Apologies for the late update, I wasn't even sure I was going to be able to upload today since the past few days have been really really tough for me but I've found myself with a spare hour or so this afternoon, so I thought I'd upload...
December 4th 2013.
This was the date that Carla Connor and Peter Barlow joined together in holy matrimony, it was two years ago now but Peter was dammed if he was not going to do something special about it.
Their wedding didn't feel like it was two years ago, it actually felt like it was a lifetime ago. So much had happened since then, so much had changed but the most important thing was that Carla and Peter were back together and happier than ever.
As the beginning of the week went by, neither Peter and Carla had mentioned their upcoming wedding anniversary but it was constantly in the back of both their minds and as they continued going from strength to strength, Peter thought it would have been a crime to not acknowledge their wedding date.
So on Friday the 4th of December, he got up extra early and made his way to Carla's so that he could take her out for the day starting with some breakfast in town. He had been let into the building by another resident who was on their way to work so he went upstairs, knocked on her door three times. There was no answer at first and so Peter knocked even louder and called out Carla's name before she answered.
"Morning!" Peter said with a huge smile.
His smiled faded when he saw the state of Carla. She had wild hair and dark circles underneath her eyes. She looked like she'd had a rather heavy night of drinking and was wearing her pyjamas and a dressing gown. When Peter looked further into her flat he saw that an equally worse for wear Michelle was sprawled across her sofa.
"Not too loud eh Peter." Carla groaned, rubbing her head and letting Peter into her flat.
"So I take it you and Michelle had a good night then?" Peter said trying his best to hide his disappointment. Carla had said that she and Michelle were only going out for dinner and yet here they both were at almost eight am looking very very hungover.
"Yeah… Some how dinner turned into a bar and then a bar turned into this club that me n Chelle are way too old for." Carla said going into her kitchen and running herself a glass of tap water. "I don't even remember how we got back ere if I'm honest." Carla said sipping her water. It took her all but two seconds for her to see that Peter was a little troubled about the sight before him. "What's wrong?" She asked, wondering if it was the fact that her and Michelle had obviously had a night of heavy drinking.
"Nothing." Peter said putting on his best smile, "I just wanted to take you out for breakfast that's all."
"Oh right." Carla said going and sitting down on one of the stools at her breakfast bar. She leant forward and rested her head on the bar as Peter went over and joined her. "Sorry baby but I don't think I'm going anywhere this morning." Carla said looking up at him apologetically. "I don't even know if I'll be going to work."
Peter looked over at Michelle who was still fast asleep on Carla's sofa and then back at his wife. He pondered something, he was sure she would have remembered but as she sat opposite him and showed no interest in spending the day with him he wasn't so sure anymore.
"Carla what day is it today?"
"Errrr the 4th… Why?" She replied with her head still rested on the breakfast bar.
"No reason." Peter said. He had wanted to check if she knew what date it was and she did. He couldn't work out if she had simply forgotten about their wedding anniversary or if she was pretending but all he knew was that there was no way he was going to be able to take her out now, not in the state she was in.
"Peter... I hope you don't think I'm being rude but I really need to go n lay down." Carla moaned, rubbing her head and getting up of the stool she was sat on, she looked at Peter's casual clothes and then asked, "You not working today?"
"Erm… No." Peter said awkwardly, wishing he hadn't of taken the day off after all because it seemed like there was no point now, he waited for Carla to ask him why he wasn't working but she never did. She yawned and walked towards her bedroom as Michelle stirred on the sofa. "I guess I'll leave you to it then." Peter said.
"I'll see you later yeah baby?" Carla called after him as he went towards her door.
"Yeah." Peter said before letting himself out of Carla's flat. She knew that something was wrong with him but as her stomach lurched and her hangover stared to properly take affect, she quickly ran towards her bathroom and decided she'd sort Peter out later.
Peter went back to his empty flat and felt sorry for himself for the rest of his morning. He ventured back out of his flat at around midday and went to Roy's Rolls to grab himself some breakfast. Ken and Tracy were sat in there making their way through their lunch as Peter strolled in. Ken watched Peter as he ordered himself a breakfast and then slumped down in the empty seat at the table.
