"I thought you were gone from me forever," Erik cupped her cheek, staring down at her with such a loving expression. "I thought I would be reduced to the dreams of you. Those empty dreams that left me screaming for you."
"But I am here now." Éponine stroked her fingers through his hair. "Erik I have missed you so much." He pressed his lips against hers again, kissing her slow and deep. She pulled back, "There is something I need to tell you."
"What is it?" Erik's smile faded, "You are staying here aren't you? You're not leavi-"
"No!" Éponine gasped laughing at his guess. "Not even. I will stay here forever."
"You have changed me Éponine. You have kept me from killing in my rage and frustration. Your voice in my mind being my conscious."
"I am proud of you," Éponine gave him a proud smile, stroking her thumb across his cheek. Was he going to interrupt her every time she started to tell him the news?
"You are not a dream are you?"
"No." Éponine shook her head, "I need to tell you this so please listen." She pulled back and met his eyes.
"You're soaking wet, Éponine."
"Well I did just swim across that frigid lake. It's not at all warm like the river is in summertime." Éponine wrapped her arms around her, the chill had finally set in. She was never going to get to tell Erik.
"Your dresses are still here," Erik took her hand and led her to where he had stowed her dress in a trunk. He couldn't complain that her water soaked underclothes let him enjoy every inch of her body that it clung to. But he ignored his interests and searched for her dress and new chemise and bloomers for her.
"No corset." Éponine said quietly, as he pulled all of the clothes out for her.
"Why not?"
"Because I need to tell you this," Taking a deep breath she slowly started, "I am.." She placed her hand on her stomach, "with child."
"With child?" Erik echoed, his eyes widening in surprise. "With my child?"
"With your child." She nodded, feeling her heart skip a beat when he didn't smile or show any sign of happiness. "Oh, Erik.. You're unhappy?"
"What if the child is born like this?" Erik gestured to his face, staring down at her still flat stomach. "What will happen then?"
"I will love the baby as I love you. Erik, I have taken you as the man that you are so why would you think that I would not want your child?"
"I am no father. I am hardly a proper lover to you. How can be a father?"
"How can I be a singer?" Éponine took his hand in her hand, placing it against her stomach. "We will raise this child together."
"Marry me."
"What?"
"Let the child be born with in wedlock. No child of mine will be called a bastard like its father."
Éponine hesitated, "Yes."
"Then you must be some phantom here to haunt me with what I could have."
"Stop being so melodramatic," Éponine joked pulling him into another kiss, possessive and passionate.
~o~
"This is our musical. You're still working on it?"
"I haven't stopped, day in and day out I've been working on their love story. They're name's are Roxane and Tristan."
"You've composed so many new songs," She thumbed through a stack of pieces. "These are all Tristan's songs."
"I did not have your voice."
"I have a song, but I have no music except for what is in my mind." Éponine ran her hand over the keys of the organ, the ivory beneath her fingers making her smile.
"Sing for me then," Erik kissed the back of her neck as he stood behind her. "Sing the notes you hear in your mind and I will listen to them."
Éponine took a deep breath, "Anything but lonely. Anything but empty rooms. There's so much in life to share. What's the sense when no one else is there? Anything but lonely. Anything but only me.
Quiet years in too much space. That's the thing that's hard to face, and. You have a right to go, but you should also know. That I won't be alone for long. Long days with nothing said. Are not what lie ahead. I'm sorry, but I'm not that strong."
Erik's hands stayed at her hips, his head resting on her shoulder, leaning his head against her cheek. Her voice again filled his lair, his mind, his heart, his soul. Her song was following in the direction he had wanted to take their characters.
"Anything but lonely. Anything but passing time. Lonely's what I'll never be. While there's still some life in me and. I'm still young, don't forget. It isn't over yet. So many hearts for me to thrill. If you're not here to say. How good I look each day. I'll have to find someone who will. Anything but lonely. Anything but empty rooms. There's so much in life to share. What's the sense when no one else is
there?"
Erik stepped away from her and sat down at the organ, his fingers began to move and flow repeating the melodies that she had sang in her song. "Your song fits in beautifully with what I wanted to befall Roxanne."
"What do you want to befall Roxanne?" Éponine sat down beside him at the organ, taking a look through the musical score.
"I want her to be taken from Tristan and she has to return to the life on a street. There's a song that's not put to paper yet but it's when they're reunited. It's a tango."
"Who in the company will be playing our two lovers?"
Erik turned and gave her a wide smile, "You."
"I am not an actress, now am I in the company. Please be realistic." Éponine laughed shaking her head.
"They will give you the part if they want me to cooperate."
"Who will I be my Tristan then?"
"Moi."
"You are certain they will cave to your whims?"
"They will have no choice but to cave to my desires." Erik leaned towards her and captured her lips. "Picture you and I on stage, being these characters."
"I am." Éponine's eyes rose, "I am terrified."
"There is a masquerade ball in a week's time. You've returned to me at the perfect time for the musical to be unveiled."
~o~
On the other end of the lake, Antoinette had come to visit Erik but she was shocked to find an abandoned dress on the coast of the lake.
"Éponine." She hissed as she picked up the dress. From where she stood she could hear the sound of the organ playing and voices laughing.