Hey, all! So this is the second last chapter where everything is pretty much resolved, and then the next one is just an epilogue. I really hope you enjoy this!

Neither Ryou nor Mehi were scared of him after he had explained what happened. In fact, they hadn't even changed how they behaved around him at all. This fact was cemented when Mehi woke Malik up for fajr a week later, and refused to let him go back to bed afterwards. "Nope. Get your work out clothes - you're coming with me today."

"I don't have any," Malik protested, yawning. "Come on, Mehi - it's too early for this."

"Nope. I know you have sweatpants, and any t-shirt will do." Mehi grinned at him. "I've dragged Ryou and Bakura to these before. This is your turn."

Malik groaned and buried his face in his hands. Mellie padded around his ankles and mewed for food. "Okay. Fine." He dragged his hand through his hair. "Will you make coffee while I go shower? And feed Mellie?"

"Just slap on some deodorant and you'll be fine." Mehi made her way into the kitchen, followed by the cat. "We're going to the gym. Not out."

"The gym is going out," Malik huffed, "and I want to wash my hair." His hair got greasy ridiculously fast - possibly because he liked to wash it every day. Mehi shook her head but didn't object as he staggered to the bathroom. He turned on the shower and waited until the water was steaming to step in.

For a second, he hissed and jerked away as the heat hit the small of his back, but he forced himself back into the water to adjust to the temperature change. He tried to move fast, make his sluggish arms rub shampoo into his hair and wash it out faster, but it didn't work. Just as he was about to climb out, he turned the water to the coldest possible temperature.

He jolted away from the water and turned it off. He stepped out of the shower shivering and began to towel himself dry. At least it woke him up. He wrapped the towel around his waist and stepped out.

Mehi leaned out of the kitchen. "You just like black coffee, right?"

"Yeah," Malik yawned, stretching. The cold water had woken him up, but he was still tired. He crept into the bedroom and managed to grab his sweatpants, underwear, and a t-shirt without waking Bakura or Ryou. He dressed quickly, remembered his socks, and brought them out with him to the couch.

Mehi met him in the living room with his coffee and her protein shake. "Here you go."

"Thanks." Malik took it and drank a large sip before sitting down to pull his socks on. "I can't believe you do this every day."

"Eh." Mehi shrugged. "You get used to it." She drained a third of her protein shake.

Malik just shook his head and yanked on a pair of sneakers. "Okay, you ready?"

"Mhm." She finished her shake. "Yeah. You?" He glanced at his coffee. "Okay, I'll go stretch while you finish that. We can jog to the gym."

Malik let his head fall forward. He just wanted to go back to sleep. But he drank the end of his coffee as Mehi stretched and he joined her for the end of the warm up to her warm up.

"Now are you ready?" She looked at him as she stepped out of her last lunge. He grimaced but nodded. "Great. Come on." She grabbed her key and led Malik outside. She locked the door behind her, and they made their way downstairs. Once they were outside, Mehi began jogging. She didn't give much warning, so Malik had to run for a moment to catch up to her. He almost had to stay running to keep up with her, but when he brought it up, she immediately slowed to his pace.

It was a half hour run to the gym, and by the time they reached it, Malik's tongue pulsed in his mouth and he doubled over at the door, panting for breath. He had prided himself on being relatively fit, but this was already more than he was able for.

"Do you need water?" Mehi looked worried, and he nodded. "Okay, come on." The building was air conditioned, which was of some comfort to him. He sank into the chair, and Mehi grabbed a bottle of water for him from the vending machine.

"Hey, Mehi!" A voice called as he emptied half the bottle into his mouth. He looked up to see a woman with dyed pink-purple hair and wrinkles around her eyes walking over. "It's good to see you again."

"You too." Mehi grinned. "I ended up dragging Malik this time."

The woman looked down at him and laughed. "Are you doing okay there?"

Malik's skin prickled with heat. He cleared his throat. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"That's good. Wouldn't want you down for the count already." She grinned. "I'm Máire."

"Nice to meet you." He managed to give her a small smile, which she returned with a guffaw of laughter.

