Bingo Fic: Stages Of Life – Part 4 – The Play’s The Thing

[badly_knitted]

 

Title: The Play’s The Thing – Sequel to ‘The Young Performers’

Author: badly_knitted     

Characters: Jack, Ianto, Andy, assorted OCs

Rating: PG

Word Count: 8030

Summary: The three boys work and play their way through Secondary School, learning a lot about all kinds of things along the way.

Spoilers: Nada.

Warnings: Completely AU, set in a universe where Torchwood doesn’t exist.

Written For: My cottoncandy_bingo square Play.

Beta: The wonderful zazajb, my advisor in all things school related. Thanks so much, your advice and assistance have been invaluable!

Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood or any of the characters. Which is sad.

A/N: This is the fourth in a series of AU stories for different prompts on my bingo card, following Jack and Ianto through their school years and beyond. There are seven in total, of wildly varying lengths, this one being the longest.

A/N2: Yes, I know the quote I’ve used as the title of this one is from a different play by Shakespeare, but it still seemed apt for this part of the story.

Growing up was bringing a lot of changes into Jack, Ianto and Andy’s lives.

Secondary school turned out to be a lot bigger than they were accustomed to; instead of just three classes in each year there were six, with over thirty pupils in each class instead of the twenty or so there used to be in their primary school classes.

Andy found himself in a class full of kids he didn’t know, but thankfully his easygoing nature and sense of humour soon won him friends.

Jack and Ianto were grateful that at least they’d been assigned to the same class, even though they couldn’t sit together anymore. The teachers insisted on the class being seated in alphabetical order, which meant there were four other kids between them. It was the first of a number of disappointments they had to face in their first year at their new school.

Shortly after term started, the two friends discovered that while there was indeed a drama club at the school, it was only for years 10 and 11.

“Well that sucks!” Jack said as he sat down hard on the low wall beside Ianto at morning break. He winced at the painful impact. “Ow!”

“Serves you right,” Ianto laughed, but he quickly sobered at the expression of unrelenting gloom on Jack’s face.

Under other circumstances, he would have given Jack a comforting hug, but they’d quickly learned that holding hands and hugging got them picked on teased and pushed around. While the bullying hadn’t lasted beyond Jack punching the ringleader in the nose at the bus stop after school, they’d made a pact to keep such behaviour to the safety of their own homes in future. The older kids could be mean.

“Just because we can’t join the official drama club doesn’t mean we can’t have our own unofficial one. We could get together at breaks and act out scenes from plays. It would be good practice. I bet Andy would join us, and maybe some of the other kids from our old school.”

Jack sat up straighter and gazed at Ianto in admiration.

“That’s a great idea! We should talk to Andy at lunch.”

Andy was enthusiastic about the idea and talked several of his new friends into joining the little club. Kathy, Eugene, Tommy and Beth from their old school also joined, giving them a‘cast’ of eleven; seven boys and four girls. They met informally twice a week at lunch, taking turns bringing a scene from a play or movie script for the little group to act out. It was fun trying different things and since there were only four girls in the group, sometimes Jack would get to read one of the female roles, much to his delight.

OoOoOoOoO

Lessons were harder and they all had more homework, and consequently less time to have fun. Sport was also a compulsory subject, so Jack and Ianto played rugby and basketball in winter and did various track and field events through spring and into summer. Both boys were growing steadily, with Jack always just a little taller than his friend. Ianto appeared skinny but it was deceptive and he could run faster than Jack, though not by much.

They both enjoyed all the physical activity, despite the inevitable scrapes and bruises, but theatre and all it involved remained their first love, so naturally as the summer term approached and the end of year plays were announced, the pair counted down the days, impatiently waiting for the auditions to begin.

When the day finally arrived, they fidgeted through their classes, itching to get to the school hall and dreaming of the fun they would have. Despite getting there as fast as they could after the end of their final class of the day, they found there was already quite a queue. With the greater number of students at secondary school, they really should have expected that, but it took them by surprise to see the throngs of hopeful would-be actors waiting to audition.

“Well, it’ll probably be like this when we first start auditioning for real plays,” Ianto told Jack. “I guess we should get used to it. We’ll just have to do our best to impress whichever teacher is in charge. D’you know who it is?”

“I heard someone say it’s Mr Murphy, the geography teacher.” Neither Jack nor Ianto had met Mr Murphy; they’d opted to take history instead of geography, on the grounds that a good understanding of British history would be useful if they auditioned for any historical plays in the future.

“Huh. Wonder what he’s like.”

“Beats me. Well, here goes nothing.”

They clasped hands and spoke at the same time.

“Break a leg!”

OoOoOoOoO

It was the final disappointment of a disappointing year. They were hardly given a chance to audition; Mr Murphy barely glanced at them before calling for the next person. Trudging out of the hall afterwards, Jack was fuming at the injustice.

“I can’t believe we didn’t get cast in the play!” he exclaimed. “It was blatant favouritism!” Apparently, Mr Murphy had been a teacher at one of the other local primary schools before he’d accepted a post with the geography department at the start of the school year and almost all the students he cast in the play had been pupils he knew from his old school.

