Erik stared at his organ, his mind whirling at a thousand miles an hour. Christine was sleeping, and he was afraid to wake her. Last night he had kept her hypnotized by his voice, not yet ready to reveal the full truth to her. But Erik knew that he couldn't keep her like that forever. Eventually Christine would fight her way out of it, or Natalie would force him to let her go. And besides, he didn't want a mindless puppet; he wanted Christine's love freely given.

His thoughts turned back to Natalie. He couldn't believe she had kissed him. No one ever had, not even his own mother. Reaching up and touching his mask gently, Erik was certain that if she knew what lay underneath, she would never have dared. But he couldn't get that kiss out of his head. She had acted like it was nothing but it certainly didn't feel like nothing. Was it because it was his first or was it because there was something more? Erik glanced back at Christine. It was just because he had never been kissed he decided. Erik leaned back and tried to think about something else. Anything else.

Suddenly there was a hand touching his face, and before he could react, Christine ripped off his mask. "Damn you!" he shouted, knocking her to the ground, although he wasn't sure who he was screaming at. Yes, Christine had revealed his face, but he should have been expecting that. He also had grown used to Natalie who had never even mentioned the mask so his guard was down. Christine cowered in fear from his rage, but Erik realized he had no one to blame but himself.

Keeping his hand over his deformity, Erik sat down next to her heavily. "Oh Christine," he sighed. She stared at him, waiting for his next move, but Erik just stayed put. Slowly Christine reached out towards him causing Erik to recoil until he saw that she was only offering him his mask. The fear in her eyes only strengthened the disgust Erik had for himself. Why couldn't he look like a normal person?

After he had replaced his mask, Erik held out his hand to Christine. "Come, we must return. Those two fools who run my theater will be missing you." She hesitated then slowly accepted. Erik helped her into the boat and the two set off for the upstairs world.

Natalie was extremely amused by the screaming match going on. It was Raoul versus Carlotta and Piangi with the managers trying to keep everyone calm, and they were therefore yelled at by both the Vicomte and the opera stars. Raoul was looking for Christine and he seemed to think the managers knew where she was. Carlotta was throwing a fit because she assumed that Raoul was threatening her time in the spotlight when it was really Erik. And Andre and Firmin just plain didn't believe in the Opera Ghost and were getting sick of what they believed was a practical joke. Natalie was wondering if they had popcorn back in the 1800's because this was better than any movie in 2012.

Just as things were getting really good, Madame Giry and Meg appeared and announced that Christine had returned. The ballet mistress also had a note insisting that Christine star in tonight's production of Il Muto. This caused the screaming to increase tenfold. Carlotta was outraged by this, claiming Raoul was trying to replace her with his "lover." The managers were begging the prima donna to return to the stage. Madame Giry was trying to talk to talk sense into everyone, but was being ignored. And the idiotic Raoul was just trying to figure out what the heck was going on.

Finally it was decided that Carlotta would remain the lead and, to appease her, Christine would be given a silent role. Raoul announced that they shouldn't give in to the Phantom's demands and that he would be sitting in Box Five. Everyone satisfied, the group dispersed. Natalie slipped behind Raoul and in a sing-song voice called out, "That's not a good idea."

Raoul jumped again and turned. "You again?"

Natalie smiled. "Me."

"What do you want?"

"Just telling you that you aren't the brightest. Ask anyone here and they'll tell you not to piss off the Phantom. And he really doesn't seem to like you. People who get on his bad side seem to have an unusual amount of…" Natalie paused for dramatic effect. "Accidents."

Raoul's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Wait a second. They told me about you. Natalie right? They said you're crazy."

"Doesn't mean I can't give you advice. And I'm telling you, stay out of Box Five or bad things will happen," Natalie warned.

"Thanks but no thanks," he snapped. "I don't need any advice from you."

Natalie rolled her eyes. "Fine. Ask Madame Giry, or Meg. Ask anyone here. Hell, ask Christine. Everyone here will tell you that messing with the Opera Ghost is not a good thing."

"I can fend for myself thank you very much."

"Whatever. It's your neck on the line, not mine," Natalie said with a shrug.

Raoul started to walk away, realized what she just said, paused, and then turned back to her. "Wait, what did you just say?" he asked.

She smiled mischievously. "Oh nothing. But don't say I didn't warn you."

Since Madame Giry said that Christine had returned, Natalie decided she was going to go talk to Erik to find out how things went. She double-checked to make sure no one was following her then made her way down to the lair of the Opera Ghost.

When she got closer, Natalie heard a crash, as if something heavy had been thrown. "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" she heard Erik shouting. Apparently things hadn't gone so well. She reached the door that led inside his home just as something was hurled at it. Natalie picked the object up and saw that it was Erik's white leather mask. Glancing in the room, she could see Erik pacing angrily, his back to her. Next to him, several candlesticks were scattered across the floor like he had swept them off the table in a fit of rage. That must have been the crash she had heard.

"Erik?" she called.

Immediately he turned, but only enough that she could see the good side of his face. "Dammit," he swore when he saw her. "What are you doing down here?"

"I came to see how you were doing. What's wrong?"

"Hasn't she told you already?" Erik asked bitterly.

"I don't want to hear it from her. I want to hear it from you."

She came closer but his hand shot up and covered his face before Natalie could see. He sighed. "I terrify her. She pulled off my mask; she must have thought it was a joke or something. But she saw me, she saw me. Then to make matters worse, I lost it. I screamed at her, God, I threw her to the ground. She must think I'm a monster. Some terrible beast."

Erik turned away, ashamed of what he had done but he made sure to keep the deformed half of his face covered by his hand. Natalie walked up to him and placed her hand gently on top of his. With her other hand, she offered him his mask making her message very clear. If he didn't want her to see what usually laid beneath his mask, Natalie would respect his decision. Erik slowly raised his eyes to meet hers, and for a few minutes they stared at each other in silence. Then slowly, gently Erik lowered his hand to reveal his face. To his surprise, Natalie showed no sign of fear or disgust or any change in emotion. "You're not a monster," she whispered.