Okay first off, new start. I have planned this whole story out entirely, I won't be stuck for things to write like all the others, so I'm actually quite likely to delete those and truly give myself a fresh start! I know, how exciting. Anyway this is a Phantom of the Opera fic, Christine x Erik {because I can not stand Raoul as you will soon see} so please don't be discouraged by their relationship now. Raoul is a bad, bad man. This has not been edited by anyone other than me so if I have any major flaws please point them out to me, thank you!

I will try my hardest to update this every Saturday, but if it is late I am sorry!

That night had seemed blurry in the mind of one such Christine DaaƩ. Looking back on it, on the morning after, had done nothing but given her a severe headache, although, it was only to be expected considering, in the words of Raoul, the traumatic and excruciating experiences she had been through. She sat herself up in her bed in the house of Antoinette and Meg Giry, the closest thing people she could call to family. She brushed off the sheets gently, and stepped out of bed. She dressed her self quickly in one of the dresses that Meg had lent her, after all her possessions had been destroyed in the fire at the Opera Populaire, and stepped lightly down the creaky stairs, before entering the parlor.

"Ah, Christine!" Antoinette greeted warmly. "How did you sleep?" She asked.

Christine paused for a moment, coming to the realization that she had indeed slept a lot better than she thought she would have.

"Very well, thank you." She replied kindly, sitting down.

"Would you like some tea?" Antoinette asked.

"No thank you Madame Giry." She replied, when suddenly, Meg burst into the room.

"Christine! Oh Christine you're safe! When Maman told me you were here, and safe, I could hardly believe it! When we didn't find you, I thought for sure..." She cut herself off there, knowing that Christine would not want to be reminded of the events of the previous night.

Christine got up off of her feet and hugged Meg, she was truly glad to see her again, and took a lot of comfort in the fact that her adoptive sister, who was her best friend too, was there for her.

"It's okay Christine, you're safe now." Meg told her gently, the two sitting down together.

Christine felt the need to argue with this statement, for she had always known that she would be safe in the arms of the phantom. After all, he was her angel, and had protected her for years and years, not to mention how much he loved her. Her heart ached guiltily at the though. She had truly not wanted to break the man in the way he did, but knew that what she had done would harm him for a long time to come. Despite what she had said down in the vaults, she did care for him deeply. He had been there when she was lost and alone, and needed someone, anyone. He had bared his soul to her through the crumbling walls of the chapel and she had bared her own back.

"Christine?" A puzzled call from Antoinette had pulled Christine out of her own thoughts, tying her back down to reality.

"Sorry Madame, I must have missed that." She replied nervously.

"I said, I am going to the market, would you like to accompany me?" She asked, smiling a little.

"Oh yes, of course." She replied, before adding. "Tell me, what did Raoul say to you last night after I had gone to bed?"

Antoinette paused for a moment, before replying. "He says he will come and see you this afternoon, and talk a few things over with you. I am guessing it is probably to do with you're wedding"

Christine simply nodded, with a warm smile, but found herself wondering why she was excited, but did not have anything near what the theater girls had described as 'butterflies' and she certainly wasn't as excited as they had all made out that it would be. Christine began to wonder if she had had the right expectations of love. She did not doubt her feelings for Raoul, she just felt a strong sense of anticlimax with the way she reacted. Oh well, it was probably only because she knew him so well that she wasn't nervous.

After a relaxing and pleasantly mundane trip to the market, Christine felt a lot more relaxed than she had, only realizing after she got back, what a huge weight upon her shoulders all of the stress from the last six weeks at the Opera Populaire. She felt a lot brighter and a lot happier and was excited for Raoul's trip. She had convinced herself that she was not nervous because of how long she and Raoul had known each other and had decided that she was definitely looking forward to their walk together. She was glad with the choice she had made, despite everything, and knew that the wedding would follow not long after. When she thought of this, however, a sense of- something, but she wasn't sure what- fell over her. Maybe it was nerves? It didn't really feel like it, it more felt like her insides churned around angrily at the thought, but maybe wedding nerves were different to stage nerves. Yes, that must be it. She smiled, and felt much happier about the whole ordeal, allowing her mind to sink into the false sense of security, that everything would, indeed, be fine.

Both Meg and Antoinette were a little concerned, they had seen the various emotions run over Christine's face, in the times where the girl had been lost in thought, and they had ranged everywhere from distressed, to excited, to disappointed, and neither could quite work out what she was spending so much time dwelling over. Both had their theories, but were unanimously certain that once Christine met Raoul again, everything would be, once again, content within the young girl.

