Disclaimer: Please don't sue. I don't own POTO... All I own is an overactive imagination.

Summary: ErikRaoul slash. Time, a 3parts Series. Installment 03. There're misunderstandings and one hell of a clarification.

Warning(s): slash (that's homosexual content for those of you who don't know)

Pairing(s): ErikRaoul

A/N: Thank you reviewers and readers.

Story note: I don't know if you think that the boys fell in love rather fast, but I personally think more than 6 months of uninterrupted contact with each other is pretty damn longer than what people have nowadays before they say they fall in love. It just seems shorter since I didn't write all six months.

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Time: Ends

Part02:Surprise

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By: Lucifer Rosemaunt

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Last time: Raoul's been avoiding Erik for a while, but when they finally do meet to talk to each other someone interrupts (who can it be? Who else).

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o.o.o

Raoul froze. He squeezed his eyes shut and felt a desperate laugh leave his mouth before he could contain it.

"Christine?" He turned as he said it but knew it was her without having to see her standing there as though she had never left. He would be able to tell Christine's voice from anyone's. There was a quality to it that reminded Raoul so much of Erik's.

Behind her, the managers stood looking rather flustered or was it simply excitement. Raoul could tell that Firmin already had something planned for Christine's return. It would make a great story, "the prodigal opera singer." Andre was simply a little confused and nervous. Raoul could imagine the uproar Carlotta would make about this. Lately, she had calmed down quite a bit since she knew her position as prima donna was unquestioned. Now with Christine's return, Raoul was almost afraid of how she would react to this news. There definitely would be groveling done today.

Raoul was more afraid of how Erik would react now that Christine had come back. His heart constricted painfully and he wondered how he should react to her return. He had never hated someone so much for simply existing, but he was starting to think that he hated Christine like that. She was going to ruin everything and though it had taken Raoul more than half a year to gain Erik's attention, he had a sinking feeling that in the few seconds that Christine had walked into the theatre, Erik had already fallen back in love with her.

He plastered a neutral smile on his face. Keeping his eyes from focusing on Christine for too long, he fought to control his emotions. It would be bad to let Christine knew how much she had hurt him and how much he was angered by her mere presence.

It was not that hard to hide those emotions since he was overwhelmed by the confusion of her return. Of all the times to return, she had decided to come back now. Now, when Raoul finally understood what he felt towards Erik, when they were just about to reconcile, and mostly when Raoul had thought everything would work out okay. She chose now to return.

"It's a good thing that someone saw you come in early this morning," Firmin commented, "or else we'd have missed you."

"Oh, yes," Andre added, "You must have felt the good news."

Shaking his head to snap himself out of his bitter thoughts, Raoul lamely parroted, "Good news?" He led them away from the alcove and towards the managers' office. Sure, he did not want them to ask why he had been standing there, but he also wanted to take Christine away from Erik's sight. He doubted it, but he hoped by moving towards the managers' office, he could keep Erik from following them.

Christine caught his eyes and smiled brightly, and Raoul found it hard to respond with his own smile. He tried anyway.

"Christine came to our humble abode late last night. We were just about to send a note to you," Firmin explained.

"She says that something urgent had come up," Andre continued, "but doesn't dare say what."

Christine demurely looked to the floor. "It's best to not share one's horrid past returning to the present."

Raoul wondered what horrid past she spoke of. The worst thing that had happened to Christine in her childhood had been losing her father and that had been of natural causes. Because of Msr. Daae's fame, he had no debts left over. Christine had been brought to the opera house since there had been no one else. What could have come back from that?

Besides that, the next worst would be losing her scarf in the ocean. She was hiding something, but she looked so relieved to be back that Raoul pushed aside his suspicions, pushed aside his bitterness, and tried to remember why he had once loved her. She was beautiful of course, but it had been because they had been childhood friends. It could not be that hard to accept her again. Maybe he was strong enough. After all, he had known that Christine would always be a figure that overshadowed his presence in Erik's life. He had known it; so he swallowed through the lump that had formed in his throat, breathed through the tightness in his chest, and ignored the uneasiness in his stomach just to make an effort to welcome her with open arms.

Not as a fiancé of course. He was still somewhat bitter about that fact, less than he would have thought at seeing her again, but still bitter. He thought that seeing Christine would reopen the wound of when he had realized she had left by herself. Some part of him had thought that he would fall a little bit in love with her again. After all, time had not been a hindrance the last time she came back into his life. Then again, she had not just left him when they were children.

But, the pain from her disappearance did not come back. His anger was there for a whole other reason. His pain and emotions were no longer swayed just by her. He had managed to live without her even when he had thought it to be impossible. He had survived the supposed love of his life leaving him. And now, he was stronger for it.

