It was nearly dusk by the time Jack made it back to his flat. He had no reasonable hope that Ianto Jones might have decided to spend the whole day hanging about the place, but he couldn't help imagining how nice it would be to come home to a warm smile for once. As soon as Jack opened the door, he know at once that he was alone and told himself not to feel so deflated.

He glanced around to see if Ianto had left a note, but there was none. Of course, that also said Ianto hadn't rummaged through his desk for paper and a pen. He did notice that Ianto had, very tidily, left his used bath towel on the sink, disposed of the razor, and left the toothbrush on top of the water glass Jack had left. Jack decided to leave the toothbrush, in hopes of Ianto staying again soon.

Sitting down on the end of the bed, Jack smiled at how Ianto had even folded his dressing gown for him. Ianto had talked the night before about working in a menswear shop while at university and it showed.

Jack pulled his laptop over to the bed and pulled up his synched phone contacts. His mobile at that moment was in bits in a zip bag, waiting to be checked for any possibility of information retrieval. He'd pick up a new one in the morning, but for now he could at least ring Ianto by landline.

He wasn't particularly surprised when he heard Ianto's beautiful, rich Welsh accent asking him to leave a message. Ianto wouldn't recognize the number, naturally.

"Ianto. Hi, it's Jack. Look, I'm really sorry about this morning. And sorry I'm ringing from a different number. My mobile is in smithereens at the moment. Just not my day, I guess. So, um… if you're still interested, think we could have dinner Friday? I should have a new phone tomorrow, I'll try calling again. Or you can just ring me back here tonight. Thank you, again, Ianto. I really enjoyed spending time with you. Talk soon."

Ringing off, Jack dropped back on the bed and tried to convince himself to get undressed and eat something before crawling into bed. In whatever order.

An hour later, Jack was woken by the phone ringing on the nightstand beside him.

"Not another damned alien," Jack groaned, reaching out for the receiver. "Yeah?" he answered tiredly.

"Oh. I woke you. Sorry. Sorry, it's Ianto… just ringing you back."

"Ianto." Jack was instantly awake. "Hey. Look, I'm sorry again about this morning. Really. I'm -"

"It's alright. Life doesn't always cooperate, yeah? Forget it. And I'd love to have dinner Friday. Same place and time?"

Jack grinned broadly. "You bet. So, I'll see you then. And I'll text you as soon as I've got a new mobile, ok?"

"Ok, Jack. Oh, and thanks for the tea this morning, and use of your shower. That was really thoughtful."

"You're welcome, Ianto. Although, I'd rather have shared both with you." Jack's grin was audible even down the line. "You have a good night, alright?"

"Yep. You as well."

Jack laid back down and asked himself if he could actually have any sort of chance to establish a real relationship. Then he asked himself if it was even remotely worth it trying to figure out something to eat. He could ring for a pizza, as usual, except that he'd probably be asleep again by the time the delivery arrived. Jack dragged himself to the kitchenette, grabbed the first ready-to-eat thing in the cupboard, and sat at his table eating crackers. Goddesses. He officially had no life. Jack made a mental note to get something decent for breakfast in before Friday so he could at least feed Ianto in the morning.

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