Janto: Falling in Love: Ch. 16

Ianto gathered all of his things from his desk as quickly as possible and ran out of the tourist office. He kept running until he reached where his car was parked. Breathing hard, he unlocked it and slid into the driver's seat, pulling the door shut hard behind him. He slumped down in the seat, completely overwhelmed by what had just happened.

He had just kissed Captain Jack Harkness.

He covered his face with his hands. "How did this happen?" he groaned. All he knew was that one minute he'd been cleaning up the Hub, the next arguing with the Captain, and the next… He moaned despairingly as he thought of it. He shook his head, attempting to clear his thoughts. He put the key into the ignition and turned it. The engine ground to life, whining in protest to the cold. He put his foot to the gas pedal and started to make his way home, trying to think of anyone – or anything – other than his boss, rather unsuccessfully.

The thing was, he would have loved to pass of the kiss as just one of those crazy things that you did when you were drunk. But he couldn't help but remember that this had almost happened once before, and they had both been perfectly sober at the time. And a part of him had really wanted that kiss. He didn't understand it.

He found himself driving through the streets of Cardiff almost blindly. It seemed like the amount of time that it took to get home couldn't possibly have passed when he arrived in front of his house. He was momentarily confused. He'd meant to go and visit Lisa for a little bit before getting some sleep. But he realized that it was probably better that he hadn't gone to her. He didn't' think he could face her. Not after…

He couldn't finish the sentence. He was still sort of in denial. He couldn't believe that he'd kissed his boss – a MAN, no less – while his girlfriend was hovering between life and death.

He got out of the car and walked up the steps to the front door. He went to his flat in a daze, not really paying attention to where he was going, and to his amazement he ended up in front of the right door. He fumbled with his keys and tried to unlock the door. He noticed that his hands were shaking. He took a deep breath and tried again, this time managing to get enough of a grip to turn the key and open the door.

He took off his coat and hung it up. He was tempted to go into the kitchen and get a stiff drink, but he knew he'd had enough alcohol tonight – MORE than enough. So instead, he simply walked to his bedroom and collapsed on the bed, face down. He turned his head so that he could actually breathe rather than attempting to breathe in the pillow. He closed his eyes and let the exhaustion wash over him.

~*~

Ianto woke up with a start. Instead of trying to remember his dreams, he was trying desperately to forget them.

Captain Jack Harkness had dominated his dreams that night.

His phone went off. Ianto pulled his pillow over his ears and let it ring. Once he took the pillow off his head again, he reached over to his phone and went to check his voicemail.

"Ianto, I hope I didn't wake you," the Captain's voice said over the phone. Ianto nearly stopped the message right there. But, rationally, since it might be about work, he kept listening. "But, seeing as you didn't answer, maybe I shouldn't worry. I just wanted to say that given last night's festivities, I've decided to give the team a day off to recuperate. Barring any world-ending events, of course. But I do expect you all to be here the day after tomorrow. See you then."

The line clicked off, and Ianto deleted the message without a thought, thanking his lucky stars that he had another day before he had to face his boss again.