A/N: Hello again everyone! Thank you all so much for the wonderful reviews! They really motivate me to write, which is why I'm updating again so soon. Enjoy the chapter!

"Christine Daaé was spotted out with Raoul de Chagny after her performance last night, sparking quite an inundation of rumors concerning a budding romance between the two. In our opinion, Miss Daaé would do well to continue being seen with de Chagny, whose family is well-known for their old money and generous support of the arts – perhaps these sightings will help dispel the rumors of foul-play that currently surround Miss Daaé and her promising career…"

- NY Times

Erik's POV

I walked Christine to the darkened, empty theatre and led her to her dressing room to get her bag. Neither of us spoke a word. The lights in her dressing room were off, but enough light from the streetlights came in through the window that both of us could see fine. I watched as Christine picked up her bag from where she had left it sitting, but instead of immediately turning to leave as I had expected her to, she sank tiredly down on the sofa, looking up at me.

"Thank you, Erik," she said softly, the sincerity in her voice stirring something inside of me. "How did you know where I was?"

"I didn't. I just saw that you had left your bag here and figured that you'd come back to get it. But I had a bad feeling about it, so I went to look for you."

"Thank you," she repeated. A moment passed in silence before she spoke again. "I need to apologize," she said. "I shouldn't have taken off your mask like I did without even asking, and I shouldn't have reacted the way I did."

Even though I had been furious with her when she took off my mask, I felt none of that anger as I looked at her now – small and frightened, curled up on the sofa. "You have every right to be scared of my face," I said, my voice colder than I had meant for it to sound. "My own mother hated me because of my monstrous face. Why shouldn't you?" Christine sat speechlessly, looking at me as if trying to figure out what I wanted her to say to this.

"I don't hate you," she said finally. "I don't see how I ever really could. You just frightened me when you yelled at me. But I don't hate you, and even though I would understand if you did, I don't want you to leave me."

Her voice quivered as she said this, and the sadness that filled her words made even my cold heart break. I slowly moved to sit beside her on the sofa and said, "I won't leave you unless you want me to, child."

"Thank you, Erik," she sighed, leaning into my side and closing her eyes.

"…You must be exhausted," I said gently after a minute, daring to run my fingers through her silky curls. "I can walk you home if you'd like."

"I would like that," she said, stifling a yawn as she stood. "Thank you, Erik."

We walked down the dark streets in silence, and I was lost in my thoughts. How could Christine have seen my face and still want me to tutor her? How could she not shrink away from me in fear at the very sight of me? She was too good, too forgiving, too perfect. I didn't deserve to have the companionship of someone half as good as her. But what was worse, what truly made me a monster, was that I wanted more. I knew that I didn't just want her companionship, her pity. I wanted her to be devoted to me and only me. I wanted her to need me like I needed her, though I never would have admitted to needing anyone. But Christine was the bright spot in my world, the only part of my life that was beautiful, the only being that I had ever really cared anything for. I wanted her to love me, even though I knew she never would. That was why I was a monster. I knew that for her to love me would be impossible, and that I would only be able to give her a life of darkness and misery, a lifetime of staring into this hideous face. I would happily take the light that surrounded her and overwhelm it with the darkness that surrounded me, smothering it. I actually wanted her to have that life.

"Erik?" Christine said, snapping me from my thoughts. "We're here."

"I'll make sure you get in alright," I told her.

She gave me a small smile. "Thank you, Erik. For everything." It looked like she wanted to say more, but she quickly turned away and walked into the building. I watched her go, cursing my feelings for her, before fading back into the darkness.

Christine's POV

As soon as I had made it to my room, I dropped my bag on the floor, kicked off my shoes, and crawled into bed, not caring enough to do anything else. Today had seemed endless and I was beyond exhausted, emotionally and physically. I couldn't even think about everything that had happened – I only wanted to sleep. I slept deeply and dreamlessly, waking again when late-morning sunlight shone through my window.

I climbed out of bed reluctantly, not exactly tired but not really wanting to be awake just yet. Feeling a bit lazy, I replaced my dress from the previous night with sweatpants and a baggy T-shirt, and shuffled out of my room. Meg sat on the sofa, an empty plate beside her and a magazine in her lap. Mrs. Giry must have already left for the day.

"Well, good morning, sleepyhead," Meg teased when she looked up and saw me. "You must have been out late – you slept even later than me! How was you date?"

Date? Oh, right. I had almost forgotten, what with everything else that had happened. Which reminded me, I had told Raoul that I'd text or call him before I went to bed… "It was good," I said, sitting down next to Meg. "We had a good time."

"Really?" Meg asked excitedly, putting down her magazine and shifting so she was facing me. "Give me all the details."

"There's not really that much to tell. The restaurant we went to was really nice and he told me about his family, and then he drove me home… Meg, what time is it?"

"Um," she said, glancing at her cell phone. "A little after 10:30. Why?"

I sprang up from my place on the sofa, cursing under my breath. "I'm going to be late for my lesson."

I changed as quickly as I could – Erik was always dressed nicely and soon after he had started giving me lessons I realized that I felt particularly sloppy when I showed up in my sweats, not that he would have ever said anything about it. I rushed out the door and towards the theatre without even bothering to grab something to eat. As I hurried down the street I checked my phone and saw that I had four messages, all from Raoul.

Hey, said the first one. Are you still up?

You didn't forget to text me, did you? said the next one with a wink-y face next to the words. Yes, actually, I did forget to text you, I thought.

Christine? Hello? said the third message.

I guess you already went to bed, or your phone's off or something, said the last one. Anyway, I just wanted to say that I had a great time with you, and I'd love to see you again soon. Call me tomorrow, and I'll meet you after your performance tomorrow night.

By now I had reached the theatre, and I rushed to my dressing room, closing the door behind me. Erik was waiting for me. "You're late," he said simply.

"I'm sorry," I panted. "Forgive me. I just overslept, and –"

"Christine, we'd best not keep our lesson waiting any longer," Erik interrupted, his voice stern but not harsh. It was enough to silence me. Without another word I went about warming up my voice, singing as Erik told me to, just as I always did.

So, I feel like I just need to explain a few quick things here. If you've read my last story, you'll remember that Raoul was kind of evil (or maybe really evil), but in this story he's not going to be like that. Don't worry, he still won't be a particularly likable character just because I don't like him, but he won't be evil, and right now he needs to be kind of nice to develop a relationship between him and Christine. But for all me fellow Raoul-haters, don't worry, it won't stay this way. Also, I promise that there is a lot of stuff coming for Erik and Christine. Right now I'm just trying to work on developing the dynamics of their current relationship, because I feel like Christine doesn't exactly love him, but she is dependent on him and feels like she needs him. So I feel like to really fall in love with Erik, Christine needs to become a little stronger and a little more independent first. But I promise you, I love Erik/Christine even more than I dislike Raoul (which is a lot), so they will be together. Please excuse this incredibly long author's note, and please review! It motivates me so much, and I love hearing suggestions!