Contains a sexual scene. Also, this gets pretty fluffy in the end. But they deserve it.

How It Started

1 Corinthians 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

After the night of the disastrous anniversary, Addison didn't really feel like going to work anymore, or seeing Derek at all. They avoided each other, which suited Mark pretty well, except that Addison couldn't seem to lift up her spirits any. She'd lost some of the glow that made her a really special person to be around. All she wanted to do, on her days off was cuddle in bed and not talk.

Mark supposed she had just gotten so lonely, that's all she could do. He feared he could never completely fill her need, that because he wasn't Derek, there would always be a little part of her soul missing.

So, he took her to the only place where he knew they dealt with souls- back to church. It was Sunday at 8 AM when he woke her. "Addison," He pulled on her legs, but she clung to the sheets of his bed. "Let's go, we're going to church."

"I can't," she whined.

He was already dressed and ready, having planned this for a couple of days. He knew it would take her a while, but they were going. "You can. You love church."

"Not anymore," she said stubbornly. "Not since I'm going to be thrown in the fiery gates of hell when I die!" She crawled back up into a ball and covered her head with a pillow.

"That's not true," he was convinced. "Come on, put on a pretty dress and be forgiven." He stroked her legs with his hand.

She sat up. "Forgiven? How can I be forgiven? I feel branded! They should just make me wear a scarlet 'A' on my clothes."

He couldn't tell if this was just one of her dramatic episodes, or if it might be something that ends their relationship. "You know, I'm no theologian, but I don't ever remember them saying that you can only be forgiven so many times or that something is just 'too bad' to be forgiven so get your butt out of bed and practice what you believe in!"

She wiped the makeup and dried tears from under her eyes. "You didn't even want to go back. It's just too hard to go back and see David and all of them. I don't want to lie anymore."

He helped her out of bed. "If they're who they say they are, they won't judge us. Let's pick out a dress."

She stood her ground firmly. "We can just stay home and pray and read and it won't make any difference. Let's just do that."

He ran his hands through her tangled hair and held her face. "You forgive Derek for all he's done to you, and me, for all I'm putting you through now. You can forgive everyone else, so forgive yourself." He needed her to be the optimist that she once was- believing that God or the universe or whatever was working for their ultimate good.

To Addison's surprise, everyone seemed glad to see them back. No one commented on their absence the previous week or their dwindling appearance at Bible study. Before the service, she picked out their seat in the sanctuary while Mark used the bathroom before everything started.

When he didn't return for a few minutes, she looked back and saw him in the lobby, talking to David. David was smiling, but Mark seemed kind of sad. His head hung down as he talked, his body slouched. Then David patted him on the back and said something that seemed to cheer him up. They walked into the sanctuary together and Mark sat by Addison.

"What was that about?" She asked.

"We just talked about how lucky we are," He smiled at her as they stood for the call to worship.

As Addison repeated the prayer, she felt oddly at peace. Mark, after everything, was still here for her. He'd brought her to a place that would make her at ease, but where he didn't enjoy being. She watched him as the pastor spoke the words of the New Testament- "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

She knew she'd heard that verse somewhere before, probably at a wedding, and she thought she believed it at that time. She believed that's what she had with Derek. But now, it wasn't true and her eyes were opened to how much Mark loved her. After communion, when she prayed at the altar, he knelt beside her and prayed with her. After a few minutes, she heard him whispering his prayers out loud as he asked for guidance on their path.

They held hands on their way back down the aisle and didn't let go the rest of the service. She stayed close to him, feeling warmth and kindness in her heart where cold guilt had sank hours earlier.

On their way out, another couple approached them and commented how nice it was to have them there and what a good example they were as a couple, supporting each other in their faith. Addison was speechless, still, but Mark thanked them for their kind words. She rode home silently, and completely content and in love with Mark.

Mark thought the church service had been uncomfortable. He didn't like talking to David about how he felt about Addison because it made it seem likely that they wouldn't work out. The lesson on love was okay, he supposed. He didn't like praying at the altar with Addison. He was sweaty and he felt like everyone was watching him. Like they could see his prayers float out of his head and they were judging him for them. Prayers like- "Forgive me for committing adultery, but You gave me a heart to love her, so it can't be that bad" and "feed everyone who's hungry" and "Please let Derek not hate me that much when he finds out."

