Chapter One

How did it come to this? He wondered as he stood on the pitch staring up into the stands. There were a few rows of screaming fangirls all desperate for his attention... hell, in the past he could have showered them with it, he would have taken several of them to a hotel room and showed him just how good a fly-half he was. But that was the past, his eyes dipped to land on the tall american standing there cuddling between two women to keep warm.

It was a piss-poor day weather wise and yet he was there. Ianto couldn't help but smile before he turned his mind to the game

"Come on number ten!" he heard Jack's voice followed by Gwen's then Toshiko's all calling to support him. He couldn't help but smile at the adulation then turned his mind back to the game as it took off and a try was had.

An hour later Ianto was standing topless in the locker room as the team celebrated their victory, they'd won the trophy and someone had brought in several bottles of champagne; he enjoyed celebrating with them but there was somewhere else he wanted, needed, to be.

"You can't ditch the team now, we're going on the town!" complained Andy, one of the locks "There's going to be girls. Lots of girls! All wanting to sleep with us!"

"Sorry, Andy, but I really have to go. You all have a drink in my honour" he said as he pulled on another shirt then tugged on his jeans over his uniform shorts. Ianto grabbed his bag, bid goodbye to people on passing then hurried out of the locker room to the carpark.

The shiny black SUV was waiting for him, he climbed in throwing his bag down in the back before looking at the driver and smirked, he pulled Jack in for a bruising victory kiss

"Drive" he ordered him and they were off heading home to 'celebrate'...

Three Years Earlier

"You'll behave yourself, won't you, no getting drunk like last time? Gwen is a really old friend and I haven't seen her in five years" Tosh told him, he looked at his girlfriend in disbelief

"I'm not some welsh lech" he protested, she fixed him with an 'oh yeah?' stare and he sighed "That was one time and I apologised, I thought we agreed never to bring it up after I let you spend all that money in that computer shop"

"You're right. I'm sorry... it's just I haven't seen Gwen in such a long time and I want things to be perfect. I want her to see how perfect my wonderful, sexy boyfriend is... last I heard she was with that Jack guy"

"Hm, and you just want to show me off?" he pulled her close leaning down to kiss her, she chuckled before deepening the kiss

"Oh would you look at that!" came a surly, rather hormonal voice "They're full on having sex in the street"

"Now Gwen, they're not... and you shouldn't talk so loud, they can hear you" answered a thick male's voice. Toshiko pulled away to look and who was insulting her and came face to face with a rather heavily pregnant Gwen Cooper

"Gwen!"

"Tosh?!" gasped Gwen when she realised who it was "I didn't recognise you! Come here!"

The two woman hugged and exchanged pleasantries while their men hung in the background, Ianto rolled his eyes before stepping forward and clearing his throat

"Oh, yeah, Gwen this is my boyfriend, Ianto Jones, Ianto this is Gwen"

"Nice to meet you" she shook hands with him "This useless lump here is my better half"

"I'm Rhys... you're not Ianto Jones of the Cardiff Blues are ya?"

"The one and the same"

"Oh my god! I knew it! You're a legend!"

"Thanks" snorted Ianto, he'd gotten used to the praise and compliments since joining the team and now he kinda liked it

"You play football? I didn't know your boyfriend was a football player, does that make you a wag?" Gwen asked cheekily as the couple walked into the pub

"Not football, Gwen, rugby!" complained Rhys and the two of them launched into stats and previous games.

"Men" Tosh rolled her eyes and the two of them chuckled. Ianto kept one ear on what the girls were gossiping about and one ear to Rhys

"I'm going to get the drinks, what is everyone having?" asked Rhys. They prattled off their orders then sat down

"I hope you don't mind but a friend of mine is coming to join us" explained Gwen when they were lounging on the comfortable leather sofa near the fireplace "He just signed his first book deal on linguistics so he's coming to celebrate"

"I don't mind" Tosh shook her head before curling up against Ianto almost possessively

"Great, he should be here any minute!" she grinned her gap toothed smile.

