Chapter 44

After that things were all over the place for ages. Let me clarify:

Erik started work on Don Juan Triumphant a week later. He was at the theatre for up to eight hours a day, finding a cast, drawing sets, designing costumes and sorting out the score.

Darren was still working at the garage and got into his course at the college, ready to start in September. Meg began to start her dancing properly again, practising for at least two hours a day and seriously improving. Erik had assured her that he would put in a good word for her at the theatre, for when she had finished college

Nadir found a house in town, only a couple of streets over from Dad's place. Dad had moved home and went to the hospital twice a week for counselling, as well as taking up his violin again. He was soon being asked to perform at private concerts, as he used to. Samantha and Nadir continued to go out on lots of 'not-dates'. Eventually they gave in and just started calling them dates.

And me? Between practising my singing, music, seeing Dad and making sure he was OK, keeping the Manor clean, riding my bike and the relationship sessions that Erik and I were having twice a week, I barely found time to breath.

Things finally seemed to calm down about two months later, in September. Darren, Meg and I were all back at college, Meg having moved back home again and Darren keeping a part time job at the garage. I had just come out of English Literature to find Darren and Meg waiting outside the building.

"Want to come for a coffee?" Meg asked. I nodded and smiled.

"Of course."

We went to the Corner Café and as we sat around one of the small round tables, I realised something.

"Oh my god."

"What is it?" Darren asked. I grinned at Meg.

"OK, picture it. Exactly one year ago, you and I sat here, reading a newspaper."

"What? Oh!"

She laughed and looked at Darren.

"It's one year ago today that she looked in the newspaper and saw the advertisement to go and work at the Manor."

"Really?"

"Yeah. So, at about 10:30 tomorrow morning, it will be one year since the first time that I met Erik." I smiled, sipping my coffee. Darren grinned.

"That's kinda cool."

"Yeah. Wow, it's been one crazy year." I said thoughtfully. Meg laughed.

"Only the kind that you could have, Christine. Is Erik still at the theatre?"

"I guess so. He's really working hard on it."

"Well, he's got a while yet. What day does it come out?" Darren asked.

"Halloween, October 31st. I don't know why he chose that day." I rolled my eyes. "Going for the big opening. What a show off."

"Hey, you're going to be marrying that show off."

I smiled and looked down at the ring on my left hand. I never took it off. The relationship counsellors were actually quite helpful, but I still would have preferred to not go and I knew Erik felt the same.

"Well, not for at least a year. And we're definitely going for a small wedding. Close friends and family only. I mean, I'm going to have to invite my aunts and uncles but we're not planning on inviting everyone we know."

"So, am I maid-of-honour?" Meg teased and I laughed.

"Who else, Meg? I think I'm going to ask Jessie to be a bridesmaid as well."

Jessie and I had gotten quite close, meeting regularly for drinks and chats. We also made it a monthly affair for her, me and Meg to go to the cinema, or go bowling. We were usually joined by Samantha as well, so I would be asking her to be a bridesmaid too.

"Oh, it's going to be so exciting! I can't wait to go wedding dress shopping!" Meg squealed and I elbowed her in the ribs.

"Calm down! At least a year to go, remember? I think you're more excited about this than I am! Oh, I should go. I was going to clean the kitchen today. I know there are only three of us living there but it's still a mess." I eyed Darren. "You know, it wouldn't kill you to clean up once in a while."

"But you do it so well." He said innocently.

"That's it, I'm leaving before I castrate your boyfriend. See you later."

As I went to the door of the café, I bumped into Raoul. He smiled.

"Hey Christine."

"Hi Raoul, how are you?" I asked.

"I'm good. You?"

"Also good."

"Cool." He looked past me and waved to someone. I looked around and saw a girl sat at the counter, smiling at him. I grinned.

"I'll see you later, Raoul."

"OK, bye Christine." He smiled and moved past. I continued to grin as I went out to my bike. I was glad that he'd found someone.

To my surprise, Erik was home when I got back to the Manor. I heard piano music and smiled, going over to the door to watch him. For several minutes he played without looking at me and then he said, without taking his eyes off the music,

"You can come in, you know."

"I know."

I moved towards him and kissed his unmasked cheek as he played.

"How did it go at the theatre today?"

"I'm surrounded by incompetent fools. But it was better than yesterday, so there's still hope." He said, looking up at me with a smile. I smiled back and rested my cheek against his hair.