He whispered his prayers for Addison out loud because he wanted her to know that he was thinking of her. He wanted her to feel safe and serene around him, and not on the edge of a nervous breakdown. He couldn't tell if it worked or not. She wasn't speaking to him. Maybe she was still mad that he made her go. He'd honestly thought it would help. He started to pull off on the street to his apartment.

"No," she said, "Let's go to the brownstone."

She never wanted to hang out on Derek's territory. He was afraid and excited of what this might mean. "Why?" He turned onto another street heading towards the brownstone.

"I'm ready," she said.

Ready for what? He wanted to know. He tried not to get his hopes up. Ready for sex? Ready to tell Derek? Ready to leave Derek? "Are you sure Derek's not home?"

"Yeah," she said decisively. She unlocked the door and opened it for him. He closed the door and she kissed him, one hand holding the shoes she just slipped off, one arm around his neck.

All right. He was going to take what he got from her. He wrapped his hands around her waist and waited patiently for a signal as to what this would lead to as they kissed. He loved kissing Addison and now that they'd done it so many time, it was starting to get that great familiar feeling. Like home. Or warm baked cookies.

Or scorching hot baked cookies, he thought, feeling every part of her body against him. She backed up and hit the stairs, taking a seat. He hovered over her on his knees. He continued to kiss her, down her jaw, down her neck.

"Oh, Mark," she enjoyed what he was doing. "I have to," she held his mouth up to hers without kissing. "I love you."

He couldn't stand it and kissed her. She had no idea what it meant for her to say that. "I love you too." He was never going to let her go.

He held her face tight to his. He couldn't get enough. "I need you."

"I'm all yours," she replied.

This had to be a dream or something, but he didn't want it to be. She had on a flow-y skirt that was perfect because he didn't have to do any ripping or tearing or stretching and he didn't have to work at the button to take it off. He lifted up the puffy layers and took off her panties. Finally, he was going to see her. He buried his head between her thighs before she could protest or complain. He started by kissing her thighs, just to tease he. Then he lapped inside her and she clenched hard around him. Her knees dug painfully into his shoulders and she gripped the side of his neck, fingernails digging into his skin.

"Mark," she gasped.

He'd never done this. She'd never let him get this close before. He wasn't going to let her down. He immersed himself in her, so he couldn't see or taste anything but her. He gave her a few more strokes all the way up to her clit and she came.

Mark was pretty sure that she was the easiest woman to make climax ever.

"Fast again," she remarked. He rose up and held her on the stairs. He loved how out of breath she was. Mark knew he was good in bed, but he had to be careful with Addison. He wasn't quite sure what she liked yet and didn't understand what made her scared or nervous. Of course, he was concerned that something he did would remind her of Derek, but he didn't want to think about that.

As he held her, she rubbed his arms, which turned into stroking his chest and pulling at his pants. "My turn."

"Your turn?"She moved off of him and kneeled at a lower step on the stairs. She kissed his legs like he'd done to her but wasted no time because within minutes, his pants were off and she was staring at his dick. He couldn't tell if she hesitated because she was scared or overwhelmed (he'd like to think), but she seemed determined. She smiled and he knew she was taking time to appreciate what they'd withheld from each other for so long. Finally, her fingers curled around him and she moved her fist over his entire length a couple of times. His head fell back against the stairs in pleasure. He tried to watch her, but it was just too much.

He felt her mouth on him and he groaned loudly. That little bit of wetness and warmth sent him delirious with promises of what was to come. She began taking more of him in her mouth, swallowing every so often. The contractions down her tongue made him grip the stairs harder.

"Addy," he said through his teeth.

She cupped his balls until he was as far down her throat as he could be without doing any damage. He hadn't expected her to give him head at all, much less anything more than a few inches. She was committed.

She wasn't as coordinated as she'd like to pretend- it kind of felt like she couldn't decide whether to give him a blow job or a hand job and she was going at two different rhythms, but he didn't complain. Just watching her, and knowing that she was Addison and she was his and the visual of her taking him- He pulled on her hair and pulled her mouth off him.