"Peter? Weren't you supposed to be out with Carla today?" Ken asked,
"Yeah… I was." Peter said with a sigh.
"Well why aren't you then?" Tracy asked.
"Because Carla is totally hungover and can barley walk let alone leave her flat today that's why." Peter said.
"Well why would she go and get so hammered on the eve of your anniversary?" Ken asked, Tracy stifled a laugh and said,
"Oh come on Dad, I'm starting to like her n everything but this is Carla we're talking about ere, she'd find any excuse to get drunk." Peter did not find this comment funny at all but just didn't have it in him to argue with Tracy.
"I think she's forgotten." Peter eventually said with a sigh.
"She wouldn't forget something like that Peter." Ken said sipping coffee and even Tracy nodded along with him.
"He's right, you're everything to that woman, there is no way she would ave forgotten the day you two got married."
"I'm not sure… I mean she didn't even mention it this morning when I went to see her." Peter said miserably as Tracy bit into a slice of toast.
"Well did you mention it?" She asked with an eyebrow raised.
"No." Peter admitted feeling slightly foolish now. "She was in a bit of a state and Michelle were there, fast asleep on the sofa… I didn't mention it all week because I wanted today to be a surprise."
"So how d'ya know that she's not doing the same as you then?" Ken asked, "Maybe Carla has a surprise planned too."
"Maybe…" Peter said. He hadn't thought about it like that and as his breakfast was brought over, he sincerely hoped that his Dad and Tracy were right and that Carla was just as excited as he was to celebrate their special day.
At around one thirty pm Carla got a phone call from Sally, she was obviously wondering why her boss's hadn't made it into work yet, especially as she had an important meeting at two o'clock in the bistro.
"Crap!" Carla cried, having completely forgotten about this meeting. She threw some clothes on, covered the dark circles under her eyes and left Michelle fast asleep on the sofa.
She raced over to the factory to grab some files for the meeting and was met by Sean who was stood on his phone, she glanced at him expecting him to get straight back to work but he was so engrossed by what ever he was reading on his phone that he hadn't even noticed her.
"What did I say about mobiles on the factory floor?" Carla asked fiercely, Sean jumped and almost dropped his phone in the process.
"Sorry Mrs Connor!" Sean cried and as he went off to sit as his machine he then said, "Or is it Barlow again? Seeing as it is your wedding anniversary after all." This stopped Carla in her tracks.
"Eh? How do you know?" Carla frowned wondering how on earth Sean could have remembered the exact date of her and Peter's wedding. Sean got up again and got out his mobile phone.
"Oh it's cause of this app, see. It's called timehop... It takes you back in time and tells you what you tweeted and facebooked about each day, so two years ago today I tweeted Off to the boss' wedding, can't wait for free booze! and then later on I tweeted The bride looks stunning, the groom looks gorgeous, they truly are a perfect couple." Sean was expecting Carla to look pleased this compliment but instead she just sighed and said,
"Just put your phone away Sean…. That's the last time I'm gonna tell ya about that."
She was in and out of her office within minutes and as she was still very hung over, she was not looking forward this business meeting at all. Her head ached and her stomach lurched as she had to sit and listen to a potential client drone on and on about a new line he was interested in. She tried her very best to stay professional but the client could see that obviously Carla wasn't all there and thankfully suggested they meet up again on Monday.
When Carla got back to the factory she found that her employees had gone and got out all the Christmas decorations. They were busy stringing up lights and hanging tinsel everywhere as the Mariah Carey Christmas album blared from the CD player.
Kirk was up a ladder in one corner, trying to fix some fairy lights to the wall whilst Beth and Sean where having a tug of war over a gold piece of fabric and when Sally saw her boss' expression, she rushed over to her.
