Disclaimer: Don't own Phantom.

XXX

Christine had appreciated the slipshod supper Erik had prepared, and eagerly ate several sandwiches and drank nearly the entire pot of tea. Erik had been quite surprised, and immensely flattered as he sat across from her and watched her eat. Once she'd finished, he took her hands and pulled her into the sitting room again, helping her to sit and moving beside her.

"Christine, I… we need to talk." He murmured, and her eyes went wide.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, anxiety in her voice as she nearly crushed his hands with her own, "have I done something to upset you?"

Erik shook his head quickly. "No! No, it's nothing like that… I only… well, I feel rather guilty, living off of you like this..."

She just laughed, reaching out to pull his mask from his face and kiss his cheek. "Oh be quiet, Erik. I'm not so poor that I cannot support you-"

"That's not what I meant." He said simply, putting a finger over her lips. "I should be the one supporting you."

She flushed, but said nothing, and he sighed. "I'm afraid there's no way I could get a job, either. With my face… who would hire me?"

Christine appeared thoughtful for a moment, before crawling into Erik's lap, taking him by surprise and making him gasp. Resting her cheek against his chest, she closed her eyes. "With your music, Erik, I'm sure you'd be hired despite anