"Oh, Jack, can you come here for a moment?"

Jack glanced over as he was descending the stairs and saw his mother and father sitting in the lounge. He smiled, joining them in the room. "Sure. What's going on?"

"I wanted to ask you a question about you and your friend…I mean…boyfriend," his father stated, indicating Jack should take a seat.

Jack moved over to the armchair opposite his parents and sat down, folding his hands in his lap. "Okay. What do you want to know?"

"Well, your mother and I have been discussing starting a new internship program at the office, and with you being done with school for the year shortly, we thought it might be just the thing to keep you busy this summer."

Jack's eyes widened. "An internship?" His father nodded. Jack liked the sound of that. He really did want a job of some sort. "What would I be doing?"

"To start with it would be as a sort of courier," his mother explained. "When we have important documents to send to another branch you would be the one to take them there. In addition, you'd be watching your father, studying his daily activities and seeing if you might be interested in working there after school is over and you're at University."

Jack smiled. His father and mother were skilled architects, having owned their own business for as long as Jack could remember. They had clients all over the world, and a large staff of employees that handled the day to day grind of the corporate world. He'd wondered if his father would ever ask him to work there.

"Is it…paid?"

"Of course, Jack," his father said, chuckling. "Not full salary to start, of course, as it's a temporary to hire internship and it's just for the summer, but if you do well, we'll discuss making you a full employee and the salary that would come along with that."

Jack's eyebrows rose. "And you said this had something to do with Ianto, too?"

Jack's father and mother looked at each other and then back at him. Jack swallowed, unsure if this was going to be good or bad.

"We'd like to ask him into the program as well," his mother said. "I know he's currently working, but with his need to take care of his mother, well…"

"We thought he might like something a little more stable," his father continued. "We could use an office boy of sorts. A receptionist who also handles filing and general errands for the other employees."

"Even as an intern I'm pretty confident it would pay more than he's making at the chip shop," his mother added. "He's so charming, Jack. Polite and sincere, very eager to please. He'd be perfect for the company. Do you think he might be interested?"

Jack was beaming. He got up and hugged each of his parents in turn. "You really mean it?" They smiled back at him and nodded. "I…I'd have to talk to Ianto, but I'm sure he'd want to at least talk to you about it."

"That's wonderful, Jack," his father replied.

"Oh, but..."

"What is it, son?"

"Well, he'd have to meet with you, right? But he has to look after his mother after work every day and on the weekends. I'm not sure how that would work."

"We'll just have to go to him," his father stated, looking at his wife for confirmation. She nodded and he returned his gaze to Jack. "We're very serious about this. We trust the both of you, and Jack, your grades have been excellent as of late."

"Thanks to Ianto's help," Jack admitted. "I wouldn't be passing trigonometry or chemistry without him. He's a great tutor."

"That's great, Jack," his mother said, smiling. "You're heading to Ianto's now, right? No dinner here, again?"

"I was just going to eat over there. If that's okay?"

"That's fine, Jack. Tell him we'd love to talk to him this weekend if he's interested."

"I will," he said, hugging her again. "Thanks! Both of you!"

A few minutes later and Jack was out the door, headed to his boyfriend's house. He'd forgone the book bag this time, as he really felt they needed a break from his revising. He made a stop to get them each a curry and then hurried off to Ianto's.

Following Ianto into the lounge Jack set down their food, then drew the Welshman into his arms for a long kiss. "Missed you," he told him, before kissing him again.

"Missed you too," Ianto replied, smiling and taking a seat on the sofa. "How did your meeting with the cheer coach go?"

"As well as I expected," Jack shrugged, sitting down beside him. "To say he wasn't thrilled I was quitting the team is an understatement."

Jack had been busy most of the week with chores to do at home, school work and his meeting with the coach. When Gwen had tried to flirt with him at lunch several days that week but refused to apologize, that had been the last straw. He told her he couldn't be friends with her if she didn't stop acting like he wasn't in a relationship, and she told him she'd be waiting when he was done playing at being gay. He'd asked for a meeting with the coach the next afternoon.

