(This will be the final chapter-thank you so much for your reviews, all of them positive, thankfully, lol!)

CHAPTER 4-CHRISTIAN'S POV

He's not coming back. How could I ever have thought he'd choose me? He got over there, took one look at his family, and decided I wasn't worth it. He's taking far too long-surely if he'd told them, he'd be back by now.

It's not like me to panic over a bloke, but then, I've never been in love before. Before, it was all about getting some, and getting gone-"Christian Clarke doesn't do commitment, darling." But Syed has changed all that. He got inside my heart, and then stole it completely. He's the love of my life; I need him. And sitting here without him, imagining the worst, is not helping matters.

I know he's scared. And I know he stands to lose a lot more than me by going public, but...he has to be honest with himself. Otherwise, things will only get worse.

I hurt all over, but nothing hurts more than my heart right now. He can't keep doing this to me, can't keep raising my hopes if he's only going to let me down. I can't...

Someone's knocking on the door. Oh God, please, let it be him. Please... I can't take much more of this...

It's Amira.

And I know from the look on her face that she knows.

She knows everything.

Her eyes widen momentarily when she sees how awful I look, as she steps inside. "My God." She breathes. "Who did..?" Then she stops, her expression growing a little harder, and she tells me, "Syed is packing his things. His parents have thrown him out. They know, Christian. And so do I."

It's obvious that Amira has been crying, but she's holding her head high now, looking me right in the eye. And yes, I feel awful. "I'm sorry, Amira." I say sincerely. "Syed and I...we never meant to hurt you. We just fell in love. He walked away so many times, but..."

"He loves you." She says quietly, interrupting me, and my eyes widen in surprise when I see that she's smiling slightly, even through her obvious pain. "He must do, to tell us like that. It's just..." Her face trembles, and a tear escapes down her cheek, before she says brokenly, "So do I."

Helplessly, I reach out, and to my shock, Amira goes willingly into my embrace. "I'm so sorry, darling." I murmur against her hair. "I never meant for this to happen, I swear it."

Pulling away and wiping at her eyes, Amira asks, "Do you love Syed?" I smile-this is the easiest question I've ever had to answer. "With all my heart." I reply. "I've never felt like this about anyone, ever."

Amira nods at my response. "Well, I hope you do, Christian." She says softly. Strangely, she seems to understand how Syed and I feel about each other.

Unlike his family, apparently.

"Because he's just lost everything." She concludes. "His parents want nothing more to do with him, I've never seen them so angry."

I let out a derisive snort. I like Masood, I admit, he's always been nice to me, but Zainab...well, we've always sort of been on shaky ground, to say the least. Stemming from when she displayed her open disgust for my sexuality.

Amira is right-this must be killing them, particularly Zainab, whose beloved son has just admitted to being something she despises.

But it doesn't matter-because Syed hasn't lost everything.

"He's got me, Amira." I tell her firmly. "No matter what, he will always have me."

Amira nods again, then turns away. "I have to go." She say quietly. "I shouldn't even be here, but I wanted to make sure..." She sighs heavily, then glances at me. "I wanted to be sure you felt the same. But I can see you do. I wish you both luck, Christian. I do. Because as far as Syed's parents are concerned, you'll probably need it."

"Thank you." I'm humbled by Amira's sincerity, and her bravery in coming here. This is an amazing woman, who, I'm sure, will have no problem finding someone else, eventually. I only wish Sy and I didn't have to hurt her as we have.

Once she's gone, I feel restless again. But I'm no longer worried that Sy won't come back to me. He has finally made his choice-and has sacrificed everything he's ever loved in doing so.

I didn't think it was possible to love him more until this moment.

The shouting coming from across the Square draws me to the window, and as I look out, I see Sy coming out of his front door, clutching his suitcase, followed by Zainab, who's waving her arms about and screaming. It would almost look funny, except poor Syed looks absolutely cowed, and ashamed, and I'm suddenly filled with anger.

The man I love is in this mess because of me-the least I can do is help get him out of it.

As soon as Zainab sees me approach, she lets out a cry of rage and launches herself at me. "What have you done?" She screams, sobbing hysterically. "What have you done to my son??!"

In the face of her loathing and disgust, I'm struggling to remain calm. All I want to do is take Sy away from all this insanity. "We haven't done anything, Zainab." I tell her coldly, glancing at Sy, who looks utterly lost. And I suddenly hate her, hate everyone who has played a part in causing the devastated look on my lover's face.

"We're in love." I practically spit the words into her hateful face. "Get over it."

Her mouth drops open at my impertinence, and I battle against the urge to laugh. This is going to descend into farce if I don't get Syed the hell out of here.

Walking over to him, I gently take his arm, and whisper, "It's ok, Sy. I'm here now. It's all going to be okay. Come on."

Just as Sy starts to leave with me, Zainab grabs his other arm. She looks completely deranged. "You are going nowhere with him." Her statement is directed at her son, but it's clear the venom in her voice is especially for me, since it's me she's glaring at. "Come back inside now, Syed, and we'll forget all about this."

"And then I can marry Amira and pretend this never happened, right?" Syed says, perfectly calm. He almost sounds serious.

Almost.

To my astonishment, Zainab actually seems to think he is serious. "Perhaps, son." She replies. "If you tell Amira you didn't mean...those things. Now come inside."

However, when she pulls on Sy's arm, he yanks it away and rounds on her. "You're insane, mum." His voice is low, but emphatic. Now he's serious. "Do you really think we can all just conveniently forget that I'm gay?" He points at me, finger shaking, then looks right at me, all his love evident in every facet of his face. "I love him." He says. "And I am done apologizing for it." Walking over to me, he smiles shakily, and murmurs, "Let's go."

We walk across the Square together, his hand clasped in mine, pointedly ignoring the torrent of abuse still coming from his mother, and the shocked expressions of people stepping out of their houses to see what's going on. Sy still looks a bit shaken, but happy, and I make a mental note to tell him every day for the rest of our lives together how happy he's just made me.

I've found 'The One'.

Now what more could a bloke ask for?...

THE END