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multipotentialitepisces · 14 days ago

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There's Something I've Been Meaning To Tell You...

Greg Davies x Reader

Greg and his partner, Alex's sister-in-law, finally tell their nearest and dearest about their relationship.

It had been months since you’d had Greg all to yourself. He’d been off filming the studio sections of Taskmaster, and you were excited all week, knowing he was coming home on Friday.

You’d been talking to your sister, Rachel, a lot this week, knowing she was dealing with the same issue as Alex was away too, and knowing both your partners were coming home this weekend was an exciting prospect. She’d told you Alex was coming home later today, as he was homesick from the children, and all of the work had been done. He was happy to commute for the next few days, whereas Greg hadn’t said there’d be any change in his plans.

Rachel had known about you and Greg from the very beginning. Alex, however, was another story.

Alex was Greg’s best friend, closest confidante, and your brother-in-law. You’d met Greg plenty of times in passing, but after moving in with Alex and Rachel for a few months a couple of years ago, you’d seen a lot more of Greg intimately, more than you ever would have on the comedy circuit. You’d immediately been attracted to him, as it was rare to find a man taller than you, let alone one where you couldn’t look him directly in the eyes. He was older, wiser, funnier, and seeing him in close quarters with your nephews had made you fall for him. Alex had made it clear he knew Greg liked you, but what he didn’t know was that Greg had acted on it, and you’d actually been dating for the better part of a year.

Rachel had sworn not to say anything, knowing it was Greg’s decision of when to tell Alex, and you were thinking about this sticky situation you and Greg had found yourselves in as you walked home from work with a haul of shopping and a skip in your step. After moving out of the Horne’s, you’d found a small apartment nearby, but ended up basically moving into Greg’s townhouse, and living in it when he was away working made you feel safer than your small one bed in zone 6.

As soon as you kicked off your shoes in the hallway and dumped your bags and the day’s heaviness on the kitchen counter, you put the radio on and began cooking. It was a way to have some true ‘me time’ despite Greg’s absence, and having a dance in the kitchen was one of your biggest joys.

Wham!’s I’m Your Man was now blaring from the speakers of your countertop radio, and in your reverie of dancing and cooking, letting the day’s stresses and anxieties evaporate from your bones, you only just heard a deep, rumbling voice singing along.

Dropping your cooking utensils and spinning around, your ears recognised the voice you knew well, and you saw Greg’s smug, tight-lipped smile looking back at you, with his arms spread wide, waiting for you.

You almost sprinted, hopping from your post in front of the stovetop and throwing yourself into his arms, melting into his touch and embracing him tightly. An embrace that demonstrated three months worth of longing and excitement. To think he’d come home early and not told you!

‘How long have you been here?!’ you beamed up at your lover, still cradled inside of his grasp, incredulous at how he’d kept a secret. Clearly, he knew you loved surprises, and knew how much you’d missed him. He’d clearly missed you too if you were any judge of the misty look in his eyes behind his glasses.

‘I got home at lunchtime, I’ve been waiting here all day. Wanted to surprise you.’ He states, confirming your suspicions. His smile is now full and teethy, with his eyes crinkling at the corners. He cranes his neck down and places a kiss on your hairline, holding you closer. ‘Loved the singing, by the way.’ The cheeky bastard.

You give him a scrunched look, embarrassed but too pleased he’s home to truly be annoyed. ‘Did Alex know you were coming home too?’

‘Yeah, got the train back together.’ He states, peppering kisses across the crown of your head.

‘I’ll have to tell Rach, she’ll want to keep Al from turning up unannounced and seeing me.’ Your anxieties about Alex finding out about your and Greg’s relationship had worsened over the course of their respective absences, and Rachel being your only real confidante was becoming difficult to deal with. Your relationship had gotten a lot more serious over the last 5 or so months, and not being able to tell your parents and closest friends was making you feel guilty. You wanted to share your feelings and love with those you held closest, but with most of your close friends also on the comedy circuit, it was impossible, so you’d begun to rely on Rachel for support and advice. Her situation of wanting to keep your secret out of sisterly love was obviously her first command, but knowing it was mainly because her husband’s closest friend was nervous about the strange, intertwined nature of all of your relationships was taking a toll on her too.

