Ken, Tracy, Amy and Simon soon joined Peter in the bistro. He didn't hesitate to look for Carla who was still at the bar with Bethany and David. He then stared at the banner that was on the wall and said Congratulations, then he glanced at all the balloons and the presents and he realised what kind of party he and his family had just walked into.

Carla on the other hand, wondered what Peter was thinking turning up at the Bistro like that, especially when he knew that she was going to be enduring a seriously awkward party. David then turned to Bethany properly and said,

"I'm sorry... Did you just say Peter Barlow was fit? You do realise he's old enough to be your Dad… Actually in your Mum's case, he's old enough to be your Granddad."

"So… he's still fit." Bethany said smirking at Carla, clearly enjoying how awkward she was making things, especially when Nick had just come back over to them.

"Who's fit?" Nick asked,

"Peter Barlow." Bethany said nodding over at him and his family who were being shown to a table. They actually ended up having to walk past the bar and when Peter caught Carla's eye he gave her a cheeky wink. Bethany grinned as Carla tried her very best not to be affected by this wink but the corners of her mouth still turned upwards and her cheeks began to feel very hot as Peter and his family continued making their way over to a table.

"What's he doing in ere?" Nick asked irately, Carla turned to him with an eyebrow raised and said,

"Well it is a restaurant Nick so I'm guessing they're here for some food…"

"Well obviously but why did they have to come here, they could have gone to The Rover's or something."

"I'm sorry, I'm a little confused, are you not taking customers anymore?"

"Of course we are." Nick said a little stunned by Carla's sassiness although he should have been more than used to that by now.

"Then what's the problem?" Carla asked,

"Nothing… I bet he's just come ere to wind me up that's all." Nick replied but he wished he hadn't said that because then Carla frowned at him.

"And why would he want to wind you up?" She asked, Nick hesitated, he was thinking that Peter might try to rile him up about what happened with Leanne but obviously he couldn't tell Carla that, luckily for Nick he was saved as Bethany rolled her eyes at him and said,

"Uncle Nick, Gran wants you again." Gail was hollering for Nick to come back over and talk to one of her friends. Nick sighed and walked over to his Mum, Bethany was called over by her Mother as well, leaving David and Carla at the bar once more.

Peter was sat so that he was directly facing Carla, she had her back to him now but she could still that she was being watched. David could tell too and as Carla sipped her wine he moved a bit closer to her and said,

"Something tells me that's not the first conversation that you n Nick ave had about Peter."

"No it is not." Carla sighed, "I dunno David, it's like your brother is trying to make all of this as hard as possible." David nodded and said,

"Yeah well that's Nick for ya… I spoke to him last night about it, he's proper jealous of Peter y'know."

"Well I ave no idea why? I mean it should really be the other way around." Carla said but David's silent chuckle and his raised eyebrow told her that he was thinking otherwise.

"Of course Nick is jealous, I mean everyone round ere knows that you and Peter were like this big whirlwind romance and everyone also knows that he was the love of your life. I guess it's hard for Nick to try and live up to that." David said.

"Yeah well it's hard for me too, I mean how am I meant to live up to the mother of his unborn child?" Carla said trying not to let the tears that were behind her eyes fall. "I mean Peter cheated on me… as if I'd go back there." She lied.

"Well as convincing as that sounded… I didn't actually ask you if you'd go back with him, did I ?" David smirked because he didn't believe for one second that Carla wouldn't get back with Peter at some point in the future. Carla just shook her head at David and sighed again. "Can I tell you something Carla?" David asked, watching her.

"Go on then…"

"When I found out about Kylie and Nick… I were absolutely gutted, heartbroken in fact."

"Yeah I remember… didn't you try to kill him?" Carla asked with an eyebrow raised.

"I'm not saying that I were completely right in the head either…" David began "What I'm saying is that there were one point when I thought I'd never be able to forgive her and that we'd never get back together… But look at us now."

