Stay
A/N: Thank you to all my readers and reviewers! I forgot to mention this is a part of my Song Fic series and is based off the song Stay by Sugarland. (They are a wonderful group and I recently got to see them in concert) Lyrics posted in this chapter belong to Sugarland and are purely borrowed for creative purposes, I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 2
IIIIIIIIIIIIII-Present-IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
The pounding from outside continued on, even the sound from her tv wasn't enough to block out the noise raging from outside. Erik wasn't used to not getting what he wanted, and tonight he had been embarrassed in front of his peers and his own wife! Christine had no right to do what she had done; he was the one to say when it was over! For the past few weeks she had been avoiding him almost to the point where he felt like a stalker, he continued to call her even when she obviously powered her phone off; drove by her house to see when she was home and who was at her house. Erik had even stooped to spying on her at the recording company to see why she had been spending so much extra time with her duo partner Gavin.
The stress of not seeing Christine and practically stalking her started to weigh on his mind and his patience. Christine was his! He created her career and molded her into an amazing and talented singer that was destined for fame and fortune under his watchful eye and safely in his bed. But now she threw it in his face! Embarrassed him at one of the most important awards shows of the year and worst: practically threw their affair in his wife's face! He didn't care if he had to pound on her door all night; he'd break the damn door down if necessary this was far from over.
Christine shook her head as she looked at herself in the mirror, the tear stains running down her face mixing with her make-up and mascara made streaks down her red cheeks. Her dark chocolate curls pulled back in a light bun with wisps of a few strains framing her face, hanging down to her strapless crimson silk dress that hung just above her knees. She looked amazing at the awards show and it had been topped off with a very elegant ruby and diamond encrusted choker necklace.
The music from her tv continued to blare in the background as she slowly reached up to caress the area where the beautiful choker had graced her neck. Closing her eyes she tried to remember the moment she received her beautiful gift, although it had been a double-edged sword. The piece itself had been surprisingly heavy, and it had weighed heavy on her soul like a constant reminder of her sins.
IIIIIIIIIIIIII-Earlier That Evening-IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Christine stood just inside the white tents after arriving at the awards show, anticipation and fear sat heavy in the pit of her stomach as she awaited her turn to grace the red carpet of the awards as she made her entrance. Christine was staying off to the side of the tent waiting for Gavin to show up, as he was her escort for the night's festivities. Taking a deep breath she started to search through her clutch purse for her lipstick, it was her nervous habit to reapply her lipstick as a means of calming her frazzled nerves. She'd spent a good deal of energy the past weeks avoiding any extra contact with Erik, she had to give him credit…he was persistent. It had started the night after her breakdown at Gavin's and if it hadn't been for Gavin by her side through this entire ordeal, she might not have had the strength to resist him. Everyday she saw Erik she longed to be in his arms, his strength and warmth surrounding and protecting her; his hypnotic voice whispering promises in her ear. But those arms held no future beyond the cold night and his whispered promises were nothing more than empty words desired for HIS short term gains.
Christine had been so wrapped up in her thoughts she had been oblivious to her surroundings and the sudden presence appearing behind her. A large male hand snaked around her waist and pulled her towards a strong male form, "I've missed you…" He whispered in her ear as he moved them out of sight behind one of many tatami screens, concealing the couple from sight of the hussle and bustle of the busy awards preparation.
A surprised yelp escaped her lips causing Christine to spin around quickly coming face to face with a broad chest impressively covered by the softest suit she'd ever felt. Slowly bringing her gaze up to his eyes she quickly removed herself from his grasp, "You scared the hell out of me!"
At the confused look on his face she shrugged her shoulders, "We've been really busy finishing the CD….isn't your wife here?" Christine questioned crossing her arms over her chest.
Erik slowly approached her again, offering her an open hand. "They've already sat her; I figured I could escort you."
"Oh…Like a real couple?" She retorted sarcastically moving away from him, "Thank you but Gavin is my escort…"
Watching her turn her back on him Erik made a quick decision, play time was over! Moving behind her he removed a large diamond choker from his inside pocket and approached her. "I don't know exactly what I've done to upset you…" he whispered in her ear as he reached around her laying the necklace gently around her neck and securing it, "But I hope you will accept this as an apology."
