When It Crumbles

Leanne gave her son a tender smile and squeezed his no-longer chubby cheeks. Simon winced at her being so motherly and over protective before throwing his arms around her waist like he did when he was just six.

"I'll definitely talk to Nick about Friday night," Leanne said reassuringly as Simon nodded back.

"Thanks Mum. I really have missed you and I want to get back to how things were before. You know, before I...well, you know. I made a mistake."

She had never felt so proud of him for following the life lessons she had attempted to teach him along the bumpy road to now. He was a good kid beneath it all and she had always known that. He seemed to be heading in the right direction and this was the best news Leanne had been given all week.

"I know sweetheart. I know. Okay then, I best be off to work now so I'll see ya later alligator." Leanne said, heading for the door.

"In a while, crocodile," Simon chuckled back.

"See ya sweetie." Leanne closed the living room door with a grin wide across her face. She then opened the front door of Ken's and made her way onto the street, closing it firmly behind her.

Glancing down down the road to where hers and Nick's Bistro was, Leanne spotted the van to the Bistro and all the Platt's huddled around the front. Shit. It looked as though Nick had hit somebody with it. She already knew how frightened he got when driving the van after past experiences. Her feet took over before her brain did and she found herself sprinting down the street to Nick and the others.

That was when she saw Max. His leg was covered in blood and bruises from where the headlights of the car had knocked him and he looked equally as startled.

Kylie reached for her son and held him close to her chest as he lay on the ground. Callum stared on at his little boy, horrified that he had caused such amount of pain to his own flesh and blood.

Leanne on the other hand did all she could, wrapping her arm around Nick's shoulder and pulling him into her chest, holding his head close.

"It's okay," she whispered in his ear. "It's alright, he's okay." She said soothingly, kissing his temple as he looked on at his nephew.

"Max, do you think anything is broken?!" Gail asked as she joined the others, gathering around the litte lad.

Max frowned. "Maybe your van, Uncle Nick."

They all let out a sigh of relief. All but Callum, who was waiting for the glares to fall upon him.

David scooped Max up in his arms and carried him down the street towards the Medical Centre whilst Bethany, Gail, Nick, Leanne and Kylie turned on Callum.

"I want to come and see my son." Callum demanded, making his way in the direction David had gone in. Kylie slammed her palm into Callum's chest, leaving him startled.

"You stay away." She gritted her teeth. "You go as far-away as your crappy little car can take you. Get away from us and stay away from us."

Callum shook his head at her. "He's my son too. What right have you got to stop me from seeing him?"

Nick eased Leanne's arms off of him and took a step forward towards the thug that had beaten up his beloved. "Take the hint, pal." Nick said sarcastically. "Do as she said and piss off."

Callum began to run, off to his car that he had parked by The Kabin. He started the engine and zoomed off past the Bistro, leaving them to deal with the aftermath.

"I'm going to get our Sarah." Gail said, gesturing to Bethany, who looked very distraught and as traumatised as Max who had nearly become human roadkill. Gail rolled her eyes at her grand-daughter and continued alone towards the pub.

"I'm going to Max." Kylie began, turning on her heels in her leopard print leggings and black trainer wedges. She got past the van before turning back around. "Oh, Nick?"

Nick looked up and met her eyes, the look of relief and worry so vivid. "Hmm?"

"Thanks for helping us get rid of him."

"It's the least I could do." Nick replied, gaining a simple nod from Kylie, who trudged on back to the Medical Centre to her husband and her injured little boy.

Nick looked at Leanne, mouthing a 'Thank you' to her. They both turned their attentions to Bethany, who still hadn't spoken a word since the accident.

Leanne tried to gain her attention by patting her arm gently. It didn't make a difference and so, she resorted to the desperate measure that she usually used on Simon.

"Bethany!" Leanne yelled in the teenager's heavily made-up face. She was soon back on planet Earth and shook her head, trying to remove what she had just seen from her mind. It also hadn't helped that she had seen how bad Leanne looked just hours after Callum had attacked her. Of course, Bethany had only heard snippets of what had happened from her Mum, Kylie and her Gran; so her knowldege was limited but finally Bethany had seen it for herself. Now it had knocked her for six and she was feeling so incredibly guilty.

