A/N: Greetings beautiful human being, this is the last of the chapters (We Get On) from this AU within 'Girl Put Your Records On', I will hopefully be posting a brand new ch. (both here and GYPRO if it will let me, if it won't it'll be going on GPYRO for a week and then here, just in case not everyone has noticed my adaptations) tonight/early hours of tomorrow so yeah, sorry for all of this! Hannah xxx
Almost a week later it was Saturday evening, and Ianto was in the kitchen of his and Tosh's apartment putting the finishing touches to their light buffet spread of snacks and placing all drinks which required refrigeration into the fridge in preparation for their Guests arrival in an hour's time. Owen had come over about twenty minutes before hand, originally to help Toshiko organise the food and drink, but Ianto had taken charge of that one leaving the other two to give the apartment a quick sweep over to make sure that everything was tidy. The couple were excited to be bringing all of their friends together, and Ianto couldn't help but feel a little excited himself, despite his nerves. He was terrified of what might happen, of how he might react, when he had the chance to talk to jack again properly… but no matter how much he was trying to ignore it, his subconscious couldn't help drifting back to the thought that he was ridiculously excited to be seeing Jack in the flesh.
After the business in the kitchen was all sorted out, the Welshman quickly jumped in the shower for a quick freshen up, shaved his already hairless jaw line and spritzed himself with just the right amount of after shave before getting dressed. He'd even gone to great lengths to choose the perfect formal, yet understatedly so, outfit for this evening's 'do' though he wasn't entirely certain why he had made such an effort to select it. He had gone with a pair of skinny leg, smart, black trousers and a pale lilac silk shirt that Tosh had bought him for his birthday not this year but last, and he'd styled his already neat hair into neurotic perfection.
"Somebody's made a bit of an effort" Toshiko winked as Ianto re-entered the living room at five to eight, now fully groomed and dressed in preparation for the night's proceedings. She took in the sight of her closest friend stood in front of her, looking as though he had been painted to this level of perfection, and marvelled for the millionth time at how he ever worried that he wasn't attractive.
"Thank you" Ianto replied blushing a little, wanting to dispute her claims, but having been brought up to know that it was rude to deflect a compliment. "And… you can talk!" He said, admiring the ever tasteful and effortlessly glamorous stylings of his friend. When she wasn't wearing pyjamas, or confined to the standard business wear that he job in medical research required, Tosh had incredible dress sense and tonight she had not let herself down. She was dressed in a sleek, midnight blue fitted dress cut a couple of inches above the knee, and had pulled her hair into some sort of French pleat.
"Thank you" She replied shyly.
"Is no one going to comment on what I'm wearing you wankers?" Owen asked prompting all three of them to laugh.
"Yes Owen you look stunning, quite the handsome prince" Ianto said in the most unbelievably sarcastic tone imaginable which caused a scowl in response from the Doctor.
Almost half an hour later, all of the guests had arrived bar Jack of course, and although Ianto had been expecting a late arrival (and he was certainly never expecting him to stick to his 'only fifteen minutes' promise…) but he couldn't help himself from checking his watch repeatedly, which was earning him a lot of suggestive looks from Tosh and a fair few eye rolls from Owen who – to Ianto's horror – realised must have been informed on all of the 'gory details' from Tosh. He'd tried to keep his mind off the other man, busying himself by mingling with the other guests, finding out a little more about Owen from Martha and Tom who both worked with him at the hospital and having an extensive chat with Rhys about the Cardiff City Rugby match from the weekend, but it hadn't helped much. As each minutes passed his anticipation for greeting the attractive American grew, and the knot in his stomach doubled in size; he had all the classic signs of pre-date nerves… except of course this wasn't a date, because he and Jack weren't dating he reminded himself.
It was 8.45 and Ianto had just finished refreshing everybody's drinks when he heard Jack burst through the door, Ianto was beginning to think that this must be his standard method of entering a room.
"Sorry I'm late I don't even have a good excuse this time – I just couldn't find anything to wear! Pathetic I know, but it's not my worst timing ever…" He announced loudly to no one in particular, captivating the attention of every single set of eyes in the room.
His own eyes searched around the sparsely crowded living room until they settled upon the sight that they had been looking for; Ianto. "Wow, Ianto you look… wow" He said smiling broadly and making his way over to the suddenly rather bashful looking Welshman. A month without proper contact had certainly caused his memories of the younger man to fade, and the resounding image he had held of Ianto in his head had not done his true appearance justice. He took in the slim, toned frame wearing perfect figure flattering clothing, the man's dark hair effortlessly styled, his blue eyes glistening and his skin porcelain and clear; he was flawless.
Ianto shuffled a little awkwardly on the spot, "That's funny, I was about to say the exact same thing to you… but I suppose it might seem ungenuine if I said it now" He replied, suddenly feeling the need to try and play it coolly, and place effort upon simulating the wit which usually came naturally too him.
