"Carla… What happened?" Peter asked, getting up off his make shift bed, his first thought was to put both arms around Carla and hold her tight but given the reason that she was probably awake right now, he thought twice about it. "Did you ave the nightmare?"

Carla nodded with tears in her light green eyes and when Peter took a closer look he saw that she had beads of sweat on her forehead. Her long hair still hung over her shoulders but it was tousled and it looked as if she had been doing some tossing and turning whilst in bed.

"I'm sorry…" She spluttered, "I'm sorry… I jus-"

"Don't." Peter interrupted, shaking his head and inching towards Carla slightly, trying to make sure that he didn't make any sudden movements because it was clear that right now Carla was distressed. "Don't apologise love, I told you to come n get me if you needed me."

"I tried not to but..." Carla began, wiping her eyes and taking a deep breath as she stood before Peter.

"It's okay Carla." Peter said softly, knowing that she was finding this really difficult.

Hours and hours ago, Carla had felt like she wasn't ready to cry in front of Peter but now the tears were falling fast and free and she really couldn't care less.

"I tried so hard… everything was fine at first, I was just aving a normal dream n… he… he came..." Carla stopped talking for a moment and took another deep breath as Peter shook his head again and said,

"You don't ave to talk about it Carla. You really don't… Not if you don't want to."

Peter didn't have to hear about the nightmare because he knew all too well what and who it was about.

He'd been there countless times in the past when Carla had woken up terrified and in a state of tears and he knew exactly how much this type of dream could affect her.

As Carla stood in front of him trembling and shivering, Peter quickly jumped into action because he really wanted to try and calm her down, he remembered how in the past she had even had a few panic attacks after this nightmare and he was worried that leaving her stood in front of him for too much long would result in another one.

"Come on…" He said quietly, holding out his hand for her to take but only if she wanted to of course. Carla looked down at his hand in confusion for a moment but she still reached out and took hold of Peter's hand, which in comparison to her's was extremely steady. "Let's go into the kitchen n ave a drink of water."

Peter started walking slowly and took Carla into the kitchen with him, she clung onto his hand tightly as he asked,

"Remember what I said to you before you went to bed?" Carla nodded but she didn't answer Peter who stopped at her sink, He gently let go of her shaky hand and took a glass from her kitchen counter to fill up with some water from the tap and as he handed it to Carla he quietly said, "You're safe."

Right now, Carla didn't look like or feel like she was safe at all. She was still shaking as she rose the glass of water to her lips but after a few sips of it and after watching Peter breath in and out calmly, she was starting to feel slightly better.

"There ya go…" Peter nodded, he smiled reassuringly at Carla as she put the glass down on the kitchen counter next to her. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment before looking right back at Peter and saying,

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it." Peter shrugged with a smile still on his face. Carla took another deep breath and shook her head slowly as she walked over to one of her kitchen stools.

She climbed on it silently and shivered again which made Peter gaze around the kitchen for something to give her to wear and stop her from feeling so cold.

Although she was clearly shaken by her nightmare, Carla was wearing an oversized grey T-Shirt which stopped mid thigh and nothing else which meant that she had bare legs and goose-bumps up which ran up and down both of those legs and arms.

After scanning the room for a moment, Peter eventually found a hoodie that Carla would wear whilst going for a jog or to the gym, it was hung over the back of a chair and as he handed it to Carla he said,

"Ere put this on."

For the first time since waking up, Carla smiled at Peter and as she put her arms into the hoodie, she said,

"Thank you." Peter nodded and sat on the stool opposite as Carla pulled the zip on the hoodie up and stuffed both hands into the pockets.

She didn't speak for a while at first and Peter didn't either. He wanted to give Carla as much time as she needed so he just sat on the stool in front whilst she sipped a bit more water and until she softly said,

"I'm sorry for waking you up Peter."

"Eh, I've already told you, stop saying sorry." Peter frowned, shaking his head at Carla who put her hands back into the pockets of the hooded jumper she was wearing.

