A/N: Okay, as a warning, do not expect updates this soon usually (I don't want to get your hopes up!!) But I felt like I just HAD to! It becomes a wee bit sappy/lovey-dovey at the end of this chapter, but I'm a HUGE sucker for romance!!! The next chapter will probably be lovey-dovey as well, but there'll be more drama later…TRUST ME. (Plus, expect a few more arguments between Erik and Jacqui before #dun dun daaaaaa# "You-know-who" comes back)

Arrggggh stupid won't let me use asterisks!!!! It's annoying.

Anyways:

Maeko-Nohara:Thanks again for the review! Jeez louise! Do you want me to make Jacqui a psychopathic killer/drug addict? (I'm completely joking, but I really don't want to give her TOO much of a problem…it'll ruin the rest of my romancy-angsty story!!)Yay! Harry Potter in every review! Love it so much! Co-writing, hmm…? That could be cool! You like ANIME too? (I could have guessed from the pen name) Well, Ranma's my all-time fave, but I also love Inu-Yasha, X, Hibane Renmei, 12 Kingdoms, Boogiepop Phantom…the list goes on) Hope you like this chapter (VERY lovey-dovey…no more Jacqui faults till next chapter)

horse-crazy-gurl: LoL Well, now you're going to find out what happens!! (This chapter is full of mushy-lovey crap…the next one will be a bit too, but there'll be more drama as the story continues) Hope you like it!

Padfootz-luvr: I've decided to mention Harry Potter every time, so YAY HARRY! Can't wait till HBP comes out in July!!!!! Thanks for being so kind in your reviews!! I can't tell you who he's going to pick, but I like both girls too myself. Jacqui's more innocent (in some ways) but she can also be pretty assertive at times… you'll see... Thanks again!

(I didn't wait long enough, so I only had three reviewers lol!!)

Chapter Four

Fear swept through Jacqueline's soul as she slowly began to back against the wall. Erik approached her slowly, trying to comprehend what he had just witnessed. He knew she could not see him, but he still shot her an icy glance of rage. "So, it appears you've learned my secret, Jacqui…Are you proud of yourself? Does it feel good to have ruined me!?" His voice rose to a violent crescendo. Erik could not believe that Jacqui…his Jacqui could have done such a thing.

"I thought she loved me…" he thought in despair, noticing the seemingly heavy weight of the ring box in his pocket. He was going to give her the ring later that night…He was finally going to let Christine go and move on…Had their time together meant nothing? Did she really hate him so? It was his intention to reveal the truth to her in time, when he was ready, but now…

Erik was now face to face with the girl, his hands clinging to her shoulders in a vice grip. "Why did you disobey me? Why?!" He shook her violently in his blind rage. Through her tears, Jacqueline managed to gasp, "Erik, I didn't think…I-" "No, you didn't think!" His cold voice seemed to shatter her heart as he roughly pushed her aside and went back to the bed.

"Been going through my drawers as well?" His fingers ran over the beloved objects that littered the bed: Giovanni's compass, Ayesha's collar, his masterpiece, Don Juan Triumphant, and…her ring…Objects he hoped to never view again. He pulled the ring box from his pocket and hurled it across the room toward Jacqui who lay, sobbing, on the floor.

"He'll never trust me again…" she thought miserably. She felt something hard hit the wall above her and fall to the floor. "Take this, if you like. I doubt it can be returned." With one last glance at the girl he thought he loved, Erik swept from the room, slamming the door behind him.

Jacqueline slowly bent forward and opened the box. She already knew what would lie inside. Clutching the ring to her heaving chest, she once again collapsed onto the cold floor, overcome with tears.

XXXX

Erik sat at his organ, hitting angry chords at random, not caring which notes he struck."Why, Jacqueline?!" He finally smashed his fists onto the keys, filling the air with the discordance that seemed to come from his very soul. She had committed the worst sin: she had betrayed his trust. Soon she would be asking questions and he would be forced to give terrible answers. "She'll never love me now…" Like Jacqueline, Erik's heart felt shattered.

