Chapter 34

When Meg arrived at the Manor to pick me up on Friday, I was still in the bathroom. Erik knocked on the door.

"Christine, Meg is here."

"OK, two minutes." I called back. I quickly put on some lip-gloss, straightened my skirt and headed down to the Entrance Hall, where Meg and Erik were talking. Well, Meg was talking and Erik was listening with an air of amused bewilderment. Meg often had that effect on people.

"Hey Christine. Ready to go?"

"Yeah, let me just grab a coat." I said, going to fetch a jacket. Erik was staring at me and I blinked at him.

"What?"

"I… nothing. I've never seen you dressed like that." He said, still staring.

I was wearing a black skirt and a dark red top, with thin shoulder straps. High heels (hey, I'm short enough to really need them) and I had left my hair down. I was quite pleased with the result, but the look on Erik's face was enough to make me wonder if I'd gone over the top.

"Is it OK?" I asked worriedly, looking down. Mg laughed.

"You look hot, Christine. Come on, James is waiting in the car."

"OK. I'll see you later. I don't know what time, but Meg'll drive me back. Unless she's unconscious, in which case James will drive." I assured Erik. He didn't look particularly overjoyed but I kissed him and turned to Meg.

"Let's go."

"Have… fun." Erik said, not sounding as if he thought that it was a good idea. I smiled.

"We will. I'll see you later." I said cheerfully. He nodded mutely.

Michael's house was a big building and the party was already on full flow, despite the fact that it was only eight. Meg whistled.

"Looks good. What do you reckon?" she asked me. I smiled.

"I reckon it's going to be fun."

"Ladies." James said, opening the car doors for us. I smiled at Meg and she winked.

"I've trained him well."

We all went to the door, music pounding through the air. The door was already open and we went in. People were running around all over the place, talking, dancing, and laughing. I smiled. This was just what I needed. A night of teenage craziness.

James went to find us drinks and Meg and I looked around to see if we could find anyone we knew. I spotted Carlotta almost straight away, flirting shamelessly with three guys at once. Jessie was there and she waved at us with a smile, busy talking to a friend. James handed me a coke.

"They've got alcohol and stuff but I wasn't sure what you wanted." He said, talking loudly to make himself heard over the noise.

"No, this is good. Don't let Meg have alcohol, she's a mean drunk!" I warned. Meg pulled a face.

"I am not!"

"Yes, you are. The last time I saw you drunk, you started yelling about how much you hate the Welsh, because you'd just broken up with your Welsh boyfriend. And then you collapsed into a heap, started crying and told me that you loved me." I said. James started to laugh hysterically and Meg grinned.

"Yeah, that was a good night." She said, sipping her coke.

After a few minutes, James and Meg moved off to dance. I smiled, watching them and then turned to put my drink down. But as I did so I bumped into someone.

"Oh, sorry!" I said and then blinked. "Raoul, hi."

"Christine, I didn't know you were coming!" he grinned. I smiled.

"Yeah, Michael invited me. I didn't know you knew him."

"We were in the same class at school." Raoul smiled.

I sipped my coke and said,

"How are you? I haven't seen you since before the concert."

"I'm good. College is a bit of a drag, but I'm getting through it. What about you?"

"I'm great! I was in London at the weekend, with Meg. It was fun." I told him. He smiled rubbing the back of his neck. His longish hair was tied back and he was dressed in jeans and a black shirt.

"You look really nice." He commented shyly. I smiled.

"Thanks, so do you. But you need a haircut."

"Hey, it didn't work when we were going out, you're not going to convince me now!" he laughed.

An hour later we were sat down, talking amiably. He had fetched me another drink, and this one was definitely alcoholic, but I didn't mind. I didn't drink that often anyway; one drink wouldn't make a difference. As we were arguing happily about something that had happened in school, Michael came over.

"Hey guys, having fun?"

"Yeah, great party Mike!" Raoul grinned. I smiled and nodded.

"It's really good. Hey, have you seen Meg and James?"

"Yeah, they disappeared about twenty minutes ago." Michael said and winked suggestively. I rolled my eyes.

"Great. Well, I'm not about to subject myself to seeing that. I'll wait until they come back." I said, taking another drink. Raoul laughed.

"Come on, it's understandable. I hope he didn't let Meg have anything to drink though."

"Thinking about the time with the welsh boyfriend?"

"No, I was thinking of the time where she started trying to run around backwards and fell over the coffee table." Raoul said. I tilted my head, thinking.

"Oh yeah. I'd forgotten all abut that one. I really hope she hasn't had anything to drink."

Half an hour later, we were still talking. This was weird. He was the last person I'd imagined myself having a sociable conversation with. And yet there we were. Although, by that time, the drink was going to my head a bit. I fell silent, sipping as Raoul chattered. Eventually he looked at me.

"Are you OK?"

"Yeah…" I said and got to my feet, only to fall over. Raoul caught me and grinned.

"Are you drunk?"

