'Stealing the Heart of the Phantom's Son'
Chapter 3 - "I Didn't Mean To Do It"

The next morning when Elizabeth woke up she noticed that they had shifted while sleeping... Now, Thomas was lying on his back and she had her head resting on his chest. Not that she was complaining or anything, it felt amazing to be wrapped tightly in someone's arms! It was just strange, waking up in a new position than the one you fell asleep in...

She lifted herself up a little in the bed and just admired Thomas; Her best-friend-turned-lover. It's not like they had sex or anything the night before, but she knew that she loved this man with all her heart! She knew because she had never felt such an emotion before... It made her knees wobbly when she was standing, it made the butterflies migrate in her stomach, and it made her heart flutter in anticipation of what is to come...

As she looked upon his face, she had a strong urge to see what he had hidden from her for so long. Elizabeth contemplated if she should do it or not. Out of nowhere, her hand started rising on its own accord. Her hand was now on the mask that concealed Thomas' secret; slowly she started to dig her nails underneath the edge of the mask. Elizabeth had changed her mind about taking off his mask and went to take her hand away from his face. But before she could she heard the curtains rustling outside the room.

She turned her head just in time to see Erik's mouth open before he bellowed, "Get out!"

This woke up Thomas and made her look in an even worse position considering her hand was still on the right side of his face... Elizabeth's face paled and her breathing became shallow; she had been caught in the act that she didn't mean to do. Everything passed in a blur and before she knew she was back in her dressing room. As they watched her run back through the corridors that led to their home, Erik turned to his son with a sour look on his face.

"I told you that there was something about her I didn't like! We can't trust her!" He shouted in outrage.

"What happened?" Thomas asked with a groggy, mostly out-of-it voice.

"How can you be so ignorant boy? She was trying to unmask you!" He rambled on in a deep, booming voice.

"But why would she do something like that? It just doesn't seem like something she would do! I just don't understand!" He wondered aloud, mostly to himself, but his father wouldn't let him hear the end of it.

"What do you mean you don't understand? She's just like your mother was… An insolent FOOL! If I've told you once, I've told you a million times; no one can love a scarred man! They just mess with your feelings." Erik growled to his son.

"Father, I'm sure she didn't mean it that way!" Thomas tried helplessly to argue back; not wanting to believe what his father was saying was true.

"How could it not be meant that way? She had her nails under the edge of your mask! What else could it mean?" Thomas' father continued to half-yell at, half-lecture him.

"Are you absolutely sure that's what she was intending on doing?" Thomas asked his father, desperate to find a different conclusion. Even though he knew exactly what she had been trying to do to him.

Meanwhile: Up in Elizabeth's room

Elizabeth fell on her bed, tears running nonstop down her cheeks. It wasn't supposed to happen like that! She wished on everything that she could go back and NOT do what she had done. Now, not only had she betrayed her promise to her best friend (now lover), but she would also probably never get his father's (or his for that matter) trust back!

After a while her tears let up, but she kept on hugging her pillow tightly, as if it were Thomas! Wishing that it were Thomas! Even though she knew it was a hopeless wish that would never exceed that of what it was, a wish! She closed her eyes as the tears welled up again and slowly leaked out from the corners of her hazel pools.

Without knowing it, Thomas had wandered down the familiar pathway to Elizabeth's room. Only when he ended up at the secret entrance to her room that only few knew about did he realize where he was. He had truthfully not meant to end up here; he was just walking as his thoughts carried him along. As he stood there in his own grief, he overheard Elizabeth expressing hers.

"Mother, Father, please, if you are really watching over me, why did it have to turn out that way? Now I'll probably never see Thomas again, without a doubt he probably hates me anyway. I broke the only promise he had ever asked me to keep. How could I be so heartless? I wouldn't be surprised if he hated me now! I completely deserve it for what I did! I was just curious, but as they say, curiosity killed the cat. I guess I'll just have to live with the consequences for my mistakes. If only I could tell him I loved him one last time! That's all I ask!" Elizabeth's voice cracked with the last two sentences and the floodgates were once again opened. The tears pored as she tried to keep herself from crying out in anguish for her lost lover.

"Elizabeth!" Thomas called through the wall.

Her head snapped around to the hidden entrance to her room. She must have been hearing things, why would he want to see her again? Especially after what she did to him!

"Thomas? Is that you?" She whispered longingly, hoping that she wasn't only hearing things and that it was truly him.

"Yes, it's me, Elizabeth!" He said as he slid back the wall panel and stepped through it.

Elizabeth ran to him and jumped into his arms! She was highly disappointed when she was pushed away from him. And she knew not how to mask her feelings that were plainly etched across her face in disappointment and realization.

