A/N: Forgive me for the delay. Writer's blockage set in. Thanks again for all reviews. Enjoy.

Christine had already taken herself out of Erik's class by the time Ryan called with an anonymous call concerning teachers affiliating with their students. The school assured him that they had no concerns with any of their professors. When he implied, 'some guy named Erik, that wears a mask' and one of his female students had been seen together, all the response he got was, "We'll look into that, sir."

Ryan slammed the phone down, infuriated with the outcome of his little phone call. Apparently that angle wasn't going to work. He would have to come up with something else. Soon. He was not happy.

Erik couldn't remember a time when he was this happy. He was quite certain it was never.

The past couple of weeks had been heaven. It was a bit depressing not having Christine in class every morning, but that sort of faded when she was waking up next to him instead. She would stop in and see him in the middle of the day, when neither of them had classes; sometimes they would get lunch. He'd even eaten lunch with Giry. After class had finished for the day, she would still come for her singing lesson.

They usually parted ways after that. Rehearsal had started for the next show her group would be performing. More often than not he would end up following her there anyways, and sit in his usual box.

He'd gotten his opera together, and was working with a publisher. Erik had never believed his life would be going so well. With the winter months approaching, the progress on his house was slowing, but he didn't really mind. His weekend would be well spent with Christine.

An odd cryptic letter was in his mailbox at the college that morning. It didn't make much sense, but he thought it was something about taking something away from someone. He read it a few times as he walked down a corridor, shrugged, and then shoved the paper into his bag.

It wasn't until after they had eaten supper that evening that he remembered the letter. Erik pulled her into his lap, and asked her what she thought about it. She didn't seem too concerned with it, just leaned in for a kiss. Tossing the note aside, held her tight against him. When he took her on the couch that night, all thoughts of that note, of the day, of everything vanished from his mind. There was only her.

"A costume party?" Erik's brows furrowed. "Here? At the school?"

"Uh huh. This weekend!" It was Wednesday.

"Well, I don't-"

"Please?" He gave in, sighing.

"Yes, okay. Of course. Your wish is my command, and all that." He chuckled.

Christine nearly squeezed the breath out of him, and then started blathering on about costumes and such. He really had no idea what he'd gotten himself into.

After arguing with Christine over which fairytale characters would look absolutely ridiculous with a mask, Erik persuaded her into letting him choose his own costume. She was reluctant, but finally agreed.

The day before the party, Christine got a note. Basically the same nonsense Erik had gotten. Warning her against suspicious weirdoes. She crumbled it up and tossed it. It didn't seem necessary to show it to Erik.

She had chosen an angel costume, after Erik's input. The dress was the lightest color of rose, lace and silk, complete with matching lace halo and lace and wire wings. . She still had no idea what Erik was wearing. Tomorrow night, she supposed, she would find out.

Erik had chosen Red Death. Sort of like an opposite to Christine's angel. The red velvet jacket and trousers clung tightly to his body. A skull-handled rapier was slung across his hips. A flowing red velvet cape trailed behind him. The mask had detailed designs of a skull, and he work black face paint around his eyes. He wore knee-high leather boots on his feet.

Christine was waiting for him in his living room. How embarrassing. It had taken him far longer to dress than her. With a final glance in the mirror, he headed out of the bathroom, his cape swirling after him.

She sat on the edge of his couch looking through another of his sketchbooks. With her hair up, and decorated with shimmering jewels and her halo, she truly did look like an angel. Her sleeves were off the shoulder. Moving quietly he snuck up behind her and pressed a kiss to her bare shoulder. She started, and then turned. Her eyes widened at the new mask.

"Wow." Her hand brushed over the velvet of his arm. Her fingers trailed over the silver skull sword, pulling it from it's casing. It looked real. His hard body filled out the costume perfectly. After Erik had properly praised every inch of her, they left.

A huge hotel was holding the party. The Erik pulled into the lot and parked the big car. Friends of Christine, colleagues of Erik, greeted them and of course, Meg Giry, who was dressed as some sort of fairy.

"Wow is that velvet?" Giry fingered a bit of fabric near his wrist.

After a few moments, Giry flitted away, off to talk to others. There was a food buffet set up against one wall, tables scattered everywhere, and a huge dance floor. They danced. A lot. Erik also got the chance to dance with Meg, Meg's mother, a fellow music teacher, and a few of Christine's other friends. Being Halloween and all, a mask fit in, so he felt much more at ease than he normally would have. Seeing Christine dance with other men didn't make him furious with jealousy, as it once probably would have, because she always came back to him. The night was wonderful.

All too soon, for everyone, the party came to an end. It was well after midnight when Erik and Christine finally got back into his car. After driving for a few minutes, Erik braked for a turn, but the car kept moving.

"What the hell!" He slammed his foot down, but they didn't even slow.