Prompt fill: "I'm going to need you to put on some underwear before you say anything else."

First line: "explain yourself"

Last line: "kiss me you idiot."

This started out as one thing, and turned into something else entirely. My brain works in mysterious ways. I give thee a side dish of angst (with an entrée of smut *snort*). Last bit of the previous chapter is in italics … just for clarity purposes.

An Unexpected Clarification

He ran his hand down her side, not stopping until he reached her bum, giving it a tender squeeze. She let out a soft giggle, once he released her from his kiss, but the words that he spoke next sent a dagger straight to her heart.

"I already regret this."

"Explain yourself," the words left Molly's lips in a shaky gasp. She couldn't have moved away from him if she tried; Sherlock was holding on to her too tightly. She didn't attempt to though, his expression told her that he knew he had just done something a bit Not Good.

"That came out wrong. I only meant that I regret this because now that I've had a taste of you, of your body, I'm going to want another taste, and another, and another. I'll never be satisfied. I'll always want you."

She exhaled slowly. He moved both their bodies until they were lying side by side; he held his arm closely around her, hiding his face in her chest.

"Sorry," he mumbled against her skin, "I always do say the wrong thing … don't I?"

She let out another breath, pressing her lips to the top of his head. "You just scared me, that's all. I thought you really meant it."

He sighed and sat up, facing away from her. "Communicating properly has never been my high point. You know that Molly."

She hummed in agreement, watching the muscles in his back move as he breathed, before she too sat up.

He turned and looked at her, his expression softening. "I want to try, will you help me?"

She nodded. "I'll always be willing to help you Sherlock."

He smiled and leaned towards her to press a gentle kiss to her lips. He then let out a huff when he pulled away, looking down at her. "I can't talk to you naked though, it's rather distracting."

Molly felt a blush rise to her cheeks. She slipped off of the bed and walked over to the nearby chair where she had laid down her clothes from the previous day. She grabbed up her bra, before searching about the room for her knickers. Sherlock had thrown them, sending them to a far corner. She returned to the bed with her bra and knickers on. "Better?" she asked him.

His eyes trailed over her body. He took several moments to respond. "Yes. And no. Still distracting." He smirked, letting her know that he didn't exactly mind. He too had put on his pants. Molly rolled her eyes as she got back onto the bed, but couldn't stop the smile from coming to her lips. Sherlock had already lain back down, stretching himself out. He grabbed her wrist and tugged her close to him, her nose bumping lightly against his shoulder.

"Am I really that distracting naked?" she questioned, before pressing her lips to his skin.

He exhaled, his warm breath rushing over her. "Yes."

Her smile widened. "I think I'll have to test that out sometime ... when you're in your Mind Palace. I'll prance around it front of you in the nude ... and see if you notice." She ended her sentence with a giggle.

The rumbles of his growl reverberating through his body only made her giggle develop into a full force laugh. With cat-like agility he had her pinned to the mattress and his lips practically devouring her own, silencing her mirth. She kissed him back with full force, rather annoyed that there was once more a fabric barrier between them.

"Can't we leave the talking for later?!" she gasped out breathlessly.

He pulled away from her, moving to sit up once more. "Mmm ... no. We need to talk Molly. Before any of this goes any further."

She felt another tiny dagger of ice pierce her heart. She took a steadying breath then moved her body so that she was up alongside him.

Sherlock was breathing heavily. She waited for him to speak. Several minutes passed by in silence. Then suddenly he turned and looked at her. She honestly didn't know what he was going to say, but the expression on his face was so full of love that she felt her heart grow warm. He cupped the side of her face in his hand and kissed her sweetly. "I've made you nervous ... sorry ... again." He sighed and leaned away from her, staring down at the sheet.

"Sherlock, you don't have to do this. I know that talking about your -" she hesitated, not exactly wanting to speak the f word, "I know you're not comfortable with these sort of situations. You don't have to do this." She rested her chin on his shoulder.

He slipped his arm around her back, holding her close. "You're right. I'm not comfortable ... but I-we need to do this. I want you to know that this isn't just a one-off." His hold on her tightened. "Molly ... we've been enjoying the change in our friendship for exactly three months. And now after our recent coital activities ..." He stopped when she let out a chuckle. He side-eyed her and she gave him a cheeky smile. The faintest of blushes tinted his cheeks.

"So much for your body being only transport ... mmm?" She gave his shoulder a tiny little nip with her teeth.

"Molly!"

She gave another chuckle beginning to trail kisses, and a few nibbles along his shoulder. His entire body jerked when she slipped her hand over the smoothness of his chest, down across his stomach to the hem of his pants. The fabric had already begun to tent. When she ghosted her hand over his erection he cursed loudly and roughly pushed her down onto her back.

