That isn't what Ianto had meant and John knows it. It makes him angry, to have his words twisted in such a self-deprecating way. It makes him angry that the other man seems so bent on self-destruction and so determined not to allow anyone to step in to this loop he's built for himself to try and stop it.

He turns back to the other man, his eyes bright with the sheen of the tears he's yet to allow himself to give into. "It's easier to try and convince me that you're bad news than it is to face up to the fact that I might actually care despite it all," Ianto points out, incredulously. "Is that what you want, then? To push me away? Just because I give a shit about what happens to you and whether you live or die or whether you get burned alive, Jesus Christ, John..." He puts a hand over his mouth and turns away again.