(author note :
Catmarie: I hope this was soon enough for ya!
Phantom's Fallen Angel: Sorry I'm not a fast typer, and I don't get motivated easily but I do try my best!
Gerfan: I'm glad you liked that part. I was seriously unsure about that whole scene but it seems the public liked it. I thought that was the best way to end it before Erik got to mean….
Countess Alana: I'm glad you think this is going to be a great story! I have high hopes for it was well!
Fallingdownonbrokendreams-takes out a spoon and puts more story into your mouth- here ya go!
Ashanti: Your preaching to the choir! Oh god I know how complicated a character he is. In this chapter he comes completely different then he will be in the up coming one. It's very hard to get right! And your right we all do love him!
ModestSparrow9: As I said Erik is a very hard character to get right. It flatters me greatly you think I've achieved my goal of making him seem correct in this fanfic. It means a lot! I'm glad you thought this was intense but later on they get worse. . you'll see why at the cliffhanger I made at the end of this chapter!
Angelofmusic45: He will get nicer to Meg but first he's got some issues to work through so be patient with our dear friend O.G. I like how they interacted in this chapter. I didn't really plan it, just kinda happened.
Wanna again thank my beta reader for making this possible to be read….THANKS!))
Erik made his way down the stairs a while later. He did his best not to make eye contact of any kind, with either woman. He went to the kitchen, which only took 5 quick strides of his long legs. His eyes roamed over to see Meg standing by the food and Madame Giry putting some finishing touches on a omelet.
"Good morning!" Meg greeted, smiling at him.
"What would you like on your omelet Erik? I have ham or bacon." Madame Giry asked casually.
Erik's head couldn't comprehend this. It must be a dream. He had just walked into a room and been asked what he wanted for breakfast. No one ever spoke to him like that or welcomed him in such a way. Did they so easily forget that he was the Phantom of the Opera? A killer. A madman that only hours ago had burnt down a whole opera house. Were the Giry's that simple? That forgetful or that stupid?
"Ham," he said softly, his deep voice choking a bit. His throat was horribly sore from crying and singing most of the night. As he thought about the night before he felt something warm pushed into his hand. He looked down to see Meg smiling sheepishly up at him. She had put a coffee in his hand. He looked down at her dumbfounded.
"It's coffee," she said, then seeing his dumbfounded stare added, "You're thirsty."
He nodded and drank a sip. He had gone insane? He was in a madhouse! There was no way these people could honestly mean to treat his existence among them so informally.
"Erik, come sit down. We'll give you your breakfast when it's done," the older woman said loudly. He looked at her, his eyes becoming suspicious.
"Are you both insane or do you just like to play at it?" he growled at both of them.
"What are you talking about?" Madame Giry asked calmly.
He was getting upset by this now. How dare they fake expecting him!No one expected him besides himself. His blood boiled and he threw the cup at the wall, breaking it.
"Don't you dare pretend you want the Phantom of the Opera at your breakfast table!" he screamed then grabbed his food. He started to walk off when he heard a voice behind him.
"Come eat with us Erik," Madame Giry said definitely. She wasn't about to back down to him. He didn't scare her in the sensible way, and a little display of anger was not going to persuade her to stop trying to introduce him back to humanity, even it if was just a small family.
He turned back, looking confused. He wanted to say no, that she was insane, but she seemed so sure of herself. She seemed so sure of his wanting to join them, which upset him. She dared assume he wanted to eat with these nobody, poor woman. He growled a bit.
"Please Erik," Meg said, finally looking back up at him. She had a look of fear mixed in with determination. Her angelic face calling to him. He went over and sat down across from her before he knew what he was doing. How could she want him around after he'd scared her so badly before?
Meg looked across surprised she was able to smile at the man that had treated her so horrible. Her mother's words echoing in her head.
flashback
Meg saw her mother coming back down the stairs. She looked up at the older woman worriedly. Had the phantom hurt her as well?
"Mother?" she asked nervously. Her mother was walking as badly as ever, but other then that, seemed fine.
"I'm perfectly fine Meg. He won't hurt us," Madame Giry told her, walking past her daughter to go sit down in an empty chair.
"He won't? Are you joking mother? He's slammed me against walls. He's pulled me up against him and made me touch his face. He rubbed it hard on my cheek even. It was so scary. I thought he was going to kill me," Meg said, at the brink of tears.
Her mother sighed.
"He will not kill you, Meg. Think of his suffering and not your own. He comes from a tortured past as I have told you, and he has just lost his love to a handsome man, that key to his pain in life. Can you imagine that kind of hurt? I am completely surprised he did not hang himself last night. We are lucky to still have him. Oh god, we are lucky! We must be forgiving and compassionate, Meg. Most of all forgiving. You must forget the men he has killed and see the passion, the love, the pain and the man behind it all. This man is so much more then any other man I know. Forgive him his trespasses Meg. We are the only ones that will," her mother told her.
Meg thought about it for a while before saying anything. She looked at the bedroom. As of now, they were the only ones that even knew he was alive. She felt a tear prick her eye. How lonely that must be. For the whole world to think you were a ghost or dead. To live so alone in the darkness with only music from your own hands to keep you comforted. She decided at that moment she had to do her best to forgive him his sins and to accept him the best she could. He deserved that much.
