This fic is set from June onwards, Deirdre has passed away but everything else on the street is the same as it is now.
It was almost three in the afternoon when Leanne got the call that told her, her Step mum Janice had fallen ill and had been rushed into hospital. She needed to get there quick but her Janice didn't live local and Leanne wasn't sure what time she would be back. She couldn't find Simon's granddad Ken or his aunt Tracy. She had then asked Sophie, who usually looked after him but she was out with her girlfriend. Kal was out with his family for the night and Leanne was beginning to feel desperate. She felt like she must have been very desperate because when pacing the street, wondering who else she could call, She saw Carla come out of the corner shop, It wasn't long before she found herself asking Carla if she would sit with him.
"Look Carla I wouldn't ask if I wasn't desperate" Leanne said practically begging her "He's not a kid anymore, I just don't want him left alone late at night that's all. It's a Friday night, he can stay up as late as he wants and there's plenty of food" Leanne begged and Carla eventually nodded reluctantly.
Simon was pretty used to being at home on his own for a little bit after school especially as his Mum was now working at the bistro again. She called ahead to let Simon know what was going to happen and he made it clear that he was not impressed with this babysitter idea at all.
Carla gulped as she knocked on the door of Leanne and Simon's flat. Simon opened the door and glared at her, He went straight over to the table and started on his homework, leaving Carla just standing there at the door. She closed it behind her and rolled her eyes wishing she didn't have to deal with a moody pre teen all night.
Carla sat down on the sofa and flipped through the glossy magazines she had bought in the shop on her way around and she then went through all the apps on her phone just to kill time.
She glanced over at Simon who was busy writing something in one of his schoolbooks, he was biting his lip because he was concentrating to hard. She watched him and wondered when it was that he began to look so grown up. Carla felt like it was just yesterday that he was running circles around her and Peter, back in their old flat. She was forever stepping on his toys and cleaning up after him and now he was almost twelve. He had one elbow on the table resting his head in his free hand, every so often he would look up at Carla and then back down again. She gulped down the last bit of coffee that she had made for herself earlier and she decided that it was time to end the silence between them.
"Are you doing homework?" she asked getting off of the sofa and walking over to the table where Simon was sitting. He stopped writing for a moment, almost looking like he was about to answer her but then he continued to write in his book. She continued to try and make small talk with Simon but he still ignored her. Carla rolled her eyes and looked around the living room, she knew Leanne wasn't about to come back anytime soon and as her tummy rumbled, She did not like the thought of attempting to cook something.
"Have you eaten Simon?" Carla asked she was fully expecting him to ignore her and he did. "Only I was thinking of ordering a Pizza…" Carla started watching Simon "But if you're not going to talk to me then I won't know what to order for you." She said with her head tilted to one side, wondering if he would take her bribe. Simon put down his pen
"I'm not a little kid you know, You can't bribe me" he said Carla smirked at him
"Got you talking though didn't I?" She said Simon couldn't help but smile slightly at Carla who sat on the chair opposite him. Simon looked down at his book again "Look I realise you think you're too old for a babysitter and all that but If we continue to sit in this horrendous silence, time is going to drag on even more. So what do you say we act like grown ups about this?" Carla said
"Fine" Simon said Carla wondered if he actually meant it and decided to test the waters
"Why you doing your homework on a Friday night, you've got the whole weekend to do it" Carla reached over and closed his book he looked at her and frowned
"Yeah but if I do it now then I've got the whole weekend to do what I like" he said opening the book again Carla nodded
"Okay… You got a point there. So are we gonna order a pizza or what? Because you and I both know that cooking isn't my strong suit" Simon laughed to himself remembering the meals that Carla had attempted to cook for him in the past
"You got that right" Simon smirked "I almost broke a tooth on one of your Pizzas" he had used air quotes on the word pizzas.
"Cheeky" Carla said back at him but she was smiling back at the eleven year old, relieved he was starting to warm up to her.
"You can order it on my laptop if you want?" he said passing it over to Carla she nodded and began to type in Pizza Hut's website
"Right what you having then?" she asked remembering how whenever they'd got pizzas together in the past, he always had pepperoni but this time he answered her with
"Ham and Pineapple please"
"Uh Pineapple on a Pizza is so un-natural" Carla shuddered, typing and trying not to think about exactly who Ham and Pineapple reminded her of "I thought you liked Pepperoni" she said Simon shrugged at her
"I do, I just want Ham and Pineapple, it reminds me of " he trailed off not wanting to bring his Dad up in front of Carla, although unbeknown to Simon Carla had been thinking about Peter since he mentioned the kind of pizza he wanted.