"He was angry, yeah?"

"Oh, he was livid, Ianto." Jack took a bite of his curry and chewed thoughtfully for a moment. "But I told him that I can't work with one of my teammates anymore, so the dynamic would no longer be there. Ianto, he wanted us to see a therapist."

"He what?" Ianto asked, fork on its way to his mouth. "You're joking."

"Nope. The coach thought if Gwen and I could work out our issues we'd be fine."

Ianto sighed, putting his fork back down. "I'm sorry, Jack."

"For what?"

"For coming between the two of you. For your having to quit the cheer program."

Jack frowned, tilting Ianto's chin up so he could look him in the eyes. "Ianto Jones, you're more important to me than cheer. And you're certainly more important to me than Gwen Cooper."

Ianto gave him a small smile. "I still wish it were different."

"Yes, well," Jack shook his head. "She can't accept that I'm not in love with her. She'll never change, and I won't put up with her attitude and behavior when it comes to you." He kissed him softly before releasing his chin. "No one treats the boy I love that way."

Ianto grinned at him. "My protector."

"You better believe it."

tw tw tw tw tw

Sitting on Ianto's bed, Jack had just finished telling him about his parents' proposal. Ianto's brows were furrowed, and Jack was afraid he was going to say no.

"And they're willing to pay me more than I'm making at the shop?" Ianto asked.

"Yes."

"I don't want to be a charity case, Jack."

Jack sighed. "No, Ianto, that's not what this is. I swear. Besides, they want us both to work there." He took Ianto's hand between his. "This could be the perfect opportunity for the both of us. I really wanted to get a job, and you could use one that better supports your mother. And we'll see each other every day."

"That would be nice," Ianto said, smiling.

"Just meet with them. You don't need to say yes right now. Talk to my parents and see if this is something you want to consider."

"I'd love to get out of the chip shop, to be honest," Ianto replied. "At least in an office I won't smell like grease and fried foods."

"Oh, I kind of like it," Jack purred, tugging him closer so he could give him a kiss. "The smell of hard work."

"Ew, Jack."

Jack laughed, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend and cuddling him close. "You know you love it."

"I love you," Ianto offered.

"That works too," Jack said, kissing his neck.

He was enjoying the small moans of pleasure Ianto was emitting as Jack pressed love bites along his chin and throat, pushing him back onto the bed. He'd moved to straddle him and was just leaning down to kiss him senseless when Ianto's mam called his name from the other room.

Jack groaned, rolling off of him, and Ianto kissed him softly before getting up off of the bed. "I'll be right back," he told him, heading into the hallway.

A few minutes later Ianto returned, looking worn out. "You okay?" Jack asked, hugging him when the boy sat down beside him.

"She was asking for Rhi," he answered, snuggling into Jack's embrace. "She doesn't understand sometimes that my sister left and isn't coming back."

"She hasn't even called to check on you, has she?"

"Nope."

"I'm so sorry, Ianto," Jack murmured into his hair, tightening the embrace. "She's missing out on knowing her incredible brother."

"You're biased," Ianto replied, poking Jack's side.

"Maybe, but I'm still right."

"If your parents are serious about hiring me I'll seriously consider it, Jack."

Jack laid them down, holding the other boy to his side and nuzzling his neck. "They're serious, Ianto."

"Do you think they can come over tomorrow?"

"Sure." Jack lifted Ianto's shirt and pressed kisses to his stomach. Ianto squirmed.

"That tickles, Jack."

"Does it?"

Ianto cried out when Jack blew on his belly. "Yes! Yes it does!"

"Good," Jack mumbled into his skin, nipping at him before drawing himself up over Ianto to kiss him again, letting his fingertips tease at Ianto's sides. "I haven't lost my touch."

"You're incorrigible," said Ianto, smirking as reached down to grab Jack's hands.

"You wouldn't want me any other way."

"Probably not. But Jack?"

"Yes Ianto?"

"Quit mucking about and kiss me properly."

Jack grinned before obliging, eagerly.

~tbc~