Greetings all! It's great to return after a wonderful weekend getaway in NY. I will say the trip was just what I needed to regroup and get energized.

There was a Guest that reviewed and I wasn't able to respond personally but I feel I should explain this to them. Darius wasn't pretending about his feelings for Meg. He was pretending or rather, hoping that her family wouldn't see an issue with their friendship and maybe allow them to see what else could develop. Yet when he heard Nadir and Annie talking, it made him think it was just a foolish pipe dream and thus he ran.

Now where did I Ieave off… Fop and Melanie… No. Nadir and Annie… No. Tobias? No… Bex and Aaron? Not ringing any bells….. Oh yeah, I remember it now. ;)

The words came out so fast there was no time for Christine to process just what she had said. All she knew was that she felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She stared at Erik, wishing for him to speak.

Please say something…

Erik met Christine's stare and could barely breathe. "You wanted more? How….. How is that possible? I was the dreaded Phantom of the Opera. The freak, the monster…. The thing that you wanted to break free from."

"Erik….." Her words were all choked up, thanks to the lump in her throat.

Erik shook his head and held up his hand, as if to keep her at bay but she hadn't moved from her place. "You couldn't bear to look at me the night in my lair. You told that boy that I would take you and keep you and he parted forever…You left with him at the graveyard…You tore my mask off for all to see and fear me. How is that someone who wanted kisses from my bloated lips?"

He walked slowly to a chair and sat down. He then looked up at her face. "You were afraid of me because of my temper that night and not because of this?" He pointed to the right side of his face. You wanted me to seek you out?" He shook his head. "Six months! Six months of never calling for your angel. I never heard you say that you wanted me near you. If only you had called for me just once…. I would have….."

He then thought back for a moment. "You pulled my mask off to save me? Are you saying you didn't want me to die?"

"Angel, I could never want to harm you. I never wanted to go along with that deplorable plan. I just wanted peace and wanted you safe."

"We were talking before the Fop came to my lair. We seemed to be reaching some common ground, were we not? Did you… Did you really think that I would harm you, Christine?" He looked down, afraid to meet her eyes.

She shook her head. "I am so terribly sorry for even thinking that. I was not in the right frame of mind. I know you would never hurt me."

He rubbed his hands on his legs and swallowed hard as he started to speak again. "So our kisses were not a mere ploy? You actually felt something behind them?"

Before another word could be said, she began to feel guilty and afraid of her feelings all over again. Unsure of herself or what to do, she ran.

"Christine! Christine!" Erik got up and was about to chase after her, when he felt a hand touch his shoulder. He turned around quickly, ready to attack.

Bets saw the look on his face and spoke up at once. "Professor, it's just me. I'm sorry but I heard shouting and ….. Are you and Christine alright? Can I do anything?"

Erik took a deep breath and brought this hands to his head as a means to calm himself. He was so very close to striking Bets, out of fear that someone was trying to hold him back again his will. He turned away and whispered something that Bets could not hear.

"Professor?"

He stood up straight and smoothed out his hair. Next he turned to face her. "Don't worry about me but please…. Please go after her. See that she is alright. She is upset and shouldn't be alone."

Bets wanted to inquire further but Erik spoke before she could.

"I beg you, Madame. Go now. Go now and see to her. She needs someone….."

"And you would rather not go to her yourself, Professor?"

Erik was surprised by her response. He was still so confused by Christine's actions and words, he needed to be by himself and process everything. He couldn't see her again until he was surer of himself and his actions.

"I am no good to her right now." He then looked at Bets with pleading eyes. "Go to her, for I cannot. Not now."

She nodded. "I'll go." She started walking away when she heard Erik say thank you. She turned her head and said. "I'll come find you later and let you know how she is doing. In the meantime, you look like you should rest, Professor."

Erik didn't respond. He retreated back to his bedroom and locked the door. Then he ripped off his mask and forced himself to look at his face in the mirror.

"What did you do?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Erik flinched as he saw his reflection but forced himself to keep looking.

"Did that really just happen? Could I have destroyed my one chance at happiness?" He thought back to the night that changed his relationship with Christine forever. The night of her debut. He was so excited for her and proud. He knew she would be magnificent and she did not disappoint. Yet as she was rising to her rightful place within the company, he knew that sooner or later he would have to reveal himself or lose her forever. That night, Raoul de Chagny forced Erik's hand and he had to appear to her. He was so afraid that her encounter with Raoul would never allow him the chance to steal her heart.

