Chapter 4

A Friend

Of all the places to be stuck at, it had to be with that arrogant man. At least when she had been trapped in the room of mirrors there had been no one to taunt her. As she sunk gently into the warm bathwater, Meg found herself longing for anyone but Erik to be her companion.

The Phantom she could deal with. He was a man of few words and would have already had her back to her mother by now. More than likely she wouldn't even be in this position if it was the feared Opera Ghost that had found her, for sure he just would have left her there. Maybe send a little note to her mother about where she could find her daughter and then he'd be on his way.

But Erik was something she couldn't prepare for. He seemed rude and impolite, and yet at the same time he was kind enough to draw her a bath and lend her some of his clothing to wear. She knew at once that the clothes sitting in the chair in the corner had to be his. They were too nice to be something that he just would have find lying around the upper levels of the opera house.

What confused her the most though was why would he give her things that looked to be some of the finest bits of clothing that he owned? A beautiful white silk shirt, dark charcoal dress pants, and a belt of the softest leather she had ever felt were certainly not things that she would expect him to let her wear.

Knowing that she could sit in the rapidly cooling water for days pondering the mystery of this phantom man, she dunked her head under the water and began to wash her hair. She scrubbed as gently as she could, trying not to irritate the mass of cuts that would certainly take a while to heal.

Resurfacing and pushing the soaked strands from her eyes, Meg noticed the water had turned a light pink color from all the blood washed from her hair. Taking the clean smelling soap from the edge of the tub, she began to lather her body, wincing as it seeped into her cuts.

Rinsing off quickly, she rose slowly from the bath on her still unsteady legs and pulled the plug to let the water rush out. Meg dried herself and slipped into the clothes left for her by Erik. While they were definitely too big as he had said they would be, at least they were warm and clean. She couldn't ask for much else.

Finally feeling better than she had all day, she stepped from the bathroom and into the hall. Not knowing where she should go, she walked to the main room. Erik was there, sitting at a small table as if he had been waiting for her.

'He probably has been waiting for you. I'm sure he wants you out of here as quickly as possible,' she thought.

"Are you hungry? I'm afraid it's not much, but it's better than nothing," he said as he gestured for her to sit before the plate of bread, cheese, and apple slices.

Curiously, she made her way over and took a seat. This had not been the way she had expected to be greeted when she returned from her bath. But she found herself not able to refuse his offer of food since she had skipped dinner the other night and was certain that breakfast had already been served in the kitchen above.

"Would you like some wine to drink or should I fetch you some water?"

"Water please; I'm afraid Maman wouldn't like me to drink."

"Your mother isn't here Meg, you should do what you want, not what others want."

"I am doing what I want," she said forcefully as she cut a bit of cheese off of one of the slices with her fork and scooped it into her mouth.

"Again, your mother isn't here and there's no potential patron to impress. There's no need for manners. If you're hungry, then eat. Stop teasing yourself with tiny little morsels," he said as he went to go fetch the water jug.

Meg was seething as she shoved a whole piece of cheese into her mouth. How dare he imply that she couldn't think on her own. It wasn't her fault that her mother had raised her to act like a young lady and not common trash like so many of the other ballet girls.

Erik returned moments later with fresh water and poured her a glass. No longer caring what he thought of her, Meg snatched the cup from his hand before he even had a chance to set it back on the table. She let the cool liquid glide down her throat as she drained the glass of half its contents.

"I take it the food was to your liking?" he asked, clearly amused.

Looking down at her plate, Meg realized that while she was thinking about Erik and how he annoyed her, she must have finished off the rest of her meal.

"It was very good, thank you," she said, knowing that even if he couldn't be polite, she should be.

"If you're still hungry I could get you something else."

"No, I'm fine. I've stayed here and put you out long enough. If you could just please take me back to the opera house I'd appreciate it."

"I'm afraid I can't do that."

"Why not!" she yelled.

"You're not well enough to travel more than a few steps at a time."

"I'm perfectly fine," she said, standing and walking over to him.

Meg smiled triumphantly before a wave of light-headedness washed over her and her knees gave out. Erik once again caught her before she could fall and carried her over to the bed she had slept in before.

She noticed for the first time that it was not the swan bed that had been there four months ago, but instead an ornate canopy bed. "Did the mob destroy the other bed?" she asked curiously.

"No, I did," he said simply, laying her down on the soft sheets.

"Why?"

"Because it reminded me of someone that I would rather never be reminded of again. Now get some sleep."

"I can't. I have to get back to the opera house. I go on tonight. I can't let Maman down, not when she always dreamed that I would become a Prima Ballerina."

"I'm afraid it's too late for that," he said as he pulled his pocket watch from his coat. "It's already well past eight o'clock, and besides that, you'd never be able to dance in your condition."

"Oh, I never should have gone with Jammes!" she whispered harshly to herself.

"And what does that little disgrace of a dancer have to do with anything?"

"She came to my room last night, telling me that I just had to follow her. She had me go all the way to the ballroom and then stand in the center of the stairs. She said that I could see this 'horrible' thing, but I didn't see anything. Then she kept asking me if I remembered when Monsieur de Changy jumped down that hole after you. I told her I did and she let me know I would see exactly where he went. I don't know what she did, but I fell through the same place he did. I called for her to get me out, but she said she might send someone to find me after she danced my part in Hannibal. Oh I should have known better than to trust her," she scolded herself.

"Then why did you?"

"Because ever since Chris- my best friend left, I haven't had anyone except for my mother. None of the other girls ever liked me very much since they thought I always got all the good dancing parts because Maman is the ballet mistress.

"Then when Sorelli left and I became the Prima Ballerina, it got worse. They'd play nasty little tricks on me. One time, the plaster in my pointe shoes was broken so that during rehearsal I kept falling all over myself. Then another time they stuck a dead rat in my bed.

"If that wasn't enough, Jammes started telling the other girls that I slept with Monsieur Reyer and even the managers. And I can't forget that she even implied that I would go to bed with you all so you would threaten Messieurs Andre and Firmin to give me the lead in the plays we put on.

"I guess I just hoped that when Jammes came to me last night, that maybe she was sorry for what she had done and that she would want to be my friend." The last part came out very softly as she made herself comfortable in the large bed, her eyes drifting shut.

"I'll be your friend Meg," Erik said without thinking.

"Ok," Meg said sleepily as she gave a little yawn. She fell asleep with a content smile on her face.

I want to thank everyone who has reviewed so far, I'm glad you all like my story. And I'm also glad that there are people just like me that think Erik and Meg belong together. I mean why would Erik ever want a chorus girl when he can have a bendy ballerina?

TheatreAngel: I promise I'm not trying to drive you insane by not updating every day, I just don't get a chance to write as often as I'd like. I hope this chapter will hold you over.

Pleading Eyes: I went and read your song phic and I think it's amazing. And you're right, it is interesting how Raoul and Christine are missing in the beginning of both of ours.

Aidail: Thanks for taking the time to review. It means a lot.

Mysweetphantom: Yay! Another Erik/Meg shipper. I just can't get enough of them together.

Nannon: Thanks for reading!

CelestialGlowEquivalence: Your comments always make me laugh. And my friend Sami who Beta reads my story for me completely agrees with you about Jammes. But unfortunately, as I've told her, I can't kill Jammes off. At least not yet…

Plaid Skirts: Thank you so much for your review.

Jessi: I adore you for reviewing! Thank you!

SiriusAllPunked: Thanks for reviewing, I'm glad you're enjoying it.