A/N: Good evening all! Hope you are all well! I myself feel ridiculously ache-y from FOUR HOURS SOLID (well two, half hour break, then two) of netball on Thursday and almost hurt too much to write this! (Warning: I may be exaggerating a tiny bit...) Hope you enjoy this chapter! Hannah xxx

By the time the film had drawn to its end, it was near enough half past twelve and with great reluctance, both men decided that perhaps it was time to call an end to the enjoyable evening. The past two hours had flown by, much to both Ianto and Jack's disappointment, and this rapid passing of time had left both men feeling mournful that their first date was over, and yearning for further 'chit chatting-dinner eating-film watching- kissing and cuddling and maybe more-ing!)' based events. This evening had been a test of sorts for both men which would prove once and for all that Ianto was ready and willing to abandon (most) of his doubts and that Jack would be willing to wait for him to become fully comfortable with the whole situation. In the end the night had been proven a success as far as both aspects were concerned as the two men both learned that they were far too interested in their counterpart, both on an intellectual level and on a level of physical attraction, to let any previous worries or misconceptions intervene with the pleasure that they had enjoyed tonight and on any other night.

Jack had eagerly placed the disc in the DVD player, pleased at both Ianto's choice of the two films and at how positively the date had been going so far, and went to sit down next to the Welshman once again, mentally planning his route that would edge him closer and closer towards him, when he realised that he had forgotten about something:

"Ooh popcorn!" He grinned and turned around on the spot, only to turn back in a frantic flash a second later, "Which do you like best – sweet or salted?" He asked Ianto who was fighting back a laugh at his behaviour.

"I honestly don't mind but…"

"But?"

"Well, don't think I'm odd or anything…" Jack raised a contesting eyebrow upwards but Ianto continued regardless "but I kind of like both of them together, mixed"

"That's weird"

"Well thank-you-very-much" The Welshman replied back sarcastically, but good humouredly.

Jack laughed, "No, you're not weird – it's weird! That's exactly how I like to eat my popcorn – don't you think that's strange!"

"It is a bit, everyone else – even Tosh – has always thought it was a bit peculiar to mix them, but I have pointed out to her that it can't be that odd if Pret A Manager sell mixed bags of 'sweet and salted' popcorn!"

Jack laughed, "Exactly!"

Ianto got up to 'help' (not that even Jack require help operating a microwave) Jack out with the popcorn despite his insistence that he was his guest – his date – and so should remain sat down and comfortable. But Ianto had been rather surprised at how well the evening had gone, and how very much he had been enjoying himself, and he was almost fearful that if he let Jack out of his sight for too long then he would suddenly wake up to find that it had all been a dream and that he still had their first date to come or, worse still, wake to find that they had never arranged a date in the first place. So he had followed Jack into the kitchen under the pretence of 'helping' to make sure that his American friend (boyfriend? date? the man he was seeing?) didn't disappear into a cloud of smoke. That and of course the fact that he fancied a coffee…

"You don't mind if I…?" Ianto asked gesturing towards Jack's coffee machine, unsure of whether it was exactly polite to request coffee in someone else's kitchen, but he had a tendency to grow sleepy during films and definitely did not want to risk falling asleep in the middle of their first date.

"Sure, sure, go ahead" Jack said, reading the instructions on the back of the popcorn packets, "or if you don't mind holding on a second or two I can get it for you if you like"

"No, no don't worry, I know my way around a coffee machine" Ianto smiled.

"Ah yes of course, Toshiko did tell me about the legendary Ianto Jones's coffee" Jack grinned, taking his eyes away from the instructions.

"Really?" Ianto asked, surprised that Tosh had thought to mention that to him but simultaneously worried as to what else his friend may have revealed.

"Indeed, she told me that I absolutely had to try it and that it would completely knock my socks off"

"Well, I can't promise you that, but would you like a cup?" Ianto offered, feeling more comfortable about asking to use someone else's coffee machine now that he would be making Jack a drink too.

"Pretty please" Jack winked and went back to sorting out the popcorn.

Five or six minutes later, and both the popcorn and their drinks were ready and, between the two men, had been carried through to the sitting room and placed upon the coffee table in front of the sofa. Jack and Ianto sat down at either end of the settee and set the film queued up to be played before the American raised the blue and white striped, hot liquid filled mug to his lips and let out a loud sigh of contentment.

