THE MORNING AFTER

Chapter 1

Jack and Ianto were both silent as Jack drove the SUV back at his usual breakneck speed to Ianto's flat … Jack, because Ianto had asked him to drop him off home and told him he needed to be alone tonight … Ianto because his heart was splintering inside his chest and he didn't want Jack to witness his complete and utter breakdown.

What is wrong with Ianto? What the bloody hell have I done wrong now? He knows I flirt, he knows I'm attracted to Gwen and always will be. He knows a part of my heart will always love Gwen, always wonder what it would have been like if Gwen had said 'yes' to me, instead of to Rhys … so why now the cold shoulder when he knows I can never have Gwen? She chose Rhys, she married Rhys! And I'm with him!

Jack's hands tightened on the steering wheel as he floored the accelerator, just wanting to drop Ianto back off now and get back to the Hub. He was angry, really angry at Ianto's attitude towards him. Especially tonight.

Hadn't Ianto interrupted the dance he chose to share with Gwen … the last, legitimate time he could hold her so close before she went back to Rhys? Wasn't he satisfied that Gwen had walked back to Rhys while he danced with him? Surely he hadn't seen that last, longing look he had given Gwen over Ianto's shoulder? He couldn't have.

Ianto carefully kept his gaze fixed on the view out of the side window, never seeing the cityscape flying past in dazzling lines of changing colour. He kept the tension in his body tight, desperate to avoid collapsing into tears next to the man he loved … knowing that this time, Jack would not enfold him in his arms and comfort him … knowing Jack's heart was still back in Gwen's arms on the dance floor.

With a screech of brakes, Jack brought the SUV to a halt outside Ianto's block of flats, keeping the engine on. He never turned his head as Ianto opened the door and carefully exited the vehicle, never answered when Ianto whispered, "Thanks … and goodbye Jack" to him. Instead, he just waited til the door closed and floored the accelerator again, not looking back in the rear mirror at his lover's shaking form.

He never saw the tears pour like a waterfall down Ianto's face. He never saw the look of agony and despair in those beautiful blue eyes. He never heard the choked gasp from Ianto as he sluggishly went through the entranceway.

Jack just stewed in his own anger and frustration. He had lost Gwen and now it looked as if he was going to lose Ianto as well. Jack shuddered remembering the awful argument Ianto had initiated after they had cleaned up and nearly everyone was gone from the hall, or reclining comfortably sleeping off their retcon.

Ianto told Jack how through the CCTV footage he had been checking the previous morning, he had seen and heard Jack's conversation with Gwen after he had come back from the year that never was … how he had told Gwen that what had kept him going through his year of hell, was the thought of coming back to her. And how Jack only backed off when he discovered that Gwen was engaged to Rhys.

Ianto went on in a tirade damning Jack for lying to him when he told him in front of the team that he had come back for Ianto. It was all just bullshit! Ianto had begun to shout when he had asked Jack why the hell he had asked him out on a date? Why had he made out to Ianto that he had thought about him while he was away when he now knew that it had been only Gwen on his mind? He ranted and raved at Jack that Owen had been right all along. Jack only saw him as a part-time shag and after viewing the footage, Ianto knew he was at best, just a consolation prize. Or worse than that, the damn booby prize!

The Captain had been stunned into silence by Ianto's outburst. The blazing anger and reddened cheeks of his lover forestalled any explanation. What was the point when Ianto was too volatile to deal with rationally? Now was not the time to tell him the truth.

Jack presumed he would just have to wait a while until Ianto had cooled down before he could explain it to him. Because it was the thought of Ianto and not Gwen, who had kept him going during the Master's relentless torture and killing of him in that horrific year. It was Ianto's beautiful face, gorgeous eyes staring with unabashed love at him that helped Jack hold onto a semblance of sanity … a thread of hope.

Jack shook his head angrily … at himself … when he recalled the thoughtless words he had spoken to Gwen in that darkened hallway. He had momentarily been blinded by her gorgeous brown eyes, the feel of her arms as his hands wondered down them, the familiar scent of her perfume. And his heart had flipped when he unthinkingly blurted out his words to her.

Yet in his heart, Jack knew it had not been real, it had not been true. It was just a spur of the moment thing. Even when pain lanced through him as Gwen babbled on about Rhys proposing to her and Jack had pulled his arms away from her … he knew he had not been honest with her. His heart truly belonged to Ianto. But he still ached knowing he could never have Gwen.

Striding back into the Hub, Jack raced up to his office and brought the bottle of whiskey out of the cabinet, pulling a glass from the drawer in his desk. He poured himself a large one, downed it in several, burning gulps, then refilled it.

Dismissing the dreadful conversation at the hall which culminated in Ianto asking to be taken home when they were finished because he needed time alone, Jack brooded on how they had left each other outside Ianto's flat … Jack refusing to look at Ianto as he got out of the SUV, knowing his lover was on the brink of tears … and Ianto whispering those words to him, "Thanks … and goodbye Jack." Four little words after the tirade that had spewed out of Ianto's mouth earlier in the evening.

Hmmph. Four little words. 'Thanks … and goodbye Jack'. Like Ianto had really meant to thank him. Hypocrite. Jack downed his second drink and poured himself another, mulling over those four little words that Ianto had spoken. Thanks … and goodbye Jack. Thanks … and … and … goodbye? Not goodnight? Goodbye?