Hi all!

Apologies for the delay in getting this updated, but I was suffering from a huge case of writer's block. I think I'm cured now though!

Anyone know when Chryed are back on our screens again? I'm starting to get withdrawl!

xoxoxo

Christian POV – The Reunion

Our eyes met across the Square, and I was home again. Syed made his way out of the gardens, and I reluctantly left the entrance of the Vic to meet him at the top of Bridge Street. I knew that I had to have the first word if there was any chance that I would walk away from this with my sanity intact.

"Look, Sy, we've been here too many times before." I couldn't bear to let this man get my hopes up again, only to have them dashed later on. If I had to go through all that pain again, I was sure that it would kill me.

"Not like this," the look on Syed's face was so desperate that I felt myself falling all over again.

"What's different?" if it was going to work this time, he had to convince me that this time, it would all be different. That, this time, I would be more than his dirty little secret when he felt like it. This time, it had to be real.

"I choose you."

"Don't," I'd heard him say that too many times before to let myself start to believe it again. The last time, when he'd told me that he chose me over Amira and his family, he had backed out yet again, and set the ball rolling for some of the worst months of my life. The last time he had told me that he chose me, and then backed out, it had caused me such a rage of jealousy that I had destroyed both our lives, as well as Amira's, in the process.

"Christian," I closed my eyes for a moment, letting the sound of my name on his lips wash over me for a second. He sounded so desperate, that in that moment, all I wanted to do was hold him in my arms and tell him that everything was going to be OK.

"Don't say things you don't mean."

"After everything we've been through, you think I'm gonna waste any more time saying something I don't mean? You know what the easy thing would be?" I hung my head, not quite sure if I wanted to hear what he had to say, but knowing that I might end up regretting it one day if I didn't. "Say nothing. Do nothing. Keep calm and carry on, isn't that what they say? Only I can't. I can't stand by while the rest of my family talk about destiny and good hips and stringy meat like nothing's happening, like I don't count!" By the end of his little speech, I could hear the desperation in his voice, and see it in his eyes. I could feel what was left of my resolve starting to falter.

"You know I haven't got the faintest idea what you're going on about?" I saw him smile the first genuine smile I had seen from him in weeks, months even. It was as though everything we'd been through had never happened. The look of love in his eyes that I had been so accustomed to just a few short months ago, but had sorely missed in the recent weeks and months, was back, and it was breathtaking.

"You don't have to. The thing is, they tell me I can't be gay and a Muslim. Why not? Why do I have to choose?"

"You know why."

"Look, I am the way I am because that's how Allah made me. Whatever faults I have, he gave me. Now, I am proud of my faith," as he talked, I watched as Zainab and Masood left their home and stood a distance behind him, watching him and listening to everything he was saying. "And I am proud that Islam is about peace and tolerance and celebrating the things that make us different." I saw the look of horror and disgrace on his parents' faces, choosing to ignore it, not to relay this information to Syed. We were so close now, I could feel it. So close to getting that happy ending that we'd always dreamed of. And I wasn't about to let anyone ruin it. "But I need to be proud of who I am. Only, I'm gonna need a little bit of help." Syed took a deliberate step towards me, and this time, I didn't push him away from me. I could almost taste the sweetness of a reunion in the air. He was the same old Syed, always looking to me to guide him when he was unsure of a step he was about to take in our relationship. Usually, I'd be begging him not to do whatever it was he was about to do, but this time, I would encourage him with open arms.

"I can do that." I didn't care how long it took for him to be comfortable with our relationship being public, so long as I knew that he would always come home to me at the end of each and every day; that he would be able to be with me for as long as we wanted, as often as we wanted.

"I'm gay and I'm Muslim," finally, the two pieces of himself that he had tried so hard to separate were being allowed to come together, and he looked so much better for it. He had a certain glow about him that I had only seen a couple of times previously, and had always been followed by a declaration of our love for one another. He raised one hand to cup my chin, and my face unconsciously and automatically folded itself into his touch. Before I could stop myself, my lips were brushing against his thumb. "And I don't think you can go to hell for having loved." I pulled my lips away from him to look in his eyes. I met his gaze once before turning my attention to where his parents were still watching our exchange. He followed my gaze, turning slightly to meet the stares of his parents. He stood by my side, defiant as his parents gave him one final look before turning and going back inside, Zainab being pulled away from us by Masood.

"Let's go home." Syed turned back to face me, his eyes shining bright, a smile on his face. There was no evidence that he was affected by the clear rejection by Zainab and Masood. I smiled back at him, turning and heading back down Bridge Street and towards the flat on Turpin Road that was now ours. I felt, more than heard, him follow me, and as he tentatively placed his hand on the small of my back, I wrapped my arm around his shoulders, so that he automatically wrapped his arm around my waist. We finally had our happy ending, and I was determined that I was never going to lose him ever again.

Once we reached the privacy of the flat, I pulled him in for a kiss, long, soft, and sensual. The love that I felt for him was put into that kiss; not a trace of lust was allowed a look in. He kissed me back with just as much emotion, and in that moment, I realised just how much he had been going through in the past few months; I understood just how much it had hurt him to be away from me, but how he had also thought that it was for the best. It could have been hours or minutes later that I broke the kiss, but when I finally did break away, gasping for air, I realised that we both seemed to be much more relaxed than we had been in months. Just the presence of one another was enough to make a physical difference, alongside the emotional difference we both felt when we were around the other. I touched my forehead to his, closing my eyes and just allowing myself to enjoy his presence. I only had a few moments respite before he re-captured my lips with his own, some of the shyness from our first kiss showing itself even now. I knew it was only because we had been apart for so long, but I still felt the need to be gentle with him, not to push him too far, too fast. I would gladly take my time with him; allow him to set the pace, even though I was desperate for him.

As Syed slid his hands under my vest, I tried to keep the primal growl from leaving my lips, but failed. I lost almost all of my inhibitions when it came to Syed, and the most primal of my instincts always shone through. As he backed me up towards the bed – our bed – I lost myself in him, allowing myself to give in to him completely, finally able to feel whole again once more.