"Sorry," She whispered, the childish tone in her voice standing out more than anything else. Leanne and Nick knew from the wavering in her voice that she was probably going to start the waterworks and neither wanted that.

"Are you alright?" Nick asked, moving to stand on the opposite side of his niece and Leanne stood on the other.

She nodded slowly before the tears came and she shook her head instead. "What if Max isn't okay? This is all my fault!" She blubbed.

Nick looked across at Leanne as Bethany sobbed into her hands.

"Let's get you inside eh?" Leanne suggested, taking Bethany's arm with Nick and leading her back inside to the Platt's house.


Carla sat in the toilets of the factory, her cubicle door locked firmly and her handbag open wide as she applied her make-up again. Her head was spinning and a headache was coming on from the amount of thoughts whizzing around her head.

Apply the 'Cocoa Crush' lip gloss across my lips. Lips. Peter has lips. Luscious, soft and incredibly amazing lips that you could kiss all day, and night long. You should kiss him Carla. You should talk to him Carla.

But then, Sally is probably out there now on the factory floor, acting as though she owns the joint, bossing the staff about and nagging at them. Aidan is probably struggling to cope with the work load and his tiny brain being unable to manage it all. The place is most likely crumbling to ruins without me. It is probably going to look like the Colosseum by the time I step out of this toilet.

And Peter. Peter. Peter. Peter Barlow. Peter Francis Barlow. Peter with his lips on mine, his tongue caressing my body and the feel of him inside of me. Ah yes. Ah no. No. Stop. It's wrong. It's so very wrong; yet so right too.

That's it; Carla had decided there and then. She had enough of pussy-footing around him, denying that she cared, pretending she loathed him because she didn't and she was beginning to lose her grip on control.

She unlocked the door of the loo, glanced in the rectangular mirror on the tiled wall and strutted out the toilets.

"Sal, I am going out for a bit!" Carla declared, grabbing her bag out of the office and swinging it over her shoulder.

"Wha...Mrs Connor!" Sally called back after Carla but she had already made her way straight out of the door and onto the wet cobbles.

It was after the storm. The storm had passed and there were no more tears to cry for Carla. She felt ready to get over her hell and find the light at the end of the storm.


Jason had completely ignored Eva's pleas for him not to go back to work at the Builders Yard, desperately telling him that he needed to rest and he couldn't do that if he was working again. But with Gail's granny annexe getting built and other jobs all over Manchester, it seemed he was going to have to get his crutches to the grind-stone fairly soon.

He sat behind the crammed desk that was covered in a variety of blue-prints, books and the odd tool as well. Jason was struggling to crunch the numbers for the bill of the job at Gail's and even a calculator was proving to hard for him to manage.

Eva made her way in, carrying a packed lunch she had made him. Despite being unsure over her feelings for the two men in her life, she had kindly taken the time to make him ham and tomato butties, a fruit salad, crisps and a flask of tea with three sugars, just how he liked it.

Eva placed the bag down on his desk, watching his frown turn upside-down as he saw her.

"Hiya babe." Jason said with a smile. "What've we got 'ere then?"

Jason began rummaging through the paper bag, oohing and ahhing at the lunch his girlfriend had guiltily...lovingly prepared.

"Special lunch for my nĂºmero uno!"

"Babe, this is amazing, thank you."

"No problem handsome. How about me and you do something special tonight, eh?" Eva suggested, coming behind his desk and wrapping her arms around his neck.

He slipped his arms around hers, lightly pecking her hand. "Sounds amazing. Why don't we go for a drink in the Rovers?"

"Yeah, alright," Eva agreed. "Bit naff though, I mean I work there 24/7."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Why don't we go for a drink and see if Nick and Leanne fancy it too? Then we could do something...just us two afterwards."

Eva grinned. "Yeah, yeah. Leanne would like that. I'll talk to her then! Okay chickie, enjoy your butty and make sure you eat ya veggies!"

"Will do gorgeous." Jason replied, watching his girlfriend teeter down the stairs in her high heels.


David and Kylie hadn't returned from the Medical Centre with Max yet, and Nick had moved his van to outside the Platt's whilst Leanne and Sarah tried to get something out of Bethany.

Leanne sipped her tea, having made one for her sister-in-law and Nick's niece, who looked much younger than her years, sobbing at the kitchen table as Leanne and Sarah sat either side of her.

