This is the last chapter guys. Thanks so much for reading, reviewing and favouriting. It means a lot! :) xx
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They were standing in the centre of the livingroom of their old flat, facing each other. The walls were bare, all the furniture gone.
Christian looked into Syed's chocolate brown eyes, just inches from his own, feeling himself getting lost in them. Syed smiled at him; they were here, together – a perfect moment.
A thundering crash sounded suddenly, making Christian jump. They turned towards the front door to see four heavily built men barge their way in. Before they could react, two of the men had grabbed onto Christian, holding him tightly by each arm so he couldn't escape. The other two had done the same with Syed. Struggling to free himself, he kept his eyes on Syed, who wasn't putting up any kind of fight, resignation in his eyes. Christian didn't understand – why was he giving up so easily?
At that moment he saw Qadim casually walk through the door, ordering the men to take them away. Away? Away where? He continued to struggle, but the men gripping onto him were impossibly strong.
All of a sudden the scene changed and he found himself being shoved into some sort of prison cell, an old-fashioned one with giant metal bars trapping him in. He witnessed Syed being placed into one directly opposite him. Christian was frightened, he didn't know where they were and if they were even going to get out. He felt tears well up in his eyes as he reached an arm out of the cell. Syed did the same, and their fingers just about touched.
"I love you," Christian whispered, his voice breaking.
He could see Syed open his mouth to reply when he heard a door open and the men returned. He watched as they entered Syed's cell – and gasped as they suddenly grabbed Syed, yanking him back and breaking their touch. Christian realised what they were going to do; he gripped two of the metal bars between his hands and pulled and pushed at them frantically in an attempt to get out. He wanted to look way, but he couldn't. He had to watch helplessly as they ganged up around Syed and began an onslaught of violence, raining punches and kicks to his beautiful boy. Christian felt sick; he screamed at them to leave him alone, to beat him up instead, but it was like he wasn't even there. He continued to shake at the bars even though his arms ached; it was nothing compared to the terrible pain in his heart at what he was witnessing.
Without warning, the attack stopped. Christian could just about make out Syed in the corner of the cell, not moving. Christian couldn't stop the sobs wracking his chest. The men suddenly all turned and looked at him, as if noticing for the first time that he was there. They started to edge towards his cell. Christian couldn't breathe as he backed into the furthest corner, feeling like a small child. He knew what was coming, it was his turn to pay for falling in love, yet again. He shut his eyes and his world went black.
...
Christian woke up in a panic, his chest tight and his heart beating erratically. It was just a dream. He took in his surroundings. He was safe in the bedroom of his new flat. It was just starting to get light; he presumed it was about 4am. He could feel Syed beside him, his arm thrown over his chest and head on his shoulder, still fast asleep. It was just a dream... Seeking reassurance, he slowly moved to prop himself up on his right elbow, careful not to wake Syed, so he could see him properly...and had to hold back a gasp. A deep purple bruise had formed on his left cheek – it hadn't started to show when they went to bed, but now...it looked awful. After the shock of seeing the bruise subsided, Christian stared at Syed's face for a good few minutes. He looked content, peaceful; how he managed to do so after the night's events was beyond Christian. He tried not to focus on the bruise, and instead on the beauty that was the rest of his face. A face he woke up to every morning; that smiled when he saw him, frowned when confused, creased up when he laughed. And now, in the midst of a calm slumber, it looked pretty damn stunning. However, try as he might, Christian couldn't ignore the purple mark, which Syed's left eyelash was almost touching. He lifted his left hand and, as gently as he could, brushed a fingertip over his cheek, tracing the bruise as if to check it was real.
Almost as if sensing his delicate touch and intense gaze, Syed slowly opened his eyes. He saw a look on Christian's face he didn't quite understand.
"Hey," he whispered gently. "What's up?"
Emotion overwhelmed Christian; memories of the roof collapse and the more recent recollection of his nightmare came back to him, and he tried to swallow the lump in his throat as he answered.
"I'm checking...checking you're not hurt..." he tried to explain, tears forming in his eyes.
"Christian...?"
Syed then sat up and turned back around to look properly at his fiancé, still leaning on one elbow, his gaze fixed on the pillow Syed was lying on a moment earlier. He reached for Christian's face and made him look at him.
"Tell me what's wrong."
With a sigh, Christian heaved himself up so he was sitting next to Syed, still not quite managing to look at him.
"I had a dream, a bad dream..."
Christian went on to tell him about his nightmare, pausing at the more difficult bits, still avoiding eye contact, fiddling with the duvet draped over their legs.
"Then they turned around and looked at me..." he stopped then. Syed didn't need to hear anymore.
"Christian, look at me." He put a hand under his chin and once again tried to make Christian look into his eyes. Eventually he did, but he couldn't stop his eyes from glancing at the bruise. Syed saw the concern in Christian's eyes, frowned slightly, then reached up with his other hand to touch the area he'd been hit, wincing at the sudden pain. In a flash, Christian took Syed's hand and pulled it away, keeping it clasped in his as he rested them on the bed.
"Don't touch it, it'll only make it hurt..."
"It's fine," Syed said, trying to lighten the mood. "I've had worse!"
It was clearly the wrong thing to say, as the tears began to fall down Christian's face.
Taking in the state Christian was in, Syed sighed and wrapped his arms around him, drawing him close.
"It could have been worse, Christian, much worse. But it wasn't. Because you came to the rescue." he paused for a bit. "My Superman."
Christian leaned back to look at him, and couldn't suppress a small smile.
"Is that a smile, I see?" Syed teased gently, wiping his tears away with his thumb.
"Now listen to me, Christian. It's over - Qadim's been arrested now. And they'll find out about everything else he's done and he'll be put away for a long time. We're safe. And your dream was just that - a dream. Not real. So there's no need to worry. We're still here, we're together in our lovely flat, planning our wedding. And I'm not going to let anyone hurt either of us."
"But your bruise..."
"It will fade." Syed said with a tone of finality. "Now, are you okay?"
Christian sniffed and looked up. The light from outside was rapidly spilling through the gap in the curtains and he could see it reflecting off Syed's beautiful brown eyes, giving off flashes of gold as he looked at Christian intently, with concern. He ran over what Syed had just said in his head. He's right, he realised. Qadim's been locked up, and although Syed had been hurt, he's still here, with me. We're not going to remember what happened last night on our wedding day. Their wedding day. He smiled again, bigger this time, and Syed smiled back.
"I love you, you know."
Syed laughed, and placed his hands around the back of Christian's neck.
"I do know. And I also know that I love you too." He then proceeded to pull Christian's head down to meet his own, and kissed him until everything else was forgotten.
