A/N : I will hang fire on updating this to Epilogue/ HEA until after we see where S2 takes us - I have my story line all mapped out but want to make sure it doesn't jar completely – so thank you to the people who have stuck with me and I hope that you enjoy this. It was far easier to concentrate once my dental dramas were over (for the time being, but I have no faith) so thanks to those who commiserated.

-OG-

Chapter Thirteen

"What do you mean you lied? Oh, please don't tell me that you let him back, not after he'd hit you"

He was back to the stern 'I'm the Boss' tone of voice that she didn't like one little bit. It made him look and sound like some bloody stranger who expected her to stand to attention and salute him before explaining herself rather than this lovely bloke that she'd slept with. She'd been sort of hoping sleeping with him was going to become a habit, something that definitely wasn't going to happen if he kept on talking to her like that….

"Nah course not and don't say it like that, I lied about not seeing him again, I know I shouldn't of, but sometimes it's easier when someone is whatdyoucallit interrogating you like that"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to do that"

"Well stop doing it now then, I'm not trying to hide anything it's just that sometimes I find it hard to tell people what an epic fail I am ….. he was waiting outside me door one night, said he'd heard I'd been looking for 'im which was true, I had been, and said he'd lost the key which I'm sure he 'adn't, he were just sayin' it to talk me round 'n he kept on sayin' it was all my fault he had no-where to go. Well, he was right 'bout that, it was, but no way he was comin' back. Told him I'd call ….. someone …. if he didn't fuck right off"

"I sincerely hope you were going to call the police, you should have called them in the first place Molly and how could it possibly ever be your fault he was on the streets, it was his own fault, he hurt you because he's a bully ….. and a drunk"

"I know all that, but we don't do police in our family, Bossman, I lied when I told you he went when I told him to, there was no bloody chance of that, he went cos I got me Nan to get … someone ….. to 'ave a word in his ear, threaten what would 'appen if he come near me again 'n that's who I said I was gonna call …. that's why he pissed off"

"I can't wait to meet your Nan, she sounds like a sensible lady" He took her hand and squeezed it "What's wrong with the police?"

"Never heard me Nan called that before, must remember to tell her, make her day" She grinned at him "I asked me mum once, I mean, why she let him get away with it cos the neighbours used to call the copers all the time when me dad kicked off, but mum would just tell 'em everything was fine 'n that the neighbours had got it all wrong" She stopped and frowned chewing her bottom lip as she thought about what she was going to say "When I was little, I mean, hadn't long started school so I was very little, I used to play with this kid Sarah who had this Doll's House 'n she used to let me play sometimes, and I was soooo jealous of her for having it" She laughed at the memory "I begged me mum to ask Father Christmas to bring me one just like it. Poor Mum, I knew even then she couldn't afford it so that's why I asked her to ask … anyway she had as much chance of getting hold of one of them as putting the crown Jewels in me stockin'… 'n me Nan couldn't shoplift one for her, they was too big, and then there was this one day when Sarah had the mummy doll and I had the daddy 'n I made him yell 'n swear 'n slap the mummy around cos he was drunk 'n I thought that was what daddies did when they got home, it was what mine bloody well did" She shrugged, obviously uncomfortable at the memory.

"Her mum weren't too impressed" She giggled "Wouldn't let me play there after that so I think me language might have been a bit fruity, but I dunno cos then all the other kids stopped letting me play 'n all. Sarah's mum told me that it was wrong for daddies to hit people so I asked me mum why she didn't stop him" She shrugged again, a mask of indifference now pinned on her face as if none of it had the power to hurt anymore "I remember her telling me it was no good crying to the coppers about things you can't change"

Charles put his arm round her and pulled her tightly into his side as they walked along, he was absolutely horrified at what he was learning about her childhood, about her father and about the bullying that had gone along with being a bit 'different', and about how a so-called intelligent woman had contributed to the misery of one little girl who'd played with her little girl especially when he compared it to the sheltered middle-class upbringing that he'd had in Bath and the childhood that he and Rebecca were determined to provide for Sammie despite their inability to stay married. He was angry, blisteringly angry but said nothing, just bit his tongue and squeezed her shoulder in silent sympathy.

"It's alright, it don't matter now and it was a long time ago but then I went and fucked everything up with all that shit with Liam, and that was me own fault, wasn't it? Mum and Nan tried to tell me, but would I listen, would I buggery? Thought I knew best and that they was too old and miserable to understand, shit, how to screw things up"

"Does he ever turn up here?"

"Has done once or twice, but it's okay cos he leaves me alone and at least I know he's still alive, well for the time being anyhow, and I'm glad about that, don't trust him though"

They were standing by the entrance to the Centre and Charles was very aware of how she was taking deep breaths to gear herself up before going in. He wondered whether she was always that apprehensive or whether it was because he'd raked it all up for her as she gave his hand a quick squeeze and pulled him towards the door which was propped wide open.

