Erik had done a great many things in his life, most of which he'd have preferred to forget. However, he had never expected to find himself in a concession line at the city's downtown Fourth of July celebration. In fact, he would have never expected to find himself anywhere near such a gathering, period. But around a year and a half ago, he had started giving vocal lessons to Christine Daaé, and now, somehow, here he was.
The day had started out normally enough. Christine had come to his apartment and taken her lesson, doing well although seeming a bit distracted. He couldn't say exactly how it had happened, but she had started coming to his home for lessons a while back, even though he taught his few other students at the college exclusively. She often stayed for a cup of tea after her lessons, and today was no exception.
He returned to the music room where she had moved to the chair she liked to sit in while they sat and talked. Erik handed her a cup. "Is everything all right, my dear?"
"Oh, yes, I'm fine, I guess. It's just...Raoul and I broke up." She frowned down into her cup, which was just as well as Erik was sure his distaste for that boy would be visible to her, even with the mask. Raoul was a handsome international student who she had been seeing since last fall. He was also a vapid dolt in Erik's unbiased opinion.
Although the relationship ending would be the best thing that could happen to Christine, as far as he was concerned, Erik still hated the thought of her hurting in any way. She was so kind and gentle, no doubt she was taking this breakup hard. "I'm so sorry." Well, that was a lie but Christine didn't have to know that. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Oh, I'll be alright. It was hard to tell him, but I know it was the right thing to do. I really feel more of a friendship for him than anything, and although he tried to deny it, I think his feelings are similar." She dropped her gaze to her tea. "Besides, I...like someone else."
Erik's momentary happiness that Raoul was out of her life came to a crashing halt with that revelation. 'What were you thinking,' he chided himself, 'that just because that idiot is out of the picture, you would have a chance with her? Of course someone as perfect as Christine would have numerous suitors just waiting for an opportunity to ask her out.'
"Well anyway," she continued, seeming not to notice his lack of a response to her last statement, "I was hoping to go downtown this evening to hear the live music and watch the fireworks, and now I don't have anyone to go with." She peered at him over the rim of her cup with her lovely eyes looking even bigger than usual.
Erik knew he was seriously lacking in any social skills, but he felt like Christine was definitely trying to tell him something. Could she really want him to accompany her to the celebration? It seemed preposterous, but what else could she by implying?
He cleared his throat. "Would you like me to come with you tonight?" He wanted to cringe as the words left his mouth. No doubt neither the insufferable Raoul nor this mystery man she mentioned would ever sound so painfully awkward asking a simple question. He waited for her to laugh in shock at the idea.
But as usual, Christine surprised him. "I would, Erik, that would be great! Pick me up at six?" And as he nodded like some sort of halfwit, she gave him her normal beaming smile.
Although he had halfway expected to receive a message from her canceling the entire evening, none had come and he had shown up at the apartment she shared with her friend Meg promptly at six in the evening. After he knocked, he had a moment's fear that she simply wouldn't answer the door, but she pulled it open just a minute later and smiled up at him. "Hi Erik!"
Erik wouldn't have thought it possible, but somehow she looked even more lovely than usual, dressed in a cute summer outfit with her chestnut curls down around her face. "Christine, you look...so nice." Erik couldn't believe such a pathetic understatement had come out of his mouth, but she just smiled at him. "Thank you, Erik! You look very nice yourself."
He had expected to feel panicked once they actually arrived at the town square where the festivities were being held, and it was very crowded and somewhat chaotic, but with Christine by his side somehow he didn't feel overwhelmed at all. Not that he would ever choose to come to such a thing on his own, but if it made her happy and she wanted to share it with him, it really wasn't too bad. He bought her a hot dog from a stand when he asked if she was hungry and she said she was. She seemed a little disappointed when he didn't get anything for himself, but she didn't push the issue. Although he could eat in the soft mask he was wearing, he preferred not to be that vulnerable in front of her, and he was glad she didn't argue the topic for once.
After she finished eating, they were strolling around the square, aimlessly as far as Erik could tell but he was content to follow Christine wherever she wanted to go. They ran into several of her friends from the university, and each time they stopped so Christine could chat to someone he wondered if they would be so stunned that she was here with a freak like him they would say something to embarrass him in front of her, but everyone was friendly enough toward him. Of course, all her friends seemed to adore Christine, but that was only to be expected.
