Then & Now - Chapter 6

[madbottoms]

Title: Then & Now

Author: Madbottoms

Prompt: 17 Again

Pairing(s)/Characters: Jack/Ianto, Owen/Tosh, Gwen/John Hart, Stephen, OMC’s, OFC’s.

Rating: NC17

A/N: See chapter 1 for notes and disclaimer

Chapter 6

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Jack pulled into the empty parking lot of Fitch High, his old high school. He had many fond memories of this place. He climbed out of his car and entered the building. He hurried down the hall, opened a door and peeked his head in. The school gym, a place he hadn’t been in for over 18 years.

 

Jack peered around... nobody. “Stephen?” he called. No answer.

 

He spied a basketball in the middle of the court and entered, picked up the ball, began dribbling... faster, between his legs, around his back, up to the three point line and, “3, 2, 1...” Jack hit a perfect jumper at the imaginary buzzer and smiled. “The kid’s still got it.”

 

Jack dashed for the bouncing ball, scooped it up, went for a reverse lay-up, and made it but when he landed... CRACK... hard. Jack grabbed his lower back and groaned, “Ooooh. That was stupid.” Although Jack still had a good body and kept in relatively good shape, he had slowed down a bit.

 

Jack limped out of the gym, sore and a little embarrassed at his condition. He wandered over to a wall covered in photographs ... Fitch High basketball teams of the past. Jack searched the pictures until he found it... the last photo he had taken with the team, Owen mid howl from Dom’s wedgy. Jack stared at the photograph... lost in time and thought. The smiling, confident image of his youth stares back at him.

 

“You know someone in that picture?” a voice said.

 

Jack startled from his daydream and turned. A kind-faced, old janitor stood behind him, mop in hand.

 

“I do. Me. I’m in the centre there.”

 

The janitor leaned in and took a closer look at a young Jack. “Adolescence can be so cruel.”

 

“What are you talking about?” He got lost in the picture again. “I had life by the balls in that picture. Everything was possible. Then a few minutes later, pffffft, all gone.”

 

 “`For of all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these: It might have been...`”

 

“That’ll be my epitaph,” Jack said sadly.

 

“We all have regrets.”

 

“Why does it have to be that way?

 

“Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t. Can’t hurt to ask. You never know who’s listening, Jack.”

 

Jack wistfully eyed the old photo, looked back to the Janitor... “How did you know...?”

 

“What are you doing, Dad?” Stephen, Jack’s 16 year old son called, as he walked down the hall with his older sister, Gwen.

 

“Hey, Guys. I was just talking to...” Jack looked back to the Janitor but he was gone. “Never mind. Sorry I’m late. You ready to get some dinner then?”

 

They made their way towards the door, Jack walking a little stiff.

 

“Dad, why are you walking like that?” Stephen asked.

 

“Tweaked my back pumping iron. Really, really heavy iron,” Jack lied, a little unconvincingly and the kids just rolled their eyes.

 

Jack took them to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. It wasn’t much but at least it was time with his kids, something he really didn’t do enough of. He watched as Stephen ate hungrily, while Gwen quietly pushed her food around.

 

 “I bet your chompin’ at the bit for hoop season to start.”

 

 “Yeah, me and the guys are running drills, scrimmaging, getting in shape.”

 

Gwen stifled a laughed.

 

“That’s my boy. Remember, it’s not how big you are...”

 

 “... it’s how big you play,” Stephen finished and father and son touched fists.

 

“And what about you, Gwen? What’s new?” he asked his daughter.

 

“Nothing.”

 

“She got into Georgetown.”

 

“You did!? That’s fantastic!” Jack tried to hug Gwen but she moved back in mortification.

 

“Are you crazy?” She glanced around, embarrassed. “And it’s no big deal.”

Jack let the rebuff go, he was hurt but continued anyway, “It’s a huge deal. That’s a great university. I’m proud of you.”

 

Gwen remained quiet.

 

“Am I missing something here?”

 

“You wouldn’t understand.”

 

“Try me.”

 

“I have a lot of emotional stress right now. My friends are all going to different schools, I’m not even sure...”

 

Jack scoffed, “That’s not stress. Wait ‘til you get out into the real world, get a crappy job, have some smarmy boss calling you tiger and sport...”

 

Gwen rolled her eyes.

 

“Did you get the promotion, Dad?” Stephen asked.

 

“Still waiting to hear, soldier” Jack lied and forced a smile, hiding his disappointment.

 

*~*

 

Jack pulled up behind a ‘Dom’s Nursery’ van. He, Stephen and Gwen stepped out of the car. Jack eyed the van with disdain. What was he doing here?

 

“Is your dad home?” Jack looked hopeful.

 

“Yeah, he’s probably out back.”

 

“Hey, next week we’ll have a barbecue at Uncle Owen’s. Sound good?” Jack asked.

 

“I’m counting down the minutes.” Gwen headed straight for the house and inside.

 

“What’s with her?” Jack asked his son.

 

“We see you once a week for a couple hours. What do you expect?” Stephen said sadly and followed Gwen into the house.

 

Jack sighed at his abysmal state of affairs and made his way around back.

 

As Jack rounded the corner, he almost ran into a smiling Dom Johnson lugging three loaded trash bags.

“Hey, Jack. Good to see you. Tough break, you and Ianto.”

 

“Bite me, Dom,” Jack snarled.

 

Dom winked at Jack and kept going. Dom had always had a thing for Ianto, although Ianto had always made it quite clear that Jack was the only one for him. So why was Dom sniffing around here? Even with things the way they were, he didn’t think Ianto would hook up with a sleaze like Dom Johnson.

