A/N: Wow, the final chapter's here! I just want to say a BIIIIIIIIIG thank you to everyone who's taken the time to read this, review this and enjoy this fiction. It's been a rollercoaster journey for me as an author especially with this massive topic that I'd taken on. I hope that I've managed to do it some form of justice and to the jaw droppingly gorgeous couple involved.. Christian and Syed.

I promise to let you read in a moment (what would I be without my long A/N's? :p) .. I have to say thank you to OnlyTonight3/Holly, J3mm4nn and Emma-Sauras for putting pressure on me at the right times :D

My FINAL thank you must go to the wonderful Saz and Chryedian (she knows who she is :p) for putting up with me and being there every step away! Whether it was texting them at 2.30am with this story idea, or giving me tips at 8.30am in the morning or putting up with me at 1am when I freaked out that I'd manage to kill Syed in my fic and was close to hysterics… *Oops –Love ya Syed* …. I really appreciate it and without you, I would have given up a long time ago! So this chapter is dedicated to both you amazing ladies! Love you! xx

And WFCTGIO – YOU ROCK! :cool: xx

*Shuts up – this isn't an Oscar speech* .. Please read and enjoy! It's a bit cheesy but hey..I hope it lives up to your expectations.. :)

As ever, Love CC xxx

2 years later:

Christian's POV:

The pier. It was Syed's idea to come here tonight. He wanted to watch the sunset and even though I'd ribbed him for it, I understood why. The sunset here was absolutely beautiful and the sharp fiery colours dancing on the water in those last minutes of light was an awe inspiring sight. His body heat is bouncing off him. I can feel his warm thigh resting against mine, legs touching and.. he's just slipped his hand into mine. I brush my thumb against his, making slow circular motions, caressing him. Love, eh? It wasn't exactly my forte and I never expected it.. but I wouldn't have my life any other way. In a way, a part of me wishes that I'd met him earlier. I'm not talking about 10/15 years earlier but at least 5 years earlier. I'm 44 turning 45, and I met Syed when I was 37. We became a 'proper' couple when I was 39. I'm not exactly getting any younger whereas Syed's still in his prime, only 33. The knowledge that with every passing year, I am getting older isn't exactly something that brings me comfort.. whereas a word, look or erotic touch from him makes me aware with the fact that there's no one else in the world that can have that effect on me. However, I do sometimes wonder if we'd met earlier what would have happened? Would I have been too immature to realise this amazing person that I had and let him slip away? Or would Syed not be comfortable with his sexuality enough for anything to happen? But I do know that the here and now is what counts and every day with him is my idea of perfection. I know that I never want to wake up without him besides me. I don't think I believe in Destiny. It'd probably be cheesy to say that Syed's my destiny.. I think I just got really lucky with him. To find someone who is as in love with you as you are with them.. nothing in the world can compare. Everything that we've been through- it's made us stronger. The black magic incident was a turning point for the both of us. Thinking I was going to lose him was soon replaced with the fact that our relationship wouldn't survive it. I couldn't be further from the truth if I tried! Somehow, blindly, we'd gotten through it and come out the other side relatively intact. My love for Syed - it'd deepened (even though I didn't think it was possible). Seeing him go through that, experiencing the atmosphere/changes in personality/fear .. I'd seen him change as a person and even though I couldn't physically help him, I just did what I felt was right. Whether that was staying away from him, holding him as he cried, listening to him or catching him when he fell.. I couldn't do anything else. I've never felt more out of my depth until that point but somehow, with Syed, we'd come kicking to the surface. Surviving that meant we could survive anything, and we will. Ultimately, this is what I've unintentionally been searching for. I never broke free from my bachelor lifestyle because nothing was worth it. And then I met Syed. And irrevocably, rapidly and deeply- I fell in love with him. In our hearts, we've found home.

Syed's POV:

Slipping my hand into Christian's, I kicked the warm sand beneath my toes. I smiled as two young children ran past screaming as someone (who I presumed to be their brother or cousin) chased them with a bucket of water. Looking ahead as the sun lowered itself further over the horizon I watched as the rays bounced off the water, sparkling as different shades of orange and red hit it. The sunset here was beautiful but even more so was the man I was sharing this with. Warm air hit my hands as he slipped his hand out of mine. I followed the screeching children with my eyes, smiling as their mother attempted to scold them, despite the fact that it was evident to see that she didn't want to get up from her beach towel. I felt a shiver run through me as a gentle hand played with the hair on the nape of my neck. I looked to my right and found piercing green eyes staring at me. Neither of us moving as we took all the time we needed just to gaze at the other. Eventually, I leaned forward into the lazy kiss, my eyes closing at his touch. I couldn't help but smile into the kiss. I held my lips back, as his musky breath washed over me. Our foreheads rested against each other and neither of us moved. Neither of us spoke. Words were irrelevant. I moved my hand, tracing a path up his perfectly sculpted chest, clutching at the black cotton material. I came to a rest at his heart and relaxed my palm, feeling the heartbeat beneath the skin. I stared at my hand, feeling the soft thudding noise that was steadily beating away. My smile broadened as I detected a small increase in the tempo and looking up, I raised an eyebrow at him. He held my gaze and I bit my lip just staring at him. His beauty was astounding, taking my breath away even nearly 6 years since first laying eyes on him. I felt an unexpected lump in my throat as various images came flashing through my mind. Images of our life together, this life that I'd clung too in my darkest moments.. this life that I was now experiencing with every passing moment.

I'd always had 'big' ideas when I was younger, building an empire, buying a mansion, flash cars, having a wife and children. An idea that I was in fact in love with, convinced anything else was inferior, not enough. However, I have a successful business, my partner, Christian, has a successful business, I live in cosy 2 bedroom house which I wouldn't change for any building in the country because it's home and finally I have a man. A man that I love more than anything in the world, more than myself, and for him I'd go anywhere and I'd do anything. All the heartache and pain we went through to get together, I wouldn't change it, because it's made us stronger people and experiencing life without him in those awful months has made us realise just what's at stake. Facing the sea again, I turn towards the sunset. His arms wrap around me and I lean my head against his chest, leaning my head back into the curve of his neck. For the first time in my life, with him, I'm content. I'm at peace with myself, finally.