Hey guys!

Thanks for all of your reviews! And I know I say this a lot, but I adore all of your reviews! Thankyouthank youthank you! They all make my day!

For a day or so, I had some MAJOR writers block, but I picked it back up, and it's all back on track. Yay!

This chapter is slightly longer than the rest. . .It certainly hasn't beaten my third chapter – that was the longest chapter I ever typed! I can't beat typing 21 pages again!

Well, as always, I do not own the Phantom of the Opera. *Pouts* I only own my OC, Clare.

Enjoy!

. . .

"Clare?"

I jumped from my thoughts as Erik's soft tone was emitted from the doorway. I nearly dropped my pen in fright, and my head whirled around to find Erik standing in the doorway. He appeared so calm, looking as though he had been standing there for a while. I instantly turned my face away, hoping that he hadn't seen my glassy eyes. I didn't want him to see me crying, homesick. It had been months. . .I was supposed to move on. . .

"Clare?" Erik asked again in a softer tone. I knew by his pained voice, that he had noticed the tears that welled up in my eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." I said a little too quickly. I held my breath, waiting, hoping, that he would leave so that I could wipe away my tears in privacy. Though instead, he silently pulled up an extra chair, and sat next to me by my desk. I glanced at the corner of my eye, seeing that my letters were exposed. I hastily pushed them aside, desperately wanting to avoid any more questions. Luckily, Erik didn't appear to be very interested in the letters at the moment.

"Clare, please tell me what's wrong. I know that something is bothering you, since you're on the verge of tears." I nearly cringed when he said that.

I knew it was true – there was no hiding from the Opera Ghost. I would have told him that I was fine, but I didn't want to lie to him.

"I. . .I just miss my family." I muttered in a thick voice. To avoid seeing his pitiful expression, I averted my eyes down to my hands.

"I know, Clare. . ." He said in a low, soft tone. "And I'm sorry. I wish I could do something about it, but I can't." He said quietly.

"Well, it's not just that, but I often worry for them. . .They're probably devastated that I'm gone. . .Most likely, they've probably assumed I'm dead." My voice wavered slightly, but to my astonishment, I managed to keep my tone mainly steady. I did my best to blink back my tears.

"You said that you are from the future, correct?" He asked.

I was taken aback by his odd question, and I couldn't stop myself from meeting his gaze. It was too late to shield my glassy eyes from his curious ones, so instead I merely nodded, not able to fathom where he was going with this.

"If that is the case, then your family must not be aware of your disappearance." He stated, once he saw the confusion in my eyes. Not aware? I thought in a slightly bitter tone. Was he thinking that my family was careless of me?

"What do you mean?" I asked gruffly, narrowing my eyes at him slightly.

"Well, if I have understood you correctly," Erik began. "Then your mother and father do not exist yet – perhaps not even your grandparents or great-grandparents, right?" He asked as he looked into my green eyes. I nodded warily.

"Well, in that case, your so-called current family members do not exist yet, meaning that your disappearance is unknown to them at this point in time." He said, with consideration.

I had to admit, I was a bit relieved that I had merely misunderstood him, narrowly missing an unnecessary argument. Aside from that, his theory made sense. Although this idea nearly brought a shiver to my spine, I also felt relief, realizing that my family and friends weren't suffering from my disappearance. And although it brought great peace to mind, a part of my heart longed deeply for my loved ones that suddenly felt even further away from me yet.

Through all of this, another question lingered in the back of my mind. It was an unnerving thought.

"But if that's the case, how am I here? I'm not supposed to exist yet either." I said, just barely managing to keep my voice from wavering. Erik's eyes drifted to the ground as he thought. I felt my heart thump uneasily in my chest, nearly feeling sick by all of this. It was terrible to be so far from home like this – what if I one day just disappeared again into thin air? There would be no way to stop it.

"I'm not entirely sure. That I cannot answer. I'm sorry, Clare." He said after a short pause. "But you are lucky to have had such a loving family. . .Not everyone can say that. . ." He said with a bitter, yet pained tone lacing tightly with his words. . .Especially with the very last comment he said. I instantly felt awful to have ever brought it up.

"I'm sorry. . ." I said as I averted my eyes down to my hands that rested in my lap again. "I sometimes fear that I'll disappear again. . ." I admitted. My voice sounded like a croak, which I knew probably irritated Erik slightly, but it didn't appear to bother him at all.

"But then you would be reunited with your family." His statement almost sounded like a question to my ears. "Don't you want to see them again?" He asked as he looked at me with blue, bewildered eyes.

"I do." I admitted hastily. "But then I would miss you." Once those words tumbled from my mouth, I abruptly stopped, taken aback from what I accidently slipped. How could I have been so careless? I almost gasped in embarrassment, but I remembered to stay calm so that it would at least seem normal, and not awkward. I looked at him, feeling like a nervous wreck as I waited to see his reaction. From behind his mask, I saw his blue eyes widen with shock, and I could have sworn that I saw a faint blush crawl to the side of his exposed face.

"Miss me?" He echoed in disbelief. "I'm surprised that you do not fear me. I have killed people, child!" He said with great alarm in his voice. Erik almost looked appalled that I was not afraid of the masked murderer.

"You have saved me. I'm not afraid of you." I watched his eyes harden with disbelief as I spoke.

"Of course, child," He scoffed. "Surely you must be fearless of this monster, especially after fleeing the night you saw the monster's dreadful rage." He said dryly.

