Disclaimer: No, I don't own One Dratted THING!!!!
Guardian Angel
"Oh, no."
Erik slipped behind a pillar in the ballroom while Michelle chuckled at him. "What's wrong?"
He nodded toward a person. "That's one of the women that was bothering me on Christmas."
Michelle turned and saw the vine-lady heading toward her. Michelle's eyes sparkled with humor behind her mask.
They were at the New Year's Eve Masquerade. Michelle was wearing one of the other dresses Erik got for her, this one a bluish-white fairy-princess gown, and a matching half-mask he had found somewhere. Erik was wearing his customary black and the mask he wore at the last ball.
Michelle hid a smile behind her fan. "Don't worry," she said. "I'll protect you."
Vine-Lady walked right past without even acknowledging her except to see that Erik wasn't around. When she had gone, Erik came out of hiding. "Why are these women so interested in me? It used to be that I couldn't get a person to look at me twice without fainting."
"It must be the mask. Very mysterious."
Erik gave her a mock glare. "I'm not the only one wearing a mask," he pointed out.
"Yes, well......... you're also wearing black. That's mysterious, too."
Erik was about to argue that others were wearing black as well, but decided it wasn't worth the effort. "Have you seen your brother yet?"
Michelle glared lightly at him. "He does have a name, you know."
"I'd rather not remember that you two are related."
"Then why do you call him 'My brother'?"
When Erik shrugged, Michelle let out an exasperated sigh that made him grin. He surveyed the room to see if anyone interesting was around, then saw someone he greatly recognized.
"Excuse me a moment," he said. "I'll only be gone a moment."
He left Michelle and headed toward the door, where he saw Christine and Nadir...together.
When he got there, however, Christine had gone elsewhere. Nadir saw him and smiled. "Hello, Erik. How's life with your guest?"
"What are you doing here with Christine?" he asked, ignoring the question.
Nadir frowned. "Why? I thought... well, I suppose I thought you and Michelle...well, you know."
Erik stared at him while he tried to make sense of that last statement. He finally figured it out. "Oh, nononononono. I don't have feelings for Christine anymore. I just never knew that YOU did."
Nadir seemed to blush a little, but Erik disregarded that conclusion. Nadir never blushed. "Well," the daroga said, "Things have been a bit odd since I left."
Erik chuckled. "Trust me, I know."
* * * * *
Raoul nervously sipped his wine. He couldn't have anything stronger, yet. Meg said Christine would be back tonight, and he would need his wits about him if he was to break their engagement without hurting her, and then propose marriage to Meg. He swallowed nervously and glanced longingly at the brandy many of the other men were drinking.
"Raoul?"
Raoul turned at Christine's soft voice. He smiled hesitantly. "Hello, Christine."
She smiled tentatively back. "Hello, Raoul."
After an uncomfortable moment, they both started talking at the same time.
"Christine, I can't..."
"Raoul, please understand..."
They stopped and stared at each other.
"You go first," Raoul said.
"No, you."
"No, I insist."
"No, I insist."
"No..."
Christine was about to insist again, but changed her mind and took a deep breath. "Raoul... I can't marry you."
He blinked. "You can't?"
"No."
He grinned. "That's wonderful!"
"It is?"
"I can't marry you either."
Christine smiled, too. "You can't?"
"No."
She laughed, relieved. "Oh, I was so worried. I didn't want to hurt you."
"Me either."
She smiled at him. "Well, is there someone else?"
Raoul smiled sheepishly. "Well, yes."
"Who?"
"Meg."
Christine blinked, clearly surprised. "Meg?"
He nodded.
"MY Meg?"
He nodded again.
"The Meg that hates noblemen. THAT Meg?"
"Yes." Raoul sighed in exasperation. "Yes, that Meg."
Christine giggled. "Well, good luck winning her."
Raoul chuckled ruefully. "Yes. Well, what about you? Is there someone else for you?"
Christine held up her left hand. Instead of the diamond solitaire he had given her, she wore a silver ring with a small emerald set in it.
Raoul stared. "I can't believe it," he said lightly. "You got engaged to someone while you were still engaged to me."
Christine just smiled.
Raoul smiled back. "Who is he?"
She blushed. "Well, you remember Nadir...?"
