I normally update every weekend but I just felt like publishing this chapter tonight... :)

If someone had told Simon that his Dad would have been standing outside his school waiting for him on Monday, he wouldn't have believed them. Peter was due to arrive on Sunday as far as Simon was concerned so when he saw his Dad standing there outside his school's gates, he ran over to him as fast as he could.

"Dad!" He cried, he was carrying a football but he dropped it and threw his arms around Peter's waist so he could hug him tight, Peter held him close and breathed in deeply, taking in Simon's familiar scent.

"Hi Si" Peter beamed "It's so good to see you" he said and as he let go of Simon and took a proper look at him. Simon bent down to pick up the football he'd dropped. "How is it you've grown so much in only a few months?" he asked looking at him, he couldn't believe that he was nearly twelve, Simon smiled at him sheepishly and shrugged.

"What are you doing here? It's not me birthday until next Monday" he said waving goodbye to his friends proudly.

"Yeah well I thought I'd come down earlier and spend some more time with you" he said Simon's face lit up as they began walking home together.

"Really?" he said and Peter nodded at him

"Yes really"

As they walked down Coronation Street together, Simon was so pleased that everyone could see that his Dad was back, he smiled from ear to ear as various people stopped Peter to say hello.

"How long you staying for Dad?" He asked, Peter shrugged not knowing what to say to him.

"I'm not sure son, a few weeks maybe"

"A few weeks" Simon gasped as this was a lot more then he expected. Peter nodded at him as they continued to walk together, he smirked and grabbed the football off of Simon

"You still playing football then?" he said, Simon nodded as his Dad started playing keepy uppy with the ball.

"Yeah, I go on Saturday mornings and I'm on the year seven team at school." he said proudly, Peter smiled also proud

"That's my boy" he said "You obviously get your skills from me" Peter was showing off kicking the ball higher and higher.

"You sure about that?" Simon said raising an eyebrow as Peter over kicked the ball this time and it flew down the street towards Zeedan Nazir who was walking with some headphones in.

"Zeedan!" Simon cried he ran over to him, Zeedan's Dad was Simon's Mum's boyfriend, Even though Zeedan was still not a fan of Leanne he had to admit he'd grown very fond of Simon. He pulled out his head phones as Simon got closer to him

"Hi Simon" he said picking up the ball grinning "Cool football" he said admiring it and kicking it back to Simon, Simon kicked it back as Peter caught up with them.

"Zeedan this is my Dad" he said

"Nice to meet you" Peter said Zeedan nodded back at him, he'd heard plenty about Peter Barlow from Simon and many other people who lived on the street.

"You too" he said kicking the ball to him, they kicked the ball back and forth between them for a while as they walked down the road, they stopped outside the garage "You looking forward to bowling on Saturday then mate?" Zeedan asked, he had already made up an excuse not to go because he didn't want to spend anymore time with Leanne and his Dad than he had to.

"Bowling?" Peter said interested, Simon nodded

"Yeah are you coming Dad?" He said looking at his Dad and not at the ball that went flying into the doors of the factory "Mum's coming and Kal and Amy" Simon ran over to the factory steps and picked up the ball "Oh and Carla" he said reminded that he had invited her as he was now stood outside the factory. The door opened and stood there was Zeedan's sister Alya who worked at the factory, She'd come to see what the noise was about and she did not look pleased.

"Sorry that was your brothers fault." Simon said pointing at Zeedan and giving her an apologetic look, Alya rolled her eyes at her little brother

"What have you been told about hanging around here and winding me up?" She said, Zeedan just shrugged at her

"I don't know remind me again." He said smirking at Simon and then back at his sister.

"Just go away Zeedan" She scowled and then closed the door.

"Thanks for that Si" Zeedan said as Simon returned with the ball

"Did you say Carla was going bowling Si?" Peter said surprised, Simon nodded at his Dad with a grin.

"Yep" he said and then he kicked the ball to Peter, Peter's attention was diverted by the mention of Carla and the ball hit the factor door again, Zeedan ran to get it quickly but the door flew open before he could get back down to Simon and Peter.

