Thanks for the kind reviews everyone :) :) :)

"What… what are you doing here?" Carla asked, she had both arms folded and was finding it hard to believe what she was observing right now. Peter, still smiling, moved closer to her and shrugged innocently,

"Well…" He began, grinning and looking at Carla with those big brown eyes of his and making her heart race like it hadn't done in the longest time because since being in Devon she hadn't seen anyone look at her in such a way. "Let's just say that I wanted a little change of scenery…"

For a moment Carla didn't respond to this, she just stood, staring in shock once again.

Amongst everything that had happened between them Peter still had a rather overwhelming effect on Carla and vice versa of course.

Carla's shocked face soon turned into a slight frown and then she shook her head slowly, as if she was telling herself that none of this could be happening.

"Does he know? Does he remember what day it is today?" She thought.

Peter Barlow was many things but one thing he did have was a robust memory. He always remembered the craziest things during their relationship, things that Carla had long forgotten so she knew that it wouldn't be too unbelievable for him to remember what day it was today.

"A change of scenery…" Carla repeated, raising an eyebrow as Peter moved even closer to her and was now less than a foot away.

"Yeah…" Peter said nodding calmly, looking Carla up and down as she stood before him in a black of black ankle boots, black ripped jeans and a black jacket. "Do ya fancy giving me the tour…" He smiled once again as his gaze returned to her head. He couldn't believe that her brown hair was so long now, so long it went way way past her shoulders… he'd always said he had wanted her to grow it long, he said he thought it would look absolutely lovely and he was right.

Peter watched Carla's stance closely, trying to work out how she might feel on the inside because on the outside she looked truly magnificent.

It had been a good year since he had seen Carla in real life and as she stood in front of him, he took another moment to take in her beauty.

He had hoped that the comment about Carla giving him the tour would have made her smile but all it did was make her raised eyebrow go up even further.

Her smile had been something that he desperately wanted to see and as she stood in touching distance, Peter wasn't sure he'd be able to walk away from her after all.

Carla on the other hand was still slightly confused to see her ex husband stood before her so brazenly and couldn't seem to shake the shocked look off her face.

"A change of scenery my arse." Carla thought to herself, not believing Peter for even one second because he looked slightly smug… as if whatever he had planned had been successful.

She wondered how on earth Peter had actually ended up in Devon and she was ninety-nine per-cent sure that this meeting was no coincidence.

At first she thought that maybe Peter had just heard she lived in Devon and had travelled there in the hope to see her but it still didn't explain how he had got so close to her house, minutes away in fact.

Devon may be a small town but it definitely wasn't small enough for this to be a chance meeting.

"Maybe it was Michelle." Carla thought right away, thinking that her best friend Michelle might have been the one to give Peter her address... but why?

Peter was still smiling coolly at Carla, like he was someone she saw everyday and this whole thing was such a surreal experience that she had to shake her head again and say,

"So… let me get this straight… you just got... I dunno, bored of Portsmouth n you just so happened to roll up ere… in Devon… where I live… by pure coincidence?" Carla's voice was dry as she spoke, showing Peter that she wasn't at all convinced at his excuse for being stood in front of her right now.

"Yep… I actually ave a mate who lives around ere…" Peter lied with a nod even though he had an idea that Carla wasn't convinced by such a story.

"Is that so?" Carla replied, staring Peter down in a way that only made him even more attracted to her... if that was possible of course.

"Yeah." Peter nodded, staring back at Carla in the same way she was looking back at him.

"So this mate... where does him or her live exactly?" Carla asked suspiciously, "Because if you ask me Peter you look well and truly lost."

"Oh..." Peter said slightly taken aback, "Somewhere that way..." He said vaguely, pointing ahead of him as he spoke, Carla turned her head and looked in the direction of where Peter was pointing and knew that he was just making this all up as he went. "I put the address in me Sat-Nav but it's bloody useless." He said as Carla turned to face him again.

She soon raised another eyebrow at him before smirking wickedly and asking,

"You sure it's not just your navigation skills that are useless?" Peter had to laugh at this comment from Carla and the sight of his cheeky chuckle make her heart slightly skip a beat.

She'd always adored the sight of his laughter and she had never let her self realise just how much she'd missed it until now.

"Probably... Y'know what I'm like with technology" Peter said nodding at Carla who then took in a deep breath. As much as she wanted to find out why Peter really was here she didn't want to force the information out of him. She didn't have the patience, She decided that if Peter was going to stand there and blatantly lie to her face, she would just let him be.

"Alright then…" She began, "Well unlike you Peter, I can't stand around ere n take in the scenery all day…" She said, although in reality she really could stand there all day because she had nothing better to do. "I've got somewhere to be, so I'll leave you to your… change of scenery... and your mate... Bye." Carla nodded towards the road she had been just about to walk up before seeing Peter and she didn't wait for a response before criminally starting to walk away from.

She had decided that if Peter wasn't at least going to be honest with her about the reason why he was here then she didn't want to give him the time of day at all.

