Forget Me Not: Chapter 10!

Wow. I cannot believe this I is on the tenth chapter. I know it's not really that amazing, but I've never really written a story past…well, nine chapters. Go me. To commemorate this momentous occasion (okay, okay, it's not all THAT momentous), I am giving you some teasers about where the story is going.

There will be three main events:

The first event will make fangirls go "SQUEEEE! ERIC IS SOOOO HAWT!"

The second event will make fangirls go "OMG HOORAY! ERIC IS SOOOOO HAWT!

The third event will make fangirls go "OMG HOW CULD U DO THAT? ERIC IS SOOOOOOOOOOO HAWT!"

I really hope you didn't guess it from those clues.

I don't own Phantom of the Opera. But I'm hoping with the profits of my business, "Gerard Butler pictures for Fangirls" I'll be able to buy it. I'm hoping.

PS: I'm extremely sorry for the wait! I hope it's worth it. Of course, before event #1 can happen, Erik and Christine really must sort out their feelings for each other, basically the goings-on of this chapter…I think I've said too much. Eep!

PS AGAIN: I have spell check again. Rejoice with me -does happy dance-

"You made me care for you. You made me nurse you back to health. You tricked me into loving you, and look where it got us! I bet you never even forgot, you sick beast! You were probably only leading me on! I hate you!"

"The tears I might have shed for your dark fate

Grow cold and turn to tears of hate!"

"I will not cry for any fate of yours, Monsieur Erik. Now please, if you despise me as much as you do, why do you want to keep me?"

"I lied to you then because I loved you. But I do not lie to you now. I do, however, love you."

Thinking back on recent events, it felt more like an out of body experience for Erik. Like he wasn't really speaking the words, like he was watching some masked fool paint himself into a corner. And yet, as he really thought back, he remembered what it was like. Like he couldn't think, didn't desire to think, only wanted words to come out. And, indeed, words HAD come out, words that he now deeply regretted. He could have laughed at the sheer irony of it all, had he not been so disgusted with himself.

He had never been able to be very bold towards Christine. The fear of rejection, the unending fear of being shunned by the only woman he loved. The very thought of Christine shrieking, spitting in his face as he tried to kiss her, the very thought kept him up at night; it was a problem that only music seemed to fix. However, something had happened to Erik, and he in no way could explain it. He had…kissed her! Once, only once, had he and Christine shared a kiss, and it had been her who had initiated it. And yet, today, he had kissed her, told her he loved her…

And of course he did. There was no way of getting past it. Of course he did. He had since the day he had met her, and would till the day he died. It would be his death if she could not accept him. And yet, only days ago, she had spoken those words, the words he had longed to hear but refused to believe. He replayed that day in his mind, and was shocked at his actions. A woman, a woman he had just met had intruded on his home; he'd let her. She'd removed his mask; he'd let her. She held him; he'd let her, and held her in return! He had replayed their embrace over and over again in his mind. The feel of her skin, the smell of her hair…the sound of the words…

"I love you…"

…and the look on her face as he shoved her away, shouting cruel words towards her, denying her her angel. A monster keeping an angel captive, yet denying all sign of affection. It sounded more like the premise of a fairy tale, not a situation in real life. Although, fairy tales often held a life moral wrapped up with the princesses, enchanted castles, and happy endings.

And how Erik prayed for his happy ending.

So she had claimed to love him. And he had horribly denied her. So what had happened? What had made Christine administer the cruel words she had today?

You, Erik thought bitterly. You shoved her away, you broke her heart, and now she claims to…

Erik's eyes widened as a thought dawned on him. He had loved her. Christine had denied his love (although she had favoured the love of another.) He had become cruel. But yet, he still loved her! She left anyway, however, leaving him alone. She returned five years later, and he had became cruel. Then he told her he loved her. And she left once again, and he had not stopped her, and now he was alone. Once again!