"Yes but it's a completely different situation to Peter and Me, I mean Kylie and Nick only happened once and you two ave kids involved…" Carla began but David shook his head at her.

"The love was the same though, I mean Kylie is the love of my life and even if I had of got with someone else, I know that in the end… We would ave got back together and I think that you know that in the end… You and Peter will do the same." Carla looked down at her wine glass for a moment, she didn't want to look David in the eye because he'd see that she agreed with him and he was Nick's brother for God's sake.

"So… Is this the part where I agree with you and then you go and tell Nick?" Carla joked, David smirked at her and shook his head.

"No, this is the part where you realise that I know what I'm talking about. Look I'm just thinking about things in the long run that's all and you don't need to worry, what we just discussed is to go no further." He said smiling. Carla believed him and gave him a smile as they continued their drinks.

They talked for a bit longer but then Sarah approached David, she sighed and said,

"David… Mum wants to take a family photo." David got up and rolled his eyes at the sight of his Mum, Gran, Bethany, Max, Kylie and a grizzly Lily all standing in front of a waiter who was brandishing a camera ready to take the photo. Nick was there too with his arm around Erica, it was a friendly gesture obviously for the sake of the photo that was about to be taken but Carla still felt as if she had been slapped around the face right there and then.

"Can I get an orange juice please Steph?" a familiar voice then said. Carla turned back to face the bar to find Peter stood next to her. He was wearing a black T shirt and jeans, such a simple outfit compared to Nick's sharp suit and as Carla breathed in she could smell his aftershave, she was secretly delighted that he still wore her favourite one and as he stood next to her she couldn't help but breath in again, just so she could devour that musky scent.

"Couldn't you have ordered a drink from your table?" Carla asked Peter, he grinned at her and then said,

"I suppose I could ave but then I wouldn't have an excuse to come and talk to you would I?" Carla couldn't help but smile idiotically at this as Steph handed Peter his orange juice. "I didn't realise you and David get along so well."

"And I didn't realise you were paying so much attention to me and David." Carla lied with a smirk.

"I also… didn't realise that this was a baby shower." Peter said awkwardly and then he looked at The Platts who were still getting their photo taken, he watched as they all said,

"It's a girl!"

"A girl..." Peter said hoarsely as he turned back to face the bar. Carla nodded slowly at him. He didn't talk about the miscarriage often, in fact he tried not to think about it often either. It was still too raw and it still made him want to reach for the bottle when ever he thought about the future he almost had with Carla. "Carla… What are you doing here?" He asked wretchedly, as she looked down into her wine glass, she looked back up at him with her head on one side and asked,

"What are you doing here?" She was sure he had only come to mess with her head but of course she couldn't prove such a thing.

"I'm here because me Dad wanted to get out, he wanted something nice to eat but we didn't fancy going too far so we settled for this place."

"Oh…" Carla said quietly "Well it's good to see that you're all out and having a nice time, you deserve it."

"It's a girl." The Platts shouted out again and as Carla sighed and looked deep into her wine glass, Peter said,

"And you're putting your self through all of this because…" He knew all too well that being a part of this "baby shower" was actually killing Carla and he couldn't understand why Nick wasn't acting a little bit more supportive, then again he couldn't understand a lot of things that Nick did.

"Because I'm trying to be a good and supportive girlfriend…" Carla began turning around and looking at Eric who still amongst The Platts who were still attempting to take the perfect photo. "Not really sure why I've bothered though."

"You're too good Carla… I wish you'd think of yourself sometimes." Peter said taking a sip of orange juice. He then looked at Carla delicately again. "Has Nick even mentioned… y'know what happened with…"

"Our baby?" Carla asked. Peter nodded at her sadly and then Carla shook her head. "No he hasn't… Not for a while anyway."

"Does he not think it might have been a little difficult for you to be here?" asked Peter.

"Well in his defence this was a surprise Party, he didn't know it was even happening." Carla said then she smiled softly, "David knows though, he asked if I'm okay so that's something."

