After Jack Harkness lost his wife to Spanish Flu at the beginning of the 20th century, he vowed never to give his heart away again. The pain was simply too much. For the next 100 years, he had many sexual relationships and thoroughly enjoyed them all. He kept his heart closed at all times until he met Estelle. He fell in love with her, but made sure that it wasn't too much. Jack couldn't risk the heartache. Then, one day, Ianto Jones entered his life.

He had been immediately attracted to the young Welshman. His beautiful face, dry wit, impeccable dress and eloquent manners were a powerful combination. The Captain fought against himself in an effort not to fall for Ianto, but it was a battle he couldn't win. He fell hard.

Jack now found himself with a problem. He was in love with Ianto, but knew that the feelings weren't reciprocated. When they'd started having sex, they'd both agreed it was simply a 'friends with benefits' relationship. The Captain was roused from his thoughts by Tosh, who was gently tapping on the door.

"Just come to say goodnight Jack."

"Can you hang on for a minute Tosh?" He asked, as he motioned for her to sit down.

"Is everything okay?" Tosh enquired, with concern in her voice.

"You're Ianto's closest friend, right?"

"I like to think so."

"Does he talk about me?"

Tosh had to stop herself from giggling. She'd never Jack like this. He was behaving like a nervous, lovesick teenager.

"He doesn't go into details," she told him. "But you do crop up in the conversation occasionally."

"How does he feel about me?"

This time Tosh couldn't stop herself. She laughed out loud at Jack's question but managed to reign herself in when she noticed the hurt look on his face.

"Oh Jack. You love him don't you?"

The Captain nodded sadly. "I really do."

Tosh regarded the Captain with curiosity. He was usually so sure about everything. Ianto seemed to have done the impossible and penetrated Jack's defences.

"I'm really sorry Jack," she said softly. "I can't really help you. All he's told me is that he enjoys a fantastic physical relationship with you. You need to talk to him yourself."

That was the one thing Jack didn't want to do. He couldn't risk scaring Ianto away. He could cope with unrequited love as long as his Welshman was still in his life.

"Could you talk to him?" he asked. "Be discreet though, don't ask him outright."

Tosh smiled. "I'm having dinner with him tonight. I'll see what I can do."

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Ianto and Tosh took turns to cook for each other once a week. This week it was Ianto's turn. Sitting at the breakfast bar in Ianto's kitchen, Tosh chatted to the Welshman as he cooked. It didn't take long for the conversation to get around to romance.

"No-one on the horizon yet Tosh?" Ianto asked, as he poured two glasses of wine.

She shook her head. "Not yet. There's really only one person I'm interested in."

"Owen is a blind pillock."

"What about you?" Tosh enquired hurriedly. "You and Jack spend a lot of time together."

Ianto sighed. "I don't know what to do about Jack."

"What do you mean?"

The Welshman turned away and, unnecessarily, stirred his sauce. Tosh waited patiently for him to explain.

"I loathed him," he said, eventually. "He took Lisa from me."

"He didn't do it alone," Tosh interrupted. "We all shot her."

"I know, and I know why you did it. I forgave you all, even Jack. But, when we started having sex, that's all it was as far as I was concerned. I couldn't let myself fall for my girlfriend's murderer."

Before Tosh could reply, Ianto announced that dinner was ready and invited her to move to the dinner table. Being the polite man he was, he even pulled the chair out for her. They chatted constantly though out the meal but the subject of Jack wasn't raised again until the dishwasher was being stacked.

"I think…," Ianto began. "I think want to let myself fall in love with Jack."

"Then why don't you?"

Ianto snorted. "What would be the point? He's Captain Jack Harkness, intergalactic Casanova. He doesn't do love. We agreed that us together is just a convenience."

"You should talk to him Ianto."

"More wine?" The Welshman offered, ignoring Tosh's statement.

Tosh nodded before excusing herself to go to the bathroom. Fifteen minutes later, Ianto and Tosh were sitting on the sofa watching television. The peace was shattered by a hammering on the door. Ianto looked to his friend, who merely shrugged. When he opened the door, he found a very frantic looking Jack on the doorstep.

"Ianto? You're okay!"

"Of course I am. What's the matter Jack?"

The Captain stepped into the flat. "I got a message from Tosh saying you were in trouble."

The Japanese woman stuck her head around the sitting room door.

"Hi Jack," she said sweetly. "I lied. Both of you come in here."

The two men followed her into the room.

"Sit down," she ordered. "I should clash your heads together. I want you both to tell each other what you told me."

She bent down to Ianto and gave him a peck on the cheek. She thanked him for dinner and wished the two men goodnight. She left them staring at each other in bewilderment.

"You first," they said in unison.

They laughed nervously before they both blurted out, "I love you", followed by, "What?"

The two of them looked long and hard at each other. Realisation dawned in the eyes of both men.

"We're idiots," Ianto proclaimed.

"Yep," the Captain agreed. "All this time, we could've been enjoying a full and proper relationship."

"We need to have a good long talk about things Jack," murmured Ianto, lustfully. "But not until morning."

He stood up and pulled Jack up by the lapels. "Would you like to stay for breakfast?"

Jack laughed. He hadn't felt this happy in a long time. He would never have thought Ianto felt the same way as he did. Now that he knew, he vowed to give his whole heart. One day it would be shattered into a million pieces by Ianto, but he also knew that the Welshman would take very good care of it until he did. Ianto took hold of Jack's hand and led him to the bedroom.

Finis.