"Zeedan!" His sister hissed when she saw him on the steps "Seriously you need to go and play football somewhere else, Carla is in a foul mood today and she's asked me to make sure she doesn't hear that noise again" Zeedan nodded at Alya sarcastically

"Has she now?" he said mischievously

"I'm serious Zeedan" She pleaded "Just go away"

"Okay" He sighed and he took the ball back to Simon and Peter as Alya closed the door behind her.

"What did she say?" Simon asked, Zeedan shrugged and smirked

"Oh she's gonna get in trouble if the noise doesn't stop" he said and he dropped the ball on the floor opposite the factory. Luke who worked in the garage had been watching the whole thing and had spotted what Zeedan was doing.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you" he warned, Simon, Zeedan and Peter looked over at Luke "I'm serious, I saw Carla going in there about an hour and a half ago and she looked furious" he said knowing that she wasn't someone to be messed with even at the best of times.

"Maybe we should go and get something to eat now Simon" Peter suggested deciding it was probably best to avoid an angry Carla at all costs. Zeedan scoffed at them all, only interested in annoying his big Sister. He bent down to check his aim, took a few steps back and kicked the ball straight towards the factory, it smacked hard against the door making Simon and Peter both hold their breath.

Zeedan laughed as he imagined his sister getting a right earful from her boss, He couldn't wait to see her face but unfortunately for him the door flew open and instead of his sister being stood there it was Carla, She was dressed in a little black dress and black ankle boots. She took one furious look at Zeedan, then at Simon and when she finally looked at Peter he tried to smile at her but she only gave him quick glance before looking back a Simon.

"Is there some reason why you three feel like my factory door is a goal post?" She asked fiercely with her head on one side, the three of them looked at each other then at Luke who was still watching them, He nodded at them in an I told you so type of way and got back to work. Carla waited for a response with her arms folded and eventually Simon spoke up and said

"Sorry Carla" deciding that he was probably the best person to apologise to her and that she might take it a little easier on him.

"Have you really nothing better to do with your afternoon than to stand out here and annoy me and my employees?" She said moving her hands to her hips. Peter watched her, she didn't look as cheerful as she had done on Saturday night, he couldn't quite tell if she had dark circles under her eyes or if it was just her make up but she looked exhausted.

"Not really" Zeedan grinned looking Carla up and down, She glared at him because she was used to him hanging around and trying to annoy his sister, She wasn't quite aware that he also liked to hang around because he had developed quite the crush on her. She turned to Simon again

"Simon you must have some homework you could be doing or summat?" He looked at his Dad and then back at Carla again

"Actually I was gonna ask if I can use your printer to print something off for school because ours isn't working." he said. This was news to Peter but he nodded along anyway as if this was part of the reason why they were outside the factory to begin with.

"Right well get in here then" She said pointing into the factory behind her, Simon was planning to come by later on but he did what he was told as he could tell winding Carla up some more was not a good idea.

"Shall I wait for you at your Granddad's Si" Peter called after him picking up the football that had made its way back towards them, Simon nodded as he went into the factory Carla went to close the door but before she did she said

"Peter" he turned to look at her hopefully

"If I see that ball again, I'll stick it where the sun don't shine" and she almost smirked at him before going back into the factory and slamming the door behind her.

"Uh she is so sexy when she is angry" Zeedan said still grinning at the factory door "I can't believe you cheated on her" he added now looking at Peter.

"Yeah neither can I mate" Peter said solemnly, Carla did look amazing stood there in front of them, even more beautiful that she had done on Saturday night but having known her as long as he had done Peter could tell that something was definitely wrong with her, It was almost as if he could see the hurt in her eyes. He said goodbye to Zeedan and headed towards home.

When Peter knocked on the door of his Dad's house, He was welcomed by his niece Amy who threw her arms around him the moment she saw him.

"Peter!" She cried, Peter was rather shocked by her reaction towards him as she'd never shown much affection for him before but as she clung onto him Peter held onto her closely.

"How are you Amy?" He asked as she let him in

"I'm good, wait till Grandad see's you're back?" she asked walking down the hallway behind him, he entered his family's back room to find his Dad sitting with the newspaper,

"Typical" he grinned as Ken had his head buried into the political section of the paper. Ken's head jerked up at the sound of Peter's voice "Alright Dad" Peter said smiling.

"Peter what a surprise" Ken cried delighted to see his son home early, He put his paper down and hugged his son tight, They both patted each other on the back affectionately.