"Not done yet," she said.

"I know, but I need to rest a minute before getting back up and running."

"Rest? No way. You haven't even came yet."

"Yeah, and I'd like to hold it off for a little longer. I promised you a marathon love-making session and you're going to get it." They needed to move to the bed, he decided. He had carpet-burn in bad places from all their movement on the stairs. They both shakily stood up as they held onto each other and climbed up the stairs. But the absence of her body pressed into him intimately made him feel empty and cold. Apparently she felt the same way because she stopped him halfway up to kiss him and pushed him back up. They didn't take their lips off of each other until they reached the bed and he lifted her and sat her on it.

He stood between her legs for a moment as they kissed and ran their hands all over each other. Somehow her sweater had come off already, so he stripped her of her tank top and bra. He helped her lay down on the bed, holding her breasts as he did so, running his fingers over her nipples until they got hard and then pinching them.

"Hmm," she moaned when he pinched too hard. She grabbed him by his shirt roughly, determined to inflict pain in revenge. She laughed as she shoved him back on the bed to straddle him. He put his hands back on her boobs as she placed light kisses on his neck. He could tell that her lips were swollen and sore, which made him want to kiss her some more, but he didn't want her to feel like he was trying to eat her. She slowed down the tempo by resting her head on his chest. He took one hand off of her breasts to caress her lower back, heading down to her ass.

Addison smiled, "I really do love you."

"I know," he said. Strange enough, it aroused him even more when she said it and he could tell she meant it.

He was as hard and practically bursting to get inside of her. "Touch me," he told her and she did.

"Slow," he said and showed her with his own hand. He needed to pace himself or else everything would get way out of control too soon. He took a deep breath. He tried to flip them over, but she kept her knees locked by his stomach. He thought maybe she was going to blow him off again, but she rose and slowly started to sink down on him.

She moved very slowly. "Ahh."

He held her hand tightly. "It's okay."

She was breathing deeply and quickly as if every inch of him pushed a little more air out of her. He couldn't help but wonder if she was so tense because she hadn't had sex in a long time.

He shifted slightly and she froze and glared at him. "Don't you dare break my vagina, Mark Sloan, or I'm never sleeping with you again."

"I'm not doing anything!" He said, "It's all you." She made it all the way down on him, completely encompassing him and now it was his turn not to be able to breathe. She was so warm and everywhere. He grabbed her ass, trying to release some of the pleasure he was feeling. He figured it was so good because she took her time. Most girls just wanted to get off and get out. He shared the same philosophy then, but now it was Addison and it was very different.

"Please," he begged her to start moving. He needed her to build and finish him because he couldn't stand how good he felt. She moved slightly up and down, short thrusts that caught her where she wanted him to be most. Her head fell forward and she pressed on his stomach to lift herself and get a better angle.

He needed her to move harder and deeper, but knew it was only fair to give her more time. He rubbed her clit and this time her head fell back and she squeezed him so hard that she could barely continue to move. He could tell that she needed some help so he grabbed her hips and moved her almost all the way of his dick before pulling her as deep as she was before. She got the hang of it and he even started lifting his hips to meet her. She started to tense up and got a worried look on her face.

"What's wrong?" He asked and started to low down a little bit.

"Nothing," she blew her hair out of her face and squeezed him again.

"It's okay to let go." He touched her face.

"No, I don't want you to leave."

He held both of her hands. "I will never leave you. Let me show you I love you for you." He brought her down closer to him. She propped herself up so she could look him straight in the eyes. Now he was doing most of the thrusting work, but that was good with him so he could set their pace.

He held her in his arms when she came. He saw a light in the hallway and he became nauseous. But he was so close.

He saw the familiar face. "Derek."

He let go holding Addison and for a moment, she stayed.

A moment later, she'd discarded him and was running after Derek.

He left, hoping they'd make up later, which they did, but not completely, after Derek left for Seattle.

And that is how it started.

That's all! Thanks for reading. I really did love this fic. Maddison's great. Unfortunately this might be it for a while because I have school and have to write things for real.