As it started to get a little darker out, Christine turned to him. "We should start looking for a good place to sit for the fireworks." And she stunned him by casually reaching out and taking hold of his hand as they walked.
Erik's head was spinning. Why would Christine want to hold his hand? In his limited social interactions, he had thought holding hands was something only couples did, but that must not be right. Friends must hold hands too, he mused. And above all, the last thing he wanted to do was offend her in any way, so he just walked next to her in a bit of a daze and tried to savor the unbelievable feeling of her hand in his.
When she saw what she apparently deemed a worthy spot, she slipped her hand from his and took the blanket she had brought with them from under his other arm. Spreading it out, she patted the space next to her and smiled at him. They were in a somewhat secluded area of the square, in front of a stone garden wall they could lean against. "I know it won't get dark for a little while yet, but I think we should just stake out our area now. If we wait until it gets darker there won't be any good spots left."
"I defer to your judgement, of course," Erik said as he sat down beside her. A few moments later he sprang right back up. Christine had removed the white canvas shoes she was wearing and was lightly rubbing the arches of her feet. The sight of her pretty feet with her pale pink toenails was so distracting to him he felt like a degenerate sitting there next to her. As she looked a little startled at the way he had jumped up, he tried to cover it up. "Can I get you anything? Something to drink, perhaps?"
And so it was that he was in line to purchase her something called a shaved ice.
After he procured her treat, he made his way back to their spot through the ever-growing throng of people, only to draw up short when he approached the blanket. That wretched boy Raoul was there and talking to Christine! Erik was torn between wanting to throttle him and tell the imbecile to keep away from her forever, and simply going home in defeat and leaving her to enjoy the night with Raoul, no matter how much the thought pained him.
Before he could make any decision though, Christine saw him. "Erik! There you are! I thought you got lost or something." As Erik walked up to them, Raoul's face turned from a pleasant expression to a vicious sneer.
"So, I see I was right all along, no matter how you tried to deny it! Oh well, it's for the best anyway. This thing between us was a mistake all along. My family would have never accepted me getting serious with a little nobody like you! Enjoy settling for a deformed freak when you could have had me!" And with that, he turned and stalked off.
Erik made a move to follow him, nearly blind with rage that the fool had dared to hurt Christine like that, but Christine grabbed his arm before he could take a full step. "No, please, Erik, just let him go. All I really want is to never have to see him again if that's what he really thinks of me, which shouldn't be a problem after tonight. Let's just sit down and get back to enjoying the evening."
Since telling Christine no didn't seem to be his strong suit, Erik merely nodded and handed her the shaved ice after she sat back down. After he stood there uncertainly for a few moments, still considering chasing after the idiot, she sighed. "Erik, please sit down and try to forget about it."
He did as she asked and sat beside her, but forgetting about it was going to be a different matter. "Christine, he should never have said such a thing to you. You are worth ten of him! I need to find him and tell him he owes you an apology."
Her lovely face seemed to light up at his words. "Oh, that's so sweet of you to say, Erik. That's all I really need to know anyway, that you think that."
Hearing such sweet words from her lips was enough to diffuse his anger, but something Raoul had said still lingered in Erik's mind. Although he told himself not to bring it up, he couldn't help himself. "What did that boy mean when he said he was right all along?"
"Well, he used to accuse me of having a crush on you. And would always say he was sure you were interested in me as far more than a student." She peeked up at him from underneath long eyelashes, and even in his state of embarrassment and confusion, he couldn't help but register how utterly adorable she was. "Anyway, he wasn't wrong about anything he said. Except for calling you a freak, of course. His family would never have approved of me, even if I had wanted to be with him. And...I do have feelings for you, Erik."
Erik stared at her in shock. She was looking at him expectantly. He supposed he should say something, but what? "You...have feelings for me?" he managed to parrot back to her. And he thought Raoul was an idiot!
"I didn't think I could make it any more obvious than I already have! No matter how many hints I've dropped over the last year, you never seem to take any of them."
"Hints? You've been dropping hints that you have feelings for me?" Erik felt like he was in some kind of surreal dream. Christine was telling him that she cared for him and had been trying to get his attention? It seemed impossible!
"Erik, today alone I've looked into your eyes while telling you I like someone besides my ex, talked about coming here tonight until you asked me to go with you, and held your hand while we walked all over the square! How much more obvious can I be?"
As he continued to gape at her, shocked into silence at her revelation, her face fell and she looked away. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I thought maybe you felt the same way, but it's obvious you don't."
