The next morning Peter woke up to an empty bed that looked like Carla hadn't been in it all night. Last night he had made his way up to bed and let Carla continue her chat with Michelle.
Once in the back room, he saw Michelle.
"Hello Chelle" Peter said, hugging her. They hadn't seen each other since she left.
"She slept with me last night" Michelle told him.
He took a calm breath, now he knew where she was.
"Good, I think she needed to talk to you"
"She needs you too"
"I know"
"She will come to you, she always does"
"I feel like this time is different"
"The thing is Peter, she knows something has happened but she can't remember, she doesn't know how to feel and who to blame"
"I know that, I just wish she would talk to me"
"I know you do and she will, when she is ready"
Carla was standing outside the door. It hurt her so much to hear Peter's words. She loved him and wanted him to help her, but she needed to work out how she felt first.
Carla then disappeared.
"I am going to take this up to her, I will give her your best" Michelle said, holding Carla's coffee.
"Yeah, tell her I am working today but I will be back later if she wants to talk"
Michelle nodded.
Nick had spent the last day or so with his head down. Leanne had avoided him, she couldn't talk to him.
There was a small knock at the door.
Nick winced over to the door in pain. He hadn't left the house to get medical attention but he was sure Peter bruised his ribs.
Nick opened the door and to his shock saw Carla standing there in front of him.
"I need to talk to you and this time you are going to tell me the whole truth" she walked through the door barging him with her shoulder.
She took a seat on his sofa. "Ok" he said, slowly making his way over to her. He didn't really have a choice.
He sat on the other sofa. He didn't want to sit too close to her.
"I want to know exactly what happened when I was in that hotel room"
"Carla, I first want to apologise, if you in any way feel like I have taken advantage or hurt you in any way"
"Nick tell me what happened"
"Ok" Nick said as he began….
Nick had left after telling Carla that she could never upset him. He made his way home but couldn't stop thinking about her. She was amazing.
The next day Nick made any excuse to go and see her. He took her some flowers so that she knew he liked her and she couldn't upset him.
They had a nice lunch and a few kisses but Nick didn't want to push it. He would then make his way home to Leanne.
Carla had been in the hotel for over a week now and slept with Nick once. Apart from a few kisses they had not been physical again, that was until tonight. He had told Leanne that he had a meeting in town and he was going to get a hotel because the client wanted drinks afterwards so he didn't want to drive.
"Evening Carla" Nick said when he got to the hotel room. He bought her dinner and some desert.
"Hello Nick"
"How are you this evening?"
"I am okay, I had an argument with a cleaner earlier as she wanted to come in and clean but I didn't want her coming in to plant cameras"
"She won't, she is my cleaner, she knows not to place any in here"
Carla nodded at him and smiled. That seems to make sense to her. Anything to make her feel comfortable.
The pair ate dinner and then snuggled on the bed, watching a film on the tv.
Nick then placed a loving kiss on her lips, pulling her in with his hand around the back of her head. Carla placed her hands on his chest and then threw her legs over him to straddle him.
The couple then spent the night together.
In the morning, Carla woke to the sound of the shower. She knew it was Nick. Then she heard a vibrating coming from his jacket. This instantly frightened Carla.
She approached the jacket and looked through the pockets, until she came across his phone. On the screen was Leannes name.
"Oh no, she knows" Carla said to herself. Carla began pacing the floor.
Suddenly, the shower noise stopped. Nick came out of the bathroom in his towel to the sight of Carla holding up his phone.
"Carla, it isn't what you think" he told her.
"Leanne called, she knows where I am doesn't she"
"No of course not"
"She does, why would she be phoning you if she didn't" Carla shook her head "how could I be so stupid"
"Carla, listen to me, she knows nothing"
"I am a bad person, she knows and she will tell them where I am"
"No Carla"
"I have to go" Carla threw his phone at him and ran out of the room and out of the hotel. Nick didn't see her again, until he saw her in the cafe on her return from Carlysle.
"There you go, that is everything" Nick told her.
"I can't believe it"
"We slept together twice and you ran out on me, you were there just over a week"
Carla sat in silence.
"Please say something" Nick encouraged, but she sat in silence.
Carla stood, she made her way out of his home.
Over at the Rovers, Michelle ran down the stairs when she realised Carla was not in her room.
"Peter" She called.
Peter emerged from the back room "What is it, is it Carla?"
"She's not in my room or yours"
The colour drained from his face "not again" he fell to the floor.
"She has probably gone for a walk or something" Michelle said reassuring him.
"I can't lose her again" he muttered.
"Come on, let's go and look for her" Michelle said, grabbing her coat.
Michelle and Peter ran out of the Rovers. They had told Johnny, who also left in search for Carla.
They checked all the regular places, such as Roy's and the cafe, the park she liked to sit at and the shopping centre. But she was nowhere to be found.
Peter kept ringing Carla's phone but only received the answer phone.
"If she has another episode or goes missing again I am going to kill Nick" Peter said on the arrival of Michelle who hadn't found Carla.
Johnny encouraged Roy to come and search for her too.
The family frantically searched for Carla, who for the moment was nowhere to be seen.
Over in the Tilsley residence, Leanne was finally ready to speak to Nick.
The couple sat at the dining table ready for a grown up conversation.