"Pfft. No…" I giggled. Then I blinked and said groggily, "Maybe a bit…"

Raoul laughed and helped me stand, his arm under my arm and around me back as he helped me outside.

"Get some fresh air. I can't believe you're drunk, you hardly drink at all!"

"I'm not drunk! I'm just… having trouble walking." I protested, hoping my words weren't really as slurred as they sounded. Raoul lifted his eyebrows.

"You're drunk, Christine. Sit down here." He sat me on a bench in the back garden and I blinked blearily. He sat down to and started to laugh. I hit out at him, only to miss by some distance.

"Stoppit!" I mumbled.

"Hey, at least you're not proclaiming your love for trees to the world, like Meg at that Christmas Party two years ago." He pointed out. I nodded, swaying a little.

"Didn't know she liked trees so much… ooh!" I swayed a little too much, half falling off the bench. This seemed incredibly funny at the time and I started to giggle insanely.

Raoul smiled, helping me up again.

"Christine, you're nuts." He told me. I shrugged and waved my finger at him.

"No… no… I'm just… just…"

"Drunk?" he asked quietly. I looked at him for a moment and then smiled vaguely.

"Yeah."

He smiled and shook his head.

"I despair of you sometimes."

"You weren't so despairing when I cooked for you."

"You're a good cook." He smiled. I grinned.

"Yeah, I am." He laughed at me and I pulled a face. "You said it first!"

"I know, I just… I'd forgotten how much I missed hanging around with you." he admitted. I snorted.

"You're only saying that because I made you food."

"No, much as I missed the food, I do miss you more." He told me.

I looked at him, blinking hard. My vision was getting a bit blurred but I could still see the look on his face. It didn't register at the time but if I'd been sober, I would have been smart enough to have walked away then. But instead I said,

"Well… I'm still around…"

"Not really. From what I've heard you're always up at the Manor."

"Prob'ly cos I live there." I mumbled, trying to figure out why my head was spinning. Raoul looked at me sadly.

"I miss you, Christine. I never wanted to break up with you. I wish… I wish there was someway we could work things out."

I looked at him sadly and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Raoul…"

"I still love you, Christine. It's stupid, because we broke up months ago but… I still love you." he said hoarsely. I stared at him and then… he was kissing me.

My mind went completely blank. I didn't move, didn't kiss him back, didn't even register that he was kissing me. And then I jerked back and stared at him. He watched me with those large, hopefully eyes, begging, pleading with me.

I felt sick.

I stood shakily, tottering in my heels. Raoul stood too and took my hand.

"Christine…" I pulled my hand away from him and started back to the house.

"Christine, wait!" he said, moving after me. I didn't turn back. I ended up bending down and pulling my shoes off, afraid I'd fall and break my ankles. Raoul caught my arm and I pulled away.

"No!"

"Christine, please. Don't go."

I didn't reply. I just kept moving. I had to keep moving, had to keep walking away, ignoring the tears that blurred my vision, the pounding my head, the nausea in the pit of my stomach. Raoul stopped following me and when I risked a glance back, I saw him stood on the path, watching me leave with a sad and angry expression on his face. I carried on to the house. The loud music drilled through my skull and I pushed through the crowds, mumbling apologies as I bumped into people.

Someone caught my hand and I turned. Meg stared at me.

"Christine, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" I shook my head and whispered,

"Raoul."

And then the tears fell freely. Meg didn't need an explanation and hugged me. Then she wrinkled her nose.

"Geez, Christine, have you been drinking?"

"Little bit." I mumbled into her shoulder

"What happened? What's wrong?" James said, coming over. I snorted.

"Men are wrong. Men and their… manliness."

"She's completely off her head." Meg said.

James nodded.

"I'll get out coats; we'd better take her home."

"OK. Christine, come on. Let's get you out to the car." As we headed for the door, Carlotta snorted at me.

"Leaving already, Daae?"

"Piss off." I spat. She narrowed her eyes but Meg had moved me past before she could retort. She grinned at me.

"OK, drunk Christine is kinda fun."

I didn't reply and Meg asked quietly,

"What happened with Raoul?"

"We were just talking and… and then he said he loved me and there was kissing and it was all bad!" I wailed. Meg hugged me, half carrying me to the car.

"Come on, honey, it's OK. Don't worry about it. We'll get you home. You're going to have one hell of a hangover tomorrow. How much did you drink?"

I shrugged as James came out.

"You stay in the back with her, I'll drive." He said, unlocking the car door.

I don't really remember much after that. I vaguely recall being in the Entrance Hall, hearing Erik and Meg talking and then Erik carried me upstairs. I tried to say something but he told me to shush and put me to bed.

I slept solidly until about eleven the next morning where I experienced my very first hangover. And believe me; it's not that big a deal. In fact, it actually sucked.

