When I wrote 5 TIMES WHEN IANTO JONES SAYS 'I LOVE YOU' WITH HORRIBLE RESULTS Bekah26 asked me to write 5 times when Ianto Jones says 'I love you' and is happy so here it is!
I still don't own Ianto or Jack or anyone you recognize from Torchwood, they all belong to BBC and RTD
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I.
Ianto is ten years old when he says 'I love you'to a girl for the first time. Of course he has said those words to his mum almost every day but mum doesn't count. The girl is nine years old and her name is Jacqueline and she's from France and has more friends than he can count with his fingers and toes put together. He loves her hair. So shiny raven black with white ribbons and she's gorgeous enough for him to want to a small kiss which says a lot since his usual attitude towards girls is between 'mum'and 'ewww'.
It happens in schools playground behind the swings. It's a sunny day in late spring and in just few weeks summer holidays would begin and Jacqueline would travel to some French town which has impossible name to pronounce. So when he sees her building sandcastles he goes to sit next to her.
"Why do you build sandcastles? You're nine" he asks bluntly. "Nine year olds don't build sandcastles. Only kids do so."
"I like building them. Besides it's Emmas turn to play mum today and that would make me the kid and I don't want to be the kid" she answers adding leaves to her sandcastle.
"I would like to play with the ball but Alan won't let me. He says I'm too small."
"You are small."
"Well that's because I don't eat like a horse!" he says back and she giggles.
"You could build sandcastles with me" she then shyly says with pink cheeks.
"I don't build sandcastles. I'm ten. Besides I'm a boy" he stubbornly says.
"Well I could kick ball with you?"
"Alan has the ball."
"Alan! Give me the ball. I want to play with it!" she immediately yells and jumps up brushing dirt from her skirt.
To Iantos huge surprise Alan comes and gives her the ball. Ianto can't understand how that works. If he would go batting his eyelashes Alan would sure punch him in the gut and call him with stupid names. Girls always get away with this stuff. Girls and their stupid little dimples and shiny teeth. But then she's skipping to him again and the sun is hitting her hair in the perfect angle and her eyes are shining and she's smiling so widely so to ten year old Ianto she is quite perfect after all.
"Here. We can play now but I must warn you that I'm quite good" Jacqueline announces sweetly.
The ball she is holding must be Alans own because now when he gets a closer look it's much better than all the balls the school has. It's new and surprisingly clean and so much better than the ball he has in home.
"Wow" he whispers carefully taking it to his small hands.
"Alan said I can play with it the whole day."
"I love you" he grins and she frowns and swats his arm.
"You're silly Ianto."
II.
"I am not wearing that!" Ianto yells pointing the offensive piece of clothing hanging from his girlfriends arms.
"C'mon Yan! It's Halloween!" Lisa whines waving the red Superman cape in the air.
"Yeah but that doesn't mean I will ever wear that!"
"Just try it! It will be awesome. You will be superman and I'll be super sexy alien chick!" she shouts jumping to catch him but he quickly runs to the other side of her dining room table.
"I still can't exactly imagine how you make that super sexy" he answers pointing the horrible plastic alien mask on the coffee table.
"You doubt my talents Mr. Jones?" she asks grinning and strikes a ridiculous pose with pouting lips and all. "You should've seen me last year. I was wearing a box, antennas and I was covered with silver paint and I still managed to work it!"
"I've seen the pictures" Ianto replies dryly trying to hold back a smile.
He indeed has seen the pictures of Lisa in one huge box (badly) glued antenna thingy in her head. She had looked ridiculous to be honest but he has to admit that the box covered only her torso and her magnificent legs covered in silvery paint… Well they looked good enough to borrow the photos and copying them to himself. Lisa still doesn't know about this and maybe it's better that she never will.
"It's just one night besides it will just be Jill, Paul, Allyson, Fred, Vaughn and few others. All of them are friends and I heard that Paul will be known as Paulette for one night and Vaughn and his brothers are dressed as The Village People. Superman is easy compared to leather cop uniform. Though you would look hot in leather…"
"Oh don't you dare to even imagine that!" he shouts.
"Well guess you have to be the Superman then. It's either the cape or black PVC" she smirks.
"I already have a costume. I don't need capes" he defenses himself making sure that he still is on the other side of the table.
"And that is what? Invisible man?" she giggles.
"No silly. Though now you mentioned that option…"
"Oh don't you dare to even imagine that!" she mimics his earlier words and he can't help but start to laugh.