"Your Dad?" She watched his reaction "It's okay you can talk about him you know" he looked at Carla and she could tell that he wanted to say something "Simon?" she said waiting for his response
"I'm sorry" he said closing his books, Carla frowned not expecting him to say that as he stared down at the table in front of him
"Sorry for what" she asked rather confused
"I used to be really horrible to you." he said
"Yeah well I got in between your Dad and Leanne, You were allowed to be a little horrible to me" Carla said but Simon shook his head
"No… I'm sorry for what my Dad did with… Tina" he said "I was horrible to you and I really liked Tina" Carla sighed finally realising what Simon was getting at
"What? Do you think that if you had of been nicer to me that your Dad wouldn't have gone and… with Tina?" she said choosing her words carefully because Simon was only eleven after all.
"Maybe? Maybe he wouldn't have left me with her If I didn't like her so much and then maybe they wouldn't have spent time so much time alone together and stuff."
"No Simon you can't think like that. Your Dad went with Tina because she was young and beautiful and" Simon cut her off
"You're just as beautiful as she was" he said Carla smiled at the compliment she had just received but Simon was still looking down at the table, guiltily
"Not as young though eh" She joked and nudged him with her elbow, she began to look serious again when Simon didn't respond to her joke "Your dad made a gigantic mistake but I know he would never ever want you to feel like you have to apologise for the any of things that he has done" he looked up at her finally, his were eyes filling with tears
"I really hate him sometimes" He said quickly wiping a tear that had fallen from his eye
"Don't say that Simon"
"Why not? You should hate him too" He said bitterly Carla shook her head, leaning towards Simon some more
"You might hate the things that he's done but you and I both know that you don't hate your Dad. You're just angry at him. It's okay because I'm still angry at him too… We can be angry together... if you want" She offered Simon nodded not looking so grown up to her anymore as the tears continued to fall down his cheek.
"I just wish he had never done anything with Tina and that he was still here" Simon wiped another tear Carla swallowed back her own tears as she watched him
"Me too" She said softly.
They sat in silence for a while and it was Simon who broke the silence this time
"Are we still getting the pizza then?" he asked sniffing Carla nodded at him and then went back to ordering the Pizza on his laptop.
"All done Babe" Carla said once she had finished making the order
"Thank you" Simon said "You didn't have to get me anything though, I've been so horrible to you" he said ashamed
"Eh? We've been through all this" She said "Besides I can't let you starve can I?" Carla said smiling at him. He decided to finish his homework until the pizza arrived, he continued to glance over at Carla every so often, Only this time he actually gave her a small smile whenever he caught her eye. When the pizza finally arrived Carla jumped up off of the sofa
"About flaming time, I'm starving" She said sighing and she went to answer the door. She came back with three boxes in her hands she put them down on the kitchen worktop as Simon got up from the table.
"How many pizzas did you get there's only two of us?" Simon asked surprised at the amount of boxes that she had brought in. Carla opened a pizza box to check what was in there and then she handed it over to Simon
"I got us a whole pizza each" Carla said opening the other large box "They had a buy on get one free deal on and I didn't want any of your weird pineapple near my vegetable supreme" She poked her tongue out as Simon screwed up his face
"Vegetable supreme? Boring" he said opening the smaller box to find some garlic bread "Thanks Carla" Simon said as she carried her pizza box over to the sofa
"I'd forget the plates if I were you, Unless you wanna be doing the washing up." Carla said smirking with her Pizza box rested on her lap. Simon nodded and brought over his Pizza box and the garlic bread box to the sofa he put his Pizza on it next to Carla and then sat on the floor in front of it.
"Good thinking" he said as Carla bit into a huge slice of pizza, Simon then got back up and went into the fridge, he came back with two cans of Coke, one diet and one normal, he handed the diet coke to Carla and she smiled at him appreciatively, impressed that he had remembered she preferred diet coke.
