Chapter Three

Peter looked at the woman before him. Just like Carla he knew he would bump into her eventually, but he didn't think it would be quite literally. Where Carla was apprehensive to see Peter, he too felt the same, especially considering he was the one which caused the breakup.

Carla knew that it really was now or never. She'd managed to walk straight into the man and couldn't exactly avoid him now. Carla racked her brains for a causal sentence to say considering he hadn't spoken a word. "You're looking well." She said. It was true. He looked much better than the last time Carla had seen him, considering he'd gone away to get better.

"Uh… Yeah… You too." Peter said. The last time he'd seen Carla, she was a broken woman which was all down to him. "I… Uh assume you know that I'm back." Peter said because even though he could tell Carla was surprised to see him it wasn't an unexpected shock.

"That was the word on the street." Carla said as she stood rather awkwardly. Carla couldn't take the awkwardness. "So, how've you been?" She asked as she looked at him. She couldn't ignore the aching in her chest when she saw him. Despite the fact that he cheated on her and broke her heart, she knew deep down that love she felt for him would never go away, not fully. She did know that she did feel love for Nick and assured herself that over time, whatever she could possibly feel for Peter would go away.

Peter cleared his throat. "Uh… Yeah, I've been good." Peter nodded. Peter wasn't expecting to come back so soon. He'd started making a life for himself in Portsmouth, but he'd heard from his Dad and Leanne that Simon had well and truly gone off the rails. They put it down to Peter not being around, so the moment Peter felt stronger mentally and physically he didn't hesitate to come back to Weatherfield. "How are you?" He asked.

"Yeah… I'm good." Carla said. Quite frankly she wanted this awkwardness to go away. Did he even know that she was in a relationship with Nick?

"Good." Peter said as he nodded and hoped that she was genuinely okay. Carla nodded awkwardly. "So, I guess I'll see you around." He said.

"I guess so." Carla replied. She mentally kicked herself for being so awkward. She went to walk away but knew that if this was how it was going to be between her and Peter, she'd be avoiding him for the rest of her life. This wasn't possible considering he only lived across the road. She wasn't saying that she wanted him and her to be the best of friends but maybe just being at a stage where they could say hello, without any tension or awkward atmosphere.

Carla turned on her heel before Peter had the chance to go into the Rovers. "Look." She said as she suddenly felt a spark of confidence. "If we're going to be living a matter of yards away, don't you think we should at least be civil and able to just say 'hello, how's it going?' without all this?" She said as she referred to the tension between them.

Peter wasn't expecting this from Carla but for months on end he wished and hoped that one day he and Carla would at least be civil towards one another. He longed for a miracle where she would take him back and they'd live happily ever after but knew that was a pipe dream, considering he knew all about her and Nick. Right now, he would take a simple conversation from her. "Uh… Yeah… It would make sense really." He said actually very casually but internally he jumped for joy.

"Okay." Carla said. "So, if we see each other about, a simple 'hey how's it going?' won't hurt." Carla said. Peter nodded.

"Sounds good to me." Peter said as quite frankly he didn't have it in him to feel on edge every time Carla was about. "So, I'll see you around then." He said once again.

"Not if I see you first." Carla smirked before walking away. She knew this was going to much harder than she thought but the least she could do was not have to live on eggshells wondering if she would have to a avoid him every time she left for work or went into the pub. Right now, Carla was just grateful no mention of Nick came up in conversation.

Later that evening, when Nick had finished work, he came over to Carla's. They shared some wine, while they watched a film Nick had recommended. She wasn't entirely sure why she hadn't told Nick that she'd seen Peter and they'd agreed to both be civil, maybe because she didn't want him to disapprove.

The couple went to bed later that night and surprisingly Carla slept pretty well. The following morning she'd woken up before Nick and was grateful for a decent night's sleep. She put this down to her dreaded conversation with Peter, not going as bad as she'd expected.

Before Nick had woken up, she'd got herself dressed and ready for the day. She decided that she would pop to Roy's for her coffee, mainly because she'd ran out of it in her flat and could only go so long without any caffeine.