‘Actually, about that…’ Greg pulled away from you, taking a seat at the dining table. The deep lines in his frown and forehead began to worry you. Was he breaking up with you? After coming home early to surprise you? A knot of anxiety tied itself tightly in your abdomen.

‘I think I should tell Alex. Tonight.’ His shoulders drop hugely, clearly relieved to have come to the realisation that this very committed relationship is no longer something he can keep from his dearest friend and your brother-in-law. The long, deep sigh that escapes your mouth makes him look up from his toes with worry, but that dissipates when he sees the look of sheer joy on your face. You’re beaming like the sun, and Greg doesn’t think he’s imagining the fact you’re glowing. He’d missed you, all of you. He’d missed having to drag you out of bed in the mornings, coaxing you up with toast and a steaming cup of too-sweet builder’s brew. He’d missed watching you run, half dressed, to and from the wardrobe to the mirror, deliberating your outfit choices every morning. He’d missed watching tv every night with you, having to pause it so you could spill your guts in secret to your sister. He’d realised that on the train home, sat beside his best friend, going home to his partner, he needed to be able to tell Alex everything.

He didn’t know why he was so terrified to tell Alex about your relationship. After all, Alex had been teasing him about the crush he had on you for months, ever since that first chance meeting at the Horne household. Greg had turned up with two bottles of wine to watch the first episode of the new season of Taskmaster. You had opened the door. He’d almost dropped the wine on the front step of Alex’s house. How had he never noticed how beautiful you were? He’d entered the house with a slack jaw and an empty mind, only delivering incoherent mumblings and vague gestures, handing off the wine to Rachel and sitting down heavily on the couch with glazed eyes. Only when you entered the room with an open mouth and a melodious laugh did he come to. Seeing you smile like that, he knew he was done for, and so did Alex.

‘Why now?’ You had no idea what Greg’s thinking had been, and in your opinion, nothing glorious or awful had happened to cause your little game to be over.

‘I just can’t hide it from him anymore. He knows how much I fancy you, I just needed to get a grip and tell him. I want you to be there when I do, though.’ He raised himself from the chair, grasping your hand and kissing it, caressing your hair. Releasing your hand, he moved his from where he’d dropped yours at your side and clutched your waist, pulling you in harshly for a kiss like a man starved. It was as if realising he needed to tell Alex had unleashed him. He was no longer scared to show you how much he loved and missed you, not afraid he’d have to break it off for fear of keeping it from his friend. You put your arms around his torso, trying to absorb as much of his warmth and scent as you could. If you could’ve melted into him, you would have.

Sitting at the kitchen table with the meal you’d began preparing earlier finished, nursing your glasses of wine, you and Greg were drafting out a game plan for this evening. Being a Tuesday in a suburb of London in March, getting a reservation for a restaurant was no issue. Getting Alex and Rachel there, and the two of you, without any suspicion or raised eyebrows was another kettle of fish, however.

‘Well he’s just got home, and Rachel was pre warned-‘

‘Unlike me, you arse’ you interrupt him, not letting his deceit go just yet. You were a dog with a bone.

‘Yes. Unlike you darling, Alex told Rachel, so the kids are at the grandparents. They’re both free tonight.’

‘And Alex knows you’re home because you came home together.’

‘Mhm.’ A beat. You could practically see the cogs turning in his head. ‘And Rachel obviously knows what’s going on here. Why don’t you text her, tell her everything, and she can tell Alex that…’

‘That I’m bored stiff and miss her. She can mention that when you ring him asking to have dinner, and…’ You were both thinking deeply now, looking like you were deep into a murder case, not just trying to organise a meal for four adults.

