"Simon?" She repeated with her eyes wide.

Carla had not been expecting that name to leave Peter's lips but she soon realised that suddenly... it all made sense.

"Yep." Peter nodded, "He told me that you got in contact with him just after you left…"

This was true.

Unbeknownst to any one else, Carla and Simon had both been keeping in contact since Carla had left Manchester for Devon back in the end of May.

She had text him a few days after she had left and to her complete and utter surprise he had text her back a short while later on that very day.

"Well… I felt really bad y'know, for the leaving n not saying Goodbye to him. I know me n him ain't always seen eye to eye but I just wanted to let him know that no matter what… I'd still cut off me own arm to save him from misery… he's still me Stepson… n I love him.." Carla said affectionately, resting her hands on the table in front of her just like Peter had done.

He smiled at her fondly, his heart ached at Carla's lovely words about Simon and for a moment he was left speechless.

"How he is?" Carla asked curiously, wondering if Peter had been in touch with his son recently.

"Yeah… he's alright." Peter said nodding slowly, "I mean as far as I know, we talk almost every day but y'know what he's like, he doesn't talk about his feelings much… especially now he's a teenager…"

"He texts sometimes." Carla told with half a smile, "N I text back n stuff… It's nice..."

"Oh I see, so Simon can ave your new number can he?" Peter joked with an eyebrow raised and for the first time that day, he saw Carla actually smile at him.

Properly this time.

It wasn't a smirk or even the slightest bit sarcastic ... It was a smile.

A joyous smile, a wide one, one that was so infectious it instantly made Peter return the favour.

For a moment the pair sat opposite each other, grinning like a pair of Cheshire cats before Carla sheepishly looked away first.

"I gave him my address too…" She said, looking down at her hands although she was still smiling, Mainly because of Peter. "I said if he ever wanted to get away from the dreary streets of Weatherfield… he could come n stay ere."

"He told me… that were really sweet of you Carla." Peter said watching her appreciatively. "It really means a lot to me that you n Simon stay in touch… At least I didn't completely mess you two's relationship up like I did with ours eh?"

Peter spoke in total seriousness this time, without even a hint of irony.

Carla saw the rather guilty look creep onto Peter's face and although she knew he was right to feel bad, she couldn't help but shake her head at him sympathetically.

"So, what happened then? Did I just come up in the topic of conversation one night?" Carla asked, "How did ya end up with me address? Did you ask Si for it this morning or... What?"

"No… he gave it me back in July actually." Peter said as Jenny the waitress brought out two large mugs of coffee. She went to place them on the table but paused when she saw that Carla and Peter's hands were almost touching.

It wasn't too long before Carla and Peter both realised what Jenny was looking down at with a raised eyebrow and they quickly moved their hands away so she could put the coffee down in front of them.

"I'll be back with your brownies in a jiffy…" Jenny said with a smirk before heading back inside the café and Carla knew that the next time she visited this café she would be bombarded with all sorts of questions from Jenny about her friend Peter.

There was then a small silence between Carla and Peter, Peter put his hands back on the table before Carla eventually cleared her throat and said,

"Go on then… Simon gave you me address in July n you waited what? Two whole months to find me?" She made it clear she was joking by rolling her eyes in a comical fashion and making Peter grin again.

"Well I wanted to get in contact… straight away in fact, especially after I heard… what happened y'know… with Nick…" Peter paused awkwardly and looked slightly concerned as Carla rolled her eyes for real this time. It was as if she was totally bored of talking about Nick even though the mere topic of him hadn't even been mentioned with Peter yet. "But… I errr didn't want to intrude y'know…"

"Why did he give it ya then? My address?" Carla asked intrigued, still wondering how the conversation about her came up between Simon and Peter.

"Long story short… I got this text from Simon one night and in it, he'd put your address saying that he wanted me to have it… he said he felt like one day I might need it… He said that one day… he felt like you might need me to have it… N well... ere we are eh?" Peter said, shrugging because still to this day he didn't quite get Simon's text message.

Carla sat quietly for a moment as she tried to work out exactly what Simon's text message to his Dad had meant.

As much as she could gather, Simon had somehow decided that one day his Dad would need to get in contact with her. But... Why?

Carla couldn't be sure but in a very strange way she felt as if maybe after all their conversations through text, Simon had anticipated she would eventually need a day like today.

Carla then thought about how she had been feeling after waking up in that cold sweat during the early hours of the morning.

She thought about how lonely she was sure today was going to be and now she really couldn't believe that she was actually spending today with someone after all.

Someone who (as much as she'd hate to admit it) knew her better than she knew herself.

She watched him pick up his coffee mug and take a sip as she wondered just how much he knew about what happened during that horrible last week of May.

She wondered who had told him about Nick in the first place and how he felt about it.

She wondered what he did when he'd got that letter saying she wanted a divorce and she wondered just exactly how much he knew about how she had come to end up in Devon.

After a few more quiet sips of coffee and after bending down to give Bailey a quick stroke, Carla eventually gathered up the courage to ask,

"So… What exactly… did ya hear about me n Nick then?" Peter swallowed his coffee not expecting this question at all.