Jack laughed in response, "Please say it anyway. I might be the face of a multi-national designer, but I'll never turn away a complement" He winked and Ianto rolled his eyes at his self-adoration.
The Welshman too then took a minute to properly look in detail at the man before him. Yes…he mused, just as I had suspected… even more gorgeous than I had remembered. He was pleased to see the return of the 'Captain Jack' retro air force coat, coupled with a very pale sky blue, skin tight shirt which left no thought about the man's muscular chest to the imagination, and that jaw line… Why on earth is he even remotely interested in me?
"You look very… handsome" He eventually settled on. "Would you like me to take your coat?" He offered out of courtesy, and curiosity to see the fully exposed, shirted torso of the American.
"Thanks" He replied, allowing the Welshman to help slip it off his shoulders, certain that he didn't just imagine the slight lingering brush on his shoulders as capable hands glided the sleeves down his arms.
"I'll just go and put it in the bedroom, it's where we're keeping all of the others"
"Mind if I join you?" Jack suggested, wiggling his eyebrows initially but regretting it almost immediately as he saw the young man before him begin to blush, and realised that he had probably over stepped the mark and was pushing him out of his comfort zone.
Ianto just smiled politely, walking over to his room without another word to Jack, and over hearing a conversation between Owen and Martha in the process.
"So, what's the deal with them then? Are they like… I don't know, together? I mean, they seem really… into each other" She asked in a hushed tone that wasn't quite low enough.
"Well…" Owen began. "It's kind of weird and all I know is what Tosh has told me, and Tosh only knows what Ianto has said…. but I think Ianto himself doesn't really know what's going on to be honest. But basically, they kissed at one of Jack's parties, but Ianto, as far as he knows is straight… except he thought that maybe he might like Jack and…"
Ianto quickly walked into his room, not wanting to listen to anymore. He breathed out a quick sigh, composed himself once again and returned into the living room to find a rather anxious looking Jack waiting almost outside his door.
"Sorry I didn't mean to… I was just joking, hope I didn't make you…" He mumbled, much to Ianto's surprise the uber-confidence of Jack Harkness seemed to be failing him for once.
"No no, don't worry about it; it's fine." Ianto said, smiling reassuringly even though inside his stomach was flipping at a gargantuan rate.
"Good." Jack grinned back. "So… what have you been up to then? I was hoping to have seen more of you…" Jack commented.
Ianto sighed a little; this was the question that he had been dreading. "Not much if I'm honest. I mean there was that antique book convention that we ran at the library last week that had taken a lot of organising… and I had to take Myfanwy to the vets a fortnight ago. But… I guess I've really not been that busy, not busy enough to, well… to see you. I just was, I still am…" The Welshman trailed off, bright fuchsia in the face by the end.
"It's alright, I get it." Jack said, stilling grinning away, but his eyes had dulled a little.
"It's nothing against you Jack, in fact it's quite the opposite, but I've never even considered the possibility before that I might like a… and then every time I talk to you it's so easy to just… oh I don't know, but at the same time my heart is pounding with nerves, I feel claustrophobic and it's just it's all making me so confused and it's just a little bit petrifying."
"Seriously, it's ok. Really. You aren't the first person I've met whose struggle with the same issues."
"Really, how did things work out? What happened to them in the end?"
"Me." Jack replied and winked. The younger man gulped nervously in response, but couldn't help but feel pleased with anticipation for the future. Perhaps if other people had got over it, then it wouldn't be such an issue for himself? …If he wanted to get over it rather than just forgetting about it, blocking everything out… He'd always thought of himself as a very open minded, modern individual, but then again he had never expected to start feeling like this.
"So, now then you really have been busy; how's it all going? Who is this fabulous female co-model that I have been waiting to hear you rave about?"
Jack laughed a little. "Yes, I certainly have been run off my feet, before the various shoots even began there was training and stuff, and I even had to take a few dance classes for one of the television adverts!"
"Dancing?"
"Yup, you'll like that one" He winked. "Oh and I was so excited when I found out who I was working with – none other than KAREN GILLAN! The minute they told me I almost embarrassed myself by screaming like a girl and acting so very not cool… but I contained it. She's just wonderful, hilarious as well as gorgeous!"
"Wow that's incredible!" Ianto replied genuinely. "Karen Gillan eh… she certainly is beautiful, should I be jealous?" He asked before his lips could stop him. He didn't know what had made him think that, or why he had then gone on to say it, but he certainly hadn't meant for it to ever be uttered out loud. Why should he be jealous anyway?
Jack raised an eyebrow up in surprise, but was inwardly pleased by the other man's response. "No, I don't think you have anything to worry about" He grinned.
