Waking up with a hangover was something Carla had gotten used to a very long time ago. She groaned as she turned over on her bed, only the space below her suddenly gave out and she unexpectedly crashed onto the floor below.

"Ow!" Carla cried as her eyes flew open. It was then that she realised she hadn't actually been on her bed or even in her own house. She looked up at the ceiling, which wasn't her own and took a moment to brace her self, a moment to prepare her self for waking up somewhere other than her own bed.

Luckily Carla was only in Michelle and Steve's living room. She would have been lying if she wasn't a little relived that she was there and not somewhere else.

She heaved herself up off the floor rubbing her elbow irritatedly, as Michelle walked into the room with her pyjamas on.

"Morning" Michelle said way too cheerily for Carla's liking, especially at this time of the morning.

"Morning" Carla replied, guessing that she had obviously fallen asleep on their sofa and they had just left her there until the morning.

"So last night was fun eh..." Michelle said going into the kitchen and putting the kettle on. Carla sat down at the table and rubbed her tired eyes.

"Yeah." She said blearily not quite remembering much after leaving Peter outside. She remembered going back in feeling rather flustered after being interrupted by Steve, She then remembered that Tracy had gotten ridiculously drunk so Peter had found himself rather occupied with looking after her and he eventually left the party to take his sister home, much to Carla's disappointment. She remembered feeling like there was no point in staying sober now that Peter had left and that there was a lot of dancing with Michelle too.

"You were a little more than tipsy by the end of it so I suggested you stay over." Michelle said because she could tell Carla wasn't quite sure what had happened "You didn't want to stay ere but the moment you hit the pillow, you were fast asleep."

Carla saw her little black bag on the table and pulled out her mirror. She looked in it hoping that her reflection wasn't too tragic. She didn't look too bad considering the night she'd had. She just looked a little tired and had most of her make up smudged under her eyes. She was also still wearing her cat ears although they were comically askew and had parts of her tangled in them too.

Carla took the cat ears off and ran her hands through her hair to try and untangle it a little. She looked in the mirror as she did so and It was then she noticed the round purple bruise on her neck.

"Oh crap." Carla said not realising Peter had actually managed to leave his mark on her. Michelle came out from the kitchen to see what Carla was complaining about.

"Erm where did that come from?" Michelle asked in awe as Carla inspected her neck in the mirror.

"Where d'ya think?" Carla said closing her mirror and pulling her hair back into place over her shoulder.

"Peter Barlow" Michelle said with a smug grin, She then leant forward to take a look at the love bite herself.

"I'm gonna kill him…" Carla began but she couldn't help but feel a tiny bit pleased at Peter's handy work. She blushed as she thought about how much pleasure she had actually taken from just a few minutes under Peter's spell.

"Steve said he thought he might have interrupted something last night…" Michelle said sniggering "How did that happen then eh?" She said making her way back into the kitchen.

"It just did, One minute we were outside and he were smoking the next he were sucking on my neck." Carla said she smirked as she said it though she then got up and joined Michelle in the kitchen. Michelle raised her eyebrows at Carla's dopey and lovesick expression as she filled a mug with hot water and then another.

"And...?"

"And that's it. Steve came out and then I came back inside." Carla said "I'm not gonna lie though if Steve hadn't of come out… I don't know what would ave happened… Chelle It were so amazing, I found it so hard to keep me self under control."

"So why did ya then? Why didn't you just go after him later on in the night?" Michelle asked pouring milk into their coffee mugs, Carla shrugged

"I dunno... I mean he were busy with Tracy and… we're supposed to be friends right?"

"Oh for god's sake Carla, Are ya not getting tired of saying that?" Michelle said putting two sugars into her coffee.

"Saying what?"

"Oh Peter and me are just friends" Michelle mocked, putting her on her best Carla like voice. Carla laughed and picked up her coffee cup to take a sip.

"We are just friends though" She said after swallowing down some coffee, Michelle rolled her eyes at Carla and shook her head

"Carla you are so flaming annoying at times." She said, "People don't go around giving their friends love bites."

"I know that Chelle, It were just a Halloween thing, nothing serious." Carla said sighing "I mean it's a little ridiculous if you think about it, a woman of my age running around with a love bite." She said moving her hair out of the way "God, Is it really noticeable?" she cringed

"Honestly?" Michelle said with an eyebrow raised, Carla nodded at her for a honest response "Yes" Michelle said bluntly

"Fantastic" Carla said sarcastically and moved her hair back in front of the bruise.

