"So then." Her Mum said, walking in to the kitchen and closing the door behind her. "Are you going to tell me what's going on or do I need to go and force it out of Charles?"

Molly looked up from the sink, her hands gripping tightly on to the plate she was washing. "Nothing's going on Mum." She sighed, continuing with the washing up.

"Don't lie to me Molly Dawes." Her Mum frowned. "You should know by now I know exactly when you're trying to hide something from me."

"It's fine mum!" She took the plate out of the sink and laid it on the draining board, drying her hands on a towel before turning to face her mum, who had apparently decided to become the most observant person in the world at the worst possible time.

Her Mum folded her arms and leant back against the door. "I'm not leaving until you tell me what it is."

Molly sighed, wondering if Charles would be coming to rescue her any time soon. This clearly hadn't been as much of a good idea as she'd initially thought. "It's just Afghan and stuff Mum. It's weird being back, it's hard to explain." It wasn't a total lie- every now and then she'd hear a loud bang, or some other noise, and for a moment would be convinced she was back in the afghan desert, no matter how ludicrous it may seem.

"You're lucky you know, with Charles." Her Mum smiled. "Having someone who gets all that stuff. I bet most men wouldn't be anywhere near as sympathetic as he is to something like this."

"Yeah." Molly said softly. "I am."

Her Mum took a step to the side as she took in Molly's expression. "He's outside." She smiled, nodding towards the front door.

"Thanks Mum." Molly forced a smile in return, heading out of the kitchen before her mother had the chance to change her mind and corner her for further interrogation.

Charles was just outside the front door, leaning against the railings of the balcony, as he watched the world pass by beneath him. He looked up at the sound of the door closing behind him,

"Hey." Molly whispered, moving to stand beside him. Her eyes wandered in the direction of the football stadium, something she'd never be able to look at without seeing Smurf fall to the ground in front of her over and over again. She attempted to ignore the small voice in her head that was pointing out Smurf was another person she'd let down, that she hadn't been able to save. "I'm sorry."

Her words had caught Charles by surprise, she could tell from his expression. "What are you apologising for?"

"I don't know..." Molly admitted. "Everything I guess... For not telling you sooner, for going out on patrol that day, for the way I just dropped this on you... Do you want me to go on? The list is endless."

"You don't have to keep trying to apologise you know." Charles said, still looking down at the ground beneath them.

Molly followed his gaze downwards to where a group of children were playing in the park. Somehow it was much easier to have this conversation when she didn't have to look at him and see the emotion on his face.

"You keep saying you're sorry in your sleep." Charles clarified. "After the first tour, you used to shout for Smurf, but now, you just keep telling me how sorry you are." He didn't tell her how each little whisper shattered his heart a little more than the last.

"I..." She trailed off, not really knowing what to say to him. She could feel her cheeks flushing red. What else had she confessed in her sleep?

"You feel guilty." It was a statement, not a question. He knew her too well to be fooled. "You're not responsible for everything that's wrong in the world Molly. Sometimes these things just happen- it's terrible, but there is no explanation." Or at least that's what he'd been trying to convince himself was the truth anyway. If only it were that simple.

Molly leaned closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder. "I just keep thinking what if? You know?"

Charles nodded. How many times had he tossed and turned at night wonder what he could've done differently? How many times he'd wondered if Smurf's mother might still have her sons if he'd made a different decision somewhere along the line. "You can't think like that Molly- eventually you have to stop living in the past and start looking to the future."

Molly took a deep breath, hesitating. "The futures what I'm scared of." She admitted, her voice so quiet he had to strain to hear what she was saying.

Charles grasped her hand tightly. "We'll face it together, whatever it brings." She turned to smile at her. "But right now we should probably go back inside before your parents think we've run away."

"Don't tempt me." Molly joked, rolling her eyes. "Five more minutes?" She suggested.

"Five more minutes." Charles agreed with a smile.