"I know… but I feel bad, You looked so peaceful before I shocked you awake." Carla said apologetically.

"Honestly Carla, It's fine. I told you I wanted you to wake me up n I'm extremely glad you did." Peter replied, then he winked at Carla as he said, "Besides, I see it as an honour to be woken up by someone as gorgeous as you."

"Really?" Carla asked, raising an eyebrow and ignoring how touched she was that Peter had just called her gorgeous, "Even in the state I'm in right now?"

She couldn't see herself of course because there were no mirrors in the kitchen but Carla was sure that she probably had red eyes, pale skin and she could feel that her hair was a complete and utter mess right now.

"Oh please…" Peter scoffed, "Even after a horrible nightmare you still look incredible." Carla looked sheepish this time and looked down at her bare legs as she once again found her self saying,

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." Peter said earnestly. Carla looked back up at him with a modest smile and for a moment she looked as if she'd forgotten all about the reason why she was awake right now but then the smile faded and she sighed in a way, which told Peter she was thinking about her nightmare all over again.

"I should really be used to this y'know?" Peter shook his head at Carla in a slightly irritated way as he then said,

"I've already told you that no one should ave to get used to feeling this way."

"I know you ave… but still, you'd think by now I'd ave some sort of coping mechanisms for it." Carla said with another sigh. "It has been five years after all... although I ave to admit… this year is better than the last couple of years." She gave Peter a small and appreciative smile, which showed him that she meant this year was better because he was there but he still couldn't help but ask her,

"What happened last year then?" He knew full well that this time last year Carla was in a relationship with Nick but that was all he knew and he couldn't help but be curious as to how Nick had dealt with the situation.

"Well… if I'm honest… I just... dealt with it on me own." Carla replied, knowing this would send Peter's mind into over drive to know that she hadn't leant on anyone during such a horrible time.

"Seriously? What about Nick? or even Michelle..." Peter began but Carla shook her head slowly and looked down at her legs again.

"I didn't tell them... Chelle doesn't really know about the nightmares... When I think about it properly... the only person who knows about em is you." Carla explained.

"So... why didn't you tell Nick?" Peter asked, more curious than ever.

"Me n Nick were really happy this time last year…" Carla paused for a moment and looked back up at Peter to see what his expression was, he remained straight faced even though hearing about Nick Tilsley really made him want to wince as if he was in pain. "I don't like to talk about Frank at the best of times n I dunno I felt like talking about him with Nick would sort of ruin things a little bit... I thought it would just remind him what a nightmare I am to be around."

"You are not a nightmare." Peter said adamantly. Carla shrugged a little at Peter because she knew that he was just being kind and sighed as she continued and said,

"It's probably a good thing I didn't tell him because if I'm being honest… he were rather useless when I found out that Johnny Connor was me real Dad."

"Well if I'm being honest I think Nick's rather useless, period." Peter smirked and as petty as his comment was, Carla couldn't help but smirk back at him and she took a moment before she carried on speaking and said,

"He would ave been supportive… Well I know he would ave tried anyway… But I dunno… As I said to you at the café earlier, the more I think about us, I kind of feel like Me n Nick were doomed from the start… He never really understood me… I thought he did but… He didn't… not really… the way he treated me at our wedding…" Carla paused again and swallowed back the tears that were headed if she didn't try to stop them. "I know I'm no saint n all… but still I'll never get over that feeling…"

"It makes me so angry…" Peter began, actually clenching his fists a little and shaking his head, "But… who am I to be angry after the way I've treated you in the past?" Peter then looked down at his own legs this time, feeling so full of regret for the things he'd done to Carla when they were together.

Carla looked down too, also thinking about the way she and Peter turned out.

There was a long and slightly uncomfortable silence between the pair and Peter wondered if he'd well and truly screwed up the rest of their time together by mentioning his cheating ways but then Carla spoke and what she said made him look up at her admirably.

