Title: Every Morning
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ianto Jones/Tenth Doctor
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13
Table: 3, 50ficlets
Prompt: 4, Awake
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own Ianto Jones or the Tenth Doctor. Please do not sue.

***

Ianto blinked as he awakened, the dim silvery glow that always seemed to permeate the Tardis confusing him for a moment before he realized where he was. He shook his head as he smiled at himself; when would he get used to waking up here?

It was a little strange that he'd been the Doctor's lover and companion for several long months now, but yet he still felt odd waking up on the ship. A slight glow surrounded them at all times; it was never completely dark, and that was taking some getting used to on his part.

But he wasn't complaining, he told himself hastily. It was a good thing that the Tardis kept herself lighted, even dimly; the two of them wouldn't slip up and bump their heads -- or something worse -- if they had to get up for some sort of emergency.

Of course, he couldn't think of what kind of emergency might happen on the ship; nothing worse than going to the bathroom in the middle of the night, really.

Ianto flinched as thoughts of the Master crowded into his head, thoughts that he'd really prefer to keep back, especially at this hour of the morning. Well, at least he assumed it was early morning; he really had no idea what time it might be.

Considering that the Doctor was peacefully asleep beside him, he could only think that it was either very early in the day, or very late at night. Unless he wasn't feeling well, the Time Lord only seemed to sleep during the very late hours that Ianto called the dead of night.

He was getting a bit better about that, though, Ianto had to admit. Maybe it was because he enjoyed snuggling in bed with his lover, but the Doctor was definitely sleeping more -- or at least spending more of his time in bed.

And he certainly wasn't going to argue with that, Ianto thought with a smile. He enjoyed sharing his bed with the Time Lord, and he intended to keep doing it for a long time.

It was lovely to wake up next to this man; there was something soothing and comforting about looking at the sleeping face of the man next to him and knowing that not only was he safe and protected, but that he was loved, as well.

He'd never gotten that sort of feeling from Jack. They'd cared for each other, obviously; but the great love that existed between himself and the Doctor was something he'd never felt with anyone else. Not even with Lisa, and he'd thought that he would always love her.

There was a lot that he didn't know about love, he thought with an inward sigh. But he was learning -- with the Doctor as his teacher. He'd never really known what it was to love totally and completely until this man had burst into his reality.

And to think that he'd nearly turned down the chance to be with the Time Lord, because he'd thought that this man had come back to Earth for Jack!

That thought almost made him laugh; maybe it would have, if it hadn't also made him want to shudder. Not that he begrudged the Doctor the time he'd spent with the immortal; it was in the past, and there was nothing about that relationship that threatened what the two of them shared.

What made him shudder was the thought that he could have walked away from the Doctor, closed his eyes to the attraction between them and convinced himself that this man wasn't the person for him. It would have been an easy path for him to take.

No, not easy. It would never have been easy for him to turn his back on this man; he'd known from the first moment he'd laid eyes on the Doctor, the first time their eyes had met and their hands had touched, that the Time Lord was the one he was meant ot be with.

It would never have been easy for him to walk away from that attraction. He would have spent the rest of his life nursing regrets, kicking himself for being so stupid.

But he hadn't been stupid, Ianto told himself, feeling thankful to the fate that had seen fit to guide him in the Doctor's direction. He'd stepped forward and taken what he wanted, taken the risk of being with the Time Lord -- and he'd reaped the rewards.

The Doctor stirred in his arms, burrowing against Ianto's chest, those thin arms tightening around his waist. Ianto pressed a gentle kiss to the top of the Doctor's head, wondering if the other man was going to wake up as abruptly as he himself had.

After a few moments, he realized that the Time Lord had simply been stirring in his sleep, and his own body relaxed again. It was lovely to be able to lie here like this, just waking to the light of a new day, with the man he loved clasped in his arms.

Had he ever woken up like this with Jack? No, he didn't think so, not that he could remember. What the two of them had shared was very different from his relationship with the Doctor.

This was unlike anything he'd ever had in his life -- and he hoped that it would last until the end of his days. He wanted to wake up every morning with the Doctor in his arms, to start a new chapter of his life in each new morning with the man he loved by his side.

Ianto smiled again as he closed his eyes, pulling the covers up around his bare shoulders and making sure that they were tucked around the Doctor. He would lie here and hold the Doctor until the Time Lord awakened -- and when he did, Ianto had some very definite ideas of how to start their day.

***