He became fast friends with Ianto Jones, extraordinary. His heart had found peace with the fact that the wonderful, sexy and definitely loveable Ianto would never be his. Instead, a wonderful friendship had bloomed over time. They told each other all of their secrets.

Wedding plans were taking over his life as he helped Ianto deal with his bridezilla at home. None of their friends had expected that Lisa would get so excited, so obsessed with getting married. So Ianto had sought cover many times at his home when Lisa went too far. They were only 5 days away from the wedding - February the 14th was going to be their big day, Lisa's idea - and the closer they got the more he could see that the stress was getting to Ianto. He didn't seem to be the same, but the only thing he could do was be a good friend and support him through it all.

The only thing he'd never seen coming was opening the door in the middle of the night only to see Ianto Jones on his doorstep with several packed suitcases with him. His face looked distraught as he cast his eyes to the ground. His shoulders were hunched and even in the faint light, he could see the tear tracks on his young face.

"I didn't know where else to go, sorry." He exclaimed as a way of introduction. He simply stepped aside and let the Welshman in without asking any questions. With all the suitcases inside and Ianto firmly, and securely, placed on the couch he started to prepare some coffee for both of them. It was going to be a long night.

With two steaming coffee cups in hand, he walked towards the couch where Ianto was hiding his face in his hand and was hunched down. Something big must've happened for him to come in the middle of the night. And maybe even weirder was that he hadn't taken over making the coffee. Ianto Jones and his coffee was something you shouldn't get in-between of. He always nagged that he made it the wrong way and batted away his hands only to take over. One time he'd even found him talking sweet words to the machine.

" Not that I don't like you being here, but maybe you should tell me why exactly. Ianto, what is going on?" He asked as he sat down next to the young man on the couch. Ianto looked up with tears in his eyes, a longing, for something, shown in his glistening eyes as he watched the space in front of him. Carefully he handed the Welshman his own - already - favourite mug filled to the brim with his special brand. Carefully Ianto took a sip first, let out a sigh, and lowered the mug - with both his hands - on top of his jeans. He turned around slightly so he was facing him.

" It's… it's Lisa!" He proclaimed after a short while. His eyes once so full of love when he spoke of her were now full of hatred and betrayal.

"She's… not who I thought she was." He started off, it took a while for him to finish the whole story, but patiently he waited until he was done.

"I was at a mates house tonight and told her I wouldn't be home until 12, she told me she was going to get an early night in. I came home a bit earlier because I wasn't feeling that well. And uhm… when I opened the door… there was a trail of clothes laying on the ground. I… I… found her with another man, screwing him from atop. We… fought, a lot, after that. Turns out she was screwing him behind my back for years now. She claims she would've ended it today. After the sex. But I don't know what to believe anymore.'' Tears started flooding his eyes as he told him about the occurrence. Quickly he put away his coffee and pried the - still full - coffee cup from Ianto's fingers. It seemed harder than he'd thought at first chance, but in the end, he got there. He took Ianto in a manly hug and could feel the Welshman breaking down in his arms. Loud sobs could be heard throughout the air as he held the man as good as he could. He himself was wearing nothing more than a pristine white shirt and a pair of boxers but it would have to do for now.

For what felt like an hour he held the young man like his life depended on it. When the sobs finally became silent, but tears still fell down his cheeks, he took his head away from Ianto's shoulder and looked him in the eye. His traitorous heart wanted to hunt down the woman and do something to her that neither one would like. But he had the decency to deny himself that pleasure and stay where he was needed the most.

His hand went to the young Welshman's chin and lifted it up so Ianto would be looking him in the eye.

''I know it hurts, and I'm not going to lie to you, it will keep hurting for a while. But don't let that get to you. '' He told him, he'd been through his own fair share of heartbreak - Ianto did know that, but not the whole truth - but even after all this time, it still felt like he couldn't handle it all.

''At first, I was just so pissed… I… I wanted to hit her. '' His hands covered up his face in embarrassment when he told him that. It was understandable where he came from. The abuse he'd had to endure in his life was due to alter him someday. But not one time had his precious Ianto given in to the feelings he'd had. Not one time had he become or even felt like his dad.

''It's okay.'' He tried, but he didn't fall for that.

''No, it's not okay, Jack. Don't you understand? When I give in to that feeling, I'll be just like him. I just… can't.'' His hands were shaking as the young Welshman started to reach forwards and pick up his mug. Before he could reach it Jack swatted his hand away.

''Don't otherwise you'll spill it.''

''Okay. Well, so I just locked myself in the bathroom to try and control myself. I have no idea for how long. But afterwards, I just packed my stuff as quick as I could and got out of there. She kept screaming behind me that I had to come back and all, but I just couldn't. I had to get away from there, but I didn't know where else to go. All of our friends thought of us as the best couple ever. They'd have a hard time accepting us breaking it off. And I don't know about my sister but she'd be pretty pissed off at Lisa. But I can't come to her in the middle of the night expecting her to let me stay. She has enough to worry about.'' His big round sad eyes turned glassy as he stared at something in front of him. A quiver went through his body as he imagined what could've been.

''Can I stay here for a while? Until I've found somewhere else? I just can't go back to her.''

''Of course, you know you're always welcome here." His flawless face started to weakly smile up at him. They stayed up all throughout the night, simply talking to each other about life. About heartbreak and about how it could've been. There hadn't been a bone in his body that had doubted the love Ianto had felt for Lisa, they had seemed like such a lovely couple. But the few times he'd met Lisa hadn't altered his point of view. It felt weird.