"Oh, Mehi's routine is going to destroy you, love." She shook her head and looked up at Mehi. "Will you be at Taekwondo again this week?"

"Yeah, I think so." Mehi nodded. "I have Wednesday evening free, so as long as Chad doesn't try to take my evening off again, I'll be there."

Máire's grin grew. "Great! I'll see you then." She patted Mehi's arm and wandered further into the gym.

"You actually work with someone called Chad?" Malik snorted.

Mehi shook his head. "Nah. He kept calling both of us Maria because apparently every Mexican girl is called Maria and he can't pronounce Máire."

"But you're- he knows you're Cuban, right?"

"I think he thinks Cuba is in Mexico." Mehi shook her head with a sigh. "So we just started calling him the most common white American names we could think of. I think his name's Jeremy or something similar but we never call him that."

Malik snickered, grin spreading across his face. The story almost helped to lift his exhaustion. "That's perfect."

"I know." Mehi winked at him. "Now come on. We have a work out to do."

The routine started out with lifting weights - biceps curls, armpit rows, dumbell presses, standing dumbell presses. Malik could only lift up to eight kg at any one time, and had to take frequent breaks. Mehi was able to lift twice that weight with half the effort Malik put in, but she never gave him trouble for it. In fact, she specifically told him to stop straining himself, and showed him a better way of lifting.

Finally, after half an hour, they moved onto the cycling machines. Why they needed to cycle after running for half an hour, Malik didn't know, but he didn't object to it. Mehi knew her routine and she knew a lot more than him. Plus, he actually enjoyed leg work.

Then there were pull ups and push ups, and Malik sat out for a break. Máire stayed and chatted with him while he was recovering. He joined Mehi again for the punching bag, hip raises, and planks.

When he was on the punching bag, Máire wandered back to them and gave him advice on where to keep his hands and elbows, and then worked him into agreeing to a small spar. He lost. Máire was a head shorter than him, wiry, fast on her feet, and would have flipped him over her head if it was a real fight. He sat out again and watched her and Mehi spar a few times, sweat filming on his forehead as he tried to regulate his water intake.

Finally, they stopped, and Malik joined Mehi for a cool off stretch. His scars itched from the sweat and stretching, but he didn't mind all that much. Mehi smiled at him. "Ready to jog back?"

Malik groaned. "Can we walk?"

Mehi laughed, and shook her head. "Of course. We might be a little late for breakfast."

"If we run, we'll be late anyway." He would collapse with much more. His body was aching. Well, not really collapse, but he didn't have the motivation to run.

"Okay, okay." Mehi dried sweat off her face with a towel and dumped it in the laundry bin. They made their way out of the gym, Malik still stretching his arms to get feeling back into them. "Thanks for doing that with me today."

He couldn't help but smile. "I hope you're not expecting me to do the same tomorrow. I'll be lucky if I can type in the morning."

Mehi shook her head. "Nah, you did really well today. Especially given you don't work out regularly. It's different to what you're used to. I know that. Bakura can't even keep up with it, and he works out every single day."

Malik relaxed and smiled. "Okay, good." He glanced at Mehi out of the corner of his eye. "But I did enjoy it. Somewhat, anyway. I liked doing it with you."

Mehi smiled and leaned in to kiss his cheek. "You really are a cheesy nerd."

Malik smirked and elbowed her. "You like it - don't lie."

"Okay." Mehi looked forward again. "I liked doing it with you too."

A warm feeling spread across Malik's chest and stayed there for the rest of the walk home. Once he got through the door, he flopped onto the couch, into Bakura's lap.

Bakura snickered. "Were you treated to the workout á la Mehi?"

"Yes," Malik grumbled. "I'm sore."

"Come eat something," Ryou called to him. "It'll make you feel a little better."

Malik made a weak attempt to stand up, and then fell back into Bakura's lap. Bakura ran his fingers through Malik's hair. "Eat with us and I'll give you a massage after?" He offered.

"Where's my massage?" Mehi asked.

"If you get Malik to eat with us, I'll give you a massage," Ryou offered.

Mehi walked over to the couch and picked Malik up. He shrieked and clung to her neck, but laughed once he got his bearings. "Sorry, Mal. Ryou's massages are a thing of beauty."

