I know I say it every time but huge, huge thanks for all of the reviews! Time to find out who's at the door...


Their breathing remained profound, eyes now locked together as they shared the same air, mouths open in anticipation. Whoever was at the door was not going to be getting a welcome reception.

"Who's that?" Syed whispered.

Christian shrugged. "No idea, I'm not expecting anyone." Syed sincerely hoped that that was true, and that Christian wasn't making any effort to move from the sofa because he didn't want Syed coming face to face with his date for tonight.

"Maybe you should go and see who it is?" Syed's reluctance to let Christian go was obvious in his voice. He wanted nothing more than to stay with him on the sofa and finish the kiss that had just been about to happen.

"They'll go away… hopefully." Christian's tongue poked out from between his lips. Such a tease.

The bell rung again. Please go away, please go away. Syed heard the letterbox opening, maybe it was the postman? Stupid idea. Clearly having Christian in such close proximity had made him lose all sense of time. It was ten o'clock on a Saturday night, what would a postman be doing here?

"Christian!" God. That voice sounded incredibly annoyed and ever so slightly familiar. An ex come to get revenge maybe? "Open this bloody door now!"

"It's Matt." Oh, so they were being interrupted by Christian's business partner. Brilliant. Christian sounded perplexed. "What could he want?"

"I dunno, go and see." As much as Syed wanted to stay in a little bubble with Christian, he wasn't keen on seeing Matt getting even more riled up.

Christian sighed heavily. "Okay…" he groaned. Syed found it challenging to look anywhere but at Christian's lips, he wanted to kiss them so badly... Bloody Matt! Christian grudgingly pulled away, after Syed gingerly removed his hand from around his neck… he hadn't realised it was still there.

Syed heard mumblings coming from the hallway and a few seconds later Matt entered the living room. His eyes flitted from Christian to Syed and then back again, his eyebrow rose in confusion.

"There's been a flood at one of the gyms," Christian ignored Matt's silent question. "I'm really sorry but I've got to go and check it out." Great, just great.

"Sorry, I've interrupted something haven't I?" Matt pulled a face. "I can't say I'm surprised though. I wondered how long it would take, Christian always-"

"Shut up." Christian's tone was firm, annoyed, strong, dominating… Such a turn-on for Syed. Is that what he'd be like in bed?

Syed was so frustrated that he wouldn't be finding out tonight.

x-CS-x

It was Monday morning and there'd been no contact from Christian since the 'this will undoubtedly lead to outstanding sex' kiss that had almost happened. Not even a solitary text. The renovation would be complete by the end of the week, what would happen then? Syed didn't really want to think about it. No more coffee and chatting on the roof terrace, no more impromptu meals together, no more 'moments', no more Christian…

He was stood looking at emails on his phone when he heard a familiar voice, and couldn't prevent a small smile when he saw Christian. Was it possible to become even more gorgeous in a couple of days? It certainly seemed to be the case with Christian, he looked absolutely magnificent today. What was he doing here though? Had he come to finish what he'd started on Saturday? To discretely sweep him into the bedroom and… Syed's question was soon answered when Christian sprinted across the room and over to him.

"Hey! I was wondering…" he had a flirty grin on his face, "if you would like to come with me?"

Oh, so that was how he was going to play it? Like nothing had ever happened. Like that moment where they'd been in a bubble of electrifying lust hadn't existed. Fine. Syed could do that too.

"Come with you where?" Syed asked casually, occasionally looking down at his phone, not wanting to appear too interested in anything Christian had to say.

"I need to go and pick up a rug for the living room; I thought you could come with me." A trip in the car, how romantic.

"What makes you think that I want to?"

"A chance to chat," Christian looked knowingly at him. "And before you say that you can't leave this place, I've already rung Pete and he said that it's okay. We'll only be about an hour anyway."

"Fine."

x-CS-x

About fifteen minutes into their journey Christian pulled into an overgrown gateway and stopped the car. Syed looked around; they definitely hadn't arrived at their destination. He peered sideways at Christian, puzzled. Was Christian a secret axe murderer and Syed was about to be killed? No, of course not. Of all the things that Christian was, a murderer certainly wasn't one of them.

Christian unfastened his seatbelt and turned to look at Syed. Had he stopped the car so that they could talk about the other night, it seemed a bit odd if he had done. Syed could see a glimmer in his eyes, one that teased and enthralled him, the same look that he'd seen before they'd almost kissed. Why wasn't Christian saying anything?

