Bon jour, mes ami! This chapter makes the characters a bit OOC, but the good news is that Belle and the Phantom both have temper tantrums! The Phantom, for obvious reasons, and Belle finally snaps. You had to know that was coming...

I own nothing but my OC's.

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"Erik! Slow down! You're about to pull my arm off!" Belle tripped down the stairs after Erik, who was dragging her. When she'd fallen thruogh the trapdoor, she'd gotten a huge bruise on her leg, and climbing down stairs after a homicidal maniac didn't really help. "What the Hell is wrong with you!"

"Wrong with me? What's wrong with you? Why did you rip my mask off in front of half of Paris?"

"The managers were watching! Don't you think it would have been just a little suspicious if I didn't?'' she yelled. She tripped over the hem of her costume (again), and Erik yanked her back up forcefully. She could hear her shoulder pop. She cried out in pai, tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes. "You're scaring me."

"You should have been sacred the moment you met me, little girl."

Have you ever heard the expression, "The straw that broke the camel's back"? For Belle, that straw came in the form of two words.

Little girl.

"I am not little!!!" she yelled, breaking out of Erik's grasp. "I'm seventeen, and I'm sick and tired of being treated like a child!" Her hands balled into fists. "People have always stereotyped be as the quiet, bookish, weak one. The one who sits on the sidelines watching everyone else have fun. That's not who I am!" She wiped away the tears that were now flowing freely down her pale face, leaving tracks in the recently accumulated dirt and grime. "No one has ever given me a chance, or treated me like a person! It's like I'm invisible!"

Erik opened his mouth to say something, but Belle continued her rant. "The only reason I got the part in Don Juan Triumphant was because Cossette practically screamed at the managers that I could sing." Her voice became quiet now, as she started to settle down. "I think I must have grown so accustomed to being useless, that I didn't even consider myself for the part."

"You're not useless. And you're not weak. And please stop crying."

Belle hiccupped a laugh.

Erik smiled. "I'm sorry I scared you. I have a temper problem. The voices in my head were right."

"It's okay- Wait. What voices?"

"Um, nevermind. Let's go."

They continued down the stairs, Belle holding on tightly to Erik's arm.

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"This is as far as I dare go." Madame Giry had led Cossette, Emmeline, Christine, and Raoul to the staircase that led to the Phantom's lair. "Just rmember, hand at the level of your eye!" And with that, she ran back upstairs to help Meg and Jaques with crowd control.

"Well, it's no use standing here," Cossette said, hopping down the stairs. She looked bck to se everone else still standing there. "Come on!" She waved them down after her.

Christine clinged to Raoul. "I never wanted to come back her. It's horrible. No sunlight."

Emmeline shoved her. "Stop being such a baby. It's not that bad."

Christine fell. Right through the stairs down a secret trapdoor. (Although, when one thinks about it, they're all secret, aren't they?)

Raoul jumped in after her. Cossette and Emmeline just stood there.

"Should we help?"

"Raoul seems capable enough."

"So we continue on our way?"

"Agreed."

The two girls continued down the stairs.

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Belle sat in an armchair, reading a battered copy of Les Miserables. She looked up to see Erik, mask recovered, fiddling with the organ. She laughed. He'd refused to believe her when she'd said it sounded perfect, and had been attempting to tune it ever since.

"What?" Erik asked, finally finished. He started to play the intro to a song Belle hadn't heard before. Probably because they hadn't finished performing Don Juan Triumphant, and it was from a scene she wasn't in.

"Nothing. I was just thinking. Won't everyone wonder where we are?"

Before Erik could answer, two rather scruffy looking girls appeared at the porticullis, demanding entry.

"Cossette! Emmeline! What-?"

"We're here to rescue you!" Emmeline said, struggling to lift the gate.

Cossette whacked her on the head and pushed a button on the wall, lifting it. "That is, if Emmeline's faulty logic doesn't kill us first."

Emmeline shrugged. Then, she really looked at Belle. "Um, what's with the dress?"

Belle looked down at herself. She was wearing the wedding dress that had been originally meant for Christine. It had somehow miraculously fit. She blushed. "You see, I was wearing my costume, and it was getting all damp and mildewy from falling down, and this was the only dress that Erik had."

Emmeline and Cossette, noticing the Phantom for the first time, did two completely different things. Emmeline gave him a death glare and struck a defensive pose that would have better belonged in a badly made martial arts film. Cossette ran over to the organ and started playing Chopsticks.

Erik picked her up by the collar of her dress. "No one touches my organ," he said menacingly.

"Don't touch her!" Emmeline ran over and yanked Cossette away from him.

Cossette laughed. "Don't worry, I'm fine. Erik was just joking around, weren't you?"

Erik raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure how to respond to that."

Belle laughed. "Trust me. It's better if you don't."

The porticullis shook. Christine and Raoul were there, attempting to gain entry. They were both soaking wet.

Erik smiled menacingly. "It appears we have guests." he walked over to the porticullis.

"Oh, we're not important enough to be guests!" Cossette yelled indignantly.

Belle ran after him. "Erik! Don't hurt them!"

"And why shouldn't I? Christine refused me, and Raoul tried to kill me. Twice!"

"Christine's one of my best friends!"

"And Raoul?"

Belle stopped to consider whether having swishy hair was couse enough to be spared. "Um..."

"Exactly." Erik pressed the button to lift the porticullis. It wouldn't budge. "Damned foriegn labor," he muttered, kicking the mechanism. Giving up on technology, he lifted it himself. he pushed Christine over, and started to tie a struggling Raoul to the gate.

Christine stood up and started yelling. "I can't believe I almost fell in love with you!"

"What?"

Christine turned to Belle. "You would have too. The way he sang..." She trailed off, noticing that Raoul was giving her a weird look.

"He didn't have to sing to me," Belle whispered. Cossette mimed puking, Emmeline shifted the death-glare over to her, and Erik paused in the attempt of strangling Raoul. "What did you say?"

Belle blushed. She answered to quietly for anyone to hear.

"What?"

"I-I said-" She blushed deeper.

Everyone waited, holding their breath. Except for Cossette, who was hopping up and down on the verge of giggling madly.

"I love you."

Cossette laughed and threw herself on Belle, hugging the living daylights out of her. "She said it! She said it!"

Belle gasped for breath. "Coss! Get- off- me!"

Cossette giggled and bakced away. "I knew it!"

Raoul groaned. "Great. Now we all know the obvious. Oh, and CAN SOMEONE PLEASE UNTIE ME!!!!!"

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Yes, I was feeling particularly evil this chapter.

Belle has confessed her love for Erik. How will he react? Will they ever untie Raoul? Where the heck has Genny gotten to? And WHO ATE MY CROISSANT!?