Ianto arrived outside the Chinese restaurant a little early and waited in the cold night air for Rhys to arrive. He had come straight from the hub not wanting to go through the laborious process of going back to Gwen's flat and selecting a dress to wear, as she had suggested.
"He'll expect me to wear something nice" she had teased
"Gwen you are not getting me in a dress" Ianto had replied, "I'll never be that drunk again."
Ianto smiled, but this was quickly transformed into a grimace as a feeling of dread spread from his fingertips across the whole of Gwen's body. Rhys was approaching.
Frantically trying to remember the instructions Gwen had given him, Ianto gave Rhys a very forced smile.
"Alright my lovely?" Ianto cringed as he felt Rhys kiss Gwen's cheek
"Um yes, fine thanks… baby" Rhys looked satisfied and Ianto followed him inside, stumbling again in Gwen's heels and grabbing Rhys' hand before it had the chance to slap him on the bum. After allowing Rhys to take Gwen's coat and pull out his chair Ianto glanced over the menu. He had been to this place before with Jack. Gwen's eyes darkened as Ianto remembered the taste of Jack's lips on his later that night, bodies on fire, the captain whispering delicious words in his ear, tempting him, teasing him-
"Gwen?" Rhys' voice brought him back to reality with a bump, "are you ok?"
"yeah fine" Ianto replied quickly, "just zoned out for a minute, I'm just gonna use the loos" Ianto left the table and made for the toilets as quickly as possible . Without thinking he pushed straight through the door that said 'men'
"Oi!" shouted a clearly very embarrassed male voice, "You can't come in hear love! This is the men's!" the man rushed to do up his trousers,
"But I am a-" suddenly Ianto remembered, he looked slowly down at Gwen's tight black skirt and heels, "Oh right, sorry!" he gabbled, "Got the wrong door."
Blushing, Ianto ran back to Rhys' table.
"Sorry, love" Rhys said, "I had to order for you, I got number 14, it is your favourite isn't it?"
Ianto shuddered, he hated beef and coriander lettuce wraps, "Yes thanks" he replied awkwardly.
Rhys reached over and took Gwen's hand, "You look beautiful"
"Oh," said Ianto, "I don't look that, I mean I look alright I suppose"
"No, I mean it!" Rhys laughed softly, "you really do"
Ianto watched Rhys lean towards him
"Wait!" Ianto burst out, Rhys pulled back abruptly, "you probably shouldn't touch me you know, terrible outbreak, of the um, of the flu at work today, highly contagious, wouldn't want you to get it"
"What?!" Rhys laughed, "come on Gwen don't be silly" Rhys leaned in again,
"I'm serious!" Ianto gabbled, "five new cases in one day! Awful, some of them have been in bed for weeks. Now I've been immunised but if you touch me you will get it! And you will end up lying down with a splitting head ache and if you think I'm going to be there passing you tissues and making you lemsip then you're wrong!"
"Oh, right, sorry" Rhys mumbled staring down at his food which had just arrived.
They ate in silence for several minutes, Ianto feeling guilty and shuddering with every mouthful of slimy lettuce. This was all Gwen's fault; he should be having dinner with Jack right now, Torchwood made everything so bloody difficult
It was Rhys who eventually broke the silence "Did Aunty Meggie tell you what she decided in the end?"
Ianto searched wildly through his memory trying to remember if Gwen had said anything about an Aunty Meggie. Finding nothing he blurted out, "Oh, I think she's going with the yellow balloons and the ummm, pink blooper daises for the tables" Praying to any listening deity that Gwen would call soon Ianto stuffed another forkful of cold beef down his throat, Rhys looked confused.
"That's an odd choice for a funeral, you know I thought she'd have gone for something a bit more, you know, solemn"
Ianto shrugged, "well she was always a quirky lady" he tried desperately
"Ahhhh she was," Rhys smiled, "I remember the time-"
Thank god Gwen's phone had started to ring, Ianto grabbed it as quickly as possible, "Hello, yes, ok, I'll be right there" Ianto shut the phone with a snap
"I'm really, really sorry Rhys, believe me, but there's an emergency at work, I've got to go in, they really need me." Rhys was staring angrily at the floor, Ianto decided he better make his escape quickly and ran for it, leaving his half of the bill on the table.
Rhys had caught up with Ianto by the time he reached the back exit of the restaurant,
"For god's sake Gwen!" he shouted, "It's our bloody anniversary, come back in and sit down."
Ianto looked awkwardly at the floor, "I can't, I've got to go, I'm sorry"
"Yeah" Rhys snarled, "you've got your job, its so bloody easy for you"
Ianto felt a bolt of anger tear through his soul, he grabbed Rhys' wrists, "easy?!" he whispered, "you really think its easy, to go to work everyday and know that you might not come home again, I've seen people die, Rhys, I've watched my friends risk their lives to save yours and everyone else on this planet's, I've seen them fail, I've watched their bodies burn and burn and burn. How do you think that feels Rhys? All the time wondering if you'll be next.
Because it's anything but easy."
Ianto clutched at the wall, breathing heavily. Shocked at his sudden outburst. Suddenly he felt a hand in Gwen's hair,
"I'm sorry," Rhys said softly, "I didn't realise, you never talk about this kind of stuff"
Rhys brushed a tear away from Gwen's cheek, "If it's so hard" he continued, "why don't you just give up? Go back to your old job, your old life?"
"Because its worth it," Ianto replied, "to protect other people"
"Yeah," Rhys added kissing the top of her head, "but who protects you?"
Ianto left quickly after that, reassuring Rhys that they would go out to dinner again another time. Pushing the memory of a very awkward evening to the back of his mind, he thought of nothing but Jack and the tiny shining stone that lit up when they were close, until he reached the hub.
A/N: thanks for reading! Next chapter will probably be Owen and Jack's evening and then I'll write Gwen and Toshiko's. Thanks to all the lovely people who reviewed, the next chapter is for you. Hope you enjoyed it!
xxxxxxx