"You're not making this any easier," he growled.

She smiled coyly up at him, before adopting a perfect imitation of his pout, as she slowly slid her foot up the length of his leg. She could feel his erection practically pulsing against her hip. "I thought you said that you were going to want another taste? And another. And another!"

He dropped his head down to her sternum, grumbling under his breath before he shifted to the left slightly in order to grasp the strap of her bra between his teeth. He pulled it away from her body, only to release it, allowing it to snap against her skin. She let out a slight yelp and he smirked, he then pushed the strap off her shoulder so that he could drag his tongue across the faint red mark. She could feel the vibration of his voice against her skin, sending a pool of wet heat directly between her legs.

"What was that?" she asked him, his words had been rather muffled.

He lifted his head, still smirking. "I said, quite a lot of sex indeed."

Molly felt her cheeks blush a deep crimson, only sending his smirk into a full-blown smug smile. She nibbled on the inside of her lip. "I only said that to see your reaction. There wasn't a bit of truth in it."

His eyebrows rose. "No truth at all?"

She felt her cheeks burn even darker. "Well, we were having sex … just not a lot, no where near as much as I would have liked."

"Hmmmm." Sherlock tilted his head to the side, a contemplative look coming to his face. "Are you a sex fiend Molly?"

Her eyes widened. "No!" she squeaked out.

He chuckled, his eyes crinkling with mirth, as he leaned down closer to her. "I can tease as well," he rumbled in a low tone.

She glared at him. "Git," she muttered beneath her breath.

The smug smile returned. "Mmm … you didn't seem to think so earlier … when I was shagging you into the mattress." He dropped his head down further, suckling on her jaw line just below her ear.

She moved her hands to his shoulders. "What – ahhh – were you trying to say before?"

He huffed loudly and reared back, his eyes meeting hers. "Now you want to talk?"

She bit down on her bottom lip, rather enjoying his annoyed expression.

"You are an absolute minx, Molly Hooper!" he snapped.

She gave him a triumphant smile.

He rolled his eyes. "If you must know, I was going to tell you that I have no intention of marrying you."

Her eyebrows rose.

"I have no intention of marrying you because we're already married."

She blinked at him, opened her mouth to speak, closed it, and blinked again.

"Ahhh. I see, I suppose you are having a 'buffering mode' moment, as John likes to call it."

She placed her hands onto Sherlock's chest and gave him a shove back with such force that he fell over, nearly onto the floor. She sat up and slid away from him, standing up from the bed. "What the hell are you on about? What do you mean we're married? I never saw a marriage license … there was never any sort of ceremony, no exchange of vows. What the hell are you saying?" She was at the moment quite thankful for her bra and knickers because she wasn't entirely certain she could have had this conversation, pacing, while in the nude.

Sherlock watched her silently for a moment then reached out and grabbed her arm, stopping her movements. "I presume you don't remember this, there was so much that happened that night and that day, but ahh – when you were signing the papers, writing up my death certificate … there was one paper amidst all the others that my brother gave you to sign."

Molly's eyes widened, her body turning rigid. There was no warmth in her gaze when she turned and looked at Sherlock, only confusion and hurt. "Why the hell did you do that? Why didn't you ever tell me? I could have married Tom! I would have been a bigamist!" She wrenched her arm from his grasp and walked away from him, resuming her pacing.

"Mycroft said that I should have told you."

She snorted in derision. "Did he now? How sweet. I'm quite shocked he actually allowed it to happen."

"It wasn't his idea though, it was mine. I wanted you to have something, in case our plan didn't work. In case I never came back."

She grew still, but she wasn't facing him. Her shoulders were slumped forward. Her arms wound tightly about her middle. He had never seen her look so small. Ever so slowly he removed himself from the bed and walked towards her. He gently put his arms around her, preparing himself to step back if she grew tense beneath his touch. She didn't. He leaned his forehead against the curve of her neck. "Would it have helped to ease the pain … for those two years … if you had known?" He felt her shake her head.

"No."

He let out a breath of relief. "You never would have married Tom. I wouldn't have allowed it to happen."

"Why are you telling me this now? Why not sooner?" She turned herself about, facing him. She no longer looked angry, nor hurt, just slightly confused. She wouldn't meet his gaze though, instead staring at a faint scar on his chest.

"Ahh yes, wellllllll … I didn't know how. I was terrified that you would hate me."

She slowly smiled then placed her hands on his arms, where he had locked them about her waist. Ever so slowly she moved her hands up to his shoulders, then to his neck where she ran her fingers through his curls. It was then that she allowed her eyes to meet his. "You thought that telling me that we are married would make me hate you? Oh Mr. Holmes … I don't think you know me as well as you like to think that you do." Her expression had grown soft, with a hint of a twinkle.

