A/N: I am so so so sorry for the long wait. I hope this chapter makes up for it. Thank you for being patient with me!
After countless hours of making phone calls and arranging performance schedules, Erik finally had a second to glance down at his watch. 5:32 pm. He sprang out of his chair, sending a couple papers to the floor in the process, and quickly strode out of his office and upstairs to his apartment. He had been coming home late for dinner almost every night the past two weeks, and even though it was only two minutes he knew it still mattered to Christine. His project for the theater had been consuming most of his time, and he was planning on proposing to Christine tomorrow. Lately Erik would come home for dinner, try and spend as much time as he could eating with Christine, and then he would return to his office.
When he would return to his office it was so he could research engagement rings and proposal ideas. His Christine deserved the best of the best and this was something he had no experience with. Eventually he found the perfect engagement ring, and he put in the order and had planned on picking it up tonight.
The two of them had been talking about marriage for the entire month after Meg and Andrew's wedding, and now, in the middle of July, the conversation had died down a bit and Erik figured it would be the perfect time to propose. They discussed having children, moving into a real house, and their financial situation. While Erik was terrified of having a child that looked like himself, Christine continued to reassure him that they would love the child either way, and she was willing to adopt if they found out Erik's deformity could be genetic. Moving out of the apartment would take away from the convenience of being so close to work, but both of them agreed it was necessary so they could easily separate their home lives from their work lives. As far as finances go, Erik had enough money to easily support both of them very comfortably. They decided to keep separate personal bank accounts with a few shared ones for various expenses.
When he rushed through the front door of their apartment, Christine was sitting at the dining room table, waiting for him like she always was, with a rather disconcerted look on her face. Erik quickly approached her and pulled her up into his arms. "I'm sorry, darling; I really need to get here sooner."
Luckily, Christine chuckled lightly and placed a kiss on Erik's cheek. "It's alright; you're only three minutes late this time." She didn't seem upset, but the disappointment in her voice was evident.
Their dinner wasn't anything fancy, just some takeout, but Erik tried his best to hear every single detail of Christine's day before he was done eating and had to leave again. In return he told her about her day, and she seemed slightly concerned that he was growing so stressed over his work. It was a big project, after all.
They both ate as slow as they possibly could, but Erik knew he would have to leave soon otherwise he would be late to the jeweler. He helped Christine with the dishes and tried not to seem rushed, but he was anxious about getting the ring.
As Christine was finishing the last of the dishes he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist before leaning down to rest his chin on her shoulder. "I really hate to leave you here by yourself all the time," he said into her ear as he placed a kiss on her neck. He could feel the air leave her lungs as she let out a sigh.
She turned around and wrapped her arms around him as well. "I hate being left here by myself too," she said with her head against his chest. She pulled away much sooner than Erik expected her to.
"I'll be back soon," he told her as he watched her walk into the living room to sit down on the couch.
He took one last look at Christine, but she didn't return his gaze, and he left their apartment feeling regretful. Hopefully he could make it up to her tomorrow and hopefully the ring would look exactly like he expected it to.
The jeweler had agreed to see Erik even after his shop was closed because of the price and caliber of the ring he was buying Christine. The white gold band was covered in diamonds, and the band split in two in the middle and they were tilted upward slightly to support the biggest of the diamonds.
Erik was more than satisfied with the finished product. He had even been sure to give the jeweler Christine's ring size so it would fit her perfectly the first time she put it on. For once Erik wasn't feeling shy so he decided to tell the jeweler how he was planning to propose to Christine tomorrow. The man gave him a few pointers, because he had heard many engagement plans from his customers, and Erik listened eagerly. He eventually paid for the ring and thanked the man countless times before he finally left.
On his way back home, he stopped to get Christine some flowers to apologize for having been gone so much in the previous weeks. After picking out the perfect little arrangement, he soon found himself in front of his apartment door again. He opened the door with a smile on his face, only to be met with a glare from Christine.
