It was a week after the Watson wedding when Greg was coming through the living room, still wearing his pyjama bottoms and a t-shirt, when a knock on his front door startled him. He padded over to the door in his bare feet to see who could be coming to see him. He opened the door with slightly blurry eyes to find John and Mary on the other side.
"John. Mary. What are you doing here?"
"And good morning to you too Greg!" Mary teased
"Sorry. Morning. What can I do for you? I thought you'd be off on your honeymoon" he asked while rubbing his eyes.
"We're just on our way actually, but we wanted to stop by and ask you a quick favour first" John replied.
"Sure, what's up?"
"We were just hoping you could keep a bit of an eye on Sherlock while we're away, you know how he doesn't really like change and I don't really want to come back to him having caused some sort of catastrophe" John explained.
There was a sudden clatter from the kitchen followed by a quick "bugger" coming from the other room.
"Greg?" Mary asked
"Yeah?"
"Do you by any chance have company?" she asked with a wry smile on her face
"I, umm…" he stuttered.
John and Mary both looked around the living room, spotting the two half empty wine glasses on the coffee table.
"You do don't you? So, who is she?"
"Mary!" John exclaimed "Come on, we should probably go"
"Yeah, I guess…" Mary started before the kitchen door swung open.
"I made you some coffee Greg, I thought you might need it after last nights exploits. And this mornings. You gave me quite the workout inspector" she said laughing as she made her way into the living room, not realising that John and Mary were there.
"Molly!" John and Mary exclaimed as they saw Molly casually walk into the living room wearing one of Greg's shirts, her legs bare underneath.
Molly looked up from the two cups of coffee she was carrying to come face to face with her friends.
"Umm, hi guys" she said quietly, shifting uncomfortably under their gaze. "I was just, ummm" she trailed off.
John and Mary looked back and forth between the two of them between Mary asked the question that was in both of their minds
"When did you? I mean, what about Tom? And why didn't you say anything?"
Greg and Molly looked at each other briefly before Molly put down the mugs, took a deep breath and answered.
"From the night of your wedding. All I could see was how happy the two of you were together and realised that I had never been that happy with Tom. We had a huge argument that night and I called it off. Greg found me outside crying and looked after me. We talked for hours and well, one thing led to another"
"So you finally told her eh mate?" John asked Greg with a knowing look
"Yeah, it seems that I did" Greg smiled when looking at Molly and taking her hand.
"You knew about this?" Mary asked her new husband
"Well, I didn't know about this" he said gesturing towards Molly and Greg with his hands "but I knew that he'd been crazy about her for ages"
"And you never told me? John!" Mary playfully slapping his arm
"Well, I didn't really think it was my place to say anything. I'm happy for you mate, I really am"
"Thanks John, I appreciate it. Now if you don't mind…" Greg started before subtly nodding towards the door.
"Oh god! Yes, we're interrupting, sorry" John replied starting to make his way back towards the door. "Bye guys"
"See you later guys, have a great honeymoon"
"Molly, give me a ring when I'm back, I want to know everything" Mary told her friend with a smile on her face.
"I will Mary, have a great time" Molly replied.
John and Mary made their way out of Greg's front door, leaving the new couple alone in his front room.
"Well, that wasn't exactly how I'd hoped for our friends to find out" Greg sighed.
"It's OK, we've got nothing to be ashamed of. They were bound to find out sooner or later"
"I know, it's just…"
Molly silenced his worries with a gentle kiss on his lips, her hands stroking the hair on his neck. He automatically responds to her, his arms wrapping round her waist, his lips teasing hers.
-
Two weeks later on the return from their honeymoon, Mary was straight on the phone to Molly, texting her friend to organise meeting up for a drink and a catch up. Or so she said, really all she wanted was the gossip about her and Greg. They arranged to meet at their favourite pub one evening while their respective men were off playing squash together.
When Molly arrived at the pub Mary was already there, sitting at a table near the bar with a bottle of wine and two glasses. She stood up and waved to her friend as she came through the door. Molly made her way through the bar to the table, hugging Mary as she reached her.
"Hey Mary, how are you? How was the honeymoon?"
"Oh it was great, sunny, lovely time but we've got more important things to discuss Miss Hooper" Mary replied teasingly.
"I don't know what you're talking about Mrs Watson"
"That still sounds odd, and you bloody well do! So you and Greg, spill"
"There's nothing really to tell"
"Like hell there isn't! The last time I saw you you were wandering out of the man's kitchen wearing his clothes a week after when I thought you were still getting married to Tom."
"Yeah, OK" she sighed, taking a sip from her glass "I guess there is stuff to tell."
"So tell" Mary grinned.
"So, at your wedding, I was watching you and John and it really made me think about me and Tom. You both looked so happy just to be with each other and I couldn't remember the last time I felt that happy just to be with Tom. I realised it had got to the point that I was more excited about your wedding than I was about my own."
Mary listened intently, occasionally taking a mouthful of her drink.
"After your dance together, Tom asked me to dance and I said no and that I needed some air. We went out in the garden to talk, god I can't even remember what we said, I just remember explaining that I wasn't as happy as I thought I was and that maybe we needed to slow things down a bit. He started getting angry, saying I'd changed since Sherlock had come back and that he was obviously just a replacement for him while he was away. I yelled, then he yelled and I ended up throwing the ring at him and he stormed off."
"God Molly, why didn't you ever say anything if you weren't happy?"
"That was the thing, I didn't realise I wasn't"
"So what happened next?"