"Will it be ready in time?"

"Of course it will." He seemed almost offended that I could doubt his masterpiece. I laughed and hugged him.

"OK! Down, boy."

He laughed and pulled me down onto the chair beside him, kissing me. After a while I said,

"Do you know what day it is tomorrow?"

"Saturday."

"Yes, but do you know what other day it is tomorrow?"

He lifted an eyebrow and said,

"The day I'm taking off from the theatre."

"You are?"

"Yes, I am. Because tomorrow, it is a year since we first met."

"Correct." I laughed and was treated with another kiss. Erik smirked.

"As if I could forget. The day my life changed forever. Mostly for the better."

"Only mostly? Not completely?" I said, slightly put out.

"My house burned down and I was arrested for stalking you. There were a few moments I could have lived without." He said dryly. I grinned.

"Yeah, OK. Good point."

I closed my eyes and leant against him. He held me gently and we were silent for some time. Eventually he said,

"I sometimes wonder what it would have been like if you'd just left when I told you to. That day, when I told you that I couldn't help you."

"Like you could have gotten rid of me that easily." I told him.

"I know. But it seems odd that all of this could never have happened."

"And you'd still be leaving in a really dirty house. It was a mess when I first got here." I said. Erik smirked.

"I have more important things to do that clean."

"Oh really?"

"Yes. It also occurs to me that if you hadn't been so nosy as to come in here without permission and finish that song, we would never have gotten this far."

I laughed and tapped him on the nose with my finger.

"Well, now you're stuck with me."

"I think I can handle that." He smirked. He was about to kiss me again but I put my finger to his mouth.

"I have homework to do." I told him lightly, jumping up. He rolled his eyes and returned to playing the piano as I went to the door.

I glanced back from the doorway and for a moment I thought 'This is it. This is what it's going be like.' And then, with a smile on my face, I left the music room, leaving him to play in peace.

The next day was spent lazily. Erik and I woke late, knowing Darren would be at work all day. Eventually we dressed and Erik took me to the Music Room. It was a fairly unremarkable day, but the fact that we spent it together, a rare pleasure in those busy times, made it perfect. Especially since that evening, I went to prepare dinner and found Erik had already prepared a basket.

"What's this?" I asked, smiling. He smiled back.

"A picnic. I've never been on one and I thought it would make a nice change."

We walked across the ground to the lake and sat by the water, talking, laughing, eating, drinking and just… being. I'm not sure how to explain it really, but just being together that evening by the lake made me realise just how lucky I was.

I must have fallen asleep, because when I awoke the sun had set and Erik was sitting beside me, drawing. I leaned up on one elbow.

"What are you doing?"

"Drawing you. Stay still."

I laughed and put my head back down, watching him. He sketched intently and then closed the sketchpad.

"We should get back."

"Hey! You have to show me." I said, reaching for the sketchpad. He reluctantly allowed me to open it. I stared at the picture and then at him.

"You really can do everything. Erik, it's beautiful." He closed the book and kissed me.

"It's getting dark."

We gathered up our things and returned to the Manor. Darren was sat in the kitchen, reading over some notes for class. He grinned as we came.

"Just pretend I'm not here."

"I intend to." Erik told him. And with that he took the picnic basket out of my hands, lifted me off my feet and carried me out of the kitchen and upstairs. Leaving Darren with a very disturbed look on his face.

I suppose I should mention the relationship counselling. Although Erik and I had both agreed to go, neither of us were particularly inclined to.

Our counsellor was called Eleanor Carter. She was a middle-aged woman who smiled all the time and, while she was perfectly nice, I really didn't want to talk about my intimate relationship with Erik to her. An example of one of our sessions would be Eleanor saying,

"Now, Erik, when we finished last time we were about to start talking about your parents. Tell me about your father."

"I don't know anything about him. He left before I was born." Erik said calmly. Eleanor smiled.

"What about your mother?"

"She hated me and I wasn't fond of her either. I lived with her until I was fifteen and then I left."

"Do you find it easy to relate to people, in general?"

"Not particularly."

I could have laughed at Erik's deadpan answers. And then Eleanor's attention was turned to me.

"Christine, when you and Erik first became involved, how did you feel?"

"Happy. What else would I feel?"

"I'm asking you that. Did you worry about the repercussions at all?"

