Really enjoyed this story. Sorry for not reviewing sooner but I just had to keep reading, at one stage I was even convinced that Ianto was in his reality & Torchwood was the illusion. So glad that when he got back to his true reality that Ianto just didn’t jump back into Jack’s bed. He said what needed to be said.

"You're ticklish underneath your right thigh, so whenever we have sex I make sure to caress you there just to hear you laugh." Jack's gaze was achingly soft. "You have a nice laugh and you don't do it often enough, so I like to hear it whenever I could."

Such a wonderful detail! It really makes Jack seem more human. Love this chapter.

I really enjoyed Ianto standing up to Jack and telling him he's not content to be a doormat any longer. Bravo! Also, points to Jack for not being the heel he initially appeared. There may be hope for him yet. :)

Thankyou. DottyWho. 09.03.2017.

So, I had to track this story down after like four years, and I don't even use anymore, I'm over on ao3 now, so that was not easy. I wasn't even sure I'd remember my password to leave a comment as a real user. I never remember titles, just plots, so I couldn't look up the story that way lol. I just narrowed the search down as best I could and skimmed summaries until I found this one. Anyway though, what I wanted to say wasn't that I had trouble tracking down the story. It's that I remember reading this story as a sophomore in highschool and now I'm a sophomore in college and I never actually forgot it. I remember back in 10th grade, telling my friend who hadn't even watched Torchwood that she needed to read this story because it would change her life. The entire time I couldn't tell if Torchwood was going to be real or fake, because it would be just like a writer to torture the audience with a 'it was never real' twist, but I was also rooting for Jack to save Ianto from whatever was happening to him. And then when he did, they actually had to address the problems in their relationship, and it wasn't so one sided as Jack doesn't treat him right, but that Ianto doesn't talk about it either. Four years later I still remembered specific lines and details from this story before I reread it. I was describing it to a different friend when I was considering looking it up to explain why I would want to go through the trouble of finding a story I didn't know the name of that I read four years ago. The past week or two I've been diving back into the Torchwood fandom (Tosh and Ianto's actor and actress were at a con I was at, and that sparked my interest, and then I got my friend (the same one I was recently talking about this story with) to watch it with me, so showing it to her is bringing back all the feelings again lol) and I remembered this story and wondered if it would hold up to how I remembered it. I finally found it, and was only half surprised to see that it was 90k words. My interest in long fics hasn't gone away in the past four years, even if a lot of my other interests have changed. In the same year I read a 90k fic during finals week, which isn't even a mistake in hindsight because 10th grade Kate knew she shouldn't be opening that during finals week too. The point about this one being 90k though is that I wasn't expecting to read all the way through it when I saw that number. It may not be finals week for me now, but college sure loves making me write papers. Almost as much as highschool did, but they're more work now. So, because I opened this up when I had two papers and 100 math problems that were 2-5 parts each due, I figured I'd just skim it for my favorite parts during study breaks. Upon seeing that I still liked the writing style I decided to put this off a bit until I'd done all of the assignments , figuring I'd read a few chapters and then skim, but if I was going to read a few I should wait until I had actual free time. (see, I've progressed some since 10th grade) So, I waited, and then I started reading. And then I kept reading. And then it became clear I wasn't going to be skimming at all. I knew that I loved this story, but I wasn't ever anticipating sitting through 90k words a second time when I remembered how the story went. There would be no mystery. I wouldn't need to find out if Torchwood was real or not. Or what Jack and Ianto fought about before he went. Or how the illusion was created. Or why he was put in a mental hospital. Or what happened with his mom. I remembered. But then when I was rereading I found that that didn't matter. Well, Torchwood being real or not and all of those things certainly did matter, and the mystery gripped me and wouldn't let me put the story down in 10th grade, but what I mean by it didn't matter is that despite knowing exactly what was going to happen I was still captivated. Regardless of the fact that I knew Torchwood was real. Even knowing what was going to happen, I stayed up late reading, I read between classes, I read during my free time, and I think that the fact that you were able to capture my attention so well even though I knew every plot twist, knew specific scenes and lines, shows how amazing of a writer you are. Or the fact that I do know any of that after four years. That also shows some amazing skill, because it's not because of me having a fantastic memory or anything. I remembered because you left such a strong impression. I just really wanted to let you know that you rocked my world in 10th grade, and four years later you're still amazing me. Thank you for sharing this work. I'm sure it will continue to sick in my memory for years to come.

This was such an incredible ride. I'm glad you invited us to go along with you. This story is amazing. You got skills!

Such a great story! You had me second guessing everything and I honestly thought torchwood was all fake until the very end haha. I went on the same journey as Ianto and it was brilliant! I'm so glad you didn't make Ianto a push over at the end and his conversation with Jack was just so perfect and expressed all the frustrations I had with Jack in the show and how they showed him treating Ianto. Thank you!

I LOVED this story! The beautiful writing and the amazing pacing kept me entranced with this story. It took me a near 3 hours on a Sunday afternoon to read this and it was a time well spent.

I don't even know what to say. You messed with my emotions so much and you really seemed to know what you were talking about with Ianto's "mental illness". I really wanted it to be real so he could have a normal life with Jack. Sniff. Anyway, this was really well written and I applaud you for breaking my heart.

I really thought and wanted Ianto's delusion to be real. At the beginning I thought 'it's not real, it's an alien', but as time went I started to think and hope it was. You made me feel how Ianto felt, and that is a precious skill. Good work.

WONDERFUL STORY! THANK YOU FOR SHARING! :)

That was absolutely fabulous. I do love the idea of Jack groveling a little bit. But everyone was so in character, which is more than I can say for some people...

Great ending. Not overly sappy and there was a lot of hope. :) I could definitely see this as a plausible event in the series. Great job!

I have to say this is one of the best stories I have read. Except Jack never did tell Ianto why he asked him on the date.

Boy Ianto is fading fast. I love the Torchwood Ianto. He always came out with the best wit. He had such dry humor.

AAAAhhhh no ianto! Don't give them up! If he is making such good progress WITHOUT giving them up, why is it still important to give them up? Come on Ianto, think, think, think! And they have to admit that Ianto has been handling this whole thing with decorum. NOOOOOOOO not the pills! Oh Ianto. I was holding out such hope for you. Now you might as well go the way of Tosh and (I was going to say Owen), but this can't be Owen.