"I have heard from Peter what happened but I would like to hear it from you"
"Yes, I gave Carla a hotel room to stay in because at the time I thought it was what's best for her"
"Nick it was not your job to know what was best for her, she has a family and a partner, who were worried sick about her"
"I know but you didn't see her Lee, she was so scared and when she knew I could help her, she just gave me the best look on her face"
Leanne had no words.
"Lee, she just needed my help"
"What she needed you to sleep with her?"
Nick lowered his head in shame "I know what it looks like but it just happened, there was history there"
"Nick, that was cheating, me and you were together at that point"
"I know"
"You know what gets me"
Nick shook his head.
"When she went missing you were so angry at her for ruining the factory and not telling you about the roof" Leanne shook her head "but yet all the time you were hiding her in a dirty little hotel"
"Lee" Nick started but she cut him off
"You love her don't you?" Leanne demanded an answer before changing her mind "Actually don't answer that because you'll only lie to me, I am going away with Oliver, if you are still here when I get back I know you want to work on things, but I am not promising anything"
Nick nodded at her, he didn't have the energy to fight with her but he did love Leanne but he couldn't deny the feelings he had for Carla.
The search for Carla was still in full swing. The residents of Coronation Street were out to help. Many had heard of Nick and Peter's fight and some had speculated as to why.
Some had it correct as Sean couldn't keep a secret as big and as shameful as that to himself. So most of the street felt disgust towards Nick and sorrow for Carla.
"Still no sign?" Ken asked Peter as he ran past his front door.
"No dad but I will not give up" Peter told him.
Ken was worried for his son. The last time Carla went missing he hit the bottle. He knew his son was strong but he couldn't lose her again it would kill him.
Leanne was packing her bags into a car.
"Where are you going?" Peter asked her on his way past.
"I am taking Oliver away for a week" she said, shutting the boot.
"Tell your boyfriend that if anything happens to Carla, I am going to kill him"
"Where is she?"
"She is missing Leanne, so I can't stand here chatting" Peter told her heading off in search of her.
"Carla is missing?" Nick approached the car.
"Yeah, so you better go and find her again so you can hide her" Leanne spitefully said.
"I just came out to say goodbye" Nick told her, holding onto his ribs.
"OI YOU" Michelle shouted upon seeing Nick "You disgust me"
Leanne took that as her chance to leave. She got in the car and drove off.
"Michelle, I only wanted the best for Carla"
"That involved sleeping with her and hiding her from her family"
Nick had nothing to say. He couldn't answer her because that's exactly what he had done. At the time he thought it was the best thing to do but now he could see it was wrong.
Michelle just shook her head at him. She didn't want to waste anymore of her time on him.
Peter was frantic. He knew he had a short window to find her, until she was gone. He had searched all the familiar places.
"Think Peter" he said to himself, standing still. People were moving around him but he felt like time had stopped.
Suddenly, he had a brain wave. Carla always loved to talk to the people she treasured the most.
He ran in the direction he thought Carla was.
There, sitting next to Aiden's grave was Carla. She was removing the dead flowers off of it. Peter felt the biggest pang of relief. He hadn't found her the last time she went missing, so for him to do it this time, he was so happy.
"Carla" he said gently on approach.
"Peter" she said, looking at him.
"We have been worried about you, we have all been out looking for you"
"I am so sorry I didn't tell you where I was"
"It's ok, I am just going to let everyone know I have found you" Peter waited for her to nod and then took out his phone and let them all know.
Peter took a seat on the floor next to Carla.
"I am so sorry I didn't tell you where I was going" Carla took his hand "You must have all been so worried"
"Yes we were but it is all ok now"
"Peter, I am sorry" a tear escaped her eye, Peter pulled her into him and let her cry.
A little while later, she pulled away from him so she could see his face.
"Peter, I went to see Nick"
Peter took a long hard breath and nodded for her to continue.
"I needed to know exactly what happened so that I could process and move on"
"I understand" he said to her. Although he hated the fact she had seen him "What did you find out"
Carla swallowed the lump in her throat "we slept together twice"
Peter shook his head and looked at the floor. Carla placed her fingers under his chin and pulled his face back up "I am sorry"
"Why are you sorry Carla, it's not your fault"
"I still done it and I still cheated on you"
"Carla, he took advantage of you, you didn't know what you were doing"
"Peter, I cheated"
"No you didn't" Peter pulled her into him "Is that why you couldn't talk to me"
Carla nodded.
"Carla, I do not see that as cheating, you don't even remember it happening" Peter looked at her "he took advantage of you"
Carla nodded at him. "I didn't know how to deal with this, so I avoided you because I knew I had upset you" she looked away from him.
"Carla, look at me" Carla brought her gaze from Aidens grave to Peter "You are the love of my life and you have done nothing wrong, do you understand me"
Carla stayed silent. "What happened was all Nick's fault and he is completely to blame for this, I love you Carla, so much" he placed a loving kiss on her forehead.
"Peter, I love you too" she placed a kiss onto his lips.
"Thanks Aiden for watching her whilst she needed you" Peter said to the grave stone. Carla smiled, she loved that Peter acknowledged Aiden.
Peter stood up and held his hand out for her to take. She took it and he pulled her up into a loving embrace "Let's get you home"
"Bye Aiden" Carla said as the couple headed home hand in hand.