A/N: A Phantom of the Opera romance fic I wrote in celebration of getting 100 followers on tumblr, and because I saw the prompt at OTP Prompts and liked it. The prompt is here, for the curious: otpprompts. tumblr post/129346011505/person-a-and-person-b-sitting-next-to-each-other and my blog is: whatanauthorsgottado. tumblr. com for those who are curious. Enjoy!

Christine wasn't quite sure what the lecture was about - it might have been budgeting or something like that, but she was good with money already. She knew that the seminar was mandatory for all first-years to attend, though, so here she was, in an overcrowded lecture hall, sitting in between a girl who was already snoring into crossed arms on the desk and a dark-haired young man sitting ramrod straight in his chair, apparently listening with rapt attention.

Unfortunately, Christine wasn't so disciplined. a combination of the long drive and late night the night before to move into her dorm left her exhausted and unable to listen. The only reason she was here and not in bed was because her father had practically ordered her to go to every orientation and first-year event that her school was putting on, and this counted.

The speaker's voice is so dull, Christine thought. Couldn't they have at least gotten someone with a little life in their voice to speak?

Traitorously, Christine felt her heavy eyelids slide shut. She snapped them back open, shaking her head a little to ward off sleep, which drew the attention of the man beside her. He turned his head slightly to look at her out of the corner of his eye.

"It may be best to stay awake," he murmured. "Starting a pattern of falling asleep in lectures now does not bode well for your academic career." With that, he turned back to the speaker.

Christine blushed. "Right," she muttered, turning back to the speaker and trying to pay attention.

Unfortunately, her exhausted body wasn't listening. Against her orders, her eyes slipped shut again and wouldn't open. Her surroundings were soft and she was so deep in her haze of sleep that she didn't even feel it when she slipped sideways and her head found a spot on her neighbour's shoulder.

At the touch of something heavy on his shoulder, the already stiff young man flinched slightly. He looked to the side to find the girl's head resting gently on his shoulder, apparently having found a comfortable spot where his arm met his shoulder.

He made to push her head off of him, but something stopped him. Perhaps it was the way she looked so serene, sleeping on him of all people. Maybe it was the way her head warmed his arm, or the way her long curly mane draped partly over his shoulder and the back of the chair behind him, but he just couldn't bear to move her.

He told himself that he would leave her there only for a few minutes before he would wake her - and then proceed to ignore her for the rest of the seminar - but her head stayed firmly planted on his shoulder until the end of the presentation, when the noise of students exiting the lecture hall woke her.

She returned to reality with a yawn and an arch of her back - and then a small noise of confusion as she realized that she was leaning on something that was neither a vest or a wall, but a soft wool jacket. She looked upwards into an unfamiliar face, half-covered with a white mask, and started away from his shoulder.

"I-I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to fall asleep on you! I didn't do it on purpose, I promise!"

The man looked amused at her fluster and decided to put her out other misery. "It was no great trouble. You looked like you needed the rest."

She blushed and stared at the floor, not wanting to look him in the eye. "Yeah, but - I mean, I don't even know you. Sorry, anyway." She summoned up a smile and stood, offering him her hand. "I'm Christine."

He just stared at the offered hand until she shook her head and dropped it.

" Never mind, I guess. Sorry." With that, she turned to go.

As she reached the door at the back of the lecture hall, she was stopped by a call from just behind her. "Christine, wait!"

The man shook his head. "I am Erik. I… I'm not very used to friendly gestures. My apologies." He offered his hand to her, and she took it with a smile. Instead of shaking her hand, however, he bent slightly over it and - she could have sworn - brushed his lips over her knuckles.

He released her hand, and the moment was gone, but it left her breathless. Before she could think better of it, she blurted, "Coffee?"

Erik raised his visible eyebrow at her. "I'm sorry?"

"I - uh - would you like to have coffee? With me? I mean, um - if you don't want to, that's okay, but - I feel like I should pay you back for using you as a pillow for over an hour."

And she was babbling. She hated it when she babbled. She hadn't acted so stupid since Raoul de Chagny, the most popular boy in her year in high school (and of course the boy almost every girl, herself included, had a crush on), had asked her out on a date. And this wasn't even like that. She wasn't interested in this masked man, was she? She barely even knew him!

She was dragged back into the real world when Erik spoke. "There really isn't a need to pay me back, but yes, I will go for coffee with you."

Christine summoned up the three remaining brain cells she had that were not melted or occupied with berating herself for her babbling and answered, "Great! I think there's a cafe around the corner, or something, is that alright?"

"That sounds fine."

"Great!"

Christine's father had been right. Going to all the orientation activities had been a good idea after all.