Title: Closer to you
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,250 words
Content notes: None
Author notes: Written for Challenge 458 - Flutter
Summary: Gwen’s wedding has set more than one heart aflutter.



All things considered, Ianto considered the night to be going pretty well. Or at least as well as one could expect a wedding reception to go when just a few hours ago the bride had been pregnant with an alien, there was an alien on the loose intent on killing and feeding – the bride, in particular – and the general ups and down of having to deal with the in laws who were unwelcome in any situation even at the best of times, let alone the biggest day of the happy couple’s lives.

Weddings were always nice. Even the disastrous ones, provided that everyone ended up married at the end – and to the person they'd intended in marrying in the first place. The rest was just window dressing.

Of course what was a wedding without music and dancing? The DJ who'd been hired for the night was dead, victim to the earlier alien. No music? No problem. Ianto was happy to spin a few tracks in order to keep the night going along according to plan. It was the least he could do, since so much of it had already not gone to plan. At least Gwen and Rhys had gotten the chance to exchange their vows, rings and kisses, in front of family and friends. Ianto wasn't the flashy hero of the hour, come to sweep the bride to safety – that very clearly fell to Jack who relished it with gusto – but Ianto knew just what music was needed to set the mood. He had lighthearted pop music for during the main dinner, some slow romantic stuff for the happy couple to float around to, followed by more upbeat floor fillers to get everyone else involved, and ending with some slower numbers to encourage people back off the floor for one final drink and a healthy dose of retcon to go with it.

Ianto had been working his way through a list of tracks whilst Gwen and Rhys swayed when he caught the familiar outline of Jack from the corner of his eyes cutting in. Never mind that Jack had a job to do, as did they all, he wasn't going to let that get in the way of having some fun as well. And fun for Jack as always ruffling a few feathers, even if it looked like Rhys was glad to decouple and go in search of a fresh beer, leaving Jack alone to dance with his newly minted wife.

Ianto wasn't jealous. He didn't do jealous, or at least that's what he told himself, yet he couldn't deny that there was a little piece of him that envied watching the two of them being so close. He shouldn't think like that, he knew. He didn't own Jack. They merely had an unspoken arrangement that they were slightly exclusive for the present time. Gwen had plenty of opportunity today to change her mind about who she wanted to spend the rest of her days with, and she’d chosen Rhys. A good, dependable man who wouldn’t ever let her down. The best possible choice, in Ianto’s humble opinion.

He tried to focus on his playlist before realising he already had enough songs queued up to last at least two more hours, and that continuing to review possible options was just avoidant behaviour so that he didn't have to watch them dance. Without realising it, he'd moved out from behind the sound desk and towards them. Jack had been teasing him about having a dance at Gwen's wedding for weeks and Ianto had brushed him off with the kind of nonchalant aloofness that he excelled at. It wasn't that he didn't want to, or didn't think it might be nice. It was the whole thing of what everyone else would think and say. Slightly exclusive in private was how Ianto liked things. Of course, if Jack was going to take up with someone else instead, that was a different story.

He was standing off to the side of them before he knew what was what, and though he didn't know what to say or how to gracefully make them part, he was given ample opportunity to to come up with a plan as he stood there, awkwardly ignored by the pair for a few agonising seconds.

He cleared his throat, wondering if keeping things work related would be best, giving Jack an update on how many guests had been retconned and how many remained. Instead, his brain betrayed him and he simply cut in as Gwen stepped away, readying for her next dance partner. Jack's arms were around him in an instant, keeping him close, and there was a split second of panic as Ianto froze, heart fluttering like crazy as he realised he was pressed against Jack's body, beginning to move with the music. The smell of Jack's pheromones filled his head and made his body relax, giving into the one thing he'd vowed he wouldn't do, if only because Jack had wound him up about it so much.

Jack's hand was wrapped around his as it was clamped between their bodies. He surely must have been able to feel just how much Ianto's heart was pounding in his chest. They'd been far more intimate than this on countless occasions, the memory of some of which made Ianto want to burst out laughing at how ridiculous and outrageous they were, yet this was somehow so much more. There was no wild desire to rip off clothes or ravish skin with lips and teeth or to do anything else pleasurable. It was just the two of them, close as close could be, lost in a moment where aliens and weddings and the rest of the world ceased to exist. He half wondered if Jack didn't feel the same, albeit it much more experienced in concealing the way a lover made him feel breathless and woozy when they were this close.

One song ended and another started up, and then two more before Ianto realised that he couldn't stay here like this all night, as much as he might want to. Just as hard as it had been to come over here in the first place, now he wasn't sure how to extract himself. Jack must have read something in the tension of his body though, because he slowly pulled away a few inches before leaning in to whisper in Ianto's ear. ‘Thanks for cutting in.’ What he meant by it Ianto couldn't say. Maybe he was teasing again, or maybe he was thanking Ianto for reminding him that Gwen was a fantasy but what was real was right in front of him. Jack's hand, that had been pressed to the small of his back, moved between then reaching up to cup his cheek and kiss him. Ianto didn't think about where they were, he simply kissed back, relishing the feel of Jack's lips on his and the way it made everything else disappear in an instant. The dance had been nice, but the kiss was so much better. If his heart had been aflutter before, he feared it might now stop altogether.

Ianto hoped he hadn't blushed at the comment or the kiss that followed it as he finally pulled away, still feeling giddy from the way his heart seemed to control his whole body, but no longer regretting it for a moment. Slightly exclusive was something he could live with, just so long as it included moments like this.