"Or D'ya not fancy a tour of the place after all?"

Carla pointed eagerly ahead of them, still smiling and as Peter followed her direction he saw that they really were headed to a pristine beach that was only a few minutes or so ahead of them.

"Lead the way then." Peter nodded trying not to act as if he was completely and utterly thrilled at the idea of visiting the beach with Carla.

He had never imagined an experience like this in a million years and couldn't help but think he was extremely lucky she hadn't sent him packing yet.

The pair companionably walked side by side down the road in silence, both feeling as if they were rather comfortable with the other.

Peter was busy taking in his new surroundings whilst Carla took the time to think quietly to herself.

She wasn't sure exactly what made her want to take Peter to the beach with her but here they were, almost there.

The strict, common sense part of her mind told Carla to take Peter straight back to his car and let that be it... but Carla's heart was much stronger than her mind was. It always had been and all she knew right now was that Peter was not only a joy to be around but that he was also a welcome distraction from today.

Carla also knew that deep down inside, she really wasn't fine and she really wasn't ready to say goodbye to Peter just yet.

She thought about his earlier comment... The one about how some couples never get over each other

Despite the fact that it scared her shitless, Carla knew that she would probably never be over the man who was walking next to her and she couldn't help but wonder... if he was over her.

She studied him up and down as they strolled down the rather quiet lane which led to the beach and as he went into his pocket to get out a Cigarette, She couldn't help but let her gaze linger on.

Then, Peter suddenly looked up and at Carla with his cigarette hanging out of his mouth. He caught her staring at him and for that moment he felt as if his heart had actually skipped at beat.

This was because Carla wasn't watching him like before. It wasn't like before, when she was in complete and utter surprise and she had first seen him stood there in front of his car, she also wasn't watching him suspiciously and wondering why he had come to see her.

This time she was staring at him... in admiration.

"I like your beard." Carla eventually said, feeling slightly foolish but wanting to say something to start up a conversation again although these particular topic did nothing to ease the slight sexual tension that was brewing between them. She looked at his beard, which was the fullest she'd ever seen it and nodded as she then added, "It suits you… a lot." She then looked away quickly and stared ahead of them instead.

Peter looked thrilled at the rather unexpected compliment and as he lit his cigarette he gave Carla a coy nod and said,

"Thank you… Si's not a big fan of it... He says it's a hipster beard… What ever that is?" Carla laughed as Peter blew smoke out of his mouth and to return a compliment to Carla, he truthfully said, "I like your hair."

"Really?" Carla asked, screwing up her face a little as she and Peter were almost approaching the steps which led down to the beach. She then looked down at the hair that was hanging way over her shoulders as Peter nodded and said,

"Yeah course… I like the length of it… I always said you should grow it long, didn't I?" Carla nodded with a coy smile and knew that she couldn't stare at Peter for too long because somehow it made her feel even more shy then before. She quickly diverted her stare down to Bailey who had stopped walking to sniff a tree again and said,

"Almost there... Bailey loves the beach." She pointed ahead of them and as Peter took a look at the almost empty beach that they were now stood close to, He couldn't believe that this place was where Carla actually lived.

He watched as the waves of the sea swayed back and forth and after finishing his cigarette, he couldn't help but start to feel slightly jealous that this was actually where she lived.

As they walked down the stairs which led to the beach Peter kept his eyes on Carla, she had her gaze fixated on the sea ahead of them and when she reached the bottom of the stone steps, she bent down and gave Bailey the puppy a gentle stroke before letting him off his lead to roam free on the beach.

As Bailey sprinted up the sand ahead, Peter took another long look at where he was currently stood. Cliffs surrounded the far end of the beach and even though it was still slightly chilly, the sky was a shade of bright blue and the sun shone immensely.

The sand seemed to stretch on and on, as far as Peter could see and as he and Carla began walking up it to catch up with Bailey, Peter spotted the immaculate Sandcastles that Carla had passed every day since she had been there.

"Wow look at those…" He said, as they walked closer to them. Carla nodded as Peter stared down at them in awe.

An old couple who were dressed in full on winter coats, hats and scarfs and who were also holding hands, had stopped to admire the mysterious Sand structures too and as Peter bent down to take a closer look, Carla said,

"They appear here every day…"

"Really?" The old woman said in amazement, She had a London accent and it was now very clear to Carla and Peter that the couple were obviously visitors to Devon.

"Yep." Carla nodded, "Each morning without fail n no one knows who makes em either. I've never made a sandcastle in me life so I can't even imagine how long they must take to do and yet, every morning, ere they are."