She turned her attention back to the television, un-phased by the flowers Erik had gotten for her. Instead she was rather frustrated that he took longer than she assumed he would, but now she was thinking she should have known better.
Erik sighed, aware of his shortcomings once again. And he slowly approached the couch and sat down next to Christine. She looked at him once again but then quickly looked back toward the television. He placed the flowers gently on the coffee table and reached for her hand, but hers remained lifeless in his.
"Christine, I'm sorry," was all he was able to get out. He was sorry, and he was beginning to realize that he was unsure how much further he should express it.
She merely nodded in response, clearly giving him the cold shoulder. Erik squeezed her hand tighter but she shot daggers at him with her eyes so he let go. "Is this ever going to stop, Erik?" She asked him coldly. "Or are you going to start treating me the same way Raoul did?"
Erik's stomach plummeted to the floor. She hadn't brought up that situation in ages, and he was unaware that it was still painful for her to be reminded of. He shook his head rapidly. "No, Christine. I could never do something like that to you after seeing you suffer from it."
"Well this is how it started with Raoul," she replied back at him. "All the late nights at work eventually turned into me never seeing him. I can't go through that again, especially with you."
He felt as if his heart had been pierced. "That's the last thing I want to do to you."
She laughed sadistically. "Really? Because you're already doing it." She stood up and began pacing around the room, her anger clearly showing now.
"I'm telling you the truth, Christine." He remained sitting on the couch, not wanting to get in the way of her fury. "I don't need to go to the office after dinner anymore after tonight. I've finished all of that work. I'm just really eager to get this project done; I know it'll change our lives."
Christine stopped dead in her tracks and glared at Erik once more. "Does any of this sound familiar to you? You were there when Raoul tried to explain his actions, and now you're basically saying the same thing."
Before Erik could respond, Christine was headed toward the front door. Without looking back at him she muttered, "I can't do this," and suddenly the door of the apartment was shut again behind her.
A wave of panic crashed against his entire body. Where was she going? Was she going to come back? How had this escalated so quickly? Erik tried his hardest to stay calm, but he failed. He kicked the vase off the coffee table and sent it shattering to the floor. He slammed the closet door shut and walked back into the living room. He sent his fist down onto the arm of the couch and then kicked the bottom of it. His foot was shooting pain throughout his leg but it wasn't as dreadful as what he was experiencing in his heart.
After slamming some more things around, Erik finally collapsed onto the couch and buried his face in his hands. The tears came out quickly as sadness overcame his anger.
He heard the door open and he immediately stood up and looked at Christine standing in the doorway. Her face was wet with as many tears as his was. She started walking toward him so he met her halfway.
Unsure of what she wanted, he let her make the first move and within seconds her arms were around his torso. He pulled her as close to his body as he could and held her as they both cried in the middle of their living room.
Erik tried to calm himself down; he had upset Christine and there was no reason for him to be crying now that she was with him again. He gently stroked her hair and let her get out the last of her tears. Once she finally pulled away the first thing he did was lean down and kiss her forehead.
She looked down at her feet, "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have stormed out of here like that. You're nothing like he was," she said as she looked up and reached her hand to caress the unmasked side of his face. "I'm sorry, Erik, I just care about you so much and I can't bear to see you slip away. You didn't deserve that."
He took her hands in his and this time she accepted them. "Christine I deserved every word you said. I know I've been busy lately but that will all be over soon. I-"
"Can you at least tell me what you've been working on at work?" She cut him off before he could finish. "Maybe I could help, or I could at least try and help you not stress so much about it."
Erik sighed, dreading that Christine would want to know before he was ready to tell her. At this point he figured she deserved to know after all that he had put her through the last two weeks. "I didn't want to tell you until I had finalized everything, but I'm trying to get you a regular spot at the opera house. Everyone at the restaurant loves you, and your voice deserves so much more than the muffled acoustics in there."
Christine's jaw dropped and she stared at Erik in disbelief. "Erik I- I don't know what to say. You don't need to do all of this for me, I'm perfectly happy singing where I am now."
