Mycroft was thankful when Lestrade had told him that he wanted to take things slowly when it came to the physical aspect of their relationship.

"It isn't that I'm not attracted to you," he had stuttered in the back seat of one of Mycroft's cars. "Really the opposite, actually. But our schedules are both mad and I want a strong emotional connection with you rather than just a physical one. Plus, I haven't been with anyone new in so many years and I don't want to screw this up. Is that okay with you?"

Mycroft smiled. "I believe you've just presented me a solution to a problem I have been worrying about ever since you asked me to dinner, Gregory."

Greg's face drained a bit. Perhaps Mycroft was just humoring him and didn't want to be intimately involved. He would understand. He would hate it, but he would understand.

"Enlighten me, then. What's your problem?"

"You see, I-" Mycroft took a deep breath and paused, looking into the DI's eyes. God, they were gorgeous. "I'm a, well, I've never done what you're suggesting we engage in and I wasn't sure if I would be ready tonight if that's what you wanted."

Greg was silent for a few seconds. "Mycroft, if you hadn't wanted anything to happen tonight and I had, I would have understood."

"Thank you, Gregory. That means more than I can say."

"If you aren't totally ready anytime soon I would really understand. I can wait as long as you need me to. We can take it slow. Slow and steady," Greg said, smiling.

Mycroft took Greg's hand and caressed his knuckles with his thumb. "Would you like to come back to my place? I'm not ready for anything to happen, but if you're comfortable with it, I would love for you to stay over with me."

"I would like that very much."

That night, they spent the night just getting familiar with each other. It got off to a bit of a rocky start when Mycroft jumped when Greg caressed his hand in the same way that Mycroft had rubbed his earlier in the car.

"My apologies," he quickly apologized. "It's just that I have rarely been touched intimately before and don't know how to respond to it."

Greg's heart shattered a bit for Mycroft's sake in that moment. "That's fine. We're taking this at your pace, remember?"

"My pace is going to be glacial at best," Mycroft admitted.

Greg shrugged. "That just means that every milestone is going to be that much more special when we reach it."

Mycroft turned a furious shade of pink and ducked his head. "I am also not accustomed to people speaking like that to me."

"You're going to have to get used to it because I'm going to be doing it as often as I can. You're even more endearing when you blush."

"I look ridiculous. Ginger hair and a pink face clash horrendously," Mycroft said, shaking his head and keeping his head down.

"Nonsense," Greg chuckled. "I think that it's the most beautiful reaction I've ever seen from a man."

"Please, Gregory, you must go easy on your compliments as well. I know you mean well, and I truly appreciate it, but I'm not used to it. It's a bit embarrassing."

"I'm sorry. I'll stop for now, I promise," Greg said, still grinning. "Come on, lift your head up, Mycroft. You don't need to worry about blushing and being embarrassed around me."

Mycroft sighed and raised his head. His face was still pink, but not quite as dark as it had been before.

"There we go," Greg said gently. "Now, if you're comfortable with it, I would very much like to hold your hand while we drink this scotch. May I?"

A bit of the pink returned to Mycroft's face, but his head remained up and the corners of his mouth turned up. "You may."

"Thank you." Greg then reached over and took Mycroft's hand in his. Mycroft was trembling very slightly, and his palms were a bit slick, but Greg didn't care. He was elated just to be allowed this small victory over Mycroft's insecurities. He continued to gently rub Mycroft's knuckles and kept up the conversations that they had been having earlier. He wanted to make sure that Mycroft was distracted and got comfortable to the point where he barely noticed that Greg was holding his hand.

Finally, he stifled a little yawn, and Mycroft stood up, breaking his grip on his hand.

"I believe that we're both a bit more tired than we want to admit," he smiled, taking Greg's glass and setting both of them in his dishwasher. "Shall we retire?"

"You make that sound so much more posh than it actually is." Greg stood and stretched. "Which way to your guest bedroom?"

Mycroft looked puzzled. "Don't people usually stay in the same bed when they stay the night at the home of a person they're involved with?"

"Well, yes, but I wasn't sure if that would constitute as 'too much too quickly,'" he admitted.

"I would be happy to share my bed with you, Gregory. Just don't try to do anything unsavory that would compromise my maidenhood," Mycroft smirked.

Greg chuckled. "Well then. Do you have some pajamas that I could borrow? Wouldn't want you to have to kip next to me in just my pants."

"As much as I would like that, Gregory, I don't believe that I would be able to sleep if you were lying next to me in just your undergarments. I can most certainly lend you something."

Greg blushed a bit at that remark. He followed Mycroft across his expansive flat to his bedroom. The room was much cozier than he would have expected from a man such as Mycroft. Before he could take in his surrounding though, Mycroft handed him a pair of crimson silk pajamas and opened a door into his bathroom. "You'll find everything you need on the counter. Take your time."

Greg thanked him and went into the luxurious bathroom. He did what he could to ignore the opulence and go about getting ready for bed. Mycroft had laid out a toothbrush for him, as well as floss, mouthwash, and a washcloth for his face. For the morning, there was a razor, as well as Greg's brands of deodorant and aftershave. If this were a normal first date, he would have been put off and would have left right then. But this was Mycroft Holmes. The man probably knew what brands Greg used as soon as they met by just getting a whiff of him.

