"The Phantom's Heart"

By: Katie Sheridan aka GerrysLittleMissSunshine08

Summary: It's been two years since the fire at the Paris Opera House, two years since Christine made her decision. Erik has returned to the newly restored Opera House where he is determined to move on with his life and his music, vowing to not fall for anyone else. Everything changes when he discovers the talents of a young orchestra member, who has also had a hard past. Can he open his heart once again?

Disclaimer: Okay I have a serious confession to make….I own Erik!!

Erik: (snorts) No you don't, I own you.

Me: (snorts back) Yeah right what planet are you on Erik?

Erik: Pluto

Me: Uh sorry to burst your bubble, but Pluto's not a planet anymore.

Erik: WHAT?! Centuries of people thinking that Pluto is a real planet and it's not?

Me: According to scientists, it's not anymore.

Erik: Well that's crap (punjabs all scientists who say that Pluto's not a planet anymore)

Me: Erik! Anyways I don't own Nadir or Ayesha. I just own Katie and Erik.

Erik: Damnit woman! You don't own me! (punjabs Katie)

Me: Hey let me go, who else is going to type up the rest of this story? Let me go and I'll give you a kiss.

Erik: (thinks for a minute while Katie is running out of oxygen) Fine (lets Katie go) but you can skip the kiss.

Me: Nah (kisses Erik on the lips) Ewww Erik when was the last time you brushed your teeth and used toothpaste?

Erik: You can brush your teeth with what?

Me: Ugh never mind, hopeless Erik you are.

Erik: I think not, would you like to be punjabbed again? I am very capable of finishing this story.

Me: Eeep! No thanks (shutting up while Erik is looking for the SpongeBob toothpaste)

A/N: Thanks for the great reviews everyone! I am really enjoying writing this and enter one more Kay character--Nadir! Hope everyone enjoys it.


Chapter 7: Music Lesson Number 2: Respect

A small meow rang into Katie's ear the following morning and she groaned and opened one eye to see a pair of bright blue eyes right next to her ear meowing playfully into it.

"Hi Ayesha," Katie mumbled as she opened the other eye and glancing around and remembering that she was still in Erik's lair. She never returned home after closing the dress shop and she groaned at the thought of getting up and going back to finish her work later. She also then mentally slapped herself for not letting her family know anything about her whereabouts; they must be worried out of their minds.

She groaned as she found her pair of small glasses on the table next to the couch. She placed them on her face and ran over to Erik's organ looking for a clean sheet of paper. She found one quickly and began writing down a quick note to her mother and father. But she wasn't sure how she could deliver it.

Rehearsals were closed for the day because of a construction problem in the backstage area of the Opera House and she found herself being content at the idea of staying down here all day and evening with Erik.

Suddenly a bell began ringing from the outside of the lair and she remembered Erik telling her that meant an intruder was coming. The bell was incredibly loud and she grabbed Ayesha in her arms and ran to the closest door way. She went back as far as she could and was even more shocked to see the door open and she gasped only to have a hand cover her mouth. Erik looked at her before letting his hand drop down onto a rope that was in his free hand He turned to see Katie and Ayesha staring at him with wide eyes.

He placed a finger to his mouth and she nodded quietly never making a sound. The gate of the lair slowly opened and before she could blink, Erik had ran out into the sitting area, threw his lasso onto the intruder and pulled him into the water.

"Erik! What on earth are you doing? Let me go this instant!" a Persian voice rang out throughout the lair and she held Ayesha close to her trying to think of the purring cat instead of what could happen.

Erik raised an eyebrow, "Why should I Daroga? You have intruded on my property!" He barked at the shorter man who gave Erik a glare.

"It is not your property Erik, it belongs to Paris."

"Like hell it does. I helped built and design this Opera House! It is my property!"

Nadir then turned his head to see the young woman that had appeared and was standing near Erik's couch holding the cat that loved to tease him, which he despised.

"Pardon me mademoiselle, but are you Erik's prisoner?"

Katie snorted very unladylike as she began laughing, "Me? Erik's prisoner? No way in hell would I ever be his prisoner."

Erik growled at both of them, "Katie I suggest you shut your mouth. And no she is not my prisoner. She is my student Nadir….my friend."

"Student? Are you sure it is wise to take another student after what happened with…?" Nadir began to question and Erik glared at him.

"Do not say that name Nadir, I mean it. Now what are you doing here so early? You know I like to sleep in." He asked as he took the rope off of Nadir and threw it down on the floor next to his bedroom door.

"I came by to visit, is that such a crime?"

"It should be, you know it is not safe for me still. I assumed you used the side door." Erik said as he walked over to Katie who was staring at them confused.