Before he knew it it was time to prepare himself for the day. Lots of coffee and an unhealthy dose of sugar had kept him awake during the night.

" I've got to be somewhere today, do you?" He asked the young man on his couch questioningly. He was fully clothed already when he put on his boots and coat, his favourite grey coat swishing behind him as he ran through his apartment in search of his keys. He was really late!

"No, I'll just stay here." He told her with a very hoarse voice. His melancholy heart skipped a beat as he glanced at his anguished friend.

"Alright, are you going to be okay? If you need something or just want to talk, it doesn't matter about what, just call me, okay?" The young man nodded but wasn't even glancing his way. He was peering out of the window at something he had no idea of. When he finally found his keys he walked to the door in a hurry. Opening it he was stopped by a woman on his doorstep. Her hand was raised which led him to conclude she had been about to ring the bell.

"Hi, Jack! Is he-" Lisa's honeyed voice said, she was standing there quite calm bundled up in a pink winter coat.

"Lisa! If you'd please step away, I need to go." He told her, it was the truth but he didn't want Ianto to hear her. He wanted to protect him and give him some space, if only for today.

"I need to talk to Ianto, is he here?" She declared in her own apologetic way. Her cheeky smile scared the shit out of him. Horror-stricken he tried to close the door behind him.

"He isn't, now may I go?" He was sure that she thought he was irritated at her, but at least he had a reason.

"Lisa?" A voice from behind him mumbled. It was very soft and when he saw Ianto's face it seemed like he was looking at a dead man. His eyes were empty of any emotion and his face stony.

" Ianto? " He asked and looked the man in the eye. He nodded, so Jack stepped aside.

"You sure you're okay with this Ianto?" He asked on second thought. If something went wrong he wouldn't be there to stop it. He really didn't care about his apartment, he could care less about it, but he did care about Ianto.

"I'll be okay. I'll see you later okay?" And with that, he left his house in doubt. He wanted to stay, but he really had to go. Hopefully, everything will be alright.

-0O0-

As Ianto listened to her one-sided conversation he clenched his fists to reign in his anger. He hadn't wanted to hear those details. Didn't want to know about a lot of those things. The only things that had mattered to him were the when and why, but she didn't tell him that. No, the things that mattered never left her mouth of her own free will. He always had to force the truth out of her, which had led to more than one fight during the time they'd been together. His heart and mind still loved her to bits - even though he knew he shouldn't - but sometimes she could be such a witch. Maybe it was better if they didn't date, their relationship was far better when they were still friends.

"So there was actually a reason why I needed to talk to you Ianto." Her eyes turned a dangerous kind of sweet. Before yesterday he would've thought nothing about it, but now that he knew she was the person he'd never believed her to be, he sought something behind everything she said, everything she did.

" Okay, so what was it? The quicker you've told me, the sooner you can get out of here." He told her quite vehemently. He hadn't done that on purpose, but his voice had shown his real emotions and he couldn't suppress it.

"Okay, okay, no reason to get mad. Alright, so you know how we've been trying for a while now? I… I found out last week that I'm pregnant. For real this time. I waited to tell you until after I saw the doctor. I didn't want to get your hopes up again." His eyes turned into big eager pools as he watched the woman he once knew in front of him. He'd wanted this for such a long time, a baby of his own. A child to care for. But that had all disappeared from his mind the moment he found her entangled with another man. Speechless he tried to find the right words to ask.

"How long?" He asked eventually. He had to rule something out for himself, after that he could get angry or let out a sigh of relief.

" Two and a half months. Isn't that fantastic Ianto? If I can carry it out this time we'd be proud parents in approximately six months." When the words had left her mouth shock took over his system. It couldn't be… there was no way in hell…

" I haven't touched you in months, Lisa." He said with the patience of a monk. She had to know, didn't she? For a moment he'd hoped that it would be true, but of course, the universe had to come out and play a trick on him again.

"Ianto, what are you talking about?" She seemed brilliant at faking her surprise.

" You know what's going on Lisa, we haven't had sex in months. You were always too busy with the wedding preparations or exhausted, a headache or whatever else you were faking." He snapped at her. This was getting too far. A fake pregnancy was one step too far for him. He would have dealt with the cheating if it had been a slipper. But a repeated one throughout the years and adding to that a baby which wasn't his was just getting out of hand.

" Ian-"

" No Lisa! I want you out of here when I open my eyes, I can't do this right now." His head was spinning as his thoughts were just confusing the hell out of him.

"But what about the wedding?" She tried to reason, but this time he wasn't going to fall for it.

" It's cancelled. You shouldn't have done what you did if you wanted the fairytale wedding you always dreamt about. Now please go!" He warned, his eyes were closed as he pinched the bridge of his nose to keep himself in control. Please let her be gone. Eventually, he heard soft footsteps walking across the room and smashed the door with a bang. Relieved he let out a sigh that he hadn't let his temper flare. But at the same time everything hurt, it was final now. He'd called the shots. There was no going back from it, he wouldn't have been able to live with himself if he went on with everything and not acknowledge anything that had happened. Something in the past had broken them apart. Had split them up and damaged something valuable. The worst thing was that he had no idea what that was. As far as he'd believed two days ago they would be married in a few days time and be a happy couple. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I hope you liked it and please leave a review.

XXXFredAndGeorgeForever