Sarah rubbed her daughter's back soothingly. "Come on angel, tell us what's happened. What is going on?"

Leanne leaned in nearer with Sarah, waiting for Bethany to crack and finally tell them everything. She didn't. She sat, staring off at the wall ahead of her, tears rolling down her face.

"Right, that's the van sorted," Nick announced as he came back into the Platt's. He was stunned to see his niece in bits, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Beth?" Nick asked, edging over to her at the table. His eyes made their way over to Leanne, hoping for her to give him an answer; he only gained a shrug. She was just as confused as he was.

"Bethany...sweetheart, just tell us," Sarah pleaded.

"Yeah," Leanne agreed. "We can't help if you don't tell us what's happened."

Just then, the others came through the door. Max's leg was bandaged up well, the cast wound tightly around his knee to cover the cut that had needed stiches. Bethany's eyes flickered over to her adoptive cousin and the sheer state of the little boy's leg.

She turned back again, her bottom lip quivering ferociously.

"Bethany?" Gail asked, rushing over to sit at the kitchen table beside Leanne, Sarah and her favourite grandchild. Of course, she'd never tell the others that.

Bethany smacked her head down onto the table, resting her head in her arms, trembling and wailing even louder. She lifted her head slowly, meeting the eyes of the others that had sat around the table.

"It's all my fault," Bethany sobbed. "I've caused all of this."

Kylie frowned, shaking her head vigorously. "What is? Bethany...what've you done?"

The others huddled around her tighter.

"I...I gave Callum the alibi," Bethany admitted.

Leanne stopped and stared at Nick. He moved over to her, slipping an arm across her shoulder, squeezing her tightly.

"You did what?!" Sarah snapped, incensed.

Bethany sobbed into her Gran's grey knitted jumper, allowing the smell of Gail's favourite perfume to consume her senses. She wished the pungent smell of flowers and cinammon had overwhelmed her mind when she had been blackmailed by Callum; that could have been her excuse. Now, she had none.

"Mum...everyone...I'm so sorry."

Leanne and Nick shook their heads furiously along with the others, equally as disgusted.

"Why?" Leanne asked, glaring at Nick's niece.

Bethany glanced up at her uncle's girlfriend, hoping her obvious regret would soften the fury that was ready to be unleashed from Leanne.

"I...he said he was gonna hurt you all." Bethany stuttered, the words getting caught in her throat.

"God, you are as thick as your mother." David said.

"He already has hurt us all." Nick stepped in. "He's beaten Leanne. How do you think we feel hey? As if it hasn't been hard enough lately for us."

"I'm sorry Uncle Nick, Leanne, honestly I am. He threatened me, he drugged up Mum and said he would wreck everyone's lives if I didn't do what he wanted me to do."

That had sent all kinds of sick images into Sarah's head.

What Callum wanted.

Her little girl.

Blackmailing her.

He hadn't.

He wouldn't.

She was Max's cousin. A kid herself.

But, she had seen him flirt with her and buy her a present.

"Beth, sweetie," Sarah softened. "Tell me what he did."

"He was in the Rovers a few weeks ago and he must have spiked your drink." Bethany wept, holding her Mum's hand. "I...I got a message of him. He'd taken a video of you passed out. I...I thought he was going to really hurt ya."

"What? Like he did to me?" Leanne argued. She felt Nick's hand sink further into her shoulder bone. She rested her hand on top of his.

Bethany nodded. "An' I'm sorry Leanne. I heard Uncle David sayin' you'd hit Callum Uncle Nick. Callum said I had to give him an alibi or he'd..."

Gail pulled a face. "Do what?"

"He'd batter me like he did to you, Leanne."


Carla made her way into the Ginnel, as the toxic fumes of ciggeratte smoke had caught her eye as it billowed above the chimneys of the houses on the Street.

Her heeled boots clipped against the uneven cobbles down the alley and as she made her way past the bins she had once suggested Peter fuck her over, she saw him.

There he was, her not-so knight in a shining leather jacket. Peter took a drag of his ciggeratte before stamping the life out of it when he saw Carla.

"Carla." He sounded surprised she had even managed to look at him, let alone talk to him after what he had done the day before. "Is everything alright?"