The chill from the necklace caused her to shiver as she reached for it, "Erik…" she whispered gazing at the beautiful design in the mirror before her, surprised at how well it matched her gown. "How did you?"
"I selected the gown to match," He replied wrapping his arms around her waist again, enjoying the feeling of her against him once again as he watched their reflection in the mirror. "I overheard you talking with Kelly in wardrobe about getting you something to wear tonight, so I told her what to get and that it needed to match your gift."
The reflection of his smug smile began to quickly irritate her, stepping away from him she shook her head and began reaching for the clasp. "I'm sorry Erik I can't accept this I…" She wasn't able to finish her sentence as Erik's lips descended onto hers. Time stood still as he pulled her flush against him with one arm and deepened the kiss. Christine couldn't help but respond as all of her resolve crumbled without her support behind her.
As quick as the kiss had began it was over as Christine was dragged away, "We have to go…" Gavin said as he pulled Christine away from Erik's grasp. The stunned couple both turned their attention to their new guest.
"I'm sorry…we were in the middle of something Mr. Jones!" Erik growled at the other man as he reached again for Christine.
Gavin stood his ground moving Christine behind him, "I thought I saw your Wife out there looking for you…and we need to get seated."
Moving almost toe to toe with him, Erik calmly but sternly spoke at Gavin, "This is none of your concern Gavin and I will be escorting Christine tonight…" he replied trying to reach around him for Christine's arm.
"No Erik…" She exclaimed stepping back as Gavin blocked Erik's path.
Erik shoved Gavin roughly out of his path and moved for Christine again, "Christine…this is between us, not him."
Gavin quickly recovered and shoved Erik away from Christine, "Back the hell off! She said no Erik!"
As the two men started for one another Christine tried to stop their progress by stepping between them, "Gavin! Erik! Stop!" She cried out trying to diffuse the situation before it got out of hand.
"Christine Daae and Gavin Jones on deck, DJ Gear on hold!" The announcer called out over the loud speaker to prepare the artist for the walk down the red carpet.
The trio stopped in their tracks at the loud announcement and before Erik could react Gavin quickly grabbed hold of Christine's hand and moved away from Erik heading around the screen into the busy tent to take their position.
Erik tried to move after them but the crowd was too thick and too many eyes would be on them. Adjusting his tie and attempting to calm his frazzled nerves Erik made his way out the tent to find his seat, this was far from over.
Gavin kept tight hold on Christine's hand as he glanced over his shoulder to make sure Erik wasn't following behind them. He could tell Christine was extremely upset and attempting not to cry, "I'm sorry I was late…I thought you were going to stay close to Caleb?"
Closing her eyes tightly Christine shook her head, "I couldn't find him…please lets just not talk about this."
The usher in front of them motioned them forward, "Christine Daae-Gavin Jones?" At the couples nod he directed them out of the tent, "Ok you two are good to go."
"This is going to be a long night…" Gavin mumbled as the two headed out into the bright lights and flashing bulbs.
IIIIIIIIIIIIII-Present-IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Christine slowly changed out of her gown and shook her head as the noise from outside had finally stopped. This whole horrible night had gone exactly as planned and yet she felt terrible and even more alone then when she was with Erik. The noise from the tv was deafening to her ears and she almost would prefer the pounding at the door once more. Moving slowly back to her bed she climbed in pulling the covers tightly up around her neck and curling up into a tight little ball.
Erik stepped back from the door and assessed his situation; his wife was at home furious with him and probably on the phone with her lawyer right now. The entire music community knew of his infidelity with Christine and was more than likely identifying her success and career with their relationship and above him was Christine watching him make a fool of himself. Everything had spun so ridiculously out of hand, and somehow Erik was the bad guy of this entire charade. Shaking his head Erik decided it best to reassess their relationship before attempting to speak with Christine. He needed to see her but what would he say? He was at a point now where he was going to lose everything in his life, his reputation and possibly his career, his wife and his lover all at once.
Christine couldn't stop the tears the just fell freely, she knew deep down in her heart that she had done the right thing. This relationship was killing her, breaking her heart and leaving her raw every time the realization of being someone's dirty little secret
IIIIIIIIIIIIII-Earlier That Evening-IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
"I don't think I can do this…" Christine whispered to Gavin as the moment slowly crept upon them like a crushing tidal wave of what was sure to be a dynamic performance that was going to only lead to pain.