Now Raoul was amazed. "The Daroga?! You're marrying him?!"
Christine smiled softly and nodded. Raoul simply sighed in amazement. Then he smiled back. "Be happy, Christine," he said leaning down to kiss her cheek.
"You, too, Raoul."
She put something in his hand and turned to find her new fiancée. Raoul looked in his hand and saw the ring he had given her. He studied the perfect stone. Perfect for a Vicountess, perfect for Christine. Not perfect for Meg.
Smiling to himself, he put the ring in his pocket. He would have to get Meg a new one, one she would like. In that case, he should probably bring her with him.
Raoul's smile turned into a grin. *But first I have to propose and convince her to accept.*
He merged into the crowd, going in search of the one woman who dared to defy him, challenge him, and steal his heart.
* * * * *
"Then I found her, proposed, and here we are." Nadir took a drink from his glass to finish his story. Erik nodded. "Sweet story," he said.
"Yes, it was." Nadir shot him a sideways glance. "So, you and Michelle are getting along? No bloodshed yet?"
"No, none." Erik stared into the crowd, though he wasn't really seeing it. Instead, he saw the past few days he had spent with Michelle. Nothing had really changed since their shared kisses, but there was a different element in the air when they were together. The air seemed lighter, even lighter that it had become when she first arrived and turned his dark little world upside-down. He would find any excuse to touch her, even going so low as to brush a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Sometimes when she looked at him, he thought he saw something in her eyes, some hint that she might return his love, which seemed to grow and mature as the days and nights past. He sighed. Their time together was going so fast. Someday it would all end, and he would be condemned once again to darkness; and he had discovered that darkness was not the absence of light, but the absence of her.
"Oh, there she is," Nadir said, breaking Erik out of his reverie. "For a moment I thought you had left her in the cellars."
"Who?" Erik asked, following his friend's gaze.
"Why, Michelle, of course. I hadn't seen her, but there she is, stepping out with the Count. I was worried for a moment."
Erik wasn't listening. Instead, he was walking toward the stuffy noble who dared to accost his love.
Michelle stifled a sigh and smiled at the young Count, wishing that Erik hadn't left her alone. She had had no choice but to accept the Count's invitation to dance without looking rude. The sigh she had subdued was threatening to come out when she heard a familiar voice behind her. "May I cut in?"
The Count stuttered his assent and placed her hand in Erik's. Erik smiled grimly at him, which sent the young man practically running in the opposite direction.
"That was rather rude of you," Michelle chided him.
"So? We both know you'd rather dance with me than with that fop."
She raised an eyebrow. "Actually, I was referring to your abandoning me to talk with Nadir."
Erik just shrugged and began leading her in a waltz. She always spoke so eloquently when annoyed. She sniffed elegantly at his lack of response which made him grin. She tried to hold back a smile, failed, and grinned right back.
When the dance was over, Erik escorted her to the refreshment table and poured her some punch. He took some for himself as well.
"Erik. Michelle. I've been looking for you two." Nadir was right next to them, beaming.
"Well, you've found us," Michelle said wryly. "What happens next?"
Erik smiled at her. He loved her dry sense of humor.
Nadir stepped aside to reveal a handsome man with gray hair and lovely woman with graying hair. As a matter of fact, if the woman were younger and had brown hair, she could have been Michelle. In fact, this was probably Michelle's...
"Mother!"
Michelle ran into the woman's embrace. "Oh, chérie, I have missed you." Her pleasant French accent contrasted with Michelle's clipped English, but the loved felt between them was unmistakable.
"Oh, Mamà, what are you doing here?"
The man--- probably her step-father--- stepped forward. "Nadir has some good news, dear."
Michelle looked at the daroga. "What?"
Nadir smiled. "A few days ago the other man was caught. You are no longer in any danger. You can go home."
Michelle froze like a statue. "I ...can?"
"Of course you can."
Erik glanced at her face to see how she took the news. His heart was actually hurting with the faint hope that she might stay.
Michelle finally responded...with a smile.
"Oh. Well, great!" Michelle hoped her smile didn't look as forced as it was. She looked at Erik, hoping to see something that would tell her he didn't want her to go. For the past few days she had been living with the anticipation that he would ask her to stay, but he never had. Now was the last chance. If she left, it would be forever. It had to be.
