Helllllllloooooooo you guys! I hope you all had a restful easter (whether you celebrate it or not) and aren't working too hard. In this chapter we see a different Erik (sort of) and we kinda get some E/C stuff...eep! Please let me know what you think! All my love, Hannah x
Christine took in the room. Her bedroom. A huge bundle of light pink and gold. Her queen sized bed had a huge net hanging from the ceiling, like a princess and the walls had golden roses pressed throughout. A vanity table lay on one side of the room, all glass and mirror, elegant and beautiful. Finally another doorway led into an en-suite with a walk in wardrobes estuaries to the side. Christine could only at Erik, he laughed.
"I didn't know whether you would want your own independence or if you would wish to spend time with me." He scratched the back of his neck, "I only wished for your comfort. I'm new to this."
Christine laughed. "It's beautiful. I couldn't ask for anything nicer." It wasn't a lie. While her house had been huge, her room at Erik's place was more like a home. And even though she tried to deny it, she couldn't resist the attraction she felt towards Erik. The thoughtfulness he had put into her room, proved how kind he was. Hell, he didn't even had to take her on in the first place. Especially after their first meeting, in which she had been horrible to him.
Unpacking her clothes, she sighed. The majority of them were out of season now, and without daddy, she had no money until she turned 18. She supposed she could ask Erik, but she would feel cheeky and she realised that her school had allowed her two weeks off in lieu of her fathers death so she would have to make do with these seeing as she wasn't going anywhere.
Texting Meg her new address, she told her to come round seeing as it was a Saturday and it was tradition that they had their sleepover.
"Erik?" She shouted, walking to her bedroom door. "Is it okay if Meg comes to stay? You see, it's a ritual we have to keep so she's coming okay?"
Not waiting for a reply, there was a knock on the door. Thinking it was Meg, Christine pulled it open to reveal a stunning red-head.
"Oh." It fell from Christine's lips. Realising how rude she looked, she quickly corrected herself. "Sorry! I didn't mean -it wasn't my intention to..." The woman strolled past Christine as though she wasn't there. Christine stared back in shock.
"Where is Erik?" She asked, her voice clear with a slight accent that Christine couldn't place.
"In his room." Christine sniffed, annoyed at the way she was being looked at.
"Erik!" She called out, making her way towards his room. So she's been here before, Christine thought.
"Carlotta?" Erik appeared down the long corridor in his bedroom doorframe, "what are you doing here?"
Seeing him, 'carlotta' began to run in her 6 inch heels, her tiny, tight dress riding up further.
Christine smirked, she could spot the cellulite from a mile away. But then scolded herself, deciding not to be mean.
"Oh Erik!" She cried, throwing herself at him. "Darling, I missed you so much while you were...busy." She cast a disgusted glance at Christine, before turning her attention back to Erik and batting her eyelashes. "We have so much to catch up on!" Grabbing Erik by the shirt, she pulled him into his bedroom before slamming the door.
Two hours later, Christine and Meg were in the middle of watching a sappy romantic film, trying to ignore the distant sound of the bed banging against the wall. Meg found the entirety of the situation hilarious, however Christine felt angry and confused. Erik hadn't told her he had a girlfriend, not that he had told her much about himself at all, she thought bitterly.
"Christine." Meg clapped her hands and grabbed Christine's attention. The television had been switched off. "What's wrong?"
Christine sighed. "Nothing." Standing, she brushed the crumbs off her legs and stretched. "I'll go get some more popcorn."
"Sure," Meg agreed, before quickly adding: "but when you get back I want to know what's up with you."
Stumbling towards the shared kitchen, she felt her way around, keeping her arms in front to guide her through the pitch black. Stupid Erik! Even we had auto-lights at home!
Bumping into something, she pushed away, only to find two hands grab her around her waist.
"Back for more?" Erik growled seductively, sending shiver down her spine. Obviously he thought her to be Carlotta.
"No, because I'm not a whore!" Christine cried, pushing on his chest again.
