A/N: I would like to thank IfICannotMoveHeaven for alerting me to the fact that Chapter 7 was misbehaving. Please message me if any of you find a problem like this. I hate not having all chapters available to you guys. Anyways, I hope you enjoy!

Sunlight bloomed into the bedroom as Angeline finally awoke. She had somehow forgotten the window that lay in the wall in front of the foot of the bed. Groggily she sat up. She looked to the chair beside the bed where Erik had sat. She remembered asking him to stay with her until she had fallen asleep. He had not complained, reverently cradling her hand in his as her breathing slowed.

Now, however, the chair was filled with a sky blue dress. Its shining satin danced in the incoming light; silver-grey lace accented the ends of the long sleeves as embroidered doves floated about its atmospheric fabric. She smiled at it softly, wondering mildly how Erik managed to get these dresses so quickly.

Slipping out into the living room, she found his desk empty. Frowning, she looked at the closed kitchen door. She had slept in today, probably from all of the excitement of the previous day's adventure. Just as she was about to peek into the kitchen, she noticed a thinner door open beside it. All of the doors in the house seemed to camouflage into the walls, but this one was especially secretive.

Looking in, she found a narrow stairway leading up to a door. Her curiosity took over as she started to climb, squinting from the darkness. She nearly bumped her head on the door at the top, giving it a nice shove to let it swing open like a hatch.

Dazzled by suddenly light, she crawled out of the stairway, shielding her eyes from the glare. She quickly adjusted and realised she was on the surprisingly flat roof.

In the crisp morning air of coming autumn, she marvelled at the sight of Paris laid out before her. She gasped at the range of her sight of the city. Though the house was only a little taller than its neighbours, it felt like she was on top of the largest building France had to offer.

'Do you like it?' A familiar voice sounded behind her.

She spun round to see Erik standing, watching her take in the sight. He seemed calmer this morning, but still expectant for her answer.

'Oh, it's wonderful.' She sighed, smiling broadly at him.

Erik felt something in his chest glow at this. The way she looked now, full of wonder and excitement, seemed perfect. He wanted to preserve this feeling for her, to make every part of her life as beautiful as this moment.

'I thought you would like to get out of the house, without fear of getting lost.' He explained, stumbling over what to say.

Then it happened. Her face darkened at the memory as it clouded her mind. He wanted to grab her from those thoughts' hands and shield her, but her smile rapidly returned and held him in place. It was not quite the same smile, though.

'Erik, we both said a lot of things yesterday.' She said, coming over to him. 'And though I was only trying to be helpful, it's your house, and I should have asked your permission. I'm sorry.' She said, looking down at the roof between them.

'No, Angeline,' he fought his hands as they urged him to lift her face. She soon did the job for him, however. 'I want this to be what you called it last night.'

He looked into her eyes as she tried to figure out what he meant. He saw the light inside of them begin to grow as she remembered. Then it blossomed as she realised what that meant.

'Home?' She asked in a whisper. The sheer surprise as it finally sunk in was one of the most heart wrenchingly beautiful things he had ever seen. 'I have a home.' She almost asked, not looking at anything in particular. Then she cast that illuminating gaze upon Erik again. 'I haven't had a real home in over fifteen years!' She lunged into a hug as Erik took a few steps back so as not to fall from the surprise of the act.

Shakily his hands moved to hold her better. Just as one finally made it to rest on her lower back, she leaned back and put her head in the other.

'Thank you, Erik.'

She smiled like her, but somehow it did not hurt him quite as much as he was expecting. It only stung sharply enough to remind him of the loss, but nothing to send him reeling.

Angeline ignored how nice it felt in his arms, to sense and then ease his discomfort. Stepping back gracefully, she turned to look out over the rooftops again.

It took Erik a moment to fully understand that she had not drawn away from him, but merely released him from his inner torment. Just as he was recovering, a sudden swirling wind swept across the roof. He braced from it, but Angeline let it carry her. It put her into a few laughing spins, her arms out, and her head thrown back in utter pleasure of one of nature's simplest tricks. Erik stood in awe of her. Her movements were like pure poetry.

She watched happily as her light blue skirt wrapped round her legs, then slowly flowed back to its regular fullness.

'Thank you for the dress.' She remembered suddenly. She looked like a blue bird about to take flight.

'Of course.' He answered with the sounds of a smile. 'You look absolutely beautiful.' Once again he cursed his suddenly limited vocabulary. This time, though, her reaction was not the same. Instead of bounding about like a child as she had the first day, she briefly scrunched her nose up at it. He was about to question this when she moved to explain.

'I've seen beauty. Not really me.' She shook her head with a slight shrug. 'Pretty, occasionally, but not beautiful. Besides,' she continued, looking off into the distance. 'I would much rather be myself. Not many women are allowed that privilege.' She cast those deeply feeling eyes upon his pityingly admiring face. 'Thank you for giving me that opportunity.'

'You don't have to hide here.' Erik did not even know the words had formed, let alone escaped from him. He took an involuntary step forward, reaching out to her lightly.

'You don't have to either.' She said it like it was nothing, though her eyes carried the weight of the world within their hazel complexities.

Her words froze him in place for a moment, sending his mind into a depth it had not explored in many a year. He turned away from her, though he could not escape the line his thoughts seemed to be taking, and went back to the stairs. 'I have to go into town later, if you would care to join me.' He offered as an afterthought.

'I would, if you don't mind my company.'

'You can stay up here if you like. I will come fetch you.'

She nodded with a lonely smile.

Erik hovered within the shadow of the stairwell just long enough to watch her turn back to the view. A gentle breeze played through the light curls of her hair, light dancing in the chestnut locks. Some moments she looked like a mortal bird, and then she would be perfectly heavenly without even trying.

He felt his own darkness begin to seep into him. It would certainly poison someone as divine as her. Her light would never outshine even his brightest flaws. But when she hugged him, he felt like he could be…good.

A/N: I apologise for the late update, I got distracted by social(ish) life. I hope to put the next chapter up soon! Please feel free to review!