Jack watched the city of Cardiff from up high above. He always loved roofs. Mostly because the altitude made him feel vulnerable. Not much could touch him so the sheer thought of being so close to danger thrilled him. Just for a second before he leaps on that ledge, he can easily lose balance and fall. So every time he felt the need to come back down to earth, he did just that. He sought out the one thing that still scared him after centuries. Heights.

He took out his binoculars and shone his attention to the people on the bay. He saw children playing with a kite, teenagers rollerblading and generally terrifying the locals and elderly women jabbering to each other.

He searched some more and found an old couple, both at least in their eighties, walking slowly near the shops. The endearing part of this couple was that they were holding on to their canes for support and each other. Their fingers linked and all the while Jack watched, they never let go of each other. A sad smile crept on his lips, a smile of longing and desire. One of hopefulness and sadness. No matter how hard he may want this, he could never have it. He will always be the one that is left behind and has to leave his loved ones.

His sad smile turned bright as he noticed a familiar figure standing against the railings that separated the shops from the bay. He let his eye – or his binoculars – float up from well dressed legs to a firm buttocks up to broad shoulders and finally it rested on a sweet but sad face. He watched the man for a few minutes, savoring those sweet short curls in his hair, the way that suit just perfectly swayed with his curves … and oh … those hands.

"Oh Ianto Jones, the things you do to me …" Jack whispered.

He jumped off the ledge and made a decision. He was going to seek out that wonderful man and feel very much alive.

Ianto was staring into the distance, his eyes set upon the bright sun playing with the sea. He sighed deeply, his mind buried in all the things that have gone wrong the last few years.

Even though the sun warmed his body, inside he was as cold as the winter that had just passed. He looked around and saw all the different people surrounding him.

'It's funny, ' he thought. 'Even amongst the crowd I feel so alone. And even amongst all these people there is no one who pays attention to me.'

A soft cough caught his attention. He slowly swung around and saw his boss standing behind him, holding out a huge ice cream sundae. 'Blimey, that man can eat' he thought to himself.

"Hello there." the older man said. "Good to see you on this fine midday."

"Afternoon sir." Ianto replied politely.

"Please Ianto. It's jack … How many times do I need to repeat it …."

"At least once more, sir."

Jack chuckled, the mere sound of it sending shivers down Ianto's spine.

"So, I've got this ice cream and it is far too big for me to eat. Care to join me?" Jack nervously asked.

"I just had a sandwich …"

"I'm sure you can manage to eat a couple of spoonfuls no?" Jack responded.

"Well … we wouldn't want you too big to save the world now would we?" Ianto said in his typical deadpan voice as he accepted the spoon Jack was offering him.

They ate the ice cream in a comfortable silence as they both were lost in their own thoughts.

Jack licked off his spoon and sighed as he took the last spoonful of ice cream into his mouth. "Now that is one neat dessert, " Jack exclaimed. "But I feel like I should get my money back."

"Why is that sir? It was a very good serve!" Ianto replied, his eyebrow arched in question.

"Well you see, the man who sold it to me guaranteed me it would put a smile on a sad face. And it didn't really work." Jack said, his eyes searching for Ianto's gaze.

"Oh … you mean, oh…" Ianto stammered.

"You didn't realize I bought it for you?" Jack joked. "Why on earth would I buy all of that ice cream just for me?"

"Well sir, I wouldn't put it past you. I've seen the amount of pizza you can scoff down!"

Jack laughed heartily but soon stopped as Ianto didn't really join in on the fun.

Jack ran his fingers over the side of his face, tickling the young man. He smiled as he noticed the shy man leaning into the touch, instead of hurrying away as he had anticipated. He closed the distance between them and brushed a small kiss over Ianto's forehead.

"So beautiful and yet so sad. What has the world done to my sweet boy?" Jack murmured.

Ianto didn't reply. Well, couldn't really. His throat choked up as he heard those sugary whispered words coming from the man that had supported – and dragged – him through the recent awful months.

"Life isn't fair on any of us." Ianto managed to mutter a minute later.

"That's true," Jack replied as he let his hand wander over Ianto's shoulders until it finally settled on the small of his back. He pulled the young man closer to his body, smiling into Ianto's hair as he felt the archivist melt into the hug. "But it hurts so much more when I see the one person that makes me smile so sad."

"It's not all bad …" Ianto softly whispered, barely audible but clear as crystal to Jack because they stood so close to each other, their lips barely inches apart.

"No? What makes it better?"

"You …"

Jack ghosted a kiss on Ianto's lips, a soft kiss … barely touching each other's mouths and yet so very present. "Funny … that's what I was going to say if you asked me."