"Alright, alright everyone, stockings away and we can start on the gifts." Roger was orchestrating the giving out of all the wrapped things that filled the room. Ianto passed his stocking to Jack, who grabbed himself one of the satsumas that always ended up in the bottom toe, and slid the stocking under the chair.
"Who wants to do the first round?"
"I'll go." Ianto lifted his leg over Jack's head and moved to the tree. "At least that way we can get over the comments on my wrap job." He gathered up the blue and white papered packages he had brought and began to hand them out. "Mum, this one's for you. Umm…" Ianto frowned at his own handwriting. "Lew, I think this one's for you." He threw it over to his brother, who caught it one handed. "Um, Izzy." Jack had noticed that Ianto seemed somewhat unsettled around the girl. Clearly they hadn't really gotten along. Still didn't.
"Hey, what about me?" Jack called.
"You can wait your turn." Ianto admonished him. The last blue package went into the pocket of his jogging pants and he climbed over the arm of the chair to sit back down. "Just for that, you'll have to wait til the exchange round." Jack leaned his head back.
"What?"
"The last round of gifts is an exchange between two people. Everyone chooses someone else, and the last gift they give is to each other. Mostly it's for couples, but, everyone picks someone so that no one's left out."
"My turn!" Ainsley decided, handing Gavin to Dai so that she could go collect her presents.
"Mum." Ianto said softly. "It's wonderful. Thank you." Ianto ran a finger over his father's cufflinks.
"Can I see?" Jack asked. Ianto leaned forwards, draping his arms over Jack's shoulders to show him the small black box.
"I. J." Jack read the monogram embossed in the flat gold circle.
"Ioan Jones." Ianto said quietly.
"Ianto Jones. Very nice."
"Alright everyone. Exchange round. Pair up." Roger announced. The couples in the room smiled softly at each other, and the others pulled out the gifts they had kept back for their partners.
"Oh." Jack said suddenly. "I left my gift upstairs. Ianto?"
"Oh the old 'I left my gift upstairs' rouse." Lew grinned. "Sure you did."
Aoife sniggered and coughed what sounded suspiciously like the word 'snog'. Ianto looked apologetic, if a little annoyed.
"Jack's forgetful at times." He tried not to catch Lew or Aoife's eye as he stood up with Jack's hand helping him, and followed him out to the hallway. They were followed by a sharp whistle from Aoife and spattered laughter, and scolding from Bethan.
"I really did forget to take your gift out." Jack explained, following Ianto up the stairs. "Not that I would be all that upset if we took advantage of the situation to-" He gave a suggestive smile. Ianto just let him pass by and put his hands against Jack's back, steering him to the bedroom.
The bedsheets were still mussed and the clothes everywhere did look like they'd had a morning shag. But Ianto was a bit too nervous to think about that. He sat down on the edge of the bed, pulling his gift out of the deep pockets of his jogging pants. He fiddled with it, flipping it end over end as Jack searched through his pack.
"Got it." Jack emerged from having half his upper body submerged in his duffel with a red paper wrapped gift.
"Looks nice." Ianto commented, smiling down at his own combination of cellotape and lopsided ribbon.
"I got mine done at the shop." Jack shrugged. He held out his gift at Ianto. "Merry Christmas." Ianto passed his over in exchange. Jack's package was rectangular and the paper was covered in small candy canes. Ianto shifted back on the bed, leaning himself against the wall and crossing his legs.
"You go first." Jack insisted, joining Ianto on the bed with one leg dangling over the edge.
Ianto slid his finger under the tape on the bottom side of the box. It opened easily. He unfolded the sides. It was a cellophaned box set.
"Star Wars." Ianto smiled.
"All six of them, although I wasn't the biggest fan of the new ones."
"The trilogy are my favourite movies."
"I know." Jack gazed at the pack for a moment. "There's another part, but I couldn't wrap it up."
"Jack." Ianto rolled his eyes, expecting Jack's come on. Jack laughed.
"No, not that. Well. Maybe. I promise with that movie set to provide you with one night of alien free relaxation including dinner and beer. You deserve it." Ianto stared at him, still clutching the box.
"Thank you Jack. I….are you….?" Ianto looked confused. Jack thought of what he'd said. Oh. It did sound like a date. Was it a date? Had he meant it to be a date? Originally it just seemed like a nice thing to do for Ianto, that might end up paying off for Jack too at the end of the night.
"I'm asking you out on a date." He said suddenly. He wanted it to be a date. Ianto's lips twitched a little, the edges rising up.
"Open up yours." He gestured toward the gift beside Jack, laying his own in his lap.
Jack pulled the paper off in spiral motion. It was a rectangular box that said "Renbury Chocolates" on the gilt sticker.
"Skates for auntie Ianto?" Jack smiled. Somehow he felt a little disappointed.
Ianto leaned forwards and nudged the lid of the box.
"It's just for packaging."
Jack took the lid off. Two tickets. To a rugby game.