"First, I want to know why you did that! Tell me the truth, Elizabeth!" Thomas stated with a low voice, which he hated to admit, kind of scared him a little.

"I was only trying to see what was behind the mask! Honest! But when I went to take it off, I knew that I would regret it, so I started to take my hand away, but your father saw me before I could. And then it got even worse when you woke up and saw my hand there! Please, Thomas, you have to believe me; I love you more than life itself! Without you, I'm nothing! I need you to understand that I regret it, very much… And that I am VERY sorry! Please, can you ever find a way to forgive me?" Elizabeth explained in a pitiful, tired voice.

She looked up into her lover's eyes and that's all it took. Just one look at the emotions running through her eyes was enough for him; he knew that she was telling him the truth! And then he did something that even surprised himself. He reached out and took her hand, then softly placed it atop his porcelain mask.

She gasped at the feel of the cool glass against her fingertips. Her eyes escaped his intense stare for only a second to glance at where their hands touched. Then her eyes slowly shifted back to his and he could see the question in her eyes.

"Do you still want to see my secret? The truth about why I wear this mask?" Thomas inquired while looking away, as if ashamed of what was under the constricting piece of material.

"Only if you want me to! I don't want to do something you don't want me to." Elizabeth said, grasping his chin, bringing his face back up so she could look him straight in the eyes again.

He let out a shuddering breath, as if he was nervous about if his next actions would be sentencing him to death. He slowly gripped her hand and they both pull on the edge of his mask. Elizabeth let out a gasp at what she saw.

"See? This is what I was afraid of!" Thomas exclaimed, his voice starting to rise.

"Wait a second, what?" Elizabeth questioned his outburst she was very confused.

"Now that you've seen what I really look like you don't want to see me anymore! Ugh, this is what my father told me would happen!" He explained to her.

"How could you think of me like that? If you think that just because you're skin is deformed a little means that I don't love you anymore, then I don't know who I've been in love with all these years! I thought you knew me better than that, Thomas! Everyone has their flaws, not everybody's may be physical like yours is, but everybody has them! Even I do! Don't you remember where I got my scar from?" She exclaimed while pointing to her own right cheek, then continued, "Everybody knows that no one is perfect, and I didn't expect you to be! I will admit that you are the closest to perfect that I'm going to find, but I can't believe you thought I would hate you because of some marks on your skin! I gasped because I was wondering why you would hide this from me! I can't believe that you could think that I was that shallow! Beauty is more than skin deep… Wait just a minute, is that what you think of me? Do you only love me for my looks? Oh goodness, I can't believe this!" She babbled on pulling back from him and looking down at the floor as the tears once again made their way now her cheeks.

"Oh my God! I'm so sorry, Elizabeth! No, I love you for so much more than just your looks! I'm sorry if that's the way it sounded! Please, you're forgiven for earlier, but I will never be forgiven for my idiotic mistakes!" Thomas stated as tears started their way down his cheeks, as well.

He slowly encircled Elizabeth in his arms and they just held each other for the longest time. All too soon though, Elizabeth pulled out of the embrace. Thomas was scared that she was going to make him leave or something to that extent.

She cautiously brought her hand up to the right side of his face and lightly traced the scars from his deformity. She stood on her tiptoes and planted a tender kiss on his bared right cheek. She slowly moved back to look deeply into his eyes.

They both crashed their lips together in a heated passion the two of them didn't know they possessed. Her hands wound around his neck, while one of his found its way to the small of her back and the other weaved its way through her hair. Careful not to crush each other they unceremoniously flopped down onto Elizabeth's bed and got resituated. Their lips never once leaving their intimate dance and battle to dominate the others mouth.

It felt like an eternity that they had been kissing, but when the two came up for some air it seemed like it had all ended too soon! Feeling drained from the extremely tiring day, the two both fell asleep in Elizabeth's bed, once again, wrapped in each other's embraces. It was still very early, only six o' clock, but with a day like theirs, who wouldn't be tired?

What happened to Erik?

Unbeknownst to the two, Erik had seen the whole exchange of mixed emotions. He himself broke down, wishing that he could have had what the two teenagers had. A one true love! He was a fool to have let his go all those many years ago.

A/N: Well, did you like it? Or was it like sitting through a lecture in History class? Well, tell me what you think by clicking that beautiful blue/purple button down there! LOL! This chapter was six pages! Well, yeah! I'd like constructive criticism, NO FLAMES! I am very sensitive and take everything you people tell me to heart! So please, spare me a few tears and write something nice, or don't write anything at all! Well, toodles!
-Brittany

M'AIMER POUR QUI JE SUIS…
…love me for who i am