'See you later' Carla called back to Roy as she walked out of the cafe, closing the door behind her and strutting across the street ready to go hang out in the bistro for a couple of hours; that place had pretty much become her second home since returning. She had no job to attend so she may as well go spend time with Michelle. As Carla walked past 'Preston's Petals', she noticed the young girl out of the corner of her eye. The troubled teen who looked like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. Bethany Platt. She debated whether it was a good idea to approach her given her history with Nick, but felt that she may be able to offer her some advice after hearing all that she'd been through. She quickly changed the direction of her walk, instead crossing the street and taking a seat next to Bethany on the bus stop bench

'Didn't think the bus life would be for you' Bethany spoke as she became aware of Carla's presense

'Don't be daft. My life's not become that tragic just yet' Carla joked, even when she'd had her driving ban, buses were never an option for her

'Oh and I suppose mine has?' Bethany quipped back, completely misreading Carla's comment

'Well, given the things you've had to deal with lately; yes' Carla replied truthfully, looking towards Bethany as she bowed her head, occupying herself by fiddling with the bracelet placed around her wrist

'I don't need you feeling sorry for me as well' Bethany spoke with annoyance lacing her tone, tired of people constantly pitying her

'Oh, I don't' Carla shook her head 'I've been in a similar place to you y'know. I was abused pretty badly by someone I trusted. Someone I thought loved me, would never want to hurt me. Certainly not in that way anyway' Carla spoke with sadness in her voice, remembering back to her ordeal with Frank

Although Bethany remained with her head down, she averted her eyes upwards and away from her bracelet to instead look at Carla as she spoke, realising that finally she had someone who was actually able to relate to her 'Sorry..' Bethany muttered. 'I'm just tired of people thinking I'm not strong enough. Telling me how I should be coping'

Carla laughed slightly in agreement. Completely understanding where Bethany was coming from. Admittedly, she hadn't been through as much as Bethany had at her age. But by 17, Carla also felt like she was way beyond her years. Having to fend for herself as her mum wasn't capable and her dad was nowhere to be seen. Bethany reminded her of her former self in so many ways. Young, troubled and trying to cope with everything on her own. 'That's the difficult part. Technically, you're still just a kid. But in here..' Carla tapped her own forehead '..You're dealing with things most adults wouldn't know how to cope with. You've had to grow up way quicker than most girls your age. Trust me, I've been there. And the hardest thing about it all is that everyone around you still treats you like a child' Beth nodded slightly as Carla continued 'They don't mean to do it though; they just care about ya. Something that growing up, I wasn't lucky enough to have' Carla spoke truthfully as Bethany offered her a sympathetic smile

'I know how lucky I am. My family have been amazing' Bethany admitted, pausing for a while before speaking up again 'I just keep pushing everyone away, it seems to be the thing I'm best at lately'

'Does that include Beth Tinker's young lad?' Carla questioned, having noticed him and Bethany arguing in the cafe on a few occassions. The love he had for her being evident

'Yeah, Craig. He's the sweetest most supportive person and all I seem to do is push him away' Bethany opened up, feeling comfortable with Carla 'We seem to constantly argue..I just don't think he understands me.. I don't think he understands any of it..' Bethany returned to fiddling with her bracelet. It felt weird for her being able to open up the way she was, she'd not really felt comfortable to do it with anyone else she knew. As she finished speaking, Carla's attention was averted as Peter turned the corner, walking away from the taxi rank and towards The Rovers. They offered each other a small smile as he walked past her and Bethany. He would've stopped and spoken to her had she not looked deep in conversation with the young girl

Carla watched Peter as he walked away, making sure he was out of ear shot before continuing her conversation with Bethany 'He wouldn't understand though. No body who hasn't been through it will. When I was going through all the stuff with Frank, I had someone who couldn't relate to what I was going through. Couldn't understand it. But he knew me' Carla spoke as she nodded her head towards Peter before he was out of sight so Bethany understood who she was referring to 'And I mean, he really knew me. Knew what I'd been through, knew all my weaknesses. Knew how to be there for me in the best way. And he remained there, loving and supporting me more than I knew possible. Loving me in a way I never thought someone would be able to after all that had happened' Carla spoke with fondness thinking back to the first year of her relationship with Peter 'He saved me. Helped build me back up. If Craig loves you in the way Peter loved me, which I'm sure he does, then treasure him. Accept his help.. let him in'

