Thank you to those who reviewed last chapter, it made me smile :D

But before you read Chapter 11, guess what!

**What?!** you say

I still don't own anything recognizable! Yayy! :(

Christine POV

The bath felt very soothing. Steam filled the air around me and the warmth of the water soaked deep into my bones, relaxing every muscle. I sunk down in the tub even more, to where the bottom of my chin became cradled in the water's smooth caresses. I closed my eyes and relaxed.

I had not had a bath like this since Papa and I lived in the house by the sea, right before my mother died. I only had vague memories of her though, I was very young when she left us to go to heaven.

I closed my eyes and tried to picture her. I couldn't remember the small things, but I did recall her long chocolate curls and her singing Swedish lullabies to me as I fell asleep. Papa always said her eyes were blue like mine. I missed her more than words could describe. I always did think it strange that I missed someone I barely knew.

I opened my eyes and sat further up in the tub. I saw the purple dress my angel had given me splayed out on the floor. It sparked thoughts of me wearing it when I was with Raoul.

Raoul. How did I feel about him? When I looked at him I always saw that little boy on the beach staring back at me. His smile caused my heart to warm and flutter; it always reminded me of our childhood together, making sand castles or telling each other stories.

But did the thought of dating him appeal to me? I wasn't sure anymore. At first I wouldn't give it a seconded thought before I would turn that idea down immediately; but now...maybe I liked the safeness he brought me. He brought back old memories that I held close to me whenever I saw him, and when I held his hand at the restaurant...

I then remembered the looks I was given when Raoul and I passed girls my age in the restaurant. Were they mad at me? What could I have done to a stranger to make them hate me? What Meg had told me when getting me ready to go eat with Raoul, came back to me. She spoke about how Raoul is "The Prince Charming" and how I should be more excited to go on a "date" with the one man every girl dreamt of even just saying hello to. She talked about how rich and handsome he was.

I knew he was rich; but I've known that since I was young and I didn't give it much thought anymore. Those girls were probably jealous of me since it appeared I was with Raoul. But the more I thought about it, I decided they weren't. Nobody has ever been jealous of me, why would they now? Even if I was on Raoul's arm, I would be nothing to envy.

The water in the tub was now becoming cold and my skin reacted to the temperature change with tiny goose bumps that spread themselves all over my body. I decided that that meant it was a good time to get out.

I stepped out of the water and grabbed a towel my Angel had set out for me and wrapped it around my body.

My heart stopped beating and I became numb when I realized I didn't set out any clothes for me to wear...I thought about putting the purple dress back on but it smelt like it was pretty well worn and I was all clean. I didn't want to bathe for nothing.

I decided to make a run for my room. Besides, my angel was probably out of view and wouldn't see me.

I hastily opened the door of the bathroom in an effort to walk swiftly to my room, but then I saw my angel looking at me from his throne like chair. My body panicked, causing my feet to anchor to the ground and I just stared at him from the bathroom doorway in shock, I could feel water from my hair still dripping down my shoulders and back on its way to the floor.

After an instant of my angel and I just staring at each other in disbelief, my mind quickly brought my body out of its shock and forced my legs to walk at a fast pace - almost a run towards my room.

I closed my door and sat on the edge of my bed, still dripping wet, and just looked down at my feet, my heart beating rapidly in my chest.

I was so stupid! How could I?! I should have thought to bring clothes into the bathroom! I could feel my face, hot with embarrassment. My angel probably thought of me as nothing more than a foolish little girl! He saw me cry a little before he led me down here, my voice was weak during our lesson due to something as simple as posture, and now, I had run out of the bathroom with nothing but a mere towel on! How I longed to be good enough for this angel but I was becoming filled with more and more self-doubt as every second passed.

I took a deep breath and decided to get dressed and apologize to my angel for the scene I had just caused, even though I wanted to lock myself in my room and never leave. I didn't want to face more embarrassment that would be caused by looking at him and knowing he just saw me run practically naked from the bathroom!

I forced myself to stand up and open my dresser in order to find something to wear, but to my amazement, different dresses filled the spots where the other ones had been! They were way more enticing and beautiful than the dresses that had been in their place only a few days ago. I wished I could wear them all at once! I had no idea which one to wear first. I decided to go with a pale goldish white one with a light purple floral print.

I promptly found that the corset with it was much more stiff and hard for me to tie then the older ones I had been wearing. I couldn't quite get it pulled tight enough to do any good. I would have had Meg help me like normal but I didn't have that luxury here. I decided to try again several times but I was becoming frustrated with the material. Then an idea made its way into my head.

I could ask my angel for help. The thought made me a little uncomfortable since he was obviously a man and who probably loved someone else in heaven; but at the same time he was an angel too. He probably didn't feel the same way us humans felt about things.

I peeked my head out of my bedroom door and scanned the living room to see that he was still sitting in his chair with a book in his hands.

"Angel?" my voice came out weak; what was I doing?! This was ridiculous! But to my surprise my mind didn't stop my mouth from speaking.

"Yes Christine?" He looked back at me from his book when he said this.

"Uh, well I'm sorry, but I need some help…I can't get my corset." My cheeks became colored red as the words escaped my mouth. What was I doing!?

My angels jaw dropped slightly and he just looked at me in disbelief before rising from his chair and walking toward the door my head was hanging out of.

Erik POV

Had I really just saw Christine exit the bathroom with just a towel? I cursed myself for not thinking to put clothes for her to wear by the towel I had set out. How I wished that I had never looked up from my book to see Christine in just a towel, with embarrassment evident on her face. The whole situation should have been avoided to begin with!