"Look at the attention to detail… How wonderful." The old man said, still clutching onto the woman's hand as if he would never let go. Carla smiled down at the couples' entwined hands as Peter stood up straight and grinned. The Sandcastles, which appeared on the beach where he and Carla were stood really did look magnificent and also as if they took a hell of a lot of time but that still didn't stop a rather amused Peter from joking with the old couple and Carla by saying,

"Although… I do reckon I could make ones just as fantastic as that to be honest."

"Please." Carla scoffed, rolling her eyes in an amused fashion as they old lady and man laughed because they could tell that Peter was joking.

"I could… Honestly I could.." Peter nodded with a smirk, putting his hands in his pockets as Carla turned to check on Bailey, he was still running around the beach happily, only slightly further ahead of them as the old lady pointed over to a little stall that was further ahead of them and said,

"Well… in that case you better get started." Peter turned to where the old lady was pointing and saw that the stall sold all sorts of different types of Seaside items, including a trusty bucket and spade.

Peter chuckled at the old lady as Carla grinned and nudged him in the side saying,

"Yeah go on then, No time like the present. Get to it Peter, make with these fantastic Sandcastles of yours."

Peter, being Peter nodded and jogged ahead towards the beach stall, leaving Carla stood with the old couple who thoroughly looked amused at his behaviour.

When he eventually returned he was clutching two buckets and two spades and he was grinning at Carla in a way, which told her exactly what he was thinking and planning,

"Errr no." She said, shaking her head as Peter practically flung a bright blue bucket and matching spade towards her.

"Ohhh yes." Peter said sternly because he decided that Carla needed to have some much needed fun, today of all days. "You've just stood there n said how you've never made a Sandcastle in your life, well now's ya chance love, Come on..."

The old couple watched as Peter walked a little further up the beach, looking for his own spot to build a Sandcastle and as he found the perfect one, he grinned over at Carla and said,

"Let's do it ere." He gave her thumbs up before actually getting down and onto the sand and using his bright yellow spade to start digging. Carla shook her head at Peter in the distance, highly amused as the old man chuckled joyfully and said with a croaky voice,

"You gonna go and help out your mate then?"

"Oh, Gerald I think they are more than mates…" The old lady said, giving Carla a knowing smile and then a wink.

Carla tried her hardest to look as if she and Peter really were just friends but as she watched Peter fill up the bucket that was in front of him, she couldn't help but laugh affectionately and say,

"He's such a big kid."

"Embrace it." The old lady nodded, smiling even more at Carla now. "If you don't, you'll only regret letting these fun and spontaneous moments pass you by when you get to our age." The old man nodded slowly and adorably kissed his wife on the cheek as Carla laughed and said,

"You're kidding right, He almost is your age."

"I heard that." Peter called from where he was sat on the grass.

"She's right though..." The Old Man said as Carla took another glance over at Bailey who had run up to Peter for another hearty stroke and then looked back at the old couple before her with a smile.

The lady was right.

Why shouldn't Carla have a bit of playful and harmless fun with Peter… After all, they were on a beach… That's what you did on beaches wasn't it?

"Well... it was nice to meet you." Carla said before giving them a quick wave and starting to walk towards Peter.

She rolled her eyes as she approached him and couldn't believe that Peter was actually down on his knees in the sand, filling up a bucket with sand and looking as if he was enjoying every single moment of it.

"Come on then you…" He said, smirking and with an unmistakable cheeky glint in his eyes. "Get on your knees n help me out ere."

"Well…" Carla said with a rather filthy giggle as she gingerly got down and onto the sand, "It's been rather a long time since I've been spoken to like that." Peter laughed out loud as he put his spade down and picked up his bucket.

Bailey was still stood close by as Peter quickly tipped his bucket over, he left it on the sand and asked Carla,

"Ave you seriously never built a sandcastle before?"

"Nope." Carla said, shaking her head as she slowly began to put sand into her own blue bucket. "Me Mum wasn't exactly the holiday type so me n Rob didn't ever get the opportunity to do stuff like this, The closest we got to sand as kids were the sand tray down at school."

Peter felt his heart ache. The way it always did when Carla spoke about her childhood to him.

He watched as she eagerly began to fill up her bucket with sand, He was unaware that she knew exactly what he was doing and he was unaware that she was beginning to get a little sheepish to have him paying so much attention to her.

She could practically feel that his brown eyes were totally focused on her and as she looked up from what she was doing, She smiled brightly at Peter and said,.