"I thought I'd come and stay for a few weeks if that's okay with you." he said, Ken nodded and smiled as Tracy came in from the kitchen and hugged her brother tight.

"I've missed you so much." She said into his ear, Peter was surprised at the desperation in her voice and looked at her but she shook her head and nodded towards their Dad.

"Well it's a bit crowded here but of course you can stay son" Ken said and he then looked at Peter properly and saw that all he had been carrying was a football "Peter you don't have any luggage?" Peter grinned at his Dad

"Ahh but I do I dropped it off earlier, Tracy let me in and it seems she actually did a good job of keeping a secret for once, I was sure she would have spilled the beans by now."

"Oh cheers, thanks for the vote of confidence." Tracy said giving Peter a little push but she was smiling all the same. Ken laughed at them glad to see them stood in front of him together.

"Wait till Simon sees you" Ken said as they all sat down at the table.

"Oh he already has seen me. I met him outside his high school, I were a bit worried at first in case I embarrassed him in front of all his new mates but he seemed really happy to see me" Peter said

"Oh that's lovely, where is he now then?" Ken asked

"Oh I left him down at the factory he asked Carla if he could borrow her printer, I said I'll wait for him here because she wasn't in the best of moods and I didn't want to push me luck. I just hope Simon isn't too annoying for her that's all." Peter said a little worried but Ken shook his head at him.

"Oh Simon will be fine, He'll probably cheer Carla right up" Ken said with a knowing smile, Peter watched him for a moment

"Really?" he said and Tracy nodded

"Oh yeah they have been spending quite a lot of time together lately actually" Ken said a little surprised that Peter was unaware of all of this.

"He never said anything in our Skype conversations" Peter said surprised

"Oh she's so good with him, they've been watching movies together and the way he talks about her, you can really tell he adores her" Ken said

"Well were was this behaviour a few years ago eh?' Peter sighed remembering how hard Simon had made it for Carla when she first got with his Dad.

"Well you know what Simon was like back then, everything was confusing for him but they've really bonded now and I think it all started because they both missed you" Ken said, Peter nodded pleased to hear this news even if he hadn't seen it coming. Ken got up and said he was going to make his son a coffee leaving Peter and Tracy sat together at the table with Amy but she was watching television and wasn't really listening anyway.

"How's he been?" Peter said quietly leaning in a little to make sure Tracy could hear him.

"This week, fine but last week was rather difficult." Tracy said turning back and checking Ken was still in the kitchen. "I'm just so glad you're here." She said smiling at Peter lovingly.

"Me too, So what was he like last week then?" Peter asked

"He was just so down Peter and I really didn't want to leave him alone, Carla came over and sat with him for a few hours actually and it really seemed to ave done him some good" Tracy said

"Carla came and sat with Dad?" Peter said surprised again although by this point he wondered why because it was clear to him a lot had gone on that he didn't know about.

"Yeah she did" Tracy whispered "Don't tell her I said this to you but she's been a real rock for Simon and Dad recently, so don't you dare go and mess it all up for them both." Peter was astonished to hear Tracy talking about Carla in such a positive light and he was almost beginning to wonder if he had took a wrong turn on the way home and stumbled into some sort of alternate universe instead.

It got to five o clock and Simon was still not home, Peter wondered about going over to see if Simon was alright although it was more Carla he wanted to see. Eventually he got up and made his way across the road and back over to the factory.

"Have you seen our Simon come out of there yet?" Peter asked Luke who was still working on a car outside, He shook his head at Peter

"Nope not yet" he said, Peter hesitated for a moment before continuing on into the factory, He wasn't too sure about going in there uninvited but he decided he had every right to see what his son was up to, after all he said he just said he was printing off something and he'd been in there almost an hour.

Peter gingerly opened the door to the factory and a room of shocked faces welcomed him in as he closed it behind him. He'd guessed it was because they were surprised to see him back on the street. He nodded at them and smiled, most of them smiled back at him but they didn't dare to speak and continued to sew away on their machines in silence. Peter scanned the room looking for Simon as Alya came running over to him.