 

He turned to Ianto as he slammed a shovel into the ground, wedged it beneath a dying shrub and ripped it out. Ianto still looked hot and sweat and dirt only added to it, in Jack’s opinion. After ogling his husband for a moment, he walked further into the backyard.

 

“A little late for a delivery isn’t it?” Jack said.

 

“Dom was in the neighbourhood. He offered to make a dump run for me.”

 

“Doesn’t he live 30 miles from here?”

 

“What’s your point?”

 

“Come on. He’s been after you since we first got together and he’s after you now.”

 

“Yeah well at least he talks to me. He doesn’t just want me for sex.”

 

“Excuse me! You’re fucking that sleazebag?! Ianto, my side of the bed’s not even cold and you already have someone in it.

 

“That’s not what I meant, Jack. You twisted my words. We sit and we talk, he really isn’t the sleaze you think he is. He’s a nice guy.”

 

“Oh yeah, real nice, Yan. I’m pretty sure he’s only after you for one thing and it’s not to hear those gorgeous Welsh vowels.” Jack loved the way Ianto spoke. He’d loved it when Ianto would read to him and Jack would just lay back and listen, a dreamy smile on his face the whole time. He wanted that back.

 

Ianto looked sad for a brief moment but the mask came straight back. “At least someone’s still after me and cares about how I feel.”

 

“Hey I’m still after you, and I still care. I’ve never stopped. It’s you who stopped being ‘after’ me.”

 

“You know what Jack? You don’t have the right to accuse me of anything and you certainly don’t have the right to tell me who I can and can’t talk to. You no longer have any say in how I live my life.”

 

A chastised Jack eyed the yard... it was a wreck... holes and mounds of dirt everywhere, carcasses of dead plants, bushes and flowers strewn about.

 

“Why are you destroying the yard?” Jack asked.

 

Ianto stopped shovelling, wiped dirt from his face. “I’m going use it as a showpiece for clients. Thanks for asking.”

 

“Kind of a big undertaking isn’t it?”

 

“I am a landscape designer. Then again you barely took an interest in my work so I guess that’s a fair question.”

 

An awkward silence followed and then Jack spoke, “I didn’t get it.”

 

“I’m sorry, Jack.” Ianto was genuinely disappointed for Jack. “But maybe this is what you needed. Maybe it’s time you looked for something else?”

 

“That’s a great idea, Yan. Because there are so many options out there for a 37 year old with only a high school diploma. I guess I should be grateful I have a job at all, right? Or maybe I could become a Mall Cop. Yeah that would be just the ticket because apparently I’m not going anywhere in my department.”

 

Ianto threw the shovel to the ground. “And it’s all my fault, isn’t it?”

 

“I didn’t say that.”

 

“No, but it’s what you think, right?” Jack’s silence said it all. Ianto fought back tears. “I never asked you to change continents and marry me.”

 

“But I did.”

 

Ianto shook his head in frustration. “I’m sorry you’re not happy with the way your life turned out Jack, really, I am, but you’re not the victim here.”

 

“Ianto, I’m sorry but I’m not the one who wanted to separate. I love you and I want to be with you.” He moved closer and caressed Ianto’s arm. “We were good together Ianto and we can be again. Let me show you how good.”

 

Jack’s hot breath tickled Ianto face and he could feel Jack’s getting hard against his side. “Jack,” Ianto moaned but he remained strong. “Sex was never our problem but it’s not the only part of the relationship and that’s all it was at the end, well at least when you were home. You never talked to me and the kids don’t know who you are. Hell I don’t know who you are anymore. And that scares me. You spend all your time at a job you hate, for what? I can’t be in a one-sided relationship. I’m tired and you can’t seem to give me what I need anymore.” Ianto took a long breath and continued, “But whatever happens, you need to make sure the kids know you still love them. I can handle the fallout but I don’t think they can.”

 

“I want it to be like it was Ianto, like it was when we first met. Remember our first summer together at the beach? We were hot, Yan. Maybe we could go away somewhere, reconnect. What do you say?”

 

Ianto couldn’t disagree with Jack about that summer but they weren’t teenagers anymore and Ianto had had enough of Jack not giving his time or the emotional support he or the kids needed.

 

“I’m sorry, Jack but it’s too late for that. I do love you, Jack, but I just can’t be with you anymore. It’s like you resent me for every bad thing that’s happened in your life. I didn’t ask you to follow me back to Wales. I didn’t ask you to give up your chance at college ball. That was your choice. And we talked about this. You promised me you were happy with your choices and I won’t be blamed for it Jack. I won’t be made out to be the bad guy. You made the choice and I just came along for the ride. You opened the door and I accepted. You can’t go back, Jack.”

 

Ianto went back to shovelling, he was done arguing.

 

Upset at yet another rebuff, Jack turned, stepped and fell into a hole. Could his life get any worse?

 

Comments

[megans-writing.livejournal.com]

i want to cry for ianto. i feel his pain.

[madbottoms.livejournal.com]

It's a hard situation to be in and I feel for them all.

[iolo1234.livejournal.com]

Aww I feel for both of them and the kids in the middle. Jack needs to think why Ianto feels as he does. Great update.

[madbottoms.livejournal.com]

Thanks for reading and commenting. Thought noone was reading it.

It's hard to be a kid in this situation. I remember it vividly. But just as hard to be the one splitting up.

[missthingsplace.livejournal.com]

Oh boys ...

[madbottoms.livejournal.com]

Yeah....:(