"Oh Mrs Connor, I hope you don't mind, we're slightly ahead of schedule so we thought why not decorate the place… I mean it is December after all." Sally said cautiously. Carla who had no problem with the factory being decorated at all just nodded at Sally and said a very plain,
"It's fine Sally." She then went into her office but Sally being Sally quickly followed her inside.
"Sean said that we should start calling you Mrs Barlow again but I wasn't sure I mean I know that you and Peter are back together but it is early days and we wouldn't want to tempt fate would we?" Sally said not being so cautious anymore.
"What d'ya mean?" Carla snapped, "Are you trying to say that me n Peter aren't going to last or summat?"
"No of course not." Sally said a little shocked by Carla's tone. "I just didn't know if you were ready to be called Barlow again that's all."
"Well I am…." Carla said but she didn't look one hundred per cent convincing and couldn't help but sigh after she had said it.
"Okay... Well I'll let all the staff know." Sally said and she hastily made her way out of the office before she offended Carla again.
Carla sighed heavily and wished that she wasn't in such a bad mood today. She regretted going out and getting so drunk with Michelle last night because it really made her feel lousy and even though everyone in factory was getting well into the Christmas spirit and even thought she had plenty of reasons to be happy, Carla just couldn't seem to cheer up.
Something was on her mind and the more she tried not to think about it, the more she ended up thinking about it. The more she tried to ignore all the thoughts about what had happened this exact day two years ago, the more upset about it all that she got.
Hours later and when Carla was on her way home from Work, she saw Peter who had a lit cigarette hanging out of his mouth standing outside the community centre. He inhaled as an exhausted looking Carla, made her way towards him.
"I thought you were too hung over to go out?" Peter said with a raised eyebrow. Carla frowned at his accusing tone and sighed,
"Yeah well I had to go into work didn't I? We can't all take random days off for no apparent reason."
Peter blew smoke out of his mouth and shook his head disappointedly at Carla.
"No reason eh?" He said, Carla nodded at him, which made him even more dismayed. "No reason?"
"Peter look, I'm feeling really rough…" Carla began but Peter interrupted her.
"Carla I took the day off to be with you and d'ya know why? Because today is our wedding anniversary, I honestly thought you had remembered but what given the fact that you spent last night and half of this morning with Michelle and now you're ere acting like today is just any other Friday, I'm guessing that you ave forgotten and I ave to say I'm quite shocked to be honest." Peter said, he was looking at Carla in a way that she couldn't stand, in a way that made her feel slightly angry, in a way that forced her to say,
"I haven't forgotten today Peter, I remember exactly what day it is today, It's the day you promised that you would love me above everyone else and d'ya know what it's also the day that you cheated on me for the first time, so excuse me if I'm not jumping for joy about it." Carla snapped, Peter took a step backwards, stunned and distraught.
The last thing he had been expecting was for Carla to have said that. He had expected her to have maybe forgotten about their wedding anniversary but he had now realised that of course she hadn't forgotten.
How could she have? He had done a terrible terrible thing and he knew that there was no way she could have forgotten about today.
Carla could tell that she had upset Peter, She could see it in his eyes as he finished his cigarette and then flicked the butt onto the ground.
"Peter…" She began but he shook his head at her.
"No… Carla you really don't have to say anymore." He said, he began walking away from her towards the direction of his flat and rather than leaving things really awkward between them she followed after him.
"Peter!" She cried, running so that she could get in front of him. "Baby look I'm sorry."
"Carla don't apologise, it's obviously how you feel about the situation, I'm sorry I even mentioned it." Peter said, he was trying his hardest to not cry like a baby in the middle of the street and in front of Carla. He had been planning to leave it like that but he had to say more, he had to say what he was thinking because keeping stuff inside always made him feel nervous. "So what about next year? And the year after that and the year after that?"
"What do you mean?" Carla asked,
"Well if we can't celebrate our marriage this year, then when can we celebrate it?"
"Peter I never said we can't celebrate it, I was just saying that you ave to understand that what you did still hurts me." Said Carla.
"So what are we just never going to ave an anniversary?" Peter asked, he watched Carla for a moment, as she stood in front of him, unable to think of the right thing to say. "Carla?"