"Come on, let's go and be nice to a bunch of pissed strangers 'n try to pretend they're not minging"

"Lovely"

-OG-

"I've been thinking, we really need for you to be able to drive if you're going to keep on going there, I might not always be here to drive you if I'm on exercise or deployed or something"

"You gonna teach me?"

"Not a chance" He grinned and then started biting at his lip "We'll get you some lessons and then I'll come out with you to practice for your test"

"In your car?"

"Mmm" He had this sudden clear vision of the insurance premium on his precious Audi if he added a learner to the policy "We'll have to see, we'll sort something"

They'd been together for over two months and he still hadn't met the lovely Liam who was conspicuous by his absence from the Centre, something that Charles had mixed feelings about, but there had been no more discussions about her moving out or finding a place of her own. She'd told her landlord that no new lock meant no tenant either after he'd told her she could whistle for it so she'd told him that he could whistle for any more rent while he was holding onto her deposit, a conversation that had ended in a mutual fuck off.

Charles had shown her the photograph albums that he'd carefully put away so that she hadn't needed to snoop to get a good gawp at the ex, then wished he hadn't, it was very depressing. Rebecca was another sleek looking tall blonde girl, pretty and very much out of the same mould as Lauren so that Molly comforted herself with the thought that the hair, like Lauren's, was more than likely out of a bottle but decided not to ask him, she had absolutely no wish to encourage him to think about the colour of her hair, the hair that wasn't on her head….. . He'd told her all about their marriage breaking down because of her wanting him to leave the army, that apparently she'd wanted him to stop being a soldier so there would be no more war zones and Molly pretended that there was no way she would feel like that if he had to go off somewhere and do some soldiering and he'd pretended to believe her.

The invitation to the wedding had provided their first row when she'd told him about Lauren being pregnant and he'd realised what her suspicions had been. He found it difficult to be angry with her at the best of times and staying angry impossible, but this, this was an exception, he was not only angry but very hurt. He knew he was being irrational and could see from her face exactly how worried she was at his silent sulking but he'd kept it up until he caught sight of the face she pulled behind his back, a face that said clearly that she was beginning to think 'sod it .. and sod him as well', so he'd made a huge effort to stop being an arse and to remember that he should know if anyone did just how easy it was to be jealous about something that wasn't even real, jealousy was hardly a rational emotion.

"You okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know, maybe because I've been a total arse all day, sorry"

"Yeah, can't tell a lie, I'm like that bloke, whathisname, thingy who couldn't tell a lie, had to tell the truth, you've been a bleeding pain, but I'll forgive you if you stop now, most probably, in time, if you grovel a bit" She was giggling, incredibly relieved that he seemed to have forgiven her "I didn't ever really believe it you know, it was just Lauren kept on …. Well, don't matter now does it? I was just jealous, that's all" She raised her eyebrows and tried a "I'm so misunderstood and cruelly mistreated" smile "What you going to do to make it up to me?"

"Don't push it"

"Geroff, geroff me, stop it, put me down, stop it you're being a bully, stop it"

He'd thrown his head back and was laughing out loud with relief that their fight, if that's what it had been, seemed to be over as he swung her up onto his shoulder in a fireman's lift before marching through to the bedroom and dropping her in the middle of the bed, then holding her down and doing his trick with her hair knowing exactly what effect it would have on her. They'd only been together a couple of weeks when she'd admitted how much she loved it, although now she giggled and asked him whether he knew you could get bored of something if someone over-did it and then yelled that she was sorry and didn't mean it when he let her go.

"I do love you, you know"

"Do you? You sure 'bout that, Bossman?"

"Stop calling me that, and you'll have to take my word for it but I think I fell in love with you when you took 2 section to the cleaners"

"That weren't me, that was Fingers"

"Nope, it was definitely you, I didn't fancy Fingers at all"

"You know what I mean"

"You wouldn't even let me buy you a drink" He put his head back again and shook it slowly from side to side then bit the corner of his lip "You kept saying you were leaving and I was desperate to keep you there"

"Were you? You knew I were checking you out though didn't you?"

"Is that what you were doing? I don't remember that, I do remember you calling me in the early hours and offering to come over here and watch porn with me"

"I never offered to do that …. In your dreams, 'n you wouldn't of let me anyhow"

"That's what you think, we could watch some now if you like" He pretended to leer "What do you reckon?"

"No thanks, you don't need any more ideas"

"Flattery will get you everywhere"

-OG-

It was difficult to know whose face was the greenest when they were standing in the church, Smurf who had the hangover from hell courtesy of 2 Section's idea of a quite drink or two or Lauren with her ghastly morning sickness, something that Molly had been forced to endure with her for the past six weeks or so. She was still gobsmacked that Lauren was actually going through with marrying him, baby or no baby, bearing in mind what she'd said about him and Molly was busy concentrating on practising not calling him a dick or a knob or any of the other pleasantries of their recent past. She couldn't help being nowhere near convinced that all this was Lauren's choice believing it had more to do with the combined forces of her mother and Smurf's who were pitchforking her up the aisle. Molly knew it was a crap idea in anyone's book but was keeping her trap shut and pretending to have amnesia as Lauren re-wrote history as she talked about her relationship with the little blue man.