Shaking his head, he pulled on the pajamas, which were a bit too long for him, and brushed his teeth. While brushing, he started to think of how Mycroft had reacted earlier. It made him sad that something as simple as holding hands was so unfamiliar to the man that he had pulled back. It then dawned on him that Mycroft had probably never been kissed before, which made him even sadder. The man was nearly forty and hadn't experienced any of the wonderful things that being in a relationship could bring.

He decided then that he was going to push Mycroft. Slowly, of course, to make him think that he was the one who was setting the pace (who was he kidding? Mycroft would probably see through that plan as soon as he left the bathroom). Realistically, he wanted Mycroft to be comfortable enough in their relationship to relinquish some control and let Greg slowly make him comfortable with simple things like physical contact.

Sighing, Greg opened the door and went back into Mycroft's bedroom. He grinned and held up the sleeves of the pajamas he'd been loaned. "I feel like I'm five again and wearing my dad's suit."

"Nonsense, Gregory, they're extremely flattering," Mycroft tutted, reaching for the cuffs and rolling up his sleeves for him. "Better now?"

Greg rolled his eyes. "Now I'm fit to chase London's criminals again."

Mycroft giggled, then picked up another pair of silk pajamas in navy blue and headed towards the bathroom to change.

"Which side do you sleep on?" Greg asked.

Mycroft turned in the threshold. "I beg your pardon?"

"Which side of the bed do you prefer. Seeing as it's your bed, I think it's fair to say that you should choose where you sleep."

"The left, please. I'll return momentarily."

Left alone in his potential boyfriend's bedroom, Greg once again thought of ways that he could help Mycroft get over this avoidance of intimacy that he had. He sat on the right side of the bed and then realized that he would have to be careful about physical contact during the night. His thoughts of banishing Mycroft's fears vanished and were replaced with thinking of how he was going to be able to keep himself from rolling over and cuddling with the incredibly handsome man sleeping next to him.

How was he going to hide his morning wood?

Before he could think too much about that, Mycroft exited the bathroom.

"I really do apologize for my reactions earlier," Mycroft said again.

"I already told you, you don't have to worry about that. This is moving at your pace. Are you positive that you actually want to share a bed tonight?"

Mycroft stilled. "Are you having second thoughts?"

"No, God, no," Greg corrected himself while mentally admonishing himself. "I'm just saying that I may accidentally roll over and cuddle up to you during the middle of the night or wake up with a stiff one, and I don't want to make you uncomfortable at all."

"Those are normal human reactions, Gregory," Mycroft replied, rolling his eyes as if it were obvious that he would be fine with those. "I would be worried about your health and would ask you to consult a physician if you didn't wake up with an erection. As for the cuddling, if I am uncomfortable, I will take necessary measures to extricate myself from the situation."

"If you mean leaving your own bed, I may as well go home now."

"Of course I don't." Mycroft grinned wickedly. "I will shove you back onto your side of the bed."

"Sounds reasonable," Greg smiled, swinging his legs under the covers and leaning towards Mycroft. "May I kiss you goodnight?"

Mycroft stilled. "I- yes, you may."

Greg leaned over and gave him a light kiss on his cheek. "Goodnight, Mycroft."

"Goodnight," Mycroft breathed his voice barely a whisper. To cover his blush, he turned and switched off the lamp on his bedside table.

Things were awkward when Mycroft lay back down. Both of them were on their backs with about a half a foot of sheets between them. Mycroft was unsure of what to do in the situation, and Greg was nervous about pushing things too far. Mycroft began to breathe a bit more rapidly. He was not going to have a panic attack while he was in bed with another person. He had conquered the pesky anxiety that had plagued him for years nearly two decades ago and this was not the time for it to resurface. What was Greg going to think of him? A grown man who couldn't even share a bed with someone else, how much more pathetic could one get?

A warm hand gently took Mycroft's. He turned his head and saw Greg staring at him with what looked like a hint of a smile on his face.

"Breathe. If you get too nervous, I can always leave."

"I… am not aware of what the acceptable protocol for this situation is," Mycroft admitted.

Greg pulled their joined hands up and kissed the back of Mycroft's. "This is perfect. Just do whatever feels natural and I'll follow along."

Mycroft had the best night of sleep he'd had in years just holding Greg's hand. When he woke up, he turned and faced his sleeping date and smiled. It was then that he decided that he was done living his life alone, and he was going to work to overcome every insecurity he had about his ability to keep people close if it meant he got to keep Gregory Lestrade in his life on a permanent basis.

A/N:

Hello, my loves! I promised another story that went along with "Meeting the Family" and I'm delivering! I will be posting chapters every week for this.

I'm also working on a few other stories that could fit into this timeline and I want to start a series. The problem is that I have no idea what to call the series. If anyone has any suggestions, I would really appreciate it.

As always, I'm super appreciative of your support! Love you all!