Ianto was wondering where Rhys had gone and if he needed help when he spotted a breathtakingly gorgeous creature moving through the pub towards them; his heart almost stopped and his eyes roved the man hungrily. It started beating again then broke when he sat down next to Gwen, cupped her face and kissed her

"Hey you" she greeted the newcomer, American

"Hey yourself, hey little one" he cooed as he put his hands on her stomach. Ianto just watched with growing sickness; things took a turn for the worse when Rhys cleared his throat. Oh god, thought Ianto, as the welshman stood there holding a tray of drinks looking like a complete muppet

"Harkness, get your hands off my wife" joked Rhys as he set the tray down and laughed with the man who stood up and pulled him into a big man hug before he sat down on the other side of Gwen

"This is my best friend Jack Harkness" Gwen announced "That's my best friend from High School Tosh Sato and her boyfriend Ianto Jones"

"Hi" Jack smiled shyly at Ianto unable to hide the blush that spread across his cheeks

"So, Tosh, what on Earth have you been doing with yourself since high school?"

"I'm a IT consultant and I teach at the university. After I did my masters, it just seemed like the thing to do. What about you?" she nodded at the baby bump that had the welshwoman beaming from ear to ear

"I'm a cop. I met Rhys in college and we started dating and the rest is history. I love him" she chuckled as she squeezed his arm leaning forward to brush her nose against his

"Last I heard you were dating some guy called Jack" she replied as she picked up her drink, popping the straw in her mouth as she stroked Ianto's thigh

"Yeah that'd be me" Jack chuckled

"Oh" she blushed with embarrassment "I'm sorry... I didn't..."

"It's okay, Tosh" Rhys told her "As soon as I was on the scene he didn't stand a chance"

"Had nothing to do with the fact that I'm gay" Jack rolled his eyes before winking at Ianto "So Ianto, what do you do?"

"Oh him? He's just a rugby player" she waved her hand flippantly

"Not just a rugby player!" Rhys came to defend his honour and suddenly Gwen's husband was his new best friend, thanks Rhys! "He's the best fly-half the Blues have had in years. He's bloody brilliant"

"I didn't understand a word of that"

"I play for the Cardiff Blues. I'm a professional rugby player" he replied before downing his drink, the room felt closed off and he couldn't help but feel tense. He was feeling a little annoyed at Tosh's dismissal of his career "I'm going to get some air then I'm going to get a drink... um, where is..." he pulled out a pack of smokes and looked round

"It's out that way, do you mind if I join you?" Jack asked pulling out his own brand, Ianto swallowed nervously but shrugged nonchalant "Great, we'll leave the girls to catch up"

The two of them walked quietly up the stairs to the smoking area that was devoid of life, the night was just cooling down after the rarity of a warm day and the stars shone brightly. Ianto lit up and leaned against the balcony railings, Jack did the same and came to stand next to him.

Ianto could feel the comfortable pressure of the other man's arm against his and it made him feel lightheaded and more than a little turned on, he didn't know what was going on with him!

"So... rugby" drawled Jack in his thick voice, Ianto turned to look at him and froze. Their faces were mere inches apart and all the blood in the welshman's body rushed south

"I..." he choked then he remembered that Tosh was downstairs, a beautifully sexy woman with great legs and who could talk dirty to him in Japanese. He shouldn't be attracted to other men, he wasn't no poof.

"You're with Tosh" declared Jack finally, sounding heartbroken like someone had just run over his puppy

"Yeah" he nodded not sounding too happy about it. With a sigh, Ianto stubbed out his cigarette mostly unsmoked then went back inside to get a very stiff drink sans ice.

The rest of the evening progressed smoothly, he didn't need to look to know that Jack was staring at him constantly because he was doing his very best not to stare back. Everyone got drunk apart from Gwen and Jack. Tosh seemingly forgot about her orders for him not to get drunk as she was tipsy enough to stagger in those impressively large heels, he bid goodbye to his new friends and escorted her towards the taxi rank.

She was asleep as soon as the cab door shut, he sat there with her curled up against him and he reached for his wallet. Something tumbled to the floor and he picked it up; it was Jack's business card with his phone number scrawled on the back. He blushed, unable to hide the grin before he slid it back into his jacket pocket. He had to carry Toshiko up the stairs to her apartment but since she was small and light he didn't mind so much.

The very next day he went out to the nearest book shop he could find and bought Jack's book before heading home to his own flat.

*

Jack sat at his computer reading the brief paragraph that was on the Cardiff Blue's webpage about Ianto Jones. He was a fly half, whatever that was, and he was good. He knew that he should have been doing work but ever since he saw a picture of Ianto in his rugby uniform half covered in mud jumping forward to catch the ball he'd been distracted. How the hell could anyone work with an image like that in front of them?

"I wonder if he'd like it if I went to one of his games?" he mumbled to himself then opened a new window to see when they were next playing "I wonder if he got my card?" Jack knew he was talking to himself, and it was the first sign of insanity, but he didn't care as he fixed his gaze on his telephone sitting there at the desk.