‘She can say she wants you there so I’m not third wheeling!’ Greg punches the air, feeling like he’s hit the jackpot.

‘And Alex will be completely on board because he knows you fancy me!’ Your eyes light up, and you clamber onto Greg’s lap, kissing him roughly on the cheek, feeling the harshness of his beard against your soft skin, inhaling his scent deeply.

‘Right, yep. 8pm. I’ll see you two there. Yes, and her. Okay, bye!’ Greg put down the phone and you removed your chewed fingernails from your mouth. ‘All sorted, we’ll meet them there at 8, they’ll be there early so we can be in the same cab and just pretend we bumped into each other.’

‘I can’t believe you’re actually going to tell him.’ You embrace Greg once again, savouring the feel of his body wrapped around your own, excited to not have to keep secrets from your brother-in-law, and to allow your sister to be honest with her husband.

You and Greg hopped out of the black cab, Greg giving you a helping hand and holding the small of your back as you walked to the restaurant. Despite it being an uneventful Tuesday evening in the middle of spring, the restaurant was fancy and the boys were celebrating wrapping Taskmaster, so you all dressed well. You were struggling to hold yourself together seeing Greg in an immaculately pressed all black suit. He was experiencing the same issue watching you sway your hips in a fitted dress and sky high heels. You entered the restaurant first, pleased to be out of the cold, and spotted your sister to which you winked. She returned your wink with a sly smile, standing up to give you a hug as if you hadn’t seen each other just last week. Alex did the same, and noticed Greg behind you.

‘Did you guys get here at the same time?’

‘Yeah, what a coincidence huh?’ Greg’s seemingly confident and nonchalant statement came out shakily and unconvincingly, but Alex let it go and sat down.

The evening went well, and after a few glasses of wine and ordering your food, Greg made it clear he had something to say.

‘Alex. I-we-I…’ He clears his throat. For such a boulder of a man, Greg sure was nervous regarding Alex’s opinion. He knew he’d be generous and accepting, but he had a niggle about the closeness of his wife to you, and was concerned Alex wouldn’t like the seriousness of the relationship. He was in too deep now, though. He had to get out with it. ‘I’ve got something to tell you.’

Alex visibly sobered up, becoming straight as a board and white as a sheet. He clearly expected the worst. His wife however, looked genuinely fizzing with excitement. Her eyes were sparkling, and she was fidgeting. She was so happy for the two of you, and her energy no doubt calmed Alex down to a degree.

‘Y/N and I are seeing each other.’ Both Alex and Greg’s body’s drooped with relief, and Alex finally turned to his wife, noticing her ear to ear smile.

‘I suppose you knew about this, did you?’ Rachel nodded in confirmation, grasping her husbands hand tightly. Alex dropped her hand however, standing up instead. Greg winced, preparing himself for a a strike to the cheek, but instead Alex just clapped him on the back. ‘I mean, I knew you were seeing someone, i’m not stupid. I just never thought you’d have the balls to tell her how you felt.’ Alex sat back down, this time grasping his wife’s hand instead.

Greg’s hand had been resting on your bare thigh all evening, providing a grounding presence in a situation where you could have believed you were dreaming. You and Greg told the Horne’s everything. How long you’d been together, how you’d basically moved into his house, how Rachel had known everything from the very beginning (to which Alex was not pleased).

‘But I just can’t understand why you didn’t tell me?’ Alex asked finally, bewildered.

‘I dunno mate, I just knew I was fucked straight away and wasn’t sure it was going to be serious so I didn’t tell you, and then it was serious and I was in too deep. I just felt like I couldn’t tell you because it had been so long, and with Y/N and Rachel’s relationship, it was an awkward place to be in.’

‘So why now, why decide to tell me now?’

‘It was when we both came home early today, with you wanting to go home early and see Rach and the kids, and I just realised how much I missed being at home…’ He turned towards you as he said his final part ‘with you.’