Lisa has that effect on him. In her company he seems to just laugh and smile all the time even when he never believed that someone could have that effect on him. But she is special; she has that something which just makes him happy and free. But that still doesn't mean that he will dishonor himself by wearing a superman suit for Halloween parties. Besides the material from which the cape is made seems to be spandex.
Ianto Jones has never ever worn spandex and he will never ever do so either.
"So what's you genius costume then?" she asks innocently changing tactics.
"James Bond" he answers coolly.
She bursts to wild laughter clutching her stomach and leaning to the table for support. Not quite the reaction he expected.
"Hey don't laugh! I bought a new suit and you have no idea how much that cost me!"
"Honey you have at least three old black suits!"
"Yeah but… I wanted a new one! Halloween remember, you have to BUY a costume" he smirks.
"God you're impossible" she giggles finally abandoning that horrible cape and walking to him. "But I still love you."
"Love me enough to lend me your sunglasses?"
"Love you enough to lend you my sunglasses and enough to let you use my special hair wax" she whispers to his ear.
"Wonderful. In that case I love you too" he answers deciding to leave the fact that he already used her special hair wax to himself.
III.
It's a peaceful morning in a small cottage just outside the Cardiff city in Wales. Ianto Jones is sitting in an old ratty armchair humming a tune coming from the radio. He likes it here. It feels like home and most of all it smells like home, like apples and dust and fresh roses he brought with him. In the chair next to him sits now 87 years old Ariana Jones, his grandma from mothers side. For her age she's still surprisingly healthy and active and is still able to live here alone after grandpa died few years ago.
He likes looking at her knitting mittens. She always looks so peaceful and calm and her eyes are exactly like his mothers.
"So you have a job here now?" she asks.
"Yeah. I work under the government in Cardiff city. It's a good job" he answers with a soft smile.
"I hope so. After what happened to Lisa… I was worried. She was a lovely girl" she sighs.
He nods his head. His grandma loved Lisa and hearing that she died in the battle of Canary Wharf broke her heart. He never told her that actually she survived. He never told her that he had to lose her again.
"Yes she was."
"But you are still young my son, you have time. I know this sounds so horribly nosy but have you found someone yet?" she then asks softly with a sparkle in her eyes.
"Well I could say so. Yeah" he says looking to his lap and fighting to keep his smile small and blush in control.
"Oh you must tell me! Should I wait great grandchildren anytime soon?"
"Umm… it's not like that actually" he mumbles and this time it's a full blown blush.
He doesn't quite know how to explain his grandmother than the one he's currently seeing is a man. And besides a man also his boss. He's not sure how she would take that one.
"Then what is it?" she asks leaning forward on her seat.
"It's… complicated grandma. I'm not sure how to explain it…"
"Oh you sound just like your mother! She told me exactly the same thing when she started dating your father. Sometimes you remind me so much of her. You are your mothers son Ianto, not just by your looks but in every other way too. Always so polite and considerate. She did a good job with you. Raised you to be a good citizen and look at where that got you! Working under the government looking so smart. I'm proud of you" she says taking the hold of his hand.
"Thank you" he whispers back.
"Oh you shouldn't thank me at all sweetie. I should thank you for the coffee!"
"No problem" he laughs happy that they are moving to safer subjects.
Because well… his relationships are not a safe subject. Because talking about Jack with any family member is doomed to end in disaster. It's not that his relatives are against homosexuality but he's sure that his relationship with a man who is his boss would be little too much for them. And the more he is forced to talk about his job the more he has to lie and he doesn't want to lie to his family. And well talking about his mother… She died in a car crash when he was just a kid but he loved her really much. She has been long gone but thinking about that day still stings. And he knows that talking about her makes his grandma sad and that's about the last thing he wants to do during these rare visits.
"So I have a surprise for you" he suddenly says when he remembers the envelope Jack gave him before he left the Hub.
"Oh?"
"Tickets to ballet for two of us. Thought you would like it" he grins.
"Ianto!" she says brightly snatching the tickets out from his hand which just pulled them from his jacket pocket.
Ianto grins to his grandmas reactions. Ariana Jones used to be a ballerina when she was a young girl. His grandpa actually was working in one theater and they met each other when she was dancing on the stage. It had been love at the first sight and when Ianto told the story to Jack (who is a hopeless romantic) he apparently had made some arrangements and got them best possible seats to visiting Russian ballet in Cardiff.
"Where did you get these?" she gasps holding the tickets against his small chest.
"A friend of mine gave those to me."
"The special friend?"
"Yeah. The special one."
"Oh but you are the special one for me Ianto. This is just amazing. I love you so much son" she whispers and leans to kiss his cheek.
