Fic: I’ll Make It Up To You - Meme fill for iantojjackh
Title: I’ll Make It Up To You
Author: badly_knitted
Characters/Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Rating: G
Word Count: 609
Summary: Jack keeps his promise to make up to Ianto for running off with the Doctor.
Spoilers/Warnings: Nada.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood or any of the characters. Which is sad.
A/N: For iantojjackh who wanted ‘Second Chance, timestamp: 1 month later. Wanna see if Jack kept his promise.’ Not sure if this is what you were hoping for, but it’s the best my brain could do.
It had been a month since Jack’s return from his trip with the Doctor, a month since he’d vowed he’d do anything to make up to Ianto for abandoning him the way he had.
Ianto had to admit, if only to himself, that he’d been dubious about Jack’s sincerity, but he’d given him a second chance anyway. After all, Jack might have eternity but Ianto himself did not, and he knew he’d regret it for the rest of his life if he didn’t at least give Jack a chance to prove himself.
For the first few days, Jack had seemed not to know where to start, so Ianto had started dropping hints. The look of relief on Jack’s face had made Ianto’s heart ache. He remembered what little Jack had told him about his year away, how he’d been held prisoner and tortured, and made a silent vow of his own to do what he could to help Jack heal from his ordeal.
He wasn’t letting Jack off the hook though.
A bit of gentle hinting - and for once Jack really seemed to be paying attention to what Ianto was saying - resulted in their first date. Dinner and a movie, nothing overly fancy, just a good meal in a small restaurant followed by a superhero movie and a stroll by the bay, then back to Ianto’s for a coffee. At the end of the evening, Jack went back to the Hub and Ianto went to bed alone. He’d made it clear that he wasn’t just going to jump back into bed with Jack right away and Jack seemed to respect that.
More dates had followed. A trip to a local funfair, where Jack had won a giant teddy bear which neither of them had known what to do with. A picnic in the park, complete with tossing a Frisbee around. A day at the beach, where they’d been caught by a sudden storm and soaked to the skin. That had been sort of fun. They’d been so wet anyway, they’d run into the sea, splashing each other and laughing until they realised they were half frozen and had headed for home with the car’s heating on full.
Jack had cut way back on flirting, barely glancing at anyone else on their dates. He still used his flirting as a tool to distract people and gain information when they were working, but outside of work he had eyes only for Ianto.
In fact, in all respects Jack was being considerate and thoughtful, from telling Ianto to go home early when he looked tired after a hard day, to buying Ianto his favourite muffins for breakfast as a treat and offering to collect the dry cleaning. It was quite a pleasant change not having to do all of the running around himself. Jack even helped with grocery shopping, seeming to find the mundane task a source of delight.
Ianto smiled to himself as he stood in his kitchen pouring two cups of coffee. Giving Jack a second chance had seemed risky a month ago, he’d even wondered if he might wind up regretting it, but for a whole month Jack had worked hard to make things up to him; there was no more doubting his sincerity. They were no longer just shagging after work, they were in a proper relationship, even if Jack was still hesitant about calling it that. He’d told Ianto he wanted to do things right this time, and he’d kept his word.
Maybe tonight, Ianto thought to himself, he’d ask Jack if he wanted to stay. He was pretty sure he knew what Jack’s answer would be!
The End