"My god Ianto!" He said as sighed again in a manner which made Ianto's cheeks turn the faintest shade of pink. "Wow, that is… that is better than socks being blown off that's… that's completely and utterly orgasmic!" He finished grinning at the now very pink indeed colour that the Welshman's cheeks were turning.

"Umm… thanks?" He mumbled uncertainly.

"No, no thank you"Jack winked. "Seriously, what did you do to this coffee?"

"Nothing of any great note, I just used the ground coffee that you had in the cupboard… I just have a knack for it I guess" Ianto replied a little more coherently now that his cheeks were cooling down considerably.

"Yes, yes, you must have magical hands or something" The American concluded, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, sending the Welshman's cheeks straight back to their pinkish hue.

For the duration of the film Jack near enough behaved himself, still wary of precisely how inappropriate and flirtatiously behaved Ianto was going to allow him to get away with being, but did managed to put his plan of action into play regarding their seating arrangements. The pair of them had begun on opposite ends of the sofa, stretching out to fill the space, but Jack had got up briefly to get a glass of water about half an hour in and sat considerably closer on his return. Ianto hadn't complained about this which gave Jack cause to take this as a positive sign and so follow through with his version of the classic 'yawn and arm around' manoeuvre: the 'just bloody well go for it' move, which pretty much does what it says on the tin, meaning that soon enough he was practically sat on top of the Welshman. Their arms were now entwined around their counterpart's backs, Jack's free hand was resting lightly, and very deliberately, on Ianto's upper thigh and their feet were absent mindedly engaging in their own subconscious game of 'footsie'. Jack contended once again in the fact that Ianto had not rejected his manoeuvre or seemed irritated by his movements, and Ianto was secretly really quite pleased that Jack had made the first move towards 'snuggling' throughout the film as he had always felt that it was a nerve wracking decision to have to make when you were with a girl, never mind a man!

The two of them remained like this together and although they sat dutifully through the entire film, by the time it had finished both Jack and Ianto realised that they had hardly paid any attention to the film's plot, but rather paid close attention to their little conversations, their passionate kisses, their jovial commentaries, and their intimate position. Luckily both men knew the film incredibly well and so had easily coped with these welcomed distractions without losing track of events. Despite the caffeine intake, Ianto still partially succumbed to his usual state of sleepiness post film viewing and let out a regrettable yawn as the end credits were rolling on, a gesture which prompted both of them to remember the time.

"I'd better call you a taxi back home, otherwise Tosh'll be thinking that I've had my wicked way with you" Jack joked, but Ianto could hear an air of hope in his voice that he may refuse the proposed taxi back home and opt to remain here for the evening… and Ianto felt so very tempted by the thought, but he knew deep down that it really was perhaps a bit soon for him, and so he accepted Jack's offer instead.

As the taxi's horn flared outside Jack's home, the pair of men shared one last 'shorter-than-they'd-have-liked' kiss before Ianto left, with Jack reassuring him that he'd call him as he went. The ride back to his own apartment had taken a little less time than Ianto had been anticipating, partially due to the fact that it was now rather late at night and there was little traffic on the roads, but largely to do with the fact that his mind was currently overstimulated with chaotic, happy thoughts and reflections on the evening, meaning that when the car came to a halt and the cabbie announced the price of the fare Ianto was quite surprised that he arrived back home so rapidly. Half in a dreamy, sleepy, contented daze he handed over a note to the driver and told him he could keep the change before carefully and quietly walking up the stairs and along the corridor to his apartment, so as not to disturb any of his resting neighbours. The Welshman went to open his front door in an equally surreptitious and silent manner so as not to disturb his sleeping roommate but he needn't have bothered for as soon as he was inside his 'sort of' hall way and had locked the door behind him, Tosh jumped up from the sofa behind him:

"Jones, Ianto Jones – halt in the name of the law!" She declared loudly, startling her roommate.

"Jesus Tosh! Are you trying to give me an aneurysm?" He replied, clutching his chest.

She laughed in an apologetic tone. "Sorry, sorry!"