"I thought it was about time you should see a match." Ianto commented. "And….maybe it can be a second date." Jack looked up at Ianto who was watching him with a raised eyebrow. He loved when Ianto let himself show confidence.
"Someone's banking pretty heavily on the outcome of the first." Jack brought his dangling leg up and leaned forwards. "And thank you." He put the lid on the box and pushed it gently aside as he moved closer and closer.
"Well, what can I say. I feel like we'll get on well." Ianto returned, his eyes flicking from Jack's hands to his lips, and up to his eyes.
"I think we do alright." Jack let out a breathy grin. He dipped his head, hovering over Ianto's mouth. His hands moved to grasp the top of the other man's arms, and Ianto pressed up, grabbing his mouth with his own. They both let out soft noises of contentment. Ianto's foot ran up the back of Jack's leg, and he moved his mouth to suck gently on the spot above the line of Jack's collarbone. It was the spot that made Jack let out some pretty indecent curses in the past, and this time wasn't any different.
Jack rucked up Ianto's shirts, touching the hot skin along his spine. Ianto found one of his hands slipping down in between them. He was going to do this, in his mother's house, on Christmas morning. But nothing could stop the way Jack's lips on neck were making his eyes roll back in his head.
"Yanno. Stop molesting your boyfriend. Mum's making toast and eggs." Except that. His brother's voice through the door was like a wave of cold water.
"Ugh." Ianto groaned.
"That had better have been a groan of sexual frustration little brother!"
"Shut UP Lew!" Ianto shouted as Jack started laughing, rolling over onto his back. Ianto sighed in a petulant way that made Jack smile, and turn hot again.
"Dyou want some breakfast Jack?" Ianto asked him, turning to look with an entirely unamused expression.
They were sitting with Ianto's brother and sisters in the lounge with post-brunch mugs of tea.
"Do you know who the first boy Ianto had a crush on was?"
"Lew!"
"It was Aoife's boyfriend. She came home from uni for her birthday with him. Ianto couldn't stay in the same room as him without turning like a beetroot.'
"That's not true!" Ianto protested, looking at Jack. "It's not true."
"It is true! He gave you a hug when he left, and you smiled for three hours!" Ainsley started laughing wildly, and it became apparent that Ianto couldn't hold back anymore. He laughed hard, til his voice was weak when he answered back.
"Fine, fine….And a happy Christmas to you all too, you bloody buggers. Lets all make fun of Ianto's adolescent angsts." He tried to sound put upon, but it was very hard with Aoife turning scarlet in the face as she tried not to break out in giggling.
Ianto, grinning widely, crossed his leg over the other and lifted an eyebrow.
"Come on now Aoife. Go ahead. We all know you want to. Might as well just get it all out in one go now. I won't have you all sniggering at me for the rest of the day."
At this she broke out into bawling laughter that ended with her repeating the same words over and over again while tears squeezed from her eyes.
"He….he…..he- he asked if you were a bit simple, because you couldn't get out a word around him. He though there might be something wrong with your head!" The others howled anew at this and Ianto groaned, dropping his head down. He let his hand fall to Jack's knee in a gesture of patheticness. All he heard was the calming of Jack's laughter to a chuckle as a strong arm reach around him and pulled Ianto into Jack's chest. Ianto let his head come to rest against Jack's neck.
"Please kill me. Retcon. Weevil. Anything." Ianto mumbled in the skin under his lips.
Jack felt himself shiver at the shift of lips along his neck, pulled his head back a bit to looked down at the man pressed into him.
"Nah. It's be a waste. You are far too cute for that."
"M'not CUTE." Ianto protested, but Jack could feel the smile that he heard in Ianto's voice.
"Well it seems as though you ended up winning in the end," Ainsley remarked, having caught her breath.
"Yeah. Jack seems like a pretty good catch to me." Aoife smiled fondly at her little brother sitting close to the other man.
"And fit to boot." Lew added, the rest of them breaking back into raucous laughter, even Ianto. "What? I'm secure enough to admit it! The rest of you have been giggling about it enough already." He shot at the girls.
"Stop! Stop." Ianto grinned. "You're not going to help this inflated head of his." Ianto ran his hand over Jack's hair. He turned to meet Jack's eyes when he felt him lean into the touch that moved to cup the back of Jack's neck. Ianto's eyes skipped across Jack's face, taking in his features and expressions.
"Well…"Ianto said quietly. "I suppose they are a bit right." His comment was mild, but he stared at Jack with a warm intensity that called to a quick response. The hand at the back of Jack's neck pulled almost unconsciously, as Jack's hands lifted up to run his thumbs along Ianto's cheekbones. Eyes flickered to lips for a moment before they met. Ianto's heart felt like it might very well have stopped at the contented sigh Jack let out as their lips pressed together softly.
"Oi! Quit the free show!" Aoife called, throwing a pillow at them, and Jack and Ianto pulled away. They all laughed. Jack's hand slipped around Ianto's waist and laced into the other man's fingers without interrupting the fast flow of conversation between them all.