Title: Beacon
Pairing: ErikxRaoul
Warning(s): None
Disclaimer: Nope, not mine.
Beacon
Once, Erik had believed that the feeling he got whenever he looked at Christine was love. The tightness in his chest, the nervousness, the desire to protect her from harm.
Now he knew, knew the cold truth. It wasn't love that he had felt. It had been affection, true, great affection, along with a good amount of interest. She was indeed a light, a shining candle sending tendrils of light through his darkness. He had reached out to her, yearning perhaps for that light, the light that he had denied himself so long ago.
She had given him a hint of that light, then she had walked away without a backward glance, not caring that she had almost destroyed him. He saw her then for what she was, saw her as a weak, naïve creature. He could not bring himself to hate her, but he knew then that what he had felt had never been love.
He had retired to his darkness, living alone in his silken, ebony curtain of night. Despairing of any chance to reach for the light, he'd been wasting away, becoming a mere shadow of his former self.
Until he came.
Once, Raoul had believed that the love he felt for Christine was genuine, the kind of love that every person dreams about. Her beauty, kindness, and gentleness had touched his heart.
Soon, he realized the truth. He loved the little girl that he remembered, the little girl he had played with so long ago. When he took a step back and looked at her, he saw the naivete and gentility of a child. It wasn't her fault, he knew. She had been a beautiful child, a fragile porcelain doll of a girl, and everyone who met her desired to protect her. He could not dislike her, for she would always be his childhood companion, but he knew that he could never love her the way a man loves a woman. The feelings he had for her were those of a man for a child. It would have been cruel of him to offer that to her when she was expecting true love, so he'd called off their engagement.
He had continued to live his life, attending all of the parties and functions that was expected of him as the Vicomte de Chagney, but he did it all with an increasing sense of detachment. The life he had once lived now seemed so boring to him, all flash and glitter, until he knew that he would go insane if he couldn't get away from it all.
Eventually, he found himself hesitating before an entrance to the Phantom's lair. Taking a deep breath, he had plunged into the darkness and saw him.
To this day, they aren't sure who made the first move. One minute, they had been staring at each other with an odd mix of surprise and dawning realization in their eyes, and in the next, they were kissing, their lips locked together in a frantic battle for control. Arms were moving, hands rubbing at exposed flesh, clumsy fingers fumbling at buttons, and all the while they were moving inexorably backwards to the bed.
As Raoul lay on the soft mattress and stared up into Erik's eyes, he found the excitement and intensity that he hadn't even known that he'd wanted.
And Erik, as he gazed down into Raoul's wondering eyes, finally found the one beacon bright enough to lead him from his darkness.
Fini
A.N.- Okay, this is corny… I tried not to make it sound like I was bashing Christine, because even though I don't much care for her character, I loathe stories where characters are treated like dirt. She has her redeeming qualities, I suppose…. I don't know, she just seems weak and naïve to me… And those two things annoy me when they come in excessive amounts.
Why am I rambling on about this?