I am so sorry for the long wait on the update but it has been a crazy month. My theatre class was putting on Chicago and it has been crazy. On top on that I have had a lot of work (I work retail and it's Christmas) so I've kind of just put this aside for a while, but I have Christmas break and then exam break, so I should be able to get some updates soon. This chapter is just clearing up the loose ends with Christine. I'm not a big fan of this chapter, but I'll post it anyway.

Chapter 24 –

Elizabeth woke the next morning wondering if what she had been through the night before was all a dream, had she really been that consumed by lust. Then she thought to Erik, he had been so proper about it all and it made her smile to herself.

"What may I ask are you smiling about?" He asked as he stepped into the room carrying what Elizabeth assumed was breakfast.

"And what may I ask are you doing trespassing in my private area of the house?"

"I was going to bring you breakfast but I've decided to eat it entirely by myself and you can go downstairs to the kitchens. I of course you know have a huge appetite."

"Oh be quiet!" Elizabeth said as she grabbed a piece of bread and began to nibble on it. "Erik?" She finally said after an awkward silence.

"Yes?"

"We can't let this change anything, at school we need to be as professional as possible."

"Of course, we are always professional, we were able to be professional when we despised each other at Christmas, and we can do it now."

"Okay."

They carried on a light conversation for the rest of the breakfast then Erik excused himself while Elizabeth changed and soon they both headed for the school.

"Will you visit the classroom today?" Erik asked as they got out of the carriage.

"Would you like me too?" She flirted.

"Well, so much for your brilliant idea of acting professional."

"I'll probably visit after lunch today."

Elizabeth headed to her office where she found Christine sitting quietly starting at her hands.

"What are you doing here Mrs. De Changy?"

"I'm sorry I really needed to come, Raoul has no idea I am here but I needed to speak to you."

"Of course, is it about Andrew?"

"No." Christine replied simply. Elizabeth knew who she was referring to, but she didn't want to say it out loud, especially not now. "It's about Erik."

"I know." Elizabeth replied.

"It's not that I am unhappy with Raoul, I have cared for him since we were children and we are very much in love and of course we both love Andrew beyond anything. It's just, Erik was a huge part of my life for many years and I just need to know that everything is really okay with him. I do really love him in a special way and…"

"Don't say such things here." Elizabeth cut her off. "You can't do this Christine. I understand that you and Erik have such a past together and there will always be a connection between you two, but he is happy here. He really is happy here, you even being here hinting towards what I know you are trying to say can ruin this fragile existence we have here. It has been years and he has finally gotten past what you put him through, and you either need to get past all of this, or get as far away from Erik as you possibly can."

"I understand and I do want to let it go, but he was such a constant in my life for years. It has been hard not having that right now. I want him to be happy."

"He is! You need to come to the realization that he really is happy without teaching you, these children at this school have given him something that he has never had before. They accept him as him; even you could not do that. This school will not be the same if we lose him. Christine, you are a smart women, do not risk your happiness and his over this."

"Couldn't we just talk about it?"

"Why do you ask me? I am not his keeper, I don't control what Erik does."

"Yes but I need the opinion of someone who isn't directly involved to help me."

"Talk to Meg, talk to anyone, but I warn you, everyone will give you the same answer, he is past everything that happened between you two, especially now." Elizabeth was beginning to cry and Christine whose head had been hung for the last few minutes of the conversation saw the tears in the older women's eyes.

"You care for him very much don't you?" Christine asked quietly.

"Erik is what makes this school and my life perfect. He has some horrible moments of anger and it is so hard to get him to open up, but everyday when I watch him with those children, he becomes truly in his prime, he was born to teach and these students would not be where they are in school and life. They need him, I need him and he needs to be here. Why don't you come with me this afternoon and watch him in class."

"No, the two of us being there would make it awkward for him."

"They are practising in the theatre today and we can sneak in the back and watch, he most likely won't even know we are there."

"Alright, I can come back after lunch."

"You know what? We can sneak out for the morning; we really should talk outside of the school." Christine nodded. The two headed to the only café in town and had a morning snack.

"Miss Bennet?"

"Elizabeth." Elizabeth corrected her.

"Elizabeth, what changed him?"

