Thanks for all your reviews on the last chapter, I'm glad you enjoyed it and this next one picks up right after the last...

Peter was still nattering away on the phone when Ken came and sat down at the table with him and Carla. Ken had been watching Tracy who was at the bar with Beth and he had noticed that she had just so happened to be getting along very well with Rich.

The pub was heavily decorated with Christmas decorations and the jukebox was full of classic Christmas tunes that had been playing non-stop.

"It's nice to see Tracy smile like that." Ken said to Carla, assuming that she would be thinking the same because she and Tracy had also been getting along well these days.

Carla wasn't thinking the same as Ken of course, even though she had been watching Tracy but she was doing it to think of ways that she could get Tracy away from Rich and fast. Of course Carla couldn't tell this to Ken so she said the only thing that was appropriate.

"Yeah… it is."

When she thought about it, Carla had to be honest with her self and admit that she hadn't seen Tracy look this happy in ages. She was laughing hysterically at something Rich said and even though he was a total scumbag, Carla let Tracy be, for now.

"Who is he?" Ken asked Carla, as Michelle also joined in with the rather over the top laughter. "Is he a family friend?"

"He's… Michelle's cousin, Rich." Carla said as Peter finally hung up the phone. "Oh about flamin time." Carla said, poking Peter in the stomach, "I've only been sat ere for almost an hour."

"Sorry about that, there was a drama in the old office… but don't worry because now all my attention is on you."" Peter said going in to kiss Carla but then he noticed his Dad was sat opposite her. "Alright Dad." He said awkwardly, nodding towards his father although he was a tiny bit disappointed because he had been looking forward to a little quite time in the pub with Carla.

"Yes, I saw you and Carla sitting here and I thought I'd join you… if that is okay?"

"Course it is." Peter said. He soon noticed that Carla was slightly distracted and that when he followed her gaze her saw that she had her attention on Rich who was saying something to Tracy and she was listening intently and looking at him with a dreamy gaze.

Peter could tell that something else had to be going on with Rich and Carla, it just had to be by the way she was acting. Ken soon got up and said that he was going to buy a round of drinks, so when he was out of the way, Peter moved up, closer to Carla and said,

"You okay?"

"Yeah…" Carla insisted as Peter leant in and kissed her full on the lips. He had wanted to do it for ages but had decided against it as his Dad was sat in front of them.

"Hmmmm why don't I believe you eh?" Peter said as Carla brushed her nose against his.

"Because you are a very suspicious man Peter Barlow." She said with a grin, they kissed again and until Ken returned to the table and he had brought Audrey Roberts along with him.

"Oh ello you two." She said as she sat opposite Peter and Carla.

"Hiya Audrey." Carla said, draping an arm over Peter's knee and letting her arm hang down the side of it.

"Oh don't you both look like loves young dream eh?" She said grinning at them.

"Young." Carla smirked as Ken handed her a glass of wine. "Thanks Ken."

"So Peter your Dad was just telling me about this Swimathon that you're taking part in." Audrey continued.

"Dad I wish you wouldn't keep telling people about it." Peter said as Ken then handed him an orange juice.

"Ahhhh why not? He's proud of you… n so am I." Carla said kissing him on the cheek and nudging him.

"So when is it?" Audrey asked, sipping on her drink as Ken sat down next to her.

"End of January." Peter said,

"We're taking sponsor money that goes to charity, if you wanna make a donation." Carla said, Peter chuckled at her because she had already been going around forcing people to give her money for the Swimathon and was probably getting on a lot of peoples nerves because of it.

"Ohhh yes of course." Audrey said, getting her purse out and rifling through it. She pulled out a ten-pound note and then handed it towards Peter.

"Ohh no, give it to Carla… she's in charge of the money it seems." Peter smiled appreciatively, Audrey handed Carla the money who said,

"Wow thanks Audrey, y'know this is the first note we've had, People round ere are so stingy." Carla said, putting the money into an envelope, which she had kept in her bag for any money that she might have been given.

"Well it is Christmas after all, maybe it'll be better to ask them for money afterwards." Ken suggested but Carla shook her head,

"Nah that'll be even worse, people are always broke in January." Carla said sighing, "Honestly Peter why couldn't you do this Swimathon in August eh?"