She made the short walk to Roy's and entered the cafe. There were a few people in there but nobody she knew, that was until she'd noticed Peter sitting in the corner with a hot drink. He was on his own and look rather content. He hadn't noticed her yet. A part of her wanted to walk out but they'd agreed to be civil and avoiding him would only stress her out more than she needed to be. However, before she had the choice to walk out Roy had asked her what he could get her. "Just a coffee please Roy." Carla said. Peter had heard Carla's voice.

"Coming right up." He said as he quickly went to make Carla's coffee. She counted out the change in her purse before she considered going over to Peter.

"Hey." She said as she walked over to him. She could see that he didn't actually look all that great. "Is everything okay?" She dared to ask.

"Uh… Yeah." He said as he took a sip of his coffee. Carla knew him too well to see that he was clearly not being completely honest.

"It's just… You don't look… Okay." Carla said.

"Eh… It's nothing." Peter said. Right now, he could really do with having someone to talk to but he didn't want to burden Carla with anything.

"One coffee." Roy said as he handed Carla her coffee.

"Thank you, Roy." She said with a smile. Roy might've been oblivious to a lot but he wasn't expecting Carla to be willingly talking to Peter, but he decided that it wasn't any of his business. "So, do you want to talk about it?" Carla asked as she was still standing up holding her coffee while Peter looked far from okay. Peter looked up at her, surprised that she was willing to give him the time of day. Peter shook his head.

"I don't want to offload." He sighed. Carla took this as an opportunity to sit down in the seat opposite him. She wasn't sure why she was doing this but didn't like the look on Peter's face.

"It's not offloading if I'm asking, is it?" She questioned, giving him a small smile. "Or you can just tell me to get lost and keep my nose out." Peter sighed at her slightly.

"The reason I'm back here is because of Simon." Peter said vaguely. Carla looked at him as she was a little lost as to what he meant. "He's been getting into trouble left right and centre… He's misbehaving all the time… Leanne is at the end of her tether with it and my Dad's too old to cope with it all and why should he? Simon's my son." Peter said which actually gave him some sense of relief that this was out in the open.

"Could it just be some sort of teenage rebellion?" Carla asked as she sipped her coffee. Peter shrugged.

"I don't know… I blame myself, after everything that he's been through and seen in his life, to me just upping and leaving… I can't say I'm surprised he's acting like this." Peter huffed. "I just wish I knew how I could stop him being like this, but the more Leanne has tried to put a stop to it, the more he's seemed to rebel against her." Carla wasn't sure what advice she could offer him, especially after she'd almost forced it out of him.

"Well maybe with you being back, he will put an end to it all… I'm actually surprised he's like this because every time I've seen him about, he's always been polite and stopped to have a chat." Carla said as it was true. Carla and Simon had come a long way since he absolutely hated her and always made the effort to speak to her in the street. Peter was somewhat relieved about this.

"So he's not a complete and utter menace then?" He questioned raising his eyebrow. Carla shook her head seriously.

"Until you just said anything, I didn't have a clue." Carla said as she wondered if Leanne had said anything to Nick about Simon's behaviour while they worked in the Bistro.

"Well, like you said… Hopefully now that I'm here, he'll put a stop to it all." Peter sighed. "Sorry for offloading-" Peter started

"You weren't offloading." Carla shook her head. "Bottling things up only lead to disaster, you end up getting right inside your head and in my case… and well your case we all know that the only way to stop those thoughts are downing the nearest bottle of booze." Carla said. Peter was relieved that at least someone understood how he felt. He'd had the third degree off his Dad and Leanne so many times since he'd been back that it was refreshing to actually have this conversation with Carla.

Carla really felt at so much ease. She was still dreading the inevitable of Nick being the topic of conversation, but Carla could see Peter had other things on his mind. Carla had forgotten how well her and Peter could actually communicate when they wanted to. Despite what had happened between the pair she was at least hoping they could be friends. That's when she really but the bullet. "Besides that's what friends are for… When your own family do your head in, you've got someone else to talk to." She said swallowing in case she'd overstepped the mark.

"We're friends?" Peter questioned as he thought since last night's conversation, they would just be civil now here he was the following morning with Carla saying that they're friends. If he was being honest, Carla had always managed to confuse him over absolutely anything. He chuckled to himself mentally over the fact that Carla was probably the most complicated person he'd ever met.

"Yeah, I guess so…". Carla said and Peter nodded.

