He woke up the next morning with his arm around her, her head resting on his chest as she snored softly. He resisted the urge to pull her in closer in fear that she might wake up. Selfishly, he wanted to savour the moment, because things weren't going to be this simple once she woke up.

She was determined to push him away, even last night when she'd finally started to open up to him a tiny bit, there was a part of her that wanted to run. He could see it in her face as she was talking. Abad he got it, he really did, she'd been hurt so many times before she was worried it was going to happen again if she let him in. The problem was he was running out of ways to show her that she could trust him.

It was awful to think that Artan had messed her up so much that even after all this time she still thought that she deserved everything that had happened, that he was still in her head enough to make her doubt herself every day. How she could ever think that she wasn't good enough to be with him was beyond him. If anything, he wasn't sure he was really good enough for her. After everything she'd been through, to come out of the other side and pick up the pieces of her life the way she had done… well he was in awe.

She shifted slightly, rolling away from him, and he took the opportunity to get up. It was just after eight in the morning- and probably the latest he'd slept in since he'd joined the army. His body clock was set for early mornings after this many years. He was surprised his mother hadn't been up to check he was still alive.

He could hear his mother in the kitchen as he walked down the stairs and he could smell the coffee that he was desperately craving. Even in Afghanistan he hasn't been a fully functional person until he'd had his first cup of coffee.

"Good Morning Charles." His mother said, handing him a mug of coffee as he walked in. "I was starting to wonder where you'd got to." She was giving him one of those looks that made him wish he'd never come down the stairs.

"Thanks Mum." He reached past her and took out another mug to make Molly a cup of tea.

"The spare room doesn't look like it's had much use." She peered at him over her mug, waiting for his reaction.

He took a sip of his scalding hot coffee to avoid having to answer her for a second. God he needed to move out again, and soon.

"We were talking and we both fell asleep, that's all." He sighed, and it was the truth. Why did he feel like he was a naughty child lying to his mother? "So you can stop looking at me like that!"

"Like what?" She was trying to keep a straight face, he could see the start of a smile playing on the corner of her lips and she'd got that mischievous glint in her eye.

"You know what!" He shook his head, pouring the milk into Molly's tea. He'd decided the best plan of action was just to get back up stairs as quickly as possible.

She placed her cup down on the side and stepped a little closer to him. "Your father and I were just saying how lovely it is to see you so happy, that's all. I know you're going to say nothing has happened, but it's obvious that you really like her Charles, and she's a lovely girl. We just want you both to be happy that's all, it's been a long time since we've seen you like this." He thought for a moment she was going to cry.

She was right too, as much as it pained him to admit it. He couldn't remember a time where he'd looked forward to seeing Rebecca as much as he did Molly. Maybe right at the very beginning, but when he looked back on their relationship now the majority of the memories were of the horrific arguments they'd had and battles over who was seeing Sam. That was why he'd buried himself in work because it was easier to focus on that, then he didn't have a chance to think about how much he missed having a family.

And then out of nowhere Molly had unexpectedly crashed into his life and turned everything on its head. Looking back on it now, right from day one there was something there, he just hadn't been able to see it at the time. That urge to find out what was going on with her, and then protect her even before he knew the full extent of what was going on, he should've seen what was happening.

That moment when he'd seen her drop to the floor on that bridge in Afghanistan had been one of the worst moments of his life. He'd honestly thought they'd lost her, and the thought that they'd never had the chance to give things a real go was awful. But now they were here, and he wasn't her captain any more and Artan was out of the picture he just didn't know what to say or do.

He didn't want to put any pressure on her, that was the problem. She'd been through enough and if she wanted him to be her friend then that was what he would do. He'd love the opportunity for something more, but only if she was sure that was what she wanted too. At the end of the day he just wanted her to be happy, whether that meant them being together or something else.

"See, you're smiling just thinking about her." His Mum beamed.

He snapped himself out of this thought, fished the tea bag out of Molly's mug and picked both of them up, heading for the stairs again.

"Thanks Mum." He said softly, heading back up the stairs.

She was just starting to wake up as he crept back into the room, struggling to shut the door without spilling any of his precious coffee. She blinked sleepily, looking at him in confusion.

"Morning." He smiled, placing his mug down on the bedside table and holding hers out towards her.

She struggled to sit herself up against the headboard before gratefully accepting the mug from him. "Sorry, you should've woken me up." She could feel herself blushing, so she stared intently down at her drink so she didn't have to look at him.

He settled himself back on the bed next to her, trying not to spill his own drink. "I really don't mind. I think we were both dead to the world anyway, it was a long day yesterday!"

She hesitated for a moment, thinking. "I feel like I've been back for a month already. How is it even possible that you only picked me up yesterday?"

He honestly didn't know, it felt like a lifetime ago to him to. "It's been a strange couple of days, that's for sure." He smiled, shaking his head. "What do you want to do today then, we probably need to go and get you some clothes or something?"

She nodded, looking down and realising she was still wearing his clothes. "Oh, yeah, I guess I can't walk around in these forever." She smiled. She sort of wished they didn't have to get her any clothes of her own so she had an excuse to keep his on. They smelled like him and it was comforting.

"If we go soon we can go and get some breakfast before? My treat." He suggested. "Oh, I should warn you now that I've had half of two section on the phone wanting to know when you're going out for drinks with them. I told them to maybe wait until you'd at least been back a whole day, but I don't think I'll be able to keep them at bay for long. They've really missed you." He smiled.

She laughed quietly, sipping at her drink. "I hate to admit it, but I have missed them too. Mind you if you ever repeat that to any of them I'll deny all knowledge of it. That tour just wasn't the same without them lot."

"Bet you had half the amount of work to do though, not having to patch up their stupid self inflicted injuries." He rolled his eyes, how he'd managed to get them all through that tour and back home again was beyond him.

She laughed. "Don't you know it!" She drained the last of her tea and put the mug down on the bed side table. "Right, I better make myself look presentable if we're going out. Although I'm not sure how!"

"I think Mum left a pair of jeans and a top she thought might fit you somewhere. I'll go and have a look." He climbed back out of bed. "If you want to shower I'll leave them in the spare room for you?"

She nodded. "Thank you." She smiled as he disappeared out of the bedroom again. What had she done to deserve him? The only thing she knew for sure is she'd be absolutely lost if he hadn't been there for her.