"Well I'm not exactly in charge of all that." Peter said taking a sip of his juice and grinning.

"Just how far is it you're going to be swimming Peter?" Audrey asked,

"It's 5k." Peter said nervously now, his lack of confidence showing, "I'm slightly regretting signing me self up for it If I'm honest."

"And how are you finding the training for it?" Audrey asked,

"Okay at the moment I mean it's a lot harder than I thought... I definitely need to step up my game after Christmas." Peter said, "I've been trying to get this one to come with me." He nudged Carla in the side, "But she's forever coming up with excuses about her hair n stuff."

"Oh it's not an excuse Peter, my hair does not react well to chlorine at all." Carla said nudging him back. Peter moved swiftly and grabbed Carla's hand, she giggled and kissed him quickly as Audrey raised an eyebrow and said,

"I reckon it's probably a good thing that you two don't go swimming together actually, I mean you can barley keep your hands off each other as it is."

"Exactly…" Carla nodded, "Imagine us half naked and in water. She grinned, poking Peter and proving Audrey's point because she simply couldn't help but make sure that her and Peter were always touching.

They spoke some more about the Swimathon but it was long before Ken and Audrey got lost in a very long and wordy conversation about one of their new favourite books. Peter raised his eyebrow at his Dad and Audrey getting along so well and then felt Carla press a kiss on his cheek.

"I know what you're thinking…" she said, kissing him again because she knew that Ken and Audrey were more than preoccupied with their conversation to care.

"Oh yeah… n what am I thinking?" Peter said,

"Your Dad n Audrey… they seem like good friends and you're starting to think that it's maybe a little bit more than that." Carla said quietly, looking at Peter and then at Ken and Audrey again.

"Wow… you really did know what I was thinking." Peter said, glad that his Dad had a new companion.

"Mmmmmm see if you can guess what I'm thinking." Carla grinned, with a suggestive eyebrow raise.

"I ave a few ideas." Peter smirked back at her as Tracy came bounding over to the table.

"Oh my god… how funny is Rich?" she said, Carla sighed and rested her head on Peter's shoulder. She said nothing even though she new that Tracy was obviously speaking to her.

"I'm glad to see you smiling so much Tracy." Ken said beaming back at her in a way that mad Carla feel sick. She really didn't want Tracy to get close to Rich as she really didn't trust that he had changed his ways.

"He was telling me all about when you two worked in the shoe shop together, Carla." Tracy said, slightly amused.

"Did he now?" Carla said, "Did he also tell you about his drug habit?" She hadn't meant to say it so candidly but it had just come out and as Ken and Audrey were both stunned into silence it was too late to go back now.

"No…" Tracy said frowning, slightly taken aback.

"Well why doesn't that surprise me?" Carla said, picking up her wine and sipping it as Rich watched her from the bar, Tracy turned to look at him and then looked back at Carla.

"Are you sure?" She asked,

"Of course I'm sure… Tracy I grew up with the man. I know what I'm talking about." Carla insisted. "He might seem like he's all sweetness and light but I know the real him and trust me… he is not the kind of man you want in your life."

"Definitely not." Audrey said looking concerned now.

There was an awkward silence whilst Tracy frowned down at her hands, it didn't take long for Rich to realise that Carla had said something to her and when she was on her way back from the toilets, he stood in front of her suddenly.

"Is there something I can help you with?" Carla said dryly, staring Rich down and letting him know that she wasn't someone he could hurt anymore.

"What did ya say to her?" he said, nodding towards Tracy. "We were getting on rather well until she went and sat down with you."

"Ahhh well lets just say Tracy has come to her senses shall we?" Carla said going to move past Rich, only he didn't let her and got in her way again. She rolled her eyes and said, "Move."

"What did you say to her?" He asked again, slowly this time, almost as if he was trying to intimidate Carla.

"I'm sorry… did you not ere me ask you to move." Carla tutted, giving him a shove. Rich did not respond well to this shrug and grabbed Carla by the wrist instead of letting her go. "Get off!" she cried, trying to get away but his hold on her was strong.

