AN: Sorry for the massive delay, I don't really have an excuse other than stress and laziness coupled with crazy writers block, so sincerest apologies! It's my goal to finish up all my WIPs by the end of the year… whether or not I can actually do it, I'm working on this one first because it's the farthest along and has gotten the most reviews/follows. *Pat yourselves on the back for reviewing* =P
Substitute pt. 1
By the time Jack was ready to leave for school the next morning he was wound up tighter than an antique pocket watch—the kind that Ianto had brought for show and tell in primary school, it had been his grandfather's and Ianto had carefully wrapped it in an old scarf and packed it in his lunchbox so it wouldn't get scratched or broken.
Jack had spent the better part of the night tossing and turning, unable to sleep because he was worrying about Ianto. He hated the thought of Ianto going home to his father.
After things had calmed down yesterday evening they'd ended up falling asleep for a bit and a panicked Ianto had woken up sweaty and sticky, jostling Jack out of bed as he frantically searched for his clothes. The younger boy had claimed he needed to leave right away to get home and finish some chores, something Jack hadn't been happy about in the least—he'd offered to let Ianto stay the night, but Ianto had refused saying he needed to fix tea for his dad when he got off work.
While he understood that Ianto needed to get back to keep his dad happy, there was a large part of Jack that was worried he'd scared Ianto off by letting things go too far, too fast. When he'd arrived at his usual spot, a midpoint between their houses and school, Jack sent Tosh and Lisa ahead. Rhys had taken to leaving a bit earlier to meet up with Gwen and walk with her to school—it was obvious to the rest of them that Gwen tolerated his company out of politeness, but not to the poor besotted boy. As it was Wednesday, Owen would be late if he showed up at all, so after sending the girls on, Jack would have Ianto to himself.
Glancing at his watch once again, Jack noted that Ianto was running very, very late. Biting his lip he let his mind wander as he paced the sidewalk.
What if Ianto had taken the long way to avoid him because of last night?
Maybe he regretted moving so fast, or thought Jack was just interested in sex—which of course he was, sex is sex and when you're a 16 year old boy, sex is very important. But Ianto was much more than just a hot body; he was special. Not to mention Jack's best friend.
Oh god, what if Ianto was regretting starting a physical relationship with his best friend?
What if his dad had been pissed that he'd got in so late?
What…
Ianto's voice, echoing across the mostly empty street jerked Jack from his depressing thoughts.
The younger boy was jogging toward him, face flushed from the crisp morning air, his viola hanging lazily from one hand while the other held a large thermos. Jack grinned. Ianto was not only ok, he was glad to see him, and most likely had brought him coffee. Best boyfriend ever.
"Hiya Jack! Sorry I'm late, got halfway here and remembered I'd forgot my viola. Oh, I brought you coffee."
Grinning dopily, Jack pulled Ianto into a hug, trapping the smaller boy against his chest. Ianto laughed against Jack's shoulder, wiggling slightly when it became difficult to breathe as both of his arms were trapped at his sides.
"If you want your coffee you're going to have to let me go sometime Jack," Ianto chuckled, gasping exaggeratedly for air.
With one last squeeze Jack released him after pressing a lingering kiss to Ianto's lips. Although he had been reluctant to let him go, the first sip of hot coffee made up for the lack of Welshman in Jack's arms.
They got to school just as the final bell rang, signifying the start of the early period. As they rounded the corner of the hallway to the music room they were surprised to see students milling about outside the classroom. The door was closed, and presumably still locked, since everyone was standing in the hall chatting anxiously.
Spotting Tosh and Lisa in the corner Ianto hurried forward, calling out a hurried greeting before asking the obvious question,
"What's going on? Is Ms. Noble late?"
Lisa only shrugged, feeling self-conscious about her braces which had been tightened yesterday after school, and let Tosh explain.
"We don't know, but she's not here yet so I guess. It's not like Ms. Noble to be late though."
Jack nodded in agreement; the teacher was usually one of the earliest to arrive, even on days when they didn't have an early class period. All around him he could hear his classmates discussing possible reasons for her tardiness.
"Maybe she's sick…"
"Do you think she's ok?"
"Oh no, what if Ms. Noble was in an accident? On my way here we passed a pretty bad accident, what kind of car does she drive…"
"I heard from Spencer that Sean had seen something on the news about alien abductions in the city. Do you think that could've happened to Ms. Noble?"
The explanations and theories only got more ridiculous before the assistant principal finally showed up ten minutes later with a young man wearing an ugly-as-sin sweater-vest in tow.
"Good morning students, sorry to keep you waiting. Ms. Noble is out—just a minor illness I assure you, however you'll have a substitute today and possibly tomorrow. I expect you to treat Mr. Shaw here, with the same respect you would show Ms. Noble."