"I was sitting out in the garden having a bit of a cry when I heard someone coming round. It was Greg sneaking out for a cigarette. He saw me and came over, obviously seeing that I had been crying and wanting to know if I was OK. I explained what had happened and all he did was pull me into a hug. He just held me until I stopped crying and tried to reassure me that if I wasn't happy it was the right thing to do and that there was is nothing worse than being trapped in a loveless marriage. We talked for a long time after that about everything and nothing, he was so sweet and kind and as I went to kiss his cheek he turned his face and I accidentally ended up kissing him properly. I think we both knew that we probably shouldn't be doing this, but it felt so natural that neither of us pulled away. It was so gentle that it was hardly a kiss at all, but at the same time it felt like I was on fire, I'd never felt anything like it."
"Wow Molly, I know I'm a happily married woman and everything but I think I'm a little bit jealous! And not just because Greg is lovely and a bit gorgeous, but it sounds like the most amazing first kiss ever."
"It really was. I could feel his arms wrapping around me, holding me against him and I didn't want him to let go. When we did finally pull away from each other we just looked at each other, neither of us quite sure what to say."
"I'm guessing one of you did say something eventually?"
"Yeah, he did. He took hold of my hand and smiled at me softly and told me he knew that this was really the wrong time to say anything but that he couldn't not take the chance. He told me that he thought I was beautiful and lovely and amazing and would I be willing to take a chance and go on a date with him."
"Had you ever thought of him like that before?"
"Not really. Obviously I'd noticed that he was incredibly handsome but he was married and we worked together and I was still in to Sherlock and then I was with Tom so I'd never really thought. But the way he held me and looked at me that night made me see him completely differently. Made me see him the way I should have been seeing him for a long time."
"So you said yes I assume."
"I did indeed. A couple of days later he picked me up from Barts at the end of my shift and took me for an evening walk along the Southbank. We walked and talked for what seemed like hours getting to know each other better. Did you know he plays the guitar?"
"No, I can't say I did" a wry smile on Mary's lips. She could see that her friend had fallen hard for the man and she couldn't be happier for her. She knew that Greg would treat her like she deserved.
"Me neither, I'm trying to get him to play something for me but he's not having any of it at the moment. I'm sure I can convince him though."
"Well, from what I saw the other week, you could probably convince him to do a lot of things! I saw the way he looked at you when you came out of his kitchen, he looked like he wanted he eat you alive."
Molly blushed at the memory of being caught in Greg's flat after their first night together.
"Well, I, umm.." Molly stuttered.
"It's OK Molly, I'm not going to judge you for spending the night with a guy you're obviously crazy about."
"It's not that, it's just that's not the way we imagined you all finding out about us. Plus, it wasn't exactly planned and so I didn't have any fresh clothes with me, hence the outfit."
"Was that your first time together then?"
Molly was usually pretty reserved about talking about her sex life, even with her closest friends but for some reason today she felt happy to talk.
"Yeah, it was" she smiled.
"And I'm assuming from that little smile it was good?"
"God Mary, it was so good. I'd never felt anything like it."
Mary spent the next few minutes digging for details and was only interrupted when Greg and John made their way into the pub to meet the girls. When the two looked up and saw their respective men, they couldn't help but giggle. The two men looked at each other, slightly confused.
"What?" Greg asked suspiciously.
"Oh, nothing you need to worry yourself about detective" Mary said teasingly, smiling at him. Greg looked at Molly, looking for some sort of reassurance but all Molly could do is smile at him.
"So what have you two been chatting about?" John asked, not realising that they had interrupted what was becoming quite a naughty conversation.
"Just this and that" Molly responded uncommitingly. "You ready to go Greg?" she asked with a slight lilt in her voice.
"But we've only just got here."
"Greg, pick up on the tone" she told him giving him a little smile.
"Oh, right, OK! Yep, I am definitely ready to go" taking her hand and practically pulling her up from the table. "Cheers for the game John, same time next week?"
"Yeah, sure thing mate."
Greg and Molly were practically out the door as John responded.
"Is everything OK with them?" John asked his wife gesturing at the door.
"Oh yes, everything is very much OK. How was your game?"
"OK, I lost though. I don't think I've ever seen Greg play so well, it's like he's got a new spark or something."
"I think that could be something to do with the girl who just dragged him out the door."
"Ah, I see. All going well then I assume?"
"Very well it seems. Now, I hope he's left you with some energy" giving him a little wink.
"Oh, I'm sure I can find an extra reserve somewhere" he replied with a smile.
-
"Want me to drop you off at home?" Greg asked as he drove them back towards their flats. "I desperately need a shower, I haven't played that hard in ages"
"Did you win"?
"I did. Finally got the better of the good doctor."
"Well, in that case you probably deserve some sort of reward."
"Oh yeah, what did you have in mind?"
"I'm sure I can think of something worthwhile" she replied, laying her hand on his thigh as he drove through the London streets.
Greg swallowed hard as her fingers traced their way over his leg. "So, umm, do you want dropping at yours or…"
"What do you think?" her hand edging slowly up his thigh, teasing him mercilessly.
Greg couldn't find any words, all he could do was glance across at the woman in his passenger seat before working his way back to his flat as quickly as humanly possible.
He parked the car in his buildings car park and made his way up the stairs to his flat hand in hand with Molly. As soon as they were through the door Molly was running her hands over his chest.
"As wonderful as that feel Molls, I really do need a shower."
"Maybe I'll have to join you" she said giving him a little lop sided smile.
"Now that is an offer I don't think I could refuse."
An hour and a half, and a lot of water on the floor, later they emerged from his shower both wrapped in towels.
"I thought this shower was meant to re-energise me after my game, not wear me out!"
"Well, you just looked too damn gorgeous to resist. I couldn't help myself."
"Really? I was all sweaty and I can't imagine I smelt particularly great either."
"What can I say, you just looked very sexy in those shorts"
He laughed as she teased him with her words.
"Come on you, I think it's time for bed."
"I think you're right detective."