Chapter 6

Over the next few days, Syed develops a routine of sorts: he drags his exhausted body out of bed each morning, has a shower, reads any instructions that may have been left for him, has breakfast and gets to work. He spends his afternoons at the Argee Bhajee; and pops around to see his mum, dad and Kamil before returning to the apartment in the evening to get dinner ready for Danny. He tries not to think very much about his situation; he simply accepts it. Danny seems like a stranger to him now; he can't find any trace of the person he got to know back in October. He doesn't know what to say to him, or if Danny even wants him to do any more than make polite conversation. The only time things don't feel awkward is when they are having sex. Syed knows Danny doesn't have any regard or even respect for him. He tries not to feel cheap, but doesn't quite succeed. He knows everyone back in the Square is whispering about him, and that his parents are ashamed of him, again.

One evening, Danny returns in a foul mood. They eat in silence, without even the pretense of exchanging a few words; and he goes straight to bed once they've finished. Syed doesn't know what to do; he sits on the sofa for ages wondering if there is any way he can save himself this time. Eventually, he gets some spare bedding and goes to sleep in one of the guest bedrooms.

3am in the morning

"What are you doing in here?" Danny asks.

"What?" Syed mumbles, struggling to wake up; his eyes squinting to adjust to the light from the bedside lamp.

"I fell asleep, didn't realise you hadn't come in."

"I didn't think you would want me to disturb you," Syed explains.

"Come to bed," Danny says. He turns to leave, expecting him to follow.

"No, I'm fine here in this bed," Syed says stiffly. He fiddles with the quilt as he waits for the put down, the threat of retribution.

Instead, Danny comes to sit on the side of the bed. He reaches out to touch Syed's hair, tucking a few stray strands behind his ear, his hand lingering to caress his cheek. He studies his face for a moment without speaking. "You've barely been here a week, but already I've gotten used to sharing a bed with you," he confesses with a sigh. "It's lonely …"

"I hate living here," Syed interrupts; the words bursting from him. "It's not like a home; it's so cold and impersonal; and you're so … so remote … you've made it more than clear you don't like me; and I can't live like this. I want to move back home."

"No," Danny says quietly, but firmly.

"You can't stop me; I could go to the police, report you …"

"Promise me that I won't come home one evening to an empty apartment, and a note telling me you've gone back to him.

"But … what I just said," Syed stutters, thrown off guard by the sudden note of pleading in his voice.

"I won't let you leave," Danny insists, but his voice lacks its usual confidence.

"Danny …," Syed says, but he doesn't know how to finish the sentence. Danny's eyes, with the slightest trace of vulnerability, are looking intently into his own; and he finds he can't bear the thought of hurting him.

"I need you to stay," he says softly. His hand moves to cover Syed's, to still their jittery movements and spare the quilt. And with his touch, his gaze, his words lulling him, Syed has no resistance when Danny's leans down to kiss him.

"Please stay with me," he whispers against his mouth.

"Okay," Syed responds; the word slurred, barely there.

Without breaking the kiss, Danny pulls back the quilt and gets into the bed. Gently pushing Syed onto his back, his body covers him. His kisses move to his throat and then down to his chest, where they stop.

"Um, Danny?" Syed says hesitantly.

"Need sleep; heavy day tomorrow," he mumbles with a yawn. And from the way his body relaxes against him and his breathing slows and becomes more regular, Syed realises he is already almost asleep.

Biting his bottom lip, Syed looks down for a moment at this guy who knows exactly what to say, what to do to get him to agree to just about anything. "Why do I feel so intensely drawn towards this person I hardly know?" he wonders uneasily. "Danny is basically a nasty piece of work; he's dangerous and unpredictable; he has pretty much destroyed everything in my life," he reminds himself one more time.

"Syed, it's okay," Danny mumbles, his voice thick with sleep. Forcing his head up off of Syed's chest, he gives him a haphazard kiss, which manages to land on the side of Syed's mouth; before letting his head drop heavily back onto his chest once more. Syed realises that he's been holding his body too rigidly; he takes a deep breath and slowly releases it, trying to relax. He then pulls the quilt up over them, and soon falls asleep.

###

Next morning's note is short: "I didn't mean to upset you." Syed puts it in his wallet.

#

"So, you slept in the guest room last night; hope you weren't giving my Danny a hard time, withholding the goods," Nicki pounces as soon as he walks out of the bedroom.

"Morning Nicki," Syed says with a smile. "Just because I slept in the guest room doesn't mean …"

"It was in the note."

"What are you doing reading my notes?" he asks sharply. "I thought we agreed …"

"If you're giving my Danny a hard time …"

"Maybe it's him giving me a hard time; did you ever think of that?" Syed snaps.

"Kettle's boiled; come and tell aunty Nicki all about it," she says soothingly.

"Everything's fine, honestly," he says with a sigh. "We had a tiff, but we sorted it."

"Danny's good like that; never holds a grudge."

"Yea, he's the best," Syed responds, but his sarcasm is lost on Danny's biggest fan.

"Did you see Corrie last night? I love the way that every time Dev mentions Sunita and the fire in the Rovers, Karl always happens to be nearby listening and looking anxious," Nicki moves on to more general matters and Syed eventually gets logged onto the computer half an hour later.