Gavin hugged her tightly, "I told you if you can't do this we will just tell them and let them play the video. It is your choice Christine…can you face this entire crowd? I mean we had a hard time getting though the video."
Peeking out around the curtain at the entire crowd watching the performances before her she shook her head, "No I can't, let's do the video I want to go home." She exclaimed as tears started to roll down her cheeks.
Gavin nodded and motioned for one of the stage hands, as one approached he turned to Christine who was removing her necklace. "What are you doing?" He asked.
"He gave this to me before you got here, it needs to go back so he understands," Christine replied as the stage hand walked up.
Gavin wrapped a protective arm around her and shook the gentleman's hand, "We have to go home there has been an emergency," he exclaimed to the gentleman.
The stage hand nodded and called into his headset for a manager who appeared within seconds, Jason the production manager hurried to the couple's side. "Christine..Gavin what is wrong? You two are on in less than ten minutes."
As the tears streamed down her cheek Gavin pulled her tighter, "Christine just received news of a family emergency and I need to get her home, we are just going to use the new video for her song we recorded."
Jason rubbed his forehead trying to think quickly, the duo before him had already accepted two awards and was supposed to be the biggest performance of the night with their new single. Finally he snapped his fingers when he came up with an idea, "Ok but I need you to do me a favor real quick, just a intro to the video and let them know something came up, kinda like a live feed intro…ok?"
Gavin turned to Christine who was trying to dry her eyes before the make-up all ran, Christine looked up and nodded her agreement.
Jason clapped, "Ok let me grab my camera guy and we'll get this done, do you have the dvd?"
Gavin handed him the dvd and Jason moved to get the camera guy. "You gonna be ok to get through this?" He asked truly concerned for his friend's state of mind right now.
Christine nodded then placed the chocker Erik gave her in his hands, "I'll be fine but I need you to give this to Erik at the end of my intro to our video, I'm just going to leave right after we tape this but you are the only one I trust with this."
He tried to stop her, "Christine no! I need to go with you, you know after this he is going to come looking for you."
Christine smiled weakly at him as Jason was returning with his camera guy, "No Gavin, I'll be fine. I need you to do this for me, besides I already changed the locks and got a new cell number. He won't be able to hurt me anymore."
Jason walked up to the couple as Gavin pocketed the chocker, "Ok he is going to record, I have the DVD already set up, all you have to do is give a little wave, a smile and thank you and life with be fine. But we can't play around with this I need to load it into the system and you are supposed to be on in 6 minutes."
Christine nodded then turned to Gavin, "Go…I'm doing this then heading home." After some hesitation Gavin headed down the hallway to go out into the auditorium to find Erik. "Ok Jason, I'm ready."
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Erik shook his head as he pulled back up to Christine's, he'd drove around for a short time clearing his head. He couldn't even turn the radio on because every station was buzzing with his infidelity and the scene his wife had caused after the video and Gavin showing up. For the first time in his life Erik felt completely helpless, he didn't know what to do or say to make this situation any better. He didn't want to make things better with his wife but he knew he could never fix this thing with Christine; Gavin was right he tried to have it all and in the end lost it all. Slamming the car into park he climbed out intend on at least speaking with Christine, even if she had no intentions on taking him back; he needed to see her.
Erik moved quickly around the car and began to search the area for anything he could use to get into the house. After a few minutes of searching he'd found a ladder probably left by the gardener on the back law. If she wouldn't come to the door, he'd climb to her window.
IIIIIIIIIIIIII-Earlier That Evening-IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Christine had finished taping the intro to her video, it only took her one shot to get it out and she was already in her limo heading home. Jason had told her that it would be on in less than five minutes. Taking a deep breathe she almost wished she was there to see the reaction but knew if she stuck around Erik would find her and she had no resolve left to deny him.
Gavin moved quickly through the crowds as he saw the video screen coming up, his eyes were fixed on a dark haired couple only a few feet away, reaching into his pocket he grasped a hold of the chocker as Christine appeared on the screen.
A confused look came across Erik's features as the video screen spanned across the stage, he had been awaiting this performance tonight because this new song of Christine's had been kept from everyone including Caleb and himself. His brow furrowed when Christine's face appeared without Gavin beside her. His wife Lara tugged on his sleeve, "Honey isn't that Christine? The nice young lady from that Duo you signed a few years ago?"
