In Sickness and in Health (8/?)
When Jack entered the kitchen, he saw Ianto was leaning heavily on the sink, his head bowed as he tried to calm himself.
“Ianto? You okay?” murmured Jack softly as he came over, laying a hand gently on his shoulder which Ianto shrugged off.
“Don’t, Jack. Just…Don’t,” he said wearily and Jack could hear the motes of defeat and shame in his voice.
“You’re trembling,” stated Jack quietly, leaning against the sideboard, arms crossed, studying the young man’s profile. He could tell be the set of Ianto’s jaw that the young man was working very hard to keep the layers of armour in place.
“I know,” muttered Ianto as he continued to stare into the sink, pointedly avoiding Jack’s enquiring gaze.
“Does this happen a lot?” asked Jack gently, resisting the urge to hold him close.
Ianto stayed quiet for a while, his body going even more rigid. “I’m going back to bed,” he murmured, choosing to avoid the subject on the vain hope Jack would do the same.
“Ianto, don’t walk away from me,” said Jack quietly, catching Ianto’s wrist as he walked past and pulling him back.
“I don’t want to talk about it, Jack. Now leave. Me. Alone,” said Ianto firmly as he broke free of Jack’s grip despite his weakened state and walked towards the bedroom.
Jack just sighed and rolled his eyes before following him.
When he got to the bedroom, he saw the door was ajar. Upon entering, he saw Ianto was curled in a ball on the bed, his back to the door.
“Ianto, don’t push me away,” murmured Jack softly as he perched behind the young man, attempting to stroke his hair back. Ianto just buried his face further in the pillow, indicating quite clearly that he didn’t want to be touched.
“I can help.”
“Can you? Really?” asked Ianto wearily, keeping his back to the Immortal. “Can you stop him drinking himself into oblivion every other day? Can you stop him getting himself kicked out of his flat every other month? No, you can’t so don’t pretend you can help when you can’t,” he said quietly.
“I can be there for you,” said Jack gently.
“I think you should leave,” said Ianto firmly in the tone he used when pushing people away to protect himself.
Jack debated briefly about pushing him but decided against it, as he didn’t want to add to the poor man’s distress. However, he would not let this go, whatever was going on with Ianto and his father was complicated and needed to be dealt with if the reaction was anything to go by.
“I’ll be in the living room if you need me,” he murmured, kissing his hair lightly before leaving the room, closing the door softly behind him and leaning against the wall. He hated seeing Ianto like that; so fragile and vulnerable and have no idea how to help him.
Inside the room, Jack could hear the young man sobbing quietly and it broke his heart that he couldn’t be there for him. Instead, he went to the living room to finish the paperwork so, in the unlikely event that Ianto did seek him out, it wouldn’t seem like Jack had been prying.
Calling up the assorted documents, it occurred to Jack that it would be so easy to get into the Hub’s systems, find Ianto’s file and go from there. Failing that, he could always ask one of the others to find out all about Ianto’s relationship with his Tad. The Jack Jack used to know would’ve done that in the belief that it was the right thing to do and in many ways he had been right. However, the Jack Jack was now would never betray Ianto like that. He wanted Ianto to believe he could trust him. By going against his will, Jack knew he would destroy whatever trust Ianto had in him and he could never and would never do that to him. It could shatter his fragile confidence for good. Instead, he would wait for Ianto to tell him on his own terms.
Several hours later, Jack had finally finished the last report. Shutting down the computer in relief, he stretched before going to Ianto’s room where the boy was curled in a ball on top of the covers fast asleep. Carefully, so as not to wake him, Jack wandered round to his side of the bed and perched beside him, gently stroking his hair off his face thoughtfully.
He really was beautiful mused Jack, resting the back of his hand against Ianto’s forehead which was still too warm to be comfortable. Moving his hand down to the young man’s cheek, Jack noticed the smooth skin was wet with tears, leading him to the conclusion that Ianto had cried himself to sleep alone and distraught.
“I will take care of you. I promise,” whispered Jack, as he affectionately wiped the ears away before gently moving Ianto so he was under the covers.
“Jack,” mumbled Ianto as he stirred in his sleep but did not wake.
“I’m here, Sweetheart,” murmured Jack, kissing his forehead lightly before stripping down to his t-shirt and underwear and coming in behind him, draping one arm protectively round his waist and stroking his belly soothingly whilst simultaneously pulling him closer and nuzzling his warm neck.
“I’m here whether you like it or not,” he murmured. Unseen by Jack, a single tear rolled silently down Ianto’s cheek as he finally allowed himself to relax against Jack’s comforting form.
http://welsh-scotsman.livejournal.com/7604.html chapter seven
http://welsh-scotsman.livejournal.com/8495.html chapter nine