Set after Exit Wounds, though no real spoilers.

Jack, Ianto, Gwen and Rhys go out to dinner together and Rhys asks Ianto about his relationship with Jack.

Disclaimer: I sadly own nothing, I just wish I did.

"If you boys will excuse me, I need to go to the ladies room." Gwen said, sliding out of the booth.

"Want me to come with you? We could have some fun together." Jack said with a grin, laughing as Ianto kicked him lightly under the table.

"I'm sure I can manage on my own. And you really shouldn't say things like that in front of someone's husband." Gwen replied, kissing Rhys on the cheek before she walked away.

"You know, there was a time, not long ago, where I would have gotten pissed off at you for saying something like that." Rhys told Jack. "Now I actually expect it. I think I would be worried if you didn't flirt. What's the world coming to?"

Jack grinned and opened his mouth to say something but didn't have a chance to reply because a group of guys chose that moment to come into the diner, laughing loudly and pushing each other around. The three men watched as one of the guys moved a little too close to a young waitress and started rubbing her arm. She was obviously trying to get away, but the guy wouldn't let her go.

"Damn it, they're back." Jack said, no longer grinning. "Sorry, I gotta catch that before it goes any further."Jack pushed himself out of his seat, leaving Ianto and Rhys alone.

"Does it bother you that he does that?" Rhys asked Ianto.

"Does what? Jack does a lot of things." Ianto replied.

"Flirts with anything that moves."

"That's just Jack being Jack. It's harmless really." Ianto told him.

"But he never seems to do it with you." Rhys said. "I've seen him flirt so much with someone they were practically having sex, yet I've never seen him do more than hold your hand. The one time I did see him kiss you, in public anyway, he could have been kissing his brother. If he kissed his brother on the lips."

Ianto flinched slightly when Rhys mentioned Jack having a brother, not that Rhys knew about Grey or what he did.

"Neither of us really care for public displays of affection."

Ianto paused as they saw Jack grab the waitress the group of guys had been hitting on and kiss her deeply, bending her backwards slightly.

"Yep, no public display of affection there Ianto." Rhys said sarcastically.

"That's just fun. He usually has to do it at least once a week." Ianto said, turning back to his coffee as if nothing had happened.

"Has to do it?" Rhys asked.

"Some of her customers, mostly that group of guys, won't leave her alone. Having them think Jack is her boyfriend is a good way to stop them from getting out of hand." Ianto explained.

Ianto looked back over at Jack and the waitress, smiling when he saw her whisper her thanks in his ear. Jack looked over at them and Ianto treated him to a smile as well.

"Yeah, but he looked like he enjoyed that. A lot."

"Wouldn't you?" Ianto looked back at Jack, who was talking to the waitress and smiled softly. "No matter what he does in public I know he loves me because he doesn't kiss me like that in public."

"That doesn't make any sense Ianto."

"I've never been one for big public displays of affection, you know that, and he knows that if he were to kiss me like that, it would make me uncomfortable after." Ianto said simply.

"So instead he goes around snogging strangers since he can't snog you?"

"No. And Natalie isn't exactly a stranger either. We see her almost every day, either for breakfast or dinner. The three of us have become close." Ianto told him. "I would kiss her if I thought it would get rid of the guys, but apparently I'm too cute to be scary."

"Well at least we can agree on that. But that still doesn't explain how it proves he loves you. Any good friend would know what doesn't make you comfortable."

"It is the fact he will kiss others like that in public and he won't kiss me." Ianto smiled at Jack, who was starting to fidget while talking to Natalie, and motioned that it was okay for him to still be talking to her, that he wasn't feeling abandoned. "To tell you the truth I asked Jack why he didn't kiss me like that in public. I didn't understand it either, it's not like he's shy or anything. His response was that it would make me uncomfortable and I told him that was bullshit. Then he told me it was because he loved me and he didn't want me to get hurt because of it. There are people in his past that are looking for him and they want to hurt him. He's worried that if they found him and saw that he loves me they would use me to get to him and he doesn't want that."

"But can't the same thing be said for anyone he flirts with?"

"No, it is kind of obvious that no one else means much to him. They don't really matter so who's ever looking for him would leave them alone." Ianto said. "Plus it wouldn't hurt him as much if they took one of the people he flirted with. Not that he wouldn't care of course."

"But anyone who saw the way he looked at you, public displays of affection or no public displays of affection, would see that he loves you." Rhys insisted.

Ianto finished off the rest of his coffee and his smile widened as he saw Jack walking back towards them.

"Yeah, but it's the thought that counts." Ianto looked back at Rhys. "Plus it shows that he doesn't think of me like he thinks of everyone else. It's another way he shows me that I am special to him."

Jack slid back into the booth next to Ianto and grabbed his hand under the table, squeezing it gently. Ianto smiled at him and squeezed Jack's hand back.

"So did you two have a good talk?" Jack asked. "You weren't discussing all of us being hot and sweaty in bed later on by any chance were you?"

Ianto laughed as Rhys shook his head and groaned.

"What's so funny?" Gwen asked, sliding back into her seat.

"Jack is trying to get your husband into bed with him." Ianto told her.

"Sorry Jack, but he's mine." Gwen laughed and pulled Rhys to her so she could kiss him gently.

"As long as I have Ianto, I'll be happy." Jack said, moving a little closer to his lover.

"You'll always have me Cariad." Ianto said, smiling softly at Jack.

"Good god, get a room you two!" Gwen said with a laugh.

"Are you ready to order or do you need another few minutes?" Natalie asked coming to their table.

"I think we're ready to order." Jack told her. Everyone nodded their consent.

The rest of the evening went perfectly.