#

That evening

"Dinner will be ready in ten minutes," Syed calls, as Danny walks in the door. "What are these?" he asks a few minutes later as he notices Danny placing photos around the room.

"I had an idea; left work early," Danny grins.

Syed bursts out laughing as he checks out the first photo of his mum standing in the doorway of their house looking shocked. "What did you do?" he laughs, as he moves along to check the second photo of his dad in the street with a handful of post and a suspicious look on his face. The next has Tamwar standing in the Argee Bhajee with two plates of food, looking surprised, or maybe confused. Another is a picture of Kamil with a big smile. "At least Kamil won't be embarrassed when he sees his photo," he laughs.

"Yea, he's a natural; and a lovely little boy," Danny says. "As soon as I mentioned I was his big brother's friend, he was all chat."

"Who's this?" Syed asks looking at the last picture.

"Don't know, just a friendly dog; thought he looked cute," Danny shrugs.

"Did you take any other photos?" Syed asks.

"Yea, one or two nice spots in the Square; though there weren't many to choose from, and a couple of others; I didn't get prints."

He takes out his camera and hands it to Syed to take a look.

"These really are amazing; you've got a good eye," Syed smiles, as he flicks through photos taken at angles to make familiar places look more interesting and vibrant. "You enjoy taking photos, it's obvious …" He stops suddenly as he clicks onto at a picture of himself asleep.

"Don't you dare delete it," Danny warns, his head popping over his shoulder as the "Delete, yes/no" screen appears. Syed reluctantly chooses "No". As he clicks to the next picture, he finds another similar one of himself. "You took these this morning?"

"Yea; you looked so peaceful, so relaxed," Danny murmurs, sliding his arms around his waist. "You looked so beautiful, I couldn't resist," he whispers, pressing a kiss against his cheek.

"Shut up," Syed says huskily, without moving.

"Dinner," he mumbles after a moment; "I'd better go check on it."

"And I'd better go and have a shower," Danny responds, kissing him once more before walking into the bedroom.

As Syed watches him walk away, he bites down hard on the feeling of hope welling up inside him. "It was just a gesture; he never does anything that doesn't benefit himself; you know he can be charming, he charmed you out of £6,000," he sternly reminds himself. Nevertheless, his mouth insists on slipping into a smile as he walks back to the kitchen.

He fails to notice the three large bags next to the couch.

When he brings in the plates of food a little later, there are large red cushions are on the couch and arm chairs.

"Where did these come from?"

"I thought the place could do with a bit of colour," Danny says casually.

"Right, well they're nice; I like red," Syed responds awkwardly. Feeling flustered, he looks down at his food. He is very aware that he's overreacting to something which shouldn't be a big deal. "Even if he's trying to be nice, and if he cares enough to want me to be happy here; it doesn't matter because I don't care about him; I'm only here because he forced me to be," he grittily reminds himself; and Danny sees the way his hand resting on the table tightens into a fist.

"If you hate the colour red that much, you'd better tell me now; because I've put a red quilt cover and red pillows on the bed, too," he prompts.

"No, I really do like red," Syed insists, snapping out of his reverie. "And you're a bit of a fan, I take it?"

"I'm not fussed either way, to be honest; but you were wearing a red t-shirt the other day and it looked nice on you, so I imagined how you would look with your head resting on a red pillow and went with that," Danny explains the choice. "If you fancy adding anything else or changing anything, go for it," he adds, his face now slightly flushed.

"I didn't mean to insult your taste; it was rude of me," Syed murmurs.

"You didn't; it was my brother Vince who decorated the place; picked out the furniture; all of it. The only instructions I gave him were that I wanted a big, black leather couch and the biggest TV he could find. Since the all-white kitchen had already been fitted, he just went a bit mad with the black and white colour scheme throughout the apartment. Maybe I should have asked Tara to decorate it instead."

"Tara?"

"My sister."

"You speak to your brother and sister; you see them often?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I?"

"No reason," Syed quickly assures.

"Syed?"

"Nicki might have said something about you being all alone in the world …"

"Oh my God; I'm going to kill her."

"No, don't say anything; I might have picked it up wrong," Syed anxiously insists.

"I warned her …"

"Danny, don't you dare have a go at her," Syed warns.

"Fine, but I don't like you two gossiping about me behind my back."

"We've barely mention you," Syed lies.

"Liar," Danny says, but with a smile in his voice.

"She worships the ground you walk on."

"Well, I am pretty special, I suppose," Danny concedes.

"Not to mention arrogant," Syed grins.

"Yea, that too."

"I didn't notice any photos of your family around the place; after dinner, maybe we can put some up," Syed suggests.

"Don't have any," he replies with a shrug.

"But you must have, at least one or two."

"Tara'll have loads; I'll get her to email me some tomorrow." As he says this, Danny leans back on his chair and gives Syed a big, open, contented smile; completely taking his breath away. "Get a grip," he viciously coaches himself.

"Something bothering you?" Danny asks; reaching out to take Syed's hand, which is once more clenched in a fist.

"No," Syed says huskily, shaking his head.

"Are you still upset about last night?"

"No …"

"You know I can't let you leave," he says quietly; his grip on Syed's hand growing a little tighter.

Syed's heart flutters at the possessive tone. They share a long intense look. "I know," he says softly.