"And what would Nick think of this?" Peter asked raising his eyebrows. There it was. Carla let out a very awkward chuckle. Peter could see by the look on Carla's face that she didn't want to mention Nick. Mainly because she was worried what Peter's reaction was going to be.

"So… You know about Nick then?" Carla said raising her eyebrows.

"Simon, might've mentioned it… As well as Leanne... And as well as Tracy." Peter said. Carla nodded. When Peter found out about Carla and Nick, he was livid. His anger was very much directed at Nick because out of all the women in the world he had to go for his ex. He didn't blame Carla because she deserved to move on and have a life of her own, even though he would've wished for anyone but Nick Tilsley. Then over the past few weeks since Peter had found out the news, he'd learned not to be angry. He might've absolutely hated the idea, but it was his fault he and Carla were no longer together. "I hope that he makes you happy." Peter said in a way good way, with no tone of spite.

"He does." Carla said as she felt the awkwardness begin to surface something that she thought was going away. Peter took a sip of his coffee as he didn't have anything else to say. Well, he did, he had a lot to say, but he wasn't going to say anything out loud. "Speaking of… I'd better get him a coffee and go back to the flat." Carla said as she took one last gulp of her drink. She felt bad as things had seemed to be going well.

Carla had gotten up out of her chair and went over to the counter where Roy was standing. "Can I get a black coffee to go please?" Carla asked. Roy nodded. He wasn't sure whether to comment but again, it wasn't any of his business as to why Carla and Peter were talking.

Peter watched Carla as she ordered Nick's coffee. He really did like being able to talk to her, it was because she always knew the right things to say. Once Carla had been handed the drink and turned to walk out, Peter caught her attention. "Friends?" He said as he looked up to her hopefully. Right now, he needed all the friends he could get. Carla smiled.

"Friends." She confirmed before leaving the cafe and heading back to her flat where she was sure Nick would be up.

Carla got back to her flat and just as she thought, Nick was up and ready for the day. She handed him his coffee and he gave her a kiss as a thank you. Was this where she was supposed to Nick hat she'd actually spoken to Peter, and they'd somehow come to a conclusion that they were friends or at the very least civil? However, she knew Nick would disapprove and so she bottled it. She was going to tell him but not right now. Their relationship was still very new, and Carla was still trying to work out the boundaries.

Carla and Nick ended up going to the shopping centre that day. It was Carla's idea since she just wanted to get out. Nick didn't mind where they went, he just wanted to spend time with Carla and would do whatever she wanted even if that meant waiting ages for Carla while she tried clothes on in the changing room of every shop they went into. They ended up going for dinner too and really made a day of it. Carla had even managed to forget the conversation she had this morning with Peter.

However, Peter hadn't forgotten. It was later in the evening and Peter was currently in the Rover's sitting at a table with his Dad. Peter hadn't missed the dirty looks he'd been getting from Michelle all evening and the frown on her face when Peter and Steve had a conversation earlier on. "So Carla really said that?" Ken said with his eyebrows raised. Peter nodded as he took a sip of orange juice. Michelle had suddenly taken an interest in the conversation after she'd heard Carla's name mentioned.

"We both agreed that we should be civil towards one another and now I guess we're friends… Which is good because I've made an enemy of too many people in time." Peter said. Michelle was making sure she looked busy behind the bar and that she wasn't eavesdropping on the conversation.

"I didn't even know you'd spoken to her." Ken said still a little surprised. "But it's good that you're able to talk to her."

"I'd quite literally bumped in her yesterday evening when she left this place, then I saw her this morning in Roy's, and she sat down, and we had a little chat." Peter explained. Peter didn't go into the details of the conversation and that he'd told her about how much trouble Simon had been causing.

Michelle couldn't believe that Carla hadn't told her about this straight away, especially after how Carla was worried about bumping into him. The first thing Michelle wanted to do was speak to Carla, but she knew that she would most likely be with Nick and Michelle knew Carla too well to know that she probably hadn't mentioned any of this to Nick.

Carla had, had a really lovely day and evening with Nick. After they'd been shopping and for dinner, they went back to Nick's flat for a change and spent the evening in each other company. Carla didn't end up staying the night and she didn't tend to when she had work in the morning but after a glass of wine she went home and had somewhat of an early night. Carla was completely unaware of the grilling she'd be getting off Michelle tomorrow.