Peter exited Roy's flat from the secondary entrance, wanting to avoid another run-in with Tina in the cafe at all costs. He raced back down Rosamund Street, clutching the small bottle of pills in his hand, and sharply turned the corner towards the flat, quickly putting the key in the lock and pushing the door opened. Taking the stairs two at a time, he pushed his way into his flat, slightly out of breath but energized with the fear-induced adrenaline coursing through him.

"Si, get us a glass of water please," he ordered his son, watching as the young boy jumped off the sofa where Carla now lay on her back, one hand held against her chest, and the palm of the other pressing into her forehead. Her breathing had definitely slowed from when he left them, but her body continued to shake, her skin covered in sweat as she tried to slow it down further.

"Here, love," Peter said, taking a seat next to her, his eyes scanning the directions on the bottle, "is it still just the one? These are different than the ones you had prescribed the last time,"

Carla pushed herself to a semi reclined position and she nodded, "lower dosage...safer...," she managed to shudder out, using her hand to gesture over her abdomen before shakily taking the now opened bottle from Peter, scooping out and placing a small tablet under her tongue

Simon reached over the sofa and handed her the glass of water he had poured for her. Carla accepted the glass, pausing to cup Simon's face reassuringly, her thumb brushing along his cheek and flashing him a lopsided smile, "thank you," she mouthed to him. Gripping the glass to her, she closed her eyes and leaned her head back, waiting for the pill to dissolve entirely, but her inability to slow her breathing down further kept causing her panic to rise.

Peter watched as she struggled to relax, and he rose to his feet, kicking off his shoes and removing his jacket. "Car?" he called to her gently, "scooch forward,"

She opened her eyes and looked at him warily, but he supportingly placed a hand on her shoulder, "if you don't trust me for anything else, just trust me on this; please?" he could see she was caving , her desire to relax beating out her initial stubbornness, "come on, budge up" he whispered with a smile.

She shifted forward on the couch, allowing him to settle in behind her, with his back pressed into the armrest, his legs on either side of her body and he pulled her towards him so her back was against his chest, "Okay, breathe with me now," he encouraged her, taking one of her hands in his and taking a slow breath in through his nose for eight counts, and then slowly releasing it for another eight counts through pursed lips. It took a her a few cycles to get into the rhythm with him, but as he simply caressed her hair with one hand, while the thumb of his other stroked her fingers, soon enough they were breathing in tandem. Carla's eyes remained closed, one hand balancing the water glass on her leg, and the other gently placed upon her bump almost protectively as Peter's remained resting over it. Simon sat on the sofa facing her and his dad, and simply patted Carla's leg encouragingly.

When she felt her heart had returned to a a somewhat steady beat, she raised the glass of water to her lips and took a long sip, the water both cooling and quenching her dry, hot mouth. She felt Peter press a kiss to the back of her head encouragingly as she lowered the glass; something caught her eye and she let out a laugh. Simon and Peter both glanced at each other, "Car?" Peter whispered into her hair, wanting to linger as close as possible to the smell of her shampoo that he had missed for over a month now, "what is it?"

Carla continued to try to suppress a laugh, her hand now leaving her abdomen to playfully pick at the knee of Peter's pyjama pants, "did you really go into the cafe wearing these?" she giggled.

Peter chuckled, "well excuse me, madam, but I didn't exactly think I had time to change into me best trousers..."

Carla snickered, turning her head to look at the man behind her, "did you go out in your slippers and all, grandad?"

Peter instinctively pulled her closer to him, his lips hovering above her ear, "you never did work on that sssmugnness of yours, did you?" They both laughed, and Simon watched them, smiling at the way everything looked so normal between them again.

It was short-lived of course, as Carla turned her gaze from Peter towards where his hand now rested upon her bump, his thumb grazing the material that lay beneath his hand almost naturally. Simon saw the smile drop from Carla's face, her eyes beginning to line with tears, and he raised himself from the couch, "I'm going to go wash up, and then we may need to try breakfast again, dad."

"Yeah, sounds good son," Peter responded, watching as Simon shot a concerned look towards Carla, before heading off to the washroom. Peter knew the moment Carla's mood had shifted; her body stiffened the moment she turned her head from him, "you okay?" he asked softly

Carla pulled herself up from where she had been reclining against Peter, turning so that she was now sitting where Simon had been minutes earlier, and faced him, hugging a pillow in front of her. "I'm sorry," she whispered

"For what?"

