He felt his heart sink as she directed him into the parking space outside the block of flats. The journey had passed in the blink of an eye, after the initial awkwardness they'd started chatting about what Two Section had been up to, and what had happened on her tour. Two hours had passed in what felt like ten minutes, and selfishly he didn't want it to end. He'd missed her, so much more than he could put into words, and now he was going to have to leave her again after only a couple of hours.
He turned the car off, and they both sat next to each other silently for a moment. Molly glanced at Charles, and then up at the flats above them. Nothing had changed, as usual. The same grafitti covered the walls and she could see her parent's washing hanging from the balcony. Nothing had changed since she'd walked out of the door to go back to Afghanistan, and yet she felt like a completely different person.
"Thank you." She said quietly, smiling softly at Charles. "You really didn't have to drive me all the way back here."
He smiled back, shrugging slightly. "I wanted to. It's been really good to see you again." He didn't know what to say, he didn't want to blurt out exactly how he was feeling for fear he might frighten her off. He'd spent the months she'd been away on tour sitting behind a desk, thinking about how things might've been if she'd stayed, and how things could be when she came back from her tour. He'd built it up in his head, counting down the days until she would be back, and now he was sitting there next to her he just didn't know what to say.
There was a moment of silence before she spoke again. "Do you want to come up with me?" She asked. "I won't be offended if you want to go straight home, you've got a long way to drive and it's a bit of a mad house up there at the best of times." She was almost holding her breath, waiting for him to answer and praying he would stay a little bit longer.
"Well, how could I turn down an offer like that?" He smiled. "Lead the way Dawesey." He hopped out of the car, grabbing her bergen off the back seat and throwing it over his shoulder.
She trudged up the stairs with him beside her, her body was starting to feel the effects of the lack of sleep and the long journey home. She was sure someone had added in an extra couple of flights of stairs, it seemed to be taking much longer to climb up them than usual.
"You look like you need to get back to those PT sessions Dawes, you're out of breath climbing the stairs. I hope your new captain hasn't been letting you take things easy!" He joked as they reached the top of the stairs.
"I don't like him as much as I liked the last one." She laughed, then felt her cheeks flush red, wondering what he'd take that to mean.
"Is that so?" He smirked, and she felt herself turn even redder as she stopped in front of her parents front door. "I did hear your last Captain was pretty great."
"Don't flatter yourself." She snorted. She could hear her Mum shouting to her Dad on the other side of the door, telling him to get off his fat ass and answer the door. Somethings would never change.
The door swung open, her Mum on the other side looking rather frazzled. "Oh Mol, it's good to have you back." She smiled, throwing her arms around her and trapping her in a bear hug. "Come on, I'll put the kettle on. You must be exhausted!" She said when she finally released her.
"Is it okay if Charles stays for a bit?" Molly asked, after her Mum didn't acknowledge that Charles was standing there next to her.
Belinda hesitated for a second, glancing over at him as he shifted uncomfortably. "Of course. It's nice to see you again Charles." Her tone didn't sound genuine.
Molly frowned, she couldn't quite work out what was going on there. She'd have to ask her Mum later, she was giving him one of those looks she usually reserved just for Dave. She followed her Mum into the hallway, beckoning Charles in behind her- he was looking a bit unsure after the not so friendly welcome.
"Sorry." She mouthed over her shoulder as they walked into the living room where her Dad was sprawled on the sofa, a can of beer in his hand despite the fact it was barely lunch time.
"Alright Mol?" Dave asked, not making any attempt to move so that her and Charles could sit down. Instead they had to squeeze themselves into the armchair on the other side of the room, sitting uncomfortably close to each other. "What do you say to buying your old man a beer now you're back?"
She struggled to stop herself rolling her eyes at him. He hadn't changed a bit. She was about to answer him when Belinda appeared in the doorway. "Charles, can you come and help me carry these drinks please?" She asked.
Molly and Charles exchanged a look of surprise. "That's alright Mum, I'll come help ya." She went to get up, but Belinda shook her head.
"You stay there Mol, you must be knackered. Charles doesn't mind helping, do you?" Her tone made it clear there was no arguing with her.
Charles hauled himself out of the arm chair and followed Belinda into the kitchen, trying to ignore the feeling of dread in his stomach as the closed the door firmly behind them.
"Is everything okay Belinda?" He asked politely as she stood opposite him, arms folded and frowning.
