Chapter Text
The clouds hung high over Cardiff as the morning broke. UK Today played on the TV with a low volume as two vaguely humanoid shapes slept on the couch. Small, pain filled grunts came from them as feet slammed themselves down the stairs.
“Get up, you two!” Adam yelled as he began collecting up beer cans from the coffee table. The volume rose, alongside it the grunts did as well. Owen slowly sat up, holding his head. “What the hell, Adam? It’s Sunday, what are you doing up so early?” He stared through squinted eyes, before they landed on a bandage wrapped tightly around Adam's arm. “And what's that for?”
“A. It’s Monday. B. It’s eight. C. Though it's none of your business, some homeless dude attacked me when I went to get the mail. Now, some of us actually work around here. So!” He continued raising the volume of the TV. The reporter was discussing something about the weather. Ianto reached up and knocked the remote out of Adam’s hand.
“Shut up” He muttered into the pillow. Adam scoffed, rolling his eyes and dropping the beer cans. The two groaned as he headed towards the door.
“I expect that all to be cleaned up when I get back from work! And Owen, how many times have I got to tell you? Lock the front door at night!” And with that, the door slammed closed.
Ianto and Owen sat up on the couch, their heads pounding with the hangover. Sitting in silence, staring blankly at the TV attempting to remember their names, Owen suddenly stood up. “I’m grabbing a cornetto from the store.”
“Oh, grab me one too” Ianto responded as he grabbed a game controller and switched the input of the TV to their shared game console.
“You gonna pay me back?” Owen asked as he pulled on a coat laying nearby, most certainly not clean, most likely a couple beer stains over it. Ianto just laughed before leaning back and lapsing into silence, focusing on the video game. It was the regular morning routine for the two. They get drunk the night before, sleep in the living room, get woken up by Adam, and Owen heads to the corner store while Ianto figures out where exactly they got in whatever game they drunkenly played. It wasn’t perfect, but it was their life. And Owen and Ianto really liked their lives.
When it came to being outside, Owen despised it. It was hot, and cold, and windy, and there was no beer, and he hated people. It was just annoying. He only ever did go out to grab a cornetto, go to work, go to the pub, or see his girlfriend. He had no clue how he still had his job, always showing up late. It made zero sense, but at least he had money. Walking down the street, his neighbours were heading to their own jobs. Or kids were heading to school. A boy bounced his ball, and Owen held back the urge to hit it into the road. Instead, he just walked past like a good man. Of course, the store was open. It was always open, no matter the time of day. He knew the exact route to get the ice creams, pay, and leave with minimal human contact; which he followed to a tee. Beelining to the freezer, he grabbed two chocolate cornetto ice cream cones before walking down the chip aisle to the counter. He dropped a crumble note beside the counter and began walking away. “I owe you 50p!” He yelled out to the store owner before leaving. Owen owed a lot more than 50p, but never stuck around long enough to discuss it.
Finally home, he fell down onto the couch. In an easy exchange, Ianto handed over a controller and Owen handed over the ice cream. Silence fell as the two ate their ice creams and played the video game.
“... Oh, happy anniversary.” Ianto said with a half mouthful of chocolate.
“Anniversary?”
“Two years, ain’t it? For you and Tosh.”
“Oh… yeah, thanks mate.” A moment. He blinked. And he processed what his mate had just said. “Shit!” Owen dropped the controller and jumped up, rushing to the kitchen. He was right. The bloody idiot was right. How could he have forgotten? It’s written right there on the calendar! And circled twice! His head turned to the answering machine. 3 missed calls. He quickly pressed play.
“Owen, have you seen the news It’s-”
“Not now, Mum!” He skipped to the next one.
“Hey, Owen, just letting you know your shift tomorrow’s been moved to 12:30-”
“Fuck off!” He skipped to the next one.
“Morning, Owen!” Bingo. “Can’t wait for our date tonight. Happy anniversary! Can’t wait to see what restaurant you booked. Love you!” Shit. He forgot to make a reservation. Surely he could find one, right! He’s Owen Harper. It shouldn’t be too hard. Right?
“Sorry we’re all booked out.”
Shit.
“No space, sorry.”
Fuck.