"What time is Raoul coming?" Christine asked out of the blue, directly after coming out of yet another of her uncertain thoughts.

"About half past four, he said." Antoinette replied, with a smile. "I should think you will both be very pleased to see each other."

"Yes, I know I will be." She replied, with a contented smile.

The talk turned, and the subject of Raoul was forgotten briefly, for talk of shopping, and new dresses. At just before half past four, there was a knock on the door, and Madame Giry stood up to answer it.

"Madame Giry." Raoul greeted politely.

"Monsieur De Chagny." She replied, with a smile. "Christine has been looking forward to seeing you. Please, come in."

Christine and Meg stood up as Raoul entered the parlor, and the man instantly made his way over to his fiance, and hugged her tightly.

"Christine I'm so sorry for everything that happened to you." He whispered soothingly. "If that monster would have harmed you..."

Christine bit her tongue to stop her from telling Raoul the obvious; that he would never have hurt her. Instead she remained silent, and held him tightly, letting him think that he was comforting her. For that was what wives were supposed to do, please their husbands? Christine didn't like this thought much, but was adamant that Raoul would in truth, care for her as deeply as she would for him.

He soon sat her back down, and began to talk.

"As you can see, the weather is quite cold currently, and my poor fiance is obviously going to be very traumatized from her kidnap, so I propose that we get married early May." He began.

It was currently late February and while this seemed an unusually long time to wait, given the circumstances, Christine agreed, smiling a little. He then went on to talk about what chapel to hold it in, and who to put on the guest list, and Christine found herself tuning out at random intervals, realizing she was a little bored with the entire affair of planning it. She wasn't sure why but the very thought sent her stomach into uncomfortable coils.

"Is that okay? Christine, my dear?" He asked gently.

"Oh- uh, yes Raoul, that is all perfect." She replied, smiling as if she were excited by the ideas he had had.

Raoul turned to Madame Giry, with an expectant smile on his face.

"Would you mind if we took a walk in the garden, you can of course accompany us if you wish?" He asked her.

"Of course sir." She replied politely, standing up.

Raoul took Christine's hand and lead her outside constantly giving her small, encouraging smiles, as if setting a foot outside would be horrifically traumatic for her. It was sweet, true, but Christine did find it a little patronizing. Nevertheless, she kept her mouth shut as the two of them, followed by Antoinette.

The two spent almost an hour, exploring the gardens, talking of their childhood, and managing to forget about the dangers that had passed over them recently. They laughed, joked and found comfort in each other once again. However, it began to get dark, and so the two retreated back to the house, before Raoul announced he would have to leave.

"Unfortunately, I do have to work tomorrow, but in the evening, and every one after that, I promise I will visit you." He told Christine lovingly, and leaned in to kiss her lightly, but she pulled back gently, unsure. "Oh of course, you're probably not quite yourself yet, after that experience. You'll learn in time."

Christine almost let out a sigh, she wasn't sure she wanted to learn. Being with Raoul felt like being with a best friend, or a brother. Maybe she was just a bit confused, maybe this was love, and the girls at the theater had added sparkle to it, to make it seem desirable. Maybe this was, indeed, all that love was. She was disappointed, yes, but at the same time, glad that she actually had love, when others didn't. Her mind went back to the Phantom, as she thought of the heartbroken look on his face as she had returned his ring. Had this been how he had felt about her? It didn't seem likely in truth, because of all the things he had attempted to try to win Christine over, even resorting to kidnap in the end. Would she even think about such things to stay with Raoul? Maybe she would in a few months time, maybe you had to love someone for a very long time before you could think things like that. Christine brightened up at this, and thought for sure that that was the truth. She smiled, and waved Raoul off, in a good mood, trying to feel excited for her upcoming wedding. She watched Raoul step out of the door and waved him goodbye, smiling.

"Until tomorrow, Christine, my love." Raoul beamed, his face lit up as if he could think of nothing more pleasing to him, than his young fiance.

"Until tomorrow!" She answered, certain that she looked just as happy as he did, but inside her doubts were beginning to creep in again.

She tried to push these doubts back. 'I should be happy, I am going to marry the man I love.' She told herself, forcing herself to brighten up again, and forget her doubts. She was, once again, sure they were wedding nerves.

However there would always be a little part of her mind that did not believe this.

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