"I'm only gonna ask you one more time Carla… what did you tell Tracy?" he said, breathing heavily as if he just couldn't control himself.

It didn't take long for Peter to see what was going on and the moment he saw that Rich had a hand wrapped firmly around Carla's wrist, he lunged towards him.

"D'ya think I'm scared of you or summat? Rich…." Carla said, as Peter approached them.

"You better get your hands off my wife right now." He shouted furiously, then he suddenly gave Rich a hard shove. It was one that sent him flying into the wall behind him and one that now had everyone in the pub watching what was going on. Carla gave Rich a smug look of warning, one that said you really don't want to mess with my husband.

"This has nothing to do with you." Rich said, stupidly ignoring Peter's angry tone of voice.

"You're man handling my wife n you tell me this has nothing to do with me." Peter said, shoving Rich again.

"You should tell that wife of yours to watch her mouth." Rich said and Peter who was just about to turn to Carla and leave the situation be, turned back to Rich and said,

"First of all I don't tell my wife to do anything! And second if you don't turn around and walk right out of this pub right now you'll regret it."

"Oh yeah?" Rich said, almost challenging Peter in a way that Carla knew wouldn't end well.

"Oh just give it up Rich… I already told you what would happen if you messed with me again." Carla said shaking her head as Michelle came from out back to see the confrontation. "Now go… whilst people still think that you're decent... unless you want everyone around ere to know what a nasty piece of work you really are." Rich thought about things for a second, as Carla took hold of Peter's hand which was almost trembling because he was so angry.

"You're not gonna say anything." Rich said, shaking his head and calling Carla's bluff.

"Oh you wanna bet?" Carla said stepping closer towards Rich, "Try me… See what happens if you don't walk out of ere right now."

Michelle was watching from the bar, she knew she should probably step in to do something but she also wanted to watch, to see what Rich would do and what Carla might say.

"Fine… Tell em." Rich said shrugging, still calling Carla's bluff. "Tell em all about it… They may believe you but they probably won't… I mean even our Chelle didn't believe your little pity party… And she never will. I'm family you're not simple as that… Even after all these years she'll never turn her back on her own cousin." Rich smirked, Carla shook her head at him, still clutching onto Peter's hand for life.

It was as if holding onto him kept them both safe, holding onto him kept him from lashing out and kept her feeling strong.

"Y'know those lines may ave worked on me before Rich… But they won't work now because I'm not the same sixteen year old girl that you drugged all those years ago." Carla said, she felt Peter's hand tighten with anger and she stopped with him her other free hand as he moved towards Rich again. "Stop it Peter…" She said calmly, "He is so not worth it baby."

"You drugged her." Peter said crossly, the cheesy Christmas songs were still playing but everyone else in the pub was rather silent.

"No I didn't." Rich lied, backing away from Peter and Carla slightly because even he could see that Peter's temper was rising by the second and the only thing that was holding him back was Carla.

"Not only did he drug me but then, when I was passed out... he tried to have sex with me." Carla said, staring at Rich as she went and stood in front of Peter with her back pressed up against his chest. It was to stop him from moving any more further forward. She knew he was probably processing everything he had just heard and even though the pub wasn't the place for him to have found out, she was glad that he finally knew about it.

"I did not." Rich said, almost laughing and shaking his head at Carla in a totally mocking way. "She's lying."

"Yes you did." Michelle suddenly said, Rich didn't know she was there and he turned his head to look at her. The fact that Carla was telling the truth was written all over his face. "Come on... Rich you're only lying to your self."

"I am not, Carla's got it all wrong… I was just checking on her... it ain't my fault that the little slag took a drunk that she couldn't handle... like Mother like daughter I guess."

That was it, Carla could no longer hold Peter back after that comment. He went right around Carla and before she knew it he had hit Rich in the face with one swift punch.

"Peter!" Carla cried as Rich's head hit the side of the bar on his way to the ground. Steve who had been watching, started clapping comically at Peter but he stopped when Michelle gave him a tap on the shoulder and shook her head.

"Steve!" She said, as Rich scrambled up off the floor to reveal a bloody nose.

