Yay! A new phic! So... the Phantom of the Opera doesn't belong to me, but I wish it did.


Christine woke up to the bright sun in a still unfamiliar bed. She groaned inwardly and turned over when she remembered what was in store for her that day. Wedding preparations. Ugh. She loved Raul and truly did want to marry him, but she was dreading the ceremony.

Since her fiancé was a vicomte, the wedding would be very large. There would be many noble people there she didn't know what were disapproving of Raoul's choice in a bride. Christine just wanted something smaller, with just friends and close family in attendance, but that would be a scandal to the de Chagnys.

After a few minutes of contemplating her staying in bed, she reluctantly surrendered and got up. She quickly donned a dress that was from Raoul and went downstairs for breakfast with her fiancé. His brother was away on business, so it was the pair of them sitting at the table that morning.

"Good morning little Lotte," he said cheerfully, kissing the top of her head.

"Good morning," she replied, not quite as cheerfully.

Over breakfast, the discussed the wedding. Christine didn't say anything about how the grandness of the whole affair bothered her. She knew that Raoul would make a fuss, causing his already disapproving relatives to detest her and her simple tastes all the more.

A few minutes after the meal had been cleared; Raoul's aunt Heloise and his sister Renee arrived in a carriage. They had taken over all of the wedding planning, Heloise feeling that Christine's tastes weren't elevated enough, and Renee being dragged into it all by her.

After saying goodbye to Raoul with an inward sigh, Christine stepped into the carriage unenthusiastically.

"What took you so long?" Heloise snapped at her sharply.

Christine answered,"Raoul kept me."

"My Raoul would never do that!" his aunt insisted, "He is too good a boy!"

"Hello Christine," Renee said softly. She was also opposed to the marriage between her brother and the opera singer, but she still tried to be at least civil to Christine.

"Hello," Christine said politely to her future sister-in-law.

Any conversation that might have continued then was stifled by bumpy potholes that made speech impossible. A few silent minutes later, the coach stopped and the driver helped the women out of the carriage and they walked into the store.

Christine, Heloise, and Renee shopped for Christine's wedding dress, Or, more accurately, Heloise and Renee shopped. Raoul's aunt wouldn't listen to any of Christine's opinions, so the bride-to-be didn't waste her breath. That was a lesson she learned within her first hour of being with Heloise a while ago. She effectively became a living, life-size Barbie doll.

The gowns that were chosen for her were all much too frivolous and fancy for Christine's taste, but they were pretty nonetheless. At times, Heloise's taste was much to over the top, and she had to be reigned in by Renee. Around noon, they had lunch.

For Christine, it was very unpleasant; Heloise picked out all of her flaws and complained about them. Renee just tried to have a conversation with Christine, but to no avail because her aunt dominated the conversation. On Renee's face was an apologetic expression that said to Christine Sorry about my crazy aunt. If I could help you I, definitely would.

After lunch, it was back onto their hunt for the perfect dress at another store.

All the time getting in and out of the elaborate dresses gave Christine a chance to think. Mostly, her mind wandered to Erik, her fallen angel. It had been about two months since he had let her and Raul go from his lair. Although she was terrified of him and also grateful he let her and Raoul out of his hellish torture chamber, she missed him. Well, not him, just his songs in her head and his tutelage. She didn't actually miss the man himself, she had been suffering from nighmares about him ever since she escaped the cellars.

Later that day, on their way home in they carriage, they drove past the Opera Populaire, which was being repaired extensively after the fire. The outside was nearly finished, so it looked almost the way it used to. The inside would still take months to complete. As they passed it, Christine felt a wave an emotion that was very close to homesickness envelope her. The Girys were staying with relatives until the opera house was fixed. She hadn't seen Madame Giry or Meg in a while. Was Erik still down there? she wondered randomly.

When they arrived back at Raul's house, Christine went up to her room.

"I have a headache," she muttered as she went up to her rom to lie down. Just being with Heloise was tiring.

Heloise and Renee had something to talk about with Raoul and Philippe, who had returned when she was gone. After an hour, it was dinnertime, and Christine's headache had subsided. The table seemed quieter than usual, and she might have imagined that there were some odd looks in Raoul and her directions. Christine sensed there was something amiss, but she simply dismissed it as an aftereffect of her headache.

When they were done, Raoul said,"Christine, may I speak to you in private?"

"Of course," she answered, wondering what he had to say.

Rapul led his fiancé upstairs to the library, where he closed the door with a sigh. His face was disappointed and pleading.

"Christine, I have to break off the engagement."

The girl felt dizzy and confused,"Why? What?"

"All the members of my family oppose us getting married. I'm very sorry, but I just can't do that to them. I know that I said I did't care if they disowned me, but I made a deal with them. I said I'd break off the engagment and take some time for all of us to think and please them for a while. For now at least, Philippe wants you out of the house. While you're gone, I'll try to make them see our case."

Unchecked tears began pooling in Christine's eyes,"Really?"

"Tomorrow night." He continued more tenderly,"I want you to know that I love you."

The two embraced tightly. "I love you, too Raoul," Christine whispered against his torso.

Disbelief was Christine's main reaction to Raoul's news. She had known that Raoul's family didn't like her at all, but she felt there was something missing. She knew that Raoul had risked his life for her in the cellars, so she didn't understand why he had broken off the engagement when all that stood in their way was his family. They didn't look like much when you compaired them to Erik. Why Raoul? she thought, Why?

Christine's next day was spent packing her few belongings up and trying to figure out where to go. There were a few ideas she toyed with, but in the end, she decided to stay with the Girys. Surely, their cousins would understand that she was a part of the family. If not, maybe Madame Giry would know where she could stay. It had been a while since she had seen either of them, and she missed them a lot.

Before she left to go to the train station that night to get a ticket, she said a teary-eyed good-bye to Raoul.

"I love you, don't forget that," he said to her softly as they embraced.

"I love you too, Raoul," she managed to choke out through the tears,"With all my heart."


Thank you to all that reviewed, positive or not. You all really helped me out!