Disclaimer: Must I repeat my sob story? I do not own Erik. Plus I'm only borrowing some lines of the soundtrack so I don't claim to ownership to those except the CD!

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! And here's the first lesson!

Chapter 4- Lesson 1: Assessing the Situation/Getting to Know Christine

Stephanie waited until her mother left so she began her first lesson with Erik. For one thing, he had to know what happens to Christine and hopefully from there learn from his mistakes. Key word: hopefully.

She grabbed her movie 2-Disc soundtrack and the silent version movie and led Erik to the entertainment room. Harper was down there and when he saw Erik, the tiny dog began barking at him. Erik didn't pay him any heed and after a few minutes the animal calmed down. Stephanie smiled at Erik's grimaced look. When she first told him what she had planned, he was unhappy about it. She knew he wasn't going to like the ending, but he needed to know. There was no other way than for him to actually see and hear it. If he wouldn't listen to the truth from her, well, than this was the only way.

He sat impatiently on the couch, waiting for this "movie" to start. Stephanie tried earlier to tell him that he let Christine go with Raoul. Erik absolutely refused to believe it was true. He would never never do such a thing. If Christine wanted him then he wasn't going to let her go. And if she didn't, well, she would stay and learn to love him. It was as simple as that.

"Okay, ready?" she asked him.

He sighed. "Whenever you are."

By the time the movie was over, Erik was fuming with rage. How dare she! he thought angrily. How dare me?

Stephanie paid very close attention to his reactions throughout the film. He was bored from the beginning, but perked up when Christine came up. Erik didn't seem to recognize her so his Christine probably didn't looked like Mary Philbin. When Christine removed Erik's mask, she heard him gasp in shock and anger. He looked over to her then, uncertain.

"I don't look like that," he commented. But he continued to watch on. The rooftop scene caused Erik to shift uncomfortably in his seat and a few tears to slide down his unmasked face. By the time when Erik was killed by the mob, he began to grow upset. A very interesting sight of emotions.

Stephanie turned off the movie and glance over to the Phantom. "So, do you believe me now?"

"That can't be! I would never… she would never… would she?" Erik stumbled over his words. "I don't die from the mob do I?"

"No you don't. You escaped."

"Then why did that Erik die?"

"It was the timeframe when the movie was shot that's why. In every story there has to be villain, the hero, and the heroine. And the villain either gets arrested or dies. People back then hated to see the bad guy win. That's the cliché of it all. If the filmmakers left that Erik lived could you imagine the uproar of it? People would fear that he would go on and haunt the couple. That would give plenty of people to have nightmares about. I don't like the ending myself, but that's how this ended. You can't change it."

"But I refuse to believe that I would simply let her go to be with that… that… boy!" Erik spat.

"Time for the cd now." She got up and put in the first disc in the CD player. "This is a long soundtrack, but it will tell you the just of the story. I'm going to skip ahead to the I Remember/ Stranger Than You Dreamt It sequence."

When Christine's voice sang out through the speakers Stephanie noticed how relax Erik became. He closed his eyes and gently swayed his head in the beat, but when that Erik cries out "Damn you!" his eyes flew open in shock. It was obvious of what her betrayal was and Erik's hand automatically went to touch his mask.

Stephanie knew that other phangirls would be envious in her spot right now, but having him to go through this torture would be a big no-no. She hated to do this to him, but it was the only justifiable way for him to understand. She skipped to the Il Muto when it was over and fast-forwarded to the part where Erik changes Carlotta's voice. Erik chuckled nervously at his deed, but when the music began to take on a more dramatic tone he heard Buquet's frightened voice. He looked to Stephanie with questioning eyes and she softly told him of what was taking place.

The next part is going to kill him, she thought. I hate to do this but what other choice do I have? After Buquet's death, Christine tells Raoul, "We're not safe here". Erik's fists clenched but he continued to listen even as Christine accused of him if he had to kill a thousand men to get to her. The pain and hurt was readable in his blue orbs that Stephanie had to tear her eyes away from him. She felt like Christine in that moment after first committing the first betrayal- removing his mask. A groan slipped from Erik as he covered his ears to block out Christine's description of his twisted features. It didn't matter what she thought of his voice, to Erik her horrified look upon his face and the fear in her tone killed him slowly inside.

She thought about stopping it before it got to All I Ask of You, but decided against it. Erik had to know the truth. It wasn't until halfway through the song when he begged her to turn it off.

She did. "But there's one more thing you have to listen to Erik. It's the Down Once More."

"No! Please no!" Erik cried. "I got it! I'll use your help! I don't want to lose Christine anymore."

"So you'll do whatever I say and you promise you won't fight me all the way if something displeases you?"

"Yes!" he exclaimed. "Tell me how to get her to love me."

