When Ianto was 17 years old, he only had a couple of friends, but the friend he mostly hung around with was Huw Lloyd. They had been friends since nursery and lived right next door to one another. The thing was Ianto found himself attracted to Olwen as well as, god forbid, Huw, Ianto didn't know what his body wanted right now, so he blamed his hormones for his attraction on Huw.
When Ianto and Huw had to study for the same class one night, they decided it would be easier if Ianto stayed at Huws seeing as his parents were on holiday to America. So they planned that all at school that day. When Ianto went to Huws house that night, he couldn't help the way his heart leapt at the sight of him, he had obviously just come out of the shower, so his thick red hair was plastered to his face, water falling down his chest and stopped at the towel that was covering him.
"Umm, hey." Ianto all but whispered
"Hey, I'm just out the shower so you can make yourself comfy while I get some clothes on," Huw told him, "Oh, and can you make some coffee, seeing as your so good at it, I love your coffee."
"Yeah, sure!" Ianto said to him as he walked into the bedroom.
As Ianto busied himself with making the coffee, he couldn't get the image of Huw in only a towel out of his head, and it was making him want to run out as fast as he could, he didn't want to do anything tonight except stare at Huw. He was too busy with the coffee and his thoughts that he didn't notice that Huw had come into the kitchen in a pair of pyjama bottoms, so when he turned around he nearly dropped the cup he was holding.
It turned out that Huw had had a thing for Ianto, so he had told Ianto after they had sat down with the coffee's that Ianto had finished making, without breaking a cup. So they had done their studying and then went to bed, and there wasn't much sleeping going on that night as they both tried what it would be like with a guy.
After that night, they decided to go out, they had both liked each other so they thought no harm of it, that was until Huws parents had found out and had made him go to a collage up in Scotland when they had left school. They had decided that a long distance relationship wasn't going to last and bid farewell.
9 years on, and the man Ianto had secretly loved had died, and then run off with the Doctor, he only knew it was the Doctor Jack had run off with as he recognised the sound from the CCTV to Canary Wharf, and the noise matched the TARDIS. Ianto just couldn't believe it had happened again, his lover leaving him, Jack had only been his second male lover, his first being Huw.
"Ianto, do you want to go to the pub with us, drown your sorrows with booze?" Owen asked Ianto as they gave up the search for Jack that day.
"Yeah, sure why not" Ianto answered sounding defeated, he didn't want to go but he might as well and hopefully get drunk so he wont know what's going on.
As they headed to the pub, all were quiet; Ianto walked in-between Tosh and Gwen, while Owen walked next to Tosh, all of them looking extremely exhausted. When they entered the pub, it seemed there was a party of sorts going on at one of the tables, well it was half nine at night. Owen bought the first rounds which were drank hastily and in complete silence. Ianto went up to get the second rounds, while he was at the bar one of the members of the party or whatever it was came up to him and smiled, Ianto thought he recognised that smile.
"Olwen?" Ianto asked carefully
"How do you know my name," She asked as she looked at him with dark hazel eyes. Then realisation took hold of her. "Wait, your Ianto Jones, aren't you?"
"Yeah, what's going on over there?"
"Huws home, we didn't know if you were still in Cardiff or not, and your pretty hard to find." Olwen told him.
"Huw? Like Huw Lloyd?" Ianto asked.
"Yes, do you want to say hi?"
"No, sorry I can't, I'm with my colleagues." Ianto said apologetically as the barman handed him the drinks. When he walked balk to the table he could sense Olwen was watching him, he knew what she was going to do.
As he handed out the drinks and sat down, he noticed that each of the team were looking at him, it made him feel small, but he was determined not to look at them.
"Who was that? And why is that woman over there pointing at you?" Gwen asked, Ianto felt like he could kill her, but she was right, Olwen was pointing at him.
"An old friend, that's all, I hadn't seen her in ages." Ianto answered her question but when he took a sip of his beer he could see out of the corner of his eye, a man with red hair get up and start to walk over to their table.
"Ianto, is that you?" The man asked as he stood next to Ianto's seat.
"Yeah Huw, it's me." Ianto replied
"Why didn't you come over and say hi? I missed you when I was in Scotland, I didn't mean to be there so long, it's just I got a job and I rather liked it." Huw asked
"Yeah, well umm, we uh… have to go, don't we girls" Owen said to Tosh and Gwen signalling for them to make for the door.
"Yeah, we'd best leave you two alone for a while." Tosh said then scampered after Owen and Gwen. Ianto just looked at Huw, at motioned for him to sit down.
"The reason I didn't go over is because I had friends over here, had it has been a hard few weeks okay." Ianto explained to Huw.
"Well, do you want to leave this place and talk, I've really missed your voice, you know that."
"We could go back to mine if anything, but I'd need to get my car from work," Ianto said to him, any traces of happiness that was forming when he saw this man again were gone due to his comment about Ianto's voice. "Wait, you have a party going, I don't want to interrupt."
"I'd love to go back to yours, it doesn't matter about that, the topic went off me ages ago, if I have to be honest it went onto you and how they don't hear from you anymore."
"Yeah well, I work long hours, demanding job," Ianto said as he stood up and pulled his coat on. "Are you coming?"
As the two walked out into the street, Huw followed Ianto and waiting outside the tourist information office as Ianto went in to check if it was okay, he couldn't help wondering how a job in a tourist information office can have you working long hours and being demanding a job. When Ianto came around with his car, Huw jumped in and they stayed in silence until they walked through Ianto's front door.
"Would you like a coffee?" Ianto asked Huw.
"Yeah thanks, I love your coffee; I also love your flat!" Huw said as he made his way into Ianto's living room, he liked the pictures, everything, he liked everything.
When Huw sat down after receiving his coffee from Ianto, He started to tell him about the mad bloke he had managed to pull at a club called 'Out' and how he had had pictures of the pair of them up on his wall when he was on campus in Dundee, also of the job he had, he told him he had started to work in a school as a sub. Huw even told Ianto about his plans for when he came back to Cardiff, the first one was to track Ianto down and say hi, the second was for seeing all his old mates again, and having a laugh.
Ianto then in turn told Huw about Jack, always making sure that he didn't reveal to much about Torchwood as he would then have to retcon Huw, which was something Ianto didn't want to do. So Ianto told Huw that he worked with Special Ops, and that since he was back in Cardiff, he would hear stuff about a Special Ops group called Torchwood. Ianto then told Huw about Canary Wharf and asked about the ghosts up in Scotland and asked Huw if he believed n aliens.
It turned out that Huw had had another plan, and that was to get Ianto back, but when he had heard about Lisa and Jack, he wasn't sure about that part of his plan until Ianto leaned over and kissed him in a way he never had done before, Ianto's kisses had changed, and they weren't for the better, these kisses were full of despair and loss. What had Ianto been through Huw found himself thinking much later on as Ianto sleep on his arm, making it numb.