"Are you gonna turn that over then?" She pointed at the bucket Peter had filled up. He smiled excitedly back at her with his eyes wide and nodded before saying,

"Ere goes." He lifted up the bucket with such high expectations that he was rather devastated to see that the sand didn't keep the bucket shape and just collapsed before him into a heap.

Carla couldn't help it.

She laughed loudly at Peter's failure and even though he shook his head in disappointment, to see Carla laugh in such a carefree way made him feel totally euphoric

"Oh don't look like that ya big baby, try again." Carla said when she had stopped laughing. Peter grinned at her before picking up his spade and starting to fill up his bucket once again.

"Well…" Peter said dusting sand off his hands as he sat down on a deck chair that Carla had just rented for them to sit on, "I think we did a pretty good job if I'm honest." He was nodding proudly at the rather small sandcastle he and Carla had just finished building.

It was absolutely nothing near the beauty or size of the ones that appeared on the beach every morning and it was slightly on the wonky side but Peter still looked pretty pleased with his and Carla's efforts.

"Hmmm…" She said, sitting down on the deck chair that she had placed next to Peter's. "Let's just say I don't reckon we're any competition for whoever makes those over there." She said pointing over to the magnificent castles, which was now quite a bit away from them.

"We just need a bit more practice that's all." Peter said putting his hands into his pockets as Carla placed Bailey's lead on her lap.

Once again her puppy was running around the beach freely and as he did so, Carla smiled lovingly over at him and said,

"Told ya he loves the beach."

"How could he not?" Peter said, stretching his legs out and making himself comfortable. "It's beautiful ere." He looked around him and saw a few people stop to admire the Sandcastles up ahead.

He and Carla were two of about fifteen people that Peter could see on the beach and as Carla put her own cold hands into her jacket pocket he asked,

"Is it always this quiet ere?"

"No." Carla said, shaking her head slowly. "When I first got ere it was summer and it was packed full of people but as it's started to get cooler the amount of visitors has gone down a lot… Although it still gets quite busy in the evenings and on the weekend." She smiled because Peter was still watching their sandcastle and when he looked away he turned to Carla and said,

"What d'ya reckon the chances are it'll last till morning?"

"Slim." Carla said shaking her head slowly, she sighed sadly which surprised Peter a little and then she said, "That's the thing with building Sandcastles… you spend so long… put so much effort in... so much care and then in the end… they just wash away."

"True…" Peter said nodding at Carla who looked as if she wasn't just talking about Sandcastles anymore, he gave her a soft smile and then added, "But it was a lot of fun while it lasted wasn't it?"

Carla didn't respond to Peter vocally but she eventually smiled back at Peter fondly and nodded.

"So, Who ave you kept contact with then?" Peter asked after a moment or two of pure silence , "Up in Manchester, I mean."

"Well… other than Chelle, Simon and Roy of course…" Carla began, thinking about the few people she still spoke to who still lived in Weatherfield. "I text Bethany sometimes, Me n her actually got along really well… We send funny little pictures to each other n Stuff Oh… and there's Johnny, Aidan n Kate of course."

"Who?" Peter asked curiously.

Carla had gotten so used to her newfound family that she had even forgotten that Peter new absolutely nothing about them.

"Oh…" Carla said awkwardly, She sighed because she knew that this story was about to sound ridiculous. "Johnny Connor… he's who I've got running the factory… n well he's... me Dad."

"Your Dad?" Peter replied confused. Carla nodded with a complete straight face which led to Peter to think for a moment and say, "Connor as in… Michelle Connor… her lot?"

"They very ones." Carla nodded, she sighed heavily again and said, "Cut a very long and rather Jeremy Kyle type of story short, My wonderful Mother slept with Michelle's second cousin Johnny and nine months later… Boom I came into the world.."

Peter was stunned into silence for another moment but he eventually asked,

"When did you find all this out?" He could tell that even though Carla was trying to make this conversation seem jokey and light hearted, the subject still pained her.

"Just after last Christmas." She replied, she watched Peter wait for a more explanative response and eventually said, "It were a shock… more than a shock actually… it rocked my world to be honest with ya Peter but… I've got used to it now… I Spose.." She smiled a small smile at Peter and said, "Johnny's great… it took a while but I ave grown quite fond of him n he's got two kids, Aidan n Kate… they're great too."

"So you finally got a little sister eh?" Peter said softly, smiling warmly at Carla who many years ago had told him that she had always wanted a little sister as a child.

