Christine sat, watching Erik set up a stand for her sheet music to lay against.
"Did you take that from the opera?" she asked, merely to fill the silence. He stopped and glared at her. Great, they were back to that.
"Yes, Christine, I take whatever I want, whenever I want."
Christine supposed he meant to shock or frighten her by saying that, but she just shivered. "Interesting," she mumbled. "What song is that?" She motioned to the page he had just opened.
"I think you know the answer to that," he replied, getting more cryptic by the minute.
"Oh, well, okay," she stuttered. "How...romantic." She blushed, wondering why she had chosen that word when there were so many others. She was also sweating profusely and needed to get a handle on things. They were only going to sing, not parachute out of a plane. She briefly wondered if Erik was the daredevil type to do such a thing. She settled it for herself that he was indeed.
"Romance? I suppose you like that sort of thing. Tell me, are you accustomed to men throwing themselves at your feet?" he asked. His eyes burned into hers. Was he thinking of Raoul still? Christine hoped not. She saw no reason for that man's name to be mentioned ever again, if she could help it. He seemed to be waiting for an answer, however.
"Well, yes, I can say that's been my experience," she said sweetly. She waited to see if he would pick up on her sarcasm. One side of his mouth turned up and his eyes shone.
"I see," he paused and Christine hoped he did see. She had a playful side and wanted to show it. If Erik had a sexy, spontaneous, mischievous, lighthearted jokey side to him, Christine wanted to be the first to sign up for it. Oh, how she wanted it! "I'll have to keep my guard up then," he finished, smirking a bit, before turning around to face the music stand.
Christine smiled to herself. He did get her. "Well, should we start?"
And with that, they entered their dreamy world of music and lost themselves to notes and octaves(and other stuff that certain people, aka me, don't know how to write about so we're just going to skip over this part, but it was very enjoyable for our heroine and our hero.) When their practice was coming to an end, they found it not wanting to conclude and vowed to devote a part of every day to it.
Christine sat down on the couch to relax her vocal cords and for once, Erik joined her. She didn't think he would ever sit beside her. He did leave a foot between them however, so Christine inched slightly closer to him to try and repair the damage. He didn't seem to notice and they both leaned back, feeling happy. "Thank you. That really was like old times," she said, after a while.
"I had missed it also, Christine," Erik replied. "You were born for the opera."
"And you were born to be a tutor. We're equally matched, I would say."
"Would you? I would not say. You are far above me in every way, Christine," he rebuked.
"Erik, that's not true and doesn't make any sense. I believe everyone is equal and that certain people, such as us, find each other and well, balance each other out, so to speak." Christine turned to look into his eyes. "What do you think?"
"I think you are woefully naive, Christine," he answered. "But it certainly is a nice idea."
"It doesn't have to be just an idea."
"We could make it real, you mean?"
Christine hesitated. Was this the moment of truth? Were they going to expose their feelings for each other? "I would very much like that."
"You speak of being together? A couple, Christine. I want to be sure of what you mean," Erik replied.
"Yes, Erik, yes. A couple. A husband and a wife. I want that. I...know you want it too. It's clear in the fact that you brought me here to stay with you always." Christine closed her eyes, not wanting to see Erik's reaction to her finally getting her feelings out in the open. The room was silent. Was he going to say something? Had he left her sitting there on the couch all by her lonesome as he often did? She had felt a movement on the couch. What was he thinking about? Would he speak?
"I am glad you've spoken this way, Christine. It really gives me confidence for my next actions," Erik finally said. Christine inhaled sharply. She didn't fully understand his response but it wasn't a negative one by any means. He had said he was glad. Glad! His actions? What actions? "Open your eyes, Christine," he said next. This was the moment. She took a deep breath and snapped her eyes open. She gasped and grabbed the couch cushion to steady herself.
There, was Erik, on the floor, kneeling on one knee, holding a box out in front of himself. And in the box, the tiny black velvet box, was a diamond ring. Christine couldn't take her gaze from it, but Erik cleared his throat slightly and she shifted her eyes to his. He was...proposing. Was that it? Had she fallen asleep and was dreaming this lovely scene? Or had they actually progressed to where they both wanted to be? They remained staring at each other before Erik cleared his throat again. "Christine?" he asked.
"Y-yes?" she mumbled. All she was aware of was the butterflies fluttering around inside of her.
"Will you marry me?"