Title: Improper Dancing

Author: indehed

Fandom: Eastenders

Pairing: Christian/Syed

Warnings/Spoilers: based on spoilers for episode airing on the 16th June, 2011

This story portrays a canon homosexual relationship between two men,

Summary: Syed and Roxy take Christian to a gay bar for his birthday, but he didn't want to go and now, in a foul mood, he accusing Syed of flirting with another man.

It wasn't that Christian was in a foul mood, but he hadn't exactly been having the happiest of birthdays.

Roxy and Syed had decided to drag him out for the evening, even though he'd protested that he just wanted to be at home. He clearly hadn't protested enough and, accusing him of being silly, they'd taken him out and he'd found himself in a gay bar. He honestly hadn't expected that, certainly not from Syed... though it wasn't a shock that Roxy would want to spend his birthday perving on hot, fit men (even if they weren't the kind of men she could have 'fun' with, but there was never any harm in looking in her book).

He'd been standing at the bar, nursing a bottle of beer. Roxy was somewhere on the dancefloor giving it everything she had and Syed had disappeared to go to the bathroom, but that had been a while ago. He highly doubted there was a queue in there and he'd been trying to scan the place for him for a while but it was so full that he had trouble making out much of anything. Eventually he spotted his errant fiance, typically enough in plain sight and he wondered how he could have missed seeing him before. He saw Syed chatting with some bloke... and leaning forward to hear him and then letting out a laugh.

Whether it was because he was drinking, or because he knew places like this, he didn't know for sure, but in that instant he saw the look on the other guy's face and he saw green.

He hadn't wanted to come here. It hadn't been his decision.

As he weighed up his night, and found this to be the last straw, he didn't even bother to go over and grab Syed to ask him what the hell he was playing at. Instead he downed the last of his beer, dropped the glass bottle back onto the bar with a thump and pushed his way through the crowd to get out.

Once outside the door he grasped his head between both his arms and groaned out loud. He had a slight stagger as he made his way a few steps away from the bar and then he heard his name being called out as Roxy appeared, followed shortly after by Syed.

"Christian, wait!" Syed came up behind him but Christian shrugged his hand off his shoulder.

"Go back in, leave me alone," he pouted, his head down to watch where he was stepping.

"What's your problem anyway?" Roxy asked. "You've been moping around all night!"

"Yeah? Am I not allowed to?" Christian spun around to face them. "Am I supposed to be happy, smiley Christian all the time?"

"It's your birthday. Maybe lighten up a little?" Roxy could be so annoying at times.

Christian just stood there glaring at her. "My birthday. I'm getting old, Rox, I'm not in the mood for all this anymore. I'm almost forty, jeez."

"Hey." Syed approached him again, reaching out for his hand and Christian let him take it. "What is it they say? You're only as old as the man you feel, so that puts you firmly back in your twenties so come on... let's go dance."

"God, no. You go dance, you clearly want to. Get back in there and leave the sad, old man out here to wallow... lamenting the loss of colour in his hair and the wrinkles appearing on his face." Christian slumped down on the pavement and pulled his knees up as he sat.

"Christian, you're being pathetic." Roxy said, standing in front of him.

Syed shot her a dirty look and then sat next to him. "What's this really about?"

"I want you to go."

"Well, I'm not leaving until we talk about this."

"Okay, fine. I saw you in there."

"Yeah..." Syed squinted at Christian, confused.

"I saw you with that other bloke."

"What other bloke?"

Christian scoffed, "Don't play the innocent, you were getting all cosy in there, flirting with him and you know what? I get it. You're still young, you've not done all of this stuff before... been on the scene. You've not had a chance to get out there and enjoy yourself... the first thing you did after coming out was settle down with me and here I am, trying to start a family with you... it's not right."

"You've lost me. What does our starting a family have anything to do with a night out at a gay bar?"

"Everything! Can't you see? I'm holding you back, tying you down!"

"No your not..."

"You know what?" Christian ignored Syed's protestations and his alcohol-addled mind made him even more adamant that things weren't right. He stood abruptly. "You know what, I'm not going to do it anymore. Wedding's off."

"What?" Syed stood at Christian's words, and Roxy leaned back forward from the wall she was against, quietly listening in. "Christian, stop being so stupid."

"The wedding's off! And I am not stupid."

"I didn't mean it like that, look, you're drunk, you're not thinking straight."

Christian laughed, but it was hollow. "No I'm not, not at all. I'm just opening my eyes for the first time."

"Beer goggles, more like."

"No." Christian shook off Syed's hand again as he reached out for him. "No... I'm... setting you free." Christian opened his arms out wide and staggered slightly as he did so, throwing himself off balance.

"Okay, come on, let's go home." Syed grabbed onto Christian around his waist and pulled on him to come with him. Roxy grabbed onto him too and between them they started him moving.

"The last few years, all my birthdays have been rotten. I hate getting older," he pouted.

"It's a cross we all have to bear." Roxy said.

Christian ignored her though and turned his head to Syed again. "You were flirting with him."

"No, for the record I wasn't flirting."

"Not flirting? Syed, you were in a gay bar talking to someone."

"I was being polite."

"There's no such thing in a gay bar. He said something, you said something back. I bet he was convinced you wanted to go home with him."

"Well, I'm going home with you. Because I love you. And we're getting married."

"But I just called off the wedding," Christian moaned.

"No you didn't."

"Yes I did."

"I didn't hear a thing." Syed's face was the picture of innocence.

"I love you." Christian slurred, though his anger had dissipated some of his drunkenness and now he just felt silly.

"I love you, too." Syed smiled at him.

"Hello?" Roxy interrupted them and they both turned their heads to her as they walked along arm in arm. "Do you mind not being so sappy in my presence? Urgh."