Peter nodded feebly as he watched Carla casually walk past him and it was then that he wasn't exactly sure what to do next.

He'd seen her... that's all he had wanted right? When he'd left Portsmouth he told himself he just had to see her and that was it.

He'd even got lucky and spoken to her, which was never part of the plan and for the most part, Carla seemed all right but Peter couldn't be too sure.

He couldn't be too sure because Carla was very good at putting on a tough front, she always had been... But Peter? Well Peter had always been very good at getting past that front and he knew it.

He'd always been able to break down those sturdy walls she had spent so long building and he'd always been the only one to get to that soft and delicate part of Carla... The one that nobody else saw.

So what was going to happen next?

Were they just going to walk away from each other and not look back?

"I… I sent you a message…" Peter called after Carla when he realised that she was actually getting further away from him and that she wasn't about to turn back either.

She turned around very slowly and then gently walked back towards Peter with her arms folded, looking slightly confused although Her face had softened considerably. She looked very intrigued as she watched Peter intently and said,

"A message?"

"Yes." Peter gulped, feeling slightly foolish but knowing it was too late to go back now.

After all, he had driven all this way it was too late to pretend otherwise, especially now he had said about the message.

Here he was, in Devon and here she was, stood before him... If this was the only chance Peter had to be honest to Carla... he was damn well gonna take it.

"I sent it this morning…" He said, not looking so smug anymore. "I just wanted to let you know that I was thinking of you today that's all… n that I hoped you were all right… I mean… I know I probably shouldn't ave come ere, it's just… when you didn't reply… I instantly thought the worst… I got worried… I should ave known that I were over thinking it all… n that you were probably just really busy… or that you just didn't want to talk to me..." Peter explained, starting to think that he'd made a mistake in coming here because Carla did seem to be in good spirits and maybe all he was doing now was bringing her down.

She didn't seem too wounded by today to the untrained eye, she didn't seem as if she'd been up all night worrying about what memories might haunt her but then again, Carla really was good at hiding stuff like that.

"So you're... ere for me then?" Carla asked softly, still staring at Peter and making his heart pound faster behind his grey T-Shirt, she still hadn't smiled at him yet but she was getting slightly close, the corners of her lips were slightly turned upwards as she waited with bated breath for Peter's response.

"Not for you…" He said delicately, his face utterly deadpan as he then said, "But…yeah... because of you..."

Carla couldn't help but feel her heart melt a little just then, despite everything Peter had done and the hurt he's caused her, Carla knew that he still cared for her a lot… probably more than a lot.

"Look none of this was planed, I just decided to drive up ere this morning... As I said… I just wanted to make sure that you were all right… y'know… given today... being..." Peter said cautiously.

"I know what today is Peter." Carla snapped, making Peter jump ever so slightly. She hadn't actually meant it to come out so harshly and she could tell that Peter was starting to regret his impromptu visit to Devon.

"I know... of course you do..." Peter said, his voice sounding slightly shaky now because Carla was watching him almost in awe. "I wasn't planning on even talking to you... as I said... I just wanted to see that you were doing alright."

Carla watched Peter squirm for a moment as he stood before her and waited for a response. He looked anguished as he stood motionless but he didn't have to wait for too long because Carla couldn't take the look on his face for much longer and eventually said,

"I never got your message Peter." Peter nodded back at Carla in a way that made her think that he thought she was just spinning him a line.

"Okay." He said very quickly.

"No…" Carla began, "I didn't get your message because I changed my number…" She explained looking slightly amused but mostly touched as she spoke. Peter suddenly didn't feel so foolish anymore and nodded as Carla continued, "I wasn't too busy or out… it's just… after moving down ere, I just wanted a fresh start y'know… I've had that old number since I were about thirty summat."

"Oh… right." Peter nodded again, clearing his throat awkwardly and then taking a breath of relief once again.

"But just so ya know… I really appreciate that you still care so much Peter n I would ave replied had I ave got the message." Carla said, unfortunately for him she still wasn't smiling but she sincerely looked moved by his efforts, which made Peter feel even more at ease. "And… I'm fine… thank you." Carla added with a gracious nod.

"Good." Peter replied, genuinely looking pleased that Carla had said she was okay. "I'm glad…" Carla nodded once again at Peter's response and paused awkwardly.

She didn't know quite what to respond with next, which made the silence between her and Peter linger that little bit longer.

She still wasn't over what happened between them… She knew she never would be.

She knew that she'd never ever forget how being betrayed by Peter made her feel and she knew that they could never get back what they had... but amongst all of that, Carla knew that she really didn't have too much off a reason to sound off on Peter, not anymore... She'd moved on right? Anyways since their last meeting had been quite civil it didn't seem right for Carla to have a go for no real reason.

She also remembered that last moment between her and Peter and of course it felt like it was yesterday even though it had been almost two years since it happened.

She remembered how it felt to be sat on that bench outside Audrey's hair salon with Peter within touching distance of her but her not actually being able to touch him.

She remembered hearing all about him leaving and how much it pained her because she didn't actually believe that he was going through with it.