"It'll be fine when your hairs in front of it." Michelle said trying to make it better as they returned to the table in the living room.

"And what about when I'm at the gym n stuff?" she asked picking up her phone off the table as it buzzed, she looked at the screen and saw that she had a message from Marc, Carla sighed again only this time Michelle knew it was for reasons other than Peter.

"What's up?" Michelle asked sipping her coffee, Carla showed her the screen, which showed the messages she had received from Marc

"Good Morning! I was wondering if I could pop over to the factory at around one o clock I have some things I need to speak to you about. Marc x"

"Why won't he give it up, His second order is practically done and dusted so what could he possibly need to talk to me about now?" Carla complained resting her head in her hands.

"Maybe he wants another one?" Michelle guessed

"No way, He's a right pain in the backside, I'm gonna tell him we are fully booked for the next few months or something, I'm not doing any more business with that man." Carla said firmly

"I'm so surprised he didn't turn up here last night" Michelle said because she had been expecting him to, At first she was joking around when she called him Carla's stalker but she could see he was beginning to get a little too much for Carla.

"Did I not show you the text he sent me last night?" Carla asked getting last nights message from mark up on the screen to show Michelle, she read it and then frowned "He were on a business trip that's why he didn't come."

"Oh" Michelle said

"I thought I'd got rid of him when he found out me and Peter were married but he still texts me all the time." Carla began scrolling through all the messages that he had been sending her.

"Hmmm he does seem a little obsessive doesn't he?" Michelle said reading through the messages "Are you sure you've told him you're not interested in that way?"

"Yes. I told him at the school disco, after that stupid game of spin the bottle, He ain't taken the hint yet but I'm hoping Peter will sort him out" Carla said

"Peter?" Michelle laughed

"He said he'd warn Marc off for me, He said he's gonna tell him how he wants to get me back and he'll stop at nothing until he does so." Carla said rather proudly.

"Well as much as all of that is true… D'ya really think Marc's gonna listen to that?" Michelle said with her eyebrows raised

"Why not? Peter can be quite aggressive when he has to be, I told him to mention that he was in prison but he wasn't quite up for that" Carla said almost laughing now

"Eh why don't you just show him your neck that will probably do it?" Michelle said sniggering

"Give over, I'm not showing anyone, It's so embarrassing." Carla said "It's like I'm back in school again."

"But you weren't so ashamed of a love bite back then, You used to run around showing em off to everyone." Michelle said

"Yeah well I was only fifteen at the time Chelle I didn't know any better and anyways it were just to keep up with you"

"Oi!" Michelle said giving Carla a shove and laughing.

Carla stayed at The Rover's with Michelle for a few hours, having another coffee and taking some painkillers to nurse the hangover that loomed over her. She left the pub eventually and went straight home to try and figure out what she was going to do about Marc.

As Carla got ready for work on Monday morning, she made sure she had covered her neck with her hair so that the bruise wasn't visible. She had thought about covering it up with make up but she didn't want to get it all over her newest white shirt. She had it tucked in to a high waisted black pencil skirt and grabbed her leather jacket before she left the house.

As she started walking to the factory she saw Peter come out of number one dressed in a sharp black suit. She wolf whistled at him as he closed the door, he turned around grinning, knowing that it was Carla straight away

"And where are you off to looking so fly?" Carla asked looking him up and down

"I've got a job interview at eleven." Peter said proudly.

"Really?" Carla asked astonished

"Oi, there's no need to look so surprised." Peter said pretending to be a little offended

"No it's not that it's just so out of the blue, I mean you never even said?" Carla said worried that she had upset him. Peter grinned at her and then started laughing, "What's this interview for then?" Carla sighed ignoring his attempt at a joke.

"Well I went for one of those betting websites, they need someone to keep an eye on the odds and to research the competitors. I used to do that in my shop so I reckon I'd be okay at it for someone else." Carla nodded at him encouragingly as he continued "I applied on Friday morning they'd got back to me by the afternoon and said I could come down for an interview this morning." He said

"Right so how come you didn't tell me all this?" Carla asked her head on one side, Peter smirked at her and then licked his lips slightly, Carla watched him and couldn't help but smirk back.

