Title: Hearts Never Lie
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ianto Jones/Tenth Doctor
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13
Table: 20_est_relships
Prompt: 9, Comfort
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.

***


"Do you have any idea how much you've changed my life?" the Doctor murmured, looking up at his young lover with a sleepy smile. He snuggled close against the other man, resting his head against Ianto's chest and slipping an arm around his waist.

The young Welshman looked down at the Time Lord, raising a hand to stroke his fingers through his lover's tawny hair. This was usually the time they shared confidences, after they'd made love and they were both feeling languorous and sated.

"I doubt that I've changed your life even half as much as you've changed mine," he said softly, smiling as he spoke. If only the Doctor knew just how much he'd changed Ianto's life, he would be surprised. There were so many things the Time Lord had done for him.

"Oh?" The Doctor's tone was curious, inviting Ianto to expound on what he'd said. He cleared his throat, settling himself back against the pillows and curving one arm around the Doctor's slender waist, getting comfortable before he spoke again.

"When I first met you, I was still getting over Jack, I think," he said, feeling a little guilty at having to say that. "I didn't want to resume my relationship with him, but I was still feeling bruised from having been in a relationship that didn't work out, even if the breakup was mutual."

The Doctor nodded, not seeming upset by Ianto's words. "I can understand that. It took me a very long time to get over Jack -- though as you know, our breakup wasn't so amicable. He was the one who walked out on me."

"That was the biggest mistake he ever made," Ianto said, hugging the Doctor closer against his body. "But I'm glad he did. If he hadn't, then I might never have found you -- and I would still be on Earth, living a life that I didn't really fit into."

"You don't think you fit into Torchwood?" the Doctor asked, sounding surprised. "That's not true, Ianto. Jack told me several times that you were an invaluable member of their team. Even when you didn't go out with them, you still did things that were important."

"What? Like making coffee?" Ianto said with a laugh. "No, I'm just teasing. I know that the work I did with the documentation was important to them. But it's nothing that someone else couldn't do just as well once they learned the protocol."

"So I changed your life by taking you out of Torchwood and giving you a chance to see the universe," the Doctor told him, a slight smile curving his lips. "That's a major change for you; I'll agree with that. But in what other ways did I change things for you?"

"You've done so much for me," Ianto whispered, ruffling the Doctor's hair with gentle fingers. "You've made me realise how much there is to the world other than what I was used to. You've given me a self-confidence I never would have developed, not even with Torchwood."

"I'm glad that I've been able to give you those things, love," the Doctor told him, tilting his head back to look up at his lover, the smile still on his lips. "I'd give you anything, you know. If I could capture the moon and stars and give them to you, I would."

"I know you would, beloved." Ianto's voice was barely audible, emotion thickening his voice, choking in his throat. "And you've given me a comfort that I never would have gotten from anyone else when it felt as though some things in my world were falling apart."

"I know that it couldn't have been easy to deal with everything you saw in Torchwood -- and then with Jack backing away from you," the Doctor murmured, placing a hand on Ianto's chest. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"But I do want to," Ianto told him, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. "It wasn't just the breakup with Jack. It was the fallout from that mission in the country. I never really dealt with that, not emotionally, at any rate. I just tried to bury my feelings and forget about it."

"I've tried to do that before myself," the Doctor said with a sigh, shaking his head. "It's never the right thing to do, no matter what the situation is. You have to allow yourself time to adjust, instead of pushing those feelings away and leaving them unresolved."

"I may not be completely over that experience yet, but you've helped me more than being on Earth and trying to deal with it on my own could possibly have done," Ianto told him, raising the Time Lord's hand to his lips and kissing his fingertips. "Thank you for that, love."

"You've given me a comfort that I could never have gotten from anyone else, too," the Doctor said, his voice soft and husky. Ianto raised an eyebrow, smiling and inclining his head to indicate that the Time Lord should continue speaking.

"I've been wandering around through time and space and feeling .... very much alone lately," the Doctor murmured, not looking up at Ianto, his fingers tightening around the young man's. "But when I met you, I knew that you were my destiny."

"It was," Ianto told him softly, his arm tightening around the other man's slender waist. "The first time I saw you, I knew that I was destined to be with you. Even though I thought at the time that you might want to be with Jack again."

"You took away a loneliness that I'd been feeling for centuries, Ianto," the Doctor told him, his voice catching in his throat. "No matter how many companions I had, that loneliness never went away. Not until I met you and knew that I'd finally found my soul mate."

"I was lonely, too," Ianto whispered, bowing his head to rest his cheek against the softness of the Time Lord's hair. "Not just because it was over with Jack. But because I didn't have anyone who really understood me, anyone who I could talk to. You changed that."

"That was a comfort that no one else could have given me." The Doctor looked up at Ianto, his dark eyes shining with unshed tears. Ianto raised a hand to brush gentle fingertips across the Time Lord's cheek, his fingers lingering against that soft skin.

"Others might have tried, but they couldn't have been you. They weren't my soul mate, my destiny. I was meant to mate with one person, Ianto. Until the moment I laid eyes on you, I thought I would never find that person," the Doctor continued, his voice gathering strength.

"I know that Gallifreyans bond," Ianto said hesitantly, hoping that he was understanding the Doctor correctly. "Is that what you mean, love? That I'm the person you were meant to bond with, even though I'm human and I was born centuries after you?"

The Doctor nodded, shifting his position slightly so that it was easier for him to look up at Ianto. "Yes, that's exactly what I mean. You may be human, Ianto, and much younger than me, but my hearts knew the moment I saw you that you were the one."

"And the hearts never lie, do they?" Ianto said softly, caressing the Doctor's cheek and smiling softly. He could feel his own heart soaring in his chest; no one else had ever said anything like this to him before, and it made him feel .... well, invincible.

"No, they don't. At least, not in this sort of situation." The Doctor returned his smile, placing his hand over Ianto's and pressing the young man's fingers against his cheek. "And when it comes to you, I know enough to listen to my hearts."

"I'll make sure that you never have to regret listening to your hearts," Ianto whispered, his own heart feeling as though it was overflowing with love for the man in his arms. "I can promise you that, Doctor. I'll do my best to make you happy and be a comfort to you."

"I know you will," the Doctor answered, snuggling closer to his lover. "You hold my hearts in your hands, Ianto. I trust you not to drop them -- or break them. I trust you with them more than I have any other person I've ever known."

"I take that as a sacred trust," Ianto said, placing his hand on the Doctor's chest and feeling the beat of those dual hearts under his palm. "And I give my heart into your keeping, Doctor -- for the rest of my life, and beyond."

The Doctor sat up at the same time that Ianto leaned forward, their lips meeting and clinging. As Ianto pulled the Time Lord into an embrace, he could feel those two hearts thudding against his own, melding into a seamless rhythm that was music to his ears.

***