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The outside air was bitingly cold, about standard for mid December but when compared to warmth of the inside of the crowded pub that Greg huddled in the doorway of, it may as well have been the Arctic circle. He cursed to himself taking a quick pull of his vape, he needed a bit of respite from the crowd and the noise, not that he didn’t enjoy what was essentially a Christmas work night out with some of the Taskmaster crew. Greg would be lying to himself if he didn’t come purely to spend a bit of time with Alex, between both their insane schedules and family plans around the holidays it seemed like the only time he got to spend with Alex was filming. It was nice to just be able to relax and have fun together outside of work.
The door opened briefly letting out a cacophonous noise of the bar goers and music inside and Alex appeared next to him, zipping up his coat and bag in hand.
“Are you leaving already?” Greg asked, condensed breath and sickly sweet vape mixing in the winter air.
“Yeah, I promised Rach I wouldn’t be home crazy late tonight. And you know how bad it can be getting a cab.” Alex said nonchalantly, shrugging his bag further onto his shoulder. Clad in his usual brightly coloured coat and Chesham United wool hat, Greg sometimes thought Alex looked like a toddler who’s mum made them bundle up warm in too many layers whenever the weather turned cold. But, then he remembered, this was the man who routinely wore jumpers in the middle of summer.
“Don’t want to get in trouble with Mum then.” Greg jabbed a finger into Alex’s arm playfully and Alex just rolled his eyes with a laugh.
It was during this eye-roll, that Greg noticed Alex’s eyes darted up and then immediately back down in front of him, his attention caught by something briefly. Greg’s eyebrow raised inquisitively at how fidgety he had become almost instantly.
“What’s up?”
“Nothing.” Clearly it was not nothing,
“You’re being weirder than usual. What’s got you?”
Greg looked up, and there it was. Nailed on the pub’s doorframe was a sprig of plastic mistletoe. The leaves were that artificial green only seen on fake plants in doctor’s waiting rooms and the white buds were large, wet from the rain or from the condensation in the cold and a red ribbon tied around the stem to hide the placement of the nail keeping it in place. Greg barked out a laugh, “Really? I didn’t even think places still put up mistletoe anymore.” He tapped one of the plastic bulbs and a droplet of water fell onto his jacket sleeve. Greg gave Alex a sly grin putting two and two together, “Mate, if you wanted a kiss that badly you should’ve just asked!” Greg darted in quickly, placing a dramatic kiss on Alex’s forehead and pulling back with a devilish grin before going to take a pull from his vape.
He expected Alex to look awkward, uncomfortable or embarrassed like he tended to whenever Greg decided to be a bit overly friendly and affectionate with him. But he just looked - disappointed? Conflicted? Like there were a million thoughts going through his head.
“What if-” Alex’s voice came out small and croaky, he swallowed, clearing a sudden lump in his throat. “What if I wanted you to. For real I mean.” The last part came out almost as one long word with how quickly Alex forced it out of his mouth. He refused to meet Greg’s eyes, a blush creeping up his neck.
Greg pocketed his vape pen and moved his hand up tentatively and cupped Alex’s cheek, who leaned into the touch as if it was second nature to him. This was different than the usual times they were overly affectionate with each other, there was no jokey layer here. No bit to commit to. Whether it was his inhibitions being lowered by some booze in his system or some bullshit about Christmas magic, Alex was being serious.
There was no audience to play to or any yes-and-ing happening. This was just Alex and Greg. Standing in the doorway of a pub on a freezing winter night under some cheap, plastic mistletoe.
“You’re not joking are you?” Alex shook his head, placing a small kiss into Greg’s palm. “Ask me, use your words Alex.”
“No. I - I really want you to kiss me. Please.”
“Oh, baby boy.” Greg sighed, his voice low barely above a whisper as he leaned down towards Alex. So close their noses bumped together slightly, “How could I say no, when you ask so nicely?”
They both exhaled a chuckle, Alex sounding like he’d been holding his breath the whole time as Greg closed the distance between them, placing a soft kiss to Alex’s lips. His hands came up and grabbed onto Greg’s jacket pulling him deeper into the kiss, groaning slightly as their lips parted against each other. Greg felt the slight scratch of Alex’s beard as their lips moved against each other, an arm snaking around Alex’s waist holding him close and groaning as he felt Alex’s tongue dart out to lick at Greg’s bottom lip.
They parted and broke the kiss, panting slightly and staring half-lidded into each other's eyes. They would have to talk about this at some point. But not now. Now they just let the moment wash over them.
The loud ping of Alex’s phone coming from his jeans pocket brought them both back to reality. Alex pulled back reluctantly and fished his phone from his pocket, "That's, uh - My taxi’s around the corner.”
“Yeah. Yeah no of course, right.” Greg sighed, “Safe travels home, Mate. Give Rachel my love.” He smiled, hands twitching awkwardly unsure of what to do with them after the kiss. Alex pulled the older man into a warm hug, giving him a small peck on the cheek.
“Merry Christmas, Greg.”
“Merry Christmas, Alex.”
Greg watched as Alex hurried out the cold into the back of the cab, giving a little wave as the car pulled away into the night.
“Christ. Fuck me.” Greg let his head fall back against the door frame of the entryway, letting out a groan and scrubbing a hand over his face. Fishing his vape out his pocket and taking a long pull, sighing on the exhale as the sweet vapour rose in the winter air.