Title: Sharing the Night Together
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ianto Jones/Tenth Doctor
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13
Table: 3, 50ficlets
Prompt: 7, Night
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.

***

He'd never been all that fond of the night, Ianto thought to himself, shifting his position slightly as he lay in bed and hoping that he wouldn't wake the Doctor by moving. But the Time Lord slept on, his head pillowed against Ianto's shoulder.

When he'd been a child, the night had frightened him at times. He'd been one of those little boys with an overly vivid imagination -- he had thought that he could actually see the monsters hiding in the dark in his closet, or in the hallway waiting to pounce on him.

Then when he'd been in university, the darkness had yielded some unwelcome surprises -- such as walking into his dorm room to find his roommate in flagrante delicto with his current girlfriend, or having that roommate find him in the same situation.

He'd never really learned to like the night until he'd become involved with Jack. Before that, there had been a lot of long lonely nights spent in an empty bed in his flat -- unless his girlfriend was staying over that night, though that didn't happen often.

Of course, there had been a few lovers -- but they had been one-night stands who had filled his bed for a night, at most. Those were the people whose names and faces he couldn't remember, people he had turned to when he needed to assuage a need, nothing more.

The night had been a friend to him when he was with Jack. If anyone had happened to come into the Hub unexpectedly, he'd been able to sneak out, or stay hidden in Jack's bedroom without them knowing he was there. The darkness had been his salvation then.

It hadn't taken his colleagues long to discover that he was sleeping with Jack, however, and then the night hadn't needed to conceal them any longer. No one had thought it unusual for him to come out of Jack's bedroom in the morning, looking sleepy and tousled.

But now .... his entire life had changed ever since he'd fallen in love with the Doctor. The night didn't seem that much different from the day; the only way that he could tell when darkness had fallen most of the time was by the rhythm of his internal clock.

Day and night felt as though they ran together seamlessly here in the Tardis, Ianto reflected, looking up at the ceiling with a slight smile. It was a way of life that he'd quickly gotten used to, one that he found himself enjoying much more than his life on Earth.

He didn't even miss Torchwood -- and that fact surprised him a bit. He'd thought that Torchwood would be hard to say goodbye to, but it hadn't been. He felt as though he'd done what he could with them, and it was time to move on.

Besides, he couldn't have stayed with Torchwood and been involved with the Doctor, too. They had tried that for a while -- but Ianto had found himself fretting over the Doctor's safety when he was at work, wanting to be with his lover instead of staying where he was.

Jack had finally had a talk with him, telling him that he wasn't doing either himself or the Doctor any favors by clinging to something that was safe and familiar. It was time for him to be with the man he loved and not look back, Jack had pointed out in no uncertain terms.

Well, he'd done it. He had turned his back not only on Torchwood, but on Earth -- and he wasn't going back. Not on a permanent basis, anyway. He had made his life here with the Doctor, and this was where he would stay, through all of his days and nights.

The nights on Earth had held so many different feelings for him when he'd been a resident of that planet -- there had been lonely nights, hopeful nights, nights when he'd shared passion with someone he had cared for. So many different memories.

But the nights that he now shared with the Doctor were the best he'd ever had; these were not only nights of passion, but nights of security and safety, nights when he knew that he was exactly where he belonged, both physically and emotionally.

He'd never felt before that he was quite in the right place, not even when he'd shared his nights with the few people he'd been involved with before the Time Lord had come into his life. Somehow, he'd always been out of step with those around him.

Here, he was exactly where he should be; he had a feeling of being surrounded by a peace and utter contentment that he'd never known before. He'd finally found his place in the universe, a place that felt more like home than any dwelling he'd had on Earth ever could.

Yes, the night held no fears and no disquiet for him now, Ianto thought as he pulled the Doctor closer against him, smiling as he closed his eyes. No more menacing darkness for him now, only the calm and serenity of sharing the night together with the man he loved.

***