"Yeah…" Carla nodded slowly, unable not to return Peter's smile because she was touched that he had remembered how much she had longed for a sister to go along with her and Rob. "Her n Aidan were thinking of coming to stay… maybe close to Christmas or something like that..."

"That's nice Carla… really nice." Peter replied. As he continued to watch Carla he had this really genuine and pleased smile on his face, one that showed Carla that he was glad she actually had some loving family… even they were far away in Manchester.

Bailey was still running back and forth along the sand, not getting anywhere near the water of course which he hated but as he did so, Peter and Carla just watched from their deckchairs.

There was a long silence as they did so but it was one that neither Carla or Peter minded because over the past few hours together they had become totally comfortable in each others a presence.

"Carla…" Peter said, turning to look at her after another few minutes or silence. "I know that you said you wanted to move on…" he began delicately, wondering if he should just shut up there and then. "But I… well I ave to ask."

"Ask what?" Carla responded.

"How's it really been today?"

"I.."Carla started, ready to say that she was okay when really she was counting every single blessing that Peter had turned up today and that she didn't have to deal with today alone.

"I know you said you were fine but... I'm guessing that was just what you have said to everyone who's asked you how you are today." Peter said, he sat up in his deck chair a little and took a long look at Carla who was staring down at her hands.

It took her a while but she eventually sat up properly and said,

"This morning was… awful." She began, sniffing a little and then sadly smiling at Peter who frowned. "And by this morning I mean waking up at around three am and not being able to get back to sleep."

"Ouch." Peter said wincing, "Ave you been up since then?"

"No I fell back asleep at sometime after four I think." Carla said, "but yeah… Those first few hours I couldn't stop thinking about… him then suddenly, suddenly I just said to me self, No. No you're not going to do this today. I mean if we ignore all the downright dreadful crap I've been through, my life is pretty damn good and I am not going to let that man… Frank Foster…" Carla paused because she hadn't said his name in a long time and then held her head high as she continued, "I... have decided that today is going to be a positive day… I've decided it's going to be a celebration of how far I've come these past five years. I am not going to let Frank Foster define how the rest of my day goes."

"Good for you." Peter nodded, proud of Carla as she sat next to him so bravely, she nodded back but her eyes were slightly teary again.

"It's hard though…" Carla admitted, sniffing hard and shaking her head at Peter, "N… Honestly... I'm not so sure how I can keep up with this whole positive attitude thing."

"Well… If it helps, you're doing amazing so far." Peter said and he gently took hold of Carla's hand which she had left placed on one of her knees.

She didn't move it. She didn't shudder at his touch like he had feared. Instead she just gripped his hand tightly and said.

"Thanks." Although Peter felt as if Carla didn't really believe what he was saying so he lent closer to Carla a little.

"Seriously Carla. I mean it and you're so right. Life is good, I mean look where you live…" Peter said, raising his free hand and gesturing around the beach. "It's paradise."

"I wouldn't go that far." Carla sniffed although she half laughed as she did it. "I mean the temperature around ere could definitely be improved."

"True." Peter laughed, he took another look out to the calming sea and then grinned at Carla mischievously before asking her, "So… what's it like in there then?"

"In where?" Carla asked, confused.

"There…" Peter nodded, "The sea."

"The sea?" Carla exclaimed, "How on earth would I know?" She said, narrowing her eyes at Peter. She'd spoke casually enough at first but then she read Peter's wicked grin properly and said, "Don't even think about it Peter Barlow."

"Oh come on…" Peter cried, "You cannot be sitting there n telling me that this is practically your back garden and you haven't been in the water for a quick swim yet?" Peter shot up and out of the deck chair he had been sitting on and pulled Carla up with him.

"What are ya playing at?" She asked although she laughed as he went delving into her coat pockets. He laughed as he pulled out her keys, her purse and mobile phone. "Peter… don't you even dare!" She said, as he then went into his pocket and took out his car keys, his wallet and his own phone.

He casually chucked them all onto Carla's deck chair and then gave her an irresistible wink before saying,

"You ready?"

"No!" Carla cried as Peter grabbed her hand and started pulling her towards the sea. "Peter… no! It's the middle of September, it's going to be freezing in there!" She cried as Peter began to pick up speed.

If Carla had really wanted to she could have pulled away from Peter but in that moment she remembered what the old lady from earlier had said to her about letting these type of spontaneous moments pass by.

The next thing Carla knew she and Peter were stood up to their ankles in the sea and as the cold water filled her shoes and crashed against her legs, Carla screamed out loud and said,

"Oh god, Peter it's bloody freezing!" Peter just laughed at Carla's squeals and audaciously pulled Carla even deeper into the water. "Ahhh it's all going into me socks." Carla shouted but Peter just shrugged and said,

"My god it's cold..." Peter said, practically shaking as he spoke as the cold reached him properly.