"Of course. I had a boyfriend at the time and my dad was in hospital." I said, chewing my nail. Eleanor noted something down and said,

"Both of you, do you feel that the basis of this relationship was comfort? Erik, you had a poor childhood, Christine had just lost her mother and almost lost her father. Perhaps it was jut comfort to begin with?"

"No, I feel that the basis of our relationship was love for each other." Erik said calmly. Eleanor tried again.

"The fact that you had a poor relationship with your mother-"

"Has nothing to do with my relationship with Christine." Erik interrupted.

Seriously, I had to bite my tongue to stop laughing at the look on Eleanor's face. She looked at me.

"Christine, about your old boyfriend, Raoul, how did you feel about him after you and Erik became involved? Before you told him, I mean."

"Well, I felt a little guilty because I'd cheated on him with my boss, so I ended things with him. I just wanted to be with Erik."

Eleanor nodded.

"Good, Christine, good. What else?"

"I think that the fact that I had feelings for Erik may have been rooted in the fact that I had almost lost my father. I was searching for comfort and found it in the closest place, whilst subconsciously find help through a relationship with an older man and my music, as this would ultimately boost my self-esteem and fulfil my emotional safety needs in accordance with Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, resulting in my self-actualisation." I said calmly.

Eleanor and Erik both stared at me, but I kept a straight face. Eleanor blinked.

"Well… good work… both of you. Same time next week?

Once we were in the car park of the hospital, Erik caught my arm.

"What was that?"

"That, Erik my darling, was me reading up on my facts before the session. There are some very interesting psychology books in the library you know." I said cheerfully, taking his arm. "And it was worth remembering all that just to see the look on Eleanor's face."

When October 31st arrived, it was a Friday. I woke and found that Erik had already left for the theatre, leaving a note on the pillow beside me.

Christine,

I will be back at 4:30. Please could you remember to collect my clothes by then? The cars will be arriving for us at 6.

My Love

Erik

I smiled and looked at my watch. 8:30. I had a class at ten, so I got up and took a shower. Darren was eating breakfast.

"Hey Christine. Want a lift?"

"I'll take the bike. Is your outfit ready for tonight?"

"Yeah, it's in my wardrobe."

"The cars will be here at six. Make sure Meg knows, I'll tell Nadir, Samantha and Dad." I said, buttering toast.

"OK. Nervous, aren't you?"

"It's Erik's big day! Of course I'm nervous." I said, pushing him. Ayesha came prowling out of her cupboard and I put down a saucer of milk for her.

"Relax, it'll be great. Can't believe he rented a limousine for us though!"

"Two limousines. One for him and me, one for the rest of you."

"Yeah, how comes you get to sit in a private box?" Darren asked.

"Because I'm sleeping with him and you're not. Where's my helmet?"

Dad was at Nadir's house with Samantha when I went around to give them times. I knocked on the door and Nadir answered with a smile.

"Hello Christine. Ready for tonight?"

"Absolutely. Erik said that the cars will be at the Manor at six, so if you could get there at 5:30…?"

"Of course. Come in, your father's here."

I went into the kitchen and found Samantha and Dad laughing about something. I hugged them both.

"Hey guys."

"Hello sweetheart." Dad said, kissing me. "The big day!"

"Why do people feel the need to remind me? As if I could possibly forget!" I laughed.

"Tea, Christine?" Samantha offered. But I shook my head.

"I've got to get back, I need to pick up Erik's suit and my dress, have a shower, do my hair… it'll take me forever."

"OK, we'll see you tonight." Nadir smiled.

I had just gotten out of the shower when Erik got in. I smiled at him as he came into the bedroom, as I was wrapping a towel around my wet hair.

"Hello Mr Lavonne. And tell me, how do you feel about the opening night of Don Juan Triumphant?"

He didn't reply. He simply took me in his arms and dipped me back, kissing me like a heroine form some old-fashioned film before setting me upright. I laughed, clutching my towel.

"I'll take that as a good?"

"Everything is ready. It's just a countdown from now onwards." He said, heading for the bathroom. I got out the hairdryer and began to blast warm air onto my dark curls, putting in mousse and conditioners. I didn't usually take this much time over my hair. But today was special. When Erik got out of the shower five minutes later I was just getting my dress out of the wardrobe, passing him his suit as I did so.

We dressed quickly. Well, Erik dressed quickly and then helped me do my dress up. Bloody Meg, choosing the most complicated dress fastening possible.