Erik wasn't there when I woke up. I peered around the dimly lit room and groaned, rubbing at my pounding head. I felt horribly sick and managed to get myself to the bathroom. After splashing my face with cold water and drinking some, I felt only a tiny bit better. Struggling to fight the nausea I sank onto the edge of the bathtub, feeling terrible.

A few minutes later Erik appeared in the doorway, looking a mixture between concerned, amused and stern. I peered at him through my fingers and he handed me a glass of water and some aspirin. I swallowed it and he said quietly,

"How do you feel?"

"Like a steamroller went over me." I mumbled and he smirked. I glared at him. "It's not funny."

"You only have one person to blame and that is yourself."

"Thanks for your sympathy."

He smiled and then said,

"What happened? Meg said she found you stumbling around."

Ah. Now what do I do? 'Hey, Erik, guess what happened! I bumped into my ex boyfriend, had a lengthy conversation, got really drunk and ended up making out with him in the garden!' That'd be a fun conversation.

I shook my head.

"I really don't want to talk about it and, believe me, you don't want to hear about it."

"Something to do with Raoul?"

I glanced at him quickly. He had a set look on his face and said,

"Meg said he was there."

I made a mental note to violently hurt Meg at our next meeting. I grunted and Erik looked at me.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because it'll make you angry and I can't deal with it right now. I'm going back to bed." I got to my feet and went past him to collapse on the bed. He stood in the door for a moment and then went downstairs.

By about two in the afternoon I felt slightly more human and went downstairs in search of food. Erik was in the music room but I didn't disturb him. After some toast and a cup of tea I felt much better. Ayesha rubbed herself against my legs and I hugged her.

"Ready to talk to me yet?" Erik asked quietly, entering the kitchen. I shook my head.

"You don't want to know, Erik. Just forget about it."

"It's a little hard when my girlfriend comes home at midnight, supported by her best friend and completely drunk and her friend tells me that she doesn't know what happened but it had something to do with her ex-boyfriend." He said, a little icily, sitting down at the table.

I looked at him and then buried my face in my hands.

"I was just really drunk. I can't even remember most of what happened."

"Then tell me what did happen."

"I don't want to."

"Christine, what happened?" he said, in that commanding voice that meant big trouble if you didn't obey.

I peered at him through my fingers and then sighed.

"OK, fine. I'd had too much to drink and Raoul took me outside to get some fresh air. We were sat on a bench, and he was talking and-"

"Talking about what?" Erik asked. I moaned.

"Oh… just a load of stuff about… about how he still loved me and stuff like that. And then he kissed me. Once it actually registered what was going on I walked away. Well, more stumbled away. And then Meg found me."

I glanced at him. His face was stony and I muttered,

"Told you that you wouldn't want to hear it. I suppose now you're going to get ridiculously jealous."

"No. Now I'm going to tell you that you're a little idiot for letting him get you drunk enough to take advantage of you." Erik said. I lifted my head and glared at him.

"Well, thanks for that. You know, just in case I didn't feel bad enough, you know just how to make things a whole lot worse."

"And whose fault is that? If you had an ounce of common sense you'd have realised that he was giving you far too much to drink. You should be grateful that it was only alcohol and not drugs he was giving you."

"Oh, Erik, shut up."

He stared at me and I glared at him.

"Seriously, feeling like a pile of shit here. Let's leave the lecture for now."

"Or we could just carry on." Erik retorted. I stood up.

"No, we're done. I really don't need this."

"Because you're too stubborn and you hate to hear the truth!" Erik snapped, standing up too. I glared at him across the table.

"For god's sake, I know I screwed up! There's no need to keep rubbing it in! You know what, forget it. I'm going over to Meg's."

"Because that's what you always do, Christine, you always run from your problems." Erik said angrily. I narrowed my eyes.

"What do you mean by that?"

"You know exactly what I mean. Whenever something you don't like happens, you just run away from it. When you couldn't stand to be at home with your father, you always came running up here. The same when you fought with Raoul. When you overheard me talking to your father, you ran to Meg. You never stay and face your problems, you just expect everyone else to sort it out for you!"

Cold silence. I looked at him, shocked that he could say something so… coldly honest. Eventually I managed to say, in a whisper,

"Well, I'm glad I finally know what you really think of me."

And then I went upstairs into the Entrance Hall. I picked up my leather jacket and helmet and went outside to my bike.

Erik didn't come after me

A/N: Well, I don't think I'll get any complaints that Christine and Erik are getting on too well in THIS chapter! Hee hee, I'm so evil. Enjoy! I'm kinda expecting a few hundred death threats for this one. Please leave a review. Love you loads, Katie.

Oh, I forgot. Someone asked if we still use the pound as a currency here in England. That answer to that is yes. Which I find really stupid. Honestly, we think we're a really important country and we're actually not. We're just this little island stuck on the side of Europe and think we're too important to change to the Euro. Grr… OK, I'll stop before I start ranting. Seriously, I love living here, but it drives me a bit crazy. Especially politicians like Tony Blair. Hate them.

Shutting up now.