Title: The Choice
Summary: AU on Something Borrowed: Gwen's wedding isn't ruined by aliens, it's ruined by mundane, messy human emotions. Gwen's in love with Jack. Ianto is... well, it's complicated. Jack has a choice to make.
Rating: T for language and violence
Word Count: 3999
Other Chapters: No.
Disclaimer: The British Broadcasting Corporation owns Torchwood and all related characters, settings, and trademarks. I do not profit in any way from this material.
Pairings: Jack/Ianto (romantic), Jack/Gwen (romantic), Ianto/Jack/Gwen (discussed), Gwen/Rhys (broken up)
Contains: Polyamory, break-ups
Warnings: Mild violence, references to infidelity
Rhys was gone. He'd left in a huff and knocked Owen on his arse when he'd offered to look Rhys over. No one had deserved that more than Owen. Rhys' mother had allowed Owen to look her over, though, and she'd whined as if she were dying even though there was barely a bruise on her, while Gwen's mother sat by silently with broken knuckles. She was staring a Jack and Ianto. She had been for several minutes now.
Ianto squirmed, and Jack's arm around his waist tightened. Jack was calming down. Rhys wouldn't have been able to really hurt Jack even in a fair fight, and none of Jack's fights were exactly fair. Rhys had walked away bleeding (He wouldn't have if he hadn't called Gwen a bitch.), but Jack had only needed to calm down, and Ianto could help with that a lot more than Owen could. Ianto had simply walked over to Jack, spoken to him calmly, and touched him in whatever gentle way Jack would allow. It hadn't taken Ianto five minutes to work his way into Jack's lap, and now he was running his hands through Jack's hair and nuzzling Jack softly. The effect was immediate and exponential as time went on, and Jack's breaths were now slow and deep.
Jack shut his eyes and took a long, meditative breath. "Have we found Gwen yet?" he asked.
"Don't know," Ianto said, removing one hand from Jack's hair to fish his own cellphone out of his pocket. He glanced at the screen. "Tosh still hasn't text me back."
"Call her, please," Jack said, resting his head on Ianto's shoulder and still not opening his eyes or letting go of Ianto. "Ask if she needs our help looking."
Ianto nodded reflexively as he touched his phone to his ear and listened to it ring. It only took one ring.
"I've found her!" Tosh said quickly. "But give us time!" Before Ianto could reply, the line went too quiet on the other end, and he looked at his screen again to find the number flashing. She'd hung up on him.
"She's found her," Ianto said.
"I heard," Jack said. He kissed Ianto's shoulder and opened his eyes. "We'll wait for them here."
Ianto really didn't mind that. It was a gorgeous day and this was a lovely place, and all pretence of wedding formality had been over as soon as the bride had admitted to being in love with her boss and two different fist fights had erupted, so Ianto was in only his dress shirt and even that wasn't buttoned all the way, Jack was bare-chested because Rhys' blood was all over his shirt, and whatever alcohol anyone could find was being passed around like candy at a primary school party. If it didn't start raining, Ianto was willing to sit on this bench and cuddle Jack for as much time as Tosh and Gwen felt they needed. He wasn't particularly looking forward to the long and awkward van ride back to the city, anyway, and he was already mentally adjusting his plans for the evening to include somehow collecting Gwen's essentials from her flat without getting punched by her now-ex-fiance.
Ianto rested his head against Jack's for a few minutes, but even with his eyes closed, he was having a difficult time ignoring the voyeurism of the people around them. To be fair, it was probably more because they were at a wedding and the bride had just left her almost-husband for one of them than it was because they were both men. It was still irritating.
"Is there a problem, Mrs. Cooper?" Ianto asked, when he could no longer stand it.
She shook her head quickly. "No! I just... well... I guess I'm a bit confused, that's all."
"Your daughter's more in love with me than she is with Rhys, and they both seem to think that would cause problems in their marriage," Jack said dully.
"And what about you?" she asked, looking from Jack to Ianto and back.
"Well," Ianto said before Jack could answer, "I'm also more in love with Jack than I am with Rhys, but I don't think that would be nearly the biggest problem in my completely hypothetical marriage to Rhys."