"I'm just going to be honest here, I don't know what your intentions are with our Molly, but the last thing she needs after all this is you messing her around. She's been through enough already, you didn't see her after all that with Artan, she needs someone who's actually going to look after her." He could hear the accusation in her voice, the same as it had been when he'd come down to meet her after Artan had been arrested- they still blamed him for not putting a stop to it all sooner. She'd seemed okay on the phone when he'd phoned to ask if they'd be picking Molly up or if they wanted him to, he wondered what had changed between then and now.
"If I could go back and do it all again Belinda, there's so much I'd do differently to stop her getting hurt." He tried to reason.
"But none of us can go back, and my Mol was the one who got hurt. You were right there, in the house next door, and you knew what was going on and you didn't do anything to stop it until it was nearly too late. She might worship the ground you walk on, but I won't ever forgive you for that. You almost let her get killed."
"I tried." He had to remind himself to keep his voice at almost a whisper so Molly wouldn't hear them. "She didn't want my help Belinda, no matter how hard I tried. I spent that whole tour trying to stop her going back to him, but she was adamant that was what she wanted to do and I couldn't physically stop her."
"You should've done more." Belinda argued. "She trusted you, you could've stopped all of this! It's your-"
The door to the kitchen swung open, stopping her mid sentence.
"You two growing this tea from scratch or what?" Molly asked, standing in the doorway, hands on hips. "What's taking you so long?"
"Sorry." Belinda mumbled. "We got distracted." She grabbed the kettle, pouring the water into the mugs."
Molly frowned, looking at the slightly startled expression on Charles face. God she wished she knew what they'd been talking about in there, she knew it had to be about her, she just didn't know exactly what. Whatever it was, her Mum didn't want her to hear, and by the look on Charles's face, he wasn't going to tell her either.
"You've not made enough Mum." Molly pointing out the fact there was only two mugs on the side. "What about Charles?"
"You said you've got to go, haven't you Charles?" Belinda said, raising an eyebrow ever so slightly, giving him a look that made it clear he wasn't going to argue. "Such a shame you couldn't stay, but thanks for bringing our Molly home."
"Oh, do you really have to do?" Molly's face fell. "We've only just got here, you've at least got to stay and have a coffee before you drive all the way back."
Belinda shot him another look, and reluctantly he shook his head. "I'm really sorry Molly. I'll call you later, once I get back?"
She nodded slowly. "I'll walk you back to the car, don't want you getting lost." She tried to fake a smile to hide how disappointed she was. She'd got no idea what her Mum had said to him, but she was going to find out as soon as Charles was gone.
"That would be nice, thank you." He smiled, following her towards the front door and away from the disapproving looks Belinda was giving him.
She slammed the front door shut behind them, causing the frame to rattle loudly. She could practically see Dave on the sofa complaining about her now.
They walked back to the stairwell in silence, as they reached the top she caught his arm, turning him round to face her. "I'm really sorry, for whatever she said." She apologised. "She didn't mean it, I don't think."
He flashed her a half smile. "It's okay, really, she's got every right to want to protect you after everything that happened."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Molly frowned.
He hesitated for a moment. "You need to talk to your Mum Molly, it's not my place. She's worried about you, that's all. She cares, and that's a good thing."
"What did she say to you?" Molly pushed.
He shook his head. "Go and talk to your Mum, you need to work things out with her first I think. I can find my way back from here."
"Promise me you'll call me when you get back?" She asked, almost ashamed of how pathetic she sounded to her own ears.
"I promise." He smiled. "As soon as I get home."
"Thank you." She smiled. "For everything." Impulsively, she stepped forwards and wrapped her arms around him, relaxing against him as she felt him wrap his arms around her tightly. She felt safe, like for a moment none of the rest of it mattered, as she stood there in his arms.
But all too soon her pulled away. "Go on, go and spend some time with your family, they've missed you. I'll call you in a couple of hours."
She nodded, taking a couple of steps back- albeit reluctantly. She was honestly thinking about just getting in the car and going with him.
"Go!" He laughed. "That's an order!"
She pulled a face at him. "You're not my Captain any more, so I don't actually have to follow your orders any more."
He rolled his eyes, taking a couple of steps back towards the stairs. "You always have been a pain in the ass! I'll talk to you later!" He called over his shoulder, then he disappeared down the stairs, leaving her to go back and interrogate her Mum.