"Really?" Peter said surprised because David was hardly known for being the most compassionate kind of guy.

"Yes, he's actually quite sweet." Carla said because she could tell what Peter was thinking.

"David Platt and Carla Connor, best mates… Who'd ave thought it eh?" Peter said with a grin and a nudge although calling Carla a Connor again for the first time since he'd found out she'd changed her name had affected him more than he was letting on. Carla laughed and nudged Peter back.

"I'm serious once you get past all the jokes and the sarcasm he's a big softie at heart." She said.

"A bit like you then." Peter said smiling at Carla admiringly, she looked modest as she sipped a bit more wine. She swallowed it down at Gail made the photographer take another photo of the family.

"Oh I so don't want to be here right now." Carla groaned

"You really do look as if you are having an awful time." Peter said watching Carla again.

"Well that's because I am." Carla said with a tiny smirk, "I mean I get that Erica is carrying Nick's kid but it wouldn't have hurt them to at least asked me to be in the picture too."

"Tell you what, I'll get Steph to take a photo of us lot in a bit, you can be in that… I bet that'll really tick Nick off." Peter grinned, Carla laughed and shook her head,

"I bet he wouldn't even notice." She said, Peter turned to look at him and then got up of his stool.

"Come on then." He said pulling Carla off her's as well,

"Hey what are ya doing?" She giggled as Peter pulled her over towards his family's table.

"Let's see if he notices…" Peter said with a mischievous grin as he pulled his mobile phone out of his pocket and said to the nearest waiter, "Excuse me mate could you do us a favour and take a picture of us please?" The waiter nodded as Carla said a quick hello to everyone at the table, she glanced over it as Peter turned to his family and said, "Right I want a picture of us all so big smiles please." Ken and Tracy were both confused as to why Peter was taking this photos but decided to go along with it all the same.

"Peter…" Carla began but Peter pulled her towards him again, "Peter this is ridiculous… Where am I gonna sit?" She asked.

"We'll normally I'd offer the space on my lap…" He grinned, but he'd moved up on his chair so that Carla could squash up next to him.

"Oh and Nick would love that wouldn't he." Carla said sitting down as the waiter said,

"Are you guys ready?" The Barlow's all smiled for the photo that was being taken and as the waiter handed the phone back to Peter, they all crammed around the photo to take a look at the picture that had been taken. Carla looked down at the photography which showed every single one them, genuinely smiling at the camera, they all noticed how content they looked which was nice change for all the heartache they'd had that week.

"Aww we all look like a proper little happy family." Carla said, she had meant it to come out happily but even Amy and Simon noticed the sadness in her voice.

"We are a family…" Peter said looking directly at Carla now, they were still sharing his chair and as she sniffed slightly and went to say something Nick suddenly appeared as if out of nowhere. "Uh oh, Looks like he noticed after all." Peter whispered, Carla was still squashed up against him when Nick said,

"This looks cosy."

"We were just taking a family photo…" Peter began, putting extreme emphasis on the word family. Carla looked at him expecting to see a smirk but Peter was actually looking quite cross that Nick had interrupted their little moment.

This was the first time that Nick and Peter had some sort of an interaction in front of her and it was easy to tell that tensions would soon be running extremely high if she didn't do something.

"Are you taking the mick?" Nick said. Ken looked concerned whilst Tracy looked amused and Carla stood up.

"No, we just saw your lot taking a photo and thought that we needed one too." Peter said, he was still glaring at Nick as Carla simply took him by the hand and led him to the other side of the restaurant.

"He is seriously testing my patience." Nick said, still looking at Peter.

"Why? Because he included me in his family photo and you didn't?" Carla asked, Nick shook his head and looked hurt that Carla would even suggest something like that.

"It's not like that Carla, we had to have Erica in it didn't we? I mean after all she's why we are here, I was gonna ask to get one with you in it afterwards."