Raoul felt as though he could love deeper if not smarter, considering he fell in love with the worst person possible. He wanted to laugh at himself or maybe just at his rotten luck. It did not matter though. Raoul knew it was a one-sided affair, but he had still hoped they would spend time together. With Christine here, he knew that was impossible. Erik would probably want to tutor Christine once again. Now that he was thinking about it, when they would talk about their past even without meaning to they would reference Christine. Her name was never mentioned, but it was implied. Erik's life had revolved around Christine. It had been impossible to avoid her completely. Still, as Erik had spoken about his love of a good voice, Raoul had been so focused on Erik that his thoughts never strayed to Christine.

Raoul realized belatedly that it was really all thanks to the opera ghost that he had been able to survive Christine's disappearance. He briefly looked over his shoulder towards the alcove. He wondered if the ghost was following them. Probably.

Christine was back.

He would have once rejoiced at the news.

Raoul mentally paused.

Christine was back, and Erik had found him this morning to tell him something. Raoul could not stop the disbelieving scoff. Of course. Raoul had been deluding himself once more. Back in the alcove, he had just jumped to another conclusion. Things were not going to turn out okay because Erik always knew everything that was happening in or about the opera house so he was probably just going to tell Raoul that Christine had returned and things would have to change. Raoul had simply assumed that the topic had been about the almost-kiss or even about Raoul missing their meetings, even after he had promised he would not.

Raoul stopped walking suddenly.

Were they to be enemies again?

No, that did not make sense. They had been enemies the first time only because Raoul had been pursuing Christine, right? But even if he were not pursuing her, Erik would still probably dislike him being around to distract her. If Christine still considered them friends, then they would inevitably spend time together. Now, not only would they not spend time together, they would once again be enemies.

"Vicomte?"

Raoul looked up and saw three sets of eyes staring at him in confusion.

"Is something wrong?" Firmin asked.

Raoul cleared his throat and shook his head.

"I was simply wondering if problems will arise with your return," he directed at Christine. He would have to find a way to make it clear that there was nothing between them anymore. He would show her no special treatment, no favour. She was simply another soprano to him now, and if he felt his throat constrict at the mere thought of life returning normal in the opera house with her there, he ignored it.

This was good. His voice was level. He was sure he was being logical.

Christine shook her head, "Don't worry. I'll gratefully take any position you offer. I understand I caused many problems by leaving. There simply had been no other choice."

She looked so repentant. Raoul almost felt sorry for her. He knew he should not hate her just because she was inadvertently taking Erik away from him. She had no idea what had happened in her absence. Moreover, Raoul had no reason to really distrust her. If she said she had needed to leave, Raoul wanted to believe her. He just did not know if he could. As it was, Raoul had already accepted the fact that she would be staying regardless. As quickly as she had left, she had returned.

"We'll be off first," Firmin grabbed Andre's arm before they had even reached the managers' office. "We have important matters to discuss." Raoul could swear that he heard Firmin say to Andre, "We'll discuss her return after I speak with the papers."

Raoul noticed the greedy look in his eyes and stifled the urge to shake his head. It was the managers' job to find audience members, but he could not agree with Firmin's methods all the time. Gossip was not the best publicity contrary to what he thought.

Watching the managers leave, Raoul turned to leave as well. He had lost his opportunity to speak with Erik. He felt like he deserved a whole day of alone time brooding at his estate. He also did not want to stay here, that was for certain. He would only think about how their nightly meetings would end for certain now.

Christine caught his arm. Raoul cursed, somehow he had actually forgotten about her. When he stopped, she flung her arms around him in an embrace.

Raoul stood stiffly in the impromptu show of affection. He waited uncomfortably for her to let go. When he realized that she was not releasing him, Raoul gently but firmly removed her arms from his neck and put some distance between them.

Christine pouted, but she looked around suspiciously before nodding. She said nothing and Raoul did not know what she expected of him.

"Christine," he began.

Shushing him, she grabbed his arm once more pulling him towards the entrance of the opera house. Raoul did not understand what Christine was doing. He did not want to treat her as a complete stranger since she had once been a close friend, but he did not know where that new line in their relationship should be drawn.

Once outside the opera house, Christine finally took note of Raoul's reluctance.

"I just want to explain myself, Raoul," Christine looked back at the opera house, "away from here."

Raoul nodded slowly and called for a carriage. He stared almost wistfully back at the opera house.

o.o.o

Erik watched Christine with open hatred. He had expected it though. He had expected to see her and immediately wish to kill her, but he could not. Well, of course he could. He was the opera ghost. He just had not expected to see her so soon. His informants had not come back with any information that stated she would be returning. They would pay dearly for this oversight.