"Can I help you?" She asked smiling at him politely

"I'm Simon's Dad, I was just wondering if he was ready to come home yet?" he smiled back at her

"So you're Peter" she said, She didn't know too much about him but she knew that he was Carla's ex and that he'd cheated on her which is why they weren't together anymore.

"He's in the office with Carla" Alya said she wasn't sure if she should have let Peter walk past her but before she knew it he was knocking on the office door, Peter entered it to find Simon sitting on the computer and Carla standing next to him looking at the computer screen.

"Hi" he said awkwardly Carla looked over and sighed when she saw Peter stood in her doorway.

"Just let your self in won't you Peter" she said irritated as she hadn't actually welcomed him into her office.

"I just came to see if Simon was okay."

"Why what did ya think had happened? That I kidnapped him or something?" Normally Peter would have just passed this off as banter but not today, something wasn't right with her tone, he could tell something was wrong.

"No I just wondered if he still wanted to go and get something to eat" He said a little taken aback, Simon looked up at his Dad.

"Sorry Dad it's just taken ages for me to find what I was looking for." he said wondering if he should maybe give his Dad and Step mum some time alone but he didn't want to make it too obvious and then he had a mini brain wave.

"I need the toilet, Dad you wait here for my work to print and then we can go." Simon got up off of the chair and made his way to the toilet leaving Carla and his Dad alone.

"How you doing Carla?" Peter asked she rolled her eyes and sat down on the chair where Simon had been sitting.

"Bloody fantastic, I mean today has just been a real roller coaster ride." She said sarcastically as the printer got to work and printed out Simon's homework, Carla got up and collected it from the printer and handed it to Peter "There you go, Make sure you close the door on ya way out" She said bluntly, Peter frowned at her

"Okay what have I done?" He asked, Carla sighed as he took the homework off of her

"What?"

"Well you were alright with me on Saturday and now... I don't know you just seem kinda off with me"

"Of course" Carla nodded "because everything is always about you isn't it Peter" She said wishing Peter couldn't read her so well and could tell how upset she was.

"Look Carla I don't want to argue with you-"

"Then I suggest you leave right now" she interrupted him, Peter had considered doing as she had suggested but he felt like leaving it like this would only make things more awkward between them.

"Carla… I'm gonna be here for a few weeks and it would be great if we could be friends."

"Friends?" Carla said exasperated. Since she had got back to work this afternoon she had been trying very hard to keep it all together but as a tear escaped from one of her eyes, she knew that if Peter didn't go, she'd end up losing it. She bit her lip trying to keep herself under control. Peter moved a little closer to her

"What's wrong?" He asked concernedly, She shook her head at him and swallowed hard.

"Nothing I'm just tired that's all, I didn't sleep too well last night" Carla said, Peter didn't look like he believed her although it was true she didn't sleep well last night, she had been up half of it, thinking about the day she had planned ahead.

"You sure that's it?" Peter said putting Simon's homework down on the desk and moving even closer so that he was now stood directly in front of Carla. She nodded not daring to look at him properly.

Meanwhile Simon had finished in the toilet and was about to make his way back into the office when he took a look through the open blinds. He saw his Dad and Carla stood in front of each other as if they were having a moment. He didn't want to interrupt so he went to speak to Kirk who was busy packing boxes.

"Carla, We may not be together anymore and I may not have seen you for a while but I can still tell when something is not right" Peter said softly as Carla still tried to stare past him "It's your eyes that give it away." He said looking at her tearful expression. Carla loathed that Peter could so read her so easily and sniffed again. There was a small silence and then Carla gave in.

"I went to see Rob" She eventually said as another tear dribbled down her cheek, she wasn't even sure why she was telling Peter this but she knew there was no point trying to pretend that she wasn't on the verge of breaking down. "I been… trying to see him for ages now but he kept ignoring all my requests." She said "Then one day last week he finally agreed and put me on this special visitor list thing." Carla wiped at her tearstained cheek furiously and then continued.

"I drove all the way down there thinking this was it, that he'd talk to me, maybe even forgive me for what I did and that maybe we could have some sort of relationship again." She said, Peter nodded knowing how much Carla loved her little brother and that seeing him would mean the world to her. He guessed that it hadn't gone well as she was now stood in front of him sobbing.