“Well, you could have been in it,” Ianto replied.

“Oh, sure. Walk on, hand something to someone, walk off again,” he huffed. “Anyone could do that.”

“I bet you’d have done it better though.”

“Hmph.”

“We’ll get parts next year.” Ianto refused to give up hope. “For a start, it won’t be Mr Murphy in charge of the Year 8 production so he won’t get to play favourites.”

“But that’s a whole year away! What are we going to do until then?”

“Keep our drama club going over summer and just learn as much as we can. Come on.”

He grabbed Jack by the arm and started to pull him down the corridor.

“Where are we going now?”

“We’re signing up to help with scenery and costumes. If we can’t act in the play this time, we’ll learn what we can about all the other stuff that goes into putting on a production. It’ll help when we’re professional actors if we can lend a hand behind the scenes. The more experience we have, the easier it’ll be to get jobs. It won’t be as good as actually being in the play, but we can still be part of it and help make it as good as it can be.”

OoOoOoOoO

Working behind the scenes turned out to be quite an education. They tried their hands at everything from constructing sets to creating costumes and even helping the cast to learn their lines. During the play itself, Robin Hood this year, they moved scenery, helped with wardrobe and made sure the young actors didn’t miss their cues. Ianto stood in the wings when he wasn’t needed elsewhere, to prompt anyone who forgot their lines, his photographic memory once again making him invaluable.

The two performances of the play went reasonably smoothly. None of the scenery collapsed, nobody missed their cues, only three of the cast forgot lines briefly and as far as anyone could tell, no one in the audience noticed.

Robin managed to break the string on his bow and Maid Marion got stage fright and froze, but that happened during a scene where she really didn’t have to do anything, so it didn’t cause any problems.

After the final show ended, Jack marched up to Mr Murphy, towing Ianto behind him, and asked if he’d photograph them in front of the castle set they’d helped build. Even though they hadn’t acted in the play this time, they were proud of what they’d accomplished and Jack thought they should have a record of their first time working as stage hands.

“You were right, Ianto. If we’re going to be professional actors one day, we should learn about everything to do with putting on a play, not just the acting part. We might want to produce a play ourselves one day, so we should know how it’s done. We did a good job on this one; that’s something worth remembering.”

Ianto nodded agreement.

“I guess we can’t expect to get cast in every play we audition for. There could be dozens of other actors all hoping to be cast in the roles we want and we might not always be the best choice for the part. But set-builders and wardrobe people are needed too. Working behind the scenes might give us a chance in the future to learn from more experienced actors, even if it’s just by watching them. And I’ve read that some small touring companies do everything themselves anyway to cut down on costs. We can volunteer to help backstage again next year if we don’t get to act; at least this way we still get to be involved.”

“I missed being on stage though,” Jack said with a wistful smile.

“I know. Me too.”

OoOoOoOoO

That year, the summer seemed to go on forever, but at the same time, passed by much too fast. Soon they were shopping for new school uniforms because they’d outgrown everything they were wearing at the end of the previous school year.

“It’s ridiculous,” grumbled Ianto. “Mam says I’m growing like a weed, my favourite jeans are too short already. It’s not worth buying anything really nice when I barely get to wear it before I’ve outgrown it.” He and Jack were being dragged around the shops by their mothers, unhappy because there were far better things to be doing with their last few days of freedom.

“On the bright side, we haven’t shot up as fast as Andy.”

They’d run into their friend earlier that day, the first time they’d seen him since the holidays had started. He’d been spending the summer helping out on his grandparents’ farm and they’d been astonished to find he was now several inches taller than they were.

“Must be all the… umm…fertilizer on the farm,” Ianto grinned.

Jack snorted.

“Yeah. Bet his grandma mistook him for a beanpole. God, I hope we’re nearly done here. My feet hurt.”

“Mine too. I can’t believe summer’s nearly over! We’ll be back at school next week.”

“Back to the grind of lessons and too much homework. Oh joy. Well, at least we’re still in the same class. That’s something to be thankful for.”

“As long as we’re together, we can get through anything.” Ianto briefly squeezed his friend’s hand.“Nothing else really matters.”

“We’ll always be together, Ianto, no matter what. That’s a promise.”

OoOoOoOoO

Term started, and they settled back into the now familiar routine, days and weeks blending together. The Christmas holidays came and went; the days grew gradually longer and warmer as spring arrived and the boys started to get restless again, waiting for the Year 8 play to be announced. They were thirteen now, moody teenagers, and yet to each other they were unchanged. Older yes; taller, stronger, their voices starting to change, but in everything that mattered to them, they were still just Jack and Ianto. They understood each other’s moods without even needing to think about it and even now, there was no one else either one of them would rather be with. While all their friends were getting distracted by girls, they vowed to each other that no mere girl would ever come between them.

“Who needs girls anyway?”Jack grumbled to his mother.

She just laughed.

“You’ll change your tune in a year or so, when some pretty girl smiles at you and the butterflies start fluttering around inside you.”

“Huh. Never gonna happen.”

