Thanks for the reviews! Definitely going to finish this in the next couple of days...I can honestly (now that I already started to write it) say that the next chapter will definitely be moved to M rating. Hope you are all enjoying this story.

It seemed every time Mary and Marshall's eye met across the office the next day they couldn't help sharing a secret look and a small hesitant smile. It reassured them both that things were going to be okay between them. The fact that there was some kind of sexual tension there didn't bother either one.

It would have been a bigger deal if they hadn't already scratched the surface of a sexual relationship amid the dreams, it wasn't such a big deal since their friendship had already faltered.

Neither being in another relationship didn't help the sexual tension, for Mary's part, she had always had a very healthy sexual appetite. As for Marshall, he had recently stopped having regular sex, making him hungry for more and not from his ex. If either had been in a relationship, to keep their mind occupied preventing them from seeking each other out, things wouldn't be the way they were at the moment.

Marshall saw her appear right before his eyes, the same as every start of the dream, it seemed he only appeared a few seconds before she did. When she turned to face him, he shot her a quick half smile, unsure if she would attack him now that he wasn't trying to tie her down.

"Sorry."

Mary arched an eyebrow in question, "Why?"

He shrugged apprehensively, "For being a jerk last time."

She chuckled and shrugged nonchalantly, "I'm sure I deserved it, kinda glad you did it. Got us talking, right?"

"Yeah, going in the right direction is always a positive."

She looked at him thoughtfully and walked to what was now her side of the bed, "You know, whatever's going on, I guess I can admit isn't really a bad thing. I guess not hanging out with each other the last couple months - like old times - is probably the reason we're here."

"Wow, I didn't see that coming, especially from you. Are you gonna get all emotional and sing kumbaya?" he said in amazement, he never thought Mary could voice her emotions so well.

"No! Just…you don't feel that way at all?" she asked apprehensively, biting her lower lip.

"To be honest, I don't know. It could be any reason at this point, plus you're not the worst person in the world to hang out with," he winked at her with a smirk.

"Gee, thanks."

"I'm just pulling your leg. You're right, it's not so bad spending time with you."

She arched an eyebrow at him, "Yeah, not bad at all, not for you anyways."

"What does that mean?" he asked with a confused frown.

"It's been more fun for you than for me, perv"

He narrowed his eyes understanding her, "Liking boobs is normal, it doesn't make me a perv."

"It does when they're your subordinate, former best friend's boobs, perv," she never pulled punches.

She egged him on per her MO, it was such an instinctual thing for her. She knew she was trying to lure him toward her, even when she wasn't sure it was a good idea.

He shot her a menacing smile, "You know what, say it again. Say it one…more…time, I dare you."

Mary smirked and leaned forward, exaggerating her lips as she spoke, "You're a huge perv."

Marshall's menacing smile turned feral, he crawled toward her, slowly and deliberately. She made no attempt to escape, she was curious to see how far either one would let this dream go. He stopped right in front of her for a second, then pushed her onto her back so she lay flat. She had pulled a pillow against her when he began to crawl to her, she clutched it tight against her chest in an attempt to hide any visible sings of her nervousness.

"Fine, I'm a perv," he murmured. "But I can't help but notice that you don't actually seem to mind it all that much."

He pulled the pillow away from her and tossed it to the floor. She tried to catch it, but he put a hand on her shoulder to hold her down. Her breathing turned labored and she flushed in arousal, hoping they weren't so apparent to him as they felt to her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she tried to sound offended.

"I think you know exactly what it means."

He was on his knees beside her, his free hand moved toward her chest, and she pushed it away. He smiled enigmatically arching an eyebrow in challenge, he made the same move again, this time faster so she didn't have time to stop him.

Mary bit her lip as his palm covered her breast, perhaps more forcefully then he meant to. The sensation of being held down and being groped by Marshall was doing funny things to her head.

"See?" he whispered raggedly as he leaned half over her. "I swear your face gives you away. You're enjoying this. But that doesn't make sense, because I'm the perv, not you, right?"

"We can both be," she said in an equally quiet voice.

Marshall's eyes widened at the significance, a little surprised at her indirect admission. She knew he wouldn't have been expecting to get it quite so easily, it was amusing how he faltered once he didn't have anything to prove anymore.

"Okay…okay, okay," he chanted. He let her go and sat up, allowing Mary her freedom. She stayed where she was. "So, I'm not the only perv around here. I always suspected you were pushing my buttons on purpose."

She half shrugged, "It's kinda my thing. You're really easy to manipulate most of the time."

"I'm sure you've perfected the art after so many years as partners, you've had a lot of practice with me."

"Yup, because you're right, physically you can pretty much do whatever you want with me."

She grimaced, when she heard herself, her words had come out with more of a sexual overtone than she meant them to be, and Marshall's flush was enough of a tell that she knew he heard it too.

"Do you like that? When I…" he couldn't even finish the question.

"I don't know, maybe. There's been a lot of stuff for me to sort out in recent days."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I have similar feelings on the subject. There are things I've been thinking for longer than I'd like to admit, dream or no dream."

"Well, at least we can trust each other, right? As sketchy as this might seem, no one else is ever going to know. Unless they could read minds, thank God Eleanor isn't here anymore," she sighed in relief.

Marshall chuckled, "Yeah, there's that. I guess it helps that this isn't really real. Mostly."

There was an awkward silence after that, he began to shift next to her, she grabbed his wrist to keep him from moving too far from her. He lay beside her, her hand still on his wrist. He'd gone self-conscious on her and she knew that unless she did something he wouldn't be touching her anymore. For some reason, that scared the living daylights out of her.

"I kind of feel awkward now that you've basically given me the green light," he said timidly turning to look at her, "I want to, don't get me wrong. It's just…"

"Would it help if I revoked your permission?"

He grinned at her, "Maybe, but probably not going to happen."

"Marshall," she whispered, "just touch them."

You couldn't call Mary a coward, once she wanted something, she jumped in with both feet. It had been a blunt approach, but it worked. Marshall rolled to his side and just looked at her to make sure she was serious. Slowly he reached out and let his hand settle on her right breast. It wasn't all that exciting for either one, mainly because they were both just testing the waters.

After a while, he began to squeeze and caress her breast, when his thumb began to seek her nipple, she bit her lip and closed her eyes. She didn't want to miss a thing, but his thumb was working magic on her nipple, causing it to pebble and beg for more of his attention.

Marshall looked up to see her eyes tightly shut and her teeth biting on her lower lip, she had never looked more beautiful than at the moment, receiving pleasure from his touch.

Mary wanted so badly to slip a hand down inside her panties, but she knew Marshall would be scandalized by her behavior. Next time.

She wasn't sure what triggered it, but at some point she found herself awake in her own bed, in her own lonely bedroom. She had woken up before her alarm, but not early enough for her to go back to sleep.

She closed her eyes and could still feel his hand on her breast, his thumb on her nipple, almost like he was laying right next to her in her bedroom.

Mary sighed and rolled off her bed, going to check on Norah before starting her day.

Marshall held his pillow against him and opened his eyes slowly, he sighed as he replayed the dream in his head. He couldn't believe he had gotten to second base with his Mary.

He chuckled into his pillow in pure joy, kicking his blankets off, he began his day in a happy note.

TBC...M rating up next.