If Erik wanted her to stay, if he felt anything at all, he hid it with the stony composure he had perfected over the years. Michelle begged him with her eyes to say something, anything, but he didn't even look at her.
A searing pain ripped through her chest. Her lungs refused to take in any air and her eyes were burning with tears that would remain unshed. *So this is what a broken heart feels like,* she thought distantly. *Not a very pleasant sensation.*
She forced some air into her lungs and pasted another artificial smile on her face. "Well," she said with forced cheerfulness, "I guess I should go pack now. We can leave as soon as I finish." She turned away and strode toward the exit praying that she could get away before she cried and humiliated herself.
She was just outside of the stars dressing room, where the mirror-door was located, when someone grabbed her arm. She turned and saw Erik, who seemed rather angry. "Have you gone deaf? I've been calling after you since you left."
Michelle just blinked dumbly at him. "I'm sorry. I didn't hear you."
Erik's eyes softened, but his hand on her arm tightened. She bit her lip so she wouldn't try to tell him how much she loved him and ruin the last moments of their friendship.
She didn't know how long they stood in the hall staring at each other, but she new one of them had to say something or she would break down, lose control of her emotions.
She was about to speak when Erik blurted out, "Are you sure you have to go?"
Michelle wasn't sure she heard him right. "What?"
"Do you have to go? I mean, you don't really seem to enjoy the whole rich- Duke's-daughter routine, and you've done such a great job with me and my house. And what happens when you leave? You remember how I was when you arrived, don't you?" He was babbling, something Erik never did. "What am I going to do without you there to feed me? I'm going to go back to being a sullen, sulking, skinny grouch living in a dusty house. Not that I only want you for a housekeeper," he quickly assured her. "But you have to admit I can't take care of myself. And what about you? You enjoy bossing me around too much to just leave. What are you going to do without me to take care of? Okay, so maybe I don't need you to take care of me but you have to admit that you enjoy it. You're so good at taking care of things. And you always have so much energy. So I really don't see how you can just up and go away without so much as a by-your-leave."
He seemed to have run out of steam for a moment which gave Michelle a chance to break in.
"You don't want me to go?" she asked tentatively.
Erik took a breath. "Of course I don't."
"But... you never said anything."
His smile was self-depreciating. "How could I? You have so much, so many chances to for a better life than I could give you. All I have to offer is a dark little hovel and myself. How could I compete with all you must have?"
"But you asked anyway."
"Because I realized that I can't live without you. If that makes me a greedy, selfish such-and-such, then so be it." Michelle gave a sharp intake of breath as Erik took her hand. "I love you," he said. "I never want you to leave. I know you don't love me, but...oh, God, Michelle. Please marry me. Maybe someday you can love me. No one could ever love you a much as I do. I promise I'll make you so happy. Oh no, please don't cry." He wiped a tear she hadn't noticed away with his fingers. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to make you sad. I just want you to be happy. With me."
Michelle laughed through her now free tears. "Oh, Erik," she sobbed. "You are an idiot." She threw her arms around his neck, still blubbering. "I thought you didn't want me here. I thought I'd leave and never see you again. I was so worried. And I want to marry you. I want to marry you more than anything in the world."
Erik stood stunned. Surely he had misheard. She couldn't actually want to marry him. Could she? "You want to marry me?" he asked lamely.
Michelle snuffled and wiped her eyes on his shoulder. He didn't mind; she could use him as a towel any time she wanted. "Yes, I want to marry you," she sniffled. "I love you, Erik. And if you ever let me think you don't want me again, I'm going to drown you in the lake."
Under any other circumstances Erik would have laughed, but this was too serious to find humor in. He pulled his arms from her grasp and cupped her face in his hands. "Sweetheart...are you sure?"
"About what?"
"About us. You really love me? It's not just some misplaced sense of gratitude? You know you don't have to pretend just because I love you."
She smiled, her eyes glowing with love. "Yes, I'm sure. And I could never pretend this anything like this."
"Are you really sure? I would never want you to---"
Michelle cut him off with a long, sweet kiss that left them both breathing hard. When she pulled away, Erik asked, still slightly dazed, "What was that for?"
She grinned. "That was to shut you up." She leaned up and kissed him again.