"Thanks" she said opening the can as Simon flicked through the channels on the television
"Shall we watch a film?" Simon suggested after a few minutes, when he couldn't find anything else to watch, Carla raised an eyebrow
"That depends on what films you've got, I mean if your taste is anything like your dads" She said, Simon chuckled
"They are all in there" he said pointing to the cupboard the TV was on top of "You pick" he said, Carla got off of the sofa and went over to the cupboard she opened it and began looking through the DVDs on the shelves, she eventually pulled one out and then looked at it
"The Hunger Games? I've been hearing all about this, what's it actually like?" She asked Simon shrugged taking a bite of Pizza
"I don't know it's Auntie Eva's, she's obsessed with it" He said chomping through his slice of pizza "All I know is that there are three books and the last movie is coming out soon. I wanted to watch it, I just haven't got round to it yet" Carla read the back of the DVD intrigued
"Wanna give it a go now?" She said handing the DVD to Simon who took it and put it into their DVD player. He then sat down back on the floor in front of the sofa and his Pizza box. He used the remote and pressed play. Carla then received a text message on her phone. It was from Leanne, Carla found it weird to see that name pop up on her screen as they hadn't been in any sort of proper contact in years.
"Just checking in, hope Simon isn't being too moody with you. Janice is on a ward now. Visiting time is almost over so I'll make my way home soon. Leanne"
Carla looked down at the boy who was stuffing his face with Pizza and sipping coke she replied back with
"Simon's fine. Honestly take your time. Carla"
As the film began Carla leant forward and looked at the box
"One hundred and forty two minutes? This film better be good" She said Simon nodded his mouth full of Pizza unable to say anything Carla laughed at him and they began watching the film.
Around thirty minutes into the movie Simon had moved from the floor and he'd sat next to Carla on the sofa. She had kicked her shoes off and made her self comfortable with her legs bent and her feet tucked under her body. They were both silent during most of film. The room grew darker as the film went on and when the end credits rolled across the screen, Carla breathed out heavily and turned to Simon
"Well that were intense"
"That was awesome" Simon exclaimed Carla nodded along with him, not ashamed to admit she was actually blown away by the film they had just watched.
"I had no idea that was gonna be so good. I'm glad I chose it now." She said as Simon took a sip of coke
"Auntie Eva's got all the books I'm gonna ask her to borrow them" he said as Carla glanced at the clock. It was gone ten o clock now she was very relived that they'd found some common ground after the first hour had gone so slowly.
"Eh If the street were a district and we had to send two of you kids to fight for us who do you reckon we should send?" she asked nudging him
"Not me. I wouldn't win that's for sure" Carla frowned at Simon's lack of self-belief
"And why not?" He just shrugged at her and didn't say anything "You're stronger then you think you are Si" She said supportively "I think you'd be great in there, I know you wouldn't be keen on the whole killing part though."
"Amy wouldn't have a problem with hurting people she's evil" Simon said making Carla cackle out loud "No seriously she is evil you should here some of the stuff she says to me"
"Well what do you expect when she's got your Auntie Tracy as a mother" Carla said her elbow on the top of the sofa resting her hand on the side of her forehead
"She's not old enough anyway I think you have to be twelve" Simon added almost looking disappointed at the thought of his cousin not being able to enter the fictional arena he'd made up in his head
"What If the adults were allowed? Who do you reckon we should send then" She asked Simon raised his eyebrows
"I dunno" he pondered, the options for brave tributes were very slim "Maybe Nick" Carla raised her eyebrows this time at the mere thought of Nick fighting for their street "Kal or maybe Gary because they were in the army, so they might be better." He said, Carla nodded in agreement
"Good thinking… So what about the ladies then?" Simon thought for a moment
"I think you would do quite well in there" he said Carla looked back at him
"Me? And why is that eh?" Carla said thinking about her ruthless reputation on the street "Is because you think I'd be able to hurt everyone else and be done with it?" She thought about how cold blooded people thought she was sometimes, She was a little disappointed that Simon could think that way as well.
"No because you're smart, I mean you run a business all on your own. You need brains to win the hunger games you know" Simon said "and you can run super fast, you're always in and out of the gym" Carla was shocked by Simon's knowledge on her workouts.
"And how do you know I'm always at the gym?" she asked intrigued
"I always see you coming out of there, and Kal said to my mum that you're a really fast runner" Simon said
"So Kal and your Mum have been gossiping about me then?" she asked
"No they were just discussing all the people that go to the gym that's all." Simon shook his head defensively but Carla smiled at him letting him know she was just pulling his leg.
