A/N: Hello everybody! I can uite firmly conclude that I hate revision. On the other hand, I rather love doing this and was so glad to see it come around to Monday again, as whilst of course I like writing for 'A Captain and A Gentleman', this was my first story and I've missed it a lot even though it's only been a week! Anyway, this is just a fun chapter really, as far as I'm aware no one in Britain really does the whole rehearsal dinner thing (at least I've never been to any or know of any...) but I thought it could make a good story! SO here goes... enjoy (I hope)! Hannah xxx
So it's Friday and it's half past eleven now, meaning our lunch date is looming ever closer. I've been looking forward to our proposed shopping trip and lunch outing all week, but now as we are only inches away from our excursion, I just feel that there's bound to be something that prevents it from happening. The rift, as predicted, has been quiet all morning so far, just one escaped Ood which Owen and I dealt with - which by the way was nice to go out on duty properly with him again - but it would be just typical for the rift to suddenly turf out a heard of Autons or Slitheen or something. I mean, the rift even managed to disrupt Christmas last year! In hindsight, it really was a bit presumptuous of me to assume that a date during the working day at Torchwood was even plausible, I mean, anything could happen at any moment.
Jack doesn't seem to doubt the rift's impeccable (ha-ha) timing skills as he just arrived at my desk with a neatly folded piece of paper, bearing a messaging. It used to be common for the two of us to exchange secret notes throughout the day, as we conducted our strange affair outside of the rest of the team's knowledge. But now, of course, they seem to know all about us, even if they don't know the full extent of 'us' and so furtiveness is unnecessary. The means of speaking across little notes is simply something we occasionally do for fun nowadays, and it's almost always noticed by the others. Well, they can't help but notice when Jack decides to drop on off at my desk as he usually withdraws it very obviously from his pocket and makes a show of presenting it to me whilst crying out something along the lines of "Post for the hot Welsh guy at desk three". Naturally, it never fails to stir a blush from me or a giggle from Tosh and it almost always cause Gwen to get curious about the exact nature of the note. They are normally always harmless, just a little bit of banter between the two of us, an occasional spot of innuendo from Jack, but nothing that I ultimately would care if Gwen or the others heard – but it's just so much more fun not to tell her, and keep her building it up to be something outrageous isn't it? Oh god I think some of Jack's personality might finally be rubbing off on me… Anyway, today's note read:
"To my Ianto; Just thought I'd remind you about the date that we've planned for about an hours' time, I'm sure you haven't forgotten because your brilliant and I am irresistible after all, but you seemed so absorbed in your paperwork this morning that I thought I'd better check. The rift seems to be leaving us alone and I'm not gonna lie, I'm getting rather excited about trying on clothes with you, the lunch part I can take or leave… Your Jack."
If he hadn't got me put me a little bit on edge with the suggestive line about trying on clothes together, then I might have been able to focus more at the time on how truly sweet the letter sounded. "My Ianto"… "Your Jack"… I think he was probably just doing it for a little bit of a joke I mean whatever we are, we are by no means a love struck couple, but still, it was sweet. In fact the very notion of sending a note was quite adorable in the first place; after his grand display of presenting it to me I saw the slight hint of self-consciousness in his eyes, a little part of him must genuinely have wanted to know if I'd remembered. He can be awfully funny at times; of course I'd remembered, I'd arranged it and besides whom on Earth could ever forget an arrangement with Captain Jack Harkness? (Besides Brigadier Masterson from UNIT of course, boy was Jack angry when the Brigadier stood him for that meeting last Tuesday!).
Surprisingly enough the rift did manage to leave us alone for once, I mean, I know that Tosh's prediction programme is hardly ever wrong, but I really did think our plans for today were too good to be true. I was starting to feel a little guilty for leaving the three of them to themselves as we set off around 12.30, but when Jack informed the others that we wouldn't be back until about 3 Owen rolled his eyes but laughed and Gwen and Tosh told us to have a good time - they didn't seem to mind so I told myself that they'd manage for a few hours.
We decided to tackle the clothes shopping first, well I say we, it was Jack who decided that, he said he didn't want to be bloated from lunch when he went shopping as whatever he tried on wouldn't fit the same. I told him that if he didn't eat so much in one sitting then he wouldn't get bloated in the first place; he gave me an angry yet playful elbow dig in the ribs in response. It's true though, I've said it before but that man really does have a ridiculous appetite, I've no idea how he keeps his figure, he must have a super-fast metabolism tied in with the whole immortality deal. Anyway, in the end I was very glad of Jack's help in choosing what to buy for the dinner, Gwen had set the dress code as smart casual, but I've always hated that term as it's so ambiguous as to what it really means – to some it's acceptable to wear chinos and a polo, to others it's a jacket, shirt and jeans… It was very tempting to just go in a suit, seeing as that's what I wear day in day out but Jack insisted that, whilst he loved my suits, that it was far too formal for 'smart casual' and that Gwen would most likely go ape if anyone dared break away from her guidelines (which, could well be true, she's beginning to turn into a bit of a 'bridezilla', but we can't really begrudge her that). So he helped me settle on a pair of brown cords, a light khaki and white tablecloth checked shirt and a beige cardigan. He himself needed very little help from me other than to make comments such as "your bum looks fine" or "yes, you look gorgeous" as he looked to me expectantly with each new outfit change. In the end he went for dark grey, slim leg jeans and a light blue shirt – not straying much from his classic look, I'm in no doubt that he'll wear his everyday military coat as well, in fact I'd be disappointed if anything.