"This aint over!" He shouted, stepping towards Peter but Steve took him by the arm and said,

"That's enough from you tonight Rich." He roughly pushed him towards bar and saw Peter staring down at his hand which had turned rather red. "I'll bring you some Ice." Steve said as he and Michelle took Rich out back.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Peter said, turning to Carla exasperatedly, "Why didn't you tell me that he tried to ra…" He trailed off, not wanting to say the actual word of what Rich tried to do to her.

"This is why…" Carla said, gently taking him by the hand and sitting him down at the nearest table.. "I didn't want any drama."

"Carla…" Peter winced at his hand as she bent down kissed it tenderly. "You know that you can tell me anything right."

"I know I can… N you know that the only reason I didn't tell is because I knew that you would lead with your fists." Carla said and then she began telling Peter the truth about Rich from the beginning. She was just finishing it up as Steve brought out some ice for Peter that was wrapped in a tea towel.

"Ere ya go Rocky." He said with a smirk.

"Eh it's not funny Steve." Carla said taking Peter's hand and putting the ice on it.

"Ow!" He cried as Carla held the ice on his hand and looked down at it.

"Don't be a baby." Carla said, shaking her head at him as he winced. It wasn't long before Michelle had come over and sat down with them.

"Carla…" She said quietly, Carla looked up at her and shook her head.

"Don't apologise Chelle... it's fine."

"I ave to. I shouldn't ave let Rich stay ere… N I should ave stuck up for you more back in the day." Michelle sighed.

"Don't be silly Michelle, you did as much as you could. There's no way you could have done anymore whilst living in your mother's house."

"Yeah... but he's still my cousin." Michele said sadly.

"Chelle... You can't choose your family eh?" Carla said sighing, "Honestly babe... it's fine." Michelle didn't look convinced so Carla let go of Peter's hand and hugged Michelle really tight.

"I've told him to go." Michelle said as Carla kissed her on the cheek. "He's packing as we speak."

"Good." Peter said, "Because if I see him again…"

"You're going to ignore him, Peter he is so not worth all this drama." Carla said getting up and pulling Peter up with her. "Come on… let's go n sit back with your Dad n Tracy." The walked over to Ken's table, ignoring all the people who were watching them.

"Honestly Peter…" Ken said shaking his head as Carla and Peter sat back down again. "What were you thinking?"

"Dad the man had hold of Carla what did ya want me to do?" Peter said irritably.

"I understand that but violence is really not the answer." Ken sighed, he was more worried about Peter than anything else, he knew he sometimes had a temper and didn't want it to get him into trouble.

"Oh please, Rich Connor is a big boy… he'll be fine." Carla said.

"Well I think it was justified." Tracy said, "I mean... he drugged you and then... wow what a creep."

"I ave to say I agree Ken." Audrey said much to Ken's surprise. "After all he was fighting for Carla's honour… I think it's rather romantic actually."

"Exactly..." Carla nodded, "Although I do think Peter is too old for this fighting lark." she grinned, never missing an opportunity to make fun of Peter's age.

"Oh ere we go again." Peter said, grinning and rolling his eyes at Carla, "I'll ave you know that I am not that old... I mean Johnny Depp is older than me."

"Baby... I love you but you are no Johnny Depp." Carla chuckled, but as Peter leant in and whispered something in her ear she giggled and said, "Hmmm you're much better than Johnny Depp."

"Oh yeah right." Tracy nodded almost recoiling at Carla and Peter's never ending public displays of affection.

"How's your hand doing Peter?" Audrey asked a little while later, when they were almost all finished their drinks.

"I think I just bruised it… I'm sure it'll be okay." Peter said, looking down at it and inspecting it to make sure that it was okay.

"It better be… your hands are very important to me." Carla grinned and nudged Peter in the side as Tracy rolled her eyes.

"Uh! Who wants another drink?" She said.

It took a while but things eventually got back to normal in the pub, people stopped staring and talking about Peter and Rich's brawl and they went back to their drinks. Tracy got fed up of feeling like a gooseberry so she went and re-joined Beth, whilst Audrey and Ken continued to chat the night away.

It was almost nine pm when Carla had remembered what she had planned to be doing tonight. She was immensely glad that Peter had found out the truth about Rich and even though she had pretended other wise she was glad that he had given Rich one hell of a punch. She leant over and kissed him gently on the cheek as Ken and Audrey were still engrossed in deep conversation.