Carla smiled, her plump peach lips forming a large smile across her face. She edged nearer towards him.

"I am now." Carla smirked. "You are an interfering, know-it-all and you think everyone needs you."

He nodded like Simon would have after a telling off.

"But I like it." Carla grinned widely. "I like knowin' ya care an I miss knowin I have ya."

Peter looked absoutely astonished by her revelation. "Really?" He waited for her to yell "Gotcha!" but she didn't.

"Now I owe you." Carla said seriously. "I owe ya big time."

"You don't need to pay me back." Peter shook his head at her. "I owe you. For it all, me sister nearly killin' ya and everythin you 'ad to put up with."

Carla jokingly sighed. "Oh...you don't even want to know what my thank you gift is?"

Peter looked interested. "Gift?"

Carla took a brave step forward. "There's no receipt or exchange promise though." She warned him, her lips just inches from his.

He could feel her minty breath on his. "I can live with that."

Carla pushed her lips against his, a wave of passion coming over them both. He deepened their kiss, wrapping his hands around her head, running his fingers delicately through her silky brunette locks.


After Bethany's surprising confession earlier that day, Nick had taken her straight down to the police station and got her to change her statement. Now, Callum had no alibi and the police at last had the grounds to interview him and keep him in overnight. Leanne was getting nearer to justice, and Callum was seeming to go away.

They agreed to a drink in the Rovers with Eva and Jason to celebrate the oh-so good news, the first good news they had both had all week.

Eva sat with a glass of white wine, the same as Leanne, in a booth with their other halves in the Rovers.

"Well, things finally seem to be lookin' up for us all." Eva beamed, giving Jason her warmest and most genuine smile in a long time. She couldn't imagine cheating on him again and after seeing how much calmer he had been with his injuries, she was loving him even more.

Nick nodded. "They do, don't they Eva?"

Jason chuckled. "Yeah, business is booming too! I'm havin' to price up yer mam's granny flat."

"Annexe." Nick and Leanne said in unison, wagging a finger at Jason. They both knew how much Gail hated the term 'granny flat'. She had spent so much time with Sally that now she deemed it too 'common'.

Eva giggled, a little tipsy from the wine. "Ha! That's you told then babe."

Jason rolled his eyes. "It's still a job though. Granny flat or annexe."

Leanne smiled, raising her glass. "Yeah, can't argue with that. We've got a big job soon...Sally and Tim's wedding of the year- sorry century!"

Eva snorted. "Agh! She's doin' me nut in, goin all cray-cray for this flippin weddin!"

Jason moved awkwardly in his seat. "You wouldn't say that if it were yer wedding. Would ya?"

Nick and Leanne raised their eyebrows suspiciously at Jason.

Eva frowned. Jason had never said anything quite like that to her before. "Well, I wouldn't be as annoyin as Sally. Besides, not like yer gonna ask me, is it?!"

Jason wriggled again. "Well...Eva, I need to tal-" He was cut off by the door of the Rovers swinging wide open.

"Where is he?!" Gary roared, furious.

Michelle furrowed her eyebrows as she handed the change back to a customer. "Who chick?"

"Jason!" he screamed. "I'm gonna kill him!"

Alya rushed in behind him. "Gary! Please, don't do this!"

"There he is!" Gary yelled, storming over to Jason who stood up to answer his mate. He knew what this was over. Alya. Jason had slept with Alya months ago behind Gary's back. Now it was payback time.

"You scumbag!" Gary shouted, punching Jason in the mouth.

Eva screamed, standing and helping her boyfriend as Alya pulled Gary back. "Jase, are you okay babe?" Eva asked.

Jason nodded, feeling the blood trickle from his lip. Nick and Leanne glanced over at Alya and Gary, waiting for an explanation like everyone else in the pub.

Gary pointed. "You need to know what a liar you're dealin with Eva."

Eva frowned, looking at Jason who could barely meet her loving eyes and confused expression. "What d'ya mean?"

"He had sex with Alya when you were in France Eva! He's lied to us all!" Gary revealed, gaining gasps and stares in the packed pub.


Just wanted to say thanks for the great reviews and sorry for not updating sooner!

Please keep leaving such amazing reviews and I promise to try and update a.s.a.p!

Stick with this because there is still so much more to come!