He swallowed hard. "And that?"
"That was just because."
He smiled and was about to kiss her again but was cut off by a loud group of people who had suddenly developed a cough. He turned around and saw The Duke and Duchess of Winterbrook, Christine and Nadir with linked arms, and Raoul holding an indignant Meg by the arm. Erik glared at Raoul. "You have atrocious timing."
The Duchess suddenly burst into tears and ran over to embrace Michelle. "Oh, I'm so happy. Nadir said he knew the perfect man for you, and now you're getting married!" While she sobbed, Michelle asked, "Just how long were you standing there?"
"Long enough." This was from the Duke of Winterbrook. He stepped forward and studied Erik. Though Michelle's step-father was a few inches shorter than him, his mere air of authority made Erik stand up straighter. After a few tense seconds where the only sounds were those of the Duchess's sobbing, the Duke held out his hand to Erik. "Welcome to the family."
Erik released his pent up breath and shook his future father-in-law's hand. The Duchess had gotten in control of her weeping and had started chattering. "...and of course once we return to England and start planning your wedding, you'll have to introduce dear Erik to all our friends."
That caught his attention. "Wait a minute. England? Who's going to England?"
"Why you are, dear. Michelle promised that I could plan her wedding, and it simply must be in England. Now, chèrie, don't fuss. Leave that to me. I'm sure dear Erik will be just fine among our friends."
The woman was acting so like a mother that it was impossible to be angry with her. Erik glanced at Michelle, who sent him a helpless look, and then turned back to his future mother-in-law. "Well, I suppose a promise is a promise, Your Grace."
"Oh, none of that now. You must call me Mamà." She came over and gave him so great a squeeze around his middle that he couldn't breathe. "I just cannot wait to become a grandmother."
"Mother!" Michelle cried horrified.
Suddenly, another voice echoed down the hall. "Ma soeur! Sister! Is that you?"
Monsieur Andre appeared behind the other two couples. The Duchess released Erik and flew to him. "Mon frere! My brother! How good to see you!"
Michelle shook her head and smiled ruefully. "Hello, Uncle Andre."
Erik choked, "Uncle?"
Guardian Angel
"Oh, no."
Erik slipped behind a pillar in the ballroom while Michelle chuckled at him. "What's wrong?"
He nodded toward a person. "That's one of the women that was bothering me on Christmas."
Michelle turned and saw the vine-lady heading toward her. Michelle's eyes sparkled with humor behind her mask.
They were at the New Year's Eve Masquerade. Michelle was wearing one of the other dresses Erik got for her, this one a bluish-white fairy-princess gown, and a matching half-mask he had found somewhere. Erik was wearing his customary black and the mask he wore at the last ball.
Michelle hid a smile behind her fan. "Don't worry," she said. "I'll protect you."
Vine-Lady walked right past without even acknowledging her except to see that Erik wasn't around. When she had gone, Erik came out of hiding. "Why are these women so interested in me? It used to be that I couldn't get a person to look at me twice without fainting."
"It must be the mask. Very mysterious."
Erik gave her a mock glare. "I'm not the only one wearing a mask," he pointed out.
"Yes, well......... you're also wearing black. That's mysterious, too."
Erik was about to argue that others were wearing black as well, but decided it wasn't worth the effort. "Have you seen your brother yet?"
Michelle glared lightly at him. "He does have a name, you know."
"I'd rather not remember that you two are related."
"Then why do you call him 'My brother'?"
When Erik shrugged, Michelle let out an exasperated sigh that made him grin. He surveyed the room to see if anyone interesting was around, then saw someone he greatly recognized.
"Excuse me a moment," he said. "I'll only be gone a moment."
He left Michelle and headed toward the door, where he saw Christine and Nadir...together.
When he got there, however, Christine had gone elsewhere. Nadir saw him and smiled. "Hello, Erik. How's life with your guest?"
"What are you doing here with Christine?" he asked, ignoring the question.
Nadir frowned. "Why? I thought... well, I suppose I thought you and Michelle...well, you know."
Erik stared at him while he tried to make sense of that last statement. He finally figured it out. "Oh, nononononono. I don't have feelings for Christine anymore. I just never knew that YOU did."
