Thanks again for all the reviews still don't really know were this story is going but at the moment I'm just writing whatever pops into my head! Hope you enjoy

"So why have you come back?" The question felt awkward to Carla and she wasn't sure she wanted to hear a response, no doubt it would be filled with sympathies she didn't want to hear. She was glad Michelle was making a drink with her back to her that way at least Michelle couldn't see the vulnerability in Carla eyes.

"I never left"

Carla nearly spat out a mouthful of coffee as she stared at Michelle trying to comprehend what she had just said. Michelle slowly turned around and made her way to the couch. Sitting down gently next to Carla she repeated her response "Car I never left". Moments passed and the look of shock was slowly leaving Carla's face and Michelle could practically see the cogs turning in Carla's head trying to make sense of the bombshell she had just created.

"I'm sorry Chelle you need to explain I saw you leave the pub, get into a taxi and set off for sun, sea and sand. Now you're here and saying you never left I don't understand"

Michelle sighed deeply and fidgeted with the mug in her hands she was steeling herself for the conversation that she knew was to follow. It's not that she didn't want to tell Carla what had happened she was just fearful of how Carla would react to the news. Michelle knew that Carla had always hid any weakness from her and would probably be embarrassed and ashamed at the fact that she knew just quite how much she was struggling with what had happened with Frank. Michelle felt guilty as she knew why Carla was so protective about her feelings and the image that she liked to uphold. It came from when Carla first got together with Paul. Her mum hated Carla she didn't think she was good enough for her perfect son and Michelle found herself copying her mum in putting Carla down with snide remarks. Things that at the time just seemed like little digs about her families background and social standing as well as her personality but now being older and wiser Michelle knew that those things would have deeply hurt Carla and that she had contributed directly to the facade that Carla Connor presented to the world.

Looking up at Carla Michelle really looked at the woman in front of her and seeing her alive and well made Michelle giddy with relief. Carla was her best friend she loved her deeply and they had been through many trying times together Paul, Liam now this. Michelle was more worried that if Carla reacted badly to the help Michelle had given and still wanted to offer she might lose her best friend a thought that made Michelle's insides feel like they had been turned to ice.

"Chelle?"

"I got in the taxi that night but I couldn't go through with it I couldn't leave Weatherfield, my friends, you" Michelle glanced at Carla who nodded for her to continue. "Leaving so soon after what Ciaran had done I just couldn't and Ciaran couldn't ... wouldn't stay so he left and I stayed. Maria was waiting outside the pub she told me you had said your goodbyes about 15 minutes before and I was a sobbing mess so she took me back to her flat."

Carla hadn't moved a muscle since Michelle had began talking she had a forbidding feeling descending into her stomach and she couldn't help be fearful of where this story was going.

"I was at Maria's for a couple of hours poor girl had to listen to me drone on while drowning my sorrows into a brew. Maria did offer for me to stay with her but as I'd been living here the past few weeks I thought it would be more comfortable here and I thought we could have a proper catch up"

"When I arrived I banged on the door and shouted but you didn't answer so I let myself in with my spare key" Michelle paused and took a deep breath to compose herself. Even though Carla was sat in front of her very much alive Michelle could not rid the lifeless image of her on the bathroom floor from her mind. Taking another steadying breath Michelle took Carla's hand in hers and fixed her gaze on their entwined hands as her thumb ran circles across Carla's knuckles.

"I came in and saw the empty bottles something felt wrong I could just feel it so I began looking for you. I looked in your bedroom and you weren't there. When I opened the bathroom door and you were lying there completely still... ".

Tears began to slowly build in Michelle's eyes and her voice shook with emotion "I tried and tried to find a pulse but I couldn't and ... and ..." Michelle couldn't stop the tears from falling now and she turned so that she was looking straight into Carla's eyes.

"I thought in that moment you had left me Car I called an ambulance then sat on the floor clutching you too me. I remember thinking that if you were gone at least I had one last comforting moment, one last hug." Michelle's grip on Carla's hand had become vice like and Carla couldn't tear her eyes away from the grief stricken expression on Michelle's face.

"When the paramedics arrived they gently pried you from my grasp and stretchered you out then ... well you know the rest I presume love"

Carla sat in stunned silence as Michelle attempted to regain her composure the guilt she felt was all consuming and she never wanted to put Michelle through anything like that again. It dawned on her in that moment how selfish she had been. Carla shuddered at the thought of how she would have felt if the roles were reversed and it had been her finding Michelle in that position; face down on the floor, limp bodied with no pulse.

"Car I know it's difficult for you and I won't even pretend to understand what you're going through but please don't do that again I don't ever want to feel like I have lost you I love you too much darlin"

Carla met Michelle's piercing gaze with her broken one and tried to make her mind see reason. What was she more afraid of losing her best friend or the thought of Frank Foster and what he had done to her? Carla's emotions rocketed through her body and she slowly sat forward turning away from Michelle. With her hair covering her face as if to hide her shame Carla whispered the words that felt alien and foreign on her lips as her warring mind finally eased.

"Help me then 'Chelle"

Michelle held her arms out to Carla and gathered her into a desperate hug as Carla cried quietly into the side of her. Michelle gently pressed a kiss to her forehead and ran her hand soothingly through Carla's raven locks, feeling her relax at her ministrations Michelle whispered softly into Carla's ear.

"I will babe I will".