He saw the very straight and serious expression Carla had on her face and sighed lightly before saying,

"Well… I first heard you two were an item when Simon accidentally let it slip back at Christmas..." As he spoke Peter didn't look as if he had been very pleased at the idea of Carla and Nick together, in fact the look he had on his face right now was one Carla only ever saw when Peter spoke about someone he really really detested.

Peter couldn't believe it when he first heard about Carla and Nick being an item and he would be have been lying if he said the news didn't take him months and months to get over and then it got worse.

Carla and Nick were suddenly engaged.

"I bet you had a lot to say on the matter..." Carla said as she took a sip off her own coffee, knowing that Nick had always been Peter's main rival and knowing that there was no way Simon hadn't got an earful about the fact that she was marrying Nick.

"Yeah... You could say that…" Peter smirked, nodding as Carla put her mug down and also as Jenny brought out two rather large chocolate brownies on separate white plates.

"Wow." Peter said, staring at the scrumptious brownie that had been placed in front of him. "That looks amazing." The brownie had large chunks of Dark Chocolate on it and as Jenny placed another one in front of Carla she said,

"Thank you. It's one of our best sellers."

"N rightly so... Thank's Jen." Carla added smiling politely at Jenny who said,

"Enjoy." And then began to walk away and into the café.

Carla had already tucked into her brownie and was eating a huge piece of it as Peter decided he should probably continue with what he was saying,

"Errr… So back to… you n Nick." He said awkwardly as Carla chewed her brownie and nodded. "Obviously I heard you two were engaged… Simon couldn't stop talking about it which was quite annoying If I'm honest, He said it thought it was dead weird that his Step Parents were getting married… Anyways… Then, shortly after Simon gets back to Manchester... after he came to stay in May... He calls me up and tells me that you've just moved away… That you've moved away without Nick and that something happened at the wedding... He said that Nick left you." Peter said delicately.

"Is that it?" Carla asked, slightly surprised to hear that Peter hadn't been properly filled in on all the gory details of her nightmare wedding.

"Yeah, Pretty much." Peter nodded slowly, "I mean Si said that he hadn't been told too much about it but a week or so later I spoke to him about it again and he'd spoken to Amy who had told him Tracy had tried to ruin the wedding."

"Yeah..." Carla nodded with a sigh, "I guess I should ave expected that from Tracy really… I mean it were only fair she try to ruin my wedding, After all I ruined her wedding didn't I? Calling the police on me murdering baby brother n all that."

"She were bang out of order." Peter said shaking his head at Carla, "Then again, Tracy always is out of order..." Carla kept silent for a moment and wrapped her hands around her cup of coffee to keep warm.

The weather in Devon was sunny but chilly and being sat outside was starting to take it's toll on Carla and Peter for that matter who ended up doing the same thing.

"Do you know why?" Carla asked quietly, staring at Peter who hadn't started on his brownie yet because he was far too captivated by Carla to want to eat.

"Why what?" Peter replied.

"Why… he left me." Carla said with her voice still quiet, as if she was scared to ask the question. She still staring at Peter intently as she waited for his response.

"Yeah..." He nodded slowly which made Carla close her eyes ashamedly for a moment.

She didn't say anything for the longest time, she just sat there with her hands around her cup in utter silence.

It was very clear to Peter that Carla was ashamed about what she had done, he could tell this mainly by the mortified look on her face… he could tell because after all, he'd been in her position before.

He knew just how much his foolish mistakes had cost him everything so he knew how Carla must have been feeling right now.

"We almost made it y'know…" She eventually said, looking up at Peter with tears in her eyes, "Me n Nick… I mean I told him... n he still married me… I could barley believe it, we were literally sat there, halfway through our reception for god's sake… n then..."

Peter kept quiet as Carla paused again and tried her hardest not to cry.

He kept quiet because as much as he had wanted to ask Carla how Nick had actually ended things with her, he didn't want to push it.

He didn't want to bombard Carla with too many silly questions and comments because he could tell reliving all of this was extremely hard for her.

"He... said that he couldn't figure out if I was lying or telling the truth… I don't blame him really…" Carla said after another moment or two of silence, a tear ran down her cheek as she spoke but she very quickly wiped it away before anyone else but Peter saw it. "And then… We were over. Just like that he ended it."

Peter couldn't comprehend it.

Not at all.

He was sure had he been in Nick's shoes… Had Carla cheated on him when they were together, Peter was sure he would have forgiven her… but then again Peter knew it wasn't really fair to think that way.

After all he knew that he and Nick were two very different people.

However, As he sat before Carla who was still trying her best not to burst into tears, Peter felt as if he could forgive her anything... absolutely anything.

He watched as she tucked some of her long brown hair behind an ear and sniffed hard and Yes, Peter felt one hundred per cent sure that no matter what she did, he would never… ever have left her.

As Carla shook her head and picked up her coffee mug, Peter was finally brave enough to clear his throat and ask her,

"And that was it?" Carla put her mug down after sipping her coffee and wiped her eyes gently as Peter continued and said, "You didn't try to change his mind?"