Nadir seemed to blush a little, but Erik disregarded that conclusion. Nadir never blushed. "Well," the daroga said, "Things have been a bit odd since I left."
Erik chuckled. "Trust me, I know."
* * * * *
Raoul nervously sipped his wine. He couldn't have anything stronger, yet. Meg said Christine would be back tonight, and he would need his wits about him if he was to break their engagement without hurting her, and then propose marriage to Meg. He swallowed nervously and glanced longingly at the brandy many of the other men were drinking.
"Raoul?"
Raoul turned at Christine's soft voice. He smiled hesitantly. "Hello, Christine."
She smiled tentatively back. "Hello, Raoul."
After an uncomfortable moment, they both started talking at the same time.
"Christine, I can't..."
"Raoul, please understand..."
They stopped and stared at each other.
"You go first," Raoul said.
"No, you."
"No, I insist."
"No, I insist."
"No..."
Christine was about to insist again, but changed her mind and took a deep breath. "Raoul... I can't marry you."
He blinked. "You can't?"
"No."
He grinned. "That's wonderful!"
"It is?"
"I can't marry you either."
Christine smiled, too. "You can't?"
"No."
She laughed, relieved. "Oh, I was so worried. I didn't want to hurt you."
"Me either."
She smiled at him. "Well, is there someone else?"
Raoul smiled sheepishly. "Well, yes."
"Who?"
"Meg."
Christine blinked, clearly surprised. "Meg?"
He nodded.
"MY Meg?"
He nodded again.
"The Meg that hates noblemen. THAT Meg?"
"Yes." Raoul sighed in exasperation. "Yes, that Meg."
Christine giggled. "Well, good luck winning her."
Raoul chuckled ruefully. "Yes. Well, what about you? Is there someone else for you?"
Christine held up her left hand. Instead of the diamond solitaire he had given her, she wore a silver ring with a small emerald set in it.
Raoul stared. "I can't believe it," he said lightly. "You got engaged to someone while you were still engaged to me."
Christine just smiled.
Raoul smiled back. "Who is he?"
She blushed. "Well, you remember Nadir...?"
Now Raoul was amazed. "The Daroga?! You're marrying him?!"
Christine smiled softly and nodded. Raoul simply sighed in amazement. Then he smiled back. "Be happy, Christine," he said leaning down to kiss her cheek.
"You, too, Raoul."
She put something in his hand and turned to find her new fiancée. Raoul looked in his hand and saw the ring he had given her. He studied the perfect stone. Perfect for a Vicountess, perfect for Christine. Not perfect for Meg.
Smiling to himself, he put the ring in his pocket. He would have to get Meg a new one, one she would like. In that case, he should probably bring her with him.
Raoul's smile turned into a grin. *But first I have to propose and convince her to accept.*
He merged into the crowd, going in search of the one woman who dared to defy him, challenge him, and steal his heart.
* * * * *
"Then I found her, proposed, and here we are." Nadir took a drink from his glass to finish his story. Erik nodded. "Sweet story," he said.
"Yes, it was." Nadir shot him a sideways glance. "So, you and Michelle are getting along? No bloodshed yet?"
"No, none." Erik stared into the crowd, though he wasn't really seeing it. Instead, he saw the past few days he had spent with Michelle. Nothing had really changed since their shared kisses, but there was a different element in the air when they were together. The air seemed lighter, even lighter that it had become when she first arrived and turned his dark little world upside-down. He would find any excuse to touch her, even going so low as to brush a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Sometimes when she looked at him, he thought he saw something in her eyes, some hint that she might return his love, which seemed to grow and mature as the days and nights past. He sighed. Their time together was going so fast. Someday it would all end, and he would be condemned once again to darkness; and he had discovered that darkness was not the absence of light, but the absence of her.
"Oh, there she is," Nadir said, breaking Erik out of his reverie. "For a moment I thought you had left her in the cellars."
"Who?" Erik asked, following his friend's gaze.
"Why, Michelle, of course. I hadn't seen her, but there she is, stepping out with the Count. I was worried for a moment."
Erik wasn't listening. Instead, he was walking toward the stuffy noble who dared to accost his love.
