CHAPTER THIRTEEN

A/N This is a chapterette, dedicated to egmon73 who felt as bad for Huw Williams as I did. Mystrade shippers, feel free to skip this one, normal service will be resumed in Chapter 14.

It wasn't a long walk to Huw's place but by the time he got there, John was even more confused than he had been when he left Mycroft's, the thoughts whirling through his head like confetti at a wedding.

Muttering under his breath, John opened the door to Huw's flat and went inside. It was late, maybe he could put this off till tomorrow…

"Is that you, John?"

"Nope, it's a burglar."

"Very funny, Watson. Get in here."

"Actually, can you come out?"

Huw emerged from the bedroom wearing a T-shirt and pyjama bottoms, his usual sleeping attire. His smile quickly disappeared when he saw the expression on John's face.

"What's happened?"

John just looked at him helplessly. Until that night, he had thought himself in love, blissfully happy and content. Now all that was in jeopardy because his beautiful mess of a best friend, the real love of his life had stopped playing dead and had come home.

Huw's expression grew worried.

"Oh, cariad. What's the matter?"

That beautiful Welsh endearment made John swallow hard. However he spun this, Huw was going to get hurt. Quickly then, he thought, like ripping off a sticking plaster.

"Sherlock's alive. I've just come from his brother's house. He's really not dead."

Huw's eyes narrowed as John's words sunk in.

"Shit, "he exclaimed. "I presume he had an explanation for why he abandoned you for nearly two years?"

"Yeah, a bloody good one, as it turns out," smiled John, remembering.

"And you've forgiven him? What am I saying, of course you have."

"There isn't anything I couldn't forgive him for. Not even that. He's my best friend and I still love him. Huw, I am so, so sorry."

Huw shrugged, the corners of his mouth turning down.

"I'm sorry too, John. It was great though, wasn't it? You and I?"

"It really was," agreed John. Huw gave something between a laugh and a sniff.

"Funny though, I always thought that if I lost you, it'd be to a woman. Never dreamt someone could come back from the dead like that."

John couldn't bear to see the man that he had adored so upset. He closed the distance between them, wiping the escaped tears from Huw's face with his fingers.

"He was the only person that could ever have come between us, I swear it. And you deserve to be happy, you really do."

"I was happy with you," said Hugh firmly. "Dreams are for children, I should know that by now."

"Don't…" whispered John. He was close enough now to see every crystal drop clinging to Huw's eyelashes.

He never meant to kiss him, or so he told himself later. One minute they were face to face, the next in each other's arms, Huw's mouth hot and demanding on John's. They tumbled into the still-warm bed, nothing on their minds but each other and making it last, every touch, every caress tinged with a sense of finality. Slowly they made love, the way they both liked, Huw's bone-deep cry of fulfilment igniting John's own.

It was starting to get light as John stirred from Huw's embrace.

"I have to go, "he said flatly. "I'm on duty at seven."

Huw's eyes were still wet but he was smiling.

"Don't ever regret this, cariad. It was the perfect way to say goodbye."

"Yes, it was," said John, mustering a smile. "Absolutely perfect."

When John had left, Huw dragged himself out of bed to shower and dress. His heart was sore but he was philosophical about it. John Watson wasn't the first man to break his heart and wouldn't be the last.

For now, he had a job to do, ward rounds and clinics. He could cry as much as he wanted to later.

TBC