Coffee Shop Chronicles

Chapter: 9

Pairings: Jack and Ianto

Summary: Starts with ice skating. Ends with an annoyed movie ticket collector.

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood, Subway, Sprite, Coke or any associated yummyness.

Authors Note: Woah. I actually got it up today. That's amazing, for me anyway.

Read, Review, Enjoy

Cheers

Sci-fi

"Look at me fly. WEEEEEEEE"

"Jack be care…"

*Crash*

"Ful" Ianto sighed as he skated over to the fallen Jack. Jack held out his hand and Ianto pulled him up, automatically hugging Jack to his chest.

"You alright?" A soft whimper escaped Jacks pouting lips

"No" Ianto pulled back to examine Jack's face. He gently ran his fingers over the bruised cheek and chin. Jack sighed and pressed his cheek into Ianto's palm

"Would you like me to kiss it better?"

"Yes" Ianto kept his eyes on Jack as he leaned forward

"Well isn't this adorable?" Both Ianto and Jack's heads snapped around to glare at John "Oh by all means please, continue I was quite enjoying myself"

Jack turned his gaze back on Ianto who continued to glare at John.

"Hey "Ianto turned his glare away from John and let all the anger melt of his eyes before he met Jack's

"Yeah"

"I'm huuungry" Ianto rolled his eyes and started to skate over to the bench still keeping his hold on Jack's hand. Jack let himself be towed by Ianto instead of attempting to skate lest he fall. Again.

"Mush donkey mush!"

"I'm not a donkey Jack the only ass around here is John"

"Hey!" Both Jack and Ianto ignored John's cry of protest. Instead they bent down and started to untie the laces of their skates.

"So where do you feel like going for lunch?" A look of intense concentration fell on Jacks face. Ianto waited patiently despite already knowing Jacks answer.

"Subway!"

"Of course you do" A frown creased Jack's brow

"Then why'd you ask?" Ianto grinned

"Because it's nice to give you the option"

"Oh" They walked past John who reached out a dirty perverted hand and groped the property of one Ianto Jones. Within seconds John was pinned against the cold blue concrete wall behind him with Ianto's hand around his throat and his fist pulled back ready to strike.

"Don't you ever touch me again. You don't have the right" John rolled his eyes looking completely relaxed even though Ianto could have crushed the life out of him with the flick of his wrist

"Said with such passion. One might think you have feeling towards me, Eye candy" A look of disgust crossed Ianto's face as his arm tensed ready to be released at a seconds notice

"The only feelings I will ever feel for you are hate and disgust"

"As if, Ianto. You know what happened as well as I do. Don't pretend you don't remember" Ianto's lip pulled back in a sneer.

"Luckily for me I have a way of erasing painful memories from my mind"

"So you agree that it did happen" Ianto growled and the fist inched closed

"It only happened once because you got me drunk out of my mind and took advantage of that" Ianto was getting angrier and the last part of his sentence was little more than spat out.

"You know you liked it" Fist met face and blood flowed. John crumpled to the floor holding his nose and blood gushing out from between his fingers. Ianto spun around and hauled Jack down the corridor.

Jack followed limply after Ianto as he stormed down the street. After two and a bit blocks Ianto began to slow as his anger ebbed. Jack caught up and Ianto grinned over at him sheepishly. They walked silently for a while leaving them each to their own thoughts.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"When I've calmed down a bit"

"Sure" They continued in silence.

Jack reached out and brushed Ianto's hand with his own. Ianto grinned and interlaced their fingers.

Soon the white glowing sign of Subway entered their sight. As they got closer Jack started to vibrate. There was no other way to describe it really; he was bouncing so fast in excitement that he appeared to be blurred around the edges.

He tugged on Ianto's hand so that he was pulling Ianto behind him in his desperation to get the Subway deli.

"Jack its not going to go anywhere" Without breaking stride or turning around Jack spoke

"I know I know but I'm dying from hunger on the inside" Then they arrived

"YAY SUBWAY" The poor sandwich maker cowered away from the exuberant teen in front of her. Another head poked out of the doorway

"It's ok Kelly this guy's a regular. He really loves Subway" Jack bounded over to the counter.

"Double meat chicken teriyaki no veges on a six inch white please Mike" Mike assembled the sandwich and had it wrapped in seconds.

"Here you go Jack and what about you Ianto?"
"The same as Jack but with the works thanks" Mike made the same sandwich again

"Two medium drinks?"
"You know it"

"12.50 thanks" Ianto handed over the cash and joined Jack who was happily munching on his vege free sub.

"Why don't you ever get salad?" Jack swallowed his enormous mouthful before speaking

"Because salads are the death of all good tasting meat and they will kill us all when they figure out how to grow legs and read compasses"

"O. . . K"

Jack returned to stuffing his face with chicken teriyaki goodness. Ianto followed suit but with a little more grace. But within two minutes both teens had finished eating and were contentedly sucking on Sprite and Coke respectively.

"So are you calmed down yet" Ianto set his drink down and sighed as he knew what was coming.