'Yeah but then Peter hurt you. He betrayed your trust' Bethany reasoned back, referring to Peter's affair with Tina

'He did, yeah' Carla nodded slightly 'But he'd helped build me back up to be so strong, that when he did hurt me, I was able to cope. Had he not been there in the first place during all the Frank stuff, I wouldn't have been able to deal with what he did in the way that I did' Carla spoke truthfully 'Besides, Craig is definitely not Peter' Carla chuckled at the thought of them being similar in any way. 'There's no guarantee that he won't hurt you but nothing in life comes with a long term guarantee. Majority of us have hurt someone we loved at some point' Carla knew Bethany would recognise that she was talking about the relationship she had shared with Nick

'I know you're right, as much as it pains me to admit. It's just scary, letting another person in. Trusting them' Bethany sighed as she looked towards Carla 'And as much as I don't like what you did to my Uncle Nick, I guess you're still alright.. You was a pretty cool ''auntie'' to have around for a while as well'

'See, I knew I always liked you' Carla smiled at Bethany's comment, appreciating the fact Bethany wasn't still holding a grudge over what she'd done to Nick 'And although I'm no longer your cool ''Auntie'', I'm always around to use as an agony aunt' She nudged Bethany slightly, causing her to smile 'We're similar in a lot of ways, me and you. You're much braver than me though' Carla stated as Bethany furrowed her brow in confusion 'Well, I'd certainly never have the confidence to dance half naked on a stage in front of a bunch of people. Good on ya' Carla shrugged. Although she knew Bethany was under age and didn't neccessarily agree with it herself, She actually understood Bethany's reasons and knew giving her a lecture like everyone else probably had done, wasn't going to help

Bethany laughed at Carla's comment, grateful for her understanding approach to her job

Carla glanced at her watch before looking up at the bus timetable 'And would you look at that. A whole councelling session and still no sign of a bus. That is why the bus life will never be for me. Far too unreliable' She reached into her bag, pulling a £10 note out of her purse 'Get yourself a taxi love, it'll be so much quicker' she grabbed Bethany's hand, prising it open and shoveling the note into her palm before closing her fingers around it

'Oh, no Carla.. I' Bethany tried to speak, appreciating but not wanting to accept Carla's kind gesture

Carla interupted her before she could get her words out though 'I'm not taking 'no' for an answer. If you don't want to use it for a taxi, use it towards a treat for Craig. He's a good lad, don't let him go. Life's too short to worry about getting hurt. Just take a risk.. you won't regret it' Carla smiled as she stood up and began to walk off

'Thanks Carla' Bethany called after her, causing Carla to turn back around 'And I'm sorry by the way.. about your.. ya'know' Bethany spoke sympathetically, gesturing to her own stomach area as she wasn't not sure exactly what to call Carla's illness

'Hey' Carla's eyes widened and she raised a finger, pointing it towards Bethany 'Don't go feeling sorry for me. Remember, me and you don't do pity' Carla joked, pointing back and forth between herself and Bethany 'If you ever want another agony aunt session, you'll probably find me in the bistro..drowning myself in coffee' Carla spoke one last time as she walked away, leaving Bethany smiling, reflecting on the deep coversation she'd just shared with Carla

Carla sipped down on her second coffee, watching Michelle as she served customers. She chuckled to herself as someone queried Michelle on where a dish had come from, remember back to her conversation with Sally Webster when she had taken up waitressing for Nick. Her response of 'The Kitchen' was much more sarcastic and unprofessional than Michelle's had been; her best friend actually managing to anwer the question correctly and sensibly

'Sitting on your own, laughing into a coffee is never a good sign' She jumped as she noticed Peter stood beside her at the bar, glaring at him slightly before replying