But my thoughts kept lingering on what I had saw; her legs, the droplets of water that ran down their curves caught the flickering candle light. Her hair was also beautiful in a different way; it was darker in color due to the water that was still trapped in it and the water droplets that fell from it landed on her small shoulders and fell languidly down her back.

God was punishing me. He put a girl of such beauty in front of my eyes so close, yet very far out of my reach. I tried to push the thoughts out of my head. What good were they when I would never be nothing more than an illusion of an angel to this girl…all because of my face. If she where to ever see me without my mask, and know the truth, she would run and scream like everyone before her.

I felt sorrow gather in the pit of my stomach. I would never have anyone who loved me just even as a friend. I took my mask off, laid it in my lap and put my hand to the distorted side of my face. My fingers started to dig into the soft delicate skin causing my nails to draw blood. This face was even hated by my own mother who would lock me in my room. When I was a child, I longed for my mom to just kiss me once, but she wouldn't even dare look at me without spiting harsh names in my direction. It was her who made me start wearing masks at an early age. She made it clear to me I was to never go without one.

My fingers began to scratch my cheek now in a pitiful effort to tear off every ugly feature. I longed to be a normal man, not even good looking, just bearable to look at.

Some noise coming from Christine's room brought me back to earth, away from my dark thoughts, so I put my mask back on. I shouldn't take it off out in the open anymore since I did have a guest in my home. I didn't want her running off to leave me alone like before. I felt like I had a purpose now, which was to protect Christine and help her voice grow. I had plans for her. I would have her gracing the Opera House stage with her lovely music. But that was a ways off. At this moment, I just didn't want to lose her, she brought me a slight sense of happiness I didn't want to lose.

"Angel?" I looked up from my book I hadn't been reading and saw Christine with just her head poking out of her bedroom door.

"Yes Christine?"

"Uh, well I'm sorry, but I need some help…I can't get my corset." Christine's Cheeks reddened when she said this and all the blood practically drained out of me. What did she just ask of me? I never hardly had any physical contact with the opposite sex…let alone my mother and I was being asked to help Christine with her corset?! I wasn't sure I knew how!

I stood up and started to walk over to her, every step I took felt unreal. I was light headed and felt as though I was dreaming.

"Ok Christine." I hoped my voice didn't appear nervous.

When I entered her room I noticed she was only in her chemise, pantaloons and a very lose corset. She turned around so I could tie her corset. I pushed all her hair over her shoulder so it was no longer dancing across her back, blocking my view of the corset's gathered thread. Her hair was very soft and sent a shiver down my spine when I felt it.

I grabbed the strings of the corset with shaking hands and pulled back at a rather fast speed, causing the corset to tighten around Christine's Torso. She let out a small breath and whimper as I did this. Did I hurt her? That was all my hands were good at doing, they did belong to a corpse after all.

"Christine? Did I hurt you?"

"No Angel. I'm fine."

"Well is it tight enough yet?"

"Almost." Her voice sounded somewhat shy and embarrassed. I could see the front of her body through her dresser mirror we were standing in front of, and tried to look at her through it when I spoke; but she avoided all eye contact.

The last thing I wanted to do was hurt Christine, she was so small and I was using hardly any strength to pull her corset tight; but with every pull she released breaths and quietly whimpered. I felt like I would squish her and cause her pain.

I gave it one last pull and then tied it.

"Thank you, Angel. I am sorry."

I just nodded my head at her and left the room. I hoped she didn't notice how nervous I was and hoped I did it correctly. I didn't want her passing out later tonight because of me.

Madam Giry POV

"Yes Meg that looks very good. You just need to work on your jumps a little more." I told my daughter after she showed me the dance I had taught her that morning.

"Ok mother. I can do that!" She was very determined. She always learned the dances very fast and often got them polished better than the other dancers. She was very talented.

"While you work on it some more I am going to go check on the costumes for the dance. I shouldn't be too long dear." I said as I started to walk away.

On my way to the Opera's costume department, I saw Christine practically running with a worried look on her face down the halls. What was upsetting her? Being the mother I was, I followed her in an effort to check on the girl, who was now practically my adopted daughter due to her and Meg's bond that was inseparable.

I saw that she went into the chapel. I had seen her go in there many times in the last few days, something about her father was probably upsetting her and I noticed that that was where she went when feeling sad. It seemed she always went in there about this time of day, it must be when she feels lonely since Meg is normally off dancing somewhere and she is left alone to herself.

But today it appeared she was even more distraught than normal. I stood on the other side of the door for a moment, hesitating to enter. I didn't want to disrupt her if she was having a moment alone but, I also felt the need to make sure she was ok.

After a minute I finally decided to slowly open the door and come in. What I saw though, felt like I was being stabbed in the gut.

Did she just walk through an open door in the wall? Was I just old and imagining my fears coming to life? I knew what this meant and my heart started to beat faster. I walked to the wall she had just gone through and opened it with no trouble at all. I had been through it many times when I had to deal with certain things.

Christine was gone. I saw no evidence that she was even here. I walked down the dark cavern a little farther, but decided to turn back when a better idea came to me. I would try to keep Christine out of the situation as much as I could, so I would come back later when she would no longer be with him.

On my way to go check on costumes I noticed a very confused Raoul in the lobby of the Opera house. He was just standing there and appeared to be deciding what to do next.

Well I'm kinda unsure about what yall just read…don't know how believable it was but I think I liked it.

But who cares what I think!? What's important, is what you think; so let me know in a review! :D