He nodded, "I know you're happy where you are now, but I also know you would be ecstatic getting to sing on that big stage downstairs a couple nights a week. Once people find out about you, they'll be flocking here from every corner of the earth. I know I would. I know I don't need to do any of this for you, but I want to. I would do anything to see you smile."
She immediately buried her face against his chest once he was finished talking. Erik couldn't help but let out a satisfied chuckle as he returned her embrace.
"I should be done sorting out all of the details soon, but I'm going to take tomorrow off so we can spend the day together," he told her and she pulled away slightly so she could look up at him. "Tomorrow is going to be all about you," he said as he tapped her on the nose. "I'm going to make it up to; we can do whatever you want, go wherever you want, on one condition."
A smile had now replaced the sad look on Christine's face. "What's that?" she asked curiously as she squeezed his sides slightly, making him squirm a bit while he tried to suppress his laughter.
He returned her smile. "I would like to take you to dinner tomorrow, but I would like to go the restaurant instead of somewhere new. I know we both spend a lot of time there, but I think it will be nice to be there on different circumstances."
"Alright, Mr. Destler, you have yourself a deal."
The next morning Erik slipped out of bed as quietly as he could. Luckily Christine was a heavy sleeper and seeing as it was still the early hours of the morning, he would have plenty of time to make breakfast for her. After he finished carefully mixing and cooking the pancakes, he placed them on a tray alongside a bowl of fruit, a cup of coffee, and a cup of orange juice.
He tiptoed back into the bedroom and placed the tray on the floor before slipping back into bed with Christine. She was still peacefully asleep, but she must have felt Erik's weight return to the mattress because she rolled over and burrowed her face into his chest. Erik protectively wrapped his arms around her until her eyes finally opened.
"Good morning," he said with a smile. She lifted her head up and stretched a bit before resting back on Erik's chest. "You know, we're never going to make it to all of our activities today if you plan on laying here all day."
"I know," she said through a yawn. "I'm just so comfortable."
Erik chuckled lightly. "Well is there anything I can get you? A more comfortable pillow, perhaps?"
She shook her head and laughed, "No, that's okay. Some coffee would be nice though."
Satisfied that his plan had worked, he reached down to the tray on the floor and handed Christine the cup of coffee.
She looked extremely confused holding it in her hands. "Did you just pull this out from underneath the bed? Is it even safe to drink?"
Erik smirked and got off from the bed to retrieve the tray holding Christine's breakfast. He placed it across her lap and sat back down. "I made you breakfast," he told her proudly.
As Christine happily ate her breakfast, she told Erik what she was planning on wearing that day while he placed all of her clothes on their bed for her. She had mentioned that she was going to take a shower, so Erik decided to start a bath for her instead. Christine was finished with her food when Erik exited the bathroom and she was looking rather pleased with him.
"It's not even 10 and you've already done too much for me," she told him as she got off the bed and found her way into his arms again.
He smiled down at her and placed a kiss on the tip of her nose. "That's impossible, nothing for you is too much," he told her as he received a kiss in return. "Now don't take too long in there, otherwise I'll have to come and find you."
Christine playfully swatted at his arm and giggled before she disappeared into the bathroom.
By the time they were exiting the cab in front of the Empire State Building, Christine seemed about ready to explode with excitement. Erik couldn't understand why; they had both lived in the city for a fair amount of years, surely she had visited the Empire State Building before.
She had, but that didn't diminish her excitement to be able to share the view with Erik. They wandered around the observation deck, Christine leading Erik around by his hand, and they made sure to stop at every possible angle to get the best of the view. The place was nothing new to Erik, he had visited it maybe two or three times, but he had never seen it in such a beautiful way. Watching Christine gaze at the New York City skyline was a better sight than anything else around him.
When they reached the top deck, Christine was still bursting with excitement. Meanwhile Erik was still questioning how the elevator cable hadn't snapped from her excited motions.
