Hello dear Readers! I want to apologize for my hiatus from this project. November was National Novel Writing Month, which I participated in (and succeeded in, woohoo!) while still working on scripts for the two podcasts I write for, so unfortunately I had to drop the ball on this project. And to be perfectly honest, I just have no idea where the heck December went and now we are halfway through February. Forgive me! xoxo

Chapter 21

A few days went by, and no one in the theatre seemed any the wiser of the budding romance between Erik and Christine. They knew they were damn lucky for not getting caught, so they agreed that rehearsal time would be just that: a time to rehearse. They kept their distance from each other outside of the times where Erik needed to work on songs with her. Even then, he tried to always stay within rooms where other people were around. He knew his restraint was hanging by a thread and there was no reason to add additional temptation into the mix.

"So, things seemed to have sizzled out between you and Double M," Meg said as the girls strolled around the beautiful tree-filled quad on campus. "You two okay?"

Christine studied her friend for a moment, trying to decide how to respond. On one hand, she wanted to be honest with her best friend, but on the other hand this could be the perfect way to throw people even more off their trail. If even Meg didn't know the truth about Erik and her, then surely no one else would. She sighed and decided keeping a secret from Meg just wasn't worth it.

"We're fine, actually. Just trying to keep things professional at rehearsal. And seeing that literally all our time is at rehearsal or class right now, I just haven't been able to really spend any one-on-one time with him," Christine said with a shrug before adjusting her backpack. She gave Christine a sly grin before adding, "We almost got caught together a few days ago backstage…"

"WHAT!" Meg shrieked, stopping in the middle of the walkway, which caused a tall guy with a long stride to nearly plow her over.

"Hey, watch it!" he said, pulling out his earbud, giving Meg a dirty look.

"Shove it, hipster boy, move along," Meg snapped back.

Christine burst out laughing and grabbed Meg's arm to pull her off the sidewalk and over to an empty bench. The sun was shining through the branches of a giant oak tree which allowed the warm light to radiate down on them. The air was getting crisper as the Autumn weather had fully arrived.

The girls sat down and Christine took in a deep breath, allowing the delicious scent of Fall leaves to fill her. "God, I love this time of year here. It just feels so...right."

"Yeah, but give it a month and we will all be freezing our asses off and then the snow arrives," Meg grumbled. "Winter is the worst here."

She wasn't wrong. They were at the start of October which means soon winter would be upon them. It wasn't unlikely for snow to be falling before Thanksgiving in Northern Missouri where their college was located. But, even still, the campus always looked magical when the snow fell and coated the ground and trees.

"You're just angry because it means you have to wear more clothes," Christine threw back at Meg, nudging her shoulder into her.

"The struggle is real, my friend." Meg sighed and then said, "Oh wait! Almost got caught. And go!"

Christine chuckled before explaining how Erik and her maybe got a tad carried away late last week during a rehearsal and that Sarah almost caught them in a compromising situation in Erik's office.

"So, that's why we are trying to keep our distance. I don't want him fired, I don't want to be kicked out of the theatre or anything...it's just so complicated. I wish...I wish I could have met Erik in a few years once I was already graduated and this wouldn't be an issue."

Meg looked at her friend sympathetically and sighed. "That's a tough one, chica. How serious are you about this man?"

"I...I'm pretty sure I love him," Christine said softly, staring down at her hands. "And I know that sounds crazy, but he's all I can think about. I miss him when he's not around...I care so much about his well being and making him happy...and Meg, for the first time since Dad's died...I feel complete."

"Fuck," Meg breathed out.

"Yeah…"

"And how does he feel about you?" Meg asked, gently.

Christine shrugged again. "Honestly? We haven't talked about it in so many words but...the other day he did confess that he'd never truly felt happiness until he knew me and that...and, okay, this is going to sound so cheesy to you, so don't you dare make fun, okay?" She stared at her best friend until Meg nodded in agreement, "But he said that I'm his song."

"His song?" Meg asked, incredulously.

"Don't make fun!"

"Honest to God, I'm not. Coming from Erik he might as well said "Christine, I fucking love you, have my babies now"

Christine let out a bark of surprised laughter and then covered her face with her hands. "I just have no idea what to do or think. I really want to be with him, but rules and all that bullshit."

"Screw rules!" Meg practically shouted, a few nearby students turned to stare at her.

"Shhh!" Christine hissed at her.

Meg popped up off the bench and started pacing. "No! I'm being serious. You love him, I'd bet money on the fact he loves you, so screw the rest of it!"

"I can't do that, Meg," Christine said softly, her eyes lowered to the grass in front of her.

Meg stopped pacing in front of Christine and leaned so her hands rested on Christine's shoulders. "Can't or won't?"

"Does it matter? We're only sophomores. If this was senior year, maybe I could risk everything, but I have two and a half more years to go here."

Meg scoffed and said, "Then maybe Erik will quit! He has plenty of money plus he could make a living do literally anything. He doesn't need this job."

"Meg...I couldn't ask him to quit working here for me. That's not fair. That would be like him asking me to transfer schools."

"Nope, that's not allowed to happen. You're not leaving me here alone," Meg practically growled.

"Down, girl. Of course it's not going to happen because that's ridiculous. Just like I'm not going to ask Erik to change jobs. We're not even together!" Christine said.

"Because you're both stubborn! You are together. You just haven't defined it! You know how important that step is, have you learned nothing from me?!"