"For the nightmare, scaring Si...what must he think of me, eh?"

"Car, you know you never need to apologize to me about that. And don't worry about Simon, he's just never seen you like that before," Peter replied supportingly, "he's worried about you. Didn't think you should be out here on your own. That's why he insisted on bringing out that contraption last night." he pointed to the air mattress, and caught the faintest smirk tugging at Carla's lips

"He did seem to hog the most of it, didn't he?" she chuckled

"I'll say, me neck's been contorted in ways I didn't think possible." he laughed, giving his neck a brief rub. "It's been a while since you've had one of them nightmares, love. Do you want to talk about it?" Carla hugged the pillow to her ever closer, her eyes darting about the flat, "it's just," Peter continued softly, "normally I'd be able to calm you down, but you just weren't able to this time. What happened?"

"He was in here," Carla whispered, her eyes fixed near the kitchen, "most times I have these nightmares, I'm in my old flat, or the factory, the pub, the bistro, the street, the cafe...anywhere that Frank and I had been before. So whenever I came out of it, I knew he weren't around because I'd be here or on the boat, or in LA... But when I woke up this time, I could have sworn he was still here. It were too real..."

"What happened, Car?"

"Do you remember the morning after we got engaged, before we headed over to Dierdre's to tell her the news?" at Peter's nod she continued, "well, it were that morning, you were making breakfast like you did that day, and we were kissing in the kitchen and we heard two people coming up the stairs, and it were you and Tina. And when I looked behind me it were Frank, not you. He-he grabbed me and wouldn't let me go. And I screamed and begged you to help me, but you wouldn't," she sniffled, tears lining her eyes, "you said it was exhausting saving me from him over and over. That I were the reason you started drinking again: putting too much pressure on you to always be my hero and the perfect husband -"

"Carla you know that's not true-"

"Do I?" Carla scoffed, "you told me as much yourself the night before you went to rehab."

Peter closed his eyes and shook his head in disgust with himself, "Carla I didn't mean any of that. I was lashing out and being a coward to boot. I didn't want to admit the truth so it were easier to blame you then to own up to what I did." He locked eyes on her, "I'm so sorry-,"

"You then umm-" Carla interrupted, not fully believing Peter's attempt to deflect blame from her, "You said Tina saved you, and that you loved her." her sorrowful green eyes gazed into his and she exhaled deeply, "then you two started ripping each others clothes off and headed to the bedroom. I was left out here with him...and he wouldn't leave again..." She looked back towards the kitchen, "and I know it weren't real, but when I woke up and I were in the same room with the same smells, I just started panicking that the last two years had all been a cruel joke: that he wasn't really dead and he was alive and here, and I couldn't stop myself, I was just so scared, and brought right back to the time he-" she rubbed her lips together, her hand coming up to wipe away the tears that had fallen down her cheek.

Peter leaned forward, placing his hand comfortingly on her knee and giving it a small shake, "hey? You're safe, you know that right?" he whispered softly watching as her eyes came back gently to him, "I know my word don't count for much anymore Carla, but I swear I will never let anyone hurt you again."

"You made that promise before," she answered quietly

"I know-" he started

"- and then you hurt me..." she interrupted him bitingly, "you built me up from the pieces Frank left of me, and then you shattered me..."

"I can't apologize to you enough for what I did, and I don't blame you for hating me" he said, his eyes lining with tears, "but if you ever do decide to give me a second chance, I'll spend the rest of my life making sure I become the man you believed me to be." When she didn't respond, simply staring down into the pillow she hugged against her, he simply nodded and stood up, walking over to grab his jacket, "I'm going to nip to Dev's," he said, "pick up some more eggs and some milk, so Si and I can re-do this breakfast," he pressed his palms into the cushions on the back of the sofa, "obviously coffee is a no for you right now, but is there anything else you'd like instead?" he asked, gently tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, "hmm?"

Carla rested her cheek upon the pillow she gripped to her body, "You going back out like that?" she asked, her eyes gesturing to the pyjama pants,

"May as well keep the style on trend..." he winked at her

"I'm craving pineapple juice," she mumbled with a pout

"Pineapple juice it is." Peter replied back, his lips tugging into a grin, "Let Si know I'll be back in a bit." He straightened up and walked to the door, pausing when he heard his wife's soft voice cut through the silence, "Pe'er?"

