Wow hello guys! It's been a while – Once upon a time I wrote a series of Janto 'one shots' called 'Janto Fluffles' under the username 'Emily-Ruthh' I vanished as I had a baby, life got pretty intense and somehow along the line I got shut out of my old account (maybe one day I'll find the email account I used, maybe I won't, C'est la vie…) Anyway! I've been reading back old fanfictions that I used to absolutely adore as well as some new brilliant ones and I've sort of regained that little bit of inspiration I need to get back writing myself again. I can't promise I'm going to be updating regularly, with a full time job, a husband, two small children and a couple of cats to keep me busy but I will try my absolute best. I will at some point be revisiting 'Janto fluffles', I still have access to the chapters on an old laptop which I'm actually pretty excited about (maybe I'll do some work about the awful title…!), but for now here's something fresh!
Please excuse my writing – I am a little bit rusty!
This is an AU, and of course it's Janto! The idea has been bugging me for a few days now, and I'm actually really really pleased to be writing it down! Please enjoy
(p.s I'm messing around with timelines a little bit here – hope all becomes clear but I'm more than happy to clear things up!)
"Right come on Jack," Gwen said bursting into Jack's spacious living room "sitting here in the dark on your own is going to do you no favours whatsoever, so go on get showered and dressed we're going out. I'll wait here for you, be quick!"
Jack ignored her and continued to stare at the blank wall in front of him. Gwen rolled her eyes and sat next to him
"Come on Jaaaaaack, you know John wouldn't want to see you like this."
Jack shrugged
"He's not here, what difference does it make?" he said almost bitterly
"Jack, it's been nine months…" Jack moved to interrupt her but she shook her head at him "and while I'm not saying it doesn't utterly suck that your husband died, I assure you John really wouldn't want to see you so bloody miserable. So you're going to go upstairs, have a shower because in all honesty love, you need one, then you're going to go and get dressed into something other than sweats then we're going to go out and meet up with Rhys and my new friend Toshiko from yoga. No is not an answer I'm going to accept."
"Since when did you do yoga?!" Jack asked, slightly surprised
"You miss a lot when you ignore all my calls, texts and emails don't you! Now hurry up and get ready, I told Tosh we'd meet her at 7:30 and it's almost 7 now!"
Jack gave a heavy, laboured sigh before getting up off his sofa and shuffling upstairs. Gwen smiled sadly as he left the room, switching her attention to the mess of coffee mugs and scrunched up paper that littered the living room. She stood up and begin to tidy up, as she did she looked up at the picture of Jack and John on their wedding day that was hung on the wall
"Oh John…" She whispered "Why did you have to leave him? I'm trying my best to help him, I really am, but how can I help a man who doesn't want it?"
Just after seven thirty Jack and Gwen arrived at the pub where Gwen had arranged to meet Rhys and Tosh. Gwen quickly located her husband who was sat at a corner table with Tosh and a man she didn't recognise and quickly presumed was Tosh's boyfriend. She dragged Jack over to them and greeted Rhys with a quick kiss and Tosh with a warm hug
"Tosh, this is my very best friend Jack Harkness, and Jack this is Toshiko Sato, me and her go to the same yoga class and bonded over our mutual lack of coordination!" Gwen laughed
"It's nice to finally meet you Jack, I've heard a lot about you!" Tosh told Jack, going to shake his hand
"I still can't believe this one is doing yoga to be honest!" Jack replied laughing, "It's nice to meet you too." He added, reaching over and pulling Tosh into a hug. He looked over to the man who had been sat next to her "and it's nice to meet your boyfriend too."
Tosh looked confused for a moment before putting two and two together
"Oh this is Ianto, Ianto Jones. He's not my boyfriend, just my very best friend. He's had a pretty shit time of it of late and I thought I'd take him out tonight to finally get him out the house!"
Jack's eyes locked Ianto's and his breath was almost taken, not only were they the most beautiful and piercing blue eyes he was sure he'd ever seen but they held more pain in them than anyone should feel in a lifetime, let alone anyone as young as Ianto
"Well, that's two of us!" Jack said almost jokingly "It's nice to meet you Ianto." Jack he added sincerely
Ianto half smiled in Jack's direction, he was about to say something before Rhys clapped his hands together.
"Right, I'm going to get some drinks, I know what Gwen'll want, same again for you Ianto and Toshiko?" they both nodded in reply "What about you Jack?"
"He'll have a vodka tonic!" Gwen chipped in before Jack could even answer, she turned to Jack before he could even protest "you're here to have fun Jack, not to watch us have fun!" She rubbed his forearm affectionately "Right, I'm going to run to the ladies quickly, see you guys in a minute."
"Ohh I'll come with you!" Tosh replied getting out her seat again and walking in the directions of the ladies with Gwen. Rhys too got up out of his seat and walked in the direction of the bar, leaving Jack and Ianto alone.