'Neither's coming to the competition for lunch when you've got your own pub' She replied sarcastically, sipping on her coffee again as Peter chuckled at her comment

'Ahh, true that. I hold my head in shame as I've come to pinch some of the competitions stock' Peter replied, propping himself up against the bar as Michelle approached him

'Oh yeah, what you after?' She questioned, having heard him speaking to Carla

'Limes. Norris is kicking off about not having one in his drink. I've tried Dev's but he's all out too. Lime's must be in high demand' He shrugged as Michelle rolled her eyes in jest

'I'll go grab ya some' She replied, walking off into the kitchen, leaving the door swinging behind her

'A manager of a pub and you've run out of limes. Just awful. You'll be forgetting to order alcohol next' Carla playfully insulted Peter

'Me, forget about alcohol? For some reason, that doesn't sound very much like me now, does it?' he joked, referring to his problem with alcohol, knowing Carla would be able to see the funny side. 'We serve great coffee's in The Rover's ya'know, if you ever fancy a change' Peter nodded his head towards the coffee Carla was holding in her hands

'Mmm. The bar staff's company and conversation just isn't as great though. Not quite up to scratch' Carla joked, sipping down on her drink, using the cup to hide the smirk on her face as Peter pulled his hand up to his chest, pretending to be in pain as he grabbed it, mocking offence at her comment. 'Best not tell 'Chelle you're trying to poach the competitions most loyal customer, otherwise you'll have a very angry Norris sat sulking over his limeless drink'

Peter chuckled at Carla's remark 'Point taken. I'll work on hiring better bar staff; Liz can be pretty full on' he joked, knowing all to well that she was referring to him with her comment

Michelle walked back through with a small box she'd filled up with limes 'There you go. 20 limes should tide Norris over for a bit' She smiled, handing them over to Peter

'Thanks Michelle. I owe you one.. well 20. You know the drill' he spoke, both The Rovers and The Bistro having a joint understanding that they'd always be happy to lend one another stock if the other ran out of anything, so long as it was returned when they'd restocked 'See you around.. once I've sorted out that terrible staffing issue of mine' Peter joked towards Carla before walking out of the bistro

'What's up with his staff?' Michelle questioned, confused by his comment

'Oooh nothing. He's just messing about' Carla replied, not being bothered to relay the conversation back

'You guys seem to be getting on quite well again' Michelle pushed, having heard about Peter's visit to the hospital 'Don't think you coming in from The Rovers back yard shortly followed by him went unnoticed by me' She smirked, remembering back to the drinks celebration the Connor's had had the other day. She'd not wanted to mention it in front of the others at the time but was happy to press Carla for information on it now

Carla tutted at her observation 'I went out for a break and coincidentally, emphasis on the word 'coincidentally', he was out there too. It is his pub after all' Carla proudly stated, knowing she was telling the truth. 'Don't panic. We didn't have a quick fumble up against the bins in the ginnel' Carla joked, remembering back to a time when ironically, she had made a similar comment to Peter during one of their secret meetings in the ginnel 'we've both moved on, it's a good thing'

'Fair enough' Michelle laughed, holding her hands in the air 'It is a good thing. If you two were still at logger heads, I'd have refused to give him them limes'

'Ooooh very petty..I love it. Such a true friend' Carla grinned at Michelle before she was called away by someone else who needed serving

'Where did you get to?' Toyah questioned as Peter walked through the doors of the Rovers

'Limes' he replied, holding the box he had in his hands forward 'We ran out so Michelle gave me some at the bistro' he spoke, placing the box down under the bar

'We haven't ran out. There's a few on the kitchen side out there' Toyah stated, suspicious of his real reasons for popping out

'Oh, is there? I must've missed them' Peter quickly dismissed Toyah. He hadn't missed them at all. He'd spotted them earlier on but had just wanted to find an excuse to quickly check on Carla. He hadn't see her for a few days and had grown worried. He knew she'd be at the bistro and he also knew that she'd probably be okay, but it didn't stop him from caring

'And that's all you went out for.. limes?' Toyah pressed, it being evident that she wasn't believing his story

'Yes love, limes. Why are you getting so worked up over a bit of fruit?' He questioned, growing frustrated at Toyah going on at him

'Umm excuse me Mr, have you forgotten about your hissy fit over melon the other day?' Toyah shot back 'I'm not concerned about the stupid limes. I'm concerned over the real reason you rushed out so quick without even saying anything when we had plenty of the things outback anyway!'