"You mean did I get down on me knees and beg for his forgiveness like you did?" Carla replied, her eyes weren't so shiny anymore as she spoke and Peter couldn't help but give Carla a nervous smile and say,

"Yeah… Why not?"

"Well…" Carla began, leaning back on her chair slightly and watching Peter with an eyebrow raised. "Tell me Peter, How did that work out for you when you did it?"

"Okay." Peter nodded fairly. "Point taken... Although I would go back n do it all again... Just so I could say that I tried."

"Nick's mind wouldn't have been changed Peter." Carla said quietly, shaking her head and picking at her brownie. "I know that for a fact…" Carla paused again and watched Peter who went to sip his own coffee, "You know what though… In an odd way... I'm actually really glad."

"Glad?" Peter repeated, putting his mug down in a rather stunned fashion and staring at Carla because a moment ago she looked devastated.

As much as it burned him, Peter knew that Carla really and truly must have loved Nick... that she was probably still in love with him due to the way she looked when she spoke about him so he really couldn't understand why she was supposedly glad he hadn't taken her back.

"I know it sounds weird but… He were so awful to me Peter… In front of everyone... In front of the whole wedding in fact. He talked about all the things that I hate about me self n he used them as reasons not to be with me… He went from being someone I thought loved me to someone who seemed to hate me in matter of minutes…" Peter felt his eyes narrow at Carla's words and looked utterly furious at the idea of Nick humiliating Carla so publicly.

She genuinely looked hurt as she spoke and Peter couldn't not stand the look on her face as she continued to pick some of the huge chocolate chips off her brownie.

"The man is a complete and utter prat Carla." Peter said because even though he knew it sounded petty, he thought he that it would help. Carla just shrugged at Peter and rolled her eyes before sighing heavily and saying,

"Yeah... I'm well out of it to be honest… The more I think about our relationship, the more I think we were doomed from the get go… Besides, look how quick he's moved on? I mean don't get me wrong Peter, I realise that I cheated on the man but come on? I've been gone what, almost four months and the man has already gone and got Leanne bloody Battersby Pregnant."

"So you know then?" Peter said, glad that he didn't have to be the one to break the news to Carla about Nick and Leanne being an item again because he thought it would hurt her even more.

"Course I do, Chelle told me n I just couldn't believe it." Carla said shaking her head in disbelief, "They both swore to me they were over each other... So many times and yet the flamin moment I skip town they're back together…" Carla let out a dry laugh and had an eyebrow raised as she spoke. She watched Peter who was the one to shrug this time and say,

"Yeah but y'know what I reckon? There are some people… some couples that'll never really be over each other… even if they think they are… somehow they always end up back in each lives again…" As he spoke Peter was staring back at Carla fervently and was surprised to see that she wasn't trying to avoid his intense gaze this time.

They both knew that what Peter had said was extremely relevant to their current situation and for a while they both sat quietly.

"They're welcome to each other I suppose…" Carla sighed again and shook her head a little, as if she still couldn't believe any of the stuff she had been talking about had even happened. "I hope Nick's happy… he deserves happiness."

"So do you." Peter said firmly, looking at Carla with his forehead furrowed because he knew how much she could beat herself up when she wanted to. "You know that right? You deserve just as much happiness as anyone else… more in fact after everything you've been through."

"No…" Carla said, shaking her head but giving Peter a small smile. "My life's not all that bad… There are people dealing with a hell of a lot worse than I ave done in the past y'know."

"Yes, True however that doesn't mean that everything that has happened to you in the past should just be forgotten." Peter said as Carla picked up her coffee mug and took a long sip.

"I know..." Carla began as she put her mug down, She shrugged and looked down at Bailey who was still sat patiently at her feet before saying, "I just wanna move on from it all… ave a proper fresh start y'know?" Peter nodded at Carla understandingly and smiled as she pushed his brownie plate towards him and said, "Now... Start eating that brownie will you."

Just under an hour later and Peter was still feeling privileged to be in Carla's company.

They spoke some more about Simon and about the things they had been doing since leaving Weatherfield and even though he still had about a thousand or so questions and even though he still wanted to talk to her about what today meant, Peter just let Carla steer the direction of their conversation.

Once he had finished eating the best brownie of his life and after insisting that he paid for everything, He, Carla and Bailey of course, left Ben's bites and headed back in the direction of Carla's house.

Peter had assumed that this was it.

That he would just go back to his car, say a rather hard goodbye to Carla and then head on home but as Carla and Bailey turned a corner he didn't recognise from the way there, he asked,

"Where we going?"

"To the beach." Carla said with a smile, she looked a lot brighter than she had done whilst sat at the table outside the café earlier on, her green eyes weren't shiny anymore and she honestly looked content as she walked alongside Peter with Bailey's lead in one hand and her other in her pocket.

"The beach?" Peter asked although he wasn't about to say no to visiting the beach with Carla, he wouldn't say no about doing anything with Carla at this point and wondered by questioning her decision if he'd suddenly messed everything up.

Peter needn't have worried, Carla just grinned at him, nodded her head as she moved some of her long hair out of her face and said,

"Yeah…the beach... Or d'ya not fancy a tour of the place after all?"