"Yeah?" he felt his stomach flip slightly

"I don't hate you."

Peter smiled, his heart fluttering in his chest as he nodded and pulled open the flat door.

He still had a chance...

"New look for you then is it, Peter?" Dev teased from behind the counter

Peter chuckled, "yeah, I like to keep the fashion gossip train ever chugging along these parts you know," he stated as he placed the items on the counter, "just these, thanks Dev,"

"So how have you and Carla been, since you've been back?" Dev asked kindly as he rung up the items in the register

Peter nodded, "we're on talking terms, but that's about it really."

"Well, for what it's worth, I think you made a huge mistake in cheating on Carla," Dev stated, "massively huge-"

"Cheers Dev," Peter mumbled

"Let me finish," Dev chided him, "but I'll tell you what mate, that woman loves the bones off of you," he smiled at the man, "You two have been through a hell of a lot together. You complement each other, you look good together. So don't give up on her."

Peter smiled at the shopkeeper, handing him a note and waiting for the change back, "I were a fool to not realize what I had before I massively screwed it up. I'll tell you something for nothing Dev," Peter said, grabbing the bag off the counter, "If I ever get the chance to make it up to her, I'm never letting her go, again."

"Make sure you don't," Dev said, "or mark my words, there will be plenty of men ready and willing to take your place..."

Peter nodded his agreement, raising the bag in gratitude, before heading out the door.

"Peter?"

He stopped in his tracks, rolling his head and his eyes before turning to face Tina, "Again? You stalking me or sommit?"

"Please I just want to talk to you," Tina begged,

"I'm not interested in anything you have to say, Tina. So please, just leave me alone." He stated firmly before turning and walking down the street towards his flat

"Well, maybe Carla will then, eh?" Tina shouted after him, causing him to freeze momentarily.

Tina swallowed the lump forming in her throat as Peter slowly turned his head to glare at her over his shoulder, "what did you say?" he gritted out. When she didn't respond he turned and stalked back towards her, "what is that a threat?"

Tina waited until he was stood directly in front of her before whispering, "you bet it is."

"You spiteful, vindictive..."

"Save it, Peter," Tina stated with a smirk, "Look I'll make this simple for ya: either you make time to meet with me today, or I tell Carla all about how you told me you loved me. How you planned on running away with me..."

Peter shook his head at her incredulously, "You're off your head!" he accused her, "she won't believe a word that comes out of your mouth!"

Tina took a step closer to him, "No?" she asked slyly, "You sure about that?"

"It's not true. You're making it all up simply to hurt her," Peter tried to reason with her

Tina shrugged, "Don't matter," she spat coldly, "she may or may not believe me, Peter, but I can guarantee one thing," her lips hovered close to his, "after the stunt you pulled on her wedding night, after sleeping with me the night she was at Hayley's, I can promise that she definitely won't believe you! And after I'm done, she'll never trust you again."

Peter felt his blood boiling beneath his skin, "Meet me in the Rovers at noon," he said to her, "and after that I don't see or hear from you ever again."

Tina smirked, "now now, let's not be hasty, eh?" she whispered, laying her hands upon his chest and pressing a kiss to his lips, chuckling as he pulled back from her, "lover..." she sashayed around him and headed off down Coronation Street.

Peter watched her walk away, collapsing his back against the wall between number nine and number eleven. He felt his breathing quicken, his heart beating rapidly in his chest. His mouth suddenly went very dry, and he craved nothing more than a bottle of whisky or vodka to quench it. He leaned his head against the bricks behind him, closing his eyes as he tried to calm himself down.

His eyes opened suddenly and they fixed upon the building across the road.

He knew what he had to do.

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his mobile and scrolled until he hit the name he was looking for.

Taking a deep breath, he pressed the call button.

"Hello?" came the reply after two rings

"Hey, it's me. Look, I know we haven't got the best track record right now, me and you, but I need your help. Yeah, I know, but I wouldn't be calling if I wasn't desperate. Can you meet me at the factory in say an hour or so? Look I'm begging you, please?" He waited with unabated breath for the confirmation and sighed with relief, "Okay, great. I'll meet you in the loading bay area, in just over an hour. Alright? Cheers Rob..."