"YES! Hush!" He replied sharply as Christine began to talk.
Christine gave a brave smile and Gavin could still see the red stain around her eyes, "Good evening everyone, I apologize Gavin and I could not perform this next number for you in person but something personal came up and I needed to leave. This next song is the bonus on our new CD and this will be the first it has been played outside the recording studio, I hope you like it. This is very close to my heart and it is dedicated to Erik Delfoes….Erik…Please Stay." She exclaimed as the screen faded to black.
The crowd around him began to whisper and turn to look at him, the anger started to boil instantly in his blood "Erik…what is going on?" Lara asked just as Gavin walked up beside them.
Both Lara and Erik turned their attention to Gavin as he handed Erik the necklace as the slow intro to their video started, "This is from Christine, she's done being your dirty little secret." The entire crowd surrounding Erik gasped as Gavin turned and walked away from them just as Christine's started to sing.
I've been sitting here starring at the clock on the wall
I've been sitting here praying, praying she wont' call
It's just another call from home,
And you'll get it and be gone and I'll be crying
I'll be begging you baby, beg you not to leave
But I'll be left here waiting with my heart on my sleeve
Oh for the next time you'll be here
Seems like a million years and I think I'm dying
What do I have to do to make you see
She can't love you like me
So why don't you stay
I'm down on my knees
I'm so tired of being lonely, don't I give you what you need
When she calls you to go, there is one thing you should know
We don't' have to live this way….So why don't you stay
Erik's jaw dropped instantly at the vocals and knew without a doubt that this was his downfall, his wife slapped his face and stormed away from him and then the whispers began just as the second verse started.
You keep telling me baby, there will come a time
When you will leave her arms and forever be in mine
Well I don't think that's the truth and I don't like being used
And I'm tired of waiting
It's too much pain to have to bear…to love a man you have to share
So why don't you stay
I'm down on my knees
I'm so tired of being lonely, don't I give you what you need
When she calls you to go, there is one thing you should know
We don't' have to live this way….So why don't you stay
Oh I can't take it any longer but my will is getting stronger
And I think I know just what I have to do
I can't waste another minute after all that I've put in it
I've given you my best, why does she get the best of you
So the next time you find, you wanna leave her bed for mine…
Why don't you stay, I'm up off my knees
I'm so tired of being lonely; you can't give me what I need
When she begs you not to go, there is one thing you should know
I don't have to live this way…Why don't you stay
As the screen faded to black cheers sounded through the entire auditorium while Erik stood up and left quickly. He needed to get out of here and to find Christine, this was far from over.
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A noise from outside her window caused Christine to stand up and move to the window, she watched down below as Erik climbed out of his car again and started to trace around the grounds as if he was looking for something. Moving to her bed again she picked up her cell phone.
Erik lifted the heavy ladder up and carried it over towards the house, resting it against the wall he tested it for safety to make sure it wouldn't tip or slide. As he put his foot on the first rung of the ladder he heard the window slide open, stepping back he looked up and saw Christine. Her eyes were red and puffy; her cheeks were stained with the mascara and eye liner from the tears that traveled down her cheeks. "Why did you do this?" He cried out to her, "To us!"
Christine wrapped the blanket around her more and shook her head, "There isn't an us Erik, there never really was…you made it that way."
"Please Christine…let me in and we can talk about this!" He shouted up at her, "We can fix it, we can fix us!" Erik's voice was desperate now, he was going to lose almost everything in his life tonight and Christine was the only thing, he began to realize, that would truly matter.
Christine wiped away another stray tear and shook her head, a noise caught her attention causing her to look up to her driveway and she saw three police cars speeding to a halt with lights flashing brightly. Erik turned at the same time as Christine did and his eyes went wide, "CHRISTINE!!!! NO!!!" Turning back to the ladder he started to climb as policemen sprinted across the lawn towards him.
"I'm sorry Erik…." She said softly as she closed the window.
AN: Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed although it took forever to update since I had computer and internet problems, the birth of my son and going back to work. Looking forward to lots of reviews, been dealing with lots of writing blocks. As always please leave love or hate just let me know someone is actually reading these stories. Love Lady!