'Alright, young man. In we get.' Ivor helped his young son into the front seat of the car, not that that was the easiest thing to do. His two children had broken into another argument about who would ride in the front with their father, Rhiannon arguing she always rode up front and Ianto biting back at her, telling her their father said he could for a change because it was his first day at school. Now, with a smug Ianto belted up in the front and a slightly sulking Rhiannon sitting in the back, Ivor Jones kissed his wife goodbye before setting off to the school to drop off his children.

'Dad,' Rhiannon said as she kicked the seat in front of her, making her little brother turn and face her in annoyance, before he stuck his tongue out at her and went back to looking out of the window. 'You going to take Ianto right up to the school or can I?' Although she had been spiteful towards her little brother earlier on in the day, she had always felt slightly protective over Ianto, ever since that time when he was four years old and Frankie from across the street had pushed him off the roundabout. Ianto had grazed his knee and was howling like a banshee, which had cause Rhiannon to stand right up to that big bully and give him a taste of his own medicine. She had got a right telling off from Frankie's mother, but a big bowl of ice cream from her mum, which she shared with her little brother.

'Want to go with Dad,' Ianto whined slightly as he shuffled in his seat, fiddling with the straps of his school bag. He knew if he went with his sister, it would cause all manner of troubles. In the back of his mind, he envisioned his big sister running away from him and making fun of him in public about being such a cry baby. It was bad enough that he was being taken to the place of his nightmares, he couldn't face his sister making fun of him. They had been so close when they were growing up; Ianto always used to look up to his big sister, idolising her confidence and her certainty in the world. Deep down, he wished he could be just like his sister.

'Tell you what, Rhi.' Ivor Jones turned the car out of their road and looked at Rhiannon briefly in the rear view mirror. 'How about we go together? Give your brother all the support he needs. Start of school always makes people act differently.' He managed a quick glance at his son, who was looking up at him with large blue eyes. The little boy managed a small smile of gratitude and Ivor sighed in contentment. Two children, a loving wife and a secure job; his life was just about perfect.

*****

'Yay!' Lyn cheered as the car began to pull out of her drive and take her ever closer to her new school. The large grin on her face had been unshakeable since she had woken up that morning and realised it was her first day. Sure, she had been to day school where they made finger paintings and had juice afterwards, but that was only for half the day. She was finally making her way to big school, where she would learn all manner of things and make all kinds of new friends. However, she was more interested in pleasing her father. Daniel Evans was a hard man to please; Lyn remembered him reading her stories and tucking her in at night, but then when he had lost his job, he had stopped all that. Lyn never saw her father at night as he was always out drinking in some pub. She missed her father and hoped that, now she was growing into a young girl, her father would see how grown up she was and spend more time with her.

'You must be the only kid in this town to actually be excited about starting school.' Charlotte Evans looked down at her young daughter jumping up and down in her seat. She definitely didn't remember being that excited when she went to school for the first time.

'School gonna be fun,' Lyn replied as she eagerly looked out of the window to catch any glimpse of the school building. 'I'm gonna be a big girl now.' Her smile grew in intensity as she checked through her little school bag to check she had everything. The drive to the school felt brief and as the building came into view, Lyn shrieked with excitement as she repeated the word school over and over again.

Charlotte Evans said nothing, she merely shook her head as she pulled into the nearest available car park space.

*****

'Ianto, come on. Get out of the car.' Ivor Jones was almost at the end of his tether. He needed to get to work by 9.30 and he knew that would not happen if his young son refused to move from the front seat of the car. He watched as a silver car pull up behind his, a young girl almost springing from the vehicle as soon as it parked. He smiled as the little girl took her mother's hand and skipped gleefully to the school entrance. God, how he envied that mother at this present moment in time. 'Ianto Jones, come out of this car right now.'

Ianto was rooted to the spot. Rhiannon had grown tired of the whole scenario and had left her father and brother in favour of her friends. He hated making his father angry and so, still clutching to his school bag, he clambered slowly out of the car and walked up to his father, his eyes focused on the ground below him. Ivor Jones looked down at his son; there was no way he could ever stay mad at this little Ianto and so, without a second thought, he took hold of Ianto's hand and led him around to the main entrance of the school.

*****

'Bye, mum.' Lyn was heading straight into the playground when she felt a sudden tug on her shoulder. Turning around, she saw her mother look at her with slightly teary eyes as she brushed a stray hair away from her daughter's forehead. The little girl smiled as she gave her mother a large hug. 'Love you,' Lyn finally said as she took one final look towards her mum before she headed out into the playground to make new friends.

'Yeah,' Charlotte said under her breath. 'She's going to be okay.' Smiling sadly to herself, she watched Lyn disappear into the crowd and then turned back to head home.

Lyn instantly found a young girl to chatter away to. They introduced themselves and Lyn was asked whether she wanted to play hopscotch. Her answer was formed and ready to exit her mouth, when out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a young boy clinging to his father, standing just outside of the gates. She watched as the little boy struggled to hold onto his father's hand so he wouldn't be left alone in a world of strangers. She thought the little boy was odd, why wouldn't he won't to come to school and make new friends? Didn't he understand the relevance of school? This was how you became a big kid and showed everyone how grown up you were. So why was this boy different? Lyn left the girl she had met behind as she took it upon herself to show just how great school could be.

*****

'Don't wanna go,' Ianto whined, tears preparing themselves to fall from his eyes as he looked out into the crowd of young children. It all looked so overwhelming, so terrifying. He held tightly onto his father's hand, digging his heels into the ground and refusing to go any further into the playground. He was almost unaware of the young girl with pigtails skipping up to them.

'Hello,' she smiled at Ianto and gave a small giggle as the little boy turned away from her to hide under his father's coat. This girl was a new thing and Ianto hated new things. He didn't want any of this; he wanted to go home with his father and spend the day just doing what he wanted. Tapping him lightly on the shoulder, the little girl's smile increased when he turned to look at her. 'I'm Lyn, what's your name?'

'Ianto,' the little boy mumbled, his eyes fixed on the ground below him. Lyn giggled again as she held out her hand to him. She had never thought she would meet anyone so shy and wary about the world around her. To Lyn, the world was a great and wide thing to explore and that school was the first step to take to begin the adventure that was called life.

'You silly.' Ianto finally looked at her, his hand still tightly holding onto his father. 'Don't be scared. We play.' Staring into her eyes, he gave a small smile and released his hold on his father's hand, taking hold of Lyn's as she led him into the playground. There was something about the young girl that intrigued him; she seemed really nice and not at all mean like Rhiannon had said the school children were going to be. Ianto grasped that she must also be a new start to school and he took silent comfort in the idea that he had someone his own age to confide in. It was fair to say that Lyn felt the same; she had been so taken up in the moment that she had forgotten how big a step this actually was and to see the way Ianto had reacted had almost made it come crashing down on her. But now, holding hands with the young boy and both giving each other a comforting grin, she knew they were going to be okay.

Ianto and Lyn both knew then that this was going to be the start of a beautiful friendship.

Awww, so cute. Next chapter will fast forward a few years, but there will still be cute little Ianto and Lyn. Unti then... :)