He didn’t bother telling his mother that those butterflies were already old friends; he’d felt them fluttering the first time he’d ever laid eyes on Ianto, and they’d never stopped since.

OoOoOoOoO

When the boys returned to school again after Easter, they immediately made a beeline for the notice board, checking for that all-important announcement, and there it was. Year 8 would be performing a play about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Jack’s eyes lingered on one particular role, that of Guinevere, imagining himself in a flowing dress and maybe a crown. Ianto instinctively knew what he was thinking.

“It’s not a very big role though, it’s way down the cast list.”

Jack sighed.

“Yeah. Maybe we could audition as a couple of knights instead, that would be pretty cool. We can’t really expect to land one of the main roles when we weren’t even in the play last year. You’re only as good as your last play. None of the teachers here ever saw us in Oliver Twist.”

“That was a great play,”Ianto said with a smile, a faraway look in his eyes as he remembered. He turned to Jack. “Auditions are after school on Friday. We should stop by the library, see if scripts are available.”

“You think they might be?”

“Dunno, but it’s worth a try. We should just have time before class if we hurry.”

They had to walk right past the school library on their way to their homeroom, so they slipped in quickly to ask the librarian.

“Excuse me, Mrs Brooks.”

“Yes, boys, what can I do for you?” Mrs Brooks looked up from repairing a book. Ianto couldn’t understand why anyone would damage books; they were gateways to the world of the imagination. He and Jack had always read a lot and were well known to the librarian already.

“We were wondering if there was a script available for the Year 8 play,” Ianto told her. “Auditions are Friday and we want to be prepared.”

“It just so happens that there is. The scripts for the plays are always the library’s responsibility, but hardly anyone ever thinks to borrow a copy for auditioning. Now let me see. Which play is it?” She reached to leaf through the contents of the box by her desk.

“King Arthur.”

“Ah yes, here you are!” She pulled out two scripts and handed them to the boys. “Now, take good care of them and don’t forget to return them to me if you don’t get cast, they’ll be needed for rehearsals.”

“Brilliant! Thanks!”

“You’re welcome. Good luck with the auditions,” she called after them as they hurried out the door.

Out in the corridor they tucked their scripts away carefully in their bags.

“We can read through at break, then we can decide which roles we’re going to audition for,” said Jack.“C’mon, we’d best get to class.”

OoOoOoOoO

On audition day, Jack and Ianto were surprised when the teachers in charge of auditions, Mr Black and Miss Shaw, asked them both to read for the role of Arthur. One at a time, they went into a side room and read a scene with Miss Shaw reading the role of Merlin then they had to wait with the other hopefuls while the teachers made their decision.

“This is almost like a real audition,” Ianto said to Jack as they waited, tense and nervous, wondering if either of them would get the role. It felt like forever, but was probably only a few minutes, before two of the other students were called back into the office. When they came out, Jack and Ianto were called in. They had to read the same scene as before, taking turns to play Arthur and Merlin. After that, there was more waiting until finally, Mr Black came out.

“Alright, we’ve made our decision on the main roles. Jack Harkness, you’ll be playing King Arthur and we’d like Ianto Jones to play Merlin. Huw Evans, you’ll be playing…”

Jack and Ianto didn’t hear anything else; they were too busy congratulating each other on their good fortune.

Rehearsals started the following week and they were worked harder than ever before, but they didn’t care. They were doing what they loved more than anything in the world and they put everything they had into it, impressing the teachers with their enthusiasm and dedication.

OoOoOoOoO

On the night of their first performance, the hall was packed. It was so much bigger than the hall at primary school; there must have been at least five times as many people waiting to watch them. Nervous excitement bubbled inside them; they could scarcely wait to get out on stage. When they performed in plays, they felt more alive that at any other time, like they could be anyone and do anything.

The play began with Arthur pulling the sword from the stone, meeting Merlin and becoming King. As it continued, it told the story of how Arthur gathered together brave knights to defend his kingdom, and how he got the sword Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake. It was a very dramatic play even though it wasn’t all that long, full of exciting moments, brave deeds and treachery. Jack loved playing the noble King Arthur and Ianto made a splendidly mysterious Merlin. For once, perhaps because everyone involved was older and had worked so hard, there were no big mistakes or disasters. The sets stayed up, no one got their costume caught on anything, nobody fell over or missed their cues and there were only a few slightly fluffed lines. Jack almost called Merlin ‘Ianto’ at one point, but caught himself in time, and Ianto was sure he heard Sir Lancelot call Queen Guinevere‘Grinivere’, but that could have been deliberate. The girl playing her did grin a lot, after all.

After their final curtain call, the boys got Miss Shaw to photograph them backstage for their album. Their costumes were their best ever, and they were sad about having to give them back; Jack was especially reluctant to hand over his crown, but at least they would have the pictures as a permanent reminder.