I was half expecting shopping with Jack to be a nightmare, which in parts it was, but not in the way that I thought it would be. I had anticipated that he would spend an age trawling around different shops, not being able to make up his mind about anything, but actually he'd been relatively speedy. He did whoever, make good on his fitting room suggestions… he kept trying to… well it doesn't matter what he was trying to do, let's just say the mere proposal of doing what he wanted in a public place like that sent a blush to my cheeks. Of course I refused him, but that doesn't mean that I'll be able to show my face in the Zara fitting rooms again anytime soon as I'm certain the gentleman working on the fitting rooms overheard all of Jack's persuasions as he couldn't keep a straight face when we left. Jack just laughed of course, but I was somewhat humiliated. He did apologise in the end though, but claimed it was my own fault for:
"Looking like that" He said gesturing towards me, "and for sounding like that" He grinned and flicked my lower lip with his index finger.
In the end I needn't have worried about leaving the team alone for too long, as we decided to go to YO! Sushi for lunch which always has quick service so we were back by 2.30. The rest of the day went by quickly; without much work to do we ended up congregating in the conference room by late afternoon to play a game of cards seeing as the rift was still behaving itself and all outstanding paperwork was completed. I couldn't help but laugh along with everyone else when Tosh suggested that we played 'strip jack naked', even though I knew she only meant the perfectly innocent card game often called 'Beggar-My-Neighbour'. Bless her she got so embarrassed after proposing it, she just hadn't thought before she'd spoken, and naturally with people like Jack and Owen in the room the worst will be assumed from a proposition like that! We ended up going for chase the ace in the end, and after a few hours of fun it was soon home time for all, even Jack and I as he was coming back to mine for the evening.
It sounds silly, but I really do like waking up next to someone else. There's just something so lonely and daunting about a large and empty double bed all to yourself, it's much nicer to open your eyes and see someone else looking back at you, someone being Jack of course. Of course I'm writing about him looking back at me, but this morning was in fact one of the rare times that he was asleep when I woke up. When I sleepily peeled my eyes open to see him lying there, snoring lightly, I couldn't help but feel just a little bit content; I knew just how difficult it is for him to actually manage to fall asleep and was glad that he obviously felt relaxed enough around me to do so.
"Stop staring at me" he grumbled groggily after I'd been admiring him for a couple of minutes, his eyes remained shut.
"How could you possibly tell that I was staring at you?" I asked.
"I could feel you moving around and presumed you were awake, and well, if you're awake and I'm in the room – what else would you be looking at?" He grinned back, opening his eyes now and turning to face me.
I gave him a gentle shove in return.
"Hey don't start that cause you know what'll happen" He said mischievously, but he didn't even give me a chance to 'not start that' before he began tickling me until I could barely breathe.
All in all, a very entertaining morning to accompany a very lovely evening, especially seeing as we had no pressure to get in to work today as Jack had given everyone the day off in preparation for Gwen's dinner – isn't that nice? Of course, we were still going in, but there was no stress to be in as early as humanly possible as there usually is. Well, I suppose there isn't even pressure to be in that early on a normal working day, it's just sort of become an unbroken habit to arrive promptly at the break of day.
The rift was obviously tired of leaving us in peace as we had three call outs in the space of two hours – all for Weevils I might add. There's nothing wrong with a Weevil hunt, there usually relatively easy to catch and you can often have fun in the process, but it is also quite a tiring act to wrestle them to the ground, 'bag and tag' them and sedate them before dragging them back to the SUV. After the third case Jack had to quickly dash off to the UNIT base to find Brigadier Masterson who apparently had the time to see him now. UNIT called when we were halfway through the labyrinth of tunnels leading from the tourist information centre into the hub and Jack was livid at the prospect of dropping everything and running off to their calls. But that's exactly what he had to in the end, apologising profusely as he left me to carry the Weevil inside by myself which is much more easily said than done.
I was most surprised to walk into the main room of the hub after dropping our new guest off in a cell, to see Gwen there scrabbling about amongst the mess at Owen's station which I haven't ever dared to touch myself. Two things about the situations bemused me a bit 1) Gwen was in despite Jack having given everyone the day off and 2) I had somehow managed to miss her when I first walked through here to get go down to the cells – then again I was sporting a Weevil at the time so I suppose I can forgive myself that oversight…
"Anything I can help you with Miss Cooper?" I said, jokingly.