The students mumbled their agreement as Assistant Principal Mills unlocked the door, ushering them inside with an impatient glance at her watch—she was now 5 minutes late to a conference call with the school board administrator's assistant to discuss the budget for next term.
Mr. Shaw knew nothing about music that much was obvious. The first thing he did after lazily scrawling his name across the white board was start up Ms. Nobel's computer and get on facebook. In Ms. Nobel's absence it was the job of the section leaders to get class started so Jack took charge, calling for 10 minutes of warm up before announcing they would jump right into the score for Pirates of the Caribbean.
Because class had started so late, and since several students—most notably John Hart—had taken it upon themselves to use the teacher's absence as an excuse to goof off, they only had time to run through the score twice before it was time to pack back up. John had taken it upon himself to flirt outrageously with first Jack, and then Gwen, not even bothering to get out his violin until they were halfway through the first run through of the score.
In retrospect it's a wonder they got any work done at all. Jack was distracted by trying to ignore/avoid John (not an easy feat when said annoyance is sitting next to you), and worrying over the increasingly hostile looks Ianto was throwing at John and Gwen from across the room. After being successfully ignored by Jack, John switched his attention to Gwen. The cellist beamed under the attention, but sent all of her flirtatious banter at Jack who now had to ignore both of them. Owen was openly glaring at Jack and John, deciding to blame them both—Gwen was just a shag, but she was his shag at the moment, thank you very fucking much.
Rhys was glaring daggers at the back of John's head and Toshiko was furtively glancing at Owen, hurt obvious in her dark eyes as she watched him get jealous over Gwen. By the time class ended, Lisa, who'd been surveying the drama unfolding in the classroom with growing horror, was genuinely amazed that WWIII hadn't broken out with the way everyone had been glaring at everyone else.
The substitute didn't even look up from the computer when the students left for their next class, on his way out Jack noticed he had youtube up and was watching rap music videos. He hoped Ms. Noble would be back in tomorrow.
Walking up to their usual table at lunch Jack realized how tired he was having spent the better part of the night worrying. Plunking himself down onto the bench seat next to Ianto, Jack let out an exaggerated groan as he rested his forehead on his boyfriend's arm.
"So tired. Losing will to live…"
Ianto rolled his eyes, winking at Tosh as he reached down into his backpack to remove the thermos he'd brought to school. Grinning mischievously, Ianto dangled the thermos in front of Jack's face, moving it back and forth until the older boy cracked open an eye to follow it's movement.
"I can't believe you're taunting me with an empty thermos that used to be amazing coffee. That's low, Ianto, below the belt low."
Pulling back, Ianto huffed in mock hurt, biting his lip and making huge puppy dog eyes.
"Did you think I'd be so cruel Jack? Really? Well, if that's what you think of me, I'll just give the coffee I made before lunch in the Library to Tosh and Lis-"
The end of his sentence was cut off when Jack pulled him close, planting a sloppy kiss on his still moving lips and snagging the coffee from Ianto's suddenly lax fingers.
Breaking the kiss Jack unscrewed the top of the thermos with gusto and took a long drink, spluttering and gagging a moment later when the scalding liquid burned his tongue.
"Christ Jack! What part of 'coffee that I made a few minutes ago in the Library' didn't you hear?"
Ianto chuckled, handing his boyfriend a napkin to wipe up the coffee he'd just dribbled down his front. Jack pouted, waving his hand madly in front of his mouth in an effort to cool it down.
"I'm injured here. The least you could do is kiss it better?"
Rolling his eyes again, Ianto was distracted by Rhys' whooping laugh as he bounded up to their table, Gwen in tow. Lisa's curiosity got the best of her—It had been long enough since music class that most of the morning's animosity had disappeared, of course it helped that John had taken to eating his lunch on the other side of the yard with several cheerleaders and the better looking drama kids—and she smiled widely, forgetting for a moment to be self conscious about her braces, calling out,
"Oi Rhys! What's got you in such a good mood then?"
Rhys beamed, pulling Gwen along to stand beside him and wrapping a large arm around her slim waist.
"I finally worked up the guts to ask Gwen to go out with me and she said yes!"
Wanting to be happy and supportive of their friend, the table erupted in noisy cheers. Everyone was so caught up in the moment that the only one to notice Owens scowl and subsequent disappearing act was Ianto.
TBC
AN2: The feedback for this story so far has been amazing! I want to thank everyone who took the time to correct my misunderstanding of the British school system. For now, the mistakes will be addressed in future chapters but I'd like to think that I'll go back and make the needed changes eventually… *cough cough* yes, eventually ;)