"OK, I'm never letting her choose a dress for me again." I said crossly. Erik smirked.

"If it helps, you look beautiful."

"It helps a bit." I grinned.

To be fair, it was a gorgeous dress. Meg had a good eye for clothes. I was the sort of person who grabbed the thing nearest to the door and left but Meg insisted we weren't leaving until we had found the perfect dress. I reminded her that we already found the 'perfect dress' when we went shopping for the showcase but she gave me a glare and told me that that dress was perfect for the showcase and not the opening night of an opera. The dress was dark red with a large skirt and an off-the-shoulder corset style bodice. Erik was dressed in black, with a dark red shirt underneath his jacket, so we matched at least. He had also exchanged his white mask for a black one, lined with dark red.

After some carefully applied makeup, we went downstairs. It was 5:15 and we found Darren dressed and eating a banana.

"You know we're going to be eating after the opera?" I told him and he nodded.

"I know. But if my stomach is making noises all the way through, it's seriously going to ruin the effect. You guys look great by the way."

"Just make sure you stay awake through it. I know opera not your thing but…" I said but he held up his hands.

"Hey, I am going to go and enjoy it, OK? No falling asleep."

"I'm glad to hear it." Erik said dryly.

The intercom went off 15 minutes later and I answered it.

"Hello?"

"It's us." Nadir, Samantha, Meg and Dad. I pressed the button.

"Come on in."

They all looked fantastic. Samantha was wearing a plain black dress, but she was one of those people who looked stunning in everything. Meg wore a light pink dress and when Darren whistled at her she blushed the same colour. I greeted Dad.

"You look beautiful, Christine." He told me with a smile. I smiled back and then turned as Erik came up. Nadir grinned at him.

"Nervous?"

"No. I have no reason to be." He said calmly. Nadir laughed.

"I wish I had your confidence all the time, Erik!"

"We've got a little time before the cars arrived, why don't we go in the sitting room?" I said. We all moved through and began to discuss the opera excitedly.

"There's a lot of press coverage going on. I was listening to the news earlier and they were going on about it." Dad said. Erik nodded.

"We've had people calling all day for information. I had Lefevre take the phones off the hook so we could rehearse without interruption."

The cars arrived shortly afterwards. I waved to the others as Erik and I got into the first limousine.

"This is so exciting! I've never been in a limo before." I said, looking out of the darkened windows. Erik smiled.

"It's not something I do on a regular basis either. And I should warn you about the press. Lefevre told me to expect lots of cameras and I could be asked to answer a few questions. You don't have to answer any if you don't want to."

"OK, I'll see how I feel. Red carpet treatment all the way, huh?"

"So it would appear."

It was a twenty-five minute drive to the Opera House and our limousine went first. To my astonishment, there actually was a red carpet leading to the front door. There were several people already making their way to the front door, cameras flashing and reporters with television cameras flocking around behind the barriers that lined the path. I swallowed hard and Erik kissed my hand.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah. Come on, this is your big night and you're going to enjoy it if it kills you." I told him firmly. He took my hand in his as a uniformed man opened the car door. Erik got out first and then helped me out. We stood for a moment and then Mr Lefevre approached us.

"Erik, Christine! How wonderful!" he turned to look at the reporters and said in a loud voice, "Erik Lavonne, our man of the moment and his beautiful fiancée, Christine Daae!"

I could feel the blood rushing to my face as a round of applause went up. Erik squeezed my hand. I looked up at him and he gave me a fleeting smile.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure they don't get you."

"My hero." I whispered and the smile widened slightly as we moved down the carpet, still holding hands. The reporters began to shout questions and Erik answered calmly. Then one of them shouted,

"How long have you been together?"

"Just over a year." Erik replied.

"Christine, how do you feel about seeing Mr Lavonne's opera for the first time?"

My mind reeled but I managed to say,

"It's… it's amazing. Erik's an incredibly talented man and I'm glad his work is finally getting the recognition is deserves."

"Do you have a date set for the wedding?" a woman shouted, holding out a microphone to me. I glanced at Erik.

"No, we haven't discussed it yet."

"How old are you, Miss Daae?"

"I'm nineteen, twenty in December."

"Is the age difference a problem in your relationship?"

"No." I replied simply. Erik cleared his throat.