OoOoOoOoO

Year 9 turned out to be a washout. Literally. The torrential rain throughout winter and spring left the school hall and several classrooms flooded and completely unusable. The school’s headmistress made the decision to abandon any plans for end of year plays since they wouldn’t have a stage to perform on, instead setting the students the task of helping to raise funds for repairs and to replace the sets and costumes that had been stored backstage. Jack and Ianto spent whatever time they could spare from their schoolwork in the carpentry workshop making key fobs and other small, useful items for sale. It was fun, they enjoyed being creative, but it wasn’t what they really wanted to be doing. Still, if the school raised enough money then maybe next year they might get to be in another play.

They spent a lot of their time over the summer holidays out in Ianto’s back garden, studying scripts they’d downloaded from the Internet. When their parents wondered why they weren’t off out with their friends or dating girls, they just shrugged and said they didn’t have time for all that. If they wanted to have a chance at their chosen career, then they needed to work at it.

They even contacted the local Amateur Dramatics Society, only to be told that they couldn’t join until they were sixteen, which meant they had another year to wait. On a more positive note, at least when they returned to school they’d be in year 10 and eligible to join the school’s drama club at long last. They just hoped it was worth the three-year wait.

OoOoOoOoO

The official school drama club turned out to be a lot like the one they’d begun with their friends when they’d first moved up to Secondary school; a group of students who met twice a week to read and act out scenes from plays. Their own club had gradually fizzled out during their second year at the school, the members finding other interests to take up their time and drifting away. Faithful Andy had been the last one to go, preferring to play football with the other boys from his class. That left Jack and Ianto on their own again, so they were glad of the chance to get involved with the official version, even though there were only five other members. If nothing else, it gave them somewhere warm to be at breaks and lunchtime during the very cold autumn, winter and spring that year. The biggest difference between their drama club and the school’s version was that now they were mainly studying plays by Shakespeare. That was no bad thing though; they were only just starting to realise how much there still was to learn, and Shakespeare’s English could be tricky to understand.

OoOoOoOoO

At the start of the summer term, Jack was talking to Mr Atkins, who would be in joint charge of the Year 10 production of Romeo and Juliet. They’d been discussing the upcoming auditions, so Jack had taken the opportunity to say what was on his mind.

“Well, I think I’d make a good Juliet.”

Mr Atkins looked startled.

“Good heavens, Jack, we can’t go re-writing Shakespeare! I’ll admit it’s an intriguingly avant-garde idea, but it’s quite impossible. Juliet is the woman and Romeo is the man; we can’t simply switch the roles around, the audience would never accept it!”

“Oh, but I wasn’t suggesting…”

Mr Atkins cut him off.

“Never mind, Jack, perhaps some other time it will be possible to do something a bit more adventurous, but for this year’s play it’s probably best if we stick with tradition. Anyway, I’m already considering Ianto for the role of Romeo. Why don’t you audition for Mercutio? The character would fit your personality rather well, I think.”

Jack sighed; foiled again. Would he ever get to play one of his dream roles?

“Okay, Mr Atkins, I’ll do that. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome, Jack. It’s good to see young people so determined to follow their dreams. You and Ianto are an inspiration. Oh my, there’s the bell for class. You’d better hurry along. I’ll see you both at the auditions,” and with that he strode away.

“Well, you gave it your best shot,” said Ianto, walking up to his friend.

“Wasn’t good enough though, was it? There’s always some reason why I can’t have the role I really want. Fate is cruel.”

“Yeah. You’re right though, you’d have made an awesome Juliet.”

“You really think so?”

“Of course! I’d never lie to you, Jack.”

“I know you wouldn’t. I wouldn’t either; I’ll always tell you the truth, I promise.”

Ianto smiled at him.

“I already know that. You’re my best friend, Jack. I trust you more than anyone. Always have, and always will. Now come on, if we’re not careful we’ll be late for class. The last thing we need is to land ourselves in detention.”

OoOoOoOoO

The older they got, the more professional the school auditions became. Students were encouraged to audition for more than one role and got callbacks for the ones they were short-listed for. That meant the audition process this time lasted two days because there were so many people interested in taking part, and understudies needed to be cast as well as the principal players.

Both of the boys were among the dozen or so students auditioning for Romeo. As Mr Atkins suggested, Jack also tried out for Mercutio while Ianto read for Benvolio. They each got callbacks for both roles, so had to stay behind after school again the following day, where they ran into Andy who was up for the part of Tybalt.

This time, the potential Romeos had to read with each of the three possible Juliets. Jack wasn’t at all surprised when Ianto was announced as Romeo, with one of the other boys as his understudy. Juliet was to be played by Emma Lewis, a girl they’d seen before but didn’t really know. She seemed nice enough, though Ianto was a bit uncertain about performing the more romantic aspects of the role with her.

“Do you think I’ll be expected to kiss her?” he asked Jack in a worried whisper.

“I don’t know. But if you do, at least she’s pretty,” Jack replied, also keeping his voice to a whisper.

Ianto glanced surreptitiously at the girl in question.

“Is she? Can’t say I really noticed one way or the other.”

Jack shrugged diffidently.

“Well, John Hart thinks she is.”