"Yeah. Fire at will"

"How do you know John?"
"After Mam and Tad died for a while I went crazy. Not going to school, drinking all night long, hardly ever going home, Owen tried to talk to me but I'd just yell and leave. One night after a really bad fight I went out and was on my way to getting well and truly trashed when John came over sand started chatting me up, buying me too many drinks and all that. I didn't know what I was doing and he took advantage of that. The morning after I woke up and realised what I'd done. I think it scared me off ever doing stuff like that again. I went back to Owen and Katie and apologised for what I'd done. They welcomed me back with open arms, like I was the prodigal son. More than I deserved. I went back to school, got my grades up, my friends back, and I started running a lot. Whenever I couldn't cope I went for a run. One day Coach noticed me running and asked me to join the track team I did and. . . Yeah that's how I know John I guess"

The silence stretched between them like a gapping chasm.

"Say something" Ianto said as the silence started to make him panic

"What do you want me to say?"
"Anything"

"Ok. What do you call an online cooking utensil?" Jack's face was perfectly serious and it took Ianto a few moments to reply

"I have no idea"

"An ewok" They looked at each other and Ianto saw the understanding in Jack eyes. They broke into roars of laughter. It took them almost 5 minutes to calm down. They sat up wiping tears from their eyes. Ianto rubbed his sides trying to ease the laughing stitch.

"That wasn't what I expected you say" Jacks eyes turned serious again and the humour melted away faster than cheese under boiling water. (AN: Try it)

"What did you expect me to say?"
"Anything but that" Jack ran his hand through his hair frustratedly

"I don't think it matters. We've all made mistakes. Yours just happened to be with John, and it was mostly his fault anyway. I know you don't care about him and that you love me. That's all I need to know"

"You don't think it matters?" Ianto said incredulously
"No"

"Woah" Ianto was silent again under Jack's watchful gaze.

"So"

"So"

"Movie?"

"Sure"

"See you, Mike"

"Bye guys" The pair left the deli hand in hand both thinking about what had been said. A thought struck Jack.

"Hey, you know last on Friday night"

"Yeah"

"Do you remember the game of 21?"

"Mostly, why?"
"Who else did Tosh sleep with?"
"Oh, John, as in Rose's John"

"Really?" Jack eyebrows shot half way up his forehead

"Yeah, they dated for about 8 months before Rose transferred from London"
"No way" If Jacks eyebrow went any higher up is forehead they may have had to be surgically removed from his hairline.

"Way"

"The things you find out about people"

"Yeah"

They continued for a block in relative silence before another thought struck Jack

"How did your group evolve?" Ianto looked thoughtful.
"Well Tosh and I went to the same kindy and then primary. Martha and Chris went there too. Stephanie, John, Tom and Oliver all came at the start of high school and then you joined at the start of the year. Back in primary there was another guy called Rhys but he left when he went to a different high school. I think that's everyone"

"Oh"

"Why do you ask?"
"Just curious, there was so much that I missed out on with you guys. Like I don't know any of your firsts. I missed first crush. First girlfriend, first boyfriend, first kiss. I don't know any of them."

"Ok first crush was a girl called Lisa that was in year 10, she was first girlfriend and crush. Tosh was first kiss. I was dared, end of story. You're my first boyfriend. First crush was one of the teachers at school; you know the one who every boy had a crush on. Her name was Miss Jenks. She was Irish and gorgeous, but don't worry she's got nothing on you" He looked at Jack who was almost floating along the street due to his inflated ego "And from the looks of it you enjoy that news immensely"

"I sure do"

"Well what about you I don't know any of your firsts either"

"First crush was the girl who played football with us Emily I think her name was. First Girlfriend was Tiffany I think, she was also first snog which tipped me off to the fact I kind of liked guys more. You were my first boyfriend too."

"Oh that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside"

"I know right" They walked slowly up to the ticket desk of the theatre. The person standing there eyed them with mistrust.

"Hell can I help you?" Her tone didn't exactly make them feel welcome.

"Yeah can I have two tickets to . . ." He turned to face Ianto "what do you want to see"

"Harry Potter?"
"Yeah. Two tickets to Harry Potter please"

"Sure that'll be 15 quid please" Jack handed over the money and she handed over the tickets before practically glaring at them. As they walked over to the popcorn stand jack whispered to Ianto

"What's her problem?"

"Remember the last time we went to the movies"

"Yeah"

"Remember whet you did" A grin grew on Jack's face

'Oh yeah, I remember"
"So you remember what happened after what you did"

"Oh . . . yeah we got kicked out"

"Because . . . "Ianto prompted

"Because we were making inappropriate noises"

"No you were making inappropriate noises and disturbing the other patrons. She was the one who kicked us out. No doubt wondering if she'll have to kick us out again"

"Oh, that makes sense I guess"

"Indeed"

"Ah! We've only got five minutes to get in"

The pair quickly paid for their popcorn and drinks and threw themselves into their seats just as the movie started

=An hour and a half later=

"I can't believe you got us kicked out again"