"You never would ave done what Nick did though… use all my flaws… the things I really dislike about myself… as reasons to not be with me." Carla said ashamedly, shaking her head at Peter who was watching her intently.

"I can't think of a single reason why anyone wouldn't wanna be with you Carla…" Peter replied, his voice slightly breaking as he said the word you and Carla's name.

There was another silence but this time it wasn't uncomfortable, this time Carla was gazing back at Peter in a way that made him want to get up and eliminate the space between them.

He especially wanted to close the irritating gap that was between their lips but at the same time, he knew it would be highly appropriate to do so. For many reasons but the main one being that he wasn't too sure how Carla would handle any physical contact right about now... even if it was a loving kiss.

She still had both hands in the pockets of her hoodie and had both legs crossed as she sat before Peter.

"So…" Peter said, clearing his throat and trying to get some sort of conversation going between him and Carla again. "What happened then? This time last year?"

"Oh." Carla said, her heart still racing at what Peter had said to her before the silence had begun, "Erm, I was at me flat alone, Nick had this business conference thing that night anyway so it weren't like I had to make something up… So I went to bed like normal n then came the nightmare… I woke in tears but I just had to get on with it really… I can normally calm me self down, takes a while mind but I usually get there in the end."

"I'm sorry you were alone." Peter said, hating the idea of Carla being all by herself at a time when she desperately needed someone nearby.

"It's not your fault Peter, I could of told him, I could ave called Chelle over for support but… You know me, gotta be strong… deal with things on me own." Carla said, she then smiled at Peter gently and said, "Although I ave to say, I could get used to this…" She pointed between her and Peter twice before she then added, "Having you ere every year could really help me out..." Carla grinned to show Peter that she was joking but when he didn't smile back, she quickly said, "I were just jokin Peter."

"No…" Peter said, shaking his head, "I would love to be here for you... Honestly..." He smiled at Carla slightly taken aback and then said, "I guess I just didn't expect any of this to happen when I first thought about visiting you."

"Well what did you think would happen?" Carla asked, smiling at Peter with an eyebrow raised.

"Honestly?"

"Yeah course." Carla replied, intrigued.

"Well I honestly thought you'd be really mad to see me, I mean after what I did I wouldn't have blamed you… I don't really deserve a single second of your time so as I said I just wanted to check on you. I just knew if I hadn't of come ere I would ave been sat at home right now with you on my mind so… yeah... ere I am." Peter said feeling slightly foolish and still oh so regretful.

Carla nodded at him silently for a moment and then she uncrossed her legs and took her hands out of her pocket to rest on on her knees as she started to speak,

"Peter… what you did… to us…" She bit her lip and swallowed as Peter once again looked genuinely remorseful. Carla knew that hearing her talking about his cheating would be painful for him but she carried on because she really had to make something clear, "Sometimes... it's still so… raw… n I'm sure that it's still that way for you n all…" Carla paused but as Peter went to speak, she quickly shook her head and continued, "But it is in the past, We can't go back in time n change our past… no matter how much we really want to… So I think the best thing to do is to just try n think about the here n now… I know you're sorry... I really truly do..." Peter's eyes were glassy as Carla gave him a bittersweet smile and said, "Okay?"

It took Peter a couple of moments but eventually, after the initial pain and shock of what Carla had just said had taken it's time to sink in, Peter was able to say,

"Okay." He nodded at Carla who smiled again and then yawned which of course, made Peter yawn in the next second.

They both laughed to themselves simultaneously and then Carla's eyes swivelled over to her kitchen clock.

"Wow…" She said, reading that it was just gone four am in the morning. "I hadn't realised how late it was."

"Or early." Peter grinned, he looked at Carla's tired eyes and then asked, "So… what d'ya wanna do now? Do you wanna watch some more TV? Or we can just stay ere chatting…"

"I... really want to sleep." Carla said, half laughing and half sighing, She looked at Peter closely and then added, "And I bet you do n all."