“John’s taste is suspect at best, Jack. Have you seen his dog? It’s a French poodle called Candy, it wears a little red bow in its… whatever that tuft on top of its head is called. John thinks it looks cute!” Ianto sounded horrified. “I really don’t think I want to trust his opinion on anything, least of all whether or not a girl is pretty.”

Struggling not to laugh at his flustered friend, Jack tried to calm Ianto down.

“Look, I’m sure you’ll be fine. You don’t even know yet if you’ll have to kiss her at all and anyway, it’s just a kiss. Why are you making such a big deal out of it?”

“Because I’ve never kissed a girl, what if I do it wrong?”

“I don’t think it’s possible to do it wrong.”

“Have you ever kissed a girl? I mean, you’ve never mentioned it to me…”

“Umm, well, no. Not really.”

“What d’you mean, ‘not really’?”

“I kissed Becky Miller on the cheek when I was five.”

“I hardly think that counts!”

“I guess you’re right.”Jack sighed heavily. “Maybe you’d better practice, just in case.”

“What?”

Ianto’s eyes widened in horror and he glanced over at Emma, who caught him looking and smiled back, blushing slightly.

“Not with her, dummy. Look, I could be a stand-in for Juliet; you know, if you wanted.”

Turning back to his best friend, a relieved smile spread across Ianto’s face.

“Thanks, Jack, that’d be great. You sure you wouldn’t mind?” he added, a little shyly.

“’Course not! We’ve always helped each other rehearse; why should this be any different?”

Before Ianto could reply, they were interrupted by Mr Atkins as he called out the rest of the castings.

“Jack Harkness?”

“Yes?”

“You’ll be playing Mercutio.”

“Brilliant! Thanks, Mr Atkins.”

“Andy Davidson?”

“Here, sir.”

“I’d like you to play Tybalt.”

“Cool!” Andy ambled over to Jack and Ianto. “Hey, Jack, this means I get to kill you on stage!”

“No need to sound so bloody cheerful about it, Andy,” Jack laughed. “Guess that means we get to choreograph another swordfight.”

“Looks that way. It’ll be just like the old days, the three of us rehearsing together. Been a while since we’ve done that.”

“It has. Best make the most of it though,” Ianto added. “There’s not an end of year play for Year 11 students because of exams, so this’ll be our last until college.”

The three friends looked at each other.

“I guess that makes sense,”said Jack. “We’ll probably all be too busy revising. Can’t believe we only have one more year before GCSEs.”

“What’ll you do after?”asked Andy as the three of them left the hall and headed out to their bikes for the ride home.

“Jack and I want to do a drama course at the local college, then hopefully get into drama school.”Ianto’s enthusiasm was clear and Jack nodded agreement.

“It’s pretty much been our dream since we were little kids. What about you?”

“I want to join the police force, so I reckon I’ll try to study something like psychology. That’s got to be useful for a cop, right?”

“We’re probably the wrong people to ask,” Ianto deadpanned. “We’re already certifiable.”

“True, that,” Andy chuckled. “So, can we get together at the weekend to work on the swordfight?”

Jack nodded.

“I’ll call you later, let you know when would be best.”

“Great, see you two tomorrow.”

“Yep! Bye, Andy.”

OoOoOoOoO

Jack was staying over at Ianto’s that night. They often spent the night at each other’s homes and neither set of parents minded as long as they knew where their sons would be. As soon as they arrived, they headed up to Ianto’s bedroom, changed out of their school uniforms, put on some music and settled down to get their homework out of the way. Ianto, always the more sensible of the two, had made the rule early on that homework should be done first so that the rest of their time was their own. Throwing themselves onto the twin beds, they set to work; they had Chemistry, History and Maths tonight. Jack groaned.

“What’s up?”

“Too much homework.”

“You think this is bad, just wait ‘til next year.”

Picking up a pillow, Jack swatted Ianto with it.

“Don’t remind me.”

An hour and a quarter later, Ianto closed his books. Jack hadn’t quite finished his History homework.

“I’m thirsty. You want a coke?”

“God, yes, I’m parched. I should be finished with this by the time you get back.”

“Great!”

Down in the kitchen, Ianto filled two tall glasses with cola and ice. He eyed the pans on the cooker and sniffed the air.

“How long until dinner?” he asked his mother.

“About an hour. I’ll call you when it’s ready.” Ianto was gone again before she even finished speaking. Sometimes she despaired of having an actual conversation with her son. He was like a Ninja teenager; he’d pop up, say something, grab something food-related and vanish again.

Back in his room, Ianto put Jack’s glass on the bedside cabinet then sat on his bed and gulped down half of his own drink.

“Thought you said you’d be finished by now.”

“Almost.”

Jack kept writing for a few more minutes, then sat up and closed his book.

“Done!”

“Finally!” Ianto rolled his eyes and grinned.

Jack stuck his tongue out.

“Okay, smarty-pants! Just‘cause I’m not as clever as you are! I may have to work harder than you do and it might take me a bit longer, but I get there in the end!” Snatching up his glass, he drained it in a few gulps. “Ah, I needed that!” He set the empty glass back down beside Ianto’s and looked over at his friend, grinning.

Ianto smiled back at him.

