The more time went past the more she realised how he didn't really trust her. It saddened her as they thought after being honest they really were getting somewhere but she could see that deep down in the depths of Peter's soul he was struggling to forgive her for her mistake. Every day it was a constant reminder seeing it in his eyes the mistake she committed nights before and it hurt to think that they were struggling to move on from this even if it was down to her and her own motives. Somehow with every little thing that she did Peter was there, not that she minded, in a strange way it made her feel safe and secure, the way he doted on her but deep down she knew that it wasn't him willing to do that because of her. He just wanted a glimpse of her mystery man and in a way, it irritated Carla that he was trying to jog her memory in a way which she didn't want to remember her night of deceit. All Carla wanted to do was move on and that was difficult when she hurt him, the guilt would always be there and that was something she didn't know how to cope with. It would just have to be something she learnt, she hoped.
"Hey you two" Johnny enters the backroom glancing between Carla and Peter who were sat in silence, he noticed the underlying tension
"Hi" Carla smiles biting her lip as Johnny heads into the kitchen and returns glancing between them both
"You two need your heads knocking together" Johnny states, Carla glares at him as a warning not to interfere
"Excuse me this is none of your business" Peter snaps finally losing the end of his tether with everyone interfering in his and Carla's relationship
"Peter" Carla scolds before pinching the bridge of her nose
"No he should be focussing on Jenny not sticking his nose in our relationship where it doesn't below" Peter spits, Carla shakes her head standing up and collecting her stuff before storming out of the room due to his behaviour
"You need to rethink how you treat my daughter otherwise I will be sharing my opinion more often" Johnny says before leaving the room, Peter sighs rubbing his head and biting his lip…
Carla went to work rather annoyed with Peter's behaviour, she just immersed herself in her job and even if Peter's behaviour plagued her mind entirely. Dealing with clients was a welcome distraction and made her happy to think that she would just be able to use this as a distraction because she really didn't need to deal with another one of Peter's teenage strops at this point in time. Of course when she next took the opportunity to think about Peter he appeared causing her to roll her eyes at the bouquet he was holding, she took it into her hands and raised her eyebrows at him, he apologised profusely and said that he would make it up to her if she came home with him now.
"Baby I can't just up and leave" she sighs slightly closing her eyes "Sarah's not here today so i need to stay and meet with this client"
"Right" he comments narrowing his eyes, she sighs in realisation at his look
"You don't need to check up on me either"
"I'm not checking up on you!"
"Peter it's fine I get it...the more we speak the more i realise how we cant keep pretending that what i did can be forgotten. We'll speak later" she glances to her client, Peter sighs in response
"Fine, just don't be too long, please"
"I will try my best" she says quietly adjusting her face mask causing Peter to leave and close his eyes leaning against the wall of the factory and sighing…
She managed to get away after begging Nick and borderline grovelling to him about maybe working for a few hours. It felt cheeky for her to do that but she could tell Peter was desperate for her to come home as he was sending texts endlessly to her phone which made her rather annoyed at him. When she entered the pub, Johnny and Jenny were grinning cheekily at her and Johnny immediately blindfolded her causing her to groan at some spectacular Peter Barlow-esque over the top plan to apologise to her. She could practically hear Johnny grinning as he walked her into the backroom and in a way she was thankful that she had the blindfold so that her numerous eye rolls were hidden from all and sundry. Soon enough Johnny removed the blindfold which was covering her eyes, she internally scolded him at the fact her eye makeup was ruined but to her surprise all of those worries disappeared when she was greeted with Peter who was smirking at her.
"I'll leave you both to it" Johnny beams closing the door before Carla could speak, she returns her gaze and raises her eyebrows at Peter
"What's going on?" she asks biting her lip looking at Peter straight in the eyes, he walks over to her and places his hands on either side of her arms "Peter?"
"I was speaking to Leanne earlier-"
"Oh well that's great speaking to your ex" she raises her eyebrows giving him a warning look which was laced with a joke "I'm joking"
"I know you are" he mutters before laughing slightly "Anyway after everything with Oliver she was talking about Nick"
"Oh even better both of our exes cropped up in the conversation"
"I'm going to tape your mouth shut in a minute" he says glaring at her, she bites her lip to suppress a laugh "She was saying how her and Nick were dead and buried and then i spoke to her about us and how it felt as if we didn't come as a pair anymore"
"Oh right" she trails off feeling kind of saddened he confided in Leanne instead of her "And?"