"I did, now are you going to introduce me to this woman?" Nadir asked curiously walking over to Erik and Katie who were standing next to one another. Katie glanced at Erik who simply nodded at her.

"Nadir this is Katie Sheridan, Monsieur Reyer's adopted daughter. Katie, this is Nadir Khan of Persia. He is the daroga who saved my life when I was a fugitive there."

"Pleasure to meet you Monsieur Khan." She said holding out her hand and Erik noticed that the marks from the rope that she had been tied with were still visible.

Nadir smiled and took her hand in his and kissed it softly, "Pleasure is all mine Mademoiselle. You may call me Nadir if you wish."

"And you can call me Katie. Now daroga means police chief, correct?" She asked curiously and Erik was surprised, but glad that they got along. Even though Nadir found enjoyment of worrying and lecturing him, he still considered Nadir a friend.

"Yes it does, you are very clever. Now is Katie short for anything?"

She groaned as she laughed, "It's short for Kathryn. But my mom always called me Katie and so did everyone else. So it stuck and I'm from Scotland in case you are wondering."

"I did notice you have quite an accent. Which part of Scotland? I have not been there myself, but have heard how beautiful it is up there."

"Well you certainly have an accent too Nadir and I am from Glasgow. It's in the west central part of Scotland. It's the largest city, but not the capital. That would be Edinburgh, anyways I was born in a small town outside of Glasgow called Paisley, but moved when my father received his father's townhouse when he died. But I grew up mostly in Glasgow."

"Have you been outside of Glasgow?" Erik asked joining on the conversation trying not to yawn. He had not received a lot of the sleep the previous night because he was thinking about the person that had fallen asleep on his couch.

She turned to him and smiled slightly, "Only to one place, it's a beautiful city on the ocean called Greenock. It's beautiful there especially in the spring and fall. There was this one hill overlooking the ports when all the ships would be docking there and you could see the ocean for miles away. I was in heaven there, or at least it felt like heaven." She sighed remembering the last time her mother had taken her and Josh there.

She then felt a warm hand on her shoulder and she turned to see Erik's intense eyes staring into hers.

"Would you like to talk about something else? You seem tense." He asked her and she nodded gratefully as he then glanced at her cheek which was still a bit purple from the bruise.

She then placed Ayesha back on the couch when the cat had fallen asleep in her arms, "Well then monsieurs, I do not know about you, but I am starving. Would you like to stay for breakfast Nadir? Erik you don't mind do you?"

"That sounds lovely thank you Katie." Nadir said with a small smile and Erik sighed.

"It appears that I have been overruled." He commented as Katie giggled and then leaned in as if she was going to kiss his cheek again, but then decided against it and then hurried into the kitchen leaving the two men to talk.

"Alright Erik explain." Nadir demanded and then Erik turned around to face him.

"I have nothing to explain to you Daroga!" He snapped back at his friend before following Katie into the kitchen and then a few seconds later he walked back into the sitting area.

"She kicked me out of my own kitchen!" Erik explained as Nadir raised his eyebrows and began to laugh as he patted Erik's shoulder gently.

"I like her already. But be careful Erik."

Erik only rolled his eyes in response as he sat down at the organ bench waiting patiently for breakfast to be ready. He was eager to have Nadir leave and for the music lesson to begin.


Later that afternoon

Erik watched carefully as Nadir announced that he had a previous engagement that he needed to attend to and kissed Katie's hand once again thanking her for making breakfast and a lunch. He also whispered something into her ear that made her laugh and then he waved goodbye to Erik before exiting the lair through the door that would take him to the side of the Opera House.

Katie smiled as she walked up to Erik, "He is a nice man. Intimidating at first, but nice none the less."

He found himself trying not to snort out loud, "He is friendly enough and even though I would never admit this to him in person, he is one of the two people that I can trust."

"And who is the other one? Madame Giry?"

He turned towards her and then saw a piece of her short hair covering her eye. He then reached over and brushed it back out of her face, "Well yes, but I was mostly referring to you. Now are you ready for your lesson?"

Katie smiled at him showing her gratitude, "Yes I am, but I also must thank you for trusting me for I feel the same way about you."

He nodded and then picked up a violin and handed it to her. She glanced at it curiously and then back at Erik who had picked up his own violin.

"What?" he asked noticing that she was staring at him.

"This is my violin, how did you get this? I never brought it with me." She asked in shock and he smirked at her.

"I have my ways." He replied.

"You took it from my house?"

"Yes I did. I also took the liberty of writing a letter to your brother telling them that you were spending the night with your friend Danielle and that you would return later in the evening."