"What about mine?" Bakura sat up properly.

Mehi glanced at him and smirked. "What about them?"

"Oh, fine then. See if you get another from me."

Mehi laughed and carried Malik to the kitchen, setting him down at the table. Malik sat down as Ryou passed him a plate of pancakes, porridge, and quorn bacon. "Thanks, honey."

"No problem." Ryou kissed the top of his head and sat beside him. "Bakura, get your ass in here or we'll eat your food."

"Okay, I'm coming." Bakura slouched in and reluctantly sat beside Mehi. "But my massages are just as good as yours."

"Sure they are." Ryou smiled at him. "Now eat your breakfast so we can give them massages and they can decide who's actually better." He leaned closer to Malik. "It's me."

Malik just grinned. "As long as I get a massage, I'm happy." Correction; as long as he was with them, he was happy.

Malik was almost shaking as they walked back into the mosque. Ryou and Bakura were waiting a little way down the street in a small coffeeshop – neither of them had wanted to intrude during the prayer so they had promised to be at the door when it ended.

He glanced around the room as he emerged from washing himself. "She's not here yet..."

Mehi squeezed his hand. "She will be. It's a bit away from your house."

Malik slowly nodded. Jonathon smiled at him from across the room and he struggled to return it. She had to be there. He needed her to be there – he needed to fix this.

He squeezed his eyes shut. Calm. Calm; it would be fine. She wouldn't miss prayer.

Mehi nudged him. "Hey. Look up."

Malik obliged, glancing towards the doors. Isis stood just in the doorway, khimar as firm as ever, eyes scanning the room. When she spotted Malik, his throat closed in.

"Breathe," Mehi murmured as she began walking towards them. "It'll be okay."

"Malik." Isis nodded at her brother. "It's good to see you again."

"You too." Malik's nails dug into his palms. "Um, did you get down okay?"

She just nodded again, folding her arms. "Yes. The traffic was bad, but I managed."

"Is Rishid here?"

"He had to work today."

Malik blinked a few times. "You learned to drive?"

"I was taking lessons while you were at college." She managed a small smile. "I'm not a fan of it, but I got my licence the other day. This was my first long trip."

"That's brilliant!" Malik grinned, relaxing a little. His nails eased out of his skin.

"Thank you." Her eyes flickered to Mehi and all of the tension returned. "We'll talk more after praying, agreed?"

"Alright." Malik slowly nodded and Isis wandered off to find a place. She liked to be exceptionally precise.

Mehi turned to him. "So that didn't go so badly."

"I guess..." Malik chewed his lip. "I was hoping that she'd actually talk to you before we started."

"She got in late," Mehi pointed out. "It'll be okay – we'll talk afterwards."

"I guess..." Malik repeated, running a hand through his hair.

Mehi reached up and gently took his hand. "Relax. It'll be okay."

Despite her reassurances, Malik couldn't focus much on the prayers. The light feeling that had developed over the past few times he had prayed was lessened – not quite to the extent as it had been before, but it was enough that he couldn't relax during it.

By the time it ended, he was shaking. Calm. Calm. Calm. Mehi carefully wrapped her arms around him. "Breathe. You have to calm down."

"I'm trying," Malik whispered.

"Use a grounding exercise, okay? Find five things you can see." Mehi's hand, the clock, the lines in the carpet, Jonathon, Isis' khimar. "Okay, now four you can touch." Mehi's arm, the floor, his leg, his bracelet. "Three you can hear." His breath, Mehi's voice, and the footsteps of everyone moving to the door. "Two you can smell." Sweat, Mehi's perfume. "And one you can taste." The remnants of Ryou's coffee from when he accidentally drank from the wrong cup. "Better?"

"I-" His breath wasn't catching anymore, and the shaking had subsided. "Yeah. I'm okay."

"Good." Mehi smiled at him. "Let's go down and talk to her."

Malik slowly nodded and followed her out of the room. They caught up to Isis at the shoe rack, zipping up her boots. She raised an eyebrow. "Is everything okay?"

Malik nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." He glanced at the door. "The others are outside."