She stopped scrabbling about through Owen's mess and I began walking towards her, managing to get a proper look at her face - which was tear stained; I really hadn't chosen the right tone to begin speaking to her in as she just opened her mouth in an attempt to reply but began crying once again. I quickly enveloped her in a hug and gently rubbed her shoulders in the way that Rhiannon used to do to me when I was upset – I always found it comforting and I hoped she would too.
"Gwen, what's wrong sweetheart?" I tried again, in a low soothing voice.
"It's… It's… Uh… it's not-thing" She replied back, words fighting their way out through tears. She pulled away and paused for a second to breathe in deeply, and try again. "It's just, everything is going wrong! My Uncle missed his flight over from Newcastle and won't make it to the dinner, Rhys's niece Lucy turned up to the bridesmaid dress fitting this morning having grown about three inches, the Wedding's in just over a month and I feel so unprepared, and now I've lost my bloody mobile!" She exclaimed.
In all honesty I wasn't too sure how to respond – I'd only ever seen Gwen so unhinged like this once before, when she and Rhys temporarily separated, I wasn't used to her breaking away from her normally calm and determined manner. "Shssh" I began "Come on now, it's not really all that bad, nothing ever goes completely to plan with these sorts of things, I'm sure Lucy's dress can be let down a couple of inches, and at least your Uncle is only missing the rehearsal dinner and not the wedding itself. As for your mobile… well… if it's been claimed by Owen's desk then I'm not sure you'll ever find it!"
She managed a laugh at the last part, as she wiped away her fading tears; but then realisation sparked in her eyes and she rapidly drew in a breath. "Shit! Owen! How on Earth am I meant to explain to everybody about why he isn't eating or drinking anything" She cried, then brought her hand to her mouth and gasped: "Oh my god, that's about one of the most selfish things I have ever said; how could I say something like that when I know it'll be ten times worse for Owen! Oh god… this wedding will be the death of me."
"Calm down Gwen, everything's going to be fine, I promise. We'll just get Jack to sit next to him and eat all of his food or something." I replied, managing to make her laugh a little again. "Just go home now, I'll find your phone for you and bring it to the dinner. I'll look forward to seeing you at 8.30" I smiled.
"EIGHT!" She shouted. "Sorry." She added afterwards, as I laughed lightly.
It actually took quite a while for me to find Gwen's phone, it was hidden inside a mug on her desk, beneath a magazine… I've no idea how it had ended up there. After retrieving it I made sure that Jack and I went to go and get changed ready for the meal as I was quite certain that Gwen would have our guts for garters if we turned up late.
Somehow the dinner ran incredibly smoothly, though I've got no idea how. Gwen really had every right to be anxious about how the evening would progress as, never mind Owen, the prospect of Torchwood alone being in the proximity of her friends and family should have been enough to put her on edge. But things were just great, more than great in fact; we all had a really lovely night. I complimented both Gwen and Tosh on their choice of garments, naturally playing my role as the gentleman, and Jack didn't half kick up a fuss and was only satisfied once I had paid gave praise to his appearance as well. It was silly really, seeing as I had watched him chose what he was going to wear and given him plenty of positive feedback at the time… but he doesn't like to be left out! Gwen took my advice and seated Jack and Owen next to each other so that Jack could nonchalantly remove Owen's food from his plate and place it on his own instead. Poor Owen did have to down a little champagne as the best man, 'Banana Boat', made his toast; I don't envy whoever is near him when he has to bring it back up, from what Jack said about the last time he had needed to do that… it didn't sound pleasant.
I was seated opposite Jack and with Tosh on one side of me, and one of Rhys's mates, Carl I believe it was, on the other. He was actually a decent chap, who as it turned out had gone to the same secondary school as I but was three years above, anyway, we seemed to have a fair bit in common so there was no strain to make small talk as there often is at these sorts of functions.
Oh and of course, how could I be forgetting my highlight of the evening? I totally managed to get my own back on Jack for embarrassing the hell out of me in a) the fitting room incident from yesterday, and b) that date we went on a few weeks ago before Martha arrived to stay with us. It was brilliant. I employed a similar tactic to one of which he had used in the restaurant; taking advantage of being seated opposite him, I began casually rubbing my foot up the inside of his thigh, acting as if nothing was going on at all whilst he struggled to do the same. It was ridiculously entertaining watching his look of concentration grow even more painstaking as he tried to keep up a coherent conversation with Banana Boat, and hearing the pitch of his voice raise as I in turn raised my leg higher and higher. Hmmm, I definitely think I am picking up on some of Jack's ways… Tosh seemed to twig what was going on after a little while and couldn't help releasing a little, stifled giggle which in turn started me off, and I had to excuse myself from the table in order to prevent a rather rude outburst of laughter in front of all of Gwen's guests.
Whilst in the toilets I received a most threatening text message from Jack: "I am so going to make you wish you hadn't done that!" Oh dear…