As time passed, the pair continued to chat about anything and everything, from work, to hobbies (Jack's particular love of rowing had come as a little surprise to Ianto, but Jack had suspected that the Welshman might have been into reading… after all, he was a librarian!), to music (Jack was a die-hard eighties fan whereas Ianto preferred his classic rock.), with neither of the men noticing particularly they the distance between them had gradually been decreasing across the three hours that they had been stood there…yet the distance between the pair and the rest of the party seemed to have doubled. Ianto had noticed however, that Jack had become increasingly 'touchy feely' with each drink, frequently reaching out to brush the Welshman's arm or nudge his waist, and the younger man really wasn't complaining.
Jack glanced over to the rest of the group and was amused by what he saw, the other six were somewhat less than sober, and the initially 'single' friends of Tosh and Owen had suddenly coupled up: Martha and Tommy and Gwen and Rhys.
"Right!" Gwen said as Rhys finished another beer straight from the bottle, grabbing the now empty glass receptacle from him. "Time for spin the bottle!" She almost squealed.
The other guests seemed almost as eager to engage in the childish and old school game, however Ianto didn't seem quite as keen, he was certain that the bottle was going to land on the one person that he was hoping it wouldn't… which was coincidentally the one person he was hoping it would land on too.
Jack and Ianto walked over to where the rest of the group was now assembling in a small circle, sitting crossed legged on the floor of the living room, just like teenagers at a sleep-over. As they sat down to join them in a similar pose, the American deliberately leant just slightly up against the shoulder of the Welshman next to him, and not so accidentally rested his hand lightly upon the younger man's which he held outstretched behind his back. He couldn't help the small grin that spread across his lips at the realisation that Ianto wasn't moving.
Ianto initially had frozen when Jack's body came into contact with his own, it was always awkward when you were sitting next to someone, no matter who it was or how long you had known them, when you accidentally brushed up against them… there was always a choice to make, a) ignore it and carry on, or b) apologise and quickly move away. Ianto had the apology ready on his lips but then Jack's hand found his own behind his back, hidden and out of sight of the others, a little secret gesture, and he decided that he couldn't bear to move away.
Gwen set the bottle down in the centre of the circle and with a wicked gleam in her eyes began to spin, setting the game in motion. All eight sets of eyes watched the spinning, green, glass object with intense interest until it eventually came to a stop, neck end pointing towards Rhys. He leaned in for a small, delicate peck – not wanting to push his luck most likely – but the Welshwoman in her slightly-more-than-tipsy state turned it into a fierce and passionate full on 'snog' in front of their audience, encouraging a wolf whistle from Owen and a pair of blushing faces that pulled apart gasping by the end.
The game continued for about twenty minutes or so, various partners having to engage in the mandatory, bottle dictated kiss, including even a quick peck between a rather grumpy Owen and an equally unimpressed Rhys and a 'far too fucking short' (as described by Owen, ever the man of eloquence) kiss between Gwen and Martha.
Neither Ianto or Jack could properly engage in the game in quite the same way as their friends, and not only because neither of them had yet to have been selected by the bottle, but mainly because they were both anticipating and dreading and yearning for the inevitable.
Finally the bottle did land on Ianto, but it was only Tosh sitting at the other side of it, so he quickly flit his eyes towards Owen to gain a nod of permission before leaning in for a very chaste peck with his close friend. The kiss itself hadn't been awkward, he and Tosh had done it before – and more than just a mere peck – on drunken evenings out way back when in their university days, but neither had ever had any romantic interests in the other. It was the ending of the kiss that worried Ianto, because it meant that it was now his turn to spin the unpredictable and intimidating beer bottle, and await his fate.
He span the green article, and watched as it twirled around at an impossibly, teasingly slow pace until it eventually landed on the man beside him, the man whom he had already kissed before and was surprisingly keen to do so again, the man whom he was pretty certain that he was becoming infatuated with, and the man who right now was looking at him in a way which suggested he felt the exact same way.
For a second time seem to stand still, all eyes in the room moved simultaneously from the bottle to Jack to Ianto, thoughts roaming as to what was about to happen. As Ianto began to lean even closer in to his neighbouring friend, he knew in his mind that this was it. He couldn't pretend any longer that he wasn't attracted to this man, he couldn't deny his feelings or put it down to a mere passing, idle thought, no matter how scary it was – he knew in that instant that for reasons which weren't all justifiable, he wanted Jack. And he could read in the American's features and body language that, despite the unlikelihood of a gorgeous, charming, witty and charismatic model being interested in a plain and uninteresting man like himself, that he wanted him too. In fact, Jack didn't seem to think he was boring, he didn't seem to think he was plain or below his own league; to Ianto's utter disbelief, the American seemed to find him attractive and that on its own heightened Jack's appeal in return.
This is exactly why the Welshman was so startled and surprised when their lips eventually connected, that Jack had not drawn him into a lust fuelled, passionate kiss… but rather pulled away after the merest peck, a kiss briefer even than the one he had just shared with frowned as he looked up towards the older man who was staring straight at him, ignoring the somewhat disappointed audience around them.
Then suddenly Jack turned away and grabbed the bottle himself, returning to lock eyes with Ianto again a second later:
"My go now" He winked.