Michelle stifled a sigh and smiled at the young Count, wishing that Erik hadn't left her alone. She had had no choice but to accept the Count's invitation to dance without looking rude. The sigh she had subdued was threatening to come out when she heard a familiar voice behind her. "May I cut in?"
The Count stuttered his assent and placed her hand in Erik's. Erik smiled grimly at him, which sent the young man practically running in the opposite direction.
"That was rather rude of you," Michelle chided him.
"So? We both know you'd rather dance with me than with that fop."
She raised an eyebrow. "Actually, I was referring to your abandoning me to talk with Nadir."
Erik just shrugged and began leading her in a waltz. She always spoke so eloquently when annoyed. She sniffed elegantly at his lack of response which made him grin. She tried to hold back a smile, failed, and grinned right back.
When the dance was over, Erik escorted her to the refreshment table and poured her some punch. He took some for himself as well.
"Erik. Michelle. I've been looking for you two." Nadir was right next to them, beaming.
"Well, you've found us," Michelle said wryly. "What happens next?"
Erik smiled at her. He loved her dry sense of humor.
Nadir stepped aside to reveal a handsome man with gray hair and lovely woman with graying hair. As a matter of fact, if the woman were younger and had brown hair, she could have been Michelle. In fact, this was probably Michelle's...
"Mother!"
Michelle ran into the woman's embrace. "Oh, chérie, I have missed you." Her pleasant French accent contrasted with Michelle's clipped English, but the loved felt between them was unmistakable.
"Oh, Mamà, what are you doing here?"
The man--- probably her step-father--- stepped forward. "Nadir has some good news, dear."
Michelle looked at the daroga. "What?"
Nadir smiled. "A few days ago the other man was caught. You are no longer in any danger. You can go home."
Michelle froze like a statue. "I ...can?"
"Of course you can."
Erik glanced at her face to see how she took the news. His heart was actually hurting with the faint hope that she might stay.
Michelle finally responded...with a smile.
"Oh. Well, great!" Michelle hoped her smile didn't look as forced as it was. She looked at Erik, hoping to see something that would tell her he didn't want her to go. For the past few days she had been living with the anticipation that he would ask her to stay, but he never had. Now was the last chance. If she left, it would be forever. It had to be.
If Erik wanted her to stay, if he felt anything at all, he hid it with the stony composure he had perfected over the years. Michelle begged him with her eyes to say something, anything, but he didn't even look at her.
A searing pain ripped through her chest. Her lungs refused to take in any air and her eyes were burning with tears that would remain unshed. *So this is what a broken heart feels like,* she thought distantly. *Not a very pleasant sensation.*
She forced some air into her lungs and pasted another artificial smile on her face. "Well," she said with forced cheerfulness, "I guess I should go pack now. We can leave as soon as I finish." She turned away and strode toward the exit praying that she could get away before she cried and humiliated herself.
She was just outside of the stars dressing room, where the mirror-door was located, when someone grabbed her arm. She turned and saw Erik, who seemed rather angry. "Have you gone deaf? I've been calling after you since you left."
Michelle just blinked dumbly at him. "I'm sorry. I didn't hear you."
Erik's eyes softened, but his hand on her arm tightened. She bit her lip so she wouldn't try to tell him how much she loved him and ruin the last moments of their friendship.
She didn't know how long they stood in the hall staring at each other, but she new one of them had to say something or she would break down, lose control of her emotions.
She was about to speak when Erik blurted out, "Are you sure you have to go?"
Michelle wasn't sure she heard him right. "What?"
"Do you have to go? I mean, you don't really seem to enjoy the whole rich- Duke's-daughter routine, and you've done such a great job with me and my house. And what happens when you leave? You remember how I was when you arrived, don't you?" He was babbling, something Erik never did. "What am I going to do without you there to feed me? I'm going to go back to being a sullen, sulking, skinny grouch living in a dusty house. Not that I only want you for a housekeeper," he quickly assured her. "But you have to admit I can't take care of myself. And what about you? You enjoy bossing me around too much to just leave. What are you going to do without me to take care of? Okay, so maybe I don't need you to take care of me but you have to admit that you enjoy it. You're so good at taking care of things. And you always have so much energy. So I really don't see how you can just up and go away without so much as a by-your-leave."
He seemed to have run out of steam for a moment which gave Michelle a chance to break in.