“We’ve got a trivia night, tonight”
Absolutely not.
“We don’t make reservations.”
What kind of restaurant doesn’t take reservations?!
“We have space in the smoking area-”
Bollocks! “Everywhere’s booked!” Owen slammed the phone back onto the receiver. “How many anniversaries are happening today?!” He returned to the living room. “What am I gonna do, Ianto?”
“Well…” Ianto looked over with a grin. They both knew what he was about to say, but Owen needed him to suggest it. “Could always go to Torchwood.”
“Smart lad” He returned the grin and headed upstairs to get ready for work. It was settled. There was always a table at Torchwood for them. It could be romantic, surely! Coming back downstairs, Owen was in his uniform. “I will see you tonight”
“Yeah, mate, see ya there”
“Don’t forget about what Adam said!” He yelled out jokingly before leaving. The two knew they would never clean up.
Work was bland. He worked as a salesman at a TV store. He just had to blad on about the resolution or the many channels every TV had and convince the customer to buy the more expensive option, which was very easy with the idiots who lived in Cardiff. Owen often found himself staring out the window or watching whatever channel was left on the million screens. The store was overstaffed. That’s why his shift had been moved, and they were still overstaffed. Thank god he didn’t have to actually interact with people right now. Instead, Owen could pretend to clean a screen of a product while staring out the window. Across the road was a park, which was great for people watching. A great pass time for a person with a boring life. Children too young for school played on the playground while their parents sat by and chatted over a coffee. Old, retired men fed the pigeons as someone tried to scoop the birds up. Dog walkers going about their regular route –
… Wait, what?
His eyes darted back to where he had seen the person, but they were gone. What an odd thing to imagine. They'd probably just dropped something and had run off in the quick time Owen had looked away. This thought left his head as his boss came over.
“Owen” He whispered in a concerned voice. When he looked over, Owen saw his boss hurriedly tapping the pocket on his shirt. When he looked down to his own shirt, he found the red pen he kept in the pocket had exploded, making it seem like Owen was bleeding from his chest.
“Oh bugger.” He sighed, pulling the ruined pen out and throwing it into the nearby bin. “Thanks, mate”
“You alright?”
“Oh yeah,” he chuckled, “Just tired.”
“Well, why don't you head home? We're overstaffed anyway. You're just staring out the window.”
“That obvious?”
“Go home, Owen. Get that shirt cleaned” He pet Owen on the shoulder and walked away, but not before yelling over his shoulder, “Happy anniversary, by the way!”. He sighed again. Everyone remembered but him.
The pub was as busy as it always was. And just like they thought, there was a table left just for the group, no reservations needed. Owen had taken the liberty to change out of his work shirt into a more casual one, but he started regretting this decision when he saw Tosh. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever met, yet alone dated. She'd done her hair up nicely, makeup just for the occasion, and was that a new dress she was wearing? He did his best to ignore her upset look as Ianto headed to buy another round for them.
“So… Happy anniversary” He smiled. She did not.
“You said you got us a reservation,”
“I did!”
“At a nice restaurant.”
“Torchwood's nice!”
“It's a pub, Owen.”
“A fancy pub –” Fat Bottomed Girls by Queen began playing on the jukebox, accompanied by a chorus of drunken cheers. “Somewhat fancy.”
She sighed, hiding her face in her hands. “I thought this would be different…”
“What?”
“I thought, maybe, for the first time in two years, you'd do some big romantic gesture for our anniversary! But no, you took me to bloody Torchwood. Torchwood! Can't go one night away from your stupid pub!” Tosh stood up.”
“Wait, come on –!”
“No! You ‘come on’, Owen! We're done!” And with that, Tosh grabbed her bag and walked out. Owen stared after her, speechless, half out of his chair ready to chase after her. Ianto returned from the bar holding a tray of three pints.
“Where'd she go?” He put the tray down on the table.
“She left me…” Owen sat back down.
“... Oh. Well, uh.” Ianto sat beside Owen and passed him two pints. “To the lads?”
He stared in silence a moment, before raising a glass and clinking it to Ianto's. “To the lads.”
There was a cheer somewhere in the pub. Not for them, but for the footie. It did help boost the two's ego however.