Masood glanced around at his family, confused as to what had happened in the short time he'd been out. He could see his wife was upset, but he'd noticed her mood had become significantly darker as he and Christian had entered. He wondered what on earth could've made Amira so upset, Zainab so disgusted and Syed so speechless.

"I think maybe I should leave you all to talk, I can see this is a bad time" Christian excused himself, heading for the door.

"Can I call you later?" Amira sniffed. He nodded uncomfortably, looking quickly around the room before turning to leave, making sure not to meet Syed's eyes. As he shut the door, he heard Amira launch into another attack on Syed.

"Come on, then! We're all dying to know who the lucky guy is!"

"Wait a second!" Masood cut in, "What are we talking about?"

"Well, your son has apparently been cheating on me since the summer, with a man!"

"What?! You must be mistaken, Amira, Syed loves you, right son?"

Syed glanced around the room, before resting his eyes on his wife, "I do love you, I'm just not in love with you" he admitted, "I'm gay, and I'm tired of hiding it"

Masood gasped, "I can't believe this! How long have you known?"

"I tried to deny it, I broke up with....him before the wedding, because I knew it was wrong, that it was against all of our beliefs"

"Well, then I don't see a problem, if you've realised your mistakes"

"That's just it, Dad" he sighed, "It's not a mistake. I know that in your eyes it is wrong, Haraam, but this is the way I am"

Masood's eyes widened in outrage, "So, you've been lying to your entire family for all this time, which is a sin in itself, but now to tell everyone you're a homosexual? I can't believe this! Why? You're married, happily married"

"But I'm not happily married! I didn't want to go through with it, I told mum, but..."

"Wait!" Masood shrieked, "You knew about this?!" he yelled at his wife, "You knew, and you never said anything"

"I was praying that he would see sense, Mas, that he would see how much pain he was causing by this disgusting sin" Zainab pleaded.

"You forced our son to marry against his will?"

"I thought this would be what he wanted in the long run"

"You thought wrong!" he turned back to Syed, "The way I see it, if you had told the truth sooner, a lot of pain could've been avoided. As far as I am concerned, the biggest sin you have committed is lying to your family and your wife. That is the only sin I will judge you for, as you have caused far more hurt with your lies than you would've if you'd been honest about your sexuality in the first place"

"Please Dad, you have to believe me, I never meant to hurt anyone"

"That may be true, but people ended up getting hurt, Syed, look at Amira"

Syed glanced towards his wife, who sat on the sofa, her head in her hands. Masood turned back to Zainab, who was glaring at her son.

"Zainab, I know you're upset, but apparently you encouraged him to go through with the wedding. You can hardly blame him for following your wishes"

"He didn't know his own mind" she spat, "That awful man had clouded his judgement, made him think he was in love with him"

"I'm sorry, who is this man?"

"The man Syed claims to love" she shivered, "And then you bought him into the house, just when Syed had forgotten about him!"

Masood looked confused, "I haven't bought anybody into the...." he gasped, "You mean Christian?!"

Amira stood up sharply and walked over to Syed, "You Love CHRISTIAN?!" she shrieked at him. He nodded solemnly. Amira burst into fresh tears.

"How could you?" she sobbed, "He's my best friend, and all this time you've been...." she stormed out of the room and upstairs, slamming their bedroom door behind her. Syed sighed, turning back to his parents. Zainab stood staring at him with contempt, while his father had a look of calm understanding.

Syed decided that his Dad was probably the safest option, so he directed his question to him.

"So what happens now?"

"That's for you to decide" Masood reasoned, "You've said you don't want to be with Amira, and now at least she knows the truth. You need to talk to her, but right now I'd let her calm down a bit"

"Dad, I've just told you I'm gay"

"I know, and as you can probably tell, we are not happy with this choice" he said sternly, "We've brought you up to follow Allah's wishes, and you have turned against your faith" he sighed, "However, I know you, Syed, and I know you wouldn't have made this decision lightly. This has obviously has caused you a lot of stress, and I can't imagine it has been easy on Christian either"

"Masood, are you saying you accept this?" Zainab interrupted,

"He's a grown man, he needs to make his own mind up what is right for him" Masood said, "We have a saying, 'Insha Allah', if Allah is willing. If this is how Allah wants our son to lead his life, we should not stand in his way"

Zainab looked shocked, "But what about Bushra, the Mosque..."

"That woman isn't as perfect as she makes out to be!" Masood yelled, "And anyway, she doesn't control what Syed does with his life any more than we do, she can't stop him being a homosexual"

"I can't listen to anymore of this!" Zainab shrieked, "Syed, just get out of my sight! I can't look at you right now"

Syed nodded, heading for the door. In all honesty, he had expected a worse reaction from them. As he walked out of the house, there was no doubting where he would go.