His eyes widened slightly then he began to smile as he gave her body a tug forward, until she was molded directly up against him. "Oh, is that so Mrs. Holmes?" He dragged out the name, speaking it slowly, letting it trip and dance across his tongue; delighting in the feel and the sound of it.

She felt her body shiver as he spoke the words. She honestly should still be angry with him, but what was the point? Why waste anymore time in anger when they could be instead making up for all of the time they had already lost? She stood on her tiptoes and pressed her mouth to his, it taking him only a matter of seconds to respond. Their tongues danced as she nudged him back towards the bed. When his legs hit the mattress he stumbled and they both fell. She laughed against his lips as he dragged her further into the center of the bed.

"Off with this confounded thing!" he snarled, giving the clasp of her bra a pull.

She laughed and sat up. "Are we done talking then? I can be a distraction now?" She moved until she was straddling his hips.

He huffed. "Yes. For the moment we are done talking."

"Moment? Oh I hope it will last a bit longer than that!"

He gave her an all-too-confident smirk. "I think that can be arranged. If you get on with removing that damned bra!"

Molly laughed again as she reached behind her and undid the clasps, before slipping the straps off her shoulders and allowing the cups to fall away. "Better?" she asked him, noting how his eyes instantly locked onto her breasts.

He swallowed. "Very much so."

She tossed the bra off to the side, not giving a care as to where it landed. She then moved off of him in order to remove her knickers and Sherlock did the same, taking off his pants. She crawled back over him, but this time straddled his knees. "May I?" she questioned, trailing her eyes over his body until they reached his hardened-cock.

He knew instantly what she was asking. "No. Not this time. I won't last if you do."

"Ahh." She moved back up to where she had been prior. Biting down on her lip, she smiled cheekily at him then lowered her hips and brushed herself against his cock. Sherlock's eyes widened his waist jerking slightly, only causing her to giggle.

"Condom?" he hissed out, as she gave another swipe of her wet folds against his aching length.

"Mmm … nope!" She popped the 'p,' very much so in the same manner that he always did. "Want to feel you completely."

He hissed again as she took his cock in her hand and positioned herself over him so that she could slide herself down. Once their hips were nestled together he let out a contented sigh.

"It's rather a nice thing to know that it is to my husband that I am making love to." She rocked against him, barely moving his cock inside of her.

His hips bucked involuntarily, making her moan. He cupped her bum in his hands, giving her a tender squeeze.

"It is not entirely fair though, that you knew before that you were making love to your wife." She was pouting again.

With a sigh he moved his hands upwards, sliding them over her back, before pushing down so that her breasts became delightedly pressed against his chest. He rolled his hips, moving himself inside of her, making her moan again.

"Sorry?" He smiled. "I'll spend the rest of our lives trying to make it up to you?" His smile then faded, and his hips grew still. "Being married to me won't be easy Molly. I'm still me. I'll still hurt you, even though I won't intend to. Just say the word, and it can be over. You don't have to stay with me."

It was her turn to sigh; she sat up slightly, the curve of her breasts just touching him. "Sherlock. Look at us right now, at what we are doing. Do you honestly think that I would be here, like this with you, if I didn't have every intention on us staying married? I know it won't be easy. Having you use my flat as a bolt hole wasn't easy! But I never said no, did I? I always wanted to help you; I was always willing to do so. I love you, for you, I don't expect you to change. I don't want you to. Sure you can try and be a little bit nicer, keep some of your deductions at bay … but it was you that I fell in love with, and it is you that I want to be married to. Not anyone else." She shifted so that his cock slipped out of her almost completely.

He smiled, his eyes twinkling, a look of relief upon his face. He then raised an eyebrow when a sudden thought came to him. "Children! What about children? You want them don't you? I'd like at least two, possibly three. Oh and there is a likelihood of our having twins."

She dropped down onto his cock, hard, making him suck in a breath. But still he continued to ramble on.

"Oh, and you're moving into Baker Street. You don't want to keep any of this furniture do you? Most certainly not this horrible excuse for a mattress! And—"

"SHERLOCK!"

His mouth snapped shut.

"I thought we were done talking?" She continued to move her body, letting him slide in and out of her at an excruciatingly slow pace.

He gave her a sheepish smile. "Sorry that just sort of … happened." He groaned when she leaned forward, the hard points of her nipples pressing into his chest. "You do want children though, I know you do," he panted out.

She had moved until her lips were hovering over his. "Sherlock will you just shut up and!" She exhaled loudly. "Kiss me you idiot!"

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Hope you don't hate me anymore! :)

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