"Okay, you can't force someone to love you. You can't say 'Love me' and they will. Doing that is only going to force them to hate you. They might like you but that's how far it might go. The first rule of dating is to getting to know the person you have the hots for."

"Hots for?"

"Love Erik," Stephanie said. "Tell me everything you know about her."

"Christine's father was a famous violinist who died when she was young. His dying words to her were that he would send the Angel of Music to her. Mme Giry brought her to the Opera house and there she was trained in the corps de ballet. She grew older and she still waited for her Angel. It wasn't until one night that I heard her cry for her Angel. I couldn't bear to hear those sobs. So I pretended to be the Angel of Music and so thus began our training."

"Okay but not the facts. Just her as a person."

"She's extremely talented and beautiful."

"I know. But what about her personality traits? Does she have a cute laugh, a nice smile, and good sense of fashion? Girls like it when guys pay attention to these sorts."

"Her smile can light up the room. Whenever she smiles, laughs, sings, or even when her eyes twinkle this warm feeling takes over. I can barely breathe when I'm around her. Her presence is that intoxicating. And sometimes when she thinks she's alone, she'll practice different dance styles and if she messes up she'll laugh it off and continue. Whenever Christine feels sad you can see it and feel her unhappiness that you can't help but feel her pain as well. The ballet rats are very cruel but not my sweet Christine. She treats everyone with respect and kindness even if they are rude to her. She can't hold grudges for very long and the next minute she's joking around with that person. She helps out when she can and simply brightens anyone's day. She's a true angel sent from Heaven," Erik ended. His admiration and love for the singer was quite awe-aspiring that Stephanie was touched by such devotion.

"You're on the right track. It's the little things that makes the big difference," she said. "How about the things she likes? We know she loves to dance and sing, but how else does she pass the time?"

"Christine visits the Opera's sanctuary almost everyday- in the morning and the evening to light a candle for her father," Erik said. "She adores animals. Sometimes she might give the stable boys a hand in taking care of the horses. And she loves the roses I give to her. In fact, everything she has received holds a special spot in her heart let it be a worthless trinket or a hideous piece of jewelry. That alone is something you don't see often in people."

"Her fears?"

"She hates the dark. I never could figure out why, but I suppose in her mind it's what lurks around that you cannot see. She's indeed a creature of light and purity, but there's nothing to fear in the darkness," he went on. "I would love to show her the true beauty of it all so she won't be afraid no longer."

"Her goals in life, then."

"I heard her tell Meg Giry that she wanted to sing on the stage ever since she was a child. She always wondered what it would be like to be prima donna and have everyone adore you for your voice. The chorus holds no future for her. She deserves to be in the center and I wanted to achieve that for her."

"Uh-huh, but have she ever said she wanted to be prima donna?" Stephanie inquired.

This took Erik a while to answer. "Once I think," he finally admitted.

"Okay. Here's a scenario: You see Christine walking down the street and she goes up to you and asks, 'Notice anything different?' What do you say?"

"How should I know?" Erik said. "I never went through such social interactions."

"It doesn't matter. It's a simple question. Anything could be the answer."

"Um, you look lovelier than yesterday?" he meekly guessed.

A typical response from an ordinary man. I guess him being fictional doesn't change anything, she thought. "Wrong."

"Then what?" Erik gave up.

"Her hair, clothes, jewelry, etc! If you don't pick up on these things than you're just going to appear as a stuck-up self-centered man. Or just plain blind."

He rolled his eyes. "Fine I understand. If I see something new about her then I should compliment her is that it?"

"Yes!"

For about another hour, Stephanie threw him a bunch of scenarios. Erik caught on quickly and Stephanie was starting to see some improvement. She was proud to say that she was the cause of this. If Erik could go back now he might be ready to make the first move, but there was still more for him to learn.

That night she and Erik listened to the happier moments of the soundtrack including Minnie Driver's Learn to Be Lonely. The song brought tears to them both and they poked fun at each other. Even though Erik could be irritating at times, Stephanie like the relationship they were heading into. It was like a brother-sister bond.

Sometime during the day Erik helped her bring up the cot for him to use that night. It helped when her parents were gone. It was growing late and so they exchanged goodnights and Stephanie retired in her room. Not at all tired, she sat down at her desk and wrote the lessons she was going to give Erik. She was planning tomorrow to teach him about himself and what he needs to improve on.

Erik lay on the much comfortable bed not at all willing to give into sleep. He thought back to the earlier events and shuddered at the thought of his Christine whisking his mask away. Curiosity got the best of her and he couldn't help the swarming curse overcoming him about Stephanie. He didn't know why her eye got him all interested, but he was planning to find the truth even if he had to unmask her.

TBC….

I hope I'm not making Erik an OC, but I'm trying to portray him as if he was standing by my side and going through the same experiences in this story. Please don't forget to review!