MY SKIN

Gwen and Ianto were walking down the corridor, heading towards English Lit when some Year 9 bumped into Gwen while singing something along the lines of 'be mine' causing Gwen to jump and cling to Ianto's suit jacket. Ianto merely sighed and wrapped an arm around her waist into an odd one armed hug; ever since Valentines Day which was one month ago exactly Gwen had been jumpier than usual. It seems that the stalker has gotten more aggressive, under normal circumstances Ianto would be more sympathetic to Gwen and reassure her that everything was all right, however his own situation had not led to normal circumstances.

"You know, I'm getting sick of people being jumpy around me" he said after Gwen loosened her grip on him.

"What do you mean?" Gwen asked confused.

"Well we got you being a bit skittish, Jack is far too hyper and bounces around, Tosh still occasionally flinches when someone other than Owen touches her, Owen keeps looking over his shoulder and what else? Oh yes, Andy has been avoiding me"

Gwen laughed. "Andy hasn't been avoiding you!"

"Yes he has!" Ianto argued. "Every time he sees me, he starts walking the other direction, whenever I sit next to him he flinches and moves away. He also ran out the bathroom last week with his trousers down at his ankles because I walked in!"

"Hmm...I wondered what that was all about. It's a bit worrying that an eighteen year old wanders around in teddy bear boxers, don't you think?"

"Gwen! Focus on the problem, and what do you mean eighteen? He wasn't eighteen last week"

"It's his birthday today, remember? You did present him a brand new mug this morning"

"Yeah, just before he left eagerly for class, since when does Andy go to class eagerly?" Ianto demanded to know.

"I think you're just being a bit sensitive, Yan"

Just then Andy walked down the corridor, he froze upon seeing Gwen and Ianto talking, his eyes widened like a deer caught in headlights and he quickly ran the other way. Ianto turned to Gwen with a knowing look.

"You were saying?"

Gwen flung her hands in the air. "All right, all right, he's avoiding you! I'll go and talk to him tonight and find out why, all right?"

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW

It was psychology class again and they sat there smirking ever so slightly. Jack Harkness was not in this class which meant a whole hour of Gwen alone time. Gwen looked ever so sweet and yet naughty as she sat there in a daydream nibbling her pen in boredom. Though they were worried about Gwen, she looked paler than normal and she had big purple smudges under her eyes. It must be that Harkness bastard, making her his sex slave and keeping her up all night.

They will have to make him pay for that. Neutering him would be a good start.

They put a hand on her shoulder and she flinched violently. They quickly tore their hand away from her shoulder in fear that she had been injured by some stupid disgusting, vile kinky thing Harkness has created.

"Are you ok, Gwen?"

She smiled up at them sweetly, her little gap between her teeth were showing. "Yeah, I'm fine, thanks" she said quickly.

They knew she was lying. She was exhausted and terrified but she shouldn't worry. For they will save her from this mundane life and make her theirs in no time.

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW

It was the fourteenth of March. Two important dates, one Andy's birthday that turned round and said he didn't want to do anything, so that had now become less important. And two, White Day, a Japanese custom for those who received chocolate to give something back. Owen had been unable to gather enough courage to give Tosh the chocolates he brought her on Valentines and after receiving some from her, he had decided to buy her something for this White Day she spoke about.

Taking a deep breath, Owen stepped forward towards Tosh who was putting a textbook away into her bag. He opened his mouth and found he couldn't speak, after a couple seconds of making fish mouths as Tosh continued to putting things in her bag or into her locker, Owen finally managed to clear his throat causing her to jump slightly.

"Oh, Owen, you made me jump" she said blushing brightly while her hand clung to her chest in surprise.

"Sorry" Owen mumbled, feeling his own ears turning pink. "I just wanted to give you this. In return for those chocolates on Valentines"

He passed her a small white cardboard box. "Oh" she gasped. "You didn't have to...oh...you remembered about...well thank you"

"It was nothing" Owen muttered.

Tosh opened the small box to find a pair of silver studs with a small chip of white diamond. "Owen, you shouldn't have!"

"Like I said, it was nothing, I just found them in the market, that's all" Owen said fidgeting slightly. "Anyway...we haven't spent much time together recently and I was wondering if we could grab a coffee and catch up?"

"Yes, I noticed you haven't been in the hospital recently" Tosh said trying to hide her disappointment. After her meetings with Dr Smith she had sat with the children while talking to Owen while he was doing his shift, afterwards the pair of them would walk home together discussing things from Andy's latest stupid comment to the latest medical technology. It was fun for her. "But I can't get coffee today; I have a meeting with Dr Smith tonight"

"Oh, could I come with you?" Owen asked suddenly. "I mean, I haven't seen Dr Smith for a few weeks now. Not since my community service has ended and I miss seeing him, he was a fantastic doctor"

"Yes he is" Tosh agreed.