Mrs. Cooper blinked a few times. "But are the two of you...?"
Ianto and Jack met each other's eyes for a second, then they both looked back at Gwen's mother. "You really are going to have to finish that sentence," Ianto said.
"...together?" she tried.
"No," Ianto said quickly. "Yeah," Jack said at the same time.
They looked at each other.
Jack chuckled. "We look pretty together to me," he said, lowering his hand slightly and squeezing Ianto's thigh.
"That's fair," Ianto said a bit tightly, "But I think she wanted to know if you have obligations to me that would stop you from shacking up with her daughter." He blinked very slowly, then held Jack's gaze.
Jack sighed. "The three of us are going to have to talk later."
"So..." Mrs. Cooper said slowly.
"Gwen, Ianto, and I," Jack said, annunciating every word, "Are going to have to talk later. I'm sure your daughter will inform you of the decision we reach."
Mrs. Cooper looked a little bit insulted. "Right then," she said, and she turned away and walked back over to Owen, who seemed to have gotten away from Mrs. Williams and now had a bit of much-needed attention to give to her. There wasn't much more he could do for her without getting her to a hospital. He'd gotten the pain under control already, but she'd probably need a cast. Let her have the handsome young doctor's attention if she wanted it, though. At least she was actually hurt.
Ianto looked at Jack again. They stared into each other's eyes for ten long seconds before it became more than Ianto could bear. He dropped his gaze and sighed.
"Should I be worried?"
Jack shook his head and ran a hand through Ianto's hair. "I really don't want you to be."
"Are things going to change between us now?" Ianto asked.
"I don't know," Jack said. He brought the hand in Ianto's hair down and the hand around Ianto's waist up, so that he was cupping Ianto's face with both hands, and he gently turned Ianto's head and kissed him. "But I will never hurt you. Not all change is bad change."
Ianto wasn't sure what that meant or how he should feel, because on every emotional level he felt like Jack was trying to comfort and reassure him, but intellectually he liked his relationship with Jack just as it was and although he was willing to grant that some changes would be good or at least emotionally lateral changes, the overwhelming majority of the changes Ianto could imagine occurring as a direct result of Gwen leaving Rhys were bad.
Ianto felt almost equally certain that Jack needed him and that Jack loved Gwen, and he wasn't at all certain that he trusted Jack to choose what they both knew he needed over what they both knew he wanted. And Gwen had just sacrificed so much for Jack that it could hardly be called a fair choice. Ianto felt bad for Gwen if Jack didn't choose her, because she'd really put all her eggs in this basket, and furious at her if he did, because leaving your would-be-husband at the alter for another man is really a very emotionally manipulative thing to do to the other man. Gwen's mother was apparently already rather invested in Gwen and Jack working out as a couple, and Jack and Mrs. Cooper had only just mettoday.
It went without saying that Ianto felt bad for Rhys.
Today hadn't really been a good day for anyone.
... Jack must have been thinking about all of the complicating factors here too, though. He was probably going to keep thinking about all of this until the three of them had that talk. He didn't even seem to particularly want to discuss it one-on-one with Ianto. Ianto had no idea what that meant. He had no intention of fighting Gwen for Jack, if it came to that. What would he even be fighting her for? Sex? It wasn't even like he and Jack were dating.
Jack had said they were 'together' though. Didn't that mean something? And it didn't seem like something he'd say if he were already thinking about breaking their arrangement off. Unless he was just testing it out, trying to see how it felt and imagining how it might feel to say that he andGwen were together, comparing the two. If that were the case, Ianto denying it probably hadn't helped his prospects. Shit. Even now, he was still sitting in Jack's lap but he was sure he'd gone completely cold. That also couldn't be helping. Shit.
He leaned in and kissed Jack hungrily, trying to convey how desperately he needed Jack and how devastated he'd be if he lost him. Jack responded with equal passion, and Ianto relaxed a bit. When they broke the kiss, Jack stared at Ianto for a moment as if he wanted to tell him something, but before he found the words, Owen shouted "Thank god, they're back!"