'You're looking way too much into it, love. Next time I'll remember to check high and low before going out to fetch more limes, okay?' He reasoned, placing a quick kiss on her lips. She nodded, still unsure about whether he was being truthful or not but knowing full well that she was getting no where with him

'Are you sure you can handle being in here? I haven't eliminated the problem yet' he gestured his head toward Liz as he approached Carla at the bar of The Rovers, joking about their earlier conversation

'About that. I brought you a present to make up for it' Carla smiled, reaching into her jacket pocket and pulling out a lime, tossing it in the air as Peter caught it, chuckling as he realised what it was

'Michelle feeling generous was she?' He replied, tossing it lightly from hand to hand

'Nope. I got it from Dev's. It was amongst a whole crate full of 'em. Been there all day apparently' Carla stated, making Peter aware that she'd caught him out over the white lie he'd told Michelle earlier

'Ahh.. rumbled' Peter muttered as he looked down, his cheeks turning a light shade of crimson pink

'You do know you don't have to make up silly excuses to see me Peter' Carla spoke softly, knowing that was the real reason he'd popped into the bistro

'Sorry, it was a pretty lime.. I mean, lame excuse' Carla shook her head at Peter's humour, he always did crack the worst jokes 'but I do.. I do have to make excuses' Peter stated as Carla cottoned on to the fact that Toyah was the reason he felt he needed to

'Ahhh okay. Got it. Where is she tonight?' Carla asked, having noticed she wasn't anywhere to be seen in the pub. Usually she couldn't breathe in this place without it going noticed by Toyah

'She's at a meet up with her vegan friends' Peter explained, walking closer to the bar, still playing with the lime in his hands

'Ooooh, sounds.. exciting?' Carla was trying to make it sound appealing, but truthfully she couldn't think of anything worse 'but anyway, you don't need to worry and feel like you have to check up on me. I really don't want you lying to Toyah for my sake'

'I wouldn't lie to her if she didn't get so hett up about me and you. I know we've got a lot of history together but so have me and Leanne and she's fine with us and we live together!'

'It's different though, isn't it Peter.. Leanne's her sister. And if we're being honest, you haven't exactly got the best record for being honest and loyal to your partners' Carla spoke truthfully. Peter looked down, gently nodding his head, aware that she wasn't saying it to be offensive

'No more excuses and no more checking up on you.. I promise' Peter smiled 'So, what can I get you or did you just come in to chuck fruit at me?'

'I'll go for one of them great coffees you were boasting about earlier, see if they live up to the competition'

'You'll never go back to the bistro again, trust me' he joked, walking away to go and make her drink

Peter was just about to switch off the lights to the pub when he heard a knock on the front doors 'Peter.. it's Carla' he heard her calling out as he walked over to the doors, unlocking them and peering out

'Hey.. everything okay?' He questioned, concern lining his tone

'Yeah, nothing major. It's just, I think I left my scarf in here earlier' Carla explained

'Oh right, come in' Peter pulled the door open wider as Carla slipped in through the gap 'there it is..' Carla grinned, bending down under the table by the door and sweeping her scarf up from the floor

'Now who's making up stupid excuses 'aye' Peter teased

'Oh yeah, totally' Carla went along with it before a sudden urge came over her 'Although whilst I am here, can I quickly use the toilets? This kidney thing, it plays havoc with your bladder' she spoke quickly as Peter nodded, sensing her urgency as she scuttled into the toilets

'Thanks.. I don't think I'd have made it to Roy's' Carla spoke as she walked out of the toilets, noticing the glass of lemonade placed on the bar infront of her. A lime floating around the top of it