"Love you too grandma" he answers softly.
IV.
"One! Two! Three!" Ianto yells and Tosh and Owen both gulp down the insides of their shot glasses.
"ARGH!" Owen shouts as the scotch burns its way down his throat.
Ianto thinks that Owen should be used to it by now because even he has lost the count (maybe that's because of he's also completely wasted) of the drinks they have washed down from their throats in vicious drinking contest. Gwen was the first one to give up and she's currently curled up in drunken slumber on the floor hugging Owens left calf.
"You are such a lady!" Jack yells.
Instead of small shot glasses the Captain has the possession of the whole bottle of scotch. Owen tries to argue but his ability to form recognizable a word seems to be completely gone and all Tosh can do is giggle. It's hilarious to see her like this: disheveled and red faced, eyes unfocused.
"Jack…" Ianto whines hand moving to snatch the bottle from the older man.
He ends up pushing a table lamp to floor with a huge crash.
"What the fuck was that!" Gwen shrieks climbing up along Owens leg her hair sticking to every direction possible.
"Whoops!" Ianto says giddily.
"You have four heads!" Tosh giggles.
"Fuck you guys!" Gwen slurs.
"My pleasure!" Jack answers waving the bottle in the air almost knocking it to Tosh' head.
"Nope. That would be my pleasure" Ianto mumbles giving the Captain very smoldering look under his lashes.
"Now who is the lady!" Owen shouts in triumph.
"Oh you know you love me!" the Captain answers.
"Well I do! Oh I love you so much!" Owen says and apparently is trying to sound sarcastic but at his state you never know.
To Iantos alcohol soaked brain the chain reaction following Owens comment is amusing. Tosh first declares her love for the third head of Gwen who immediately returns the feelings with high pitched giggle. Then Tosh says with completely serious face that she loves Owen who says that he loves Janet the most which causes Jack to almost choke to death to his scotch. That would be a pity because Ianto really wants more of that scotch.
He also really loves Jack and seeing him die (again) would ruin the night which has been so perfect until this.
"I love you Jack!" he declares leaning to other mans shoulder in rather awkward angle.
"Big news teaboy!" Owen shouts.
Ianto just grins and nuzzles his nose to Captains neck which smelling the unique scent of Jack himself, scotch and sweat. Mm. Jack says something about Owen and Weevil mutation babies; he's not sure what exactly because all the thoughts escape his head at the moment when warm hand is wrapped around his shoulders and sneaky hand under the table slides up his thigh.
V.
The Hub is silent except for the constant hum of the generators and Ianto doesn't remember the last time when he felt this relaxed. He's warm and the bone deep ache from a long Weevil hunt seems to fade away when he just lays here in Jacks bed warm body wrapped around him tightly, large hands keeping him close and not giving him any space to move.
Not that he wants to, really.
It's good to be like this. Safe and peaceful like nothing in the world could get him now. It's also a rare moment to be awake when Jack isn't. He bites his lip and carefully tries to squirm so he can turn around to face Jack. He loves watching the older man sleep. Jack is always so tense and worried but when he sleeps the deep slumber washes away all the worries and in the dim light he looks so much younger and vulnerable. Long lashes fluttering against cheekbones, lips slightly parted in almost soundless snore, disheveled hair and warm skin.
Jack is the most beautiful thing Ianto has ever laid his eyes on.
The older man mumbles something in his sleep pulling him even closer. He swallows a chuckle. Jack really is like a big baby hugging him like a Teddy bear. It's quite sweet actually if he would manage to get this photographed it would provide amazing blackmail material for years. The famous Captain Harkness hugging a skinny Welsh boy close to his chest.
"Don't go" Jack mumbles when he tries to find more comfortable and less crushing position.
"I'm not going anywhere, I just need some space to breath" he answers softly.
Jack lets out a sleepy chuckle but lets him squirm to more comfortable position. He places his head on Jacks chest. He has always liked that place the most for sleeping. Somehow the dreams come fast and nightmares stay away when he falls asleep with steady and strong heartbeat thudding in his ears and fingers absent mindedly drawing patterns to his back.
"I love you" he whispers.
"I love you too Yan" Jack answers words pressed against his temple.
It won't be like this always in Torchwood. Things will happen, bad things and even worse things than bad things, people are going to die and maybe he belongs to them. The peace will break and some crazy aliens will try to invade the earth once more and this really is a rare fleeting moment but Ianto is grateful. For now he can rest in this moment of happiness knowing that he's safe and loved.