"I was gonna tell you at the Halloween party but I guess we got a little distracted." he said

"Speaking of which…" Carla said moving the hair away from her shoulder slightly "I've a bone to pick with you Mr Vampire..." She pointed at the purple bruise that was still very visible on her bare neck. Peter leant forward a little and took a closer look, he touched it gently and then looked at Carla amused.

"Nice" Peter said rather proud that he had left his mark on her.

"Nice?" Carla frowned as best she could, making Peter laugh at her even more. "Stop Peter… I don't think it's very funny, I'm a single, forty year old woman with a love bite." she said but she was grinning at how ridiculous she sounded.

"Well I didn't hear you complaining at the party, in fact every noise that came out your mouth was pretty damn encouraging." Peter said with his hand still on her neck. Carla's jaw dropped at this comment, just as Beth and Kirk came out of their house and spotted how close Carla and Peter were stood. Beth nudged Kirk as Peter grinned at Carla and said, "Tell you what, as I'm a decent guy and I believe in equal opportunities, I'll let you give me a matching love bite… that way we're even." Carla laughed silently to herself and then she spotted Beth and Kirk.

"Don't you two have somewhere to be?" She asked them sharply, Beth smirked and said

"We sure do… only Sally has the day off today doesn't she? Which means that we are waiting for you to open up." Carla raised an eyebrow at Beth and then looked down at her watch.

"Well regardless you still need to be outside that building for nine am sharp… so run along and I'll be over in a minute."

"D'ya wanna give me the keys? I'll open up if you want…" Kirk offered as Beth was still grinning from ear to ear.

"No I'll do it, thank you Kirk." Carla said slightly amused at Kirk's offer to open up for her.

"Are you sure? I mean you look as if you've got a job to do ere first." Beth said. Peter laughed but quietly as Carla rolled her eyes at Beth.

"As I said Beth, I will be over in a minute. Now unless you want to be unemployed by the time I get there, I suggest you make your way to work now." Carla said in full on boss mode.

Beth and Kirk hurried off towards the factory but they were both still grinning. Carla shook her head at them and then looked back at Peter who had eventually stopped laughing.

"So… are you gonna take me up on my offer then?" Peter asked. Carla shook her head at Peter now and decided that the smartest thing to do right now would be to go to work before Beth had enough time to start gossiping.

"I better be going to work now." She said and she went to cross the road.

"You not gonna wish me luck?" Peter shouted as she started to walk away from him.

"Good luck Peter." She said turning back and giving him a little wink. Peter smirked and waved goodbye to her, He definitely had a good feeling about getting this job and also about how well he had been getting on with Carla.

Even though she tired to act as if she was annoyed at him she really didn't seem like she was bothered that he had left a love bite on her neck. It definitely wasn't something he had planed to do but he was glad it seemed to have a positive effect on Carla. He looked down at his watch and decided there was no shame in being incredibly early for his job interview.

Carla fiddled with a pen as one thirty approached and she waited for Marc to arrive for this "chat". She hoped he was going to maybe say that he had enough orders from them and wouldn't need anymore but she had a horrible feeling that he wasn't coming to talk about business and she couldn't keep being so polite to him when it seemed that it wasn't just the knickers she had for sale that he was interest in.

"Carla?" A voice said into the empty factory as everybody had been on lunch since one o clock.

"I'm in ere" She said and the Marc appeared in the doorway looking as eager and as charming as ever.

"Hello gorgeous." he said sitting down opposite Carla at the table, She gave him half a smile and sighed,

"Hi"

"How are you this fine morning?" Marc asked and Carla just shrugged at him

"So what can I do for you then Marc?" She said dryly, hoping that if she showed no enthusiasm he might finally take the hint.

"Well I have to be honest... this is not really a business visit." he said smiling and actually looking a little sheepish, Carla was a little surprised to see him embarrassed as he never seemed like anything could actually affect him.

"Really?" Carla said almost acting as if she was surprised to here this "What… are ya here for then?" Carla asked although as he moved his chair closer to hers, she had a feeling what this was going to be about.

"Well I'm going to be one hundred per cent honest with you… I haven't been able to get you off of my mind since we met." Marc said still smiling away even though Carla looked far from impressed "I know we've been out for drinks before but I wanted to ask you out to dinner properly… Like a date." Marc said. Carla gulped and really wished that she wasn't in this situation.

