He was leaning against the wall at the back of the room where the wake was being held, arms folded as he watched Molly sitting at a table on the other side of the room talking to the rest of her section. She was getting tired, he could see from the way she was leaning back against her chair and the colour had drained from her face. He'd give it a few more minutes and then he'd make their excuses.
He had to suppress an eye roll as he saw captain Walsh making a beeline for him from across the room. He'd been deliberately avoiding the man all day, frightened that he wouldn't be able to control himself if he started talking to that man knowing what he'd done to Molly.
"Captain James." Walsh smiled, leaning against the wall beside him. "It's nice to see you again. How is Dawes doing?"
Charles bit his tongue for a second, glancing over at Molly who was still deep in conversation. He turned back to Captain Walsh. "Listen here." He hissed. "Molly's told me all about what happened out there on tour, the way you treated her and the rest of the lads. I've got serious doubts about whether we'd be stood here at a wake if it wasn't for your terrible leadership skills. Those lads put their faith in you to have their back and bring them back home safely, but you were too busy playing mind games and throwing your weight around to do your God damn job!" He paused to glance over at Molly again.
"But..." Captain Walsh tried to interrupt.
Charles shut him down with a glare. "I honestly don't give a crap. The only reason I haven't been to major Beck and totally destroyed your entire career is because for some unknown reason Molly still feels some strange kind of loyalty to you and she begged me not to. But I'll be honest with you, the more she tells me the more I think I might just do it anyway. You don't deserve to be a part of the army at all, never mind lead a group of soldiers."
Captain Walsh hesitated for a moment, then his mouth set in to a firm line and he glared at Charles. "You're not going to do anything. You started a relationship with a soldier that was in your charge, while still married and on tour in Afghanistan which ended up with you and another soldier being shot. Major Beck might think the sun shines out of your bloody ass but even he'd have a hard time straightening that one out for you. It would be such a shame to watch that career of yours come crashing down around you, especially if you took poor little Dawes down with you." He gave Charles a smirk before walking off.
Charles was livid, and if it wasn't for the fact they were at a funeral he probably would've punched the man. Instead he stood for a moment, taking a couple of deep breaths to calm himself before walking over to the table where Molly was sitting. She smiled at him as he slid in to the empty seat next to her. "We should get going soon." He said.
She nodded in agreement. "Just a couple more minutes." She smiled, turning back to the rest of the lads sitting around the table with her. "Boys, this is Charles, my fiancé." They both laughed as a round of wolf whistles went up.
"It's nice to meet you all, I've heard a lot about you." Charles smiled.
"Don't believe a words Dawes has told you!" Someone shouted.
Charles laughed. "Same goes for anything she's told you about me."
"Hey!" Molly smacked him playfully. "You don't even know the half of what I've told them!"
"I can imagine." He smiled, and she rolled her eyes at him. "Come on, let's get you home before you cause any more trouble. It's been lovely to meet you all." He held out his hand and helped Molly up out of her chair, keeping hold of her hand as her led through the people that had gathered and out in to the car park.
When they finally reached the car Molly sank heavily back in to the seat, finally realising just how tired she was. A mixture of emotion and anxiety had kept her going throughout the day, but now she'd finally stopped her entire body felt like it was made from lead. Charles gave her arm a squeeze as he settled in to the drive drivers seat.
"How're you feeling?" He asked, frowning at her. She'd gone very pale and quiet, her head tipped back against the head rest and her eyes squeezed closed.
"I'm fine Charles, I'm just really tired. I didn't really think through how exhausting it would be coming here. And that was just trying to be civil with bloody captain Walsh." She joked.
Charles grimaced a little, something that didn't go unnoticed by Molly.
"What did you say to him?" She demanded. "Please tell me you didn't Charles, you promised!"
"He just came up and started talking to me, he got under my skin a bit. I might've said a couple of things I shouldn't have done, but you would've done exactly the same in my position Molly!" He said defensively. "Did you honestly think when you told me what he'd done that I'd be able to just ignore it and carry on like nothing had happened?"
"What did you say to him Charles?" She sighed, he knew without even looking at her that she was rolling her eyes at him.
"I just said that I knew what he'd done, and that as far as I'm concerned he doesn't deserve to be a part of the army after the way he's acted."
"And?" She prompted. She could tell from his voice there was someone he hadn't told her.
"He said if I tried to do anything or told anyone about it he'd ruin my career and take you down with me." He admitted. "But we both know Major Beck isn't going to let that happen Molly. He might not necessarily agree with what happened between us two and how it happened, but he's not going to let someone ruin our careers over it. If he'd wanted that to happen he would've done it himself when he had the chance."
"Just take me home." She sighed. "I asked you not to get involved, but you went ahead and did what you wanted to do anyway, so now I guess we'll just have to hope you haven't made this any worse won't we."