It wasn't as if he'd wanted to go. The invitation had come through the post, and Jack had seen it before Ianto had been able to shred it and deny its existence. He'd made excuses; tried to find reasons not to go, but Jack wasn't having any of it.
"You're not missing your school reunion, Ianto, and that's the end of it. I'll drive you there if I have to, cos you're definitely going."
That was how Ianto found himself being driven across Wales to Aberystwyth that Friday evening after work. Although he was a Cardiff boy by birth, the Jones family had moved away when the young Ianto was seven, and as a consequence had spent most of his childhood and adolescence in another part of Wales.
"Please, Jack," Ianto begged as they pulled up in the car park in Ianto's old school. "It's not too late to turn the car around, find a hotel and I'll make it worth your while."
"What's the problem?" Jack asked. "I'd love to meet up with my old schoolmates again. I probably will, in a few dozen centuries time, but that's not the point. You've only got one lifetime, and I don't want you regretting things later on."
"What if I was to tell you this place was the reason I left for London?"
Jack turned off the engine and looked Ianto in the eye. "What do you mean?"
Ianto sighed. "Things weren't easy when I was a kid. There wasn't much to do in the evenings, so we used to sit on the school field and drink. There was a hole in the fence we'd climb through to get in; even kids that didn't go to the school any more used to come with us."
He paused, staring out of the window at the building that held so many memories.
"Go on," Jack prompted.
"I was confused for a few years about who I was. I had girlfriends, like loads of kids my age, but then I started fancying my best mate, Gareth. I was really confused. I couldn't be gay, but I couldn't be straight either. I didn't have anyone to talk to about it, so I struggled through for quite a while. Then one night, it happened."
Ianto's hands were shaking now, and Jack gripped them tight. "You can tell me anything, Yan. You know that."
Ianto nodded, and took a deep breath. "I was drunk, and Gareth was helping me walk home. It was the summer after I'd officially finished school, and we were biding the time until Uni. There'd been a few of us get smashed out on the school field, and it was us who lived furthest away. We walked home together like usual, but there was something about Gareth that night I couldn't resist. I kissed him."
Jack nodded, understanding but not wanting to interrupt.
"It was the first time I'd ever kissed another man, and Gareth was horrified. He screamed at me, and went home immediately. The next day, when I was sober, I rang him to apologise, but he said he never wanted to see me again. A week later I had moved to London."
Tears were welling up in Ianto's eyes, and Jack leaned across to hug him. "I had no idea."
"You never asked," Ianto replied bluntly. "He said he never wanted to see me again, but he'll be here tonight. I know he will. I'm scared, Jack." He clung tightly to his lover, and Jack understood.
"I won't make you go in there if you don't want to," he acknowledged, "but I'll also come inside if you want me to. I was going to drive around, see if I could find any pieces of alien junk in local charity shops, but I'll happily change my plans for you."
"Really?" Ianto asked. "Will you, then? Come inside, I mean. I don't think I can do it on my own."
"Of course," Jack smiled as he broke off the hug and opened the door. "Come on, Mr Jones, we have an appointment to keep."
Ianto climbed out of the car and walked alongside Jack to the familiar main entrance of his high school. He recognised a few other people who were arriving, and signed himself in at the door, along with his 'plus one' – Jack.
Barely inside the door, a man approached the pair. Ianto didn't recognise him at first, but the minute he opened his mouth it was obvious.
"Ianto Jones? We parted on bad terms, as I recall. I hoped you'd be here tonight, so I could apologise for my behaviour all those years ago."
"Gareth?" Ianto asked in disbelief.
The man nodded, before hugging Ianto. "Me and you were best friends. I really hate how I acted towards you at the end, and I'm hoping we can still be mates."
"Of course," Ianto nodded, too choked for many words.
"See," Jack mouthed at him. "I told you it would be alright."
Ianto nodded, and mouthed just one word in response. "Thankyou."