"I want to do what ever you want to do." Peter replied as Carla got up off the stool she had been sat on for the past fifteen minutes or so.

"Well…" She began, folding her arms and looking from side to side. "As much as I really want to just head upstair n fall straight asleep I'm not sure I'm gonna be able to that easy… However I do like the idea of continuing our little chat…"

"Okay…" Peter nodded, not exactly sure where Carla was going with this because she had got up off her stool. "Do you wanna chat in the living room then?"

Carla had thought about this option for a second but she knew that she would have to climb back into her bed again at some point and she couldn't help but think with Peter by her side, it might be slightly less scary to do so which made her shake her head at him and quietly say,

"Upstairs maybe."

"Upstairs…" Peter repeated.

"Yeah." Carla nodded, feeling slightly embarrassed for suggesting it now and slightly naïve for thinking it wouldn't be scary to head upstairs with Peter.

However… it would be scary in a good way… an exciting way rather than a bad one.

"I mean… if we're actually laying down in a bed it might actually be easier to fall asleep." Carla said, knowing that Peter was finding her explanation of why she wanted him with her upstairs, highly amusing by the smirk on his face.

"Yeah yeah…" He teased, nodding at Carla with a smirk and an eyebrow raised, "Any excuse to get me into your bed."

Carla didn't think this comment needed much of an answer. Instead she just rolled her eyes and took hold of Peter's hand. She pulled him right off the stool and all the way down her hallway and up her stairs in silence.

As they walked into her bedroom, Both Peter and Carla would have been lying if they said that their hearts weren't rapidly racing.

Carla pulled off the hoodie she'd put on and chucked it on a black velvet armchair that she had in one corner of her room whilst Peter lingered awkwardly in front of her bed.

He almost wanted to pinch himself because he almost couldn't believe that any of this was real.

"Get in then." Carla said, looking amused as she climbed into one side of her bed and under the covers.

Before getting into bed earlier on, Carla had made sure the lights in her bedroom were dimmed just enough for them her to see everything properly but dark enough so she could fall asleep.

Peter was trying to act casual and not as if the act of getting into Carla's bed had him feeling extremely nervous, so he nodded at her and walked around the side of it.

She watched him as he sat down and got beneath the covers. Carla was nervous too even though she and Peter had shared a bed countless times and as he laid down next to her, she let out a sharp breath and said,

"Y'know, if this time yesterday anyone would ave told me you'd be in my bed tonight… I would ave laughed right in their faces."

"You n me both…" Peter replied, staring up at the ceiling for a moment before turning to face Carla who was already lying on her side. She had her head rested on a arm which she'd tucked underneath a pillow and at first she was smiling but then her smile faded and she quietly said,

"Joking aside though… I'm really grateful for this Peter… all of it… I know it probably doesn't seem like it but you being in ere… it settles me… I don't feel as alone as I did last night."

"Good." Peter replied, smiling at Carla who gave him an applicative nod and yawned again.

After a few lingering looks towards each other, they both turned their gaze back towards the celling. They lied next to each other in silence for a few moments, just listening to the sounds of each other's breathing and also they both secretly took this opportunity to think about how much they had missed each others presence at night time.

Peter thought about his bed back in Portsmouth and Carla thought about all the nights she had spent alone here in Devon and whilst they continued being silent they both knew that they were fighting as equally as hard to keep themselves from touching.

"What on earth would our families say eh?" Carla said first, breaking the silence and turning to Peter instead of looking at the ceiling.

"What do you mean?" He asked, turning to Carla who was smiling at him, amused.

"If they knew that we were in bed together right now." She said, "I can just imagine how much Chelle would ave to say about this."

"Yeah… I can imagine Me Dad aving a lot to say too… He sounded so shocked when he heard I was down here." Peter replied, wondering if his Dad had told Simon and deciding that he was going to text his son in the morning to say thank you for being the one to give him Carla's address.