Christine had been smart to go first to the managers. Erik would not have allowed his and Raoul's conversation to be interrupted if he had gotten to her first. In fact, she would never have returned if he had gotten to her first.

Raoul had looked surprised though Erik thought that he had seen a flash of anger in his eyes. He had hoped that Raoul would immediately turn her away. He had hoped that Raoul would do something to her that would make Erik proud, but he did not. The boy had even smiled at her. Though Erik could see it was forced, he did not know why Raoul did it. He had the sinking suspicion that Raoul had not completely given up on Christine. This was the boy who had spent five weeks fighting Erik and hoping she would return. This was the boy who had declared his undying love for her and even allowed Christine's silly charade of a secret engagement. Erik punched the nearest wall, his frustration finally too much for him to bear. They were childhood friends. They always had that connection.

Erik hated Christine. She had betrayed him in the worst way possible. She had abandoned him like his mother had, like everyone had. Did she not know what he was going to do with her once he had the chance?

He had been glad to see Raoul on guard about Christine's story. However, Erik almost screamed in frustration when he saw Raoul's features soften as she played on their pity. Raoul hardly protested her return. In fact, it seemed to Erik that Raoul had completely forgotten the fact that Christine had left them both without explanation.

Then Erik realized what this meant and if felt as though the floor had disappeared from beneath his feet. He could not harm Christine if it meant that Raoul would be scared away from him. Not yet at least. Christine was lucky. She was lucky that she had met Raoul earlier, lucky that she had his protection now.

Refusing to let Christine take Raoul away from him, Erik struggled to find a way to keep them apart. Then that harlot had not only touched Raoul, she hugged him. Erik had never hugged Raoul, technically. Some of his anger dissipated when he saw how uncomfortable Raoul was. The boy even removed Christine's arms from around him and increased their distance apart. He sighed in relief, but knew it could be unfounded. Raoul knew he was watching. He could simply be playing an act. Erik dearly hoped that was not the reason for that action.

Seeing them leave together had almost been enough for him to lose it. He tried to follow, but he knew that by the time he found a horse, they would be out of his sight. The streets would be crowded and he would have a larger likelihood of being found out. Raoul had the uncanny ability to spot him, and what would the boy think if he saw Erik following them on the streets?

He would have to wait in the opera house for them to return. In the meantime, Erik could plot a way to get Raoul away from her.

Erik suddenly wished his only problem was the Giry girl again.

o.o.o

When Christine returned, she returned alone. Alone and scared. She knew that the opera ghost was mad. Raoul had told her as much. She did not believe it could be that bad though. The ghost had been obsessed with her and though he was part madman, she hoped that the obsessed side of him would be able to overlook her momentary rebellion.

She went into her old room nervously. Closing the door behind her, she looked at the familiar setting. Something was off however. The furniture had changed. Maybe it was the curtains or the dresser. She could not tell since the furniture rarely changed greatly from room to room. The opera house even saw it fit to replace old furniture with even older furniture just to save money. She had been gone for so long that it felt as though she were back in one of her dreams about this room. She had changed though; she was different from the girl in the dreams. Things had changed and she suddenly started to doubt the intelligence in what she was about to do. Regardless, she faced the mirror.

"Angel."

She almost felt silly. Only almost because ever since she could remember, her Angel had always responded.

Erik had watched as she entered the opera house, walked through the halls, and go into her old room as though she belonged there. Impertinence. Utter impertinence. Now that she was trying to call him, Erik could hardly restrain himself from killing her immediately. He would scare her. He could not do more. He would show her that she was no longer welcome in his opera house. She was no longer needed either.

"Angel, I've come back. I've missed you dearly."

There was no response. Christine wondered if he had left when she had, but no, that could not be true. Raoul had said that he had seen the ghost several times already.

"I had no other choice."

Erik could not believe her. Lies. She was now trying to lie to him. Did she not know any better?

Christine almost called again, but she suddenly felt more than heard a low rumble. The walls were shaking. The desks, the mirror, even the bed shook. The low rumble built into a growl, which grew into a yell that Christine was certain could be heard throughout the whole opera house.

"Leave. You are not welcome."

The mirror rattled violently at the last word before shattering.

Christine screamed and covered her face with her arms. She expected the ghost to come flying out of the mirror and attack her. Instead, there was nothing but solid wall behind it.

That unnerved her more than actually seeing the ghost would have. She fled to the safety of the girl's dormitory.

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End part 02

Word count: 2,955

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A/N: Don't forget to R/R (Read and Review)!

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