'30 days of this?'
Syed ignored Christian and stared at him as he put another spoonful of cereal in him mouth. Christian put his spoon down with a clatter, he was fairly sure he could see drool coming out of Syed's mouth.
Syed gestured at him to continue eating. 'You know what?' Christian picked up the bowl and put it in the sink, running the water. 'You're gonna make me start fasting too Sy, you're making me feel so self conscious I can't eat!'
'You? Self conscious?' Syed scoffed. 'Sorry Christian. It's a total nightmare fasting when you're with someone who can actually eat-' He trailed off, seeing Christian's expression change to a pained one.
'Do you want me to go stay at Jane and Ian's or something?' He looked at Syed earnestly, 'If that makes it easier-'
'No!' Syed's heart beat fit to burst at just the thought of it. 'No. Don't be silly. It's just going to take some getting used to.'
Christian made a thoughtful noise as he put the bowl away and somehow Syed knew he was not going to let the subject drop.
'Or I could fast too?' They regarded each other for a moment and then simultaneously burst out laughing at the idea of it.
Yeah, it was a really good idea for a personal trainer to fast , he'd be on the floor by lunchtime.
Syed smiled at Christian tenderly. It always surprised him how much Christian was willing to make things easier for him, he'd often heard successful relationships thrived on compromise but he'd never really seen it in action, though that might have been because his primary role-models were his parents. Compromise wasn't in his mother's vocabulary, unless of course, it meant bulldoze.
'I love you.' Syed's voice cracked with the sincerity of his words.
Christian smiled. People didn't often get the full 100 watt treatment when Christian smiled at them, but Syed always did. He always had the same reaction.
Christian blew him a kiss. It was Syed's turn to grin like an idiot, he'd explained to Christian the night before that physical contact- any physical contact even innocuous hand-holding- wasn't a very good idea. He felt his insides turn to mush as he grinned at Christian.
'See you later.' Christian sauntered out of the flat, swinging his gymbag behind him.
Syed smiled to himself. That man! He would be the death of him. He walked over to the bookshelf he'd pestered Christian to install specifically for him. He'd got Tamwar to bring his books over last week, he'd had enough of Christian's racy gay Mills and Boons esque stories, though he supposed they had a certain... appeal.
Grabbing the Quran from the bookshelf, he sat down on the sofa and opened it.
He'd never thought he'd see the day where two aspects of his life would collide so effortlessly, it was like having a bunch of keys and slotting them painfully one by one into a lock, only to find that all along the right key had been in your pocket. All along, it had been there. He'd just needed the strength from Allah to see it.
Syed looked at the page he was on, feeling that familiar swell in his heart as his fingers traced and his mind recited the familiar words.
He was gay and he was Muslim. He could live with that.