"If there are no more questions about the opera, we'll be moving on."

He looked down at me.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm good. Not as scary as you were making out."

"You did well. I'm impressed."

After answering a few more opera-related questions, we moved towards the doors. Mr Lefevre stopped us in the doorway.

"One more photograph for the press, please?"

Erik sighed and turned to face the press. I smiled slightly, looking around. Erik bent to murmur in my ear,

"You still want to marry me?"

"More than anything." I assured him. "Unless it's an exceptionally bad opera, in which case I might reconsider." He smiled and kissed my hair softly. The cameras flashed like crazy and we moved inside. The others were already being shown to their seats but Erik led me in a different direction, going up flights of stairs until he drew back a thick curtain, leading me into a box, overlooking the stage. I looked down and saw the others in the front row. Meg waved up at me and I waved back, settling back in one of the two chairs in the box, beside Erik, waiting for his opera to begin.

I have loved music for as long as I can remember. But that night will always stand out to me as one that showed me what music really was. Not pop music, music danced to in clubs, or rock and roll, although I enjoyed these just as much as classical.

That night music came alive for me. I leant forward in my chair for the whole performance, gazing at the stage where the dancers turned and swept across the stage in movements that looked as if they were done in midair. I watched in a trance, as the singers released their songs into the air, moving around the stage as though it were their entire worlds and making sounds so sweet I could have wept had I not been so enraptured.

And then came The Point of No Return. I watched as Don Juan and Aminta sang together, moving upstage, climbing the twisting staircases to each other, holding each other in passionate movements I could not imagine doing onstage, singing those words I had first heard so long ago in the music room, words I had sung with the man beside me.

This was true music, in all of its splendour.

The curtains fell and the applause was deafening, shaking the theatre with cheers. I turned to look at Erik and saw that he had closed his eyes, his head bent as if in prayer. I touched his hand.

"Erik?"

"…What did you think?" he asked in a voice so quiet I had to strain to hear it over the noise of the audience. I lifted his head up so I could meet his eyes.

"Erik, in my whole life, I have never heard anything more beautiful." I told him quietly, meaning every word a thousand times more than I could properly express. Erik closed his eyes again and then pulled me to him, kissing me so intently I completely forgot that we were on full view to everyone below. When he finally released me, I saw that Mr Lefevre had walked onto the stage. He held up a hand for silence and said,

"Ladies and Gentleman, I give you the stunning work of Mr Erik Lavonne!" he gestured to the box and Erik stood, bowing stiffly. The applause rang once again and when Erik sat again, I could see his eyes were shining with tears I knew he would not allow to fall.

This was everything he had wanted. Finally, he had shared his music with the world. And they had accepted him.

A/N: One more chapter to go, people! I've got to end this story, otherwise it'll just keep dragging on and you'll all end up hating it. But, it's going to be an extra long chapter.

A few things to clear up. The first being, there I highly doubt that there will be a sequel to this story. I'm sorry, but I can't write sequels. I have tried before and every time it has been a disaster. I hate letting these characters go, but the time has come. I hope that the next chapter, the final chapter, will meet your needs and I will escape alive, with my DVD, soundtrack and brand new film companion book! Buy it if you can, it rocks! As for the sequel… we'll have to see. I really don't know, I've kinda sworn off writing sequels. I'll have to see.

As for Raoul – I'm sorry, but I like the guy. He's just conveniently foppy enough to use as a bad guy occasionally, but let's face it – he would NEVER beat up Christine, in any kind of way. And I didn't want to have another confrontation with him, so I'm just letting him move on happily.

Originally I wasn't actually going to put in the relationship counsellors section, but nearly everyone asked for it, so there you go! And as for the floor plan of the second floor, I won't be drawing one. I'm not even entirely sure about it, I just know in my head what the separate rooms look like!

Sorry, but the next chapter will probably be a few days. I have a three hour English exam tomorrow morning (and if I survive that it'll be a bloody miracle), my parents are driving to the other end of the country to get my brother from university on Saturday and it's my Mum's birthday on Sunday. And since I want to write an extra-long chapter for it, you're going to have to give me a bit of time!

Thank you all for the reviews. They mean so much to me, especially the incredibly long ones where people go into detail! Lol, I didn't realise how much attention everyone was paying! ...Blimey, these Authors Notes are getting horribly long, aren't they?

Lotsa luv 'n' huggles

Katie