"Yes mother. We have to forgive him or no one else will," Meg said.
Her mother looked back at her, proud of her young daughter's knowledge and understanding. She had done a good job in raising her.
"But we must be careful. Erik can be a very dangerous man when provoked. You'll learn to know the signs," she told her daughter carefully.
"Do you know them well?" Meg asked thoughtfully.
"Yes," Madame Giry answered simply.
"How?" Meg questioned.
"We were close when we were younger," she said in a voice that everyone knew to mean she was done with the topic and you don't pry into it anymore.
end flash back
Meg looked at Erik smiling. Forgive him his trespasses.
Erik went to eating. He didn't know how to deal with her looking at him like that. A woman smiling at him seemed insane. A woman that he had tortured horribly was even less likely to be kind to him. He had to be dreaming. He pinched his leg under the table. It hurt and so did his heart. He had to be awake. He finished his food and put it away.
Meg got up at the same time and was doing likewise. Her leg hurt her so badly now. She did her best not to limp but that was getting harder and harder. She was in the middle of putting a plate in the sink when her knee gave out.
She felt warm arms around her. Gratefully she turned and saw a masked face staring down at her. She blushed, entranced by his eyes. She was slightly surprised her had caught her at all. He pushed her up and back onto two feet.
"You should learn how to stand on your own. I won't always be behind you," he said coldly.
"Yes, I should." she said, rolling her eyes. She knew he didn't mean it. She forgave him for it right away.
"I'm glad to see you're enjoying my cloak," he said sarcastically.
She nodded quickly and pulled it a little closer, embarrassedly.
"You're lucky you're a dancer used to many outfits. Any other girl reduced to having only trousers to wear would be too shamed to show her face at a dining table," he told her. She hadn't even thought of that. He was right though. Was he making fun of her?
"Yes. I am lucky I have been able to break the confines of social ordinariness and try out different things in my life. I don't mind wearing trousers one bit," she told him assertively.
"I'm sure you should be very…" he said and then a knock came at the door. He was gone before she could say another word. It dawned on her a moment later. Had they just had a relatively normal conversation?
"Meg, the door, the door," her mother called from the chair she had moved to.
Meg nodded and heard the click of the Phantom's door closing. Meg went to the door and opened it leisurely.
Before she could utter a greeting, she was pulled into a unexpected embrace. The arms around her were thin and she felt a wrinkled cheek next to hers. She didn't hug back. She was a little disoriented and displeased by the sudden hug from this unannounced visitor. But when they pulled back she didn't feel as horribly violated. It was Reyer, the old conductor. She knew him well and now didn't mind the hug. He'd worked at the Opera House as long as she could remember.
"Oh Little Giry, it's so good to see you alive and kicking as always," he said smiling at her, "Is your mother….." He paused putting a white kerchief to his mouth looking down, unable to say the last words.
Her mother came hobbling up behind her, "Alive and well, don't worry."
Reyer perked up. He pushed pass Meg and hugged Madame Giry close to him.
"I feared the worst," he told her at the brink of tears.
"You need not have. I was far from the action after it happened. I truly had little to no hope for you. How did you survive? The chandelier feel so close to you. I also feared the worst," Madame Giry told him, pulling away to look at the older man.
"I jumped out of the way in time, then ran off before the fire hit. I did though, lose 5 players and 10 of them will never be the same so far. The Opera House is ruined Madame," he said and she stopped him.
"Come sit down," she said sighing and turned to walk back to the couch. Meg shut the door and followed her elders to the sitting room. They sat on the couch together rather closer, their knees touching and their hands holding each others. Meg tried not to think about that as she sat down and put her hands in her lap waiting to hear what had happened.
"Well, the fire ruined everything. Our home is gone. But I have already been to talk to my friend over at Maison De La Musique who has been begging me to play there for years and I have always said no, but now I have no reason to. I told them this morning yes, but only if they let me bring in the world's best dance instructor, Madame Giry, and her daughter, a fabulous dancing girl. As I thought, they knew of you Madame and would be overwhelmed if you would come and work for them. Oh and Meg can of course come. They are always in need of talented dancing girls," Reyer said smiling over at Meg for a moment.
She smiled and bowed her head, "Thank you Monsieur." She felt her knee and smiled. It was throbbing horribly. She knew it would never be the same after the strain she was putting on it. Still she was unwilling to tell her mother, knowing it would break her heart.
"Thank you Monsieur Reyer. It means so much you thought of us. Now go tell the Masion De Le Musique to be expecting us tomorrow," Madame Giry said smiling at him kindly. He got up and nodded.
"I bid you both farewell and hope to you see you soon at the new opera house," he said, looking at Madame Giry who nodded then Meg. He bowed then ran out like a happy school boy. Meg did her best to ignore all this.
Meg looked over at her mother, mouth open to ask a question about that visit but, luckily for her mother, a knock came on the door that forced Meg to stand up and get it before she could ask any hard to answer questions.
"It must be Reyer. He must have forgotten something," Meg said, smiling at her mother widely. She turned and opened the door nonchalant.
What she found was not an old man. Her eyes opened in horror and she almost fell backwards.
She looked into a very familiar face and said, "Christine…"