‘Bloody hell. I thought you were just shagging someone, christ.’ Alex’s genuine shock and disgust at Greg’s earnestness (and probably the fact you’d all had a few glasses of wine) had you all doubled over in fits of laughter, until Rachel piped up with something you’d been pushing to the back of your mind since you’d started getting serious with Greg.

‘How are you going to tell Mum you’re seeing the Taskmaster?’

‘God, don’t call me that outside of work.’

You chuckled, both at Greg’s comment and at realising you were going to have to introduce your boyfriend to his biggest fan and also mother-in-law. ‘She’s basically in love with you, she might try and steal you for herself.’

‘Well I’ve met her before, actually.’ Greg’s sly smile conveyed how he was clearly relishing this secret he’d kept from you.

Your gasp and large smile whilst scanning the table made you realise that of course Greg must’ve met her, being your brother-in-law’s best friend, so bumping into each other at family gatherings was probably commonplace. You had certainly met Greg in passing, and you remembered seeing him at Rachel’s wedding, but you’d been releasing a steady stream of books, and had been touring the country, so being there at every family gathering was simply impossible. Plus, you and your mother had no real need to discuss Greg, with you and your sister keeping the secret, and she’d obviously had no reason to bring up their meeting, but any excuse to give your partner a grilling was not an opportunity you were stupid enough to miss.

‘And why have I not heard of this meeting before, Mr Davies?’ you ask, conspiratorially turning towards him, wrapping your ankle around his beneath the table to put some mock pressure on him with your overbearing presence. For Greg, however, he was just basking in the fact that you were being this touchy feely in public with him, unafraid of having it leak to the public. He snapped back to reality with a dizzy feeling caused by your closeness.

‘Well, if you must know,’ Greg paused, wrapping his arm around your shoulder and smirking, adopting the guise of someone who was about to drop some seriously juicy gossip before he continued, ‘I met her at Rachel’s wedding, and we had a chat…’

At Greg’s trailing off, Rachel burst into laughter, and Alex looked halfway there. Greg’s face broke and you realised you’d been had. Greg had told the Horne’s about what your own Mum had said to your now partner at her eldest daughter’s wedding. Rachel and Alex’s wedding was only four years ago, but they’d been together for almost two decades, and it was the most beautiful thing you’d ever seen. Greg was there, and he’s hard to miss in any situation with his towering height, but you’d certainly taken a fancy to him even back then, especially with his best man speech and how kind he was to Rachel. He’d looked fab, though he’d aged like a fine wine, and you were itching to know what your Mum had said to him on that day, especially knowing how badly she held her drink.

‘Oh, Y/N, you’re either going to love this, or you’ll want to kill all of us, especially Mum.’ Rachel breathed out through her laughter.

You went bright red, putting your head in your hands and tucking yourself further into Greg’s chest, struggling not to laugh at your own embarrassment.

‘Basically, she tried to set us up. Pointed at you and told me how beautiful you were. Stupidly, I paid no attention, and that’s why I acted like an idiot when you turned up at Alex’s that one time, but I told Rachel and Alex as soon as it had happened.’

‘To be fair to you Greg, she was very drunk. I wouldn’t have listened to her either if I were you.’ Alex admitted. He was very grateful for his mother-in-law, being a doting grandmother to her three grandsons, and an all-round lovely woman to be in the company of. ‘Actually, speaking of that, why did you not tell me about the two of you when I already knew Y/Ns own mother wanted you together, and I thought it was a great idea?’ Alex was clearly still grappling with why Greg had been so clandestine about his relationship. He was immensely happy for the two of you, and honestly very relieved, but still confused as to why he thought it would be such a tricky subject to breach.

‘I told you mate, I obviously wasn’t thinking straight. And I didn’t exactly think your Mum was being completely serious with the state she was in.’ He turned towards you now, rubbing his hand up and down your upper arm. ‘I should’ve listened to her though, should’ve sought you out.’