"Wow… erm this is really flattering Marc but I don't feel that way about you to be honest." She said delicately because as annoying he was, she didn't want to hurt him.

"I know you've said that before but I've seen the way you look at me and I think there is definitely something between us." He said undefeated.

"Really?" Carla asked, not believing that he could think something like that especially since she had been giving him odd looks since the school disco.

"Yes, I mean sometimes things like this just take time, you might not feel something for me right now but you will." Marc said Carla shook her head at him, feeling slightly weird about what he had just said… She was sure that she had heard something like that before, it was like this was the second time someone was saying that type of thing to her.

"No Marc I don't think so" Carla said softly but firmly at the same time "You're a great guy but I just don't think we would work."

"Well you won't know unless you try, why don't you just give us a chance, Let me take you out and you'll see." He said desperately, moving closer to Carla as he said it.

"Marc we've been out, there would be no point all I would be doing is stringing you along." She said moving away from him a little, wishing that she had of asked him to come later when everyone would have been back from lunch. So that she wasn't so alone with this man that she barley even knew.

"I know you like me, I mean why else would you agree to go out with me?" Marc said, he looked as he was hurt by what Carla was saying to him, like he couldn't understand why she didn't want to be with him.

"I said I'd go to dinner with you because you were new to the area and I felt sorry for you because it was your birthday." Carla said although she had to admit that at first she did enjoy his company a little.

Carla sighed again as Marc didn't seem to be showing any signs that he was going to give up. She ran a hand through her hair frustratedly, this was a big mistake because Marc spotted the round dark bruise on her neck immediately.

"Is there someone else?" He asked his tone of voice changing completely, He looked angry now rather than desperate, Carla realised what she had done, what Marc had seen and sighed.

"No."

"So what is that disgusting thing on your neck?" Marc shouted making Carla jump, She took a deep breath and stood up.

"Right I think you should probably leave." She said bravely but inside she was really beginning to get a little worried that she was alone with Marc in the factory.

"It's him isn't it? You let him brand you, you let him put that filthy mark on your neck." Marc said disgusted.

"Just who are we talking about ere?" Carla asked although she knew Marc wasn't stupid and that he was talking about Peter.

"That pathetic alcoholic!" Marc said standing up in front of Carla now.

She was rather stunned to hear the word alcoholic come out of Marc's mouth, She had no idea that he even knew that Peter had had a drink problem. "Am I right?"

"Y'know I really don't ave to explain my self to you." Carla said standing her ground.

"It is isn't it?" Marc was almost laughing now "Oh Carla you can do so much better than that cheating waste of space." He said nastily, he watched, as Carla looked even more shocked.

"How do you even know any of this?"

"Never mind that…" He cut her off again, doing his best to sound as calm and as casual as he could but the look on his face still intimidated Carla. "Look I realise I'm coming across quite… abrupt but doesn't it show how much I like you?" Marc asked, as if all of his behaviour was perfectly acceptable.

"How do you know that Peter cheated on me?" Carla asked but her voice and her body was beginning to shake because she couldn't work out how he knew so much about her relationship with Peter, Michelle had been joking all those times but Carla though that maybe he really had been stalking her after all.

"Oh come on Carla, everyone around here knows what he did, I only had to mention his name in the same sentence as yours and it got brought up." Marc said "You can't actually be considering giving him another chance."

"Well it's nothing to do with you…" Carla said as Marc put his hand on her shoulder.

"I get it now…" He said in this eerily calm way which made Carla shiver "You were using me whilst he wasn't here, like a distraction, like I was some sort of smoke screen but I forgive you for that Carla." He said almost smirking, Carla looked down at it his hand, which was still rested on her shoulder and then glared back up at him.

"Take your hand off of me." She said breathing heavily trying not to show him that she was so unsettled with him being there, He kept his hand where it was and smirked.

"Look I'm a man who is used to getting what he wants and I want you." In Marc's mind this was probably a romantic kind of thing to say to a woman that he desired but it had the complete opposite effect on Carla and as he moved closer to her she panicked.

She shoved Marc hard and he went flying backwards, knocking all sorts of things off of the desk. As various pens and objects clattered to the ground Marc reached out to grab something, anything to stop himself from falling completely over. Carla staggered backwards as Marc tried to grab hold of her and some of the buttons on her shirt flew off in different directions. She looked down at her bra, which was now on full display and suddenly her outfit choice had seemed way too familiar as well. She then looked over at Marc who was scrambling off of the floor, looking furious.