"He got out seclusion all he needed to know what that there were people out there who would be accepting of him and treat him as more than just the Phantom of the Opera. You know he is an amazing singer, accompanist, and composer, all he needed was to just be able to show others that." It was around ten in the morning and the two were sitting awkwardly at the café table.

"Would you like to come over to the house, we can eat lunch then go back to the school." Elisabeth offered. Christine nodded.

Christine looked even more awkward and out of place when they arrived at the house.

"It's alright Christine, yes, he lives here, yes you have a past but you can't ever expect to get passed that if you don't begin to accept that you will come into contact with him at some point in time."

"I understand, but it's still hard, I've already said that he was such an influence in my life, but I never knew anything about him, now I'm starting to learn more and more about whom he really is and that scares me."

"Why?"

"I don't even know; it's all so confusing."

"It's okay, you are still fairly young Christine, you don't know a lot about things like this, you lived a fairly sheltered existence in your life and yes Erik put you through a horrible ordeal, but you have grown up since then, you are married and you are a mother, you need to let it go. Only then can he truly let it go."

"You love him don't you?" Christine finally gathered the courage to ask Elizabeth what she had wanted to all morning."

"I do, very much."

"And he loves you?"

"Yes, but it's hard for him, and if you try and regain your relationship with him, it will not only break your husbands heart, and eventually yours and his, but it will break my heart beyond repair. He is happy, and I understand that you want assurance of that, but I've dedicated the last few months of my life to making him happy."

The two were quiet with each other for the rest of the morning and through lunch; they hardly said a word on the way back to the school.

When they went into the theatre after lunch they found Erik and the class working on the finale group number for Snow White. Erik cut Aurora off during one of her long notes.

"What's wrong?" He asked, her notes were fading rather than get stronger as she went.

"They don't feel right." She replied.

"They sound perfect, you just need to have more confidence in yourself, and even if you do sing the wrong note, the audience won't know, as long as you sing it loud and confidently, then they will think that was how it was supposed to be. It is your solo, if you change it a bit from the way it was written I'll know, and your classmates will know, but the audience will think you did it perfect." The girl nodded.

Christine and Elizabeth took seats in the back row and sat and watched, Christine looked awestruck. After about an hour, she turned to Elizabeth. "Thank you." She said simply, it brought a huge feeling of relief for Elizabeth.

"You're welcome."

They both turned to watch for a bit longer. It was another twenty minutes before anyone knew they were there.

"Miss Bennet? When did you get here?" Julie asked as she ran up the stairs on the way to the washroom.

"Mum?" Andrew asked as he looked up towards the three at the back of the room."

The feeling in the room changed immediately, Erik was almost terrified to see Elizabeth sitting with Christine and refused to look back toward the seats.

Elizabeth who sensed the tension immediately tried to lighten the mood. "Well I promised your teacher I'd visit today and Mrs. De Changy here wanted to observe the class firsthand in order to help decide if she'd like Andrew to stay next year."

"Oh please let him stay." Brianna exclaimed and the rest of the class quickly followed with similar statements.

"Well thank you." Christine said calmly and got up and left the room almost silently.

It was almost the end of class and Erik could not focus his thoughts so he did the first thing that came to his mind. "Alright, well now that Miss Bennet is here you won't be able to stay focussed, so I'm going to dismiss you early." They hurried out of the room, Elizabeth still hadn't moved from her seat.

Erik made his way slowly and silently up the stairs and knelt on one knee next to her. "I'm sorry Erik, she came into my office this morning and she wanted to talk, so I've spent the whole day with her and I wanted her to come see this class."

"What did she want to talk about, is Andrew going to leave?"

"No. She wanted to talk about you. I guess she has had a lot of things to think about since Andrew came to school here and she says she loved you in a 'special way' whatever that means. She wanted to make sure you were happy and I told her you were so I brought her here to show her, and I don't really know what I was thinking I'm sorry. I just didn't want her to do anything that would ruin her relationship and of course ours I don't know how I could possibly live with that."

"Don't apologize. I understand your worry, but I also want you to know that you have no reason to worry. Yes, I love Christine, but that 'special way' you were speaking of is not the way I love you, I cannot really explain it. We have a history and that history is one of the largest reasons I became who I am, and I will never forget that, but I do love you. She may have changed me six years ago, but she never was able to make me into what you have. I would still be an unhappy monster who had nothing to live for, instead I am becoming the man I always wished I was able to become.