"You bastard! You should have planned it better. You should have thought everything out calmly and rationally. Of course she would have been curious of the mask. She was always an inquisitive child! You knew that! You loved that about her! How could I have…."

Damn you! Curse You! You little lying Delilah!

Erik backed away from the mirror. "Of course she would be hurt by my words. How could I have thought otherwise and how could I have said such things? Yes, she took off my mask but I could have stopped her. Instead I enjoyed her loving caress so much…. I took it out on her for my weakness. I should have stepped away and explained that it wasn't the time and talked to her! We always had such wonderful talks." He let out another deep breath.

"Dear God, could she really have turned against me because of my words and not my face?"

He then thought back and realized he never sought Christine out. He never tried to go to her dressing room or her dormitory and try to contact her. Why?

"Why did I not try to see her? Why did I think that after so many years of always being together, she would suddenly not need me? I abandoned her! I pushed her into the Fop's arms! Not my wicked face… Me!"

He reached for his mask as he couldn't stand to look at himself anymore. Once it was securely in place, his mind went back to the past and more specifically to Joseph Buquet.

"She thinks I killed him….. I did but I had to. He came after me. He tried to kill me and gain the glory of murdering the infamous Phantom. It was self-defense! How could she have not known that?" He turned angry but then a voice spoke inside his head.

Fool, you weren't there to tell her. You left her to the Vicomte and he filled in his own tale. Who would you have believed? A childhood friend or a man who disappeared and wasn't around to defend himself?

"Christine…Is it true? Would you really have seen me if I had come?"

The events of the last few months came rushing back so strongly at him that he felt dizzy and almost fell as he made his way towards the bed. He sat and placed his hands over his head. The events played out for him one by one. His return to present this opera, as a feeble attempt to win his protégé back. He knew of her engagement, yet he also knew that Christine was determined to keep it a secret. Was it truly out of fear for him and how he would react or was it because….. Perhaps…. She didn't want to go through with it? Was she pinning or waiting for him to return and be the angel he once was and not the cold-hearted Phantom?

"No! No! The rooftop. I heard her with my own ears. Everything she said about me and about my face and I saw her cling to him, kiss him, and want him!" He was shaking so hard. Then he stopped and remembered Christine's words from tonight.

I was looking for a lifeline….. You never came to find me… I needed you…..

"She did my opera and I know she enjoyed it. I know she understood my life's work. I saw her practice and I saw her care. When Carlotta, that cow, made her comments she looked as is if it pained her and wanted them all to stop."

He smiled. "That day at the cemetery, she was reaching for me. She wanted to believe me. We could have resolved everything if not for that peacock!" Erik's thoughts turned to pounding Raoul's face into the ground but then he remembered his actions that day and how he almost hurt her. "You idiot! You and your sideshow tricks, you could have harmed her! What was I thinking?"

"Good God, Piangi…." He ran his fingers through his hair and thus it was no longer smooth. "An accident, I never meant to…"

Christine's words came back to him once more.

I unmasked you to save your life. I knew Raoul's men had the stage surrounded. I had to do something.

"She did it to save me..." He then recalled his horrible ultimatum. "How could I have done that? I vowed never to hurt her and instead that is all I have ever done."

The kisses came back to him with a vengeance and he seemed to look back at them with different eyes. He never asked for kisses and surely never expected to receive them. Yet she took the lead. She reached for him and she kissed him not once but then pulled him back to her and kissed him a second time. Back then he had been too shocked to do much of anything but he did remember that there was a fire between them. Not just for him but in her too. They never pulled away until he heard the mob. If her kisses had been a ploy, why did she have to go to all that trouble?

"Her lips stayed on mine till the very end. I pulled away, not her. She looked as if she did want more. How could I have not seen that? How could I have sent her away?"

He shook his head. "I had to. The mob was coming. If they would have thought for one moment that she was with me….. She came back." Erik recalled how she returned with his ring but she didn't run away. She stayed. She was lingering. She was almost looking for an excuse not to leave.

"My Christine." Then he remembered the Fop met her and pulled her away. "Again, he came and interfered. Yet I did nothing. I let him interfere each and every time. I should have stopped them. I shouldn't have lost my temper all those times before. I should have sought her out and begged her to hear me, to listen to me."

You hear me, but do you ever listen? I am ashamed because I liked it and I wanted much more of it!

Erik swallowed hard. He went to his drawer and pulled out the small rose the woman at the train station had made for him. He brought it to his nose and took in the scent.

