A/N: Right so I had said last week that I would be writing on this story on Mondays and IJD on Sundays (due to revision and other boring stuff I am going to stick to just those two days and have a little break from ACAAG for now - but it will be resumed once my exams are over) but I've done a swap this week on account of the fact that I never posted on this one earlier in the week because I was ill - which is unheard of for me! So yeah, you have this today and IJD tomorrow! Hope you like it, Hannah xxx
A short while later, once both men had regained enough energy and summoned enough effort to rise up from their slumberous, satisfied masses lazily lying on the large king sized bed in order to sample the generous bath tub in the room next door. Jack was first to move, not bothering to cover up with any clothes as considering their next choice of activity it would have been a pointless gesture, rolling off the edge of the bed and standing to attention to pull the younger man up by the hand and leas him, also still fully de-clothed, towards their destination, collecting the champagne and two glasses along the way. The ornate room had been equally embellished with candles (and flowers) like the bedroom, and there on the window sill ledge was an assortment of bubble baths and oils and anything else needed for drawing the perfect bath.
The Welshman ran the water whilst the American lit a few of the candles and then sat back to admired the site of Ianto's naked movements; and once the large tub was filled with warm water and the perfect combination of accompaniments the two men eagerly stepped in.
Jack let out a sigh of content, "This is nice" He smiled, relaxing into the water up to his shoulders and leaning against the Welshman.
"Mmhhmm" Ianto agreed, equally contentedly, "it is – and it's just as big as it looked! I was a little worried that once we'd got in here it would turn out to have been an incredibly tight squeeze!" He smiled back at the other man.
"I don't think I would have minded being squeezed up to you all that much…" Jack replied, idly running a bubble coated hand across Ianto's shoulder.
"Trust me, if we had been tightly crushed together in here you would have minded as I would have been out like a shot! I hate cramped spaces"
"Aww are you claustrophobic?" Jack asked in a teasing tone.
"Not exactly" Ianto said blushing a little, or perhaps just flushing with the heat rising from the water, the American wasn't certain. "I just like my space"
"But you're fine with this…?" Jack asked moving in closer to him and planting a kiss on the back of his neck.
"Yes, this is fine… very good in fact" The Welshman smiled back and turned to face the American and lean in for a kiss. Both men smiled as they parted.
"Do you know what this sort of reminds me of?" Jack asked after a brief moment of blissful, peaceful silence.
"What?" Ianto asked with intrigue.
"Pretty Woman" Jack grinned.
"Really?" Ianto chuckled back.
"Yeah, you know the bit where she's in that giant bath tub… the only things that are different is that there are two of us, we're both men, and neither of us is being prostituted by Richard Geer."
"Oh yes, so it's so similar then isn't it" Ianto mocked gently, laughing as he did so.
"Oh shut up!" Jack said and splashed the Welshman with a generous helping of bubbles and soapy water.
"Hey!" Ianto replied, feigning annoyance but laughing, as he retaliated.
After a couple of minutes of childish water fighting, and bundles of laughter the two men ceased their play before all of the water was thrown out of the tub and spilt down the sides. Jack lifted a hand up to Ianto's hair which was beginning to curl ever so slightly upon the addition of the hot soapy water to his head and face, and smiled. He always liked it when Ianto's hair began to curl just slightly; the younger man (though fully capable of witticisms and the occasional bout of childishness, as just proven by their previous little interaction) was often quite a serious and had been rather stoic when the pair of them had first met, for Jack, seeing his hair like this, uncontrollable and slipping out of its style, somehow exposed his more relaxed side – and he looked as cute as hell Jack smiled to himself.
"What?" Ianto asked with a slight air of suspicion in his voice, but he was smiling.
"Nothing" Jack grinned back wider.
"Alright then" Ianto laughed lightly, moving Jack's hand away from his hair and interlinking it with his own. "Oh and I realised, you missed something"
"Missed what?" Jack asked curiously, his brow furrowing slightly as he tried to guess what the Welshman might have meant.
"Missed out the fact that we're not listening to Prince from your list of why this 'is but isn't' like Pretty Woman" he chuckled.
"Oh!" The American joined in the laughter, "Well that's as maybe, but I do want your extra time and your kiss if it helps"
"It does" Ianto smiled, before letting out a sleepy, contented yawn that just couldn't be contained any longer. "Sorry" He apologised.
"Don't be, but as much as I am enjoying having a gorgeous, naked Ianto Jones to myself in a hot bath tub full of water, I think it might be bed time – it is nearly one am after all, and you have work tomorrow."