It was the first time Molly and Charles had been to any social event as a couple, well, apart from the pub and that didn't count, and she was unbelievably proud to be with him. He was all dressed up in his fancy dress with all his medals although he said he had an even better one so that she'd pretended to take the piss as well as taking hundreds of pictures on her phone when he'd been getting himself all tarted up. It had taken him three times longer to get himself ready than it had taken her to put on her best dress, a pair of killer heels and some slap and she was done. And now she was in one of the pews behind Lauren's mum and dad watching and listening to her incredibly handsome bloke as he did his reading, blessing thingy in the voice that still gave her butterflies. She couldn't help earwigging the cousins and aunts as they speculated about him and then checked their lippie while they sat up straight and got ready to throw their chests out when he looked their way, all hoping that he'd notice them. It was Shirl all over again and Molly wanted more than anything to tap one of them on the shoulder and whisper "Sorry, he's taken" but wasn't sure that they'd believe her, and why would they when she wasn't sure she believed it herself.

The reception was in the garden at Lauren's parent's place and was very small and very select, well if you could call 2 section select, with a handful of relatives because it had all been arranged in a tearing rush. The bad news was that there only seemed to be Champagne, which Molly hated, and anyway was for the bit where everyone lied and told them they'd have a long and happy life together, apart from that she was dismayed at how light it was on the booze front. Lauren's dad, the hippie, had provided home made stuff which everyone in the know would avoid like the bloody plague, and on top of that there was just this non-alcoholic shit that the people who were hanging on by a thread could probably keep down. Molly took one sip and put the glass on the nearest table trying her best not to shudder.

"Don't whatever you do drink the bloody hippy juice, I had some round here once and I couldn't walk after … come to think of it, I couldn't talk either, it's bloody lethal"

"I'll stick to one glass of Champagne, I'm driving remember?"

"We could get a taxi if you want to drink more, I mean you can have mine if you like it, I don't"

"It'll be good when you can drive"

"Why? Make no bloody difference will it, well apart from places like this where there's no booze, cos if you think I'm going teetotal so that I can drive you about, no chance"

"I thought we could take it in turns"

"Did you?" Molly couldn't have packed any more scepticism or disbelief into her voice if she'd practised for a year and that was in spite of the urge she had to laugh at him.

"It's what most couples do"

"Good for them"

An hour later and Molly was happily swigging her third glass of something delicious and cold and non-alcoholic when Charles came back from his long chat with the lads from 2 Section with his glass of water in one hand and picked up her glass for a sip. 2 Section were all drinking glass after glass of hippie juice so that Molly was dying to see what was going to happen when they tried to walk.

"That's nice, what is it?"

"No idea, s'not booze though so you can 'ave that if you go 'n get me another glass"

An hour later and they were in the taxi going home although Molly was still swearing blind that she hadn't been drinking but for some reason kept on repeating herself and emphasising her point by nodding her head which kept on going up and down like one of those dogs in the back of a car. She was adamant that Lauren's hippy dad hadn't told her it was elderflower wine or some such shit, she would never have drunk anything that was made from weeds. She insisted that Bossman was making it up when he stood up and staggered until he'd got his balance muttering 'Bloody hell'.

"Here"

Molly was still sticking to her story that whatever it was she'd been drinking it was NOT alcohol, and that she was in fact stone cold sober even if he wasn't and she'd happily smirked and wagged her finger in his face when she told him it was his own fault because he'd ignored her warnings and drunk some of that lethal hippie shit, but only after he'd told her he had a good head for alcohol and that she'd been wrong about it being lethal.

Now, by concentrating very hard she could see the key clearly and the lock, it was just that she needed a bit more time to get them together, and then she'd looked at him with bewilderment when she finally managed it and it didn't fit. After she'd accused him loudly of giving her the wrong key, he'd smirked and taken it from her before making a big production of turning it the other way up and matching it to the hole, then opening the door.

"Here we'll try it this way shall we? Oh look, that's better, someone seemed to have turned the door upside down"

"Don't be silly"

"I'm not" He was roaring with laughter as he did his best to hold her upright, for some reason she'd been about to fall headlong over the bottom of the door even though she kept telling him that she was fine, just a bit tired.

"I'm a bit tired too"

"Are you laughing at me"

"Nope, not really, I was just wondering, that's all, whether you'd like to go to another wedding"

"Whose? I mean, who else do we know that's bloody stupid enough to want to get married?"

"Us?"

-OG-