"Oh no you weren't Nick." Carla sighed, "You weren't going to and don't insult my intelligence by lying to me about it either." She said.

"Look I really don't know what to say anymore Carla, I am trying my best to be a good father and a good boyfriend but it's getting so difficult to do both." Carla sighed and looked back at Peter who was talking to Tracy, she knew that her Peter free day was not going well at all. She was supposed to be spending some positive time with Nick and here she was, almost arguing with him again. "Carla I trust you completely, it's just… Peter I don't trust and whilst I know that you would never respond, even if he did try anything, the idea of it just makes me feel so sick."

Carla bit her lip guiltily, thinking about how she had acted at The Barlow's last night, about how she had almost tried to get Peter to kiss her and as Nick stood gloomily in front of her, when he was supposed to be celebrating the fact that he was going to be a Dad, Carla knew she just had to swallow back any selfish feelings that she may be having and try to make things up with Nick.

"Nick… Peter was just trying to make me feel better about the whole picture thing that's all." Carla began,

"I should be the one trying to make you feel better… not him." Nick said miserably, Carla nodded at him and said,

"Do you really wanna make me feel better?" She asked, Nick nodded and said,

"Of course."

"Then spend some time with me… ave a drink with me." Carla was trying her hardest to give her and Nick some time alone but even she knew his baby shower probably wasn't the best place for it, even so Nick took her over to the bar and sat down with her. It was slightly awkward at first but as the minutes went by Carla and Nick both started to relax and soon began to chat at ease.

Peter watched from a far as Nick and Carla had a glass of wine each, it was the first time since he'd seen them in The Rover's together on the night he'd arrived, that they looked like a couple again. Nick was obviously making sure he paid Carla the attention she deserved and as she laughed at something he must have said and leant in for a soft kiss, Peter couldn't bare to see anymore, he got up and said he was going outside for a smoke.

He walked straight past Carla and Nick who were so busy kissing that they didn't even notice him, Bethany had noticed how Peter had stormed out though and it wasn't long before she found the opportunity to stir up some more trouble.

"Alright Peter?" Bethany asked as she joined him outside, Peter raised an eyebrow at her, she was incredibly brazen for a fifteen year old and was smiling at him in a way that made him sure that she was about to cause some trouble.

"Not really…" He said.

"Is it because me Uncle Nick is all over your wife?" Bethany asked, Peter almost laughed at how much she clearly didn't care to sugar coat the situation.

"You could say that." He said exhaling cigarette smoke. Bethany nodded as if she understood but her eyes were sparkling with mischief.

"I wouldn't worry, it wont last for much longer." She said casually, Peter looked at her,

"What do you mean?" he asked, intrigued at what she was getting at.

"Well I doubt Carla will be in the kissing mood when she finds out about Uncle Nick and Leanne…" Bethany said,

"Finds out what?" Peter asked, Bethany sighed and said,

"Yesterday I was supposed to be working here for a shift, So I turned up and the place was closed. I was well annoyed because I was supposed to be getting paid so I went to find Uncle Nick and I saw him and Leanne… kissing." Peter rolled his eyes, as Bethany clearly looked overjoyed to be spreading this kind of news.

"Does your Uncle know that you saw this?" Peter asked and Bethany shook her head.

"No… I just kept my mouth shut and walked out, I don't know if you remember but we passed each other and I smiled at you but you were in your own little world and just walked right into the Bistro... I'm guessing that you saw them too then." Bethany said with an eyebrow raised.

"I did." Peter said with a sigh, he saw no point in lying about it to Bethany as she was far too clued up on the situation to believe otherwise.

"So why haven't you told Carla about it then?" She asked, Peter finished his cigarette and threw it onto the ground.

"Because I told Nick to tell her, it's not my place is it?" he said.

"Oh please, he is so not going to tell Carla, I mean have you see her? She bloody gorgeous, there's no way he's gonna mess that up... Besides he's got plans." Bethany said shaking her head.