"What the?" he said rubbing the back of his head as if he'd hit it on the way down. He now looked confused as well as angry.

"Get out!" Carla cried because she now felt genuinely petrified of being alone with Marc. She was finding it difficult to control her breathing, and she felt as if she was totally unable to keep calm.

The way she was feeling disturbed her, It was a horribly familiar feeling even though she hadn't felt this way for years. She knew that Marc was probably being too insistent, too over friendly and she knew that probably had no intentions of hurting her but she was taking absolutely no chances.

"What the hell wrong with you?" He asked, clearly not understanding why Carla was so upset, he went to move closer to her but Carla jumped again.

"I said leave!" She screamed, trying fiercely to stop the tears that were fighting to escape. She glanced around wildly and grabbed a stapler that was on her desk "I swear if you don't leave right now!" Carla warned holding the stapler up as some sort of weapon, Marc looked at it confused and then back up at Carla.

"You're crazy!" He said and he backed out of the office quickly.

He walked out of the factory, fixing his suit and looking rather take aback by what had just happened, Luke and Tyrone who worked at the garage has spotted him leaving the factory in such haste.

"You alright mate?" Tyrone asked with his eyebrow raised.

"I barley touched her." Marc said unlocking his car door "She's a nut job" Luke looked over at the factory door and then back at Marc as he sped off in his Mercedes. Luke looked at Tyrone concerned

"Touched who? Do you think we should go in there?" he asked

"I dunno?" he said shrugging

"I think Carla is in there on her own?" Luke said because he was sure he had seen all the factory lot go on their lunch break except for her. He left Tyrone outside and walked into the factory gingerly.

"Ello?" Luke said into the empty building, he looked around but he couldn't see anyone there, He spotted the open office door and walked over to it slowly and calmly not wanting to alarm Carla if in fact she was in there.

"Carla?" he said as he walked in to her office…

Peter was sat at his Dad's house feeling rather positive about his interview he took of his suit jacket and was just about to start telling his Dad all about it when there was a rather loud bang on the front door. Ken got up and answered it and Peter heard someone say

"Is Peter in?" he got up and went to the door to find Luke on his doorstep.

"What's up?" he asked as Luke stood there biting his lip,

"It's Carla, She's at the factory I don't know what's happened but she's in a right state." Luke said. That was all he had to say. Peter raced across the street to the factory where Tyrone was stood outside

"What happened?" he asked as they got closer

"I dunno mate, that cockney guy who's always hanging around her, came storming out of there got in his car and just drove off." Luke said Peter took a step back for a moment, he was thinking the absolute worst, he'd been in this situation before and he had promised Carla that he would never let anyone hurt her like that again.

Peter shot straight up the factory steps and inside before Luke and Tyrone could say anymore.

He walked in to the empty building and he went straight towards the office, he entered it cautiously trying to remain calm, although the blood was pumping through his veins and his heart was thumping in his chest as he finally saw Carla.

She was sat on the floor, right up in the corner of her office, She surrounded by papers and pens that had been knocked off of her desk and she was sobbing quietly, her long hair hid her head as she rested it on her knees.

"Carla?" Peter said softly edging towards her, She looked up at the sound of his voice. She was relieved when she saw that it was just him. "Carla… what happened?" Peter asked looking at her smudged mascara and bloodshot eyes. He bent down so that he was know at her level.

"Marc…" She sniffed and wiped her eyes, She repositioned herself on the floor and it was only because she had moved her legs down, that her ripped opened shirt was now on display to Peter.

"I'm gonna kill him!" he said angrily, getting back up and onto his feet Carla knew what he was thinking and shook her head.

"Peter no!" She cried grabbing hold of his legs rather comically "He didn't do anything… not really." Peter looked down at Carla

"Then how the hell did that happen to your top then?" Peter asked still fuming, he didn't care what had happened between Carla and Marc, all he knew was that she was sat on her office floor in tears due to something that Marc had done. Peter thought that seemed like a pretty good enough reason to give Marc a good kicking.

"I pushed him, there were a little scuffle and he grabbed onto me, it were nothing."

"What did you push him for?" Peter asked still not understanding the situation "What did he do you Carla?"

