Love at First Glance
Chapter Six
(A/N: This is based on the Hallmark Channel original film of the same name. I have added a few of my own scenes, events and dialogue, and I've omitted a few scenes that weren't really necessary to tell the story.)
It was late and Ianto was back at his office desk, his fingers flying across his keyboard and then with a final flourish, he announced to no one, "The end!" and he sat back with his hands behind his head and looked at the computer screen with pride.
After saving his story to both his computer and to an external thumb drive and sending a copy to Huw for final approval before it was printed, he headed home; he was hungry and Rhys was making baked chicken with proper roasty potatoes. It was definitely a meal not to miss.
The house was absolutely redolent with the smells of good food, and while they waited for everything to finish, Ianto and Rhys sat back on the sofa and enjoyed a glass of wine as they shared their days. In the corner, almost dominating the room, floated an enormous bouquet of red balloons, some with stars, some with dots, some plain.
"I love those balloons," Ianto raised his glass and saluted the bouquet.
"Can you believe tomorrow is Valentine's Day?" Rhys leaned back in his seat and grinned. "Tomorrow you finally meet Jack. Are you nervous?"
Ianto considered for a moment, then answered truthfully. "A little," he admitted.
Rhys waved away his answer. "Don't be, he's gonna love you! And he's gonna love he article you wrote about him."
Ianto nodded as he sipped his wine. "finding that phone on the train has changed my life. I realised I was only with Daffyd because I was comfortable, and everyone just expected us to be together and to get engaged and then someday to get married and build a life and even a family together, and I figured that since it was expected, then it was right." The words were coming out in a rush by the end.
"Don't get me wrong, I like Daffyd, but it wasn't love. I see that now, I see the difference." He smiled at Rhys. "Love isn't always comfortable; sometimes it sneaks up on you, sometimes when you're not even looking." His smile grew into a wide grin. "It's unexpected, like my tad once told me."
"Speaking of unexpected, I think Boyfriend has fallen hard for a poodle we see in the dog park."
"Well, it is the season of love!" Ianto laughed.
"I'm not really sure what beagle and poodle puppies would look like, so it's a good thing Boyfriend is fixed," Rhys declared with a salute of his glass.
Ianto became serious again. "Seeing how Jack lives his life makes me want to live mine differently. I don't want to be comfortable; I want something…" he paused, looking for just the right word.
"Unexpected?" Rhys offered softly.
"Yeah," Ianto nodded with satisfaction. "Unexpected."
"Do you mind?" Rhys picked up the printout of Ianto's story; it was entitled 'How I Found the Meaning of Love'.
"No, go right ahead."
Rhys skimmed the article and then came to a part that jumped off the page at him and he began reading out loud. "And love is opening our hearts to any possibility, no matter how unexpected." He looked up at Ianto. "Oh man, now I wish I'd have found a phone on a train."
Ianto smiled back. It was the first time he'd heard his words read aloud and he decided he rather liked the way they sounded.
"I'm proud of you, Ianto."
Ianto was a bit taken aback. "You're proud of me?"
"Yeah, someone told you to go for it so you jumped in with both feet and did just that. So, was it the phone?"
"I think it was the butterflies," Ianto admitted as he blushed a bright pink.
Just then the oven timer buzzed, saving the Welshman from any further embarrassment.
It was Valentine's Day and Ianto spun around in front of the mirror, trying to decide if he looked all right, if a cashmere sweater and trousers struck the right note for meeting what could be the man of his dreams. "What do you think?"
"Ya look like me da when he has to dress up but doesn't want to." Rhys sprawled across Ianto's bed, sharing a bag of smoky bacon crisps with Boyfriend. "And it's eight twenty-five."
Ianto rolled his eyes and ducked back into his closet, emerging a few minutes later in artfully ripped jeans, and over-sized button down with a t-shirt underneath.
"No!" Rhys barked out. "No one wears ripped jeans on the first date."
"Technically, it's not a first date."
"Don't care! It's now eight thirty-three, you're gonna be late."
Already stripping out of his clothes, Ianto dove back into the closet and emerged wearing charcoal pin-striped suit trousers and waistcoat with a pale lavender shirt.
"That's the ticket!" Rhys jumped up and grabbed Ianto, swinging him around, leaving Boyfriend free to happily scarf down the unattended bag of crisps. "Now get out of here, its eight forty-four!"
Ianto grabbed his jacket and ran out of the building and straight to the waiting taxi. After giving the driver the address, he asked, "I'm running late; could you please hurry?"
Sitting there, watching the night-time streets of Cardiff flashing past the windows, Ianto wondered what it was going to be like finally meeting Jack. Suddenly he realised that the taxi had come to a halt and he looked out to find they weren't at the pub but were caught in a traffic jam caused by a jack-knifed lorry up ahead.
Glancing at his watch he saw that it was already nine o'clock, the time he and Jack had agreed to meet. Desperate inspiration struck and Ianto handed the driver some money and got out of the taxi. "I'll run from here," he told the surprised man. "It's got to be quicker."
Dashing down the street, barely avoiding colliding with people not in the same hurry he was, Ianto arrived at the pub and slammed through the front door, pausing only long enough to straighten his clothing and catch his breath. Then he walked into the main room and looked around, quickly spying the South Wales Echo lying on an unoccupied table just to his right, the paper folded open to show his headline and article.
