"Emma, could I talk to you in private please?" Jack asked quietly.
"Yeah, what's up?" Emma followed Jack into the empty living room.
"I just want to talk to you about..." Jack started.
"Jack, do is that flour on your shirt?" Emma interrupted and started brushing Jack's shoulder with her hand.
"Erm...yes it is..." Jack mumbled and tried to wipe it away quickly as his cheeks turned slightly red.
"Why do you have flour on your shirt?" She asked.
"Well Ianto..." Jack began to explain.
"Okay, I think I get it. Now, what is it you wanted to talk to me about?" Emma sat back and patiently waited for Jack to tell her.
"Sam." Jack stated.
"What about him?" She asked, slightly confused at why her cousin would want to talk to her in private about Sam.
Jack paused for a moment and tried to figure out the best way to phrase what he was about to tell her and decided that trying to edge around it or hint subtly would be a bad idea.
"He likes you." He blurted out and instantly regretted saying it like that when Emma's face froze in shock.
"He...likes...me." Emma repeated slowly.
"Yep." Jack nodded his head and watched carefully for any other reaction that Emma might give.
"Are you sure? How do you know?" Emma gushed and Jack had to stifle a giggle as the corners of her mouth began to turn up in a smile.
"I'm sure and Ianto has been his best friend since they were five and he told me about it." Jack answered and waited for more questions that would undoubtedly sprout from Emma's mouth.
Emma thought to herself, grinning and then turned back to Jack. "So, is he going to do anything?"
Jack shook his head and Emma's face fell.
"He doesn't want to make a move because he's afraid that he'll make everything awkward and ruin what he has here." Jack gestured to the house that was so much better than Linda Harkness'.
"Oh." Emma muttered and slumped in her seat.
Jack noticed the disappointment and quickly attempted to fix it.
"He would make a move if he knew that you felt the same way. Do you feel the same way?" Jack explained.
"Yes but how would he know I feel the same way. I am certainly not telling him how I feel. What if there's a chance that Ianto is wrong and he doesn't actually like me?"
Jack dismissed this with a wave of his hand.
"Ianto can slip it into the conversation, just like how I 'slipped' it into our conversation." Jack grinned at his plan to set up his cousin and his boyfriend's best friend.
"Do you think it's a good idea?" Emma asked uncertainly.
Jack nodded. "Yes. It's always worth taking the chance. Look at me and Ianto; if Cassandra hadn't encouraged me to speak to Ianto about how I felt, we'd both still be living in the hell hole that is my mother's house and denying ourselves of being our own person."
"You're right; can you get Ianto to talk to Sam tomorrow?" Emma asked and stood up.
"Yeah, Ianto's just finishing tidying our mess up in the kitchen and then we're off to bed." Jack said.
"Actually, I'm curious. What were you and Ianto doing in the kitchen and how have you got flour on you?" Emma asked and raised an eyebrow.
"Well he suggested that we make a cake for Cassandra as a little thank you for everything that she's done for us." Jack explained and grinned.
"So how did you get flour on you?" Emma asked again.
"I threw a handful of flour at Ianto and I guess I must have dropped some on myself." Jack chuckled at the memory of their little 'food fight' earlier.
"I would have loved to see that." Emma laughed. "You promise that you'll get Ianto to talk to Sam in the morning?"
"I promise." Jack nodded.
"Thanks Jack. I'm going to bed now, good night." Emma gave Jack a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek before heading up to bed.
"Good night." Jack called after her and returned to the kitchen to help Ianto with the cleaning.
********
"The cake turned out really well, don't you think?" Ianto commented as he climbed into bed.
"Mm-hmm." Jack agreed as he emerged from the bathroom after brushing his teeth and slid into his side of the bed.
Jack waited until Ianto had gotten comfortable before scooting over and wrapping an arm around him protectively.
Ianto sighed contentedly and wriggled closer to Jack.
"Did you talk to Emma?" He asked sleepily.
"Yeah, she would like you to talk to Sam tomorrow morning for her. She feels the same way." Jack mumbled.
"That's good. It will be nice for Sam to have some happiness of his own." Ianto replied.
"Good night, Yan." Jack leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Ianto's cheek.
"Good night, Jack." Ianto barely whispered before he and Jack feel into a deep sleep.
********
Jack rolled over sleepily and stretched an arm out across Ianto's side of the bed. He was about to fall back asleep when he realised that Ianto wasn't lying next to him.
"Ianto?" Jack asked as he sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.
Looking around, he noticed a piece of paper on Ianto's pillow. Jack picked it up and read it through once.
Jack,
I've gone to talk to Sam before he starts his duties for the day. Didn't wake you because you looked peaceful and you seemed really tired last night so I thought it'd be best for you to get a bit more sleep.
Be back soon,
Ianto
XX
Jack smiled to himself and set the note down on his bedside table. He planned on getting ready before Ianto got back and then they could go and relax again in the garden.
Jack enjoyed spending most of his time with Ianto but he knew that every day wouldn't be like they are now; Ianto would eventually have to start working for Cassandra. Maybe she would allow him to work different hours to the other servants so that Jack could still wake up to Ianto's body lying next to his every morning instead of a short letter on his pillow and cold sheets. Jack made a mental note to himself to talk to Cassandra about it later.
Jack padded into the bathroom and got ready to take a shower. He wrapped the towel around his waist as he waited for the water to heat up.
As he waited he heard the door into their bedroom open and click shut again.
"Jack?" Ianto called.
"I'm in the bathroom." Jack shouted back and tested the heat of the shower with his hand before hanging to towel on the towel rail and climbing into the shower; behind the dark blue curtain and into the cascade of warm water. He heard Ianto approach the door and knock lightly.
"Can I come in?" He asked.
"Of course." Jack smiled at Ianto's politeness.
Ianto entered the bathroom and closed the door behind him. Jack heard him put the toilet seat down and guessed that he had sat on top of it so he could talk to Jack.
"I talked to Sam." He said simply.
"What did he say?" Jack asked.
"He is going to ask Emma out on a date." Ianto replied.
"That's great. Is he nervous?" Jack started washing his hair.
"He's really nervous." Ianto chuckled.
"So when is he going to ask her?" Jack raised his eyebrows and laughed to himself as he realised that Ianto couldn't see him.
"I'm not sure, he said that he's only working until noon today so he's going to try and talk to her alone but whether he actually does it or not..." Ianto trailed off.
"I suppose so. I hope he does ask her, she really likes him." Jack replied.
"Hmm." Ianto agreed. Jack heard the sound of Ianto shuffling across the room. "I'm going to get us some breakfast while you finish getting ready."
"Okay." Jack said and carried on rinsing the shampoo off his head as he heard the door click closed again.
The room suddenly felt very empty without Ianto there.
Hope everybody enjoy that chapter :) Please review! :)