Okay, I tried writing a story before, but I did not like it, so this is, hopefully, going to be better than the other one. This chapter has the meeting of Erik and the woman that brings him in.

Somewhere Warm To Sleep

Tears were still on Erik's face as he ran out of the secret exit of the Opera House. He brushed the broken glass off his white shirt and he used his jacket to cover his face as he ran over to a bench to sit on. "I can't believe I lost Christine…my angel of music…to a man that does not even know how beautiful she is." The tears were streaming now and he raised his hand to brush them off and felt the rough skin of his horrible face. He slammed his hand down on the bench and started to sob. "It is because of this face that I lost the woman I love. I will never love again." People on the street were staring at him, looking at the strange man covering his face. He just pretended he didn't hear the muttering of curiosity. He didn't care anymore. He didn't have Christine anymore and that one thought made his heart cry louder than any note he had ever sung in his life.

"It's over now, the music of the night," Erik sang to himself as he leaned against the bar of the bench. His eyes started to close as he imagined Christine singing with him for the first time. He loved her so much and he was so certain that she loved him back. How wrong he was. "I was deceived by her, there's nothing else to it. I fell for her too hard and too fast and I should not have let myself done that. She only loved me for my voice." His head started to nudge to the side as he hummed "All I Ask of You." If only he had made that beautiful song with her. It would've been an honor for her to sing that to him. But no, it was for Raoul. The man that ruined his life. "Say you want me with you, here, beside you…"

"Monsieur? Monsieur?"

Erik's eyes started to open and saw a woman standing in front of him. It was too dark to see her but she was close to him, looking him in the face.

The face.

He jumped up and covered his face with his coat. "Uh, what? What do you want?" he asked looking at her behind his coat.

She was looking at him curiously. "I just wanted to see if you are alright. It's not every day that I find a man sleeping on a bench."

As Erik's eyes started to adjust to the lamp posts around him, he saw that the woman was very beautiful. She had long, red hair with nice, limp curls. She had nice, pouty lips and her high cheekbones made her a very classic beauty. She was wearing a nice dress but a ratty coat, meaning that she was probably middle class. When Erik didn't respond to her, she smiled kindly and held out her hand. "I'm Adrienne."

He just stared at her hand, not knowing what to do. He was afraid if he did, his hood would fall down and reveal his face. If this happened, Adrienne would shriek and run home like every other woman that had ever seen his face. Again, after the long hesitation, she spoke again.

"Listen, I live right down this street. You look like you could use a nice bowl of soup. Would you like that?" She stared at him, the kind smile still on her face.

Again, he couldn't speak. A woman had never asked him to accompany her anywhere in his life. He wanted to go, so badly. He had just realized how hungry and tired he was. Soup sounded like heaven right at that moment. Once he spoke, his voice was hoarse and nervous. "If I go, will you…will you give me a mask at your home?"

Adrienne stood up right and looked at him strangely. "A mask monsieur? Why do you need a mask?"

Erik stood up next to her. He was about a foot taller than her. He saw her draw back a bit, surprised by his sudden movement. He was surprised also because he suddenly got shaky and collapsed. Before he hit the ground, Adrienne had caught him by the arms and was holding him up. "Oh my goodness! Are you okay?" They stared at each other for a moment as she held him. She was indeed, beautiful, and he was surprised to see her blush as she helped him stand upright. "Well, it's for sure then. You are coming to my house. And I will give you that mask for whatever reason you want it for. Do you need me to hold your elbow on the way there?" she asked as they started to walk down the stoned street.

"No, I'm fine. You have already down much mademoiselle," he said looking down at her as they walked on through.

"Oh please, you don't have to call me that. Just call me Adrienne. Nothing formal." It was amusing to see how much her head had to lean up to look at him. "What is your name or do you want me to keep calling you monsieur?"

"Just call me…Erik."

"Erik, all right."

There was an awkward silence as they came upon her house and walked up to the entrance of it. It was right on the street, a small, but nice, brown house with two stories. She took a key out of her pocket and opened the wooden front door. "Come on in!" she said as she walked inside.

It was very cozy. The kitchen was right beside the door and a nice, reading area was on the other side of the room. There were stairs against the wall, most likely leading up to her bedroom. He stood awkwardly by the door after closing it, watching her fussing around the kitchen. She turned around to look at him. "Well, come on in! Sit down; take off your shoes, your coat."

"What about that mask you promised me?" he asked.

She turned around again, looking at him. "You still want that?" He nodded. "Very well, I guess right now is not the right time to ask questions. It's upstairs in my night table next to my bed. It's in the drawer, you can't miss it. I used it once for a masquerade ball."

His heart jumped. Was it the masquerade ball that was made to poke fun at him? He nodded at her and climbed the steps to her bedroom as he heard her putting on the soup. The bedroom was small and nice. She had a large bed with a blue quilt. He walked over to the night table and opened the drawer to find a white, half horizontal mask. Although it was not the one he was used to, he put it on and he was brave again. Hidden again. He walked down the stairs and sat down at the table.

"Well, here it is." Adrienne turned around with a small bowl of soup in her hands. As she looked up at him, her eyes widened and she blushed. She accidentally tilted the bowl and spilled some of the hot soup onto her hand. "Oh, ouch!" she cried and placed the bowl on the table.

Erik couldn't help smiling as he stood up to help her with her burn. He knew he was much more handsome with a mask on and that had obviously surprised Adrienne. He reached out for her hand. "No, no Erik, it's fine, don't worry about it," she said, red still stretched across her cheeks.

"I've dealt with burns before Adrienne, let me." She hesitated, but then gave in, and placed her hand in his. He was very gentle and calm and she wasn't the least bit nervous as he tied a bit of his ripped shirt over the burn after washing it with warm water. "There," he said as he let go of her hand, "nothing to worry about." He smiled at her and she blushed once more as she sat down at the chair across from his.

Erik sat down also and pulled the soup towards him. He lifted up the spoon and filled it with the yellow broth. He sipped it and it was wonderful. He looked up to see Adrienne looking at him, anticipating his comment. He smiled. "It's great. Thank you so much Adrienne."

"It's quite alright. You looked so weak and hungry; I couldn't resist giving you my famous soup." She laughed to herself, but soon got serious. "Erik, do you have anywhere to sleep tonight?"

He stopped eating and looked up at her. He was extremely embarrassed as he shook his head "no." "But Adrienne, that doesn't mean I have to stay here-."

"No, no. I'm not going to have you sleep on that bench tonight. It's fine. You can sleep on my couch. It's quite cozy with the fire going."

"But-."

"No, you're sleeping here. That's it."

All he did was smile and she smiled right back.

Well, there's the first chapter. I hope you guys liked it. I'll hopefully update it tomorrow. The next chapter is gonna be the whole explanation of him wearing the mask and stuff so yeah! It's gonna be good!