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Sometimes, Ianto can’t help himself. The sun will rise outside the base, echoed by the lights in the hub turning on slowly, and a new day will begin. By all rights, Ianto should get up. He should begin the days opening checks. He should brew coffee for whichever members of the team decided to show up on time in the morning. But sometimes, Ianto will stay in the bed he is laid in. On mornings like today, he can’t help himself.
It’s a small bed – not built for more than one person, despite the fact that its owner has joined more than enough people in their own beds. But sometimes, when the morning is cool and the arm around Ianto’s bare stomach is warm, Ianto can’t help himself.
If he’s being honest, it’s not a comfort he’s offered himself in a long time. Even with Lisa he was afraid of letting himself have that peaceful moment of just—
Watching them sleep.
If anything it feels all the more special when it is Jack he watches. The man rarely sleeps, Ianto knows that more than most, so it is always a guessing game as to which night he would have his chance. Sometimes, Ianto will stay up and still and wait for a glimpse of the immortal man’s relaxed face.
The world is quiet around them. For once, Torchwood’s day was an easy one. There were no losses, no harm came to anyone involved, and there were multiple times he heard Jack laugh – genuinely laugh. Jack had sent the others home early with a bright smile and a lecherous grin aimed at Ianto. They had fallen into Jack’s bed with snickers pressed into each other's skin, and they had fallen asleep holding one another tight.
Ianto awoke, almost painfully unsurprised, from a nightmare. For a long moment he sealed his mouth shut to stop screaming, but the dream faded quickly and left him breathing slowly and steadily. He sat up. He could try to go back to sleep, he knew, and yet—
Turning to his side, his hand brushed against Jack’s.
Jack doesn’t move. Doesn’t speak. Ianto smiles as Jack huff's slightly in his sleep, he smiles even wider at the precious moment of seeing Jack so peaceful. He’s beautiful, Ianto thinks.
He lays sideways.
Gently, he reaches forwards and cards his fingers through Jack’s hand. His heart feels like it’ll beat out of his chest as Jack leans into the movement with a smile on his face without ever waking up.
Ianto brushes the man’s hair out of his face with more care than he’s put into anything else. This moment, he thinks, is just for him. The very thought makes his breathing stutter.
He could watch Jack sleep for years.
It’s special, and beautiful, and when Jack doesn’t wake even from his movements and the faint cracking echo of the lights turning on in the middle of the Hub, Ianto wants to hold him close and keep this moment to himself. So for now, he does.
In the silence, he can’t help himself. Ianto presses his lips against Jack’s skin, “I love you.”
He spends a few seconds waiting. With bated breath, Ianto watches as Jack’s eyes twitch. Ianto continues his movements slowly. He presses a kiss against Jack’s jaw.
“I will follow you until I die.” Ianto whispers, and hopes Jack never has to hear him say it. “Stay with me, won’t you? I think you’re everything to me. Please stay, even if it’s just until you finally get sick of me.”
He pulls himself close. He lays his head against Jack’s chest, listening to the reassuring and constant sound of Jack’s heartbeat. He could spend forever here. If the world was kind, he would spend forever with Jack, just so he would know the immortal was never alone. If the world was kind, he would be granted these kinds of mornings every day.
Ianto falls into silence as he listens to Jack’s heart. He regrets so much, he has lost so much, but he thinks he might do it all again to make it to this moment.
He doesn’t know how long he lays awake. It could be minutes, it could be hours. He wishes it was days. But eventually the silence is broken.
“Good morning, Ianto.” Jack whispers, and static runs through him as Jack wraps an arm around his back and presses a warm, soft kiss against his forehead.
Looking up, Jack smiles down at him. Ianto doesn’t know how long he’s been awake, but Jack doesn’t speak a word to imply he might have heard Ianto’s words. The smile on Jack’s smile is blinding. Ianto has never known someone who resembles the sun so clearly.
Ianto clears his throat. His smile is small, gentle, and reserved for moments just like these.
“Good morning, Jack.”
Jack pulls him into a breathtaking kiss.
Ianto, as he always does, puts his all into kissing back.
He never knows which morning will be the last to give him this peace. He just hopes that whichever one is his final will be just like this one.
“Would you like some coffee, sir?” He finally asks, tangling his fingers in Jack’s.
Jack laughs against his lips.
“I think I’ve got something even better.”
Ianto can’t help himself. Watching Jack sleep is special, but this—
He could never love anything more than seeing Jack, alive, awake, and in his arms.