To urge him on, Syed spoke. "Christian?"

Their eyes met, "Yeah?"

"Why have we stopped?"

Still Christian didn't speak; he simply stared at Syed, one hand still on the steering wheel. The atmosphere in the car was… odd, there was something undetectable in it.

"We have to get to the shop; you said we'd only be an hou-"

Indignantly Christian said, "I'm not planning on sitting here for next two hours, staring out of the window. I just wanted to stop for a couple of minutes."

Syed was utterly confused and didn't reply.

Christian suddenly switched the ignition on again and swiftly reversed out of the drive and back onto the road. Syed didn't dare think of the real reason that Christian had stopped, it made his palms sweat and his pulse quicken. He knew though, he knew it was too late and that he'd already fallen too deep. He felt deflated. He'd never know now if Christian had been about to do what he'd really been hoping he might.

They continued to drive, gathering speed as Syed looked out of the window, morosely watching rain drops spitting on the glass, and still trying to figure out why Christian had stopped. Christian had barely said a word to him since they'd got in the car, it was hardly a 'chance to chat' like he'd promised. He seemed different too, a bit nervous maybe? He kept taking deep breaths every now and again, tightening his grip on the steering wheel.

"Sod it." Christian slammed his foot on the brake. This time they stopped in a passing place, luckily there was little traffic around. Christian screeched to a halt and switched off the engine. "This," he emphasised, "is why I stopped before."

He pulled Syed into his arms and the kiss that Syed had spent weeks fantasising about finally happened. Oh. My. God. Syed was dizzily aware of Christian's mouth on his, fingers tenderly stroking the back of his neck, Christian's tongue probing and searching… Wow, he was an amazing kisser, this was exhilarating, extraordinary, so, so good. Syed could stay like this forever, he didn't want it to ever end.

But it did, it could have been seconds, minutes, hours, but eventually the pressure of Christian's mouth vanished and Syed opened his eyes to see the other man trying his best to keep a straight face. Calm, Syed. He didn't want to hyperventilate or inflate Christian's ego further by appearing too impressed. "What was that for?"

"Just curious." Christian shrugged nonchalantly. "Don't tell me you weren't too."

How was he supposed to breathe when his heart was going faster than a bullet train and he could feel it fluttering manically in his chest? How was he meant to form words when his mouth was still tingling from their kiss? Did Christian have that effect on every man that he kissed?

Syed exhaled slowly. Looking at the clock on the dashboard he saw that their hour was almost up. "We need to go and get the rug."

Christian nodded. "I know."

x-CS-x

The rest of the journey had been pleasant, nothing more, nothing less, just nice. They hadn't said much to each other, just the occasional word about something on the radio. Both of them were now stood outside Christian's new home. So, this was awkward.

Syed was the first to speak. "Umm… I should probably get back up there now. Got stuff to do."

"Yeah, sounds good." Christian nodded. Could he still feel the sensation of their mouths meeting for the first time, or was that just Syed? Unless the kiss had been an utter disappointment for Christian…

Syed pointed in the direction of the front door. "Best be going back in then." He started walking slowly backwards towards the entrance.

Christian headed towards his car and then turned quickly on the spot.

"What?"

Christian paused and looked directly at Syed. "I'm not very good at this," he stated sheepishly as he ran his fingers through his short hair. "You know, telling a bloke that I like him."

Syed's stomach tensed knowingly in expectation. "You must have managed it with Josh."

"I still struggled though, and now I am with you too."

If anything, the knot in Syed's stomach tightened. He swallowed, "Oh…."

"You think I'm spinning you a line, don't you?" He looked rueful. "Like it's the kind of thing that you can't take seriously because you don't trust me and I've got a bad reputation and I've probably said it a thousand times before."

Feeling light-headed at the situation, Syed could stop himself from replying flippantly, "Only a thousand?"

Christian got back in the car, waited for the window to come down and then began speaking again. "See? But what if I haven't said it before? What if I'm completely serious?"

Was Christian honestly expecting an answer? Syed continued his retreat towards the front door.

"Well?" Christian inquired.

So he did expect Syed to answer.

"I'd say you've got some more persuading to do."

"Okay," a faint content smile played on Christian's face. "That makes sense. I think I can do persuasive."


Sorry if the build-up to that kiss feels like it's been going on forever, I hope it was worth the wait! :)