"I was about to say it's nice to meet you too" Ianto laughed softly, but Jack noticed that the smile never quite reached his eyes
"It's my first time out of the house properly in months." Jack said out of nowhere "My husband was killed in a hit and run nine months ago. Gwen has been trying to keep me going bless her, it's just hard I guess" he laughed somewhat harshly "You don't need to hear this, we don't even know each other." He sighed "I'm sorry." He added
"No don't be." Ianto said gently "a hit and run sounds pretty harsh, were you with him when it happened?"
Jack shook his head
"Nope. We were on the phone to each other, arranging where to meet in town, he was complaining about the traffic and how it was bloody impossible to cross the road. The next thing I heard was the awful shrieking of breaks and then it all went silent. Apparently the driver was so quick to get away that nobody was able to get their number plate." He bit his lip "I keep telling myself if I'd have driven him to work that day then it wouldn't have happened and he'd still be here with me now…"
"No Jack, you mustn't think like that, you can't blame yourself, it was a total accident." Ianto cut across him "though it's easier said than done, believe me." he added
Jack looked up and back into Ianto's eyes, he was about to say something else when he shook his head
"So Ianto, Ianto Jones, what do you do for a living?" He asked, changing the topic completely
Ianto blinked a few times before straightening up
"Oh I work in banking, and before you say anything it's not as boring or immoral as it sounds! I'm one of very few people who actually enjoys their job, it's kept me going since…" Ianto trailed off leaving his sentence unfinished. Jack thought briefly about asking Ianto to continue but thought better of it. Ianto took a deep breath before looking at Jack again "What do you do and how do you know Gwen?"
"I'm a writer, you might have heard of the sci-fi novel series 'time agent', well I wrote them. Currently working on a new standalone novel, but after aforementioned events, it's safe to say it's not going well! I met Gwen at university when we lived in the same halls, and I've not been able to get rid of her since! Not that I'd want to, she's been amazing these past few months. I don't know what I would have done without her."
Ianto smiled warmly at this
"My sister absolutely loves your books! She's going to kill me when she finds out that I've met you – maybe we'll have to take a selfie later when we're drunk enough and I'll send it to her!" He laughed "I met Toshiko at university actually, she was going out with my flatmate Tommy at the time. The friendship with Tommy didn't last and neither did their relationship, he was a bit odd was old Tommy, seemed a little bit out of his time… but nevertheless I made an absolute friend for life there and I wouldn't be without her." Ianto added
"Ohh I heard my name mentioned!" Toshkio said returning from the ladies with Gwen
"We were talking about you not to you!" Ianto teased "I just asked Jack how he knew Gwen, and he mentioned that they'd met whilst at university so I told Jack that you and I had both met at university also."
Tosh narrowed her eyes at Ianto suspiciously but this was all forgotten instantly when Rhys arrived with a tray of drinks. The evening passed by smoothly, with Ianto talking a selfie with Jack and sending it to his sister as promised. It was getting late when everyone decided to go home. Gwen had told Jack earlier in the evening that he was staying with her and Rhys that evening because he lived far too far away to walk home at that time of night and she really wouldn't take no for an answer so Jack found himself walking arm in arm with Gwen whilst Rhys drove Tosh and Ianto home (he hadn't been drinking on the account that he had work early in the morning)
"So did you like Tosh?" Gwen asked Jack
"Oh I did yes, she was nice" he replied smiling, "her friend Ianto is really nice too."
"Yeah, he seemed it, you wouldn't believe that nearly a year ago Ianto was in a hospital bed thinking he'd never walk again would you."
"Oh?" Jack asked curiously
"Yeah, do you remember the terrorist attacks on Canary Wharf in London? Well Ianto worked there and was caught in the middle of it. He's really lucky to have made it according to Tosh. Sadly his fiancé wasn't as lucky and he died after being shot. According to Tosh the whole brave face Ianto puts on in public is a total bravado. He moved back to Cardiff as soon as he could to be nearer to his sister who he hadn't spoken to in years prior to that incident, he found himself a job almost instantly and now he's using work as a coping mechanism, which can't be good for him can it?"
Jack had barely listened to the end of her sentence, poor beautiful Ianto. Tosh hadn't been kidding when she had said he'd had been having a shit time of things and then he had to go and open his big mouth and mention John, like he'd been the only person in the world to experience that kind of hurt. Ianto's whole "it's easier said than done, believe me" Comment made so much sense now to Jack and he ached for the younger man he'd only just met
"Anyway, Tosh text me suggesting that we meet up tomorrow morning for breakfast, the four of us. What should I tell her?"
Before he could even stop himself Jack replied with a "Tell her yes." For some reason he wanted to go, wanted to see Ianto againg and spend more time with him
Gwen grinned
"That's brilliant Jack! I think you're finally making some progress!"
Jack just nodded as they continued walking, his mind otherwise engaged.
There we go! Hope you all enjoyed that – please let me know what you think! I'll hopefully have more up soon, work and family permitting!
Love and hugs,
Em xxx