“And now the rest of the evening is ours! So what d’you want to do?”

“Well…” Jack hesitated.

“What?”

“We could try the kissing.”

Ianto turned a brighter shade of pink than Jack had ever seen before. He really was beautiful. Jack was sure his resident butterflies were turning somersaults.

“Okay.” Ianto sounded oddly shy. “If you’re sure you don’t mind. Umm… d’you think we should be standing or sitting?”

“Let’s try sitting first.”Jack joined Ianto on his bed, sitting right next to him and taking his hand. Ever since they’d first met, they’d been used to holding hands, cuddling, kissing each other on the cheek or forehead or nose, but this was different; they’d never kissed on the mouth. Ianto looked at him, blue eyes wide and a shy smile on his lips. Jack leaned in carefully and pressed a soft kiss to that perfect little smile, eyes drifting closed, and the rest of the world seemed to fall away.

When they parted a few minutes later, they just stared dreamily at each other for a while, not saying anything. At some point, their arms had found their way around each other and somehow they’d ended up lying down, even though neither of them could remember that happening. Jack reflected dreamily that it was a good thing they hadn’t been standing. He licked his lips, tasting coke and something else that could only be Ianto.

“Mmmmm. Don’t know about you, but I think we’re pretty good at kissing already.”

“Natural talent, obviously,” Ianto agreed. “I think we should keep practicing though, just to be sure,” he added, pulling Jack down for another kiss.

“I can live with that.”

Half an hour later, lying with their arms around each other catching their breath, they looked at each other, grinning giddily.

“How come we never did this before?” Jack asked.

“Dunno. Maybe because we’re both idiots?”

“That must be it,” Jack agreed, nodding. “There’s just one slight problem.”

Ianto looked at Jack, frowning.

“What might that be, then?”

“How the hell are you gonna be convincing kissing a girl?”

“Oh shit, I’d forgotten all about that! Just kill me now!” Ianto buried his face against Jack’s shoulder, his voice muffled. Lifting his head, he added, “At least now I know why I’ve never really been interested in girls.”

“Because you prefer guys?”

“No. Because I prefer you.”

“That’s good, ‘cause I prefer you. I think I always have, from the first time I saw you. I got butterflies when you smiled at me, and after all these years, I still do.”

Leaning over, Ianto pressed his lips to Jack’s.

“I’m only ever really happy when I’m with you, you know.”

“Me too. I hope we’ll always be together. Remember our promise? Forever and always.”

Ianto smiled.

“How could I forget? Forever and always, you and me.”

Before either of them could say anything else, they heard Ianto’s mam calling them that dinner would be ready in ten minutes, and they scrambled off the bed, hurrying to get themselves tidy and washed up before heading downstairs to eat, hoping no one would notice anything different about them.

OoOoOoOoO

Rehearsals were soon underway, both at school and at home. This would be the longest play any of the students had ever taken part in and there was much more to remember, so as the weeks passed Jack and Ianto had little time for anything other than school, homework and rehearsing. However, they still managed to find time for ‘kissing practice’ whenever they were alone together. The only trouble with that was the way it made it difficult to think about anything else. Ianto sometimes found himself daydreaming about Jack’s lips in class, and if not for his photographic memory he might have found his grades slipping. Jack was having similar problems too, but he knew anything he missed in class, Ianto would explain to him later. For some reason, Jack found it much easier to remember things when he watched the words forming on Ianto’s lips.

“D’you think we should tell our parents about us?” Ianto asked Jack idly one day, as they were lying under the big tree in Ianto’s back garden rehearsing their lines.

Jack shot bolt upright.

“No way!”

Propping himself up on his elbow, Ianto looked at his boyfriend in surprise.

“O-kay. I was just askin’.”

“I know. Sorry.” Jack grinned sheepishly, flopping down beside Ianto again. “Guess I’m just worried about how they’d take it. They might stop us having sleepovers, or worse, say we can’t see each other at all outside school.”

“Is that likely? I mean, mam and tad like you.” Ianto was looking worried now.

“I’m probably overreacting. I just don’t want to take chances, not right now in the middle of rehearsals.”

Ianto looked thoughtful.

“No, you’re right, maybe we should wait a bit. Just until we’re sixteen. Or until GCSEs are over.”

“Or until we start college…”

That made Ianto laugh.

“How about we just play it by ear? If they don’t notice, we won’t say anything but if they ask, we won’t lie.”

“Sounds like a plan. Right, now that’s sorted, let’s get back to work.”

They flopped back down, side by side, and picked up their scripts again.

OoOoOoOoO

The dress rehearsals for the play proved to be quite an adventure. The costumes were unlike anything they’d ever worn before; real costumes, mostly made by the group of students who’d volunteered to work on wardrobe for the production, with the help of the school’s two needlework teachers. Jack couldn’t help feeling envious of Emma, dressed in Juliet’s flowing gown.

The boys’ costumes were doublets and hose. The doublets had frills and lace and there were odd little feathered hats. Not quite as glamorous as Juliet’s costume, but still pretty elegant to look at. Wearing them, on the other hand…

Jack shifted uncomfortably.