Christine decided they should do a few stereotypical 'tourist-y' things for the day. It was close to noon when they finally left the house, and once they had finished visiting the Empire State Building they still had a few hours to spare before their dinner reservation at 5:30.
The sidewalks were more crowded than any other area in New York City, and Erik kept a protective arm around Christine as they waded through the crowds; his other hand was in his pocket firmly wrapped around the ring box. Luckily most of the other pedestrians were too set on their destinations to notice the half-masked man towering over all of them. For that, Erik was thankful. He was able to enjoy his time with Christine without having to worry about what everyone around him was thinking.
They spent the better part of an hour walking in and out of the various stores. It took a lot of restraint for Christine not to buy everything she saw, but Erik took note of all the things she wanted for future reference. When they got tired of walking, they elected to sit on a bench and people-watch until they had to leave for the restaurant.
It was a perfect day outside; the sun wasn't too hot, but the heat from all of the people around them became uncomfortable at times. Regardless, Erik still sat close to Christine because he was slightly paranoid of the pedestrians around them. Christine was visibly enjoying herself and Erik couldn't help but smile the entire time.
"Have you been enjoying yourself today?" He asked her when they sat down at their table in the restaurant. Now that they were both well-known by the staff there, it felt more comforting which was exactly what Erik needed. The night was slowly unfurling and soon it would be time for him to propose to Christine.
"Yes, I have," she told him before taking a sip of the wine they had ordered. "Thank you so much for doing this for me."
Erik shook his head and laugh. "You say that like it's a chore, my dear. Today has been just as enjoyable for me as well."
Christine was having a good time and that was the only thing that mattered to Erik. This time he let her foot brush up against his leg, very similarly to the way it had on their first date, and he didn't feel the need to shy away. He had nothing to worry about when he was with Christine. She was the only person who made him feel safe, and yet he was sitting across from her with butterflies flying around his stomach as he realized the food on their plates was beginning to disappear.
Erik would have been content enough to sit there for the rest of the night just talking to Christine. It had been so long since they had really been able to talk to each other, but after spending over two hours there it had come time for them to leave.
His mouth started to go dry as they left the restaurant. The temperature had cooled down considerably, but it was still warm enough to not need a jacket. He was planning on going for a walk with her through central park, but when they neared the entrance Christine let out a small, delightful squeal at the unoccupied horse-drawn carriage conveniently parked there.
She turned to him and pulled on his arm like a child. "Erik, can we please go for a ride? We can still go through the park, but we can be pulled by a horse!"
He knew things weren't going to go exactly as he had planned, but he wasn't going to deny Christine this simple pleasure. "Of course we can."
Erik got onto the carriage first and brushed off the seat before offering his hands to Christine to help her up. He leaned forward and quietly told the driver where he would like to go through the park and where he wanted to be let off.
Once they started moving, Christine moved closer to Erik and leaned her head onto his shoulder to which he responded by wrapping his arm around her. The sun was low in the sky and as they slowly rode through Central Park Erik couldn't help but think that this was the happiest he had ever been.
He rested his head on top of hers and began pointing out the few constellations that were starting to appear in the cloudless sky. Christine listened eagerly and when Erik fell silent she happily pointed out the Big Dipper, which he had left out just for that purpose.
The tree where they shared their first kiss came into view and Erik cleared his throat nonchalantly so the driver would slow down.
"Why are we stopping?" Christine asked curiously as she watched Erik exit the carriage and offer his hands to her.
He helped her down from the carriage and stuck out his arm for her to take. "We're almost out of the park, so we might as well get the most out our trip as we can."
Christine looked pleased enough with that answer so she linked her arm through Erik's and they began walking toward the tree. Erik's heart was pounding like a kick drum and all he could do was hope that Christine couldn't hear it. Either she didn't or she was kindly ignoring it because she didn't say anything.
They got closer to the tree and Erik knew what was supposed to come next. "Do you remember what happened over there?" He asked her, nodding in the direction of the tree.