Tosh had her arm around Gwen protectively, and Gwen's eyes were red, but they both forced a smile when everyone looked over at them, and Gwen was almost instantly pulled from Tosh's arms and into her mother's anyway. Her father approached and rubbed her back soothingly while Tosh stood awkwardly nearby, and Gwen seemed genuinely glad for the comfort, but she stopped it within a minute.
"I really just want to get out of here right now," she said, looking from her parents to Jack.
Jack nodded sympathetically, and Ianto hopped off his lap. "My party, get in the van," Jack said.
Gwen stepped away from her parents, and they looked a little bit surprised that she wasn't going home with them.
"I..." Gwen tried to explain, but her father shook his head and cut her off.
"No, go with him, if that's what you want."
She nodded, Owen reminded Gwen's mother one more time that she needed to get to a GP before those pain killers wore off, and Jack led the way back to the van. Ianto got into the back as a matter of course, and Owen looked like he was going to follow Ianto into the back and give Gwen the front with Jack, but Gwen cut him off and slipped in next to Ianto. Tosh climbed in quickly after Gwen, and Owen shrugged and took the front.
No one said anything on the drive home. Everyone but Gwen did their very best not to make a single fucking sound, and no one would have dreamt of asking Gwen to stop her sniffling. Ianto played Count the Sheep until they were back in the city limits, and then they pulled up to the base, where everyone but Gwen had car-pooled from, and got out.
Gwen hid her head in her hands and took a deep breath. "Can I just get out of this dress?" she asked Jack.
Jack nodded. "Yeah. Someone'll have to go get your things..." He looked over at Tosh and Ianto. They were the least likely to get punched when Rhys saw them.
They looked at each other.
"We could go together," Tosh suggested. "I mean, it'd be better to have two anyway if anything heavy needs moving—"
Ianto shook his head. "We don't need to get her furniture right now. There's not really anywhere to put it..." He looked around the hub awkwardly.
Gwen looked to Jack, and everyone seemed to simultaneously realize that it hadn't actually been said yet.
Jack looked back at Gwen and shrugged. "It's creepy here at night, the bed's small, and the sofa's uncomfortable, but you know you're always welcome here."
Gwen smiled slightly, but Tosh shook her head, "Oh, Gwen, do you really want to stay here all the time, though? You could stay with me for a while—"
"Actually," Owen said, shrugging, "I don't even use my bed any more, so you might as well."
Gwen's smile broadened, even as another tear ran down her face and she sniffled again. "Thanks, both of you, really, but..." She looked over at Jack. "Whatever happens, I really just want to be here."
They looked at each other, decided together that this was acceptable, then looked back at her and nodded.
Ianto, feeling slightly guilty about not offering even though he knew she'd have refused anyway, cleared his throat and reminded everyone that he wasn't a complete bastard. "So. Just the essentials? Clothes, toiletries... I'm not going to have to fight him for hamster or something, am I?"
Gwen laughed again. "Some clothes and toiletries will do fine for now, thanks." Jack wrapped an arm around her shoulder and started to lead her to his office—to his bunker, mostly likely—and Ianto tried not to let his jealousy turn that into something it probably wasn't.
"Thanks, Ianto," Jack said. "Tosh. Owen... I'll see you tomorrow."
Goodbyes were muttered and eye-contact was avoided and Ianto followed Tosh and Owen out to the parking lot.
"Ianto!" Tosh called, just before they were both about to duck into their cars and shut the doors. "Are you alright, though?"
Ianto felt his own grip on his car door tighten. He took a deep breath. "I have no reason not to be," he said. He flashed her a smile. "Have a nice night!" He got into his car and slammed the door before she had time to say anything else.
Ianto took a calculated step back as soon as he rang Rhys' doorbell. Yes, Ianto wasn't Jack, but neither was Owen, and that hadn't stopped Rhys from hitting Owen even though he couldn't have known about Gwen's fling with him.