“What’s wrong now?” Ianto giggled.

“My hose are chafing.”

“I told you to wear briefs instead of boxers.”

“I know, but all my briefs were in the wash. Damn it!”

“Everything alright, boys?”Mrs Marshall, the grandmotherly senior needlework teacher asked as she went around checking everyone’s costumes for the first full dress rehearsal.

“Everything’s fine,” Jack squeaked.

“Jack’s finding his hose uncomfortable,” Ianto explained, getting a murderous glare from Jack in response.

Mrs Marshall studied the garment in question, to Jack’s acute embarrassment.

“I see. Well, whip them off and let me have them, dear, I’ll make some adjustments.”

Looking like a deer in headlights, Jack stood frozen as Mrs Marshall wandered over to the next group of costumed players. Ianto grabbed him by the elbow and steered him to their curtained dressing area, helped peel the offending garment off and took it to the seamstress, who examined it and nodded.

“Ah, I can see what’s causing the problem. I’ll have these fixed in a jiffy.”

She was as good as her word and soon Ianto was back with Jack, helping him thread his feet back into his costume.

“I’m glad I wasn’t born in the 14^th century. Can you imagine having to dress like this all the time? I mean I don’t mind when it’s just a couple of hours a day for a performance, but all day every day? It would be a nightmare.” He looked at Ianto and grinned. “You look really good though. Red suits you.”

Ianto’s ears went red to match his costume, making Jack grin as he adjusted his hose.

“Wow, that’s amazing! I don’t know what Mrs Marshall did, but they feel so much better!”

“You can thank her later, right now we’d better get to rehearsal.”

OoOoOoOoO

After a week of dress rehearsals, any problems caused by the costumes had been ironed out. Being in costume made a huge difference, even more so than in previous plays. Somehow, speaking Shakespearean English seemed to come more naturally when they were dressed appropriately. Jack and Ianto felt almost like they were real 14^thcentury courtiers; their costumes altered the way they moved and they stood up straight instead of automatically falling into the teenage boy’s traditional slouch.

“I think you might be slightly taller than me now,” Jack commented in surprise.

“Probably because of the shoes,” Ianto chuckled. “First night tomorrow, I can hardly wait!!

“I know! And we get to do three performances this year. Guess the school wanted to get their money’s worth out of the costumes.”

They headed back to their changing area, slipping out of their costumes and pulling on jeans and t-shirts.

“I’m excited, but a little sad too,” Ianto confessed. “This is what we’ve been working towards for weeks, but in three more days it’ll all be over and we don’t even have a play to look forward to next year.”

“That really sucks. I know it’s because of our exams, and I get that they’re important, but still… It’s gonna be a really dull year.”

“There’s still drama club to look forward to until that finishes after Christmas.”

“It’s better than nothing, I suppose. Let’s get going. Race you to the bike racks!” Jack raced off before Ianto could move.

Shaking his head, Ianto grinned. Jack always managed to cheat. Picking up his bag, he headed after his boyfriend, laughing.

OoOoOoOoO

The three performances of the Year 10 play went down a storm. There were the usual minor errors and mishaps on first night, but nothing that would spoil the show for the audience. Jack and Andy’s swordfight looked quite convincing, and Jack died well. In rehearsals, he’d sometimes hammed it up, making everyone laugh, but when it came down to the public performances he went down almost gracefully. Watching him brought a lump to Ianto’s throat and tears to his eyes as he realised for the first time that someday, hopefully not until far into the future, he would lose the person who had come to mean more to him than anyone in the world. The thought brought added poignancy to his performance and the audience’s applause at the end of the scene was deafening.

After each performance, the boys found someone to take their photograph. They wanted to remember everything about these three nights; the memories would have to sustain them throughout the next year.

It was after their final performance, when Jack and Ianto had already changed back into their own clothes and were packing up their costumes to get them cleaned, that Emma, Ianto’s Juliet, approached them.

“Hi, Ianto. Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Sure. What’s up?”

Emma blushed slightly.

“Umm, I was wondering if you might like to go to a movie with me tomorrow night?”

“Oh. Look, Emma, you’re a nice girl, but I can’t, I’m sorry. It’s just… You know Jack and I really want to make a career out of acting, but it’s going to take a lot of hard work. We already don’t have much free time what with all the homework we’ve got to do over the holidays, and we’re going to be volunteering at the local community theatre all summer, working backstage. Neither of us really has any time for dating, it wouldn’t be fair to you to say yes and then not have any time for you. You deserve better than that.”

Emma was obviously disappointed, but she took it pretty well, considering.

“Oh. Okay. It was great working with you, Ianto. If you change your mind, I’ll be around. Have a good summer.”

“You too, probably see you at school next term.”

“Probably.” Emma hurried away and Ianto winced.

“You let her down a lot nicer than I would have,” Jack commented, squeezing Ianto’s hand briefly.

“Yeah, well she’s nice for a girl. I didn’t want to hurt her more than I had to. She worked really hard as Juliet.”

“At least you only had to kiss her on the cheek in the end.”