"And then she said if there is a sliver of hope there for us to grab it with both hands, I love you and I know you love me"
"Right, that's true" she nods slowly as Peter gets down on one knee and offers her a ring, she bites her lip "Peter-"
"Carla Connor, will you marry me?"
"Uh…" she trails off "I don't know Peter…"
"Come on think of it as a clean slate yeah?"
"Peter this is all so lovely but we've been here before" she comments glancing down to where he was on the floor offering her a ring "Granted I did it last time this whole proposal malarkey but we've only just started recovering after what I did...are we really in a good enough position to do this?"
"Please Carla this might just be what we need, come on?"
"Peter, I appreciate this but...no, I can't marry you, not yet. I'm not saying never, just not now, not when things are too raw"
"So it's a no?"
"For now, yes" she nods biting her lip "Sorry"
"So...now what?"
"I don't know Peter I really don't know"
She says because she really doesn't know, somehow Peter proposing to her startled her because she really didn't know how to deal with such a grand gesture after everything. She knew this was the guilt she would always have for the situation but right now having a proposal felt like she was just brushing everything under the carpet and deep down she knew Peter didn't trust her and getting married on the basis of mistrust and guilt just didn't need to happen right now and it was wrong to do that. In an ideal world she would have said yes because she really did want to marry Peter, he was the love of her life but she couldn't bring herself to do it, not now, not after everything.
"I'm sorry" she adds as Peter sighs in response kind of annoyed he suggested it in the first place
"No I understand, I mean we were hardly in a good position were we and we're not so…" he trails off "I get it"
"Are you sure?"
"Well not entirely but I can't force you into something you won't be happy with-"
"It's not like that I just think that with everything that's gone on is just not a basis to get married with, you don't trust me Peter. You've been following me around like a lost puppy trying to see who the guy was I slept with but I don't even know myself and...I just think if we get married those trust issues will still be there"
"Or they could fix it…"
"No Peter" she shakes her head "It's not healthy for us to do this now of all times"
"So the ring was a waste?"
"Maybe in the future" she sighs slightly taking the box and opening it, she sighs gently shaking her head "The same ring as before"
"I always kept it. Maybe it was a naïve decision to think that...our second chance would end in happiness, more a fool me eh?"
"Don't be like that" she groans in annoyance knowing he was going to sulk, she understood why but she wasn't going to put herself in a position where she was unhappy "This just isn't the right time, there will be a right time in the future though and when that right time is for both of us I will say yes to marriage but right now it's not a good time. I'm sorry I don't feel the same way. Look I'll give you some space yeah just to think what i said over? Call me when it's safe to return home"
And with that she was gone…
There was something about the way he just wanted her to be his and only his. The fact that she didn't want the same weighed heavily on his shoulders and that in itself hurt a lot to think about. Constantly he questioned whether he was good enough or whether she was just doing this to hurt him but he could also understand where she came from. After all it was just another attempt to just pave over the cracks in their relationship without discussing things thoroughly with her. Life always had its grievances though and soon enough regret filled his system at the possibility of his one and only being taken away from him.
"Is there a Mr Barlow living at this address?"
"Uh yeah, come through?" Johnny questions leading the police officer into the back of the pub, Peter raises his eyebrows and stands up
"Are you Mr Peter Barlow?"
"I am, why?"
"There was a road traffic accident which Carla Connor was involved in today, we understand that you're her family?"
"I'm her father" Johnny cuts in as Peter breaks down into tears "What happened?"
"Carla was driving and there was a head on collision with another vehicle, she's currently being treated in hospital, she has multiple head injuries and is currently unconscious"
"I need to see her, I have to see her" Peter says getting up, Johnny gently places his hands on his shoulders "Johnny I need to see her!"
"I'll give you a lift son, don't worry" Johnny says as Peter paces the room "Thank you officer"
"I'll see myself out"
"This is all my fault, this is all my fault for springing that proposal on her"
"Peter don't blame yourself" Johnny sighs gently "Come on we should go to the hospital"
"Yeah...yeah you're right"
