10

The short drive into town gave Ianto a chance to give himself a mini-makeover. he retied his tie and checked his teeth in the mirror, brushed his hair, swallowed two breath mints, and managed to arrive at The Strip looking like someone who hadn't just spent two hours with twenty-three overactive kids, trying to get them to remember the words to O' Little Town of Bethlehem.

Jack stood on the designated corner in front of the toy store. Tonight, he wore jeans and a black, long-sleeved shirt, but it was all he needed to look scrumptious. Which was so not fair for his equilibrium. He turned from the store window as Ianto approached, and his slow, pleased grin made Ianto weak in the knees.

He told his betraying limbs to toughen up and stop being so stupid.

"Hi," Ianto said as he approached. "You found it."

"Cardiff is a small town. It's pretty hard to get lost driving from one end of The Strip to the other," Jack replied, his teasing smile making an appearance again.

Oh, why did he have to keep unleashing that grin?

Ianto stiffened his silly knees and skirted around him to open the door. He needed to surround himself with other people in the hopes that a crowd would lessen the impact. Except, Jack was going for the door, too, and his hand closed over his a second later. He jerked away so fast he almost fell over.

Jack glanced up into his eyes. "You're not running from me, are you?"

"No, why would I do that?"

"Is it because of the night we met?" he asked, ignoring his protest. "Are you embarrassed about what you told me?"

"No." More like he was mortified at almost making out with a total stranger on a deserted highway.

"Good, because you have no reason to be." Then he opened the door and made a courtly bow, ushering him inside. "What treasures are on your list here?"

"My oldest sister's daughter is into anything with kittens," Ianto said. "And Brianne's twins like anything that blows up or makes lots of noise. If I can find something that does both, I'm golden."

"As they should." He grinned. "I'm sure we can find something to fit all of those requirements here. Which do we seek out first?"

Ianto should make it a law that Jack Harkness could no longer smile. Instead of following his impulse to jump him by the door, Ianto walked away. His shoes clipped along the floor as he followed.

Ianto did his best to act natural. Tried to enjoy the moment, but Jack's presence scrambled his brain. When had he turned into such a blathering idiot around this man? Of course, Jack wasn't just any man. He was a fantasy, seemingly conjured up out of magic and moonlight.

From the toy store, they went to Coffee Beans & Tea Leaves to get a new teapot for his Tad's fiancé, Morwen.

Then it was on to the clothes boutique, where Ianto hoped to find something for his younger sister, Brianne. Jack swallowed any misgivings about venturing into an all female realm and followed along gamely.

"Are you sure you're not uncomfortable around me?" Jack asked when they'd gone for nearly fifteen minutes without saying another word.

"I'm fine."

"Really? Because I know confessing something deeply personal can be very intimate. I'd be happy to confess something of my own if it'll make you feel better."

Ianto dropped the pretty floral dress he'd been eyeing and spun around to face him. "You'll tell me your deepest, darkest secret?"

"Of course."

"Okay, what happened with your family that you feel like you can't go home for Christmas?"

His smile disappeared like a candle snuffing out. "Sure, go for the hard confessions first."

"You volunteered," he pointed out.

"So I did," he said, mouth twisting into a grimace.

Judging by his chagrined expression, he now regretted being so cavalier about telling stories. Part of Ianto wanted to give him an out, but the other part needed to know what made Jack Harkness click.

"Was it so terrible?" Ianto asked. "Did you have a fight with your family?"

"It was pretty much an epic meltdown," Jack said.

"What happened?"

"It started when I told my wife that I wanted to go into the ministry."

The world stopped as a rushing sound swept through him, drowning out everything but his furious heartbeat.

"Your what?" Ianto must have shouted the question because a store full of patrons whipped around to stare at him. He didn't care if the whole town heard him right now.

Jack's expression went dark, and he raked a hand through his hair. "I should have eased into that part better," he muttered.

An animal scream tried to claw its way up Ianto's throat as fury ripped through him. "You have a wife?"

"Maybe we'd better go somewhere more private," Jack said, reaching for him.

He jerked back from his touch. "Maybe you'd better explain how you have a wife and didn't see fit to tell me."

"Had a wife," Jack said. He kept his voice low and even, but his jaw was locked, and his eyes were nearly black. It was the first genuine sign of anger he'd ever seen in him. "We're not married anymore. She left when I told her about my new life calling."

Not married anymore.

The combined sensations of anger, relief, jealousy, and outright confusion made Ianto sway on his feet.

Jack let out a low grumble and took his hand. "Come on, let's get out of here. You need to sit, and I need to tell you everything without witnesses."

Reality returned, and Ianto realized that, yes indeed, everyone in the store was still staring at them. His skin heated as a damned blush formed "Maybe you're right."

Jack kept hold of him as they walked back outside. Even when they reached the sidewalk, he didn't let go, maybe to ensure he didn't bolt. Jack led him across the street to the boardwalk. A warm, salty breeze kissed Ianto's face, and he took a deep breath, willing his racing heart to slow down. They walked for some time without speaking.

Perhaps Jack was trying to figure out what to say. As for Ianto, he had so many questions he didn't know where to start.

They passed a little food cart selling roasted peanuts and hot cocoa, and Jack stopped to buy some.

"I have a feeling we could both use something stronger, but this will have to do for now," he said.

Ianto stared down into the light brown liquid and then lifted his gaze to Jack's. "What happened?"

His chest lifted and fell as he took a deep breath. "My wife walked out the door right after I told her I wanted to become a minister."

"Just like that? No attempt to work it out."

"She served me with the divorce papers two days later."

Ianto couldn't imagine such coldness. "I'm sorry. When was this?"

"Five years ago."

"What?" he figured Jack was a couple years older than her, which meant he'd made his life-changing decision at…

"I was twenty-seven, in case you were wondering," Jack said.

"Twenty-seven? Wait, so you are … thirty three?" Ianto could only stare at him in amazement. "I don't understand. What were you doing before?"

"I was president at my father's investment firm," Jack said. "Raking in lots of money and being groomed to take over as CEO when the old man retired."

"An investment firm?" Ianto was starting to feel a little like a parrot. So, the catalyst was not the glaringly obvious fact he was bisexual… it was wanting to follow a path not involving millions of dollars? What a cow.

"You were a Wall Street tycoon?" Ianto asked, trying to picture Jack wearing designer suits and probably living in a mansion or a downtown penthouse.

Jack splayed his arms out wide. "I was a silver spoon, blue blood, with more money than anyone could ever need. I had a mansion that could have been featured on that old rich and famous show, and a glamorous wife who spent a small fortune on upkeep."

"Of the mansion?"

"Of herself. Lucia required a lot to keep up appearances," Jack said. "I did, too, for a long time. Until I realized I was dead inside. A stillborn baby after we first married still in our teens we named Alice that never got spoken of. I didn't care about anything but making more money. I had everything the world tells us we need in order to be happy, but it was all surface. It didn't mean anything."

"What changed?" he knew something must have triggered such a huge epiphany.

Jack seemed to consider then with a sigh told Ianto everything. For some reason, they could not lie to one another.