A pattern became very apparent to Erik and his eyes widened even more. And Christine…Christine had done nearly the exact same thing! Was this her way of PUNISHING him? He felt anger, he felt, pain, he felt…shame. Of course, he had confused her! He probably had confused her to no end, with his mixture of cruel actions and loving caresses. No wonder she was frightened. No wonder she went to another man…for protection…from him…

Erik sank to his knees, the cruel paradox pounding in his mind, seemingly chanting the same words over and over again. He could have prevented it. It was his fault! He stared out at the lake, almost wishing Christine would return. He would do anything now to have her back…he would kiss away her tears, he would give her all he had…Damn it, he would grovel at her feet if he had to!

Anything to hold her again.

Staring at the mirror, Christine suddenly felt an overpowering sense of alone. The opera house she had once known had long since been discarded like a piece of trash, leaving the giant building quite deserted.

Except, of course, for one.

No! She would not go back there! If she went back, Erik would know that she, of course, didn't hate him! He would know how very helpless she felt without him, he would know how she had left her husband for him…

Oh God. Raoul. What time was it? Raoul was an early-riser, always rushing off to his job…the man loved his job, more than he loved his Little Lotte, it seemed. And it seemed that his Little Lotte loved her angel of music more than her childhood friend. Loved her masked mystery more than her safety, her teacher more than her husband. She couldn't help but chuckle. That sounded rather perverse, did it not? And her teacher adored her…

So why couldn't they just get over themselves and love each other? She sat alone in her now dark dressing room, like she used to when waiting patiently for her tutor. There were so many reasons…

Raoul. He'd be looking for her. And chances were good that he knew just where to look.

But he doesn't know where to find Erik.

The thought brought a small smile to her face. It was lucky that she had remembered how to get to Erik, Raoul did not even take the same route! And besides, who was to say he wouldn't, once again, become prey to one of Erik's traps? The thought of Raoul floating, dead, above the water. Shivering, she knew she couldn't let it happen to him…

And it wasn't as though Raoul was the only problem! She knew she loved him, but had no idea what Erik felt for her. The last words he'd spoken to her were, indeed 'I love you'…but did he really? She honestly wouldn't put it past him to trick her, lull her into a false sense of security, then snatch his love away…as she did to him so many years ago.

It hurt, really…why was she such a fool? She'd known she'd loved him, even before the night she met the real him. There was the night when… she smiled warmly, remembering…

I was only around thirteen years old, yet still considered child-like by the oh-so mature other thirteen year olds. But I had been coddled by my father and, more recently, by my angel, so it was no real surprise.

It was before my angel and I had made any real progress on my voice. We chorus girls had a part in the current opera, I can't remember what it was any more. We dancers had a singing part, however, which made Erik pleased.

We were rehearsing our song. M. Reyer had given us the signal to stop, but I did not hear him. I continued singing until I noticed that no one else was singing with me.

"That's enough for today, erm, you are dismissed," M. Reyer had said, mopping sweat from his brow. "and an excellent, unexpected solo from Mlle. Daae!" he had added kindly. The old man was sweet, obviously trying to make light of my mortifying situation. Unfortunately, all he did was draw attention to my horrible technique, and bring on the other girls' catty behaviour.

They made awful jokes at my expense. I tried to ignore them, but there was a girl, Marie…there was no ignoring her. And I will never, EVER forget what she said to the other girls…

"Little Daae still believes in the 'angel of music'…can you believe that? I heard her saying it to the other one, Giry…Madame's daughter? It's too bad her little angel couldn't help her…she sounds like some type of strange parrot!"

And her friends had sniggered, especially when Marie began to mock my voice. I had run to the chapel, as I always did when I was upset, and began to cry. At the sound of my tears, however, the voice I knew so well rang out, gentle and loving.

"My dear Christine, what is the cause of your tears?"

And I told him everything, how I had embarrassed myself during rehearsals, and how Marie had mocked his existence. And Erik, he had been so patient and gentle, even though I was crying quite hard and most words came out blubbery, most sentences half formed.