"Oh yeah… I'd forgotten about that, in fact I'd kind of forgotten that we had to leave tomorrow. This weekend has gone by far too quickly!"
"Yeah I know! But we can always do it again another time…"
"I'd like that a lot" Ianto smiled.
"Great" Jack grinned, "but for now – bed" He said in a mock commanding, Captain-like, tone which made shivers run down the younger man's spine.
The pair of them dried themselves, or rather each other, off with the plush, soft, luxurious white hotel towels before retreating once again to the bedroom in a sleepy, happy, naked daze. Jack threw back the already untidy and ruffled up covers of the bed and after slipping onto the mattress – shortly followed by Ianto – he pulled them back up and over the two of them and curled in closely to the other man. The American curled his muscular arms around the warm waist of the Welshman lying with his back against Jack's chest, and let his chin rest on the ledge of his shoulder, breathing in the delicious scent of the man that he was so unbelievably glad to be here with right now. It had been a while now, since the American had recognised that his feelings for Ianto had developed into something more than just lust and attraction and mutual interests, and he felt that now - on the first night that they had consummated their relationship – was the apt time to tell him. He smiled to himself and, with an unfamiliar sensation of nervous butterflies frantically flapping in his stomach, he began to speak.
"Ianto?"
"Yeah" He replied quietly and sleepily.
"I love you" He announced and bit his lip, hoping that the other man would feel the same, and that this whole situation wasn't still to new and strange to him that the expression of sentiment like this might freak him out.
Ianto, with his back to the face of the handsome American behind him, grinned wider than perhaps he had ever done in the entirety of his life as he heard the pronunciation of those three little words. Before the two of them had embarked upon their romantic getaway to London, Ianto had considered carefully his feelings for the other man and the significance that a trip like this held, which brought him to realise that he had fallen completely and utterly in love with Jack – almost without realising. It was no longer just a case of Jack being attractive, or him being interesting or fun to spend time with, that drew Ianto into him, but their deepened, emotional connection, a connection which Ianto could never have imagined forming with another man yet now couldn't imagine breaking. He'd contemplated telling Jack how he felt, but he had been entirely bowled over by the grandeur of Jack's romantic gesture and the delicateness with which he had made love to him, that he had backed down from those ideas. So to now hear those three words uttered from the man that he had wanted to say them to was, for the Welshman, the perfect ending to their idyllic weekend.
"Jack?"
"Yes?" Jack asked, still nervously biting his lip in a manner which was so uncharacteristic of the American.
"I love you too"
Jack grinned equally as wide as Ianto had done, and both men were left in the content, blissful silence, smiling in the dark and feeling closer to one another than they had done even just a few moments before, as they slowly drifted into sleep.
The next morning as the two of the reluctantly prised themselves from the blissful confinements of sleep, and of cuddling on the large comfortable bed, and half-heartedly ate a delicious breakfast in their suite, and unenthusiastically dressed and washed and packed up their belongings, both Ianto and Jack mourned greatly the fact that it was now time for them to leave. They said goodbye to the room, metaphorically in the Welshman's case but physically in the American's as he hugged the door goodbye causing Ianto to roll his eyes and burst into a fit of laughter, and made their way down to reception to hand in their key card and check out, and bid the charming girl on reception goodbye.
Ianto and Jack sat in relative silence through their brief taxi journey to the station, and once out of the vehicle only spoke to order two, rather inadequate, coffees from one of the cafes in the train station; neither man wanted to begin talking and face up to the fact that they were returning home to separate houses just yet.
The pair of them boarded the surprisingly empty train together, Jack sat down – or rather threw himself down in a heap into the window seat – and kicked his legs out, resting his feet on the empty seat opposite him whilst Ianto secured their bags in the overhead storage before taking a similar stance on the seat diagonally opposite him.
Jack sighed, "We're really going home aren't we?"
Ianto nodded, "I'm afraid so" He sighed back.
The American caught the Welshman's hand across their legs and laced their fingers together, "Well it was fun while it lasted"
"That it was" Ianto smiled, looking at their hands.
"I meant what I said about doing it again sometime, as long as you're up for it that is, now that my contract is finished with Burberry I'm going to have a lot more free time"
"Yes, I am definitely up for that. And I forgot to mention it, but Tosh broke the news last Wednesday that she is going to be moving in with Owen in the next couple of weeks, so pretty soon I'll have the apartment to myself and you can come over whenever you like" Ianto grinned, looking up at the American now.
"Oh really? That's interesting… very interesting…" Jack half purred.