"Yeah well I did warn ya..." Carla groaned, she looked behind her and then added, "Let's go back."

"Nah we're in now. Might as well make the most of it eh?" Peter said, smiling broadly now.

"Make the most of it eh?" Carla said, smiling naughtily at Peter before kicking a large amount of water in his direction.

"Oi!" He cried, trying his very best to dodge the water that came cascading towards him, Unfortunately Peter ended up getting drenched and before he could fight back, another wave of water came flying towards him, it was so strong it almost knocked him right off his feet which sent Carla into a fit of laughter.

"Not finding this so funny now are ya?" She said smugly, watching as Peter gasped and tried to find his footing. He shook his head at Carla although he had a rather large grin on his face as he did so.

"You are so gonna pay for that." Peter chuckled, he and Carla were now almost knee deep into the sea and even though the water truly was freezing, neither of them really seemed to care anymore.

"Yeah yeah, we'll see about that." Carla teased as she walked towards Peter in a nonchalant fashion, he watched her slightly entranced as he did so but this was a mistake because as soon as she was close enough, she bent down and used her arms to scoop up some water.

It flew towards Peter and soaked him once again but he was quicker this time and before Carla knew it Peter had both arms around her middle. She screamed out loud but Peter paid no mind to it, He bent her forward slightly and then used one hand to chuck some water, which splashed right into her face.

"Peter!" She wailed, half laughing half spluttering as her the front parts of her hair were now dripping wet and she now had water coming out of her eyes, ears and nose.

"Two can play of that game eh?" He chortled as he went to drench Carla once more.

After lots of laughing, play fighting and a hell of a lot of splashing, A very wet Carla rose her hands into the air and said,

"Alright... I surrender."

"You sure?" Peter asked, He still had Carla in his arms. She nodded as Peter helped her stand up right again and used the only dry part of his jacket to try and gently dry her face.

Carla was still laughing up until the moment she felt Peter's touch. Suddenly she stopped giggling and the touch of Peter's fingers felt as if all the laughter had been knocked right out of her.

Carla took a deep breath as Peter then ran a hand through her long and very wet hair. He still had his other arm around her middle and Carla didn't dare move away from him or resist.

"You okay?" Peter asked, his laughter had died down too and he was staring deep into Carla's light green eyes.

"I'll live." She said quietly.

The wonderful silence that then occurred between Carla and Peter only lasted a few seconds or so.

The sound of Bailey's barks shocked them both and brought their attention back to the world around them rather than it being totally fixated on each other.

"You alright Bailey?" Carla called, slightly take aback as she started to walk back towards the shore with Peter following behind her. She knew Bailey hated the water and wouldn't come any closer to her than he already was but before she left the water completely, Carla turned around and gave Peter another quick splash.

"Oi!" He shouted again, laughing as the water coated the middle of his body from the waist down. Carla poked her tongue out over her shoulder as she ran towards her dog and after bending down to see he was okay she stood up and said,

"He's fine… I think he was feeling a little left out that's all." Peter walked onto the sand again and ran a hand through his wet hair before laughing at the state of Carla who was stood before him.

Her black ripped jeans were totally sopping with water and her jacket and top weren't much better off either. The ends of her hair were dripping wet and as she put her hands into her pocket she shivered and said to Peter,

"You're a right pillock." She was smiling as she said it, looking at Peter who somehow was a lot wetter than she was. She leant forward, reached out and stroked Peter's wet beard before saying, "Oh... look at your hipster beard."

Peter grinned at Carla rather than respond to her. His leather jacket was dripping with water and as he took it off to try and wring out, Carla shook her head and said,

"What you gonna do now then eh?"

"Hmmm... that depends." Peter replied, "If you keep calling me names n teasing me I might just ave to go back to Portsmouth."

"Oh..." Carla said with an eyebrow raised, "So you're driving all the way back to Portsmouth in soaking wet jeans n a T-Shirt are you?"

"Maybe…" Peter nodded, still amused as he held his black jacket in hand although going home was the last thing that he wanted to do right now. "I reckon I've probably got a few spare clothes in the back of me car… I could wear them home."

"Yeah…" Carla nodded, walking towards Peter again. "You could do that…" She bit her lip slightly nervously and looked down at Peter's wet shoes before looking back at him properly and saying, "Or you could dry off at mine?"