She laughed, "You are incredibly sneaky, yet clever."

"I'll take that as a thank you then and you are welcome. Now let's continue play what I taught you last week." He said as they began their second lesson.

She prayed that the lesson would last for the rest of the afternoon and into the evening because she knew that Erik wanted to talk to her about missing the previous night. The last thing she wanted was tension between them. She sighed mentally as she played the wrong note and smiled sheepishly at Erik who was not amused.

"Try it again and focus Katie." He instructed and she tried it once more without making an error. He nodded satisfied as they continued for the next three hours just like before.


Three Hours Later

Katie glanced at the clock on the mantle and it read four thirty in the afternoon and she sighed as Erik handed her a glass of wine like before and sat next to her on the couch.

"Thank you." She mumbled before taking a long drink of it.

"Slow down Katie." He said to her and she nodded as she swallowed it all.

"Alright, as you know we need to talk about what happened last night. I know you are working hard, but you need to put more emotion into what you're playing. I have seen you do it before, so I am a bit disappointed that you are not right now. Do you honestly want to continue these lessons? They are to benefit you, not me." Erik asked and she glanced at him.

"Of course I want to continue these lessons with you. I am sorry for being distracted, but I am not sorry about last night because it was not my fault. I do not have free room and board and can do whatever I want whenever I want to like you Erik. I have to make an income for myself so that I can maybe live on my own and not burden Mama or Papa anymore. They are pressuring Michael to start looking for a woman to marry and he's two years older than me. I know that they will start to annoy me with that soon. They have done so much for me already that I can not leave them."

"I am not asking you to leave them, I am asking you to stay committed to these lessons. I do not tolerate tardiness and I am an impatient man. I understand that you have to work, but you have six out of seven days to work on them. Surely you can fit me into your hectic schedule!" Erik practically growled out the last comment and she glared at him immediately.

"At least I do not sit around and collect my income by threatening managers." She barked at him surprised that she had the nerve to say something like that to him.

"How dare you! I take time out of my day to help you and I get disrespect in return? If that is how you really feel, I suggest you leave before I do something I will regret."

"I do respect the hell out of you Erik when you're not yelling or criticizing me! And what are you going to do? Hit me? You already have so go right ahead, but you'll be breaking your word as a gentleman. It's not like I haven't been hit before!" She spat back at him before turning around.

"But you forget that I am not a gentleman Katie, I am a monster. The Phantom of the Opera. The Opera Ghost." He remarked and she only shook her head.

"But you're only Erik to me. I don't give a damn about the Opera Ghost or the Phantom of the Opera. They died the night they burned down the Opera House. You are a gentleman despite what you have been told or treated. You saved my life last night and God only knows what would have happened if you had not heard me yelling for you. All I thought about was you, that I'd never see you again. I care about you Erik. I do respect you. I do enjoy spending time with you and I am sorry if you do not believe me, but that is your own fault for letting people make you believe that you are a monster because you are not one. No one is perfect and I don't expect you to be. I just want you to be Erik. Now that I have humiliated myself even more, I will go. Have a nice life Erik." She said grabbing her violin case and started to go into the water to the open gate when she felt a hand grab her arm.

She turned to say something, but felt his strong arms wrap around her waist. She was so shocked that she stepped back into the water and was going to fall down, but his arms held her tight as he rested his head on her shoulder. His head was buried in his shoulder and she was not sure if he was crying or not.

"Erik." She whispered to him gently as she wrapped her arms around his neck and they stood there in silence for the next few minutes.

Erik sighed in content for the first time in two years and for the first time; he truly admitted that he wanted Katie around. He needed her to be around.

"Do you want me to leave?" she asked him into his ear softly and he felt chills running up and down his spine and he certainly was not cold.

He leaned up so he was staring down at her, "Do you have to work this evening?"

Yes she had to work this evening, but Katie couldn't leave Erik at this moment. She would just deal with her adopted mother later, she said mentally.

She glanced up at him, "No." she replied softly not feeling guilty for lying.

He then placed his hand on her cheek and at his touch, she sighed while closing her eyes. She then felt his hot, ragged breath against her ear, "No I do not want you to leave then."


A/N: There ya go and just to clear this up. In this Erik is showing her that he trusts her and that is with the sense of touch. Actions speak louder than words, I like to say. And he is slowly warming up to the idea that he could possibly love someone and has someone who does care about him.

Thanks for reading and please review.

Erik: Can I punjab the people who don't review?

Me: No

Erik: (pouts) You are no fun.

Me: Yes I am (pours ice cold water on Erik's head)

Erik: If that is how you wish to proceed… (squirts Katie with a water gun and chases her around the house with it)