Without responding she quickly lifted herself up onto her toes and placed a lingering kiss on his cheek. "Something along those lines, I think."
"I think it might have been just a little different," Erik said with a small smile on his face. He was trying tremendously hard to not lose his cool. Christine started pulling him toward the tree and he was thankful that she had taken the hint that he wanted to go over there. He slipped his hand into his pocket once more and held the box in his hand, squeezing it lightly every few seconds in an attempt to calm his heart rate down. This was really happening.
The street lights were beginning to turn on, and when they arrived underneath the tree the branches were casting shadows on the ground. Christine took a few moments to look up through the leaves, and when she looked back down her brown eyes were met by his hazel ones. She smiled at him before kissing his nose, then both of his cheeks, and then his chin.
Before she had a chance to reach his lips, he pulled back ever so slightly and placed both of his hands on either side of her face. He only spent a few short moments staring lovingly into her eyes before gently pulling her face toward his. He kissed her. He kissed her like it was going to be the last time. At the rate his heart was going, he was sure it might be the last time, but he let the fire in his heart move to his lips and Christine seemed to have melted in his arms.
When their lips separated, their foreheads stayed touching and they shared in a quiet moment of bliss. Erik moved his hands down to Christine's and held them. He took a deep breath and got down on one knee without any warning given to Christine.
The cool air seemed to have sucked the breath from Christine's lungs at the sight of Erik kneeling before her. Her eyes began to fill with happy tears before he was even able to say anything.
He held her hands a little tighter while he tried to keep the tears of his own from forming in his eyes. "My darling Christine, you're so beautiful," he told her even though the tears were now streaming down her cheeks. "You take my breath away ever single second that I'm with you. Spending this past year with you has been the most incredible experience. You've taught me how to let people in, how to love, and most importantly how to accept myself for who I am. I don't think I could ever thank you enough for all that you've done for me, but I will try. I will try to show you and everyone else the same kindness and love that you have showed and continue to show me." His voice began to crack at the end and his mouth was running dry. He took the box out of his pocket, but kept it closed, which elicited a small squirm from Christine.
"I love you more than words could ever describe, but I will make sure you know how much I love you for the rest of my life; for the rest of our lives. I couldn't think of a higher honor to be bestowed upon me" he paused to open the box to her, "Christine Elizabeth Daae, will you marry me?"
Christine nodded her head rapidly, unable to say her answer. Within an instant Erik was on his feet again, tears strewn across his left cheek and soaking the mask on his right. He unsteadily took the ring out of the box and placed it on Christine's shaking hand. Without taking a second to even look at it, she threw her arms around his neck and crushed her lips against his. Erik pulled her in a kissed her back as well as he could given the fact that he couldn't stop smiling.
"I love you," Christine repeated over and over again between kisses. "I love you so much."
"I love you too," Erik told her as he reached up to wipe the tears off of her face. "What do you think of the ring?"
She finally took the chance to look down at the glistening ring on her finger. A smile instantly invaded her face as she stared at it. "It's perfect, Erik," she said after a few moments. "I love it almost as much as the man who gave it to me.
Erik's smile resonated with pride. He took her left hand in his right and motioned toward the middle diamond. "I designed it myself. You see how it looks like it's being held up by the band?"
Christine nodded eagerly, waiting for him to elaborate.
"That's because you're my diamond, and I want to show you off for the entire world to see."
The tears taunted her eyes again but she fought them back this time, thinking she had already cried enough for one day. "It's perfect, Erik. Thank you."
He shook his head and chuckled in response. "Thank you."
Smiling, they linked hands and walked out of the entrance of the park. Christine couldn't help but look down at the new ring on her finger every few seconds, and each time Erik caught her doing so his heart panged with delight. Their ride back to the apartment was a blur of quick kisses and romantic glances. They arrived home and realized, as they closed the door to their apartment, that the door to the rest of their lives had just been opened.