"Oh, no! I've missed him!" Ianto looked all around the pub, trying to find Jack but to no avail. Finally, he dashed up to the bar. "Where is the guy who was sitting there?" he asked the bartender, pointing to that table.
The man shrugged and polished a glass. "I dunno, we get a lot of people in here," and it was clear he had no interest at all in helping Ianto.
"Think!" Ianto leaned on the bar, "what happened to him, where did he go?"
Again, the man shrugged. "There was some guy there, but I don't know where he went."
With a sinking feeling in his heart, Ianto asked, "What did he look like?"
"I dunno, he was wearing pants."
Ianto couldn't decide if the man was really that stupid or if he thought being snarky was a good idea. "Pants?! What did he look like? Was he handsome? Did he have pretty blue eyes?"
"Mister, I don't remember." The bartender was clearly getting annoyed with the twenty questions routine.
Ianto pulled out a stool and sat down. "Listen, that guy's the reason I found myself," he tried to explain. "Before I met him I lived a life of caution, always second-guessing everything."
The bartender didn't even try to hide the fact that he was rolling his eyes. It had already been a long shift and he was tired of listening to everyone else's problems and he just wanted to go home.
"My idea of a wild time was sneaking a wine cooler into the four-pm showing of 'Eat, Pray' Love'."
"I love Julia Roberts," the man confessed.
"Everybody loves Julia Roberts," Ianto snorted. "My point is, because of that amazing, handsome, loving, intelligent, generous, kind man, I danced the tango and I jumped out of an airplane and I got a dog and…" he ran out of steam and slumped in his seat. Then he looked at the bartender though narrowed eyes. "You just let him walk out of that door and out of my life!"
The bartender arched an eyebrow as if to say, 'Really? You're blaming me?'
Ianto buried his head in his hands. "This is all my fault! You know what my problem is?"
The bartender couldn't resist. "You like to talk to strangers?"
"Don't you get it? After all that searching for the story of Jack Harkness, the story I actually found was my own. I found my strength, I found my happiness and I found the man for me."
"Mister, are you gonna order something?" The bartender was now more than bored with Ianto's over-the-top revelations.
"Oh, I know what you're going to say! You're going to say that Jack Harkness doesn't even know I exist. What's wrong with Daffyd? Daffyd wants you back. I should have just gone back to Daffyd. Daffyd is the place to go."
"I don't know any Daffyd," the man snarked, "so…"
Ianto became choked up and a stray tear coursed its way down his cheek, scaring the bartender.
"Hey mister, please don't cry!" There was real alarm in the bartender's voice.
"The truth is I've fallen in love," Ianto whimpered. "I found out that sometimes you fall in love with the most unexpected person at the most unexpected time and you do the most unexpected things." He looked up at the young man nervously dragging a towel through his hands. "You know what I mean?"
"I already have a girlfriend and her name is Marisol and she's really jealous." The bartender backed away from Ianto, colliding with the shelves full of liquor bottles behind him.
Ianto didn't hear what he said. "You know, at the end of the day I've come all this way and I've finally found myself and I'm left at the scariest part of my journey. Am I bold enough? Am I brave enough?" He brought his fists crashing down on the bar. "Am I crazy enough to fall in love?"
"I think we're both crazy enough," a quiet voice said from behind him.
Drawing in a gasp of breath, Ianto whirled around and a brilliant smile lit up his face. Standing up he reached for Jack only to have Jack move back a few steps and hold out his hand. Ianto quickly took hold and Jack pulled him in close, hugging him tightly.
As the late-night train clattered along the tracks, Jack and Ianto snuggled together in an empty car.
"Valentine's Day is almost over," Ianto remarked softly.
"No, we still have…" Jack consulted his watch, "ten more minutes."
"I have a present for you."
Jack was surprised. "For me?"
Ianto reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out Jack's missing phone. "Ta-da!"
"Oh, you shouldn't have! It's just what I've always wanted," Jack joked as he accepted his mobile.
Taking the phone back, Ianto opened it and pulled up the photo gallery then handed it back, watching Jack's face as he scrolled through all the new pictures Ianto had added as he'd talked to Jack's friends. Seeing all the people whom Ianto had touched and who had touched Ianto brought a lump to his throat.
"I have something for you too," Jack said, reaching into his own pocket. "Close your eyes," he instructed, waiting for Ianto to do as he asked even as he giggled with excitement.
Holding his breath, Jack took hold of Ianto's hand and carefully placed a faded red square of craft paper in his palm. "Okay, open."
The moment Ianto saw the red and white hearts and all the glitter, his breath caught in his throat and when he read the worlds 'I will always love you forever and ever' tears spilled from his eyes to run down his cheeks.
"Happy Valentine's Day," Jack said softly, using his thumb to wipe away Ianto's tears.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Jack." Ianto leaned forward and captured his lips in a searing first kiss, bonding with the love of his life.
When they broke for air Ianto said, "you asked me a while ago what was in my dreams, and," he looked down at the card and then back up into Jack's blue eyes, "I think it was this."
Unable to speak for the emotions flooding through his heart and mind, Jack cupped Ianto's face with both hands and kissed him again…
And again…
And again…
Forever and ever.
End