It wasn't Rhys who opened the door, though. It was a taller man with lighter hair and bigger biceps, and Ianto could tell from his suit that he'd been one of Rhys' groomsmen, though Ianto hadn't really noticed the man before. He looked Ianto over once, rather aggressively, then raised an eyebrow. "You wouldn't be Jack, would you?"
"No!" Ianto said, taking another step back and holding his hands up defensively, for what little good that would do if this guy actually decided to hit him.
"Hold up!" Ianto heard Rhys say, and Ianto opened his eyes slightly to see Rhys appear over the other man's shoulder. Rhys sighed. "Ianto," he said.
Ianto didn't move.
"You're here for Gwen's stuff?" Rhys said.
Ianto nodded.
Rhys shrugged. "Let him have it."
The man balled up his fist and raised an arm, but Rhys caught his elbow. "The stuff! Jesus, Ted, let him have Gwen's stuff! Just sit down!" Rhys shoved Ted out of the way and waved Ianto into the flat. He led him back into the bedroom, threw the closet doors open, and then walked over to the dresser.
"I don't really have any boxes or bags, so—"
"Just take the suitcase that's in there!" Rhys said, throwing socks and women's knickers onto the bed. "It's hers anyway. I think. Might as well be."
Ianto cleared his throat. "I'm sorry," he said, moving the suitcase onto the bed and opening it. "I really am."
"Yeah..." Rhys sighed. "So, she staying with you, or...?"
"No," Ianto said quickly. "She's staying at the base."
"What, like living there?"
Ianto shrugged. "Jack does."
"Oh."
Ianto sucked his teeth. "Yeah..." He started packing. He wasn't going to get all of Gwen's clothes into this by a long shot, but he'd be able to get her a week or so's worth, and a decent pair of shoes, and in a few days they could find boxes somewhere and Ianto could come back when things had calmed down a bit.
"I'm sorry too," Rhys said softly.
Ianto froze for a second, then caught himself. "What for?"
"You and Jack," Rhys said. "I thought you were..." he shrugged. "Well, Gwen mentioned..."
"It's not really like that," Ianto said, shaking his head and devoting far more attention than he needed to to picking out clothes from Gwen's closet. "It's..." He sighed. "We're having sex. And once in a while we see a film or something, but it's... complicated. Especially now."
Rhys shrugged. "Sorry," he muttered, coming over to the bed and helping Ianto pack up the clothes.
"He hasn't said anything to me about it, yet," Ianto said. "And if he did..." He shrugged. "It might not be the end of the world. I was straight before I met Jack." His heart wasn't really in it, though. He wouldn't fight Gwen for Jack, because Jack wasn't a prize to be won and Ianto didn't want to win Jack like that anyway, but he would be upset. He couldn't quite put words to what he'd be upset about, but he would be upset. Heliked his thing with Jack. It was the reason he got out of bed, half the time, and he had no idea how he ever would have survived losing Lisa if he hadn't gained Jack. He probably wouldn't have. He certainly couldn't imagine staying at Torchwood if he lost Jack...
He had to be a mature adult about this, though. He had to keep cool.
"Yeah," Rhys said. "Me too."
"Wha—"
"Nothing," Rhys shook his head quickly. "Never mind. It doesn't matter. Look, if this ends as badly for you as it did for me and you want to get a few beers or something, ring me."
Ianto nodded. "Thanks." He went into the bathroom and, after checking with Rhys which toothbrush was hers, grabbed it and a travel cap, left the toothpaste for Rhys, and assumed permission to take all of the tampons and pads under the sink.
He practically tip-toed past Ted on his way out, and drove back to the base very slowly. As soon as he got back behind the wheel of his car, he felt his heart rate shot up and he wanted to be almost anywhere in the world but Jack's bunker.
That was stupid, though. He stood to lose nothing of value. He and Jack had promised each other nothing and owed each other nothing. It was just sex, and the occasional film or dinner. There were other people out there who'd have sex with Ianto, surely, and food would not be less delicious or films less enjoyable if he enjoyed them alone. He didn't even want a boyfriend. He wasn't gay.
He was okay. He was completely okay.