"Indeed…" Ianto replied, "It'll be weird though, not living with Tosh… I mean we've been roommates since university, I haven't ever actually lived alone…"
"It's not so bad, you get used to it after a while, and living alone means that you can do lots of things you couldn't do if you weren't like walk around naked or sing at the top of your lungs for no reason or spontaneously decide to re-decorate"
"Hmm I suppose… I'll still miss her though… but it is nice that she has Owen, that she's found someone who appreciates her as much as she appreciates them at last; she's always been a bit unlucky with guys" Ianto mused.
"Really? Jack asked, genuinely surprised that their attractive, kind, intelligent and funny mutual friend had had an unlucky dating history.
"Yeah… she's quite shy and nervous around guys and I guess things have never really quite worked out for her. There was this guy Tommy a few years ago, but he joined the army and the two of them lost touch as a result… and there was Adam, but he wasn't the nicest of fellows, so she got rid of him pretty quickly… and of course, her and I dated back in college before I met Lisa but that had only lasted a couple of weeks" Ianto laughed.
Jack's face broke into a large grin of amazement, "What! You and Tosh? No way!"
"Yeah… but as I said, it was years ago now, and it was all over incredibly quickly – it felt far too awkward, we're much better off as best friends" He smiled.
"Well I'd have never have guessed that!" Jack exclaimed laughing, "Now I'm starting to wonder whether or not I should be ok with you two living together for the rest of these next few weeks" Jack winked.
"Oh come on… we never even slept together" Ianto replied, rolling his eyes.
"What in two weeks? You never slept together – that's weird!"
"No it isn't, we've been together for what three, almost four, months now? And we only just… you know… last night!" Ianto counter argued in hushed tones, suddenly very aware that they were conducting this argument on an, albeit rather empty, public train.
"Ah yes but, you were at Uni then and were hormone and lust fuelled youths and two weeks was a long time" Jack winked again, "Besides with us it was different… I didn't want to rush you… it would have been fair, this weekend away wouldn't have been quite as special and it probably would have spoilt things between us"
"Alright then" Ianto said, smiling and blushing slightly with the affectionate tone of Jack's words. "I'm glad that we waited a bit"
Jack smiled back, "You know that you have ruined my womaniser/man-eater reputation though don't you?
Ianto laughed, "yeah sorry about that…"
"Don't be, I'm not" Jack grinned, "it was about time that someone tamed the Captain"
"This is you tame?" Ianto asked in a mock incredulous tone.
"Oh shut up!" Jack laughed, kicking at Ianto's side with his foot, "I was paying you a complement, telling you that you were the first person in a long time to get me to commit to a relationship, and you give me that back? That's just plain rude Mr Jones." He mock pouted back before grinning.
"Well… thanks then…" Ianto replied, "I've gathered from Tosh that you had a somewhat colourful past relationship wise, it's nice to know that I don't have to be worried about any reoccurrences" He laughed lightly.
"What exactly did Tosh tell you…?"
"Just that you'd been with a lot, and she meant a lot, of people since you two had become friends and that the relationships weren't often very long lived" Ianto replied cautiously, attempting to phrase 'you had a lot of one night stands' in the nicest possible way.
Jack laughed a little, "Yeah you could say that… but she didn't tell you about anything that happened before we met?"
"No… should she have done?" Ianto asked, intrigued now.
"No, no, I mean I didn't ask her to… but I didn't tell her not to either."
"So… do you want to tell me now?" Ianto asked, smiling persuasively.
"Ahhh go on then, we've got a long journey ahead of us, may as well make use of it". He grinned. "When I was younger, about 17/18 or maybe even a little older, and modelling back in the States, I was just the same sex crazed, flirtatious, outrageous man you know and love" He paused to wink at the eye rolling Welshman opposite him, "But, well, I guess there's no easy way to put this, so I'm just going to come out and say it… I fell in love with a girl, a model Estelle, and we got married" He said, sighing a little towards the end.
"You were married?"
Jack nodded, "Yeah… we met on the set of some adverts for Abercrombie and Fitch, I was young and charismatic and she was… beautiful… and after two happy, untainted years of being together, at the ages of just 22 and 23, I proposed. She…"Jack's voice caught in his throat for a minute, "We had a further blissful two years together before she became ill. Just as my own career was at its peak, she was finding it harder and harder to get work, and in her desperation she started… I caught her… skipping meals, making herself sick more often than not when she actually ate, becoming thinner and thinner with each day. I tried talking to her, telling her that she was beautiful and perfect just the way that she was and that, regardless of what any brand or organisation might say to her, she didn't need to lose weight that she was already dangerously thin – but she didn't listen. Things kept getting worse, and we were having more and more arguments about her health until one day when I just gave up and forcefully checked her into a rehabilitation centre. It was… I was too late to help, she'd gone beyond the point of return, she wouldn't cooperate with the medical professionals and couldn't see the damage she was doing…" Jack's voice caught in his throat again and his eyes filled up with water that was firmly blinked back. "She was only 24 years old…" He coughed, and Ianto released his hand from Jack's to lovingly stroke his knee.