She remembered consoling her Stepson Simon, promising that things would be okay… but what Carla remembers most about this conversation is just how much she had to pretend.

How much that she had to act like she really was on board with Peter's departure and how hard it was for her not to sit there and beg him to stay.

She remembered biting her tongue as she got up to walk away and how she had to battle with herself to not give in, to not succumb to the strong desire she had to throw her arms around him, to tell him to stay and fight for her.

As they stood in the middle of the country lane, in what was becoming another ridiculous silence for two people who shared so much history, Carla decided to do the only polite thing there was and ask Peter,

"Are you okay though?"

"Yeah… Yeah... can't complain eh." Peter said, smiling at Carla reassuringly, she nodded slowly and then put her hands into her pockets stiffly, not really knowing what to say or do next… Peter was the same.

He ran a hand through his brown hair as he sighed out of pure frustration and then came another long and deafening silence.

Eventually Carla and Peter knew that they couldn't go on like this. Standing there and staring at each other in the middle of the road as if nothing else in the world mattered.

"Well…" Peter eventually said, breaking the silence and feeling as if his time here should probably be up. "I erm… I can see that you're all right, so… I'll erm…" he pulled his car keys back out of his pocket and then swallowed. "I'll go..."

Carla watched as Peter fiddled with his car keys in his hand and wondered if this really was it… was this really the moment Peter was going to leave.

He didn't look like he wanted to leave at all, he looked as if he wanted to stay and ask about a thousand questions but he also looked something else.

Peter Barlow suddenly looked shy and this was the moment that shocked Carla the most because she had never seen that man look shy in her life.

She'd first met him in the Pub back in Manchester many many years ago and even then, on their very first meeting he was full of confidence, full of smooth conversation and charm, seeing Peter act nervous was something that made Carla's throat go dry once again, which is why she stayed so quiet.

She looked down at her shiny silver watch just for somewhere else other than at Peter to look but he took this as something else... He took this to mean that she didn't care.

"Bye then…" He eventually said hoarsely, watching Carla closely and starting to believe that maybe she really didn't care that he had come all the way to Devon… not that he blamed her of course, after all, If it wasn't for him they'd probably still be together right now. He was just thankful that she'd given him this much of her time.

"Bye…" Carla said, regretting the word the moment it left her lips. She suddenly felt so guilty and cruel for dismissing Peter so freely after he'd made the effort to come and check that she was okay.

Peter, who felt as if his time was well and truly up gave Carla one last smile before turning around and walking back towards his car.

He tried to walk the short distance to it confidently and not show how foolish and disappointed he felt.

He felt foolish because he actually thought just seeing Carla would be enough, he thought as long as he saw that she was doing alright for herself that he would be able to continue with his day like normal.

He also felt disappointed because he never got to see that smile in the end. The one that used light up some of his darkest days.

As he got to his car and reached for the handle he racked his brains to think of something else to say... anything... but then... he suddenly didn't have to.

"Peter…" He spun around so fast it was a wonder he didn't get whiplash.

He saw that Carla had followed him towards his car and that she looked as she is was bracing herself,

"There's a really nice café up that road…" She paused nervously but then Carla forced herself to continue because she knew that she really did owe Peter a little more of her time as he had obviously come all this way just for her. "D'ya wanna… grab a quick coffee… before ya go?"

These small words meant the absolute world to Peter and had there not been a few witnesses about on the streets of Devon he would have jumped for joy that very moment.

"Sure." He said as casually as he could given due the fact that his heart had begun racing at a ridiculous pace. He closed his car door and put his keys back in his pocket, which made one of Carla's perfect eyebrows raise once again.

"What?" He asked looking slightly bemused.

"Errr, I don't know what they do down in Portsmouth Peter but ya can't just leave your parked ere like that… You need a permit for a start..." She said with a hand on her hip as she looked at Peter's black car parked half on the pavement and half on the road.

"Oh…" Peter chuckled, he scanned the area around him and then looked at Carla saying, "Where's the nearest place for me to park then?"

Carla pondered for a moment, knowing exactly where the nearest and most convenient place that Peter could park was and also knowing that if she told him where that place was, that this meeting of theirs could possibly end up being a lot more than just a quick cup of coffee.

As most of the streets around the area had permit only parking, the nearest place for Peter to park without getting a ticket... was Carla's.

She could always take him the other way though, Carla didn't have to take Peter to her place. If he drove for five more minutes or so, Carla could take him to a local car park... if she wanted to that is.

"Carla?" Peter said, staring at her as she almost got lost in her train of thought.

"Sorry…" She said shaking her head, "Errr… yeah there is somewhere you can park… I can direct you."

"Alright." Peter nodded, he opened his car door and was just about to get in as he said, "So… you getting in then or...?" He asked when he saw that Carla was still stood on the very same spot as she had been a few seconds ago.

"Yes." Carla nodded and then she quickly got into Peter's car on the passenger's side, she pulled the seatbelt across her body and as Peter started the ignition he asked,

"Which way then?"