"She's engaged now…..I'm too late. I had my chance and I threw it away carelessly. All this time I thought it was because of him or that she didn't care but really I am to blame. I am to blame for it all." A tear rolled down his cheek. "This is all my own doing. Poor, unhappy Erik."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Bets knocked on Christine's door. "Christine? It's Bets. May I come in?"

There was no answer but Bets could hear that she was in there. "Please child, let me in. I know that lately you seem to have been avoiding me but I assure you I mean you no harm."

Christine didn't reply but Bets wasn't about to walk away when she knew that the young woman was obviously not alright. She took a set of keys from her apron pocket and searched through them until she found the one for Christine's room.

"I am sorry I have to do this but you leave me no choice. This is my house after all and I have a right to ensure that everyone is alright and feels safe. I am not very certain you are either."

Christine heard the door unlock and sat up quickly from her bed. "Madame…"

"It's Bets, remember? The Professor was so distressed to see you run off like that. He begged me to check in on you." She paused and saw how red her eyes looked. "Child, is there anything that I can do? Did the Professor upset you? Did he harm you in any way?"

"No! He would never… could never harm me. Please just top saying that. I am so sick of people asking me that or trying to warn me about that. It's preposterous."

"I'm sorry. I won't ask again." Bets brought the chair from the desk over to the side of the bed and sat down. "I know that lately you seem to be avoiding me. Christine, did I do anything to offend you or did I break some noble custom I was not aware of? We live simply, Aaron and I and we don't really follow the social graces. There is little time but hard work and strong loving." She winked.

Christine looked nervously at her. "I don't know what you mean, Bets. I….."

"Okay, let me just lay everything out for you. Life is too short to beat around the bush. Ever since you walked in on Aaron and me in the kitchen, you hardly said a word to me. I thought we were getting friendly. What happened?"

"Bets, I am all mixed up these days. Don't mind me. I am just…."

"Being polite. Christine, I know I am out of line right now but this is my home, so technically I have a right to act in any way I see fit. I know Aaron will be fit to be tied when he hears about this but so be it. Tell me, did your mother ever tell you about…"

"My mother died shortly after I was born. I don't remember her." She looked away and then turned her eyes back to look at Bets, when she felt her touch her hand.

"I'm so sorry. That must have been very difficult for you."

"I had my papa and then my angel…"

"Angel? Oh, a guardian angel like your mother in heaven?"

"I….."

"Forgive me I'm being nosy. The reason why I asked is, did... Did anyone tell you about life after you are married?"

Christine began to blush. "I know what is expected of me, Bets"

"Expected? Well, I suppose but I never really heard it spoken like that before. My kissing Aaron is natural and very acceptable for a loving, married couple. Why were you so shocked? You said you knew of the… Expectations going forward, right?"

"I just never knew it to be appropriate in public or having a woman take the lead." Christine couldn't believe she had said that. She instantly covered her mouth.

Bets looked shocked for a moment but then laughed. "My dear, it was in my own kitchen. Remember, my house, my rules?" She laughed again. "All I did was kiss him but frankly Christine, sometimes we women have to initiate. God knows our menfolk get too caught up in work and bills and the state of the world." She watched Christine's face for a sudden change in her expression but saw none.

"I am only saying that if a man and a woman love one another, as I hope they should when they wed, then displays of affection are quite acceptable and proper. A woman has as much right to feel and want passion and love as a man. That's what makes them equals to men and partners in their relationships."

"Equals… You sound like Erik. Yet, I don't believe Raoul considers me an equal. He cares of course but he thinks men and women should be on different grounds as women are more…"

"Poppycock!"

"What?"

"I'm sorry, Christine and I mean no disrespect against the Vicomte but that's what hypocritical men say when they have no intention of seeing their spouses as partners or equals. They think there is only one decision maker and that is them."

"Bets, Raoul means well. He is noble and….."

"Again I don't mean to discredit him to you, Christine but if we are talking about my actions, I have done nothing wrong. Aaron is my husband and I am not ashamed to show him love or to feel love for him. Denying it would be a sin. Denying it would not be normal."

"So you're saying that feeling such….. Feelings is natural and for a woman to want them as much as a man is normal? That I am not unholy or wicked?"

"Goodness, my child, it is certainly not wicked to share your love and trust with another person. Having someone to share your thoughts, soul and body is a beautiful and holy thing. Of course, providing it is the right man. Surely you have felt such feeling for the Vicomte. You probably feel embarrassed but it's natural and soon with the wedding….."