Christine stood up finally and looped her arm in Meg's and forced her to start walking again. "I know, and you're right. He and I should talk before anything goes further. Come on, let's head back to the dorm to study some before dinner."

A few more days went by, and both school and rehearsals went on as normal. Opening night of the show was only two weeks away, which meant the annual gala to raise money for the theatre department was nearly here. In between running rehearsals and teaching classes, Erik had been hard at work at designing and creating his masquerade costume. He took inspiration from Edgar Allan Poe's short story, Masque of the Red Death, complete with a detailed skull mask for his face and a well tailored blood-red suit with a flowing cape. While most folks go for elegance and beauty at a masquerade, Erik opted for fear and power, two emotions he had complete control over.

Nadir sighed when he saw Erik bent over his desk, finishing a few details of his chilling costume. "Must you feed their perverse opinions of you by wearing that to the event?"

Erik didn't bother to still his movements when he replied, "I learned long ago to stop attempting to change people's views of me. I might as well play up the discomfort and fright people feel around me."

"Maybe if you were a tad bit nicer to the people you deal with in your daily life, they wouldn't always assume the worst of you," Nadir offered.

Erik stopped what he was doing and looked up slowly at his friend. He eyes narrowed on Nadir and studied him for a moment. "Forgive me for not giving humans the benefit of the doubt after years of being abused and jeered at by everyone."

"No, no, you're right. You have every reason to doubt others after all you've suffered as a child, but Erik, things are different now. Things are different here. Not everyone is always out to get you. You just don't make it very easy for folks to see past-"

Nadir hesitated for a moment so Erik supplied, "My mask?"

"I was going to say your surly, atrocious attitude, but yes your mask as well. Honestly, I don't even notice the damn thing anymore, but you have to admit, it's a tad disconcerting when someone sees it for the first time or two."

"I found it is better to momentarily shock or confuse a person when they see the mask than to disgust and frighten them with what lies beneath," Erik said, his voice going dangerously low.

"I know you went to all sorts of doctors when you were little, but have you tried talking to any specialists recently? The medical community has come a long way in the last 30-some odd years, you know,"

"Nadir…" Erik growled out. "Stop talking about this. Now."

Nadir held his hands up in defeat and took a step back. "I'm just saying…"

"And I'm just saying that you need to either shut your mouth or get the hell out of my office right now before I say or do something I might end up regretting to my only friend."

"Ah, but am I really your only friend, Erik? Seems to me that Ms. Daae has earned that title as well these days."

There was a poignant pause as Nadir's words seemed to hover in the air as the two men stared at each other.

"You know we need to discuss what's going on between you two," Nadir started.

"Not now, Nadir," Erik said softly.

"People are going to start to notice sooner or later that the two of you are closer than you've ever been with...well, anyone in this school."

"Not. Now."

"And with young Changy obviously using his father to try to shame you at the gala with this absurd theme, who knows what else either of them might try to use against you-"

"Nadir, enough!" Erik said standing from his desk.

Nadir just raised his voice to talk over Erik, "And I refuse to sit idly by and watch my closest friend get destroyed by a childish rich boy with a vendetta against the man seeing the girl he likes!" Nadir racked his hands through his hair and then let his arms fall to his side.

Another heated pause stretched on until finally the side of Erik's mouth quirked up. "Childish rich boy? While I feel like I would use much stronger words to describe him, I agree with the sentiment."

Nadir smirked back with a quick shake of his head. "I have no doubt you have much more colorful language stored up for that one. Regardless of what we call him, it's safe to say he is up to no good. He has threatened you, and me for that matter, already. Who knows what he might do to Christine if he were desperate enough. While it would be a shame if you left working here, I'm not entirely worried about you. You always land on your feet. Christine, though? Hasn't that girl been through enough heartache without more being piled on?"

Erik opened his mouth to speak but then closed it, not entirely sure how to reply. For once, he was left mostly speechless. "I would never let Christine be hurt," he finally settled on saying.

"Maybe not intentionally, but if you aren't more careful with your...whatever is going on between the two of you- I refuse to call it a relationship- you will hurt her. Or at the very least she will be hurt by other people because of you."

Erik clenched his jaw so hard the muscles started to tick. "I can't just let her go. I refuse."

Nadir slumped down into the chair in front of Erik's desk. He covered his face with his hand with a deep sigh. "I'm not asking you to let her go. Allah knows you wouldn't do that just because I asked you to. And while I might not approve of your choice of a female, I cannot deny that her influence over you has been a positive one. What I am asking you, no telling you, is you must be more careful. You've drawn too much attention to yourself and to her and I know Changy is out to take you down."

Erik calmly walked back to his desk and sat down, resting his ankle on the other knee. He tapped his long fingers on the surface of the large, sleek desk and kept his eyes trained on his friend for a moment. "It's cute you think someone such as he could succeed in taking me down, Nadir. I've battled much greater enemies and came out on top. I don't foresee Changy being a struggle to handle, but I do appreciate your concern. I'll take extra care when it comes to seeing Christine." His fingers stopping moving and suddenly were in a tight fist. "Do not doubt that I'll protect her in anyway possible. Nothing will happen to her. I won't allow it."

To be continued!

Thank you so much for reading and I will try my absolute best to update faster! Xoxo I appreciate all of you who read and review my work.