A/N: New chapter :D. Things are going to take a dark turn so I am upping the rating to an M. Still haven't decided how long this fic will be so will just keep plugging away until it reaches the end.

Thanks for the reviews, I should reply personally but I'm lazy :D

Chapter Seven

"Here we are, home sweet home," Christian announced as he opened the door to the flat. He helped Syed in and lowered him onto the sofa. "Put your foot up and rest it."

Syed looked around the flat. "It hasn't changed much."

"Haven't had time to redecorate, what with the baby and the cancer."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to sound rude."

"You didn't. Here put this under your foot," Christian lifter Syed's leg and placed a pillow under to give extra support. "Maybe you should see a doctor."

"I'm sure it'll be fine."

"What about the messages, do you want to call the police?"

"Do you think they'll do anything?"

"Honestly? No I don't. Not yet anyway. You could file a complaint though."

"I'll think about it. I just want to sleep now, forget this day ever happened."

"Do you want me to help you over to the bed?"

"No I'll just sleep here. I'm comfy."

"I'll get you a blanket," Christian said. By the time he returned, Syed was asleep.

Syed heard Christian's voice before he opened his eyes. He was talking to someone.

"Sorry, I can't tonight, I'm busy... What makes you say that?... Just because... Rox, I'm not going to argue with you on this... I'll be over tomorrow, bye," he said and quickly hung up the phone before Roxy could say anything else.

"You can go and see her if you want," Syed's voice shocked Christian. He hadn't even noticed Syed had woken up. "You don't have to stay on my account."

"I'm not, I just don't feel like going out. How's your foot?" Christian asked as he flopped down on the sofa next to Syed. Syed sat up so he could lean into Christian's warm embrace.

"It's okay mostly, just aching a bit."

"I could get you some painkillers."

"No thanks, a cup of tea would be nice though."

"Coming right up," Christian grinned and headed to the kitchen.

Syed took this time to have a look around the flat. It was amazing how much it still looked the same, albeit with a few more pink toys scattered around. It felt comfortable, it felt safe. It felt like home.

"Here you go," Christian handed him a steaming mug of tea. Syed took a small sip and winced at how hot it was. Christian just sat and smiled at him.

"What?"

"I missed this."

"You missed me burning my mouth on a cup of tea?"

"That's part of it. I missed you being here, sitting on the sofa, drinking tea, cooking in the kitchen. You know it's never been tidier since you left."

"That can only be a good thing, couldn't it?"

"It didn't feel like home. It stopped belonging to you and me. There were times I didn't even want to be here so I stayed at Roxy's instead, especially when I was sick."

Syed leaned forward and placed the hot mug on the table. He shuffled closer to Christian and wrapped his arms around him. "I'm not going anywhere ever again, I promise. I shouldn't have left in the first place."

"Well you're back now, that's all that matters," Christian leaned in and kissed Syed on the lips.

"So, what did Roxy want?"

"What?"

"You were on the phone to her earlier. Was it about Laura?"

"No, Laura's fine. Roxy's having a man crisis yet again. She wanted to bend my ear about it but I'm not in the mood for that. I just want to spend the day sitting here with you."

"I'm sure sitting isn't the first thing on your mind."

"However did you know?" Christian winked and kissed Syed again, this time a little more passionately."

Roxy was annoyed with Christian. All she'd wanted was her friend to talk to and he'd brushed her off. He'd done that quite a lot over the last few days and she was determined to find out what he was hiding from her. So, she picked up their daughter and Amy and headed over to his flat with the spare key and the pretence that she wanted him to spend time with Laura.

As she approached the door she heard Christian laugh. He was with whoever this mystery bloke was. Now Roxy was determined to find out what was going on even more. She slipped the key in the door; she turned it in the lock and pushed the door open to an unexpected sight. Christian was naked on the sofa lying on top of an almost naked Syed. Roxy gasped in shock at the sight before her. She had never expected to see Syed again.

"Roxy!" Christian exclaimed as he rushed to cover himself up, grabbing the closest thing to him which just happened to be a cushion. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"What the hell are you doing with him?" Roxy shouted back, ignoring his question. "You split up ages ago!"

Syed just sat there in sheer embarrassment, suddenly grateful they hadn't got as far as he had wanted. At least he was still wearing his jeans, if little else. He could honestly say at this moment he wanted to drop dead.

"We got back together," Christian replied, forcing himself to calm down so he didn't upset Laura. He leaned down and grabbed his jeans, quickly pulling them on so he could stand up. "Syed, could you take Laura and Amy out for a bit? Take them to the park or something?"

"Yeah sure," Syed replied as he pulled his shirt on. He stood up and limped over to Christian who deposited his daughter into Syed's arms. "How long should I be?"

"About half an hour. Just need to have a little chat with Roxy here," he put the emphasis on chat.

"Okay," Syed smiled half heartedly to Roxy as he took Amy by the hand and headed out, leaving Christian and Roxy alone.

"How could you even consider getting back with him after all he put you through?" Roxy shouted, glad she didn't have to keep her voice down any longer.

"Neither of us were blameless in what happened. I acted just as badly as he did."

"But HE left YOU Christian! He walked out on you and the child you supposedly wanted together. He was selfish, he was only thinking of himself."

"And I was only thinking of myself. He only left because he felt so excluded and he was right. I did exclude him. I pushed him away because I got so carried away with the idea of having a baby and I never listened to what he wanted. I wish I had because it was the worst mistake of my life."