He growled angrily at it after he'd sat staring at it for ten minutes, he picked up the receiver to check it was working before placing it back in the cradle "Ring dammit!"

As if on queue a bell went off and he snatched up the phone before he realised that it wasn't his phone but his doorbell. Someone was at the door. Opening it he found Gwen standing there holding two cardboard cups and a bag of banoffee muffins

"Gwen? What are you doing here?"

"Rhys is at work and I want to have a girls day. Besides I know you... I know that you should be working but you're obsessing"

"Come in, get off your feet and give me my coffee!" he ordered her helping her in taking a coffee from her hand. She followed her ex-boyfriend into his study where he was(n't) working and sat down on the small two seater sofa

"I'm not obsessing, I was really quite busy" he protested as soon as he'd settled down with his coffee. She raised a brow, lifted herself off the cough so she could nudge his mouse revealling the very large picture he'd found when he'd googled Ianto

"Really?" she couldn't help but smirk as she sat down, dropping herself down putting a hand around her stomach protectively "Only you can fall for unavailable people... and straight people at that"

"I'm not so sure he's straight"

"Why?" she drawled narrowing her eyes at him before shaking her head "No! You are not stealing Toshiko's boyfriend! She happens to be a really good old friend and I'm not going to let you upset her just because of some crush. Yes he's good looking but very, very taken! They're close to moving in together!"

"I'm not going to steal him, Gwen, I was just... appreciating a cute face. Besides, why on earth would he even go for a guy like me? I'm an effeminate queen that my family shun... how the hell would anyone be attracted to me"

"If you're going to throw yourself a pity party, I'm going to have to hit you! Have you not looked in the mirror lately? You're bloody gorgeous! Unlike me! I'm a whale"

"You're not a whale. You... glow" he sighed before leaning back in his chair taking a sip of his coffee

"Whatever" she smiled as she rolled her eyes before changing the topic "So I take it your next book isn't going too well?"

"Actually I got more written than expected, I'm ahead, that's why I took a little break. Gwen..." he began testing the waters, he didn't want to upset his best friend "What if Ianto called me?"

"Has he?!" she almost shrieked, he shook his head

"No, but what if he does? I... I like him and if he shows an interest in me... what if he's confused about his sexuality?"

"Hm, so confused that he's dating a woman. I can see his dillema, Jack... if he shows an interest and stuff happens then I want you to tell Tosh. She deserves to know that Ianto is bender"

Jack couldn't help but roll his eyes; but he thought about it. He knew that he was hoping for something that would never happen but it couldn't hurt to fantasise "Get your head out of the clouds and come give me a foot rub"

"You're a bossier bitch than me" he teased her as he moved over to the couch picked up her feet, slipping her shoes off, and started to rub her feet "Oh the things I do for you"

"Shut up, I brought you muffins and coffee. That equals helping me get my cankles down"

"You do not have cankles!" he snapped at her; he and Rhys had been trying to be extremely encouraging about the weight she'd put on with her pregnancy

"Don't toy with me Harkness" she replied before she closed her eyes as his hands worked his magic.

She easily drifted off the sleep and he returned to his computer to get more work down. Half an hour after she nodded off, Jack's phone rang; probably Rhys calling to check where his wife was

"Hey Rhys, yeah she's here, fell asleep after complaining about her cankles" he said as soon as he picked up then blinked when he heard someone on the other end trying not to laugh his head off "Hello? Who is this? Rhys?"

"No... it's um, it's Ianto..."

"You are Ianto how... hi" he cursed himself as he fell back into the disposition he used to have when he got nervous. It had been a long time since he'd muddled his words; he had it bad.

"Um... I was... uhh... Tosh is having a girl's night so I was wondering if you and Rhys would like to do a lad's thing? You know, a pub crawl?" Jack had never been on a pub crawl in his life, honestly he'd be more inclined to the idea of a girl's night but Ianto was asking him out

"Sure! I'd love you... to! I'd love to!" he closed his eyes hoping the ground would just swallow him up.

"Great... um can I pick you up? Nine okay for you?"

"Yeah, yeah it's... great" he nodded his head feeling like a complete moron "I'll text you my address, see you later"

"Bye" Ianto rung off and he put the phone down. Oh God, he gasped before burying his head in his hands. He never expected Ianto to ring him and now everything suddenly felt ten times as bad; he tried to focus on how angry Tosh would be if he stole her boyfriend but all he could think about was Ianto's sexy voice.

TBC...