"My sweet child," he had said once I'd finished. "Do you believe that you sound like a parrot?"

And I had paused, then cried, "The other girls think so!"

"Pay no attention to what the other girls think, it seems that they rely on each other to mock sweet girls as yourself. My dear, you in no way sound like a parrot, you sound like the angel that you are."

"But it is you who are the angel, is it not?"

And he had paused, as though not wanting to answer. Finally, he replied, "Yes Christine, I am your angel. As for Marie, I do not think she should be so confident in her own skills. She may find that next time she goes to sing, she will not be at all fortunate…"

And I had giggled, as I knew Marie sounded somewhat like a frog herself. It was to be expected, I suppose, as she was Carlotta's second cousin.

The next day, we were rehearsing again. In our song, it happened that Marie was given a small solo role. She began to sing, and we all began to snigger: Marie's voice was that of a mule, making strange noises as she tried to sing properly. She looked around, trying to find the source of this interruption, trying to prove that it wasn't actually her singing. No one was quite convinced, especially not Meg and I. We later heard her talking to her so-called friend, blaming her mule voice, of course, on the phantom of the opera.

Christine replayed that day in her mind, smiling fondly as she remembered Erik's kind words. When she had gone to bed that night, after her lesson, she had found a red rose on her pillow, with a black silk ribbon tied neatly around the stem.

She stared at the mirror again, almost wishing that he would appear, or she'd hear his voice, or she'd find a red rose on her blackened desk; something, anything would be nice…

He was so close. It felt like she could reach right into the mirror and touch him…she'd tell him she loved him, was a fool to ever leave his side, that she wanted to stay with him for the rest of her life. She'd tell him, she loved him. Because of course she did!

She banished all thoughts of Marie and all thoughts of Raoul from her mind, and focused entirely on Erik. She had to go back. Even though she had been gone for a mere fifteen minutes, it felt like a lifetime. Even though her mind screamed at her to run home, get into bed, and act like she'd never left, her feet were already taking her to her Erik, returning her to the man she truly loved.

My Erik…

Christine's Erik continued to stare out at the lake, hating himself, yet knowing that he needed her. The gondola was tied up at the other side of the lake, preventing him from getting anywhere quickly. Of course, he could swim, but it would take much too long to get across the ice cold lake and into Christine's arms. And besides, he didn't even know where she was! She could be back at home, telling her beloved of the horrible monster whom she just DESPISED! And she would never return, and Erik would rot in the cellar of a discarded opera house. What a suiting end! He could even see himself now: alone and sad, with no living company but the spiders and the rats.

Madame Giry…

Oh, yes! Perhaps Madame Giry could talk to her! Tell her how a deformed madman adored her, was obsessed with her! Perhaps she could ask her to leave her safety, her rich, handsome husband, and live with the man she hated in a damn BASEMENT! He almost chuckled at the thought of himself and Madame Giry dragging Christine down, his angel clinging to her husband in a most comical manner. It wasn't funny, of course, but the look on his face…!

That's when he heard it: Small splashes, as though someone were punting the gondola across the water. Who could it be? He couldn't understand who would be coming down to his home at this hour. He couldn't understand who would be coming down to his home, period. He watched, waiting for some sign of who it might be. Finally, he saw the tip of the gondola, followed by a very tired Christine.

Erik merely stared at the image before him, not believing. It was an illusion, a cruel prank played on him. It wasn't real, was it…? Christine stopped once she reached the bank, and stopped to catch her breath, as she wasn't used to punting a fifty pound boat across a giant lake. Soon, she looked up and saw him.

"You came back…" he said, in barely above a whisper.

And before he could do anything else, Christine had run to him and embraced him, never, ever, wanting to let go.

Ooh! I liked writing this chapter. Just so you know, next chapter there will be a lot of fluff (or is it phluff?) so, yeah. Happiness. We really do need to give our dear couple a bit of fluff, they haven't had very much so far. And besides, we really do need that event #1 to happen, don't we?

…

I think I've said too much.

Till next time!