Although he was still reeling, seeing her obvious hurt and embarrassment was enough to shake him out of his silence. "Christine, you have surprised me greatly, it's true, but only because I have never even dreamed that you could ever say such things to me. It's everything I've wanted to hear for so long! I love you so much."
Now it was Christine's turn to be shocked, although her silence was much shorter than his had been. "You...love me?" she asked softly.
Damn! No doubt he had scared her off by saying too much. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that so soon, should I have? Can we just forget it happened?"
She slowly shook her head, her eyes starting to glow as she did. "No, this isn't something I'm going to ever want to forget. Erik, I love you too. I just didn't want to say it yet in case you thought I was coming on too strong." And before he could fully process the incredible words she had said, she leaned in close to him and kissed him.
Erik was so overwhelmed he wasn't able to do much more than gently meet her lips, so even with his non-existent experience, he knew the kiss was pretty chaste. When Christine pulled back and glanced around, he was glad for that since he had completely forgotten they were sitting in the city square. A quick glance around showed that no one seemed to be paying them any attention, however.
"That was so nice, Erik. I hope we can continue it back at your place after the fireworks?" She smiled at him flirtatiously, but thinking of being alone with her made his heart sink. No matter how much he wanted her, he couldn't take advantage of Christine like that.
"My dear, as lovely as that sounds, it's not a good idea." She looked as though she was going to argue with him, so he continued quickly. "You'll come to regret it if this goes any further, I fear."
"No, I won't! I'm not a child, you know. I know what I feel for you, Erik, and it's very real. You just have to trust me."
"Christine, it's not that I don't think you know your own mind, but you don't know the real me." He looked away in shame.
"Erik, that's not true, I do know you. You've told me a lot about your past, maybe not everything but enough. I know it was difficult, but you wouldn't be the person I've fallen in love with without it. There's nothing you could tell me that would change my mind."
Christine was starting to get the stubborn look on her face that Erik knew all too well. He had learned from experience that when she got like this, he wasn't likely to change her mind about anything. But for something this important, he had to try. "It's not what I could tell you, but what I haven't shown you. You say you love me, but remember, you have never seen my face. Trust me, you could never love someone as monstrous as me." To his horror, he felt tears welling up in his eyes as he looked away from her.
"Oh, Erik," she said sadly, "please look at me." He shook his head, but when she simply whispered "Please," he couldn't help himself and his gaze met hers again. "Listen to me, Erik. I love you, and there's nothing about your face that could change that." She gazed at him earnestly, love shining in her eyes.
"Oh Christine! I know you think that but if you saw it, if you knew…" he trailed off with a shudder.
"I won't lie to you Erik, I know it must be shocking. You wouldn't be so careful to conceal it all the time if it wasn't." She leaned closer to him, and placed her small hand directly over his heart. "But I know you Erik, here. I know the person you are, and that's someone I would be proud to be with. I feel a connection with you I've never felt with anyone else, and I think you feel the same. Please, please don't shut me out."
Powerless to resist her sweet words, he leaned in and kissed her again. "My Christine, my heart. When you put it like that, how could I ever resist you?"
She rewarded him with the most beautiful smile he had ever seen. "Erik, you should know by now you can't resist me," she teased.
He gave a brief laugh at her words, some of the truest he had ever heard, if he was being honest. But his laughter died as Christine slid over and tucked herself up against his side. Scarcely able to believe this was actually happening, he tentatively wrapped his arm around her shoulder, hoping that was what she wanted. Apparently it was, because she sighed happily and laid her head on his shoulder.
"It's almost time for the fireworks," she said a little dreamily. "And then don't forget, you owe me more kisses later." She looked up at him with so much love in her eyes he thought his heart might burst.
"My love, I'm hardly likely to forget. I don't know that I have ever looked forward to anything more." Christine seemed to like that response, making a contented little noise and snuggling even closer against his side. Erik choked back the emotion that clogged his throat at her action, and leaned in to press a soft kiss to her brown curls. "Christine, I love you." Her arm tightened around his waist, and he knew he was finally where he had always been meant to be.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this fluffy little student/teacher piece for my favorite couple! I have another finished stand-alone story set in this same universe that I plan to post soon, and am working on another/have a few more I want to do for these two. I also think I may add another chapter to this in the future. Feel free to let me know what you thought of this, and thanks for reading!