It was two weeks. Two weeks since her heart had been ripped out and stomped on. Sure she was laying on a sunbed in the blazing sunshine in December but she was anything but happy.

Christmas was awful but she put on a smile and enjoyed the day with Suzie. Michelle would call to check in every now and then but overall it was just her and suzy. She hadn't heard from him at all.

When she woke up on christmas day she knew that in Weatherfield they were hours ahead. She half expected a text saying happy christmas but nothing. Nothing at all.

"You will be ok" Suzie used to say to her often. What exactly did that mean. She had asked Peter that once, how long will it take to start feeling normal again? She asked him for a date to put in her diary.

It was now New years eve.

"Come on Car, the guys will be expecting you" Suzie said, dressed and ready for a party. A few of her work friends had invited Suzie and Carla to a party. Carla thought about going but she didn't want to dampen anyone's mood, especially Suzie's as she was so grateful to her for everything.

"No thanks, I don't feel like it" Carla told her.

"It will make you feel better to get out and meet new people" Suzie encouraged "come on, it might even be fun" she smiled at Carla.

"No, Suzie you go" Carla said, placing her magazine down, since she had read the same sentence ten times "I will be fine"

Suzie stood there and watched as her friend tried to persuade her she was ok but she wasn't. She could hear her as she cried herself to sleep each night, she could see the fake smile she gives when someone asks if she was ok and she could sense just how heartbroken Carla really was.

Once Suzie had gone Carla breathed a sigh of relief. She picked up her magazine and once again re-read the same sentence. Her mind was somewhere else completely, her mind was on another continent.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Carla rolled her eyes.

"What have you forgotten?" she called as she walked towards the front door "I knew you left in a ru…" Carla stopped talking once she saw it was not Suzie standing at the door.

"Hi" Peter said.

Carla just looked at him.

"Is this a bad time?" Peter asked. He looked her up and down and smiled at the sight in front of him. She was tanned from all the sun and wearing a yellow bikini. She had her sunglasses on top of her head, pulling her hair back from her face. Her hair was wavy as it was left to dry in the warm sun.

Carla saw him looking at her, she crossed her arms to try to keep some of her modesty. "Hi" Carla paused. "That is the first word you choose to say to me?" Carla said, angrily.

"Can I come in?" He asked.

"If you have too" Carla said. She couldn't cope with all her feelings right now. On one hand she was so happy to see him, she missed him and still loved him like mad but on the other hand, he left her, he let her walk away and sit on a plane for hours crying to herself with a broken heart.

He hurt her.

Peter slowly walked past her and into the house. As he walked past he got a whiff of her perfume, comforting him. He loved her smell, he loved a lot about her but her smell was one of those things.

She shut the door behind him and walked through to the pool. She grabbed her dressing gown that was on the sunbed and placed it on. She crossed her arms to keep it shut.

Peter knew to follow her as he knew where she was going. He spent some time here with Carla when they came over not that long ago.

"You look good" Peter told her, standing opposite her.

"You travelled all the way here to tell me that?" Carla sniped.

"No, I didn't" Peter started "I came because I missed you" Peter took a step closer to her. She noticed but stayed put.

"What am I supposed to do with that?" Carla said, dropping her arms dramatically so one hit her thigh and made a noise.

Peter smiled "I missed you Carla"

"Peter, I can't do this" Carla turned away from him.

"Carla, I made a huge mistake, letting you go" Peter took another step towards her, he placed his hand onto her shoulder.

Carla jumped at the contact and shook off his hand. She span round to face him "just go Peter"

"I love you Carla and I am not going until you tell me you haven't missed me too" Peter bit his lip as she thought about her answer.

"Peter, I am sorry but you've had a wasted trip" Carla took a deep breath "but I need you to leave"

Peter stood in the same spot, he was unable to move. He really loved this woman stood in front of him and leaving her at the airport was a big mistake. He sighed and took a step closer to Carla.

"Peter" Carla warned. She knew she was about to break down but she didn't want to do it in front of Peter.

He knew not to push her, so he nodded and took a step back "I am staying at the hotel by our restaurant, if you change your mind and want to talk"

Carla nodded at him, still unable to talk in fear of breaking down.

Peter then turned and left through the back door. He knew how to get in and out as he lived there with her once.

Once he was gone Carla practically ran into the living room. She slumped herself onto the sofa and began to sob.

A few hours later she woke. She sat up in shock that she had actually fallen asleep. She hadn't slept properly since she left.

She looked at her phone to see there were missed calls from Michelle and Suzie.

There was also a text from Peter which read:

Carla,

I know I have let you down and probably when you needed me the most. But if you let me make it up to you I will try my hardest. I just want to talk, I know today was a shock and I am sorry for that but we need to talk.

I love you.

Carla sighed at his text. Was she being stubborn? She picked up the remote to switch on the tv. She thought about all the things she was struggling with.

The biggest thing she still had to deal with was what Frank did to her. She was still having nightmares, especially since Peter was no longer there with her.

Next was her drinking. She still had a few glasses, again Peter not being there to stop her didn't help her.

Lastly, and the one she still couldn't get her head around was Peter staying behind and letting her go off on her own. She loved Peter, a part of her always would. She didn't understand how he could let her walk away from him. She did of course understand that Simon was first to Peter but to end it like they did was something she couldn't get over.

Seeing him again was something that she didn't bargain on for a while at least. She knew that eventually she would have to go back to the street, if only to sort out the factory. She knew she would have to go back to see Rob and Michelle.

But she didn't think he would turn up on her doorstep on new years eve telling her he loved her.

But here she was, here they were, wondering what would happen next.

Carla's attention was brought back to the tv as the countdown began. She watched as the countdown on the tv went down from ten. She normally hated this sort of thing but after the day she had, a piece of normality was needed as a distraction.

She saw the fireworks go off in celebration making the room turn pink, yellow and then blue.

As she watched out of the open double doors, someone stood into her line of gaze.

"Happy new year"