"I… Jack… I had no idea, I'm sorry… I shouldn't have asked." Ianto replied, feeling a little guilty.
"Don't be silly, you should know about her… I should have told you before, it's just… finding the right moment" He smiled sadly.
"I understand; if you ever feel the need to talk about her then feel free to talk away, I'm happy to listen." Ianto smiled back encouragingly.
"Thank you" Jack said, seeming a little less sad now. "And yeah… well… Estelle I didn't feel like engaging in a proper relationship for a long while, in fact for a good while I lived a fairly self-destructive life sleeping with a different person each night… pretty much living on alcohol… it wasn't good. I calmed down a bit with time, but still never found anything permanent. There was John, John Hart not John Smith, who I was seeing for a while… about six months I'd say… but he had more problems with his life than I did, he was addicted to almost everything and the pair of us together just wasn't a smart idea so I ended it. Since then I've reverted back to the same old pattern… until you of course" He grinned now, looking Ianto right in the eyes.
"Well don't worry, I'm not addicted to anything… except perhaps coffee… and Haagen-Dazs…" Ianto replied, attempting to lighten the mood a little.
"Hmm I think I can put up with those addictions" Jack laughed, "Sorry if I've put a bit of a downer on the end of our trip" He added.
"Don't worry you haven't" Ianto reassured.
"Jolly good!" the American grinned, "Oh and what about yourself, Jones, Ianto Jones… I now know about your brief love affair with the fair Toshiko… who else is hiding in your past?" Jack asked ominously.
Ianto laughed, "And now comes the time for me to ask… what has Tosh already told you?"
"Nothing much" Jack shrugged, "She didn't say a lot to be honest. After that first night at my party she told me to go easy on you because you were still upset about a break up with a girl called… Lisa? And that since her you hadn't really dated anyone and were probably feeling vulnerable and confused right now… a factor which I fully took advantage of" He winked.
Ianto laughed, "That's pretty much my entire dating history to be perfectly truthful with you, before Lisa I hadn't really had a proper girlfriend – we can't count Tosh really – and for a long time she was the only person I could ever see myself being with… obviously I didn't mean the same to her as the second I proposed she was off like a shot without explanation, running away and leaving me behind broken hearted…" Ianto laughed with a slightly bitter edge, "Since that happened I've found it really difficult to trust anyone or form a connection with anyone again… I've had a few dates with a couple of pretty girls, but I never felt anything like I did with Lisa… like I do with you for that matter… which, by the way, came as a complete surprise, I never expected to feel this way again, let alone about a guy! Your powers of charisma and flirtation really are unbeatable"
"Good to know it all still works" Jack flashed a grin.
"Indeed"
The boys continued to talk, about less serious matters, for the next fifteen minutes or so before falling into a much needed sleep after their previously late and energetic evening, only waking as the train arrived once again in Cardiff. As the vehicle came to its halt, the Welshman let out an unenthusiastic yawn before tapping awake the American lying soundly asleep (and snoring lightly) opposite him and collecting their stuff. They made their way off the train and out of the station, and the Welshman glanced at his wristwatch before Jack began to talk.
"I don't suppose you have time for a coffee?"
Ianto smiled sadly, "sorry no… got to go home and get ready for work"
"Ah don't worry about it; we can take a rain check"
"Yes we can, and the coffee will be a lot better than that awful muck we were drinking this morning" Ianto laughed.
"I should hope so! You've got me used to a very particular blend…" Jack grinned back.
"Well then, I guess I'll see you later…" Ianto said, flagging down a nearby taxi, "those fairy tales won't read themselves"
"I might just come and watch you again you know…" Jack said with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"Don't you dare!" Ianto warned.
"Fine, fine" Jack chuckled, "I'll see you soon then", he said, leaning in for a chaste peck on the cheek, being considerate and careful now that they were once again back in home territory.
"Make sure it's very soon" Ianto laughed as he stepped into the taxi and Jack stood there waving him off and sighing, hoping for a time when every weekend would be like this one, and hoping that that time would come very soon indeed.