AN: I'm sorry that my updates are getting fewer and farther between... Honestly I had a really hard time getting chapter 36 ready and I'm working really hard to get back on track. I should be updating This Angel In Hell next, probably two more chapters on that before another chapter here. I'm aiming for at least one chapter per week. Thank you so much for continuing to read and thank you for your patience.

And thank you, THANK YOU SO MUCH, for the reviews. If you could see the way I flail when I see that I've got a new review... It's sickeningly cute. I love you, my readers.

Sometime in the night, Christine fell asleep. Erik was acutely aware of her every movement. Shortly after she fell asleep, the snow finally ceased. Their fire, though it threatened to die a few times throughout the night, still burned in the morning when Christine woke, her head pressed firmly against Erik's chest as he absently played with her hair.

He froze when her breathing changed. Slowly, she opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. Their makeshift tent had taken quite the beating in the snowstorm, and now it hung pregnant with wet, heavy snow on either side of the couple. The first thing her brain registered was that she was no longer all that cold. Sure, she could hardly feel her toes, and she could see her breath in the air, but it wasn't as bitingly cold as it had been during the night.

"Erik?" she asked, concerned for the stiff, corpse-like man she held onto. The utterance of his name was all it took to relax him, if only a little.

"Yes, Christine?" he replied.

"I'm glad, too." Erik looked down at her, confused. "Last night, you said that you're glad that it's you and me together," she continued, "I… I don't know why that stayed in my head, but…" Her angel leaned forward and kissed her hair. It was a bold move, not something she was used to from him.

Too quickly, the tender moment ended, and the pair worked to free themselves from their blankets, the edges of which had begun to freeze to the ground. Had it not been for the tree, they would've been completely buried in snow. Christine marveled at how deep it was as she took a few cautious steps away from the fire. The horse was nowhere to be seen.

"Well," Erik said as he tore apart their campsite. Christine turned to look at him, expecting him to follow that up with something of use. He didn't say anything further.

Christine blinked back tears as she stood there, scanning the horizon for their horse. I came so close to freedom, she thought bitterly, a taste of this life with Erik was too sweet, of course I can't continue to exist in happiness.

"If I am correct in my assumption of where we are," Erik started, "There should be a town not too far from here. Perhaps we can find an innkeeper who will take pity on us."

"If we don't freeze before we get there," Christine murmured. Erik decided it would be best to pretend that he didn't hear that.

Most of what they had brought along with them was soaked straight through or torn, so they didn't have much to carry. The snow wasn't that deep, but it was deep enough to make walking difficult.

Erik took the majority of their baggage, slipping a single bag over Christine's head to rest across her chest before he fastened his cloak over her shoulders. She opened her mouth to protest, but he put one thin, icy finger against her lips.

"You are more precious to me than my own life," he said, "I will not selfishly use something that could better serve you."

"But you'll freeze to death!" Christine cried.

"I've survived worse than this," Erik said with a finality that stayed Christine's tongue. He turned, trying to decide where they should go. They kept the sun to their left until noon, when they finally could see a town in the distance. The sun was beginning to melt the snow, but it was also making travel more difficult as ice began to form in the shadows.

By the time they finally managed to reach the town, the sun had all but set and they both were painted with bruises in varying shades of blue and purple. They were quite relieved that the first building they reached was an inn, and they didn't seem too busy. Hope was high that there would be a vacancy.

Erik was nearly carrying Christine as they stumbled through the doors of the inn. Outside, the wind was harsh and cold. Inside, the air was warm and smelled of cheese and meat. Erik helped Christine down into a chair before he approached the desk at the back of the main room.

A squat, surly-looking woman came from one of the tables near a staircase to help him, stepping behind the desk just as Erik reached it. "Can I help you, monsieur?"

"My… companion and I were caught in the storm last night- we lost our horse and we've been walking all day. Please tell me you've a room we can sleep in for the night."

"Of course. You're in luck, we don't get many travelers this time of year for precisely the reason you've described. Now, about our rates-"

Erik dropped his purse on the desk, where it landed with a heavy thud. "Payment shall be no issue. I trust I can settle the bill when we leave in the morning?"

The woman stared at him in awe for a moment, then nodded, pulling out a book and pen. "I'll just need your names. If you've any weapons, I'll need you to leave them here at the desk. Dinner and breakfast are covered in your bill, dinner should be ready shortly and will be served in the main room, just through there." She pointed over behind where Christine sat, into a room where there were obviously a few drunk men sitting and enjoying themselves.

"Your room is the last one on the left, second floor. Thank you, monsieur…" the woman squinted as she tried to read Erik's handwriting. He'd purposely scrawled a near-illegible last name. It was one he'd used many times. "Sauvageau?"

Erik merely nodded as he turned to help Christine once more. It seemed to take them forever to ascend the stairs, but once they were on the second floor it only took them a few fumbling steps to reach their room, which they realized too late only held one bed. It wasn't a very large bed, either.

"What was that last name you gave at the desk?" Christine asked as Erik helped her to the bed, where she sat and immediately began shedding heavy wet layers of clothing.

"Sauvageau," Erik replied as he began taking things out of the bags they'd been carrying. There were important things in those bags, things they couldn't afford to let get wet and mold as they traveled.

"Why would you use a name that means savage?" Christine asked, wrinkling her nose at the idea.

"It would be better if you did not know the monster I have been, the monster I can be," Erik replied, nonchalant. There was no self-pity in his words. It was merely a statement.

"Erik-"

"I mean it, Christine," he hissed, shooting an icy glare over his shoulder. His cheeks burned as he realized that she was in her underclothes. He quickly turned his gaze back to the bags he was unpacking as he heard Christine shuffling through her own bag, trying to find something she could wear that would not offend but also was not sopping wet.