For Stephie - Merry Christmas!
Christmas Love:
Jack loved her. He couldn't deny it - ok he could deny it and he was having to but he didn't want to. Gwen was everything Torchwood needed, she was everything a woman should be. He watched her closely in the few weeks leading up to Christmas, she was like an excited child and she insisted on decorating the hub. 'It's all doom and gloom in here' she had moaned while dragging in a box of decorations 'it's time we made it more Christmassy'. And try as he might, Owen couldn't talk her out of it. In a matter of hours Gwen transformed the hub from colourless and lifeless to Santa's Grotto - that's how Jack saw it anyway. Gwen even managed to get a tree in, complete with Angel topper. 'it's more homely now' she had said when she was finished 'more human'
Jack knew this was one of the things that caused him to fall for her. She was so grown-up and worldly, she understood life and was in no way niave and yet at the same time she had the sweet innocence of a young adult. She was accustom to the difference of aliens but she remained so human. She didn't turn hard even as she learnt to fight, she always kept her caring humanity. And best of all, yet worst of all, she was engaged. He had told her right in the beginning that she should keep hold of her life because he knew how consuming working for Torchwood was and he didn't regret telling her that. He couldn't never regret telling anything that, he just hated that she had Rhys while at the same time he didn't. He was confused about how he felt as his thoughts seemed to contradict each other. He was glad Gwen had someone she could go home to, somewhere she could forget about Torchwood but at the same time he wished she was single then he wouldn't need to feel guilty about the way he felt. If she wassingle he wouldn't need to feel guilty about wishing he could hold her cloes and kiss her passionately. It wouldn't be a bad thing that he wished he was the one who wiped her tears away and made sure she was all right. If she was single it would be ok to want to lie next to her in bed early in the morning just to watch her sleep. If she was single which she wasn't.
SLC
When Christmas Eve arrived Jack told Gwen to go home early. He told everyone to go home early but no one listened to him. Ianto, Owen and Tosh had nothing to go home for and while none of them would admit it, none of them wanted to go back to the emptiness of their flats on Christmas Eve. Gwen did had something - someone - to go home to but she was in the middle of something and didn't want to leave it for everyone else to do so she stayed.
SLC
'Merry Christmas, everyone' Gwen called out as she grabbed her bag to leave. Tosh replied, Owen just about muttered a responce, Ianto didn't hear because he was in another room. Jack came out of his office to tell her to have a great Christmas and that she had earnt the break and that he hoped Torchwood and Cardiff woulod survive the rest of the year without her there but he didn't end up saying anything. When he reached Gwen ready to say all that and more, he froze before he said a word, noticing the mistletoe above Gwen. Not only about Gwen but directly between then. He couldn't help thinking that maybe Gwen had had this moment in her mind when she was decorating the hub, but quickly dismissed the thought. He couldn't dismiss the mistletoe though and he was Captain Jack Harkness she he wasn't going to pass up this oppotunitu. He smiled slightly and moved towards Gwen, his eyes automatically closing as he got closer. Finally their lips met