"Hey, I could be scary too, ya know." I poked his chest, half playfully, half serious. Erik didn't seem to take any notice to the teasing manner that lingered in me. Instead, he continued to stare at me with a straight face, unfazed, as he bluntly pushed aside my hand, that poked his chest, with very little effort.

"I doubt that." He said in a low, cold tone. Erik's cold hard stare could easily make just about anyone feel unnerved, but now I was the one who was unfazed. I knew that he was only looking down at me with serious eyes, not threatening, but I knew that he often looked very irritated, whether he intended it or not.

A new, curious thought dawned on me. I think I knew the answer at the time, but I wanted to confirm it correct for the sake of my conscience.

"Would you ever hurt me, Erik?" Once my words reached his ears, his eyes dulled as sadness pooled into his eyes. I could then recognize a certain emotion that stood out from the rest. Remorse. He looked as though he had been stabbed by guilt. His eyes grew weak with hurt etched across his face.

"No." He said quietly. "No. And I am so sorry for how I have behaved before in the past. . .The moment I had demanded to know how you knew so much about me – I. . .I had no right to be so harsh. . .Quite frankly, I hate myself for that. . .I-I felt so. . .So threatened by the fact that someone knew so much about me.. But what I didn't know was just how precious you were going to be to me. . ."

I was shocked, and continued listening as he spoke.

"But feeling threatened or not, I shouldn't have acted like that. I wish I could take it back, Clare, I really do. I wish I hadn't dented your trust for me. I will carry this burden of a memory to my grave." Erik stared deep into my eyes the entire time he spoke. He was leaning forward slightly in his chair the whole time so that our eyes were leveled. Though our eyes were leveled, I had an odd feeling that he was looking up at me, in a helpless, begging manner.

I had never heard such a sincere apology before. I had to admit, it was rather touching, and I was quite shocked by it.

"I know, Erik, that you wouldn't hurt me," I said softly. "But I still cannot find it in me to accept your apology."

"I understand." He said in a low, sad tone. His eyes looked clouded with guilt.

"But, aside from that, I want to thank you for saving me. . .Again." Erik's eyes changed once more after I said that. It almost looked hopeful, but desperate to explain himself at the same time.

"There is no need to thank me, Clare. I couldn't let him hurt you. . .I couldn't let anyone hurt you." He opened his mouth to continue, but he abruptly stopped upon something that his eyes had drifted to. He looked past me, with a new, wary and curious look that glinted in his blue eyes. He closed his mouth that had been open to no sound at all. He narrowed his eyes upon an object next to me.

"What is this, exactly?" He asked as he reached around me, and a faint crinkle of paper reached my ears.

Fear suddenly ignited in my heart once I realized just what it was that his fingertips had just touched – the letters!

The letters that I had been writing this whole time. The letters that only my family and friends would have ever been allowed to read – only them! The letters that had every thought and event from these past three months documented – the letters that. . .that exposed my true feelings for Erik. . .

Erik had the letters in his grasp, and he brought them close so he could allow his eyes to make sense of my writing.

Fear had ignited in my heart, but it was then that it exploded in my chest in sheer panic and. . .Anger. At the time, I couldn't make any sense of what exactly had come over me. The comfort barriers that had been built by him had suddenly been torn down by a surge of pure panic and insecurity.

An unexplainable wave of anger came over me, and I snatched the letters from his hands, nearly causing it to shred in half. Feeling utterly deceived, tears suddenly sprang to my eyes before I could stop them.

"No!" I cried.

Baffled, Erik recoiled away as though he had been struck. For a moment, there was a small glint of horror in his eyes by my outburst, but it quickly subsided to pure astonishment. For the first time ever, I was the one taken over by insecurity, while Erik merely watched in dreadful silence. My letters were very much like Erik's mask.

"How dare you!" I shouted. "No one is allowed to read these! You hear me? No one!" I soon found my shouts nearly demolished by sobs. "Don't you ever do that again!"

I would have yelled and screamed so much longer, but I couldn't through my voice that was cracking. I couldn't. I just couldn't. I didn't bother to utter any other words through my overflowing tears. I felt too weak to say anything else. I would have much rather just cried in silence then to have let him watch me crumble, ashamed and greatly embarrassed. . .So exposed. . .I couldn't have let him read my confession of loving him. As my tears rolled down my cheeks, I found myself wondering if anyone had ever raised their voice at Erik before. Perhaps the few from his childhood, but I had a feeling that this was the first time he had been yelled at in a very long time.

Erik remained painfully silent, proving my theory. Many would have been too afraid to raise their voice to the Opera Ghost, fearing a harsh reaction from him, although Erik's current reaction surprised me. He neither drew near, nor drew away from me. He showed no aggression. Not even a hint of anger. There was only painful silent. In that silence, I could feel his guilt, and there, I could feel a hint of despair and regret.

My heart was pounding in my chest from the fear of him almost reading it. It was so dangerously close. I wasn't sure if the letters were opened to the page that said I loved him, but I couldn't bring myself to look at it at that moment, with eyes that were blinded by tears. I felt so weak to have my tears exposed to him once more. Why did crying have to be so humiliating?

"My goodness, child," Erik breathed out in astonishment. "You really can be scary."

. . .

That's the end of this chappie!

Wow, Clare actually flew off the handle at Erik. Who would've thought? I'm sure that most of you realized that her reaction is very much like Erik's reaction when his mask is taken away. What I was showing was that the letters are Clare's mask. . .And very much like a diary, lol. But hey, we all have precious things in life. And sometimes when those precious things are taken away, we freak out.

So, what did you guys think? Share your thoughts of it through reviews! Thanks for reading! You'll find out what happens next chapter!