Really, he was in a much better position than Gwen was, thinking about it rationally. Gwen had just lost everything. If Jack told Ianto that they needed to stop having sex for Gwen's sake, Ianto would go home to his flat and he'd be surrounded by his own things and he'd call his sister without having to worry about her bringing up how he'd just utterly humiliated himself and someone he cared a great deal about (and Gwen didcare a great deal about Rhys. Ianto was sure of that.) in front of almost literally everyone they knew.
But on the other hand, some more childish part of Ianto couldn't let go of the fact that he'd been there first, sort of, and this whole situationreally wasn't fair. Gwen's happiness was so clearly dependent on Jack's answer. And Ianto's was too, honestly, but he could hardly expect Jack to know that when he couldn't even bring himself to say that they were together. Christ, he'd fucked this up.
Ianto took a few deep breaths and shifted his hands to keep his grip on the steering wheel steady. He made it back to the base both much too soon and far later than he'd have liked, and he carried Gwen's bag into Jack's office.
Her wedding dress and shoes were in a pile in the middle of the floor.
Ianto froze where he was in the doorway to Jack's office and listened for a moment. He didn't hear moans. He didn't hear movement. All he heard were sobs and sniffles. Gwen was crying down in Jack's bunker.
In her knickers.
But, really, getting down that ladder in a dress and high heels was probably more trouble than it was worth, and she'd said even before Ianto had left that she wanted out of that dress. It certainly could not have been improving her emotional state.
"... I've only brought one suitcase," Ianto called out, because he really didn't know what else to say. The sobbing stopped instantly. "We'll have to go back and get the rest some other time. For now... Where do you want this one?"
"You can just leave it up there for now, Ianto," Gwen said. "Thanks."
"But come down here yourself," Jack said quickly.
Ianto took a deep breath, set the suitcase down with far more care than a bunch of clothes and a box of tampons really needed, and somehow managed to get down the ladder without shaking and losing his balance. When he turned around, he found Jack and Gwen curled up on the bed, propped up on the pillows. Gwen was in nothing but a slip and more on Jack's lap than off it, but there was nothing sexual in their pose. She was clinging to him, and though she seemed to have her tears under control now, she'd definitely been crying into Jack's chest while Ianto was away.
Jack had one arm curled around her, and he held his other hand out to Ianto. "Come here, please."
That was good, wasn't it? Ianto went over to the side of the bed quickly, and knelt down to be at eye-level with Jack and Gwen.
Jack cupped Ianto's face and smiled, then looked from Ianto to Gwen and sighed. "Here's the thing..." he said.
Gwen's grip on Jack's shoulder tightened. Ianto shut his eyes and took a slow breath. Jack struggled to find the right words.
"I'm not walking away from either of you," Jack said. "I'm just not."
Ianto and Gwen looked to each other with blank faces. Gwen spoke first: "So where does that leave us?"
"That's up to you two," Jack said. "You can walk away from this, if it makes you uncomfortable. One of you or..." His voice tightened a little bit, "… both of you... Or you could stay. Both of you. I'm perfectly capable of loving you both and giving both of you everything you need."
"Like... All of us together?" Ianto asked.
Jack shrugged. "All of us together or both of you with me. Whatever you're comfortable with."
Gwen worried her lip between her teeth, but Ianto sighed and relaxed. "I'm not leaving you, Jack." He leaned forward and pecked Jack on the lips.
Gwen tensed for a moment when he did, but then she too relaxed.
"Okay?" Jack asked her.
Gwen rested her head on his chest. "Okay," she said quietly. "Jack, I tried to walk away from you and I couldn't. I'm not doing it now."
Jack kissed her on the head. "And the two of you...?" Jack said.
They looked at each other, then simultaneously cracked a smile and looked away. "We're going to need a bit more time for that one," Ianto said.
Jack tugged on Ianto's shirt a bit. "Get up here."
Even with Gwen's back against the wall and Gwen and Ianto both as much on top of Jack as they could possibly be without pushing the other off, it was crowded with three of them on the bed. They didn't care. They still had big questions to answer, like what to do about Rhys and how to explain this to Gwen's mother. They didn't care. They just smiled at each other and cuddled.
Not all change was bad change.