I do not own The Phantom of the Opera. Some shameless advertising: Please join the Facebook group "Love Should Die" if you're against Love Never Dies. If we all join together, maybe our voices will be heard (Please? For Erik?) On with the show!

Christine and Meg sat on the floor with their legs spread out in front of them in "V" shapes and their feet touching. Because she was in bed for so long, Meg was stiff, so Christine was stretching with her. They held hands, and Christine leaned back, pulling Meg forward.

"I feel like it's been ages since we last did this," Christine said. She remembered that the ballerinas used to use this stretch as an excuse to talk without getting yelled at by Madame Giry. Meg sat up and leaned back, pulling Christine the same way.

"I'm going to be doing it a lot more in three days," Meg replied. She leaned back, and they switched again.

"It can't be three days," Christine said. There was no way that she could go back up there so soon. She had been counting down the days, but something about hearing it from Meg made it hit her again forcefully.

"We're going back in three days," Meg reminded her in a muffled voice, "And you still haven't decided what you're going to do about it."

Christine sat up and pulled her hands out of Meg's so she could look her friend in the eyes. "What do you think I should do? It's not like I can stay here for much longer."

"Then stay in the Opera like Mother and I are. It's what you did before."

"Everyone knows that I was…am…involved with Erik and all the Phantom business. I don't want to be surrounded by it." Christine deplored the blush that she knew accompanied her sentence.

"If anyone bothers you about it, they'll have to answer to me," Meg said.

"You can't take on the entire opera company," Christine said with a short laugh.

"Erik will help me," Meg said as if that would fix everything.

"He's not the Phantom. He doesn't have any power," Christine said, thinking of the dangerous look in Erik's eyes when he told her she was getting the lead. She squirmed a little at the memory.

"You don't seem very confident," Meg observed.

"Erik says he can still influence the management. He had this look in his eyes. I really hope that there won't be deaths."

"Well, at least I'm excited about going back," Meg remarked. There was something in her tone and face that made Christine sit up a little straighter.

"My God, that look in his eyes…He looked like you when you're up to something," Christine said with a mock horror that was only partly fake. She was surprised that she hadn't noticed it before, but she wasn't used to connecting Meg with Erik.

Meg looked at Christine for a moment, trying to decide whether what her friend said was a compliment or an insult before she answered her. "I think you should stay in the opera. There really isn't anywhere else for you to go," she said, changing the subject because she wasn't sure how to respond.

"I think I will," Christine said, "but I'll keep looking for something else."

Christine stood up and smoothed her dress down. She knew that Meg really just used stretching as a ruse to talk to her alone. The conversation felt like it was over, so she left the room without another word.

Christine found herself wandering back up to the opera, but she was too lost in her thoughts to really notice her surroundings. Her conversation with Meg had brought something to the front of her mind that she had avoided thinking about. Going back to the opera meant that she would see a lot less of Erik, and she didn't know if they could stay as close as they were when she was hit with the deluge of rehearsals that a lead role would bring. She still wasn't sure if she even wanted to go back, but she knew she couldn't give up singing. Finding herself in standing in the main auditorium of the opera, Christine sang a few lines from an old aria to fill the silence. The emptiness of the cavernous hall felt like a tomb to her.

"I though I might find you here," a voice said behind her. Christine jumped when she heard it, but when she realized it was Erik, she turned around calmly.

"Hello," she said, trying to sound cheerful. Her smile didn't reach her eyes, and Erik noticed it right away.

"Madame Giry sent me to find you. What are you doing up here anyway?" Erik said, moving closer to her.

"I don't know actually," Christine said, her face falling a little bit.

"Is something wrong?" Erik asked.

Christine wanted to be alone, but she didn't want to tell Erik that. She knew he would worry and blow everything out of proportion and blame himself, thinking that something horrible happened. If she pretended to be happy, it would only confuse him, so she answered, "Yes, actually."

He didn't answer her; he looked at her expectantly while waiting for her to fill the silence. Christine felt guilty at the thought of wanting to be alone, and she found it difficult to meet the softness in his eyes with her own.

"When I go back to the opera…" she began, "When I go back, things are going to be different. I'll be busy, and I won't see you all the time. I don't know if I want things to change."

"Christine ," he breathed, his eyes closed. "Then don't go back."

"I have to. It wouldn't feel right if I didn't." She didn't know how to explain it, but she knew that she would go back to the opera and sing because the memory of her father would always be at the back of her mind. If she left the stage now, she would be wondering what her father would say. Christine couldn't bear his disappointment, even for Erik's sake.

"I won't be very far, just in the cellars. It's not as if you're moving across the country."

Christine finally managed to meet his eyes. "I'm making a fuss, aren't I? It's not going to be too bad."

"I think we should get going," Erik replied, "If we stay here too long, Madame Giry will probably begin to wonder what were doing up here."