My Step Brother's Obsession - Carly #2

Caspian Hollingway

Caspian

It felt weird coming back here after what had happened between me and Carly, but she had been willing to put it all behind her and get things back to normal. I still can't believe what James has done to her.

I thought what I had done was bad enough, but what he had done was way worse. I can't believe he had harassed her during training.

I know James can be an arse towards comrades. But for a girl that isn't even in the Army, that's a low blow. She's sixteen, for Christ's sake. He's old enough to be her dad. She's a good long girl but he took liberties and I, for one, am glad she reported him. I am lucky she chose not to report me for coming in too strong with her. I now realise how stupid I was and what a dumb move I had made. She was there to do a job and she was good at it.

I know Kyler and Jonathan both have a thing for her. I just got my feelings confused between lust and admiration. I admire Carly. She's the strongest sixteen-year-old girl I've ever known. She's come through so much and comes out better and braver for coming out the other side with her head held high and a big FU to accompany her open-mindedness.

I can't wait to begin today. I've been here since the crack of dawn putting everything back into my office, one Janes had when she was here. I just hope it doesn't bring any bad memories back for everyone else, especially Carly.

I've learnt from my mistakes and Carly said she had put it all behind her. I want to make amends with all of them and start again. I do not want to lose the friendships I've built here to be broken for the foreseen future.

My office is finally looking like it belongs to me, not an over-obsessed Sergeant who makes people's lives a living hell. I've heard a lot about the way Sergeant James Snider had treated everyone in his platoon and there whilst he was there and I'm disgusted. It's no wonder that he never was Sergeant Major. I was offered the position but I chose not to take the offer. I wanted to be here and help those who needed help to become a better version of themselves.

I can't wait until Easter, when the games begin. I've always enjoyed watching the competition between both camps fight it out to see who's the best of the best. I know my brother has put other soldiers in place of Ethan and his friends. Let's hope they don't cheat like they had.

I closed the door of my office behind me and headed towards the cafeteria. I wanted to surprise everyone and let them know I was back for good and there would be no other Sergeant to take my place.

She looks up and over at me and smiles. "Cas."

I smile and she runs over at me, leaving a startled Kyler and Jonathan wondering where she was heading to in such a frenzy.

She runs so fast she almost knocks me to the ground as her arms go around me and tighten when she hugs me, as if her life depends on it or thinks I'm a mirage.

"I missed you, Cas."

"I missed you too, Carly."

She hugs me tighter. "You're real, right, you're really here?"

I chuckle. "I'm real and yes I'm here."

She pulls away and out of the hug and smiles brightly at me. "I'm so glad you're back."

"I'm glad to get back too." I looked at her. "I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused Carly, I wasn't in the right headspace. You didn't deserve the shit I did to you."

"All forgotten."

"I want us to be friends like we were before I messed up. I realise now I was mixing my feelings up for you and I thought I wanted more than I should have. I'm sorry."

"You should never have left Cas. We could've sorted it all out."

I smile as Kyler and Jonathan trudge over. "Well if it isn't Cas."

"Hey guys."

"So they reinstated your sorry ass?"

"It was never un-instated, I just went to another camp. I needed to sort my shit out."

"And did you? Sort out your shit, I mean?"

"I did and it won't happen again."

"Glad to hear."

They pulled me in for a hug. "Don't disappear on us like that again, Sarg. And leave us with an asshole."

"Whatever made you choose that prick to take over from you. You could've sorted your shit out and we would've been all happy instead of having a shit camp for months on end."

"Sorry guys, but I thought it was for the best. I'm back now and it's for good."

"Good. Are you going to tell the campers? "

"I am. I was going to surprise everyone with my appearance altogether but you just had to run it didn't you?" I smirked.

They held their hands up in defence. I laughed. "Just joking guys, let's surprise the campers with my presence."

They grinned and we walked towards the cafeteria. Let's just say everyone was shocked to see me back and pleased at the same time. "Good morning campers. I know I've been MIA for a while and you've had to put up with a worse version of me. But I'm back now and I'm here to stay."

There were claps, screams and whistles all over the cafeteria. I have never felt like I belonged as much as I did today.

After breakfast, the staff told me they were glad I was back and how much things would change around here for the better now that Snider was no longer around.

Carly

I couldn't help but smile. I was glad Caspian was back. We had resolved our differences though there were none. I didn't want him to leave in the first place because of some dumb mistake. And that's all it was. I know it was a spare moment even if it had freaked me out at the time. I know the pot guy was struggling with his emotions.

He saw how well Jonathan, Kyelr and I got on and he wanted to say that, whether it was on a romantic level or friendship level, he had gone borderline crazy ass obsessed with trying to work out his true feelings for me because they were valid feelings of an intimate nature or because he thought I was surprisingly strong-willed after all the shit I had gone through. , the truth is, I'm not strong at all, not on the inside. I like to look like I am on the outside, so no one sees me crumbling on the inside. Too much shit has happened to me in the past to be vulnerable around others is not as hard as nails, but I put a tough act on in front of others and that's what I think he admired the most, making him think he had romantic feelings for me and confused them with admiration for how I deal with shit.

I'm glad he's back and I hope he means it when he says he isn't going anywhere. This is where she belongs.

"You alright, Carly Bear? You seem miles away."

I looked at Jonathan and smiled. "I'm fine".

"Are you sure?"

I nodded. "Do you think he'll stay here or retreat again?"

"Are you talking about Cas?"

"Yeah."

"One thing I know about Sergeant Caspian Holingway is that he doesn't say things he doesn't mean and he doesn't promise things he doesn't mean. He's staying, Carly Bear."

I nod smiling.