"That's alright" Ianto smiled now that his breathing had returned to its normal rate once again, "you didn't need to wait up for me you know" He finished.

"Well, I wasn't too sure if you'd be coming back…I hope you realise that you've probably broken Jack's perfect record of first date conquests! And I had to wait up in case you came back! Otherwise how would I have heard all of the gossip from your date before I went to bed?"

"Gossip, that's what you want?" Ianto replied, ignoring her initial reference to Jack's conquests… he wasn't sure if he was flattered that Jack had respected him enough not to push him too far, or worried that Jack wasn't attracted to him enough to… want to…

"Yes! Why do you think I was here waiting to stop you on your arrival home?" Tosh replied quickly, cutting off the Welshman's train of thought.

"Well, sorry to disappoint you Tosh but I'm a bit tired, I think I'm just going to go to bed…"

"No, that's not fair!" She whined.

"Night Tosh" Ianto called, heading towards his room.

"Did you have a good time?"

"Night Tosh" He repeated, still heading towards his bedroom with a smug smile upon his face.

"Did you kiss?"

"Goodnight Tosh!" He said firmly one last time before he shut himself in his bedroom for the night. He told himself that he'd give her a little bit of gossip to feed on in the morning, in exchange for the full account of exactly what she had told Jack about him!

By the afternoon of the next day, the Welshman had indeed provided Tosh with a suitable level of 'gossip' from the previous evening and she had indeed, rather reluctantly, repeated back to Ianto everything she had told Jack about him which was nothing too revealing as it turns out, simply that he made fantastic coffee, that he was a very loyal friend and that he was more attractive – in all meanings of the word – than he realised, a statement which had caused Ianto to brush it off with his modesty. Whilst they had been chatting over a cup of Ianto's now infamous coffee and a slice of carrot cake, Ianto confessed to his roommate his uncertainty as to what exactly Jack had meant by 'I'll call you'…

"…I mean was it just a line like the kind womanising men throw at desperate girls in cheesy rom coms… or did he actually mean it?" He asked nervously.

Tosh smiled, "Although Jack has had his fair share of men and women, whilst I've known him, he's calmed down a lot recently and I'm sure that he must have meant what he said – he seems to really like you."

"You think?"

"Definitely" She smiled wider, encouragingly.

"So… when do you think he might call?"

She laughed a little, "I'd hazard a guess that it might be in a couple of days, that's pretty much the standard time frame, but like I said to you before Ianto – Jack doesn't 'play by the rules', he just does what he likes, so he could call tonight, tomorrow… a week…"

"Yeah, yeah, ok I get it – just wait and see what he does, ok." Ianto smiled, not seeming to thrilled at the prospect of having to wait until the following Saturday to hear from the American once again, but in the end this was exactly how long it had taken him to get back to Ianto… well sort of…

Jack had been incredibly tied up with filming the new advert for Burberry's summer collection and had hardly had a free moment in which to contact the Welshman properly, and any time that it had seemed as though he might get a free minute, he was either quickly called for a make-up touch up, or whisked away to try on a different accessory with the outfit he had on, or was simply too exhausted to even hold his phone to dial Ianto's number. On the Wednesday of the week after their date he did drop the Welshman a quick text to let him know that he had really enjoyed their date and would like to meet up again soon, just that he was far too busy to organise something now and that he would let him know as soon as he was available, and to most importantly let him know that he was still keen. But despite this reassuring piece of contact, Ianto still felt a little anxious as to how interested Jack really was in him and his subconscious told himself that he would not feel better until he had had a proper conversation with Jack.

By the time that the next Saturday arrived, Ianto was feeling restless and so decided to make Toshiko and himself waffles for breakfast, as he often did when he was over stressed, to be served with a sprinkling of icing sugar and the fresh strawberries that he had gone out to purchase at far too early a time for a weekend morning.

"Ianto, look, I'm sure he'll call you as soon as he has the time" Tosh said reassuringly as she tucked into the breakfast that her roommate had prepared – she hated seeing him distressed, but must admit that she really did like the 'waffley' consequences this mood brought about.

"Really though Tosh? It's been a week! What if he's changed his mind?"