"Are you saying you think our daughter was a mistake?"

"Not for a second. I regret letting him leave. We should've been together, the two of us, raising our child but instead I spent a year of my life being angry at him when all I wanted was for him to come back. And he did."

Roxy felt the fight drain out of her when she saw how happy Christian was at the fact Syed was back with him. She wanted to be happy for her friend, she really did, but she couldn't understand why it had to be Syed.

"How did you get back together then?"

"Tamwar told me where he was living so I wrote to him. I didn't want to scare him away by just turning up on his doorstep. He phoned me and we met up, got talking and it just happened from there."

"And how do you know he's not going to up and leave again? How can you be sure he'll stay?"

"I can't but I want to be with him. I love him too much not to give this a second chance. You don't have to approve, just say you understand why I'm doing this."

"I don't know what to think, Christian, I really don't. I need to go can you bring Laura and Amy over when Syed gets back. I need time to think about this," Roxy told Christian as she headed towards the door.

Despite the continuous ache in his foot, Syed had enjoyed the trip out. It had felt weird to be back in Walford but it was a kind of good weird. It felt like he was home again.

Then he saw Zainab and he stopped dead in his tracks. His heart leapt into his mouth and he felt sick on seeing his mother again, they had been out of contact with each other for so long, he hadn't even seen her since he left. It was one of those awkward moments when two people who had once been so close saw each other for the first time in an age but couldn't speak to each other. Instead, Syed bowed his head as if he was ashamed and carried on walking back to Christian's flat.

"Hey," Christian greeted as Syed walked in looking a little flustered and sad. "What's wrong?"

"I just saw mum," Syed sighed.

"Did she say anything?"

"Nothing, she just stared at me. I just got away from there as quick as I could."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really. Maybe you should take Amy and Laura back round to Roxy's. How did she take things in the end?"

"She's not happy but I never expected her to be," Christian told Syed as he lifted Laura out of Syed's arms. "Did you have fun?"

"Yeah, we had a great time, didn't we?"

"Do anything fun?"

"We went to the park, played on the swings, looked at the ducks because we didn't have any bread to feed them," Syed smiled.

"That's great. I'll get them home and then we can talk," Christian leaned in and briefly gave Syed a gentle kiss. "Everything's going to be fine," he reassured before he left.

Syed suddenly felt very tired, as if he had been running on adrenaline that had just run out. His foot started to ache so he sat down and pulled his boots off. He rubbed his foot gently to try to stop the pain but it just continued to ache. He felt like crying.

The last few days were beginning to take their toll on Syed. He just wanted to be happy, to be with Christian without all this drama. They'd wasted enough time, Syed just wanted to live out the rest of his life with Christian and die a happy and content man.

That was never going to happen though, there was too much drama going on. Between possessive best friends and threatening messages things were only going to get worse before they got better. He sighed and hobbled over to the kitchen so he could pour a glass of water to take some painkillers with.

He was interrupted by the buzz of the door. He inwardly cursed but slowly made his way over to the buzzer.

"Hello?" He asked but there was no reply. Feeling slightly annoyed, he started to walk away but the buzzing continued. "Is there anybody there?" He asked but there was still no reply.

Feeling angry, Syed decided it must be kids acting up so he flung opened the door and hobbled down the stairs, intending to tell them to stop mucking around. However when he opened the main door to the flat, there was no-one there. He stepped outside and looked around but he couldn't see anyone.

As he turned around to head back inside Syed felt himself being pushed up against the wall just inside the flat. He tried to shout out but he felt a strong hand force itself around his mouth.

"Don't even think about it a familiar voice growled. "One wrong move and I will stick this knife into your gut," Syed hadn't realised it but there was a knife pressed lightly against his ribs. "Now listen to me. You and I are going to take a trip somewhere. If you co-operate then I won't have to hurt you but if you struggle in any way I will not hesitate to kill you. Do you understand?" Syed dumbly nodded. "Good," the man said as he removed his hand from Syed's mouth.

"David, why are you doing this?" Syed gasped. He thought he had seen the last of him when they had broken up.

"I never said you could talk," David responded, his voice calm and cold. Syed could never have imagined how much trouble he could get into when he met this psychopath. "Come on, we haven't got all day, let's get a move on," he grabbed Syed by the arm and pushed him out of the flat. He led him to a nearby car and opened the boot. "Get in," he ordered.

Syed hesitated. There was no way he was getting in willingly. "Please, don't do this," he begged quietly. "Can't we just talk about it?"

"Get in or I will force you in," David replied, pointing the knife at Syed's chest. He realised there wasn't any other way. He had to follow this madman until he could figure out a way to escape. With deep resignation, Syed climbed into the boot and lay down before the heavy metal was slammed down, plunging the terrified young man into darkness.

He wanted Christian.

"Hey Sy, d'ya fancy a takeaway? I've got a craving for fish and chips," Christian called up the stairs as he bounded back up to the flat. He opened the door but Syed wasn't there. "Sy? Are you here?" He called out again but he still didn't receive a response.

He checked the bathroom but Syed wasn't there. Where the hell had he gone? Had he had second thoughts about the two of them being together and just didn't have the heart to tell Christian? Then he saw Syed's boots lying on the floor next to the sofa. There was no way Syed would leave without any shoes on.

Christian felt the worry build up inside him. Where was Syed?