''You back again?'' Jack yelled when he heard the door open.
''No, it's Santa Claus, of course, it's me,'' Ianto yelled while struggling with all the bags in his arms.
''How for god's sake, did you bring enough food to feed an orphanage?''
"Haha, just help me." Came Ianto's dry response.
" Rose just called, she's safe. Apparently, she had a big row with her mum, Jackie, the day before she panic called you. You know how it goes with parents and grown-up kids in the same house, a row will ensue soon. Rose told me that she took a rash decision to hitchhike to Scotland because she wanted to see the world. She's back home now, I invited her to come stay in Cardiff one day." He said while he walked behind Ianto. With his one arm, he took out the groceries and began to neatly store them away where they belonged. He'd become quite inventive in doing everything with one hand. And his leg didn't even hurt that bad when he walked on it - he had a special walking cast.
"Remind me for a second, cause I don't think you ever explained, how did you know Rose again?" Ianto asked with a frown and handed him the milk to put in the refrigerator.
"Oh yeah, that's right. Sorry, never came up again so I forgot. About 4 years ago I worked in London at a car repair shop." He started but was interrupted by Ianto.
"I'm sorry, a car repair shop. You know how to fix a car? " He seemed perplexed about the thought of it being possible.
" Yes, why does that seem so weird?"
" I don't know, I just never figured you to do that kind of job."
" Well, I did, kept me busy. So I had some mates there and one of the men was Rose's boyfriend Mickey. He introduced us and we went out as a group of friends a few times. Fast forward some months and we became best friends. It's weird, they were the first people in a long time who made me feel like life wasn't just about seeking out love. That breaking the curse wasn't all I needed to work on. That friends were just as important to have around you. We just became a really close group of friends, me, her and Mickey. Funny thing, for about a year she lived with me after she finally moved out of her mother's flat. Lived in my spare room and we had lots of fun together. Then she moved in with Mickey. And suddenly the flat felt… lonely. Eventually, I had to go, because people would notice I didn't age, Rose knew there was something different with me but she didn't know the truth. About half a year before I met you I moved to Cardiff and left London behind me. It broke my heart to leave her, she was the best friend I ever had. But we kept in touch through the phone. Last I heard before today was that she broke up with Mickey and moved back to her mum's." He fully acknowledged that he'd started to ramble. He just wanted to tell Ianto about Rose, without him having to start feeling jealous. Which might actually be harder than he imagined on first thought.
"It's weird, I never felt anything romantic towards her, only friendship." He added as an afterthought. It was the truth and nothing but the truth. He didn't just say it to make Ianto feel better.
"Okay, if you say so." Ianto started looking down at the bottle of wine he was holding in his hand. He put his fingers under Ianto's chin and aimed his eyes towards him.
"Nothing to be afraid of, we're just best friends, like you and Tosh." He placed a quick kiss on Ianto's plush, soft lips and afterwards stole the bottle out of his hands to put it away. After all the groceries had been put away he single-handedly folded the bags and put them away for later use.
Ianto had been silent throughout it all and he worried that he'd said something wrong.
"What's going through that thick skull of yours?" He asked when they were sitting down on the couch for a few minutes before they would have to start preparing the food.
"I'm… just taking it all in."
"Is that a good or a bad thing?"
" Not sure, let's just say I'd quite like to see that Rose of yours now. "
" Feeling jealous are we?" He teased which resulted in a flushed Ianto. He liked teasing him more than he should be.
" Don't worry, there's nothing to be jealous about. Now how did shopping go?" He asked to change the subject. One day he would introduce Ianto to Rose and he would see why there was nothing to worry about.
"Quite uneventful actually, some dog shot in front of the car and almost got himself killed while I tried to avert him. A kid peed his pants in front of the store. Oh and uhm I met that woman who found you after your accident Uhm what was her name… oh Lily!" He just put his foot up on the couch so it could rest a little when he heard him say the name of the woman he'd hope to never see or hear of again.
" What did she want?" He tried not to say too panicked.
" Uhm, just how you were doing. Oh and… about us."
" What do you mean about us?"
" Exactly what it means. She guessed that we were in a relationship and wanted to know if she was right." Puzzled, Ianto looked him in the eye.
" Is something wrong with that?"
"No, no… just surprised. What did you tell her?"
" The truth. Well, a simple version of it." One day he would tell Ianto who that woman really was and why he was so shocked, but today was not that day. And he was granted some secrets in his life.
" Oh, almost forgot, she told me to tell you to enjoy life while you can." He nodded to him in thanks. He was quite sure that there was some hidden meaning behind those words, but right now he just didn't want to find that out yet. So he masked his feelings and went on with the day. Looking at the clock showed him that they were far behind schedule.
"Right. Let's cook." He said far more cheerful than he felt on the inside, but he knew that he wasn't the only one as Ianto smiled at him with false cheer.
"Yeah, those bell peppers aren't going to cook themselves."
-0O0-
" So everyone present here is here for one reason and one reason only, alright maybe two. To share news. Who wants to go first?" Jack asked the group after he'd handed them all something to drink. Alcohol had been pretty much what all of them favoured on such a night out, but there were a few exceptions - as always. For one, he really didn't like to drink himself into oblivion, so he always opted for something non-alcoholic. But this time Gwen had chosen some cola too, which was quite surprising as she would always go for getting hammered if she didn't have to do something important the next day. He had a suspicion, but he would have to wait until the truth was revealed to know for sure. Rhys bumped his elbow onto Gwen's to get her attention. Rhys could clearly not wait to tell their secret.
"I'm quite sure Rhys wants to go first," Ianto said from next to him, a mischievous smile on his face and something wonderful twinkling in his eyes. They all turned towards the married couple who beamed at them.