"Nothing Peter, I just got… scared." Carla said pulling at his legs so he'd sit back down. "Please Peter don't leave me ere." She pleaded. Peter eventually sat down next to her still disturbed by the state he had found her in.

"Why were you scared then?" he asked softy, Carla bit her lip

"I weren't at first, at first it were okay but…the things he were saying to me Peter… he reminded me of..." She stopped talking and swallowed, She didn't want to say his name. She was reminded of the man who had attacked her, Frank Foster.

"Oh" Peter said knowing exactly who and what Carla was reminded of by the pained looked on her face. She nodded and sighed at Peter,

"I didn't realise it at first but even me outfit is similar… y'know to what I was wearing when…" Carla stopped talking and wiped her eyes again, She was still shaking every so often, even though she knew that everything was okay and that she was safe.

"Carla… what on earth did he say to you?" Peter asked gently

"He just said some stuff that shook me up that's all and then he put his hand on my shoulder… I were over reacting… you'd think I'd ave gotten over all that by now eh" She said it almost light heartedly but Peter could tell she was still aching with pain over the horrible situation.

"Yeah well… I don't think you ever get over something like that." Peter said looking sympathetically at Carla.

"It's me own fault I spose" Carla said looking down at her hands "Maybe I did lead him on… just a little bit. I guess I shouldn't have been so friendly with him or-"

"Hey…" Peter said forcing Carla to look up at him "Don't you dare blame your self for this Carla, Just because you were nice to the scumbag it doesn't mean he has the right to put his hands on you." he was still fuming and he was desperate to get up and find wherever Marc had gone so he could give him a piece of his mind, Carla nodded at him slowly and bit down on her bottom lip.

"He asked me out n I said no…" Carla paused and sighed, she didn't want to talk about what Marc had said. As true as it all was, she hated talking about Peter cheating on her. Carla also knew that if she did mention it to Peter, it would probably hurt him a lot too. The affair with Tina was still unspoken between the pair of them, they had talked it all out before Peter left the first time around and Carla felt there was nothing else to say on the matter.

"Then what happened?" Peter asked watching Carla empathetically.

"Well he tried to convince me to go out with him and then saw the delightful love bite you left on me neck… He put two and two together, He got quite angry about it actually and It just shook me up a little."

"I'm so Sorry about that…" Peter said feeling guilty that he had obviously caused Marc's anger "Maybe I should ave warned him off when I had the chance eh" he said giving Carla a little nudge with his elbow,

"I don't think it would ave made a difference to be honest Peter." Carla said sniffing and wiping her eyes again.

"Are you worried that he might come back?" Peter asked

"No… I think I really freaked him out, you should ave seen his face when I pushed him over. I really don't think we'll be seeing him around here anytime soon." Carla said shaking her head.

"Well that's good… because if I do see him I'll smash his face in." Peter said although his temper had mellowed and wasn't being entirely serious. Carla smiled half-heartedly at him and then sighed heavily. She had been trying hard to keep the tears from starting to fall but they still came tumbling down her cheeks. "Carla?" Peter said putting an arm around her lovingly. She cried into his arms for a few moments before eventually sitting up again.

"Today's the first time I've thought about… him in ages. I think that was what scared me more, the fact that the memory of… him could come back to me so easily." She said referring to Frank but not actually saying his name, Peter wiped the tears away from Carla's cheeks tenderly.

"Carla, You're safe now, He can't hurt you anymore, you have to remember that." he said rubbing her arm encouragingly.

"He's dead" Carla said softly and then she repeated her self "He's dead…" She then realised how foolish this situation was and stopped suddenly stopped crying. Peter watched her as she wiped her eyes furiously "We're not doing this." She said and she got up off of the floor. She yanked at Peter's arm and pulled him up off of the floor, he looked at her a little amused and confused "I am not going to sit here and get upset over Frank Foster" She said confidently "I mean we've actually been avoiding saying his name? As if he's Lord Voldemort or something." Carla said almost laughing at her reference; Simon had got her watching the Harry Potter movies recently on their movie nights in and she had gotten really into them, so into them that she had even started on the books as well.

"Fear of a name increases fear of a thing itself" Peter said nodding softly as he stood opposite Carla.

"That's right Dumbledore." Carla said smiling at Peter's appropriate quote.

There was a moment of silence between them and Peter watched as Carla leant against her desk and fiddled with her silver bracelet the same way she always did when she didn't know what to say or do, or whenever she was lost in thought.

