Hi, looks like we're posting our first fanfic. How this works is that any time we're in Christine's POV, I [Christine(yes that actually is my name) ] wrote it. Any time it's in Meg's POV my coauthor is writing. Usually, it'll be spilt by chapters, but occasionally the POV will switch in the same chapter. If it does switch, it'll be noticeable. The fic is probably a high T, but there really isn't anything bad enough to make it an M. So, yeah. Review. Favorite. Follow. Whatever floats your boat. Hopefully, you won't hate it.

Chapter 1: Sunday Evening

Don't get me wrong, I do love singing the leading role each night. I love the thrill it gives me, the sight and sound of the audience clapping for my work, and most of all, the "praise" I get from Him after a particularly good performance. To be completely honest, though, it's exhausting work. After tonight's performance, I had wanted nothing more than to just flop down on my plushy bed in my shared dorm with Meg, however, He had other plans.

I had just entered my dressing room. Still being on my performance high, I failed to notice the absence of the red rose that usually adorns my dressing room table. That alone should have made me suspicious, but as luck would have it, I was too caught up in myself to realize anything was out of the ordinary. Had I been in a decent state of mind, I may have even noticed the fact that He was standing in the one way mirror he so often gives me my lessons through. Had I been in a decent state of mind, I probably wouldn't have begun changing out of my costume before checking my surroundings. Had I been in a decent state of mind, I probably wouldn't have encouraged Erik as he came up behind me and began kissing my neck seductively. I didn't even have to turn my head to know who was kissing me. I just knew it was him.

Post-performance sex had become a normal occurrence for Erik and I, and rather than verbally telling me that my performance had been good, we came to an unspoken, yet mutual, agreement that instead of telling me, he would show me. The better the sex, the better my performance. The same went for his lessons. The better the sex, the better his lesson had been. It probably wasn't the healthiest of relationships, him being the opera ghost and all, but I cherished it nonetheless. Occasionally, Erik would lose his temper, but unlike my ex Raoul, he never laid a hand on me. Some called our relationship abusive, but in all, few even knew it existed, and those who did had no idea that the bruises on my neck and arms came from aggressive love-making. I wasn't about to correct them. Let them think that I was still the innocent child I was when I first arrived at the opera house so long ago.

Kissing quickly turned into caressing, and I had nearly finished removing Erik's pants when a sharp knock on the door jolted Erik and I from the little fantasy we had been in. It was one of the rare times that we had been too caught up in our passion to first retreat to Erik's little home by the lake, and Erik darted back behind the mirror to avoid being seen after helping me into my nightgown. Sighing in annoyance, I made my way to the door quickly, eager to return to lovemaking with my Angel of Music.

As I reached out for the doorknob, I heard the slightly off-key humming of my best friend, Meg Giry, and I knew that Erik and I would have to wait until our lesson tomorrow to finish what we had started. With this knowledge, I flew back to the mirror to give Erik a kiss goodbye and was almost lost in his lips once again before being brought back to reality-once again- by Meg's incessant knocking.

A half hour later, I found myself sitting on Meg's bed as we drank cocoa and gossiped. We never seemed to run out of things to talk about, but I couldn't help but notice that she seemed slightly different than normal. In fact, this change had occurred several months ago, and while I had attributed it to a possible crush on the attractive new cast member at first, I now had my suspicions. Suspicions that were not put to ease when I would catch her sneaking out at obscene hours of the night at least twice a week.

Tonight, for instance, I had awoken at around 3 AM to get a drink of water-after a particularly vivid dream involving Erik and no clothing- and on my way back to bed, I had tripped over my ballet slippers. Afraid I had woken Meg, I decided to check on my little blonde friend, only to find her bed empty except for the little bear she always sleeps with.

Deciding to wait up for her and interrogate her when she finally arrived home, I made myself comfortable and pulled out my script to review. Little did I know that she would not return until midday tomorrow.

well, that's it for now.

-Chris