"It's fine, Simon" She said "Yeah I think I'd be pretty good in the arena, I'd ave to stay on me own though, There's no way I could make friends in there" Carla said, although she wasn't sure how many people would want to make friends with her anyway.
"Me neither" Simon said "It's like my worst nightmare. I hate confrontations and I'd be so scared all the time" he stopped talking and stayed silent whilst Carla picked up the pizza boxes and went to put them in the kitchen
"Good job it's just a movie eh" Carla said coming back and sitting next to him She observed Simon who was sat just watching the credits on the tv screen "There's another movie here right? Do you wanna start watching the next one now" She was desperate to find out what happened next and was hoping Simon was too but he shook his head at her slowly
"I don't know… What time do you think my mum is coming back?" he asked Carla shrugged at him
"I don't know babe but you can watch it another time if you want. I'll have to grab a copy of the books so I can read em as well"
"We should watch them though, you know like together?" Simon said looking at Carla his eyes wide "You can come over or I can come to yours and we can watch them so by the time next movie comes out to the cinema maybe we can go and watch it"
"Are you asking me on a date Simon Barlow?" Carla joked although inside she felt like crying because she'd never really bonded that well with Simon whilst her and Peter were together and now they weren't together it was like they were getting along like a house on fire.
"As if!" Simon said giving Carla a little push "You're still me step mum and anyways you're well old" Carla pushed him back
"Eh I'm not that old" She cried, Simon laughed at her reaction and then went quiet again.
"Carla?" He said after a few moments and he was looking quite serious again
"Yeah?" Carla said watching him cautiously
"Are you gonna divorce my dad?"
"Well I spose I'll ave to at some point" Carla said looking down at her nails "But you divorce husbands not kids so don't think I won't still be on your case" She tried to make a joke out of it but Simon was still looking solemn
"How come haven't you done it already?" He asked
"Well it's just not that easy when he's not actually here" She explained "There's a whole lot of boring paper work we both have to go through."
"Yeah I know, My mum had it all with Nick and Dad" He said, reminding Carla that he'd already been through way too much for someone his age. "How many times have you been married?" Simon asked even he'd heard his Mum talking to Kal about how Carla had been married plenty of times and how one more divorce probably wouldn't hurt.
"Too many" Carla answered, "I didn't think this one would end though I gotta be honest." She said regretfully as Simon watched her "I thought your Dad were a keeper" She said wishing they weren't back on the subject of Peter. Carla had thought she was beginning to get over him and now all of a sudden she was sitting there with his son and her heart was aching as she thought about him. She saw the look of pity on Simon's face as he sat there next to her.
"Don't look so sad Si, I bet you spent a lot of time wishing me and ya Dad would breakup." she said she hadn't meant it in a horrible way but Simon's face dropped even more
"I didn't." He protested
"Oh come on Si, You hated me." Carla said but Simon shook his head at her
"I didn't, I just pretended that I really didn't like you because I really wanted Dad to get back with me Mum but secretly I liked you... just a little bit"
"Just a little bit eh? Well that's better then I thought" Carla smiled
"I like you lots now though if that makes it better" Simon added and Carla put her arm around him lovingly
"Better late then never eh?" she smiled as he leant into her returning the embrace.
It was almost eleven when Leanne walked through her front door. She wasn't too sure about what she might find upon getting home. She thought that maybe Simon would have gone to bed but instead he and Carla were sitting at the table eating cold pizza and they were engrossed in a very competitive game of Monopoly. Carla had piles of money all organised in separate piles with a few properties lined up next to each other whilst Simon had properties scattered all over his side of the table and what little money he had was in one single pile.
Leanne blinked for a moment as Simon and Carla barley noticed her entrance, she cleared her throat which was when Simon looked up at her
"Hey" he said before looking back down at the monopoly board, Carla looked up as Simon acknowledged Leanne.
