How Jack had managed to bribe his way onto the roof of the Millennium centre, Ianto would never know. All he knew was the security guard who looked after the place at night let Jack go up to the roof and brood. Jack had confessed his fondness for heights whenever he had thinking to do, and let Ianto in on his little secret arrangement. If Jack needed space, overlooking the whole of Cardiff would certainly achieve that.

It was getting later into the evening, the show having ended and the last of the audience heading home, so the centre was almost deserted. Ianto spotted the security desk and headed over to the guard. The man was probably close to 70, his lined face friendly and approachable. He gave the man a gracious smile as he walked up,

"Hi there" Ianto started politely, "By any chance, is Jack here?"

The guard raised an eyebrow, and Ianto gulped slightly. He had the sudden realization that if this man didn't know what he was talking about then he sounded insane,

"Ianto, I assume?"

Ianto nodded in relief, "Yes"

"Thought so. He's mentioned you a lot" the old man gestured to a small side door, "through there, follow the stairs up"

"Thank you"

Ianto stepped out into the night air, taking a moment to appreciate the view. Stretching out over the bright lights of the bay to the darkness beyond, the city bustling beneath. Ianto spotted Jack in the far corner, his back to the door as he looked out over the world. He almost looked like an action hero stood like that, as if he was watching over the city he protected. Ianto approached to stand next to him, not quite touching him,

"Hi" Ianto said softly

"Hey" Jack replied, still not looking at the other man,

"It's beautiful up here. I can see why you like it"

"It is, isn't it" Jack agreed, "I'm sorry about how I reacted, Yan"

Ianto nodded, "I just want you to let me in. I can't help you if you push me away"

"That's the last thing I want to do" Jack reached out a hand, which Ianto gripped back immediately, "It's just…hard to talk about"

"I get that its complicated. And if you're not ready to share it with me I'll understand"

"Its not that. It's more I'm scared of what will happen. I don't want to lose you, to have you hate me or change your opinion of me"

"Jack I love you, there's nothing you could tell me that's going to change that"

"I love you too, so much it terrifies me sometimes" Jack sighed, "Ok, Gray is my younger brother"

"when we first met you mentioned it was a long story, and that you didn't really speak"

"That's true. Hence why him calling the house like that has thrown me so much. I don't know what I'm going to do about that"

"Do you want to get back in touch with him?"

"I don't know" Jack said wearily, "A lot has happened between us. There's been mistakes on both sides and I don't know if we can come back from it"

"What happened?"

Jack sighed, "Gray has held a grudge for a long time. Since we were kids in fact, when I was 15 and he was 11 there was an accident. I was supposed to be looking after him, but he was my kid brother and running around with my own friends was more important at the time. I left him for a moment, only a moment, and he ran out into the road after me. He was hit by a car, and it was bad. He was left with life changing injuries"

"Life changing how?"

"He was in a coma and had to have rehabilitation to learn to walk again. He suffered well into his late teens and still isn't the same now"

"Shit" Ianto breathed, "But Jack, you were a kid yourself. You weren't to blame for that"

"I should've been looking out for him!" Jack cried, "I still blame myself, and more importantly he does too. He wanted me to realise what I'd put him through, vowed to make me feel the same way he had – let down and abandoned".

"That's insane"

"Yeah well, I deserved it in a way" Jack said sadly, "He used John to get to me. Believe it or not, John wasn't always psychotic"

"What do you mean?"

"In the beginning he was a nice guy. We were casual but I was falling for him, he was the first real relationship that I'd introduced to my family. But once he met Gray, and Gray realised he was important to me, he saw an opportunity to get back at me and took it" Jack took a deep breath as he continued, "He would plant doubts in John's head, twist information and feed it to John until he was convinced I was cheating, but he was becoming more and more obsessed with me at the same time. He would stalk me to work, to the gym, constantly call and check up on me, all because Gray would be telling him he needed to. It messed him up completely, I mean you've seen the results of it first hand. I thought it was over and then he went and found out about you"

"John believed him?"

"He was my brother, John thought he'd have no reason to lie" Jack shrugged, "It got so bad that I could barely leave the house without John either being with me, or he'd be waiting outside my door when I got home to find out exactly where I'd been. I thought we were falling in love but it was so unhealthy. I cut them both off in the end, I broke up with John as you know, told Gray I wanted nothing more to do with him if he was going to continue this destructive path against me. I mean look at everything John did to you, yet another thing that's been hurt by Gray's influence"

"So getting in touch with him would mean risking that kind of behaviour again"

"And I wanted to keep that part of my life completely separate from you" Jack nodded, "were you not suspicious that I hadn't really mentioned my family to you?"

"A little, maybe" Ianto shrugged, "I know your Mam moved back to Scotland after you lost your dad, so just assumed that's why we hadn't met"

"That's part of it, but I'm also so scared Yan" he squeezed his hand tightly, "If I show them how much you mean to me, it could all happen again and I cant lose you, not like that. I can't go through that again, especially when it's you, knowing I want to spend my life with you and risking that any more than I already have…"

"Hey, listen to me" Ianto placed a hand on Jack's cheek comfortingly, "me and John are very different people"

Jack snorted, "yeah you can say that again"

"Exactly. I wouldn't be influenced by all of that. I know you, I believe in our relationship. The only doubts I've had is around you keeping this from me"

Jack opened his mouth to reply, but Ianto stopped him,

"I know now why you didn't tell me, but after today I wondered whether you didn't trust me enough, or didn't want to open up to me"

"It was never like that. It was a defensive reaction. The wrong reaction I know, but I panicked"

"So lets just make a deal" Ianto said, "no more secrets, no more dramas. Anything that comes our way we face together"

"agreed" Jack nodded, kissing Ianto lightly on the lips. Ianto pulled him back in to deepen the kiss, crushing his body against Jack's as the other man groaned softly in surprise. Jack pulled away in the end, feeling his head begin to cloud over with desire, his body flushed despite the almost icy wind blowing across the city,

"Wow" Jack blinked a few times to clear his head, "kissing me like that in a public place should be illegal"

"We're on a roof high above Cardiff" Ianto pointed out, with a suggestive look that had Jack in disbelief,

"You're not suggesting we…. Ianto Jones, you shock me"

"Still not hearing a no…" Ianto said cheekily, leaning in to brush his lips against Jack's neck,

"We really shouldn't…" Jack's sentence was lost in a moan as Ianto nibbled softly at the nape of his neck, a spot well known for making him weak at the knees "Jesus, you can't do that"

"Hmm I've found it very effective actually" Ianto smirked against his throat, before Jack pulled him up to claim his lips. Ianto responded immediately, allowing his tongue to brush insistently against Jack's lips until granted entrance. Jack ground his hips into Ianto's as his hands crept slowly up his t shirt, the kiss becoming more and more heated,

"Boys, I need to lock up properly now… Oh"

They sprang apart breathlessly as the guard's torch hit the spot they'd been standing in, completely oblivious to his approach until that point.

"Yeah maybe we better continue this at home" Ianto said sheepishly. Jack chuckled and took his hand, quickly thanking the guard who was a little pink, leading the love of his life back down to solid ground.