They pulled on their shoes and slipped out into the street. Sure enough, Ryou and Bakura were waiting by the door, each holding a cup of coffee.

"Did you get us something?" Mehi asked.

Bakura snorted. "No, get it yourself." He handed her the cup.

She smiled. "Thanks."

Ryou passed Malik his own cup. Malik took it with a small grin and turned to Isis. "Isis, this is Ryou, Bakura, and you know Mehi. Guys, this is my sister Isis."

"It's nice to meet you." She glanced over them. "So you're Malik's... partners?"

"That's us." Ryou nodded. "He's been staying with us for the past while."

"Yes he told me that over the phone." Her eyes flickered to her brother. "What do you do for a living?"

"Mehi works with the kids at the gym, and Bakura's a professional dancer," Ryou replied. "I'm still studying theatre and language in university."

"I see. I'm studying law myself." Isis nodded. "So Mehi's the only girl?"

That made Malik start a little. He had been expecting something- well, something transphobic. Ryou's smile merely grew and he nodded. "Yeah, she is."

"I see," Isis repeated. She looked at Malik. "Can we talk privately for a moment?"

Here it comes. Malik swallowed and nodded. He gave his partners a shaky smile as he followed his sister a little way up the path.

But when she turned to him, she was still smiling. "They seem nice."

Malik let out a slow breath. "They are," he promised her. "Really nice."

"You're a lot happier here." She glanced around. "Even if it's not the best area."

"It's still relatively good," Malik assured her. "Nothing bad happens." The bruising around his nose had faded. "We got a cat too. Her name's Melody."

"That sounds nice, and it's good that you're safe." She looked back at him. Her arms were still folded, but she was toying with the sleeve of her shirt. "I don't suppose you want to come back home?"

Malik hesitated. "I do," he admitted quietly. "More than anything. But... I'm not ready yet." He shook his head. "I don't want to go back to the old mosque, and I'm pretty sure if Atem saw me, he'd punch me."

"If he did, I'd call the police."

That was actually somewhat reassuring. "But I'm also not ready to go back home with you," Malik told her. "What you did... really hurt me. You rejected part of who I am."

"I know." Isis looked down. "And I know that it will probably take you a long time to forgive me. But I'm sorry. And I'm trying to come to terms with... everything."

Malik chewed his lip and took a sip of his coffee. "What made you change your mind?"

"Rishid." Isis looked up at him, grey eyes hard. "He told me what our father did to him, and why."

He's not your brother, and according to Allah, he never will be.

"And...?"

"And..." Isis sighed. "And I don't condone violence in the name of religion. You know this. Also... you did make some good points. Allah created everyone in His idea of perfection, and who are we to question His idea of perfection? Even if I'm... struggling to come to terms with neither of you being straight, I'll get there. It just may take some time." She smiled through her pursed lips. "Just as I know it will take time for you to forgive me."

"Thank you." Malik sighed. "If you want, I know some people at the mosque that have LGBT relatives, and there are some things online that might help. I could email you their contact details and some websites."

"That would be nice," Isis agreed. "Thank you."

Malik hesitated, grip tightening on the cup. "Can I hug you?"

Isis chuckled and shook her head, wrapping her arms around Malik. "Of course you can."

The tension finally fully eased from Malik's shoulders as he returned the hug. "I missed you."

"I missed you too." She kissed his temple, even though she had to stand on her toes to do so. "I don't suppose you'd like to go to dinner tonight?"

Malik glanced back at his partners. "I- Bakura has a show tonight and we always go-"

"Don't worry." Isis combed her fingers through his hair. "Go have fun. Rishid and I will catch up with you again soon." She reluctantly released him. "I should go – dinner won't cook itself."

"You could come," Malik offered. "We always have a spare ticket."

"Would you want me there?" Isis raised an eyebrow, but Malik nodded.

"I would."

She smiled at him. "Thank you." She glanced back at his partners. "I'll be there. I should head back and cook first. I'll see you tonight, alright?"

Malik nodded, returning the smile. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me." Isis shook her head. "Not when I should be the one thanking you."

Hope it was okay! Please review and I'll see you next time for the final chapter!