And they began to slowly walk out of the school discussing different doctors and how good they were or how awful they were. Swapping medical stories along the way.

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW

Andy opened his front door and took one look at the person standing in front of him. "Oh, it's you" he went to shut the door but Gwen put her foot in the way.

"Is that the way you greet your best friend Andrew?" she asked, glaring up at him, he swallowed audibly. An angry Gwen is a scary Gwen.

"Look Gwen, I love you loads, but I really don't want to talk today"

"It's your birthday and we're going out. Just you and me, we'll get pissed and you'll tell me exactly why you're avoiding poor Ianto" Gwen said sternly. "No arguments"

"But Gwen, I have to do that psychology essay and – AH! Ow, ow, ow, ow, Gwen, please take pity on me"

Ignoring her friend's babyish wails, Gwen continued to drag him down the street by the ear. "I said," she was gritting her teeth, "no arguments"

Owen and Tosh slipped into the office without knocking, whenever they knocked Dr Smith had often ranted for a good two minutes that there was no need and they were welcome in any time. Dr Smith was slightly eccentric when it came to manners, he hated it when people knocked but he absolutely detested it if someone passed wind and didn't even say pardon me. His rants could be quite amusing, especially when he started to rant about the latest medical find; he would keep shouting things like fantastic and start hugging people enthusiastically. However instead of finding their favourite eccentric doctor, inside the office was a young blonde woman only a few years older than them wearing a red hoodie and black trousers, crying silently as she sat on the desk, her feet swinging back and forth.

"Err...Hello?" Tosh said shyly causing the woman to jump.

The moment Owen saw her face he knew who this woman was. Despite the lack of a bright and cheerful smile, her eyes were still warm and bright though very sad. "Ah, hi, I'm sorry, I didn't realise someone else was here, I was just...just thinking" the woman ran a hand through her blonde locks and smiled rather falsely. "I'm Rose, Rose Tyler and you are?"

"Owen Harper and this is Toshiko Sato" Owen said calmly, wrapping an arm round Tosh's shoulders. "We've come to see Dr Smith"

"The Doctor?" she said, a sad smile had taken over the fake one. "He had spoken of you two, said you had great potential, he really wanted to teach the both of you when you became interns...wanted us all to come to Cardiff to meet you at some point..."

Both of the teenagers blushed lightly. "Thank you" Tosh whispered. "But...where is Dr Smith?"

"Oh god, I'm so sorry" Rose choked out, more tears spilling down her cheeks though she wiped them away furiously. "I'm so very sorry but...the Doctor...you see...he died, this morning, heart attack...I'm so very sorry"

Owen's arm around Tosh dropped; he stood there frozen, blinking furiously. "No, it can't be he was a very healthy man. You must have been mistaken Miss Tyler" he said calmly.

"Yes, Dr Smith was very young as well. He couldn't have died" Tosh agreed hastily, tears already falling down her cheeks. "He couldn't have. This must be a joke; he's hiding in the cupboard isn't he? Well isn't he?"

Rose simply shook her head. "I'm so sorry"

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW

Andy drained his fifth glass. It had only been an hour ago since Gwen dragged him off to the nearest pub to drown his sorrows and tell her what's wrong. Andy dived into the drowning his sorrows part quite eagerly as he gulped his way through several pints of beer, Gwen intelligently stuck with the diet coke.

"Steady on mate, you're going to have one hell of a hangover tomorrow if you're not careful" the bartender said as he handed him another glass.

"I don't care" Andy said slurring slightly. "I just want to drink. My life is ruined forever"

Gwen rolled her eyes. "Don't be such a drama queen, Andy, just tell me what's wrong so we could sort it out"

"No one can sort this out, it's not something you can sort, it's just a big mound of shit that will build and build and build to the point that there's nothing but shit!" Andy took another deep slurp of his beer. "We always thought I was going to die of unwanted love. A burning desire never quenched, didn't we? We thought I would be stuck in being in love with Gwen Cooper"

Gwen raised an eyebrow. "We did?"

"Oh yes, we did but we were wrong! I am going to do of unwanted love, just not for you Gwen, never you. You're my best friend but that's just it, you're like a little sister or a cute fluffy pet-"

"Oh, thanks" Gwen interrupted sarcastically. "Look sweetheart, who ever it is, you just need to tell them. I'm sure they'll most likely return your feelings and everything will be just fine"

"No, no, no, no, you just don't get it!" Andy drained the rest of his beer. "Gwen, I'm in love with our best friend, don't you get it?"

Gwen shook her head, still not quite understanding what was wrong with the situation.

"Gwen...I'm gay"

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