"Peter I don't know what you want me to say ere?" Carla said awkwardly, "I mean you should ave told me this morning that you wanted to go out and celebrate out anniversary rather than acting all coy about it."
"Oh well I'm sorry for trying to let you ave a surprise Carla and sorry for thinking that it was important for us to acknowledge this day." Peter said, he was becoming very distressed and as Carla stood hopelessly before him he then asked, "Carla what am I to you? Am I your husband or just your boyfriend?"
"Peter don't be ridiculous you're my husband." Carla sighed, wishing she had just gone along with Peter today and not said anything about Tina.
"Well I don't feel like your husband right now…" Peter said sadly,
"Peter... I've got everyone at the factory calling me Mrs Barlow again." Carla began but Peter was having none of it and as he looked on in the distance he saw that Simon and Santana, who had been walking hand in hand had stopped and were watching. Carla knew that they should probably stop arguing in the middle of the street and said, "Look lets go to your place… we can have a nice night in and forget this ever happened."
"No." Peter said, "No it's ruined now."
"Oh don't be like that." Carla sighed, getting slightly irritated.
"Well what d'ya want me to be like, I realise that what I did was wrong but I thought we'd be able to get past this, I thought that you and me could have a beautiful day together and that it wouldn't be mentioned but obviously I was wrong." Peter snapped.
"The only reason I mentioned what happened was because you were trying to make me feel bad about forgetting our anniversary, which I didn't because that day was the most special day of me life and you were the one who tainted it forever, not me!" Carla turned around and walked off leaving Peter stood alone.
"Dad?" Simon said, crossing the road and joining his Dad. "Dad what's going on?" Santana followed him and watched Carla as she walked away from them.
"Nothing." Peter lied, not wanting to get his twelve-year-old kid involved. "Me n Carla were just having a little argument that's all."
"How come?" Simon asked concerned. He'd seen the look on both of their faces, he'd seen how upset Carla was when she stormed away from Peter and he could see how distraught his Dad was.
"Look it's fine Si, I don't want you to worry. It was just a little spat that's all, we'll be over it by tomorrow and everything will be back to normal." Peter insisted, although deep down he wasn't too sure that things could go back to normal. He wasn't sure how he and Carla could carry on if they couldn't even celebrate the day that they got married and he knew that once again all of this, was all his fault.
Carla could have gone home but she really didn't want to be alone right now, so she went into The Rover's instead. She went up to the bar and found a rather pale looking Michelle stood at the bar.
"Hey…" Michelle said weakly, Carla had left her back at her flat and the last time she had seen her, she had been looking rather rough, she still looked rather tired but as Steve had planned to take out Amy and Liz was busy Michelle had to run the bar for the rest of the evening until they got back.
"Hi." Carla said rolling her eyes at the silly argument that her and Peter had just had, it was the kind that could either be solved easily or turned into something big if they didn't move fast.
"What's wrong babe?" Michelle asked, she was skilled in being able to tell when Carla was upset about things, not that she was hiding the fact that she had tears in her eyes and that she had just had a rather over the top crying session as she made her way down the street.
"Peter..." Carla said sighing.
"What happened? Isn't today your wedding anniversary?" Michelle asked.
"Seriously? Does everyone round ere know about that?" Carla said, "I suppose you ave that app too then?"
"Yeah." Michelle nodded, "Sean made me download it but it's actually quite fun." Michelle picked up her phone and found a picture on the app, that she and Carla had taken at the wedding, they were both pouting in comical fashion and had their arms wrapped around one another. "Look." Michelle said showing Carla the photo, she then remembered what Carla had said about Peter. "So what's got you looking so grumpy on your own wedding anniversary?"
"Well that's just it Chelle…" Carla said, "It's our wedding anniversary." It took Michelle a few more seconds to realise what Carla was getting at.
"Oh." She said quietly. "So what happened?"
"Long story short? Peter thought I'd forgotten and was trying to make me feel bad about it and so I might ave stupidly mentioned Tina to him." Carla said regretfully.
