A/N: New chapter time. I've been working a lot recently so I'm a bit behind but I only have one more chapter to write (there's 12 in total) so the story will be finished very soon.
Hope you all like x
Chapter Eight
They had stayed up half the night just sitting on the sofa, Christian's arms wrapped tightly around Syed as they talked until they had eventually fallen asleep curled up in each other's arms.
"As romantic as that was I'm stiff as a board now," Christian joked as he stretched his muscles.
"I'll skip the obvious jokes there," Syed smiled shyly.
"Do you want some breakfast? I'm sure I can rustle something up."
"That would be nice."
"How about eggs?" Christian asked as he bounded over to the fridge.
"That would be great. Do you mind if I use your shower?"
"Of course not, go right ahead."
Syed headed for the bathroom and shut the door before he let out a huge sigh. It had been a huge step for him to stay with Christian and no matter how happy he felt at spending the night in arms of the man he loved there was still a part of him that felt uncomfortable with the physical contact. Putting all his nervous feelings to one side, he turned the shower on.
He couldn't help but notice the scar on his arm. It was always going to be there as a reminder. He still hadn't told Christian and he knew he would have to at some point but he just wasn't ready. He didn't know if he ever would be.
XXX
Syed had to smile as he came out of the bathroom and heard Christian singing happily. Even though he had yet to reach the living area, he could just imagine Christian dancing around as he cooked. Syed loved that about him. He was always so open about his sexuality and always loved to show off.
"Nothing's changed much then," Syed leaned against the wall and grinned.
"I can't help it if I'm a little bit happy."
"I like it when you're happy."
"Sit down and eat your eggs," Christian pulled the chair out for Syed and placed a plate in front of him. "I was thinking," Christian broached as he sat down next to Syed.
"Always a dangerous sign," Syed replied.
"Very funny," Christian laughed. "Anyway, I was thinking that maybe I could take you out."
"Take me out?"
"Yeah, on a date."
"A date?"
"Are you going to repeat everything I say?"
"Why do you want to take me out on a date? We've never done that before."
"Yes and as you said you want to take things slow. Therefore, a date is the perfect way to start over and make this a brand new relationship."
"Not sure I get your logic but I'll go ahead with it."
"Good, then how about tonight?"
"I suppose that would be okay."
XXX
"He asked you out?" Tanya exclaimed with joy. "Oh my God."
"Yeah," Syed gave a coy smile.
"This is so great. Where is he taking you?"
"I don't know, he wants to surprise me. All he said was that I had to dress smart."
"And how do you feel about this?"
"Nervous… Excited. We've never really done the whole "dating" thing before. We went from affair to relationship and nothing in between."
"But you both know you already love each other so that has to make it a little easier."
"I guess. I just don't know what to expect."
XXX
"Syed's kissed you? Why didn't you tell me?"
"It only happened last night, Rox. He came to talk and then he kissed me."
"And what did he have to say for himself?"
"We decided that we were going to give things another try. But we were going to take things slowly."
"And you're okay with that?"
"Yes I am okay with that because I want him back."
"Just be careful."
"I will be careful. I don't want to scare him away."
"That's not what I meant."
"I know what you meant, Rox, but it's not me that needs to be careful. Syed's been through so much and I don't want him to get hurt anymore. I was one of the reasons."
"You can't blame yourself forever," Roxy tried to comfort Christian as a downcast expression fell across his face.
"Maybe not forever but definitely for the foreseeable future."
XXX
"Does this look okay?" Syed asked Tanya. He'd been debating what to wear for what seemed like an eternity but he couldn't decide on an outfit choice. He wondered why he was feeling so nervous, it wasn't like he and Christian hadn't been out before. Of course, they had been in a relationship at the time but this was really no different.
"It looks lovely," Tanya replied. She'd been trying to help him pick out an outfit. "You do know you're worse than me when it comes to getting dressed to go out."
"I just want to look right. I want to look good."
"Syed, you could go out dressed in sackcloth and ashes and still look good. Christian won't care what you look like, he loves you."
"I know. I don't know why but I just want everything to be perfect."
"Stop trying to control the situation and just go with it. You'll have fun, don't worry."
"Thanks for reassuring me," Syed said as he heard the doorbell ring.
"That'll be him," Tanya grinned and rushed to the front door. A moment later Christian entered the living room.
"You look great," he smiled at Syed. Syed was wearing a long sleeved black shirt and a pair of black trousers.