"Seems to me like he's already messed up." Peter said, "And if you want Carla to know so much why don't you tell her?"

"Because I thought I'd be kind and give you the chance to ruin things between em but if you don't want to then I'll use it to my advantage instead." Bethany smirked, Peter shook his head her and said,

"This isn't funny Bethany, these are peoples lives that you're dealing with." He then went to walk inside but Bethany stopped him.

"But wait…" she said "Don't you want to know what my Uncle Nick's got planned?"

"I really don't." Peter said and with that he left her outside and went back into the bistro.

He was rather hoping that Carla and Nick were finished with their little smooching session by the time that he'd got back inside and whilst they weren't kissing, Nick still had an arm around her and she was still looking very pleased to be in his company.

They looked incredibly happy and Peter then realised that even if Carla had known about Nick's kiss with Leanne, she'd probably still forgive him and as much as the idea of it killed him he knew he just had to let the impossible situation be.

He went and sat back down with his family and their food had arrived shortly afterwards. Peter tried to tuck in and enjoy his meal but his stomach lurched every time he looked over at Carla and Nick who it looked like, were slowly but surely getting their relationship back on track.

Peter tried to ignore the fact that he still didn't know if Carla knew about Leanne or not and wondering if she'd made the decision to forgive Nick was driving him crazy.

What Peter really wanted was for Carla to split up with Nick but when he thought about things properly he realised that even if Carla did end it with Nick then she still wouldn't want to be with him.

They could flirt as much as they wanted but Peter knew that Carla wouldn't give him another chance to be with her and he wasn't sure that her splitting up with Nick would be worth it after all. At least Nick made her happy and other than his jealously and his lies he really did treat Carla well, he still had a protective arm around her and was talking right into her ear and as they were sat almost a metre away from Peter he was forced to watch them as he tried to get on with his meal. Peter just toyed around with the food on his plate and as everyone else had almost finished their food he had only had a few mouthfuls.

"Peter what's wrong?" Ken asked, as it was clear to him and everyone else for that matter, that something was bothering him. Peter thought about explaining to his Dad that he was insanely jealous of Nick but as he almost flinched when Carla laughed away at something Nick had said to David, who had now joined them it was obvious to Ken what was wrong. "Is it Carla?" Ken asked delicately.

"Yeah…" Peter said sadly, "And you know what Dad, it's always gonna be Carla, I can't sit ere for much longer and pretend that her being with Nick isn't killing me." Ken went to say something but Peter shook his head "Don't get me wrong I know it's me own fault that we're not together anymore and that she had every right to move on but seeing her happy is just so much harder than I ever thought it would be."

"Peter you'll get used to it." Ken said.

"No… I don't think I will Dad." Peter said shaking his head, he then caught Bethany's eye from a far, she shook her head at him and then nodded at Nick who let go off Carla so he could look directly at her. Peter then realised what Bethany had said to him before he went inside, about some plans that Nick had. Peter watched as Nick swallowed hard and it was then Peter realised that Nick was obviously about to do something very serious.

"So… Carla there's been something that I've been meaning to ask you…" Nick began and Carla swallowed her last drop of wine as Nick watched her anxiously.

"Right…" She said, something about the intense way that Nick was watching her, made her nervous.

"In fact I was gonna ask you this that night in The Pub…. Y'know when Peter came back but obviously we all got distracted." Nick said as Carla shuffled about in her seat.

"Okay…" She said as Nick moved and took her hand. Bethany shot Peter an I told you so type of look but he didn't see as he was unable to take his eyes off Carla, who gulped as Nick began to speak again.

"I'm gonna ask you it now because I think that me and you need something positive to look forward too… Now I know it's rather fast and we've only been together for less than half a year but we used to spend almost all our time at each other's flats anyway…. So... Carla will you move in with me?"

Don't forget to review and make sure you check out Dark Paradise if you haven't already. :)