"Oh dear." Michelle said shaking her head.
"Oh dear indeed." Carla said, "and before you say it Chelle, I ave forgiven Peter it's just the way he was looking at me earlier, it made me feel like such a bad wife."
"And you wanted to make him feel bad?" Michelle said,
"I know... I know... I'm a right cow." Carla said, as Roy Cropper suddenly made his way over to the bar. "Hi Roy…" Carla said, a little surprised to see him in the pub, he gave her an awkward smile as he put his shopping bag on the bar.
"Hello… Carla... Michelle." He nodded and then he looked directly at Carla, "I errr overheard you and Peter whilst I was closing the café and I wanted to make sure that you were okay.
"Oh right." Carla said,
"I'll leave you to it." Michelle said with smile as she went to serve another customer.
"So are you… okay?" Roy asked, watching Carla as she wiped her tired eyes.
"No… not really." Carla said, going to sit down in one of the booths, Roy followed her and sat opposite her and said,
"I suspected as much."
"So just how much did you hear then?" Carla asked, not realising just how loud her and Peter's argument must have been.
"Well I heard you saying to Peter that he was the one who had ruined the memories of your wedding." Roy said quietly.
"Right." Carla said sorrowfully.
"I had remembered it was today that you and Peter had got married and was expecting the two of you to have been enjoying yourself rather than arguing outside my café."
"I dunno Roy…" Carla began with another sigh, "Today's been such a rubbish day... maybe I should ave just done what Peter wanted and tried to pretend like Tina wasn't in the back of me mind."
"You can't ignore the way you feel Carla." Roy said, "That is never a good idea... all it does is make you feel more alone."
"I know but I should ave just got past that stupid little voice in my head that kept reminding me of what happened back then." Carla said still feeling bad for have mentioning it. "I mean now that I think about it I honestly don't care about Tina... all I'm thinking about is that I really hurt Peter's feelings."
"Yes well I'm sure that Peter knows that you didn't mean to do that." Roy begun, "I sure given time you and Peter will be able to get over this."
"Really? Because he looked pretty upset when I left him earlier." Carla said frustratedly, "Oh I should ave gone out with him this morning n right now we'd probably be in some swish restaurant somewhere, enjoying a nice meal out on our anniversary."
"Well it's not over." Roy said, "Your wedding anniversary is not over and you can still spend the evening with him if you want to." Carla looked down at her watch and saw that it was only half past six.
"That's true… I just don't know if Peter would be up for spending any time with me right now." Carla said chewing her lip slightly, worried that she might have really ruined things between her and Peter.
"I think he will. Whilst you may have upset him a little I know that he probably knows that he is partly to blame for this. You two have been through a hell of a lot and I think it would be rather stupid to just let this set back ruin things between the two of you. I think... that you both need reminding of just how happy you both have been recently. It is important that you don't dwell on your past and that you focus on your future instead."
"You're right." Carla said smiling at Roy lovingly, "So how did you remember that it was our anniversary then?... I'm guessing that you didn't download that magic time travel app?" Roy who had no idea of what Carla was talking about just shrugged and said,
"Well I seem to have a knack for remembering things like that and also… Hayley… she always had the date on her mind." Roy said reminding Carla that of course he would have remembered as Hayley was the one who made her wedding dress. Steve and Amy then came into the pub, armed with a Christmas tree and a whole load of decorations. "I can't quite believe it's that time of year again." Roy said sadly as Steve put the tree down and beckoned Michelle over to help him.
"Yeah… me neither." Carla said. There was a moment of silence between them both, as Roy's mention of Hayley and Steve's sudden appearance with the tree reminded them of just how much Hayley loved Christmas.
"So… what are you still doing here?" Roy said they'd had a little more chit chat, Carla gave him half a frown and said,
"What d'ya mean?"
"As I mentioned earlier, you still have a whole night of your anniversary left and I know that you don't want to be in here, spending it with me." Roy said getting up off the sofa. Carla smiled at him and got up too.