'Thought you might've had enough of coffee for today' Peter smiled as he stood behind the bar, pushing the glass towards her as he placed his own one down. Carla smiled, before propping herself up on the bar stool. One quick drink wouldn't hurt

'Check us out 'aye.. a pub full of booze, all to ourselves and we're sat here sipping lemonade. Such well behaved alcoholics' Carla joked as Peter laughed at her comment. Always having loved the brutal and inappropriate side of her humour

'I know. You're like a changed woman. Even turned to buses now, I see' he joked back, referring to him having spotted her at the bus stop earlier on. Being all too aware that Carla would never actually be seen dead on a bus

'Oh not you n'all. Here I was thinking you knew me' Carla shook her head, mocking disapproval at his comment as she used the straw in her drink to move the lime around her glass

'I do know you. Better than anyone else ever will' Peter spoke softly as he leaned forwards, crossing his arms and placing them down onto the bar so his face was more level with Carla's. Carla looked up from her drink. Both of their eyes locking onto one another's before being interrupted by the sound of Toyah walking through the door out back

'Peter, I'm home' she called out as she shut the door behind her, hanging her coat up on the hook and causing Peter and Carla to abruptly break eye contact

Carla shuffled awkwardly on the stool she was sat on, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable and out of place. 'Out here love' Peter called back, pushing himself up so he was standing straight as apposed to leaning on the bar. He gave Carla a quick smile, trying to reassure her that she was okay being there

'Tell you what, Rachel doesn't half.. Oh, Hi Carla' Toyah suddenly stopped talking about her evening mid sentence as she noticed Carla sat at the bar

'Hi' Carla smiled awkwardly before looking towards Peter

'Carla um.. she left her scarf in here earlier' Peter tried to explain himself, knowing Toyah wouldnt be happy and probably wouldn't believe what he was telling her

'Where'd she lose it.. in a glass of lemonade?' She quipped back, using sarcasm to try and hide the fact she was annoyed. Carla looked down at her glass, now just stabbing at the lime with her straw. Wishing she was anywhere but here 'It's past licensing hours Peter. We shouldn't be serving drinks to people' Toyah stated, still trying to sound calm

'Yeah but I've not served it to her and it's not alcoholic.. It was just a friendly drink' Peter reasoned, not liking the fact he knew Carla was now feeling uncomfortable

'I best be getting back to Roy's anyway. Knowing what he's like, he's probably sat up with a herbal tea, worried sick' Carla piped up, sliding herself off the bar stool before grabbing her bag and walking towards the doors as Peter walked behind her, ready to let her out 'Night Toyah' she called behind her before slipping out of the doors. She turned round to face Peter once she was outside, she mouthed 'sorry' to him as he offered her a gentle smile in return before closing the doors behind her and re-locking them

'Really?' Toyah questioned, no longer worried how annoyed she sounded 'well at least now I know what the limes were for' she gestured towards the two glasses left on the bar before turning away and walking off

Peter closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. He understood why Toyah was feeling annoyed but at the same time, he couldn't pretend Carla didn't exhist. Couldn't just ignore her whilst she was going through kidney failure. He was still entitled to care. He just wished that in doing so, he wasn't upsetting Toyah. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted as his phone buzzed in his pocket, he pulled it out and smiled as he read the text Carla had sent him

'Sorry that my scarf went and got you into trouble. Will stay out of the way and stick to the bistro's coffee for a while. Don't blab to anyone but I did prefer yours - you still seem to make it just the way I like it! Remember, don't go worrying about me. Focus on Toyah. And if you run out of limes again, Dev has plenty! x'

He quickly texted back a reply..

'Well like I said, I know you better than anyone. That includes how you like your coffees.. Toyah will be fine. Look after yourself and I'll see you around x'

Putting his phone back in his pocket, he sat on the stool Carla had been sat on minutes ago. Unknowingly mirroring her previous actions and playing with the straw of her drink whilst he prepared himself to go upstairs and face Toyah. He wished it wasn't all so complicated..