"Hi Leanne" she said smiling a proper smile, one that Leanne hadn't seen on Carla for the longest time "Just kicking your Simon's butt at Monopoly here" she said, Simon looked at her as Leanne made her way to the table
"You're so not" he said although judging by the amount of money he had in his pile compared to Carla's he could tell the game was almost over, Leanne looked down at his notes and then at Carla's
"Erm Si what happened?" She laughed as he rolled the dice, Simon shrugged and Carla shook her head at him
"I tell you what happened, he bought everything he landed on without thinking about whether he actually could afford it or not" Carla said smirking and looking at the dice which read six, Simon groaned when he realised what he had rolled
"Ahhh Yes" Carla cheered
She laughed as Simon moved his car counter to Mayfair where Carla had a collection of houses waiting for him to pay rent on
"That's one thousand seven hundred quid please Barlow" she said holding out her hand, Simon protested
"No way! It can't be that much" he said shocked but he still had a little smile on his face
"It's on the card if ya don't believe me" Carla laughed handing Simon the Mayfair card, he read the amount of rent that he needed to pay Carla, He raised both eyebrows in surprise as Leanne lent in an read it over his shoulder
"Ouch pay up Simon" she said and watched Simon count his pretend money out, he thought for a moment and then back looked at Carla who was still holding her hand out and wiggling her fingers
"Tell you what…" Simon started, Leanne and Carla both laughed at him
"Here we go" Leanne said waiting to see what kinda deal Simon was going to come up with
"I've only got five hundred and fifty pound" he said smiling at Carla trying to be a persuasive as possible "How about I give you five hundred and two of my train stations and we'll call it even?" He said Leanne laughed at his negotiating skills
"I wonder where he get's that from eh?" Leanne said to Carla shaking her head, Carla smirked and then looked at Simon
"Just two stations? They are four hundred each that barley makes it up to an even thousand?"
"Yeah but if I land on them then you get money as well" he said
"Sorry Si that's not gonna cut it I'm afraid" Carla said shaking her head as Leanne took off her jacket and then sat down next to Simon
"Okay what about three stations?" He said yawning, Carla caught his yawn and then looked at the clock
"It's getting late so what do you say we leave it here, call this one a practice game and we'll get together sometime and have an epic re-match okay" Carla suggested, Simon nodded at her as he was beginning to feel tired.
"You're on" he said getting up from the table
"You do look tired mate, I think you better get ready for bed if you wanna be up for footie in the morning" Leanne said Simon nodded at her
"Night" he said and he gave Leanne a cuddle, he was about to go into his bed room but then he turned back as Carla got up from her seat and wrapped his arms around her
"Bye Carla it was fun" he said smiling into her Carla smiled back a little stunned to be receiving a proper hug from him.
"Bye Simon" she said still rather touched that he had made the effort to hug her goodbye.
As Simon went into his room Carla and Leanne stood awkwardly for a moment before Carla picked up her leather jacket, she didn't quite know what to say at first which she found odd because at one point her and Leanne were practically best friends.
"I erm... Ordered a few pizzas" she eventually said putting her coat on at the same time as she spoke "I didn't think it were fair subjecting poor Simon to my cooking as well as me company" she said, Leanne grinned
"Well from the looks of it he seemed to really enjoy himself" she said "I mean he hasn't wanted to play monopoly for ages"
"Really?" Carla said shocked as it had been his idea to play it in the first place
"Yeah, I always ask him but he always says he only likes playing it with" She stopped
"Peter" Carla said sighing, Leanne nodded and Carla suddenly remembered why she was even round Leanne's in the first place
"God I'm sorry Leanne how's Janice?" she asked
"Oh she's fine they just want to keep her in for a few days observation just to be on the safe side" She said appreciating the fact that Carla had asked her,
"Good" Carla nodded and then she picked up her hand bag from the table
"Thanks Carla" Leanne said "You didn't have to do this"
"Hey it was my pleasure, I actually had a really good time" Carla looked down a little "I know it sounds mad, seeing as he pretty much used to hate me but I've really missed spending time with him." she said but she had spotted an old picture of Peter and Simon on the shelf next to her so she was now staring at that instead of Leanne "It feels like he's grown up so much since back then" Leanne nodded watching Carla and realising what she was looking at
"He really has, I think going to high school this year has actually helped him deal with Peter being gone in some way, all the new friends and new subjects are like a little distraction, Obviously he still misses him like mad though" She said Carla was still looking at the picture on the shelf
"Yeah..." Carla eventually replied still staring at the old photo, it was about four years old, Peter and Simon both looked so much younger. Peter didn't have his beard reminding her of when she first fell in love with him. She realised how long she had been staring at the picture and then cleared her throat sheepishly.
"Right I'll guess, I'll be off then" She said smiling awkwardly and she then made her way to the door, Leanne followed her
"Thanks again Carla" she said as Carla opened the door, They smiled at each other awkwardly before Carla closed the door behind her and went home.