"Really?"
"Really."
"You don't look so bad yourself," Syed pointed to Christian's outfit, a pale blue shirt and black trousers. "So where are we going?"
"I'm not going to spoil the surprise. Come on, there's a taxi outside waiting for us."
XXX
"This is lovely," Syed told Christian. He had taken them to a small restaurant by the river. "How did you find this place?"
"I know a lot of nice places. Maybe we could go to a few more."
"That would be nice."
"How are you feeling? You're not too uncomfortable are you?"
"No, I feel good. I was a little nervous before but this is nice. I'm actually enjoying myself."
"You sure? We could leave if you wanted to."
"I really am fine. I like it here and I like being here with you. It feels good to just go out and relax a bit."
"Really?"
"Really. I spent two months basically cooped up in my friend's flat feeling really, really depressed. I'm not saying I'm better and I'm not saying that this isn't an extremely hard thing to do but I am enjoying being out with you. It feels right."
"I'm glad. I was really nervous about taking you out."
"I can't believe that Christian Clarke would be so nervous about going out with someone!" Syed exclaimed with a cheeky grin on his face.
"I just didn't know what to expect."
"What do you mean?"
"I wasn't sure how you would react. I'm sorry this is coming out all wrong."
"You thought I'd be quiet."
"Well, yeah, sort of."
Syed smiled. "I'm not going to fall apart. I've done that so much over the last couple of months. Now, I'm just trying to get back to normal and that means doing normal things like go to dinner."
Christian hesitantly reached out and took Syed's hand in his. Syed responded and entwined his fingers with Christian's. It felt good, comfortable and it made Syed never want to let go.
"How about we go for a walk, it's a nice night?" Christian suggested.
"That sounds nice," Syed replied.
Christian took Syed's hand in his as they walked out of the restaurant. Syed didn't pull away, instead he enjoyed the feeling of Christian's warm palm against his. It felt good. It felt right. In that moment Syed felt all the bad melt away until all that was left was the pure love he felt towards Christian. He looked at Christian and smiled.
"You look happy," Christian observed.
"I feel happy. You make me feel happy," Syed told him and Christian took the opportunity to pull Syed into a hug. Syed laughed and kissed Christian softly on the lips. "I love you," he whispered.
Syed just caught something in the corner of his eye but it was enough to make his blood run cold. It was him. He was right there in Syed's eye line and he instantly felt sick. The happy feeling he's had moments before disappeared and he pushed Christian away.
"Syed?" Christian was confused by Syed's sudden change in demeanour.
"I need to go. I can't stay here," Syed turned around and started to quickly leave.
"Sy, what's wrong?" Christian called out but Syed didn't respond. He quickened his pace until Christian was left standing on his own completely confused.
XXX
Syed shut the door of Tanya's house and ran upstairs into the bathroom, only just making it before he threw up everything he had eaten earlier.
"Syed?" He heard Tanya's voice in the doorway. "Are you okay?" She sounded concerned and a moment later he felt her hand rubbing comforting circles on his back. "What happened?"
"I saw him," Syed gasped before heaving into the bowl again.
"Saw who?" Tanya asked before she realised who Syed was talking about. "We should call the police, he might still be there."
"Don't, just leave it. There's no point."
"But they might be able to catch him."
"They won't. He doesn't want to be caught so they won't find him," Syed cried. "He's always going to be there. No matter what I do or how hard I try to move on I'm never going to be free of him. I wish I had died."
"Don't say that," Tanya said. "Don't ever wish you were dead. You have people who care about you and love you so don't ever think that you have to go through this alone."
"I know, I'm sorry," Syed said, his voice cracking with emotion. "This is just a lot harder than I ever thought."
"It's not going to be easy but you've got me and you've got Christian."
"Christian! I just left him. I should phone him and make sure he's okay."
"I'll call him for you."
"No, I should do it. I need to speak with him anyway."
XXX
It made him smile to see how much he had scared Syed, he liked how much power he had over the man. Just one glimpse of him and Syed was running away in terror.
It was going exactly how he planned it. Sure it was taking a long time, but he knew in the end it would be worth it. He was determined to have Syed as his own and it didn't matter how long it took, he would have him.
Syed didn't know it but he had been following him the entire time since that night. He had followed him all the way to Leeds and back, watching him and waiting. It wasn't the perfect time yet but it soon would be.
