, he crumbles and she bites her lip watching his body fall to the floor and him sob into his hands, she closes her eyes feeling sorry for him knowing he really didnt want to be in this position

"It was him," he says calmly, Carla sits on the floor beside him and looks at him in the eyes full of worry "He..."

"Hey, tell me" Carla whispers hooking her fingers under his cheek like he did moments back in the interview room "Remember I can help"

"He...they argued, Leanne and Nick about me and how I wasn't there for Simon, he heard all of this. The poor kid was fed up with the arguments and I don't blame him, I would never blame him for that and...he was scared and angry. I dont know exactly what happened and about the bottle but...he went home back to my dads...looking for me maybe he thought I could fix it or maybe he wanted to confront me who knows. The kid put on this front Carla, admirable in all the wrong ways and I got in, I wasn't even drunk, I lied, we barely drunk anything did we?"

"No"

"Anyway I go upstairs and see him sitting on the stairs at the top, he begins to panic and I quieten him down because my dad was sleeping in the room next door so I take him downstairs and outside and he was hyperventilating, I've never seen so much panic on a child and he told me that he had hurt Leanne, I couldnt really work it out until he said that she was lying at the bottom of the stairs. I promised him I would sort it for her and that...I would make it all better because I wasn't there for him before now look what's happened the truth has come out and I've failed him, as usual"

"You haven't failed him" Carla brings him in for a hug, he secures his hands around her body and she places herself on his lap "You were trying to protect your child, it's admirable"

"Its still murder though"

"It is" she whispers, Peter cups her cheek and kisses her out of fear, out of this attraction for her and she accepts, her body was telling her to and it wasn't long before he was lying on the floor and they were having sex, she couldnt stop herself and she didnt know why...

"Here" he passes her a coffee, she groans slightly and frowns at where they fell asleep on the floor

"Ugh" she rubs the back of her head, he sighs and helps her up and they get into bed as it was pretty cold "I'm sorry for lying"

"Peter you were protecting your son" she responds sadly shaking her head, he sighs "We also need to stop having sex every two seconds because it's getting us nowhere"

"I know"

"He murdered his mother Peter, can't you see how wrong that is?"

"You can hardly sit on your high horse and say you follow the law perfectly Corrupt Copper Carla"

"Fair point" she sighs and shakes her head "There's a big difference between that and being a murderer though. Tell me what you know?"

"I told you everything, I burnt his clothes in a random park in case they had DNA on them or whatever, I'm such an amateur after all aren't I as my DNA was found on her"

"But you knew..." she trails off, Peter sighs "About her being murdered, didnt you use gloves or anything, I'm just not buying it if you had the logic to burn Simon's clothes unless you're not telling me the truth"

"Ok fine, you're going to think I'm so cheap"

"I won't," she says softly, he sighs and shakes his head as she reaches out to grab his shirt, she puts it over her body "Try me"

"I kissed Leanne"

"What?" Carla's eyes widen, Peter sighs and closes his eyes as he lets the grief flood his body, she hugs him and he immediately tightens his grip onto her

"I kissed her, it was stupid and she was so angry because she was with Nick"

"Oh, Peter..." Carla trails off pinching the bridge of her nose, he begins to cry and she immediately comforts him "Why?"

"I dont know if I could tell you then I would but..."

"Come here," she says allowing him to rest his head against her chest, she closes her eyes knowing she had to think about her next move

"You have to help me, Carla, please"

"You know my career is on the line" she whispers, he looks up at her and nods

"He'll have no one, his mums dead and if I get sent down then..." he gulps, she nods slowly "He'll be alone a murder charge is huge and its the wrong person"

"I know," she says softly kissing him on the head as he bites his lip "I'll help you"

"Really?" he questions quietly, she tilts his head up so their eyes met

"I will" she confirms "But right now I need you to keep a low profile ok? I recommend going to get Simon now and then travel down south to keep a low profile there"

"Ok" he nods as she smiles at him before grabbing her dress and taking his top off to pass it to him, he immediately brings her in for a hug and holds her causing her to gulp

"Why don't you go and get ready then go and see Simon, I need to go home and freshen up-," she says before he steps forward and runs his thumb over her bottom lip until her body was pressed against the wall, she smirks "Peter are you not listening to a word I say"

"You're sexy when you're angry" he whispers leaning in and brushing his lips against hers, she reciprocates and it wasn't long before Carla's dress was off again and on the bathroom floor...

They managed to part ways, Carla immediately made her way to Michelle's and of course, her friend rolled her eyes at her state knowing she had definitely been out on the lash. She invited her in and Carla used her shower and borrowed some of her clothes whilst Michelle made her something to eat knowing she was probably starving. Unfortunately for Carla, she knew something was up with her friend and Michelle was determined to find out what it was and more importantly she needed to know exactly what was going on so Carla didn't make another mistake that could jeopardise her career.

"Here" she passes Carla the bacon sandwich she put together, she turns her nose up at it "I want it all gone Carla I mean it"

"Yeah alright," she rolls her eyes picking up the sandwich and eating it "Come on then let's get the lecture over and done with..."

"Well you've obviously done something"

"Yep" she confirms "I've done a lot of things"

"Such as?"

"I slept with him again, last night"

"Carla!" Michelle groans rubbing her forehead in annoyance "He must be good if you keep going back to him"

"Don't worry I'm putting an end to it all" she smiles, Michelle sighs and rolls her eyes "I am you can trust me"

"How did you even?"

"It's a long story but...I'm going to stop it, you just watch me ok?"

"It's your funeral I suppose," Michelle says as Carla frowns "How many times last night then?"

"Three, one on the floor the other two times in the shower" she mutters, Michelle grimaces and grabs a banana from the fruit bowl "But I know what I'm doing, I promise"

"Well I hope that you do" Michelle waves her banana at Carla causing her to smile "You're already playing with fire, the last thing we want would be for you to get burnt"

"And I won't trust me"