"Well if I'm not spending the night with Peter, then you're the next best thing." she said giving him a hug. Roy hugged her back before leaving the pub. Carla watched him leave, feeling a warm rush of love as he closed the door behind him. He had said such kind words about Peter and had been really supportive since they had got back together. Carla knew that Christmas was, once again going to be a hard time for Roy and that she was going to really try and make him enjoy it this year but for now she knew she had to try and make things up with Peter.
It was half past nine at night and a miserable Peter was sat in his PJ'S flicking through the channels on his rather huge TV. He hated the way he had left things with Carla but he just didn't know how to rectify the situation. She was obviously still thinking about what he did with Tina and even though before getting back together, Carla had insisted that she had forgiven him, Peter was beginning to think that she would never really get over his betrayal, not that he blamed her of course.
He didn't have a single ounce of resentment for Carla he just hated the fact that they were both spending their wedding anniversary alone.
After feeling sorry for himself for just a little bit longer, he decided that enough was enough. He was going to sort things out between him and Carla. He went into his bedroom to get dressed again when he heard the buzzer on his door go.
"Hello?" He said cautiously into it, he was hoping it wasn't someone coming to see him because he was planning on going to find Carla but luckily for him it was the woman in question.
"It's me… can I come up?" She asked. He could tell by her tone that she was rather nervous.
"Of course." Peter said, pressing the button and letting Carla into his building.
He waited for her knock and when he opened the door he was truly taken aback by the sight before him.
Carla was stood in her leather jacket and white cotton skater dress. Her legs were bare even though it was freezing out side and she was carrying a white carrier bag along with her handbag. Her long hair was half up and half down and she had obviously run a curling wand through it, because she had soft waves running through her light brown locks. She looked gorgeous and had made sure she had taken a load of pain killers so that her lingering hang over wouldn't stop her from having fun.
"Hi." She said with an apprehensive smile.
"Hi." Peter said still in awe at Carla's appearance.
"So… can I come in?" She asked, Peter moved aside and let Carla in. As he closed the door behind him, Carla put the white carrier bag and her handbag down on his kitchen counter. "I brought us a curry…" She said awkwardly. She had been guessing that Peter would still be a bit frosty with her but what she didn't know was that he had been planning on going over to her place that very moment.
"Thanks." Peter said with a reassuring smile, one that let Carla know that he really wasn't mad at her, not one little bit.
"I'm sorry." They both said simultaneously. Then they both laughed infectiously and then went in for a hug.
"Peter I am so sorry this is all my fault, I should have just gone out with you this morning and I should ave never mentioned... y'know." Carla said again, as Peter's arms went around her.
"No… I should ave thought about how this day would ave affected you." Peter said shaking his head and letting her go. "I was being selfish, acting as if this day was all about me, instead of about us."
"Yeah… well." Carla began, "What you said earlier was true, it's still important for us to celebrate this day… to celebrate the fact that we are husband and wife." She then leant forward and went into her bag. She pulled out a little silver package and handed it to Peter.
"What's this?" he grinned.
"It's your present." Carla said proudly with a nod. "I'll admit that I only just made it. I thought that seeing as we missed last years and how the first anniversary is paper…" Peter tore open the silver paper to find a little white book. When he opened it he saw that each page had a different photograph on it and each photo was accompanied with a little caption and some delicate little heart shaped sequins and that Carla had obviously taken the time to stick each and every picture down onto each page.
The first photo was of Carla, Simon and Peter at the bowling alley on Peter's first weekend back in Weatherfield. The next was the one that she had taken of Peter in the back seat of her car with the two minion toys. Then there was the photo of them at Ken's house that was taken the very next day. Each photo of them had been taken within the last six months and as Peter looked at them lovingly Carla smiled and said,
"Something Roy said earlier reminded me of how much fun we ave had over the past six months." Peter grinned down at the photo that Tracy had taken of the two of them asleep on his Dad's sofa. "Yeah… I had to call Tracy in the hopes that she still had that one." Carla said. Peter turned the page to see another photo of he and Carla dressed up as a Vampire and a Cat at The Rover's Halloween party. They were both grinning at the camera and had their arms around each others waists. That picture was followed by some photos that they had taken during the fireworks display and then there were also some more recent pictures that they had taken since they had gotten back together. "I've left some pages blank… I thought we could take some pictures tonight and then stick em in. D'ya like it?" Carla asked, watching Peter closely.
