Title: Hanging By A Moment
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ianto Jones/Tenth Doctor
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13
Table: 1, 50scenes
Prompt: 31, Moment
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.

***

"When did you realise that you were in love with me?"

"Well, it was a bit past two in the afternoon on the day of ...." The Doctor laughed, shifting his position and tilting his head to glance up at the man holding him as they lounged in bed. "Really, Ianto, I can't pinpoint a particular moment, if that's what you're asking."

Ianto shook his head, laughing along with his lover. "No, I didn't mean that," he protested, tightening his arms around the Doctor. "I was just wondering if there was some epiphany that figuratively hit you in the head with the knowledge that I was the one."

The Doctor mused over Ianto's words, pretending to consider. "Let's see .... an epiphany. I don't think so. I think your charms captured me over time. They didn't burst over me like a shower of fireworks."

"They didn't? I'm disappointed." Ianto laughed again, knowing that the Doctor was joking. "What did they do, then? Settle themselves into your mind and decide to show up at the most inconvenient of times, when you least expected them to?"

"You could say that." The Doctor looked up at Ianto again, his dark eyes sparkling with mirth. "Some of them are probably still camped there, waiting for precisely the right moment to show themselves to me and make me fall in love with you all over again."

"I hope they do it sometime when you don't need to keep your wits about you," Ianto teased, brushing his lips across the Doctor's hair. "They could be a bit distracting."

"I'm sure they'll wait until they know it's a good time," the Doctor murmured, Ianto's words giving him an inward feeling of unease. He knew from experience how easy it was to be distracted when he didn't need to be, and he fervently hoped that Ianto's words weren't a prophecy for the future.

Ianto leaned back against the pillows that he'd propped up against the headboard of their bed, one hand moving down the Doctor's arm until his fingers were entwined with the other man's. "I think they will. After all, I doubt they would want to put the man I love at any kind of risk."

The Doctor thought that it was high time to change the subject. If they kept on with this train of thought, he would more than likely sink into a thoughtful mood, and he didn't want that. Not now.

"When did you realise that you were in love with me?" he asked, trying to look innocent as he tilted his head back against Ianto's shoulder to gaze up at his young lover. "Turnabout is fair play, you know. And your question made me a bit curious."

Ianto's lips curved in a smile as he considered the Time Lord's question, his expression dreamy and faraway. "I'm not entirely sure ...." he said, raising a hand to tap his lips with one finger. "Now, let me think .... it must have been ...."

The corners of the Doctor's mouth turned down, and he tried his best to pout up at Ianto from his position leaning back against the other man's chest.

The young man relented, smiling down at the Time Lord. "You know I'm only playing. I know exactly when I fell in love with you. The moment I saw you. I may not have realised it was love then, but some part of me knew that it was. From that moment on, I couldn't get you out of my mind."

"That's how I felt about you too, you know," the Doctor said softly, shifting again and turning onto his side, propping his head on one hand. "I was only joking when I said that there wasn't any particular moment that I knew I loved you. I knew from the beginning."

"Isn't it odd that neither of us said anything to the other?" Ianto mused, mirroring the Doctor's position and gazing at his lover. "I wanted to, so badly. But at the time, I thought that you were still interested in Jack, and I didn't feel that I had a right to get in the way of what you wanted."

"I wish I'd known that you felt that way, Ianto," the Time Lord told him, reaching out to lay his hand on Ianto's cheek. "I would have been able to assure you that nothing could have gotten in the way of my feelings for you. Not Jack, not anyone. Not for any reason."

"We would have saved ourselves a lot of trouble and heartache, wouldn't we?" the younger man said, his voice low and husky. "But it's all worked out in the end."

"Yes, we would have," the Doctor agreed. "I agonised for days over whether I should tell you how I felt -- because I was absolutely convinced that you couldn't possibly feel the same way. You see, I thought you cared for Jack, too."

Ianto shook his head, almost wanting to laugh at how they had danced around each other, with neither of them knowing the steps they were following. "No, my feelings for Jack were long gone by the time I met you. Well, not gone -- but they'd turned into friendship, nothing more."

"Which is exactly where my feelings for him were," the Doctor told him, nodding. "But I know all too well that it's hard not to stay with something that's comforting and familiar, and I couldn't help feeling that you'd want to do that rather than to be with me."

"No, the opposite was true -- and still is," Ianto said, reaching out to take the Doctor's thin hand in his and twine his fingers through the Time Lord's again. "Comforting and familiar can be good -- but that's not what I'm looking for."

"Are you saying that you need excitement and change all the time?" the Doctor asked, quirking one eyebrow. "I can't always give you that, you know. There are times when I can be .... well, rather dull. You'll find that out the longer you're with me."

Ianto laughed softly, shaking his head in disagreement with his lover. "I don't believe that anything about you could ever be dull, Doctor. Not even when you're firmly grounded on Earth. You'll always be able to find a way to make life interesting."

"I'm glad to hear that." The Doctor smiled, squeezing the hand that held his. "Otherwise, I might have been worried that you'd leave me in search of someone more exciting."

"No, I don't need excitement in my life." Ianto's grey eyes were fixed on the Doctor's face, his words soft and loving when he spoke. "I don't need anything in my life but you. You're all I've ever wanted, and you're all I'll ever need. I'm sure of that. More sure with every day we're together."

The Doctor swallowed hard, his eyes misting over, unable to reply to Ianto's words. When he finally felt as though he could say something, he felt at a loss for words. Ianto had said everything that was in his hearts -- there was nothing more that he could add, other than to say that he felt the same.

Why couldn't he ever seem to find words when he needed them? But the look in Ianto's eyes told him that no words were needed.

"You've said it more eloquently than I ever could," he finally whispered, not trusting himself to speak any louder than that. Ianto's declaration had nearly brought him to tears, and he didn't want to spoil the moment by becoming too emotional.

"Then nothing else needs to be said," Ianto murmured, sliding his arms around the Doctor and pulling the Time Lord close against him. The Doctor closed his eyes, giving himself over to the man he loved, agreeing wholeheartedly with Ianto's words.

***