"Anyways" Carla said "So I'm sat there like a right lemon watching all these guys come out and to see their visitors and Rob wasn't one of them. So I'm sitting there thinking that maybe he's ill or maybe he did something stupid and they wouldn't let me see him after all" Carla sniffed as a few more tears fell down her face.

"Then after a few minutes the guy sitting across from me says are you Carla? So I say yes and he goes I got a message from Rob" Carla's voice cracked as she said his name.

"Rob told him to tell me, now you know what it's like to think that someone's gonna be there for you and then they just let you down." She started crying properly now putting her head in her hands as if she was trying to stop Peter from seeing her tears. He wondered about closing the blinds but Carla had her back to everyone in the factory anyway and he realised it would probably make it more obvious that something was going on if he just randomly closed them.

"I just wanted to see my baby brother" Carla said lifting her head and wiping her eyes "I was stupid to think he would forgive me wasn't I?" Peter shook his head at her

"No you're not stupid Carla" he said "Rob just needs time, he's probably still adjusting to being back inside"

"Yeah and it's my fault he's in there Peter, I've been trying so hard to not think about it but sometimes I get this horrible feeling of guilt and it just eats away at me"

"You did the right thing Carla and I'm not just saying it because I was the one who got out of prison because of it, I'm saying it because it's true" Peter said but Carla shook her head

"Yeah well me doing the right thing won't help this feeling I've got inside me." She said "All I've thought about for the past few hours is going home to down a bottle of brandy or something and hoping that I'll just pass out. At least then I won't have to deal with any of this" She cried, Peter shook his head at Carla sympathisingly but he couldn't help being reminded of when Carla had gotten so drunk and so upset once before that she ended up taking an overdose. She looked at him knowing exactly what he was thinking "I'm not gonna do out stupid, I just want to forget it all. Just for a little while" she said shaking her head quickly.

"Carla drinking your self into oblivion over this is so not worth it" Peter said as Carla let another tear fall down her cheek "Nothing I can say to you will make the guilt you feel go away but I do know for a fact that Rob still loves you"

"See I don't think he does, not anymore" Carla cried shaking her head at him again.

"Of course he does. Why else would he go to that much trouble to hurt you? He did that to you because you're somebody that he loves and you supposedly hurt him… he just wanted to hurt you right back so you'd know how it feels." Peter said trying to imagine being in Rob's position. Carla sniffed and took in what Peter was saying "Carla I'm telling you one day he will wake up, he'll realise that he's being so stupid and he'll want to see you again." Peter felt like just grabbing her and holding her close but he thought twice about it as he still wasn't sure what Carla would make of such a intimate action.

"I still want that bottle of brandy though." She mumbled knowing that Peter was right.

"Trust me. The pain will still be there in the morning and so will the hangover" he said "I know this all sounds ridiculous coming from me but I'm right and I think you know I am" He said. Carla nodded at him and wiped her nose, He smiled at her when she nodded

"You're so smug" She said looking at him. She had spent the first part of yesterday wondering if she might have over exaggerated Peter's appearance in her mind slightly, She thought that maybe it was the wine she had had on Saturday night talking but as he stood in front of her, he definitely looked the best he'd ever done before. "What time did you get back?" Carla asked him, trying to change the subject slightly.

"Is that you trying to change the subject?" Peter asked as if he could read her mind, She sniffed hard this time and wiped the rest of her tears away wishing she hadn't of broken down in front of Peter like that.

"I'm okay" she said quickly, Peter raised his eyebrows at her "Don't look at me like that" She said rather irritatedly because she knew Peter didn't believe her "I ave bad days sometimes and today is a very bad day that's all. I'm sure I'll feel better tomorrow" Carla said however Peter was still looking at her like she was wounded "Honestly I'm not always like this, ask Simon if you don't believe me" She insisted as she knew that Simon was still out in the factory somewhere.

"Yeah me Dad's been telling me what great friends you two have become" Peter said sighing "How come neither of you told me that you were getting along so well?"