Both cried, alone, for hours.

Finally feeling the strength return to her weak limbs, Jacqueline lifted herself from the floor and made her way across the room to face the inevitable confrontation. "I have to tell him how I feel…" she whispered, pushing open the oak door.

She was initially shocked when the sound of sobs reached her ears. "He's crying because of me." Tears began to well in her unseeing eyes once more. "Erik?" she whispered tentatively, "Erik, I need to talk to you." She heard a piercingly cold voice from the direction of the organ.

"About what a monster I am? About my terrible past? About…this?" Forgetting she could not see, he gestured angrily toward the mask. She knew to what he was referring. "Look at me, Erik." She commanded with an assertiveness that shocked even herself. Jacqueline stood before him, unafraid and determined.

Erik noticed the glint of gold and diamonds that sparkled on her left hand. Unaware of how close they were, she began to approach him. As they collided, she heard the thud of the mask hitting the floor. "Jacqui…" he whispered, bending to pick it back up. "No." She whispered. "Wait."

Her hands trembling in fear, she reached up and touched her ivory fingers to his face. Her hands explored the left side first. Nothing felt out of the ordinary aside from the wetness on his cheek. She could almost see his face as she touched his features, strong and handsome. With care, she began to move her hands across to the other side when Erik grabbed her hand.

"Please," he whispered, "I don't think you want to-" She placed her hands on his lips, shushing him gently. Breathing deeply, she let her hands venture to his other side. "Oh!" she cried audibly, pulling her hands away. The skin…it felt so could and waxy, like the skin of a corpse. She could feel each bone beneath his face and noticed how strangely sunken his eye was. Jacqueline knew that, could she see, she would be looking into the eyes of a horrific half-skull.

"Are you satisfied?" He whispered after a short pause. "Do you understand now? If you could see this…face," he spat the last word as if mocking it, "You would be praying for blindness." He turned away. "Erik…" she whispered his name. Slowly he turned to face her beautiful visage.

Jacqueline was truly an angel on Earth while he would always be…a monster. "You don't have to stay any longer, Jacqui." He whispered in defeat, "The less you know about me, the better. I can't bear to frighten you more than I already have." He began walking away when, suddenly, without warning, his mood changed. "How foolish I was! How foolish I still am! To ever think…ever dare to believe…" His amber eyes met her blind blue ones, "That you could ever…love a monster."

He began trudging back toward his bedroom, shocked and angry at his own recklessness. That word...the one which had frightened Christine years ago… how horrid it sounded on his filthy devil's lips. Surely she would leave him, just like Christine. No one would ever love him… Erik was in disbelief as he felt a small hand clutch his shoulder gently.

"I know of no monsters here, Erik…only an angel." Unafraid, she placed her hands on both sides of his face, smiling. The time for questions would come later, but for now, all she wanted was to be in his arms. "Erik…I…I love you." She whispered, meaning every word.

Tears found their way to the corners of Erik's eyes. No one not even his own mother had ever said those words to him… He believed that no one ever would. "So this is what it's like…" he whispered to himself, smiling. "To be happy…truly happy…"

"I love you too, my angel." Was all he could manage through his tears. Before he knew it, her lips meant his and all thoughts of the outside world vanished. His face, his loneliness, Christine, nothing mattered. Never breaking the kiss, he managed to scoop her small frame into his arms and carry her toward the bedroom.

At that moment, they were the two happiest people in the world, yet as Erik shut the door behind them, neither could help but share the same thought:

How long would it last?

A/N: Dun-dun-daaaaaa! Sappy, I warned you! (Yes, Jacqui and Erik slept together ;) Surprise, surprise). But COME ON everyone needs some lovin', specially those two. I hope you liked my sappiness. Christine will probably be making her grand entrance in either the end of chapter five or end of chapter six ( you know it HAS to happen at the END of a chapter so it'll be a cliffy ;) R&R, please!