" You guys might've already guessed, but I'm pregnant. Surprise!" Her hands went towards Rhys's and took them in hers. She smiled at him like he was her whole world while they let the news sink. It was like he knew he sometimes stared at Ianto when he knew he wouldn't see him.
" That's… are you for real?" Tosh asked her, she seemed genuinely shocked and couldn't believe it.
"Yes, it finally happened. 11 weeks to the day." She responded looking at them all. Rhys looked like the proud man he knew he would be. From what he'd heard through Ianto they had been trying for a while now, so he was really glad they finally got what they wanted. There was always the slight possibility that it could go wrong, but sometimes you just had to stay positive and think good thoughts, otherwise, life would get so depressing. A round of congratulations followed soon after. They got hugged, slapped on the back - on Rhys's part - and even kissed on the cheek. He let out a cheer of joy for his friends and watched them from afar celebrating this tiny miracle of life.
" Just come here, Jack," Gwen said, quite emotional from all the hugging. He followed suit and hugged her tiny frame. Joyful, he placed a kiss on top of her hair, he was glad that he met Ianto because with him he just gained some incredible friends who he wouldn't trade for the world.
"Do you have any cravings yet?" Ianto asked. He was the first to speak up after their celebratory hug.
" I don't think so yet, although I've been really looking forward to your stuffed bell peppers. They smell delicious." The bell peppers were still in the oven, slowly baking themselves away at 250⁰ degrees.
"Be patient, they're almost done," Ianto said after laughing at her response.
" Well, I think we can all vouch that Ianto here is the best cook of us all. So that shouldn't be too big of a miracle if he makes something delicious." Tosh started after the conversation had fallen silent. They all chimed in with a yes.
"So next person. Who's going?" Gwen asked as she had been the first one to start she could ask who would go next. Without saying anything Tosh just stuck out her hand to let the others see her engagement ring. It didn't even need to be said, everyone knew immediately what it meant. And for him and Ianto, it was less of a surprise as they'd literally been in the room when it happened. Aah, good times.
''You're engaged? How? When did that happen?'' Gwen squealed in happiness.
"Uhm.. well, not that long ago. It's all still fairly new." Her cheeks started to blush more than he was used to from her. Honestly, she looked ready to jump behind the curtains and hide from Gwen's hurt gaze. Rhys whispered something in her ear that would probably be something along the line of 'be kind Gwen'. As if on cue her shocked and angry face turned into one full of surprise and glee. Like he'd seen many women - in movies and series do - they hugged each other and Gwen started to admire the ring on her hand. He could hear her gushing about how beautiful it looked and how lucky she was to have Owen. Weirdly enough it took only a few minutes before their heads - as if they'd planned it - turned - in synchrony - towards him and Ianto. A little scared, he took one step backwards and bumped his leg towards the couch. He looked back, not knowing that he'd already been so close towards that piece of furniture.
"You two have been rather quiet. What's your big news?" Owen directed the question towards them both, but Ianto actually was the one to start talking, although stuttering.
"We… we…" Ianto started, in spite he watched Ianto trying to come out of his words. There, actually, was no right way of saying this. But they could try.
He took a few steps forward until he stood next to Ianto. Carefully, as to not scare him, he took Ianto's hand in his. He looked him in the eye and brought their entwined hands into the air. He probably had one of those dopey smiles on his face while he stared Ianto straight in the eye, but he didn't care much about that. As long as their friends understood what they tried to tell them without words.
"FINALLY!" Chorused through the air. Almost simultaneously their friends began to speak. It felt kind of funny actually, but one look to his side showed him that Ianto wasn't thinking along the same line. He stood watching them speechless.
"You guys owe me." Owen started to interrupt the unbelievable cheers. Owen, not looking at him or Ianto, looked like he'd won the lottery.
"You knew?" Ianto mumbled just hard enough for the others to hear while they started to fish out their wallets.
"Come on Ianto, it's been rather obvious for while now that you fancy him. It was only a matter of time before it happened. Especially since you guys sleep together." Owen said while he was handed a 20-pound note by Gwen.
" Wait, what the hell do you guys think we're doing?" Ianto exclaimed pretty soon after everything dawned on him.
" Calm down Ianto, Owen just means sleeping, nothing else." Tosh tried to reassure him but didn't completely succeed.
"What the fuck did you guys bet on?" For a few seconds, there was this eerily silence. He tugged Ianto closer towards him and got him to focus on only him.
"It doesn't matter." He whispered into his ear. On his way back up he left a kiss on Ianto's cheek. Everything to keep him distracted from killing or wounding Owen - and possibly the others too.
" Just that you two were going to announce your relationship today." Rhys chipped in, with a pained look he said goodbye to his twenty-pound note and watched Owen's gleeful face. Relieved he let out a sigh, luckily it hadn't been anything worse. Suddenly a shrill beeping noise went through the air and temporarily distracted them from letting things escalate.
"I think that's our cue." He said to Ianto. Together they went towards the kitchen and prepared their food in silence. They would talk about everything that happened later, now was their evening to enjoy their newfound love. He took the salad bowl in his hand and went on to put it on their kitchen table, only he stopped and turned around before he left Ianto alone in the kitchen to put a kiss on his neck.
" I love you, never forget that." He whispered to him. Today they would celebrate, tomorrow they would worry about telling everyone else.
" I said it once, and I'll say it again. I love you, you dumbass." Ianto responded.
For now, he just wanted to enjoy whatever they could and not worry about the world outside because if he knew one thing it's that their friends would always have their back.
A/N: I hope you like it and please leave a review.
XXXFredAndGeorgeForever