"Baby when are we going home?" Carla whispered, as her kiss trailed over to his ear lode. Peter smirked at her and turned his head so that her lips met his for a proper kiss.

"When ever you want." He said, unable to resist Carla when she looked at him in that desirable way, especially once her hand had slipped underneath the table and began suggestively stroking his knee. "Carla..." he breathed.

"Peter..." Carla mocked, stroking his knee again and saying, "When am I gonna get you alone?"

"I guess it better be soon eh?" he breathed as Carla began kissing his ear again.

"Mmmm yes... it better be very soon." She said, her hand getting higher and higher up Peter's thigh, Peter struggled to maintain some composure as she gently bit down on his ear lobe, her face was hidden by her hair but it was still mighty clear what they were doing.

"Oi… you two… get a room!" Michelle called from over the bar.

Carla and Peter both laughed and didn't have to ask if she was talking to them. They stuck around for a little while more but when they realised that Ken and Audrey truly wouldn't care if they stayed, they left the pub and hurried over to Carla's place.

Peter had thought that she would be taking him straight to bed but she had something else in mind.

"How's your hand?" She asked as she took off his coat for him and hung it up alongside hers.

"Fine…" he said going to kiss her and then he realised the boxes that she had stacked up on her coffee table.

"You sure?" Carla asked, suggestively. Peter nodded, excitedly moving towards Carla again. "Good… you can help me decorate the tree then." She grinned running over to her coffee table and picking up one of the boxes.

"Y'know... when you were in such a rush to leave The Rover's... I didn't think you had this in mind." said Peter.

"Mmhhhmmm I know exactly what you had in mind." She smirked as she opened the first box with a look of pure glee. Peter leant forward and took a look at what was inside and said with a grin,

"Only you Carla… only you."

"Amazing aren't they?" Carla cried, pulling out one of the decorations and staring at.

She had somehow found shoe and handbag Christmas tree decorations on the Internet. They were covered in silver glitter and matched Carla's colour theme for her tree perfectly.

Her Christmas tree was an artificial one and it was only three foot tall but it was rather wide for such a small tree and there was plenty of space for the decorations that she had bought.

It didn't take long for Carla to see that Peter was not as helpful as she had been when it came to decorating his tree and after many attempts of him trying to distract her, he was eventually banished to her sofa instead.

"I could watch you do that all night y'know?" Peter said, smiling affectionately at Carla as it looked as if she had forgotten all about Rich and had well and truly had got into the Christmas spirit, she was busy stringing white lights around the tree and without a single piece of tinsel in sight, she then begun to add on her newly bought decorations. She hung the shoe and hang bag decorations around the tree, making sure that each one was equally spread apart. She had also bought some silver baubles and had put some of those on her tree before stepping backwards to admire it.

"I think… that's enough." She said with her head on one side.

"Yeah?" Peter said getting up off the sofa and walking over to her, He put his arms around her waist and then said, "What about the top?"

"I were just about to do it…" Carla said, pointing over to a bag on her counter. Peter went over to it and pulled out a silver star, it was made out of a type of wire and was beautifully delicate.

"Go on then…" Peter said kissing her on the cheek, Carla shook her head at him and said,

"You do it…" She nudged him in the side and pushed him towards her tree.

"Me?" He chuckled, "Carla you've been decorating that thing for almost an hour now? Don't you want to be the one to finish it?" He asked. Carla shook her head at home and then said,

"I know I ave but… I want you to put the star on top."

"Alright." Peter nodded, leaning forward and putting the star on top of Carla's rather poised and elegant tree. She then switched on the lights and took a step back so that she could see her tree in its full effect.

"It's gorgeous ain't it?" She said, smiling at it proudly.

"Mmmhmmm just like you." Peter said pulling her away from her tree and over to her sofa.

An hour or so later, Carla and Peter were snuggled up on her sofa underneath a blanket that Carla had always kept nearby. Carla's fingers danced around Peter's as they sat with just her Christmas tree lights on and nothing else. Every so often the white lights would slowly fade and then brighten again, creating a rather romantic atmosphere and it was only helped buy the fact that they had some music playing quietly in the background as they lay in a serene state.