"You alright Car?"

"I am now…" She said and then suddenly looked as if she had forgotten something really important. "Oh my god Peter how was your interview?" She asked staring at him and hating that she had got so wrapped up in Marc to remember that Peter had had a job interview.

"Oh don't worry about that, I wanna make sure you're okay." Peter said and Carla frowned.

"I'm fine Peter, tell me how it went." She said bossily. He smiled at her and nodded positively.

"I actually think it went really well, I was early and I got to meet everyone, I think I made a really good impression, what with all my experience n all."

"Good" Carla smiled "I've got me fingers crossed for you, even though I don't think you'll need it." She then reached over, took Peter by his tie and pulled him in towards her "I've always said you look good in a tie." She said grinning down at it. Peter chuckled and then put his arms around Carla hugging her tight, just as there was a chorus of loud voices making their way back into the factory. Carla sighed into Peter's chest, knowing that the pair of them embracing like that in the office wouldn't do anything to stop the factory workers gossiping about them, especially since her bra was still on show.

"You sure you're okay Carla?" Peter asked quietly as the sewing machines began whirling.

"I said so didn't I?" She said amazed that they hadn't been interrupted by Beth yet or someone else being nosy.

"Good because I wouldn't be able to get on with the rest of my day knowing that you were still upset." Peter said delicately. Carla looked deep into his brown eyes and then glanced behind him at the machinists getting straight to work.

"You know it's a good thing those blinds are open because if they weren't…" Carla said gazing at him, her eyes were wide and her voice was deep, Peter didn't move an inch away from her "If they weren't we might have had to pick up where we left of at the Halloween party on Saturday night…"

"Is that so?" Peter asked, entranced by the way Carla was looking up at him.

"Yeah… but as I said those pesky blinds ave gone and ruined it for us."

"I can close em… if you want." Peter said his breath hot on her cheek, He looked deep into Carla's eyes and he was literally moments away from closing the space between their lips when Kirk burst into her office loudly, making them both jump.

"Mrs Connor can I have some petty cash? We've run out of loo roll again, I don't know where it all goes… alright Peter." He said casually, not even noticing the way that Carla and Peter had sprung apart so quickly when he had walked in. Carla grinned as she went into the drawer of her desk and pulled out some cash.

"Here ya go Kirk." she said not daring to look at Peter in front of Kirk, although Kirk probably wouldn't have noticed, he didn't even realise Carla's shirt was wide open.

"Thanks Mrs C" Kirk said cheerily and then he tripped over some of the pens that had fallen off of Carla's desk during the struggle with Marc. Peter and Carla both stifled their laughs as Kirk left the office. Carla looked down at her open shirt and then back at Peter.

"I spose I better go and make me-self decent." She said picking up her leather jacket from the back of her chair. She put it on and pulled it together so that it wasn't so obvious that her top was open.

"I'll walk you home." He said and so he did. They left the factory together, Carla told everyone she was going on her lunch break and that she would be back later.

"Oh look." Tyrone said nudging Luke upon spotting Carla and Peter walking down the factory steps. "Here's the hero of the hour." Peter smirked at Carla who rolled her eyes.

"Who him?" Carla joked pointing at Peter

"Now now Tyrone let's not call me a hero… I much prefer knight in shinning armour." Peter said

"Yeah… you could say that…" Carla grinned, "Although I was thinking more along the lines of… Shrek, He did rescue Princess Fiona after all." Tyrone snickered and Peter shook his head pretending to be sad about Carla's joke.

Luke was more serious about the subject and asked

"Everything alright then?" Carla nodded and said

"Yeah… thanks Luke, I'm sorry about earlier, I didn't mean to shout at you… I were just so worked up."

"Hey no problem, I'm just glad I could help." Luke said and he gave Carla a quick wink before getting back to work.

"Oi did he just wink at you?" Peter asked in a jokey fashion, Carla rolled her eyes again as they continued to stroll down the street together. She couldn't help but grin from ear to ear, even after the afternoon that she'd had.

Although nothing had really happened with Marc, having Peter come to her rescue so quickly was an exceptionally pleasant feeling for Carla. It wasn't the first time he had saved her, He truly was her knight in shining armour and although she would never admit it and as corny as it sounded, Carla was definitely that hoping soon they would finally share true love's kiss.