Realising that it was Christine, he tightened his arms around her and suddenly felt brave knowing that she couldn't see him. His hand trailed down her back.
"Christine..." It was a sigh, a caress. She couldn't move, not that she wanted to. She could sense Erik's face, determine his movements. Sense his face coming closer and closer...
His lips brushed against her forehead; she pouted unintentionally.
"What do you want?" Erik asked, his hand still stroking her back.
"Popcorn," she mumbled, trying to suppress the shivers from Erik's touch. "Won't she be missing you?" She asked into the darkness.
"Mmm..." He brought his face down, burying the visible half into her neck and she jumped at the feel of his silken hair. "Perhaps."
Regaining her senses, she pushed against him again. "What's wrong with you? Your girlfriend is waiting for you, probably in your bed with her legs spread and you're trying to get it on with me?!"
He chuckled. "I'm offering you the comfort you need. I see behind the facade, Christine. You're just lonely...like me." He wrapped his arms tightly around her and she fell into his embrace. "You need to be hugged." He squeezed her tighter. "We're not so different, you and I."
She was furious, blinking back tears as she realised she had been transparent, careless; let someone glimpse behind her mask. "Leave me alone." She hissed, and shoved him away. He took a step back. "I need nobody. That is how I function. Alone. So fuck off and get back to your whore because I will not be the girl who is manipulated into a relationship because her mother and father are dead." She was crying now, she realised and pressed a hand to her face.
"I'm not pressuring you to do anything, Christine. I think you've constantly been pushed and pressured to the point where you don't know what to do with this 'freedom' you obtain. And as for a relationship..." he paused, his voice lowering and she cursed her heart for beating faster, "I hardly know you." She sensed his departure before she felt something being pushed towards her hand. Popcorn. The lights flickered on and she was alone in the room, her hands shaking, making the popcorn rustle.
Had she imagined it?
Glancing up the hallway, she realised she hadn't as she caught sight of his door shutting before hearing a delighted squeal from Carlotta.
"So...what took you so long?" Meg was sat on the carpet, checking her messages on her phone. Glancing up, she dropped the phone and ran to her. "Chris, are you ok? You've been crying."
"Yeah," she sniffed, "I've been better."
Meg instantly consoled her, pulling her onto her bed. "It's fine to be upset, you've had a heavy heart to carry round-"
"But that's the thing, meg- I haven't! It sounds awful, but I feel nothing when someone mentions daddy's death. He was more interested in Raoul than me!" She felt her shoulders begin to shake and realised she was on the edge of a panic attack. "The truth is I feel more emotion towards a man I have known for 3 days having sex with someone than I do for my own dad!" Her voice dropped to a horrified whisper, "What kind of person am I?"
Lonely, Erik's voice whispered in her head.
Meg comforted her, whispering words of reassurance that she wasn't a horrible daughter, instead admitting how attractive she believed Erik to be.
An hour later, as Christine painter her pinkie with a dark blue nail varnish, there was a commotion outside.
"Chris," Meg whispered, "you might want to see this."
Cracking open the door, they peeped out, scanning the scene before them.
Carlotta was crying, walking towards the door with her heels in her hand, her dress disarray and her hair a mess. Erik stood, shirtless with his hands in his pockets.
"It was a mistake, Carly. You and I both know we get on much better as friends."
Her face distorted in anger. "Friends? Ha! Is it because of that thing in there?" She pointed vaguely in the direction of Christine's room.
"You mean Christine?" Erik asked, raising an eyebrow. "Hell no. I don't even know the girl, let alone have feelings for her." He glanced at the door and caught Christine's eye. They stared at each other for seconds, Christine smirking.
She knew that if he felt nothing towards her, he wouldn't have held her like that in the kitchen.
"Fine. But this won't be the last of me." Carlotta shouted before slamming the door behind her.
Christine spent the rest of the night hatching a plan.
She would make Erik Destler fall head over heels in love with her.