"It's perfect." Peter said, a little chocked up and a little surprised at how much effort Carla had clearly gone to, to make such a personal gift. "Seriously Carla… I love it and I love you." he sniffed and wiped his eyes.
"You're not crying again are ya?" Carla teased poking Peter in the side.
"Come ere." Peter said pulling Carla in for a kiss.
"Mmmmm I love you too." Carla said as Peter's lips met with hers. After a few more passionate kisses, Carla grinned and said, "Come on… that curry is gonna get cold." She let go of him and went into Peter's kitchen to start serving the food that she had bought.
"You look lovely… I wish I'd made more of an effort." Peter said as he looked once more at Carla's white dress and then down at his boxers and old T Shirt.
"Don't be silly, I think you look beautiful." Carla said beaming as she took some plates out of Peter's cupboard.
"I still reckon I should go n put some more clothes on." Peter grinned going into his bedroom.
"Why bother?" Carla called after him "I mean we're only going to be naked again in an hour or so." She heard Peter chuckle from his bedroom. He was gone for quite a while so she then called, "Peter… what are ya doing?" He eventually returned, in a white shirt, black trouser and looking sheepish as he clutched a rectangle shaped blue box. "What's that then?" Carla asked excitedly as Peter took her hand and led her over to his sofa.
"It's your present." Peter said, as Carla sat down. "Let's just say you're not the only one who thought we should act like this is our first anniversary and who knows that the first one is paper." He handed Carla the box nervously, wondering what she would make of it. "I wanted to do something really special." He said as Carla smiled at him and pulled the lid off the box. She looked down into the box to see lots of little bits of paper that had been carefully folded up. She then looked up at Peter with an intrigued smiled and asked,
"What is it?"
"There's one for you to take out for each day of the year…" Peter began, still wondering if this idea was rather foolish, or cringy or both. "I'll admit I saw it online but the white ones ave some of my favourite memories of us on, the purple ones ave song lyrics and the pink ones… the pink one are reasons why I love you."
"Can I take one out now?" Carla asked, her throat rather dry and her eyes filled with tears. She was genuinely moved by such a thoughtful gift and was finding it difficult to stop herself from bursting right into tears there and then.
"Sure." Peter said with a nod. Carla reached into the almost overflowing box and pulled out a pink bit of paper. She opened it slowly and read,
"Because no matter what, you never fail to make me smile… even at times when I really don't want to."
"It's true." Peter said nodding as he leant forward to see which one Carla had chosen. She sniffed as a tear ran down her cheek. "Look who's crying now eh?" Peter said with a smug grin. Carla gave him a playful shove as he leant forward and kissed her on the forehead.
"It's the best present I've ever had." She said sincerely, as she closed the blue box and put it down on the coffee table, another tear ran down her cheek as she said a heartfelt, "Thank you baby."
"Happy anniversary." Peter said as she put her arms around his neck and pulled him towards her.
"Happy anniversary." Carla replied before kissing him properly on the lips, then she flashed Peter a naughty grin and said, "I honestly don't know why you got dressed…"
"Yeah… what was I thinking?" Peter said as Carla stood up and pulled him up with her. He knew exactly where she was taking him and as they passed the curry that she had left on the counter, he knew that they would probably be heating it up in the microwave, much later.
I just want to say Thank you to everyone who is still reading and reviewing.
There's plenty more to come in this fic, I have at least the next twenty or so chapters planned out, if you're all still interested.
If you have time and haven't already, please make sure you have a read of "Fade Into The Background" because I'm dying to read some more thoughts on it and whether I should update or not.
I really really appreciate any feedback that I get, so thanks again.
:)