After the Fire
This is set on the night of the fire at the Vic – what happened next.
Chapter 1
Christian lay in bed trying to piece together the night's events. His heart went out to Roxy – the Vic burning down would rip the heart out of the Mitchells. Yes they were tough and would no doubt bounce back, but Christian knew that Roxy was more vulnerable than she made out and with Amy to care for and the troubled relationship she had with both Peggy and Ronnie, not to mention that psycho Phil, it would be no picnic keeping all that together.
Sleep evaded him, so he gently extricated himself from Syed's tangled limbs and waited for him to drop back into slumber before moving to the kitchen. He then poured himself neat vodka and moved to sit at the table, peering out into the darkness.
He could still smell the smoke from Syed's clothes and cursed himself for not being with him when he was needed. Having found out that his parents were going to attend the wedding, Syed had asked Christian to stay away, in the vain hope that they might speak to him if he was on his own. Not being particularly close to the happy couple, Christian reluctantly agreed and took the opportunity to plan a little surprise for Syed, but wasn't shocked to get a call saying his parents had blanked him again.
Christian had been walking towards the Vic when he heard the explosion and as he turned the corner he saw the chaos and heard the screams. He scanned the crowd looking for familiar faces – he saw Jane and Ian but panicked when he didn't see Syed. Then he heard Tamwar shout "over here" and saw Syed crouched by the wall looking dazed. He rushed to comfort him and soon ascertained he was shaken but not badly hurt, it was then he heard Roxy's screams for help and fearing that she would run back into the burning building he sprinted to her side to restrain and console her. Once everyone was safely out and the fireman had taken charge, he was glad to get back into Syed's arms.
It was only after they got back to the flat together did Christian realise just how close he had come to losing everything that was so dear to him. Syed was traumatised by the whole event, he was upset and incoherent but Christian did manage to find out that he had been knocked down in the rush to escape; everything else was a blur to him.
His thoughts were interrupted by a strangled cry from the bed, Syed stirred in his sleep, reliving the event. Christian lay down beside him once more and pulled him into gentle hug "It's alright Sy... I'm here you are safe." Finally Christian fell into a disturbed sleep.