“God, yes!” It had been such a relief when he’d been instructed to just peck her on the cheek rather than going for a full-on snog. Much less embarrassing on stage.

“I guess when we’re professional actors we’ll have to get used to kissing girls.”

“Mmm, I suppose so. Cross that bridge when we come to it though. I’ll do it when I have to, but not before.”

“Good plan.”

OoOoOoOoO

As Ianto had predicted, their summer holiday was beyond busy. They had a pile of homework to get through, which they worked at in the mornings, then after a quick lunch they caught a bus to the theatre, where they helped with scenery, ran errands, swept up and made a lot of tea and coffee. Well, Ianto made the coffee, he seemed to be the only person who could coax something drinkable from the ancient machine. In fact the quality of the coffee got significantly better after he gave it a thorough clean and persuaded everyone to chip in so he could buy some decent beans to use. Soon, Jack was as addicted to Ianto’s coffee as everyone else was. He half expected the stage crew to try to keep them when the summer came to an end, just so Ianto could continue to satisfy their coffee cravings.

However, all good things have to come to an end. Almost before they knew it, the start of term was approaching. They checked that all their homework was done, endured the annual school supplies shopping trip and packed their school bags ready for the first day of their final year.

In Ianto’s bedroom the night before their return to school, they lay together on Ianto’s bed, arms around each other, thinking about the future.

“One more year of secondary school, then if we do well enough in our GCSEs this time next year we’ll be getting ready to start college,” Jack murmured.

“We’ll really have to work hard this year, especially in History, English and Maths.”

“Why Maths?” Jack sounded puzzled.

“Jack! Everything comes down to numbers in the end. Trust me, doing well in Maths will be important.”

“I’ll take your word for it. We have to get up early, we should get some sleep.”

“You’d better get into your own bed then,” Ianto sighed.

“I’d rather stay here with you.”

“Me too, but I don’t want to freak mam out if she comes barging in here first thing in the morning to make sure we’re up.”

“Maybe we should have spent the night at mine. At least I have a double bed.”

“My house is a mile closer to school though, means we get an extra fifteen minutes in bed in the morning.”

“Good point. Those extra minutes are important!” Jack reluctantly climbed off the bed, bending to kiss his boyfriend.

“Night, Ianto. Sweet dreams.”

“G’night, Jack.”

OoOoOoOoO

Their final year at secondary school proved to be every bit as hard as they were expecting, with what seemed to be twice as much homework as before. A lot of their classmates seemed determined to goof off and do as little work as possible, so Ianto and Jack spent most breaks and lunchtimes in the library, getting a head start on homework. They were glad to still have drama club meetings twice a week at lunch; that was their only respite from the daily grind of schoolwork and Jack often thought it was the only thing keeping them both sane.

Christmas came and went. Jack got a new digital camera and took photos of everyone to disguise the fact that he was mainly photographing Ianto.

Ianto got a brand new laptop, which he used for both schoolwork and fun, on those rare occasions when he had time for fun.

Almost before they knew it, they were sitting their GCSEs, which were pure torture, as exams usually are. Days of revising, quizzing each other on every subject were followed by hours of sitting in silence among dozens of other poor souls, trying to concentrate on the questions in front of them. By the time their last exam papers were gathered up they’d both decided they didn’t want to take another exam for the rest of their lives.

“Ugh,” Jack muttered, slumping onto the low wall outside the gym where they’d just finished their last exam. “Never again. Remind me again what earthly use Chemistry is going to be when we’re actors.”

“I have no clue,” Ianto replied. “How’d you do?”

“Terrible. I think I’ve probably failed. Everything we revised went clear out of my head when I looked at the paper. I wish I had your memory.”

“Wouldn’t have helped you much. Four of the questions were on things we didn’t even cover in class because Mr Harris said they never came up in exams.”

“Oh, that’s just wonderful! I’ve failed Chemistry because we weren’t taught the right things. That’s just perfect.”

“Jack.”

“What?”

“It’s over. No more lessons, no more exams, no leftover homework, just six blissful weeks of summer ahead of us. We might actually get to do whatever we want for a while.”

“Whoa! Scary! No one telling us what to do, or what time to get up in the morning…”

“Freedom from alarm clocks! Yay!” Ianto turned to Jack, wide eyed. “What the hell are we going to do with ourselves all summer?”

“Beats me. Guess we’ll just have to make our own fun.”

“Oh yeah? Well, I reckon we should be able to manage that, don’t you?”

“Count on it. I have a few ideas. You hungry?”

Ianto nodded.

“Starving. Breakfast was like forever ago.”

“I want chips.”

“Chips sound good.”

Picking up their bags, they left the school campus for what would probably be the last time before their graduation, heading out into the world. They were about to begin the next stage of their lives, but no matter what the future held, they both knew they’d meet it together. There was no one else they’d rather share the adventure with.

TBC in ‘Part 5 - The Show Must Go On’

Comments

[sanguinity]

KISSING PRACTICE

It's always very important to practice your kissing!

[badly_knitted]

Indeed, and there's no one Ianto would rather practice with than Jack. And vice versa.

Thank you!