"I haven't." She watched her reaction.

"You haven't felt that way for him? Not even when he kisses you? Wait, you do allow kisses, right?" She asked half-jokingly and half in all seriousness.

"Yes, of course we have kissed but….. They are nice but….." She then thought of their last kiss and how cruel and rough Raoul was. "They leave me cold and truthfully, they always have."

"I am sorry, Christine. I shouldn't be prying like this. I…"

"Yet, I have felt what you are saying. Those feelings of a burning flame that consumes you. Yet isn't that wrong? Those feelings are meant to be hidden and shunned. They cause recklessness. They cause pain."

"Christine, all love brings pain. The ultimate joy can only be savored once you have experienced the ultimate despair. Yet, those feelings you just described shouldn't be shunned. They should be savored. They are natural when you share them with the one you love. Those moments when you let the world around you fade away and all you care about is holding each other and never letting go." Bets knew it was now or never to find out what she had suspected since Erik and Christine began interacting.

"Those feeling you felt once….Were you in love?"

She hesitated and then nodded but quickly stopped. "Oh, I don't know. I thought I was and then terrible things happened and I hurt him deeply and he hated me but then I thought we could be friends…."

"Is the man you speak of Professor Erik?"

Christine could not answer but when the tears began again, Bets knew she was right.

"Child, it's going to be alright." She put her arms around the girl and Christine hugged her back. "Nothing has happened that can't be fixed. You are young and you have your whole life ahead of you. You can do anything you want with your life, Christine. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Your decisions are yours to make and you still have time."

"No, it's over. I belong to Raoul now. I can't go back."

Bets took Christine's left hand. "This ring is beautiful but without love, it's just a piece of metal." She then brought her left hand in sight. "I know it isn't a large diamond ring but this simple band, binds my heart to his and it is worth more to me than all the gold in the world."

"Bets, you don't know all that has happened. I don't know if Erik and I can erase the past."

"Why try? The past is what shapes you and helps you treasure the present and choose more wisely in the future."

"But I am practically married."

Bets laughed. "Maybe this is me being simple again but since when does practically count for anything?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hours passed by and Christine was finally through crying. Her head was swimming with thoughts so she decided to let them break free through the pages of her journal. While she was writing, she heard something slide underneath her door. She picked up the sealed envelope and didn't need to see who it was from. She knew as she tore it opened and began to read.

My Christine,

Foolish I know to still refer to you in that way but to me, you will always be mine. Please do not feel as if that is said in possession but rather admiration and above all else, love. Ah, Christine what fools we have been. I perhaps the greatest fool of all. I blame myself for everything. So many times you were there, reaching for me, waiting for me and I wasn't there. At least I wasn't who you needed.

I know it is too late. I know you are trying to move on and start a new life. A life with money and society. A life you deserve that will bring happiness and beautiful children. All the things I could never give you. I want you to move on and forget the torment and the pain. I want you to think of me as you once did, with admiration and respect. I want you to be proud of me again. As your Angel of Music, I am bound and determined to make that ignorant boy of yours see how much music is in your soul. You said I hear you but never listen. I am listening now.

You have worked far too long and hard to give it up now. You can't do this. Your angel will never allow it and your father wouldn't want you to do it either. Not now. Not when all of Paris knows you as the sensation that you are.

I have a plan. One of no selfish gain, I assure you. If you allow me to use our time together wisely, I will make your song for the Vicomte soar and once you sing it for him, he will have no choice but to allow you to sing whenever and wherever you choose.

I want to put the past aside and focus on your future. Your music will forever live in me. Will you consider my offer and work with me to ensure you have the love and the life you deserve? Will you allow me to help make all your dreams come true as we both wanted for you all those years ago?

Say yes.

Your Angel of Music… Your Erik.

Christine read the words over again and fresh tears began to fall. Yet she hurried to her desk and wrote a reply. Then placed the letter inside the envelope and slipped it back underneath her door. There was so much she wanted to tell him. So much she wanted to say but time was of the essence. He asked to work with her. As a team…. Partners. She smiled, despite the tears. Maybe they did have a chance. Maybe all was not lost. Yet she didn't have time to say it all now and she didn't want to keep him waiting. She knew he was there. She sensed him.

Erik looked at the closed door in fear. What is she thinking? When he saw the letter, he instantly picked it up and opened it. His eyes went to only one word.

Yes!

A/N: Spending more time together is a good thing. Yet this engagement is a bit binding. Hmm… we shall see.