‘I mean I’m actually quite impressed that Mum knows me so well. You all know I haven’t been in a real serious relationship, and she’s not the overbearing type but making a proper effort to tell you that we should go out is interesting. At least I don’t have to dread telling her.’

‘Me and Alex are going to see her tomorrow, actually, to pick up the kids. You two could come, if you fancied?’ Rachel asked, hoping that it would take off the pressure if there were more people there.

You and Greg exchanged a look. ‘Yeah, that sounds good.’

The meal was wrapped up quickly after that. It was getting late and if you were going to visit your Mum in the morning, you’d be having an early start. The four of you drained the bottle of wine and cleared your plates, Greg covered the bill and then you split off into pairs to catch cabs back home, embracing each other in the chilly London air. Rachel caught you in a tight hug, one that told you how pleased and proud she was, how excited she was to see you so happy in a relationship for the first time in a long time.

You and Greg trundled home in the back of a black cab. He noticed you shivering despite the more than ample heating of the taxi, clearly still being affected by the chill of the air outside, so he silently slipped off his jacket and placed it gently on your bare shoulders, kissing your cheek for good measure.

As you trotted into Greg’s beautiful townhouse, a sight you were sure you’d never get sick of, you removed your shoes and rolled your shoulders, placed Greg’s jacket onto the back of a chair to avoid creasing it, and turned around to catch him in a hug. Your cheek pressed flush against his chest, he embraced you back, breathing deeply, inhaling the smell of cold from your hair, and the remains of your perfume which had weaned in intensity throughout the night. You both sighed deeply, pleased to be back home and feeling the weight of almost a year of secrecy and guilt removed from your shoulders.

The two of you showered together, washing off the stresses and emotions of the night, and crawled into bed together. Greg pulled you tight into his chest and kissed your face, pulling you up to kiss your lips, a sensation he’d been missing for the past months during the filming of Taskmaster. He was truly grateful for his job, and loved it immensely, being able to make a living by having a laugh with his best mate and some of the finest names in comedy, but he now understood why Alex was always so eager to have the studio portion wrapped up quickly. Greg had never been one for homesickness, had always felt vaguely unmoored; sure, he loved his mother with every fibre of his being, and adored his home, but he had never had anything he really missed when he was away. Now, that was different. Being away from you had changed everything, and he hoped he was showing you how much you meant to him.

You placed your chin on top of your interlaced fingers on Greg’s chest, gazing up at him through your eyelashes with a bashful and tipsy smile. You were so pleased he was home. You didn’t need to talk about anything meaningful, he didn’t need to make you laugh, you didn’t need to even be doing anything, simply being in his presence, having him near you, was enough to make you beyond content.

A thought popped into your head. ‘Does this mean we’re going to have to thank Little Alex Horne in our speeches when we get married?’ You asked, absentmindedly swirling little circles on the warm skin of Greg’s chest. You could feel him tense up as you did this, your question registering in his tired mind.

‘What do you mean, ‘when’?’ He’d tried to sound confused, and he figured he should’ve been, considering you’d not even been together a year, and had only just officially told his best friend, but it came out with a gleeful tone, and the smile on his face didn’t make him look any more convincingly baffled.

You gave a short, snorting laugh, puffing the air out of your nose swiftly, and gave his shoulder a playful smack. ‘I’m in this for the long run, honey.’ At this, Greg’s right arm came from his side and he splayed his hand across your back beneath your pyjama top, the contact making you shiver.

‘Good, cause I’m going to have to start drafting my apology to your Mum for not listening to her at Alex’s wedding.’

Despite the late hour, you knew your Mum well enough to be certain she’d be up, a night owl as always. You wanted to call her and let her know she’d be meeting your first real partner in the morning, despite how much you’d have liked to surprise her. She’d probably kill you if you turned up with your partner without giving her any notice to give the whole house a deep clean and cook enough food for a small army.

