A/N: Well, here it is chapter two! XD I bet you're all surprised I made it. To tell you the truth, so am I! Hehe, well, yesterday I stayed up till three in the morning, so if I'm out of it,

I dunno, complain I guess.

Oh, yes, much LUFF to my reviewers, cause you all rock my socks.

Erik Does Not Mourn Wicked

It had been two days since Rachel had last seen Erik, and she was bored. She figured he was teaching Christine her singing lessons, or sneaking around the Opera house. Sometimes at night, she could hear him working, and mumbling.

Her computer still had some battery in it, so it was working a bit, but it was going to die soon, and all her music was stored in it, she just couldn't get on the internet, because, of course, there were no internet outlets or connection.

'Hm…' Rachel grinned wickedly, when she heard Erik walk through the door.

She knew a way to amuse herself, even if it did rank up there with suicide.

She was going to sing, to Erik.

xxx

"Erik!" Rachel called. She turned into the main room and found him at his organ.

'Perfect.'

"Oh, Erik, now that we're friends, I've decided to make you my new project!" She said, putting on a bubbly personality.

Erik just stared at her, not sure what to think.

Then she started singing.

Whenever I see someone, less fortunate than I,

And less face it, who isn't, less fortunate than I?

My tender heart tends to start to bleed.

And when someone needs a makeover,

I simply have to take over.

I know, I know, exactly what they need.

And even in your case,

Though it's the toughest case I've yet to face,

Don't worry, I'm determined to succeed.

Fallow my lead, and yes indeed…

You – will – be…

Popular! You're gonna be popular!

Erik cut her off right then.

"What, was that?" He asked, annoyed.

Rachel looked equally annoyed at him, "A song…" she said slowly. Then she grinned. He looked at her with distaste.

"It wasn't very good, and your singing needs improvement." Rachel scoffed,

"It's Wicked!"

"Excuse me; I don't think its evil…"

That was when Rachel really started laughing. At first she was just giggling, but then she sank to her knees clutching her stomach.

"We're really going to have a tough time communicating, aren't we?" And from the look of her masked friend, it looked like right now, he was sure if he even wanted to communicate with her.

xxx

"Madame, I learnt your first name, but what is your last?" Erik said at the dinner table, trying to break the silence.

"Pierson! My last name is… Pierson, Rachel Pierson," she said.

"And what nationality are you?" he asked.

"American," she replied.

If Erik was surprised, he didn't show it very well.

"So I suppose you have no where to go," he said.

"I thought we already established that."

Erik decided to ignore her, "So, if you want, you can stay here for more than just a couple of days, you've already proven you can stay out of the way."

Rachel stared at him, not believing what she was hearing.

"Stay? With – with you?"

Erik could feel disappointment set in once again, not sure why he wanted her as company, anyways.

"Of course you wouldn't want to stay with me, I mean, you must know who I am by now, the Opera Ghost," he said bitterly.

"No! No, that's not it! It would be lovely to stay down here… with you," Rachel said.

"Then you must get some new garments," he said looking at her clothes, "For I daresay you'll stick out," he mumbled.

"You mean dresses?" Rachel cringed, not because she didn't like dresses, but because she knew what you had to wear underneath it.

"Yes, unless you want to walk around in trousers and a shirt, like you are wearing now," he snapped. It wasn't that far from the truth either, except she was wearing shorts. It was absurd for her to walk around the Opera Populaire in clothing that was less then undergarments!

"And… a corset, then?"

Erik nearly choked on his food.

"This is inappropriate to talk about at the dinner table," he said, flushing, "but yes, I would suppose so, for the dresses won't fit without one.

Rachel got up and ran to his side, sitting on her knees, tugging on his sleeve, "Please don't make me wear one! They… hurt, from what I hear."

"You'll be wearing one, if you want to venture out of here, sometimes," he said, looking down at her.

Rachel eyes lit up at that.

"You mean, I'll get to walk around the Opera Populaire… oh wait until I tell Lily!" she said, but then looked sad as she realized there was a very little chance that she would ever see Lily again, suddenly feeling really lonely.

"Who is this Lily? You keep saying her name…"

"She's no one, just – she was a friend of mine," Rachel said, looking at her hands, suddenly feeling guilty.

"Erik, if there wasn't something I wasn't telling you, you'd want to know what it was, right?"

She could tell that her words confused him, but he nodded nonetheless.

"Well, curiosity killed the cat," she attempted to joke, but then stopped, "Well, I suppose I should tell you something. Erik, I know what's behind your mask," she waited for his response.

Erik couldn't believe it. She knew? Had she snuck into his room while he was sleeping? Now, surely, she'd want to leave.

"So you finally found out what's behind the mask, eh? Congratulations, Mademoiselle, you're out of a choice few," he said sarcastically, his voice full of bitterness.

"Erik, it's alright, I don't care," she stammered.