"I don't think my Dad would be too happy about this..." Carla said and then she shook her head and laughed, "It sounds so weird saying that."

"I bet." Peter said admiringly, knowing that Carla's relationship with the man who she'd always known as her Dad was slightly estranged and that it must have taken her a long while to get used to having one around again. "I take it he knows all about me then."

"He sure does." Carla nodded, "One day me n old Johnny got together n talked all about you Peter Barlow."

"Seriously?" Peter asked, slightly worried about this now because he had hoped returning to Weatherfield would be easy and he really didn't want to have this Johnny Connor to add to the list of people that must truly hate him.

"Yes." Carla nodded, looking one hundred per-cent serious for a moment but then cracking up upon seeing Peter's expression. "I'm kidding Peter, god when did you get so gullible Barlow." Carla reached underneath the covers to find Peter and when she did, she started tickling him in the stomach and laughing.

"Oi…" He cried, chuckling and batting Carla away even though he was thrilled to have her touch.

"We did talk about you though…" Carla said truthfully, "He asked me what happened between us one night n I told him… He had a lot to say but I reckon he was just trying to do the whole protective Father thing."

"Well I'll make sure I stay well clear of him when I go back to Weatherfield shall I?" Peter said raising an eyebrow.

"No don't." Carla said, shaking her head. "Tell him I said Hi." Peter smiled at her and nodded as she then said, "Tell him that you came down ere n that you took care of me… That might make him soften towards you."

"Hmmm…" Peter said as if he was contemplating such a conversation but then he grinned again, "I'm not sure that me telling your Dad I came down ere n took care of you is going to go down well if I'm honest."

"Maybe not." Carla said, realising how suggestive that sounded and then laughing out loud in a way that was music to Peter's ears. When she stopped laughing she sighed and said, "I wonder what Nick would think about this?"

"Now there's a different story, I'd be more than happy to tell him all about this, In fact telling Nick that I spent the night ere in your bed would really make my year." Peter said, nodding.

"He probably wouldn't care… after all, He is shacked up with Leanne now…" Carla shrugged, she sighed heavily and then rolled her eyes as she said, "Imagine."

"It's ridiculous." Peter said rolling his own eyes, "I mean how many times are those two gonna break up n then get back together again?"

"They'll probably be engaged again in a few months." Carla said. Peter watched her because he was sure that he heard a hint of sadness in Carla's voice but then she laughed and said, "What on earth was I thinking eh? As I said earlier, Nick n Leanne… they are welcome to each other."

"It'll just go pear shaped again." Peter said, "It's Nick n Leanne… it always does."

"Awh I hope not… I do want Nick to be happy." Carla replied to which Peter scoffed and said,

"I don't."

"Yes you do." Carla laughed, "You're not that mean, Peter."

"Alright… I don't wish the bloke much harm… I spose." Peter said sighing, "But he better seriously stay out of my way when I go back to Weatherfield…" He grinned at Carla before he then asked, "You sure you don't want me to tell him that you said Hi?"

"Oh I ave a lot of things you could say to him…" Carla said nodding.

"Uh oh…" Peter laughed, "Do I need to write all this down?" Carla laughed back at Peter and shook her head at him as she then said,

"Just saying Hi to me Dad would do… n your lot of course, although you can leave Tracy out of that actually."

"Okay will do." Peter nodded, Carla yawned again and as Peter caught the contagious yawn, she then smiled at him and said,

"I am gonna call Chelle tomorrow though… She'll ave a field day when she hears about this."

"Yep, She's probably gonna say what a bad idea it was to ave me ere in your bed n that you should ave told me which way to go when you first saw me in Devon." Peter nodded, knowing exactly how Carla's best friend felt about him.

"Maybe... but she can't really say too much can she? I mean nothings really happened…" Carla began, although she would definitely not class what was happening between her and Peter to be just nothing. "If anything you're just keeping me company."

