Our Girl and it's characters belong to the bbc and were written by Tony Gates.
Post series 3.
Matthew Geddings was Molly's corporal in the pilot episode of Our Girl.
Sitting in a crowded bar, nursing a cold beer, and catching up with his old mates Fingers and Brains on a Friday night Captain Charles James ears perk up when he hears a burst of crackling laughter that he would recognize anywhere. His eyes zero in on the beautiful dark chestnut hair cascading down the back of his ex wife, Molly Dawes, as she sits enjoying a beer at a table across the room animatedly talking with a strawberry blonde woman that he vaguely remembers from some pictures she showed him of her section from basic training. This is the first time he's seen Molly since their divorce five years ago. And his heart still skips a beat at the sight of her.
He knows the end of their marriage was all his fault. After witnessing the death of his best mate Elvis Harte in an explosion, he broke down while became Molly his rock. She stood by his side at the funeral and held him as he broke down afterward. No matter what anyone told him he still felt responsible for his best mates death. Molly could see that his head wasn't in the right place. She urged him to take a leave of absence and seek counseling but he insisted that he was fine and continued to go on tour. He became determined to look after Elvis' fiancé Georgie Lane as he felt that's what his friend would want him to do and in process developed feelings for the woman. Over the months he pushed Molly further and further away. He eventually stopped talking to his wife altogether and she began to hear troublesome rumors of his unbecoming behavior. She begged him again to get help in order to save himself and their marriage. He refused. With a shattered heart Molly finally gave in and suggested that they put their marriage out of its misery. After their divorced and he began a short lived relationship with Georgie. Unfortunately he realized too late that his feelings for Georgie were just a shared sense of grief for Elvis. They didn't have any lasting feelings for each other so they ended things rather quickly. After that he admitted that he had a problem and finally started seeing a counselor to help him gain control of his ptsd. Now if he could win back the love of his life everything could be as it once was.
While his friends argue loudly about the football match playing on tv over the bar, he watches his Molly be the life of the party and knows that he was an idiot to ever leave her. He had never stopped loving her. As he sits contemplating whether he should go over to her, the bell on the door rings as two men enter the bar and make their way over to his ex wife's table. The strawberry blonde waves as the men draw near. His ex wife turns to look over her shoulder and her eyes light up as she gazes at the tall dark haired man in the lead.
"Well it's about time you got here, Geddings." Molly sasses. "Me and Katie was starting to think you boys got lost and what a sorry excuse of soldiers you two would be if that was the case." She winks and passes him her beer. Matthew Geddings brings the bottle to his lips and takes a long pull as he slides into the chair at her side and rest his arm on the back of her chair.
The blonde man circles around the table and pulls out a chair beside the strawberry blonde. "Hello Katie. Nice to see you again." Luke greets Katie as they are ignored by their friends who are busy flirting as usual. "Want to go play some darts?" He motions to the dart board in the back of the bar. "Yeah. Might as well go ahead and start without them. They won't even realize we're here for awhile." She says as they move to the back.
"Sorry we're not up to your timetable Dawes. I've been a little busy making my recruits into the best soldiers in the bloody British army. You know my favorite recruit even won the MC." He teases as he plays with her hair.
"Oi, that's Geddings now, mister. You put a ring on it remember." She reminds him flashing her wedding band at him. "And I always knew I was your favorite. You were proper loved up for me even then. I told you so remember." She smiles cheekily.
"I could never forget. Our wedding was the best day of our life so far. And yes you were right even all the way back then, Molly Geddings." He admits with a warm smile his dark eyes filled with love. "And it only took us eight years to get it right."
"Well we got it right in the end that's what counts. We get to spend the rest of our lives being happily in love and annoying all our mates with our flirting." She leans over and kisses him sweetly. "Now let's go join in the game of darts. We can totally take them." Matthew laughs cheerfully as he and Molly intertwine their hands and walk over to join their best mates for another memorable night.
Charles feels his heart sink to his stomach when he sees the flash of the wedding band on Molly's ring finger and sees her share a sweet kiss with her new husband. Like a knife to the heart he realizes he'll never be able to win her back knowing in just that short interaction that she is happier with her new husband than she ever was with him.