Lisa approached them where they'd settled comfortably leaning on the railings, having spotted them walk past her restaurant with ice creams minutes earlier. She couldn't help the wave of bitterness that her impulsive little plan hadn't had the desired effect, but after consideration that wasn't the best way to restart their relationship anyway. She couldn't play dirty, she had to present Ianto with all his options and make him see that she was the best thing for him.

She looked at the two of them, holding hands contentedly in the sunshine, and had to admit that they did look happy. Ianto looked more relaxed than she'd seen him in a very long time. But she'd made him happy once too,

"Ianto, I…"

"Lisa, I have nothing to say to you" Ianto glared at her, "at least nothing that can be said in polite company"

"Can we please talk?" Lisa said quietly, gesturing to the small café of outdoor tables that takes up the centre of Mermaid Quay

Jack's hand tightened around Ianto's almost painfully. He hadn't taken his eyes off Lisa since she'd arrived, a look of hatred mixed with genuine fear of losing the man he loved. Ianto squeezed back reassuringly, trying to convey that there was nothing that could ever make him leave.

"Why would I want to talk to you? You almost lost me everything, yet again I might add!"

"Look, just hear me out and then you'll never have to speak to me again if that's what you want, I promise"

Ianto looked to Jack, who smiled grimly at him,

"I think you need to hear her out, Yan" Jack sighed, "To get closure for you both"

"I don't need closure"

"Then for me" Jack looked deep into his eyes, "For my own peace of mind"

Ianto nodded solemnly, "Okay" he turned back to Lisa, "You have 10 minutes"

"I'll head over to the restaurant; Tosh will be in by now" Jack gave Ianto a quick kiss on the cheek, flashed him a smile that didn't quite meet his eyes. He was clearly nervous leaving Ianto here with his ex-girlfriend alone, but he knew it was necessary. There needed to be conversation, or he'd always look over his shoulder waiting for something to happen. He could see in Lisa's face that she wanted Ianto, that she would fight for him. But he knew Ianto loved him. And for that he would always fight for Ianto, whatever it took.

"Jack, wait…I do owe you an apology" Lisa looked down, "what I did was selfish and impulsive, I know that now"

"Thankyou" Jack replied bluntly, turning without another word and heading towards Jones'. Ianto watched him leave wistfully before turning his attention to the woman before him. They took a table for two on the quay, but no passer-by would ever confuse this for a date. Ianto's face was a professional mask, no affection there at all. He fixed a stony gaze on the woman's face, waiting for her to speak.

"Ianto, I want to say I'm sorry first of all" Lisa began, "That wasn't fair to Jack, to you, and it's not how I want things with us"

"Us?" Ianto raised an eyebrow sceptically

"Yeah, us" Lisa's hand twitched as if she was about to reach across the table towards him but thought better of it.

"Ianto, I made a mistake when I did what I did"

"Which mistake are we referring to now?"

Lisa almost rolled her eyes, "When we were together, I let us fall apart when you told me you were bisexual. That was wrong of me. If I'd reacted properly we'd still be together, you obviously still feel something or else why would we still be in each others lives"

"Look Lisa, we were almost friends there for a while, I forgave you for what you did and I moved on from it" Ianto sighed, "I let Jack bring me to your restaurant for our first date, thinking we'd reached a point we could be happy for each other. I clearly made a mistake there"

"No, Yan, of course I want you to be happy…. but I could be the one to make you happy"

"I am happy, happier than I've ever been in any relationship before" Ianto put it bluntly, not caring that there was a hint of an insult in there, even when Lisa winced slightly, "Jack is my future"

"But just think about the kind of future we could have Ianto" Lisa pleaded, "Marriage, kids, growing old together, everything we had always talked about"

"And because Jack's a man you're insinuating I can't have those things with him?" Ianto glared, realising that while she was apologising, her attitude clearly hadn't changed,

"Well…" Lisa looked uncomfortable, "Not in the same way"

"Are you seriously going there?! Gay or straight, everyone should have the same right to happy life together"

"But you're not gay Ianto... I mean maybe you like men now but you loved me once too so its all a bit complicated"

"It's not about men or women! Labels don't mean anything, it's about love" Ianto sighed, "I love Jack, I'm always going to love Jack, and nothing you say will ever change that"

Ianto rose to leave, "times up. I really wish you the best out of your life, Lisa, honestly. But I'd thank you to stay out of mine"

"So that's it?" Lisa said sadly, "You're really not giving us another chance?"

"Let me make this abundantly clear" Ianto said darkly, "You broke me Lisa. And I don't say that in malice, it took me a long time to make peace with it all, but I did. I moved on with my life, and I mean it when I say I forgive you. But I will never ever see you as anything more than that woman from my past that I want to forget. So you stay away from me, and without a doubt stay away from Jack. You are nothing to either one of us. Goodbye"

And without another word, ignoring the shocked tears running down Lisa's cheeks, he turned and strode away to where he knew his love was waiting.

X-X-X

Jack was sat at the bar nursing a glass of wine, running his finger absentmindedly along the rim. Tosh was scrubbing the bar so hard she could be carving a dent into the marble, a look of complete rage on her face. Jack had filled her in on the whole situation, and she was furious. After everything Lisa had done in the past, to now come and attempt to ruin Ianto's happy relationship was more than Tosh could stomach.

She looked up as the door went and turned her anger to Ianto, dropping the cloth and striding purposely towards the door,

"Where is she?!" she screeched with such force Ianto even stepped back, "I'll fucking kill her"

"Woah, Tosh" Ianto was taken aback, he had never seen this kind of anger from the usually quiet and timid woman, "That's not gonna help"

"It'd help me!" she said indignantly, "Stupid selfish cow what was she thinking!"

"She won't come near us again" Ianto grabbed Tosh's hand to hold her back from heading out to track Lisa down, "I told her straight"

"What did you tell her?" Jack asked nervously, standing up.

Ianto smiled at the older man, reaching towards him, "That I love you, that I will always love you, that my future has you in it for as long as you'll have me"

"That's a very very long time" Jack returned his smile,

"That's what I was hoping for" Ianto closed the distance between them, pulling Jack towards him into a mind-blowing kiss. His hands moved up from the front of Jack's shirt to cup his cheek gently, savouring the moment but knowing there would be many many more. Tosh watched them for a moment, her anger ebbing away to be replaced by pure relief that they were going to be alright. Lisa was out of their lives for good, and the love between the two men before her was undeniable. She smiled softly before retreating into the office to give them their moment.

After nowhere near enough time, Jack pulled back reluctantly,

"As perfect as this is, you're gonna have customers coming through these doors any minute" Jack smiled, "I love you too, by the way"

Ianto grinned, "Good, now get your arse in that office and send out my waitress, we'll continue this later" he gave him a quick peck on the lips, with a look in his eye signalling that there was far more where that came from. Jack nodded with a wink and did as he was told. Sitting in the office he took a deep breath of relief, finally letting the day sink in. He had a gorgeous, perfect Welshman that loved him, that wanted him forever, and no one was going to stand in the way of that. He smiled to himself, leaning back in the desk chair with his hands crossed behind his head. After all that drama, life was good again. And he was going to savour every minute of it.