"Maybe you just wanted to stay with a circus freak, then?" he asked.

"No! Erik, it's what's inside that counts with me," Rachel said. In one fluid motion, she reached up and grabbed the mask, but for an entirely different reason than Christine. Before he put his hand up to his face, she grabbed it.

"There," she said, touching the bad part of his face softly with her hand, "That's better."

It's not that she wasn't a little bit moved at his face, it was truly, horrible. But the one thing that came to her head when she saw it was 'Wow, the movie people really were inaccurate when it came to his face.'

Which was true, his face was much worse, but unlike in the books, he actually had a nose, well, part of one anyways.

She stared into his eyes for a moment, and his eyes started to tear.

"You're not… affected," he gasped.

"No, I'm not," Rachel smiled at him, and comforted as he sobbed.

After that, Erik quit wearing his mask around the lair.

xxx

Rachel and Erik's friendship only expanded after the mask incident, and she started to confide in him as well.

But then the dresses came.

"Rachel!" Erik called, "The dresses are here, and I also have a surprise for you."

Rachel inwardly cringed, but smiled outside.

The Phantom shoved a couple of big boxes into her arms, and led her to her room, change into the dress that was in the box with the bow, alright?" he asked.

Rachel opened the box, and gasped.

Inside was a beautiful green dress. It was deep green, with a modest neckline. Black embroidery outlined the neck, with rich designs of flowers and other fancy things.

Underneath it, was what worried her.

It was her undergarments.

xxx

'Crap,' she thought. 'This is not good.' And it wasn't. There was no way she was going to be able to tie up a corset by herself.

She grinned thinking of many girls who would wish to be in her position right now. Personally, she really didn't care if she didn't wear one or not, but she knew that she had to, and Erik would have to tie it, so she went looking for him.

"ERIK!" she yelled, her voice bunching of the walls. He appeared in a few seconds, and then stopped.

"Why are you in your undergarments?" he asked, confused.

"Because you gave me a bloody corset, and there's no way I can put it on my self, so you have to lace it."

"Well, this is a new experience," he joked, "Stand over here," he instructed, leading her to the side of the organ. She gripped it and waited.

The pain was a lot worse than she thought it was, and there was no way she was going to be able to eat that much while wearing one.

After Erik was finished, she looked at him and grinned. All of a sudden, she bowed low.

"Thank you, kind Monsieur," When she got up, she deeply regretted bowing, for now her sides felt like they were going to burst.

"I think, I'll stick with curtsying," she said weakly.

xxx

"Okay, Erik, what's my surprise?" She asked, in her dress.

"You and I, are going to the production of Hannibal tonight," he said, making Rachel squeal.

"A real Opera! I better do my hair," she said.

She dug into her bag, and pulled out a couple of bobby pins, putting up half of her hair in a simple, yet elegant fashion.

Together, they set off, arm in arm, to Box Five.

The Opera was brilliant, and even though she didn't want to admit it, so was Christine. Back home, she always though Christine was a fool for giving up Erik, but she could see why he fell in love with her.

"She's really good," she whispered to Erik during Think of Me. Of course, he didn't pay attention, and was too busy staring at the soprano.

Catching a glimpse out of the corner of her eye, she snarled, for that was one thing that wouldn't change, the hatred for the fop.

After it was over, she leaned over and said to Erik, "We have to go to another one of those!"

Of course, she did feel a tad silly, for Erik was hidden, but she was sitting, and looked like the only one in the box.

"Rachel! You must go back to the labyrinth, and stay in your room tonight," he said urgently.

"Oh, right, gotcha. Tonight is the night that you abduct Christine," Rachel said, rolling her eyes.

"I'm not abducting her, now, just, go!" Erik didn't ask how she knew, for he knew that there was something that Rachel was hiding from him, but someday, he would find out what it was.

"Oh fine! It's always, Christine this, Christine that! I feel so unloved!" She pretended to be upset and put her hand over her forehead and waved her fan violently fast. But, she did leave and make her way down to the labyrinth, making sure to blend into the shadows, like Erik taught her to.

xxx

A/N:

:D I updated quickly, no? I like this, because it's much more fun to right than my other story, but I'm still upset about that. –sniff- Okay, not horribly upset.

Thanks to my reviewers, you all rock:

LovingMemory: Hehe, yeah, we're quite strange when it comes to PotO, but it's nice to have friends who like it. ;D

Karma: Muaha, I wrote more, and yes, doesn't Masquerade rock?

Scarlett24: I'm sure bad singing is torture to Erik. XD

Oh yes, and please ask me questions, anyone, it can be about me or the story! I luff answering!

Review song! W00t!

Think of this,

Story fondly,

When you've stopped reading!

Remember to

Review once in a while,

Please promise me you'll try!

I never said, that you had to,

But still it'd mean a lot to me.

So please promise me that sometimes,

You will review for me!

-music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, most words by me.

I'm so creative, no?