Thank you for all the lovely reviews! I knew it was going to happen, I lost my motivation. So sorry if this chapter is kind of.. bad.

Chapter 8: Lost in limbo

What felt like hours, must have been minutes. Carla was lost in their kiss, something about Peter felt so safe. He'd offered her time, understanding and ears that seemed to welcome her worries, rather than blow them away.

Peter sighed. 'We shouldn't have done that' he said, Carla's head resting on his shoulder, his hand stroking her hair gently.

'They always say that' Carla said, her eyes closed, feet curled beneath her, her body soaking in the warmth that radiated from Peter's side.

Peter didn't respond. He didn't know how to. His hand gently ran down Carla's tresses, down her arm till his finger tips were gently tapping the palm of her hand in an absent minded manner. He did this for a while, before she grew tired of the repetitive movements and shifted her hand so their's fingers were laced tightly together.

'What are we doing?' Carla asked, pulling her head up, and looking directly into Peter's eyes. He could smell her expensive, soft scene, wafting naively in the air that encased them.

'Honestly?' Peter said pausing for a moment, and letting his gaze move across the room.

Carla nodded a little, their hands still intertwined, the pair of them tightening their grip slightly. 'I don't know' Peter said, his eyes moving down from hers, along the bridge of her nose to her lips. She smiled a little as his eyes took in her mouth, shutting her her own eyes and pushing her head forward a little, eagerly awaiting the contact of his kiss.

For a moment, Peter wasn't sure whether to respond. He knew what he was going was wrong on so many levels, but Carla seemed to need him in a way he couldn't ignore. He leaned forward and reciprocated her actions, his tongue dancing with hers, his eyes closing and allowing himself to get lost in the moment.

Peter gently pushed Carla until she was lying back on the sofa, her hands half curled in fists, lightly pushing against the material of his t-shirt. He moved himself so he was lying along side her, his arm wrapped around her waist, stroking her stomach gently as they lay in the moody lighting of her flat. He raised his hand, his finger brushing the plush expanse of her bottom lip, tracing an uncoordinated line over her nose until he was cupping her cheek, pulling her to look at him.

'I can't stay you know' he said gently.

'You've got to get home, to Leanne' Carla said as Peter nodded.

Peter pulled himself away from her, prising their bodies apart. Peter's body now absent, Carla reached for one of the cushions beside her, bringing it close to her chest, pressing her weight against it as she watched Peter stand up, scratch his head and purse his lips.

She noticed him glance towards her balcony. 'You can smoke in 'er if you want you know'. He shrugged his shoulders in a lost manner, looked at her and gave her one of his smiles, where his dark eyes squinted slightly and made her stomach jump.

She flexed her hands and sat up, looking around herself as though she didn't know where she was before getting up and reaching for Peter's jacket as thought she had done many times before. The rough, aged leather of his jacket felt smooth and inexplicably familiar against the tips of her fingers, as Peter did. Known him five minutes, yet felt understood more than she had done in years.

'Here' she said passing him of his cigarettes. 'Encouraging me to smoke eh, what would they say' Peter remarked, but gratefully took the cigarette from her outstretched fingers.

'Cheers'. He allowed himself to savour her touch, for just that moment too long.

The streets were dark below them. The night sky sinking lower, casting lazy shadows here and there.

The cold iron bar's of her balcony were digging into his skin, but his body didn't want to move, so put up with the icy ache. Her needy embrace enveloped him from behind, the dull press of her head against his back providing some distraction from the pain in his arms. He could feel the rise and fall of her chest against him, her breasts resting against his spine. She toyed with the flimsy material of his t-shirt, rubbing the material between her fingertips. Her movements ceased as he flicked his cigarette butt away, watching it fall chaotically to the ground below, laying his hands over hers