"I'm really happy y'know." Carla said quietly with her head rested against Peter's chest.

"Good…" Peter said with a smile, kissing Carla on her head and then saying, "Me too."

"No… I mean I'm astoundingly happy." Carla said, Peter chuckled at her and then said,

"Look at you using the word astounding."

"It's not funny Peter." She said poking him in the stomach. "I mean when I think about how I felt this time last year… I honestly never thought I'd be spending Christmas like this… in your arms… back together… it's the best thing that could ave ever happened to me… Thank you for coming back ere."

"No… thank you." Peter said, now stroking Carla's hair softly. He smiled as she kissed him on the chest and then asked,

"What did ya do last Christmas?"

"Nothing…" Peter said, "Last Christmas was like any other day for me really. I was still a bit of a mess around that time. I didn't ave Simon… I didn't ave you or me family and every one I knew back in Portsmouth was busy with their own lives so I just stayed in me flat… alone… all day."

"Really?" Carla said raising her head and looking up at him. "You stayed alone all day?" She had asked Peter about his last Christmas just out of general curiosity but now she was actually thinking about it, she realised it must have been really lonely for him.

"Yes…" Peter said but he could see Carla's guilty expression, "Hey… don't look like that. It was me own fault. I could ave gone out if I wanted to but I didn't, I was the one who chose to stay in and feel sorry for me self." Peter said.

"Yeah… but you should ave been ere Peter." Carla said shaking her head, "With Si… n your Dad."

"I was exactly where I needed to be Carla. I needed to spend that time on me own. Everything that has happened to me over the past year has made me the man I am today." Peter said, Carla smiled at him and kissed him again, understanding that what he was saying was true. "So… what did you do last Christmas then?"

"Well… I stayed at home in the morning. I watched a few cheesy films n then I went to Roy's for dinner. It were just me n him and it were rather lovely then I went down the Rover's… it weren't to bad considering..." Carla said with a sigh, "Well I mean I were able to keep the I'm happy act up until I got in anyways… I stepped through me front door and just burst into tears."

"Why?" Peter asked,

"I'm not exactly sure… I think it was a mix between missing you n Rob." Carla said, "I kept thinking about what you two might ave been doing and how much I wished that you were ere… at least I've got one of you ere now eh."

The sound of Carla's buzzer soon interrupted their peaceful state, they ignored it at first but as it went off twice more and then there was a knock on the door. Carla sighed and got up off Peter, she took the blanket with her.

"Oi…" Peter chuckled getting up as well and following her because they weren't dressed, he stood behind her as she took a look through the viewfinder. She swallowed hard and then opened the door to find two police officers stood there.

"Yes." She said, her throat going dry because the police turning up on her doorstep was never a good sign.

"Mr Barlow?" One of the policemen said, Peter nodded at him and said,

"Yes."

"If you could get dressed please." The policeman said, Carla shook her head in confusion and said,

"I'm sorry what's this about?"

"Mr Barlow is going to have to come down to the station with us to answer a few questions."

"What about?" Peter asked but Carla was a step ahead of him now.

"Rich." She said shaking her head. Peter looked at her and then at the policeman.

"Is that what this is about?" he asked,

"Mr Connor says that you assaulted him."

"Assaulted? Really?" Carla scoffed, "Please."

"Yes I punched him but he was perfectly fine, he got up straight afterwards unfortunately." Peter said much to Carla's annoyance because he was acting as if going around punching people was a normal thing to do and the police did not look too impressed with his candid tone.

"You really need to come down the station Sir." Said the other policeman who hadn't spoken yet. "We'll explain everything once we get there"

Peter nodded and went to get dressed, leaving Carla stood at her front door.

"Are ya arresting him?" she asked the police who both looked at each other and then back at her. "Because Rich Connor is a trouble maker and he was just trying to wind Peter up... you can ask anyone."

"Look Mrs Barlow, this is just a formality. We've had an accusation of assault and we have to take it seriously."

"I take that as a yes then." Carla said irately, letting the police in so that she could also go and get dressed.

Rich Connor had said that it wasn't over… and he meant it.