You were sat next to Greg in your bed with your book tented on your stomach. The TV was playing something neither of you were paying attention to, casting an ebbing glow across the room. Greg had his bedside lamp on, the warm light highlighting his profile in an orange halo. You could see he was fighting sleep, his eyes half lidded beneath his glasses which had crept to the edge of his nose.

He jolted slightly, the noise of your ringing phone waking him up, and you watched as he turned, almost catlike in his serene, relaxed movements, towards you with a growing smile. You pressed a finger to your lips and mouthed ‘calling Mum’ so he’d know to keep his mouth shut. He grasped for the TV remote to turn the volume down, and turned further onto his side to listen to your phone conversation with a deeper concentration, knowing it would be about himself.

‘Hi Mum!’

He couldn’t hear your mother’s side of the phone, but it didn’t sound like it was going horrendously by the cheery tone of your voice.

‘Well, Rach and Al are coming to see you tomorrow so I thought I’d join’

Greg watched as a soft pink blush crept across your cheeks, turning the tips of your ears a fierce crimson. He could see you transformed into the teenager he never knew, embarrassed to be discussing your love life with your mother, coy with a shy pride and nervousness.

‘I actually… Mum I’ve met someone.’

He heard a high pitched exclamation down your mother’s end of the phone that registered in his ears as ‘Oh Darling that’s wonderful!’ or something of that calibre, confirmed by the giggle that came bubbling out of your mouth.

‘We’re going to come to see you tomorrow. I just thought I’d give you some notice.’

The conversation dwindled as you got sleepier, and when you put your phone back on your bedside table after wishing goodnight to your Mum, you turned around to see Greg’s signature tight lipped smile, with his crinkled, warm eyes looking kindly up at you.

He hoisted himself up in bed and gently moved his arm around the top of your shoulders, pulling you into his chest and placing a kiss on your lips. You could feel his smile through the kiss.

He didn’t need to tell you what he was smiling about for you to know that he was buoyed by the joy of your newly public relationship, finally being able to bask in the domestic bliss you’d enjoyed for the past year without guilt.

You and Greg woke up early, the bright spring sun sending huge beams of light through the large window in the bedroom you shared. Despite the early morning and late night – not to mention the bottles of wine you consumed – you woke up feeling fresh, and were almost running down to the kitchen where you could hear Greg clattering around.

You perched yourself on one of the barstools at the island opposite the stovetop where Greg seemed to be absorbed in whatever he was cooking. There were two mugs in front of you: your milky and sweet tea, and Greg’s traditional black coffee. Very un-British of him, he should be ashamed.

‘Hello, love’ he chirped, despite still being utterly consumed by the contents of the frying pans on the hobs, ‘sleep well?’

‘Like a baby’ you beamed, feeling buoyed by a newfound optimism that coming clean to Alex and the prospect of telling your Mum had given you.

You gazed out of the window for the better part of five minutes, loving the comfortable silences that you had missed so much with Greg being away, but your reverie was broken as you noticed him start to plate up.

He turned and produced two plates of bacon, hash browns, and scrambled eggs. He had never been much of a cook during the course of your relationship, with you being passionate about the food you ate and cooked, and he was more than happy to let you take the wheel, but he absolutely excelled in breakfasts. It was the one thing you could never rival him on.

You sat beside each other, recounting last night’s antics and the behind the scenes of Taskmaster, munching away on your breakfasts and sipping your drinks. Greg already knew he wanted to marry you, not in a conscious way, but in that he felt a sense of belonging and home in you, but after his epiphany on the train yesterday, and your casual question last night, sitting here with you enjoying breakfast and basking in the more mundane aspects of his life, he realised he could see the rest of his life stretching out before him, with you in it.

For him, his life of celebrity and sensationalism was not one that he completely loved. He loved comedy, he loved his friends, and he was mostly happy with the fame and recognition, but he was a simple man, and realising he wanted a normal married life, settling down and enjoying the little things, was only a realisation he’d had after he’d met you.

#greg davies #taskmaster uk #greg davies x reader #little Alex Horne #Rachel Horne

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