"He won't have done, Jack can come across as a little scatty, but he's always quite firmly set on his decisions"

"Ah but then what if he was just being nice by telling me he'd call, but secretly had made up his mind never to do such a thing and is now exactly following up that plan to the letter?"

"Then why would he have texted you?" She counter argued, smiling smugly as she realised that she had the Welshman stumped there.

Ianto had no suitable come back to make to Tosh, at least not one which would have helped prove his point or grant a telephone call from Jack, and so kept relatively quiet whilst they finished off their waffles, and resigned himself to the fact that he probably wasn't going to hear from the American – today at least – and so went to get ready and dressed for his shift at work. Ianto quickly showered and shaved, dried and style his hair, and selected a pair of beige chinos, a pale blue shirt, navy tie and a fitted V-neck maroon jersey to wear whilst trying to mentally gear him up for what was usually his favourite shift of the week at work. It was a Saturday, which not only meant that he was only working between nine and one thirty, it also meant that today was 'story time' for many of the young children living in the central Cardiff area. The Welshman usually thoroughly enjoyed conducting the session as it allowed him to recapture some of his favourite children's stories, to reminisces back to his acting days in secondary school through putting on funny voices and making large and exaggerated gestures, and he enjoyed working with the children – but today he just wasn't 'feeling it'.

He got through the morning's fairly routine duties of signing in and out books, replenishing the shelves of the library and generally helping those who came in looking for a specific title, genre or author, in somewhat of a melancholic daze. The Welshman had been certain that he would have heard properly from Jack by now, one week on from their date, and was beginning to give up hope – though as the clock approached one, he did try and put on a more cheerful persona so as not to disappoint the eagerly awaiting children with anything less than a 100% enthusiastic performance. It was the regular crowd of proud parents and adorable toddlers and infant school pupils who had turned up today and Ianto found that after feigning the first few cheerful greetings to familiar faces, his mood really did improve a little. And, as he began to dive into the large book of fairy tales that was always a popular hit and started reading 'Rumplestiltskin' aloud, he discovered that he really was feeling as enthusiastic as usual despite his subconscious worries.

Ianto built up the various characters voices, using higher tones for female characters, lower tones for males and a whining, irritating accent for Rumplestiltskin himself. After he'd finished the first fairy tale, Ianto began to read 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears' to his audience, again putting on various voices – even daring to put on a posh, snooty English accent for Goldilocks – and made various hand gestures to symbolise Mummy, Daddy and Baby bear accordingly, which all of the slightly older children began to copy. Once the session was over all of the children, and a great deal of the parents, clapped appreciatively and Ianto made his modest thank yous before bidding them all goodbye and heading over to his desk to retrieve his belongings ready for home time.

Just as he was contemplating how coming in to work today had really cheered him up, Ianto was startled to find a familiar voice talking to him from behind.

"I was never that into fairy stories as a kid… but you may have just converted me" Said the American voice.

"Jack?" Ianto turned around, surprised to find the older man here.

"Surprise! I finally had a little time off this morning and I went round to your apartment, but Tosh said you were working this morning and that I should come along and listen to you read because you're really good at getting 'in' to the story – so I came! And Tosh was right, you are really good, I've never felt turned on in a Library before…"

Ianto blushed slightly, but chose to ignore Jack's comment for fear of his further expanding on that particular point… "Where were you even sat?"

"I was sort of hidden behind those shelves over there" He said pointing, "I guess you couldn't see me… but I had a very good view" He winked.

"No I couldn't see you at all! If I had, I definitely would have dialled it down a bit…I must have looked and sounded a bit ridiculous to you!"

"No not at all! I meant what I said! It was a very enjoyable half an hour spent, and it's so lovely that you get so into it for the kids benefit"

"Well I aim to please" He replied.

"You certainly do that" Jack grinned and Ianto rolled his eyes a little but smiled back.

"So, can I take you to lunch?" The Welshman offered.

"Indeed you may" Jack replied, grinning wider still, "But only if you promise to order in your Goldilocks voice…" He laughed, which earned him well deserved elbow dig in the ribs from the Welshman by his side that was doing his upper most best to contain his laughter and remain serious, he was discovering rather rapidly that remaining serious in Jack's presence was really quite a challenge…