"Careful, you sound jealous Peter" Carla said, He nodded

"Well to be honest I am, I mean how come he gets to be your friend and I don't eh?" He said his head on one side Carla smiled at him properly for the first time since he'd arrived

"Well... he's much cuter than you for a start" She joked, Peter laughed and nodded at her,

"Alright I'll give him that and I also hear you're all going bowling on the weekend" Peter said smirking because Carla was not the bowling kind

"Yes we are" she paused "Aren't you coming too?" Peter shrugged at her

"Well Si's asked me to but it depends really" he said anxiously Carla shook her head at him

"I'm not gonna argue with you Peter especially not on Simon's birthday night out" She said running her hand through her hair "You really think we can go back to being just friends?" she asked, Peter nodded at her

"I think we can" He nodded She sighed unsure whether she believed that they'd be able to go back to what they were before they fell in love. "We can be friends Carla, People do it all the time"

"Who? Who do you know that has broken up and then managed to stay friends?" She asked, Peter thought for a moment

"See" she said

"Ross and Rachel" Peter said smugly Carla laughed at his mention of the fictional characters from the classic tv show friends.

"Yes but you don't actually know Ross and Rachel though Peter? They're not real people." He grinned at her

"Yes but that doesn't mean they aren't a good example for what we're talking about." He said "Look I've been thinking about this a lot and do you know what I miss the most about us?" Carla raised an eyebrow and grinned at him, he read her expression "Okay what I miss second most" he laughed.

"I dunno?" Carla shrugged her shoulders at him still grinning but still tearful

"It's this." Peter said "Just spending time with you, you know." he was serious now, his grin was gone from his face, his eyes were fixated on hers "Now I'm not saying I wouldn't jump at another chance to be with you but we both know that's not gonna happen… Carla before we got together you were like me best friend... I just want that back in my life even if it's going to be whilst I'm here for a little bit" Carla thought for about a millisecond and then nodded at him without saying anything. She then held her arms out in front of her, Peter hesitated slightly

"Come ere then" She said and He put his arms around her and pulled her close to his body. She clung on to him and breathed in deeply.

"So does this mean we're friends then?' He asked, Carla nodded into him not wanting to let go of him just yet.

"Yeah I guess we are... Like Ross and Rachel, although with your sarcasm I think your more of a Chandler" she said, Peter laughed still holding onto her tight, The lingered in their embrace for a moment before Carla said a "Thank you" into his shoulder

"What for?" he said She looked at him

"For the stuff you said about Rob, I know you weren't exactly his biggest fan" They finally let go of each other, both unaware that the entire factory's staff and Simon had been watching their little embrace through the unclosed blinds.

"You're welcome" Peter said and they endured a slight awkward silence before he said "Well I guess I'll see you around then" Carla nodded at him

"Yes and if not I'll see you on Saturday right?" He nodded back and smiled

"I wouldn't miss it" and with that he left her office and found Simon still helping Kirk with packing some boxes.

"Right Simon, You ready to go?" He asked, Simon nodded and said goodbye to everyone, he then heard Carla call him back to her office. He ran over to her leaving Peter at the door.

"Your Dad forgot this" Carla said handing him his homework, He smirked at her because he could see that she was in a much better mood then she was when he had left the office.

"Thanks" he said Carla looked at Peter and then back down at Simon who was still smirking, she shook her head at him knowing that he must have seen their embrace in the office.

"Bye Simon" she said going into her office with a grin.

"Bye Carla" Simon called cheerily after her.

Once they were out of the factory and walking down the steps, Peter turned to his son

"So how come you didn't tell me that you and Carla were such good mates then?" he said carefully trying not to sound like he was jealous.

"Because I knew you were missing her lots and I didn't want to rub it in, you would look so sad when you would ask about Carla and I thought telling you that were hanging out would make it worse." Simon said honestly, Peter nodded at him

"Fair enough." He said because he could see the logic in Simon's answer.

"So are you gonna come bowling then Dad?" Simon asked hopefully

"Yes if it's okay with your Mum I will and you won't have to worry about me and Carla bickering as we've decided to be friends" Peter said Simon smirked again, At first he thought that his Dad coming back would be really difficult for Carla to deal with but after spending so much time with her, he hadn't been worried about them arguing at all, especially since seeing their hug in the her office.

"Friends" Simon said, Peter nodded at him

"Yes Si, friends like Ross and Rachel" he said smiling although he knew Simon didn't watch friends or have clue who they were as it was way before his time.

"Who's Ross and Rachel?" Simon asked frowning, Peter just chuckled and said

"Never mind lets go and get something to eat, What do you fancy?"