"Yes… I like that… keeping you company." Peter said, he then added, "Like that Justin Bieber song."

He regretted it the very moment the words Justin Bieber song hadcame out of his mouth and when Carla's eyes went wide, Peter knew he was in for it.

"Justin Bieber?" She cried, almost laughing as Peter nodded trying to act cool.

"Yeah…" He said, "I can be quite Top Forty when I wanna be..."

"Oh Peter…" Carla replied, shaking her head in a disappointed fashion although she was still looking extremely amused. "I thought better of ya."

"It's a good song…" Peter said in his own defence, "Not to mention it's bloody catchy."

"I can't believe you like Justin Bieber…" Carla teased, poking Peter in the stomach.

"Woah I never said I like him…" Peter began, smiling because Carla was practically cackling away at him.

"Hey… isn't he going on tour in a few weeks?" Carla smirked, "You should get tickets."

"Yeah yeah, alright." Peter nodded graciously but then Carla poked him again. He playfully grabbed hold of her hand and held it tightly as she continued laughing at him for a good ten to fifteen seconds.

"Oh…" She said once her laughter had died down a bit, "Well If you hadn't managed to cheer me up before…"

"Glad to be of service…" Peter nodded again, "Especially if I get you laughing like that… Although now that I think about it… I think that song is actually about casual sex so maybe it's not such a good way to describe us eh?"

"Oh I dunno..." Carla began, her first reaction was to try and make some sort of suggestive comment or facial expression to Peter but as she imagined him singing along to Justin Bieber in his car, she ended up in fits of laughter again.

"Y'know what, if I'm going to keep getting teased like this, maybe I'll just go back downstairs." Peter joked, acting as if he might get up and out of Carla's bed and sitting up.

"No don't…" Carla suddenly said, sitting up right, taking hold of Peter's T-shirt and practically yanking him towards her. "I need you ere." She said now that Peter was literally a few inches away from her. "I were just messin..." Carla went to place an apologetic and innocent kiss on one of Peter's cheeks but where he had gone to lay back again down she caught him... square on the lips.

Without even comprehending what was happening, Peter tenderly kissed Carla back.

He couldn't have stopped himself from doing so even if he had wanted to and for just a few magical and breath-taking seconds they both stayed in that very position.

Carla with a tight grip on Peter's black T-Shirt, both of their lips still pressed up against each other's in a way that they hadn't been in a very long time.

Too long in fact.

"I'm sorry…" A slightly embrassed Carla said the moment they both pulled away from each other in a state of awe. "I errr… I was trying to get your cheek."

"Yeah… sure you were." Peter teased, almost in a whisper. Carla giggled quietly and looked down at the grasp she had on him before she let go.

There were really only two options that Carla and Peter had right now.

One would be to try and ignore their impromptu kiss and carry on like normal and the other option?

Well the other option was one that very quickly and naughtily crossed both their minds but they both knew that given the circumstances of their current situation it probably wouldn't be a good idea so Carla moved away from Peter slightly and he nodded at her to show her he agreed that doing anything else wouldn't be wise.

"Maybe we should… try n get some sleep?" Carla suggested, still slightly taken by the wonderful feeling of Peter's lips on hers.

"You sure?" He asked but not because he wanted them to carry on with their unexpected embrace, although he could practically still feel the warmth of Carla's kiss as he spoke. He was asking because he knew that she was probably still shaken by her dream and wasn't quite sure if Carla was ready to try and go back to sleep.

Carla nodded at him with a small yet sheepish smile on her face as she lay back down again onto her pillow and said,

"I'm sure…" Peter went to lay back down again next to her as she then added, "Gotta try again at some point n besides… you're gonna be right next to me right?" Peter nodded at Carla sincerely and then, he felt her hand reach out and gently take hold of his. He made sure held her hand back supportively as he could really fell that she was still tense and he nodded once more as he said,

"Absolutely… I'm not going anywhere... I promise."