"You don't want me to go?" she asked tentatively.
Erik took a breath. "Of course I don't."
"But... you never said anything."
His smile was self-depreciating. "How could I? You have so much, so many chances to for a better life than I could give you. All I have to offer is a dark little hovel and myself. How could I compete with all you must have?"
"But you asked anyway."
"Because I realized that I can't live without you. If that makes me a greedy, selfish such-and-such, then so be it." Michelle gave a sharp intake of breath as Erik took her hand. "I love you," he said. "I never want you to leave. I know you don't love me, but...oh, God, Michelle. Please marry me. Maybe someday you can love me. No one could ever love you a much as I do. I promise I'll make you so happy. Oh no, please don't cry." He wiped a tear she hadn't noticed away with his fingers. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to make you sad. I just want you to be happy. With me."
Michelle laughed through her now free tears. "Oh, Erik," she sobbed. "You are an idiot." She threw her arms around his neck, still blubbering. "I thought you didn't want me here. I thought I'd leave and never see you again. I was so worried. And I want to marry you. I want to marry you more than anything in the world."
Erik stood stunned. Surely he had misheard. She couldn't actually want to marry him. Could she? "You want to marry me?" he asked lamely.
Michelle snuffled and wiped her eyes on his shoulder. He didn't mind; she could use him as a towel any time she wanted. "Yes, I want to marry you," she sniffled. "I love you, Erik. And if you ever let me think you don't want me again, I'm going to drown you in the lake."
Under any other circumstances Erik would have laughed, but this was too serious to find humor in. He pulled his arms from her grasp and cupped her face in his hands. "Sweetheart...are you sure?"
"About what?"
"About us. You really love me? It's not just some misplaced sense of gratitude? You know you don't have to pretend just because I love you."
She smiled, her eyes glowing with love. "Yes, I'm sure. And I could never pretend this anything like this."
"Are you really sure? I would never want you to---"
Michelle cut him off with a long, sweet kiss that left them both breathing hard. When she pulled away, Erik asked, still slightly dazed, "What was that for?"
She grinned. "That was to shut you up." She leaned up and kissed him again.
He swallowed hard. "And that?"
"That was just because."
He smiled and was about to kiss her again but was cut off by a loud group of people who had suddenly developed a cough. He turned around and saw The Duke and Duchess of Winterbrook, Christine and Nadir with linked arms, and Raoul holding an indignant Meg by the arm. Erik glared at Raoul. "You have atrocious timing."
The Duchess suddenly burst into tears and ran over to embrace Michelle. "Oh, I'm so happy. Nadir said he knew the perfect man for you, and now you're getting married!" While she sobbed, Michelle asked, "Just how long were you standing there?"
"Long enough." This was from the Duke of Winterbrook. He stepped forward and studied Erik. Though Michelle's step-father was a few inches shorter than him, his mere air of authority made Erik stand up straighter. After a few tense seconds where the only sounds were those of the Duchess's sobbing, the Duke held out his hand to Erik. "Welcome to the family."
Erik released his pent up breath and shook his future father-in-law's hand. The Duchess had gotten in control of her weeping and had started chattering. "...and of course once we return to England and start planning your wedding, you'll have to introduce dear Erik to all our friends."
That caught his attention. "Wait a minute. England? Who's going to England?"
"Why you are, dear. Michelle promised that I could plan her wedding, and it simply must be in England. Now, chèrie, don't fuss. Leave that to me. I'm sure dear Erik will be just fine among our friends."
The woman was acting so like a mother that it was impossible to be angry with her. Erik glanced at Michelle, who sent him a helpless look, and then turned back to his future mother-in-law. "Well, I suppose a promise is a promise, Your Grace."
"Oh, none of that now. You must call me Mamà." She came over and gave him so great a squeeze around his middle that he couldn't breathe. "I just cannot wait to become a grandmother."
"Mother!" Michelle cried horrified.
Suddenly, another voice echoed down the hall. "Ma soeur! Sister! Is that you?"
Monsieur Andre appeared behind the other two couples. The Duchess released Erik and flew to him. "Mon frere! My brother! How good to see you!"
Michelle shook her head and smiled ruefully. "Hello, Uncle Andre."
Erik choked, "Uncle?"
