Jack groaned and dropped his head into his hands, the pen in his fingers dropping to the desk unnoticed. The three little letters he had just written were glaring at him from the sheet of paper, mocking him, and he scrubbed his hands over his face in an effort to block them from his sight. What a juvenile, immature, and girly thing to do, but he hadn't been able to stop himself. He picked up his pen and quickly added two more letters to the three he had written, hoping a full word would overwrite the meaning of the three letters that were burned into his mind. It didn't work.

Grabbing the paper up in hand he quickly crumpled it into a ball before throwing it across the room. It landed halfway between his desk and the bookshelf, right at Ianto's feet as he stepped into the room bringing Jack his coffee. Jack swallowed nervously as Ianto glanced down with surprise. "Hey there, Yan. I didn't see you coming."

He watched warily as Ianto picked up the paper, knowing that he wouldn't understand what was written on it but feeling nervous nonetheless. Ianto placed Jacks coffee on the desk in front of him. "I was going to run out and pick up a few supplies and something for lunch. The girls requested sandwiches and Owen grunted which I took as consent." Smoothing out the paper, he casually glanced at the writing. "Was there anything I can get for you, sir?" He gave Jack a questioning look. There was a single word written on the paper. jelly.

Jack felt an uncomfortable flush start to creep up his cheeks and cleared his throat willing the heat away. "Sandwiches would be good, yeah, and, um, maybe some jelly?"

There was an expectant pause. "Did you have a particular flavour in mind?"

The quizzical look that Ianto shot him caused Jack to squirm a little in his chair. "Oh, right. Um, strawberry. Thanks, Yan." With a nod, Ianto placed the smoothed out paper on Jacks desk and left the room. Jack dropped his head in his hands again. He was definitely off his game today.

x-o-x-o

Rift activity kept the team busy for the rest of the afternoon and it wasn't until nearly eight that they all returned to the hub. "Ianto? Yan!"

Gwen picked up her handbag and waited for Tosh to power down her computers, Owen having already left. "Jack, he's probably gone home by now. You told him he spent too much time here and ordered him out of the hub by seven every night."

Remembering, Jack nodded his head. "That's right. You should be going as well. Don't want to keep Rhys waiting."

Tosh walked up behind him. "Is there something wrong? You seem distracted today."

Flashing the two concerned women his famous Harkness smile he gave them a wink and said, "Jelly." Then firmly pushed the now confused women towards the door. "Go home. You both have work tomorrow."

The rumble of the cog door faded away leaving Jack alone with his thoughts. He absentmindedly looked around the deserted hub not really realizing that he was looking for something, wanting something. The electronic beeps and dripping water only accenting the empty silence that Jack was just starting to become aware of and he turned away.

A flash of red caught his eye as he entered his office and hung up his coat. Sitting down behind his desk he reached over and pulled the packet of jelly towards him with a small smile. Ianto must have set it there earlier. He sighed. This strange item was now irrevocably entwined with the three little letters that had been dwelling on his thoughts for most of the day. The same three letters that had been taunting him since he had written them down that morning. j, l, y.

He ran his finger over the letters printed on the package, pausing thoughtfully. There were two 'l's. After considering the package for a few more minutes he wrote down the four letters, spacing them apart. j, l, l, y. One 'l' was okay but the meaning of the second one worried him.

He carefully filled in the spaces between the letters. Jack likes/loves Yan.

Seeing it written down in black and white caused Jack to catch his breath. Whoa, what was he thinking here. It was too soon for that, wasn't it? They had only kissed a couple of times, well more than a couple, but still it wasn't all that much, unless you were to count that one evening… Jack quickly drew his thoughts back to the problem at hand.

They hadn't even gone out on a proper date together. Did he want to go out on a proper date? No, where was the fun in that? But he had to remember that he was old and Ianto was so very young. Eternity stretched out in front of him while his Yan only had a few short decades. There was no way he could allow anything to happen between the two of them.

But then there it was, plain as day, the second 'l'.

He sat at his desk consciously inhaling and exhaling, calming himself. This wasn't a bad thing, really. Just a bit startling, unexpected. He picked up the strawberry jelly again. No, the jelly was a good thing. It showed there was some 'wiggle' room for his emotions in this relationship. One 'l' or two, what did it matter? It didn't have to be all or nothing right away. This was Ianto he was talking about. Jack may not know what the future would bring but it didn't matter because both 'l's were there when or if he needed them.

The smile on his face was happy and relaxed, his mind put at ease, at least for the moment anyway.

Jack contemplated the jelly he was still holding and then glanced at the phone. What would it take to convince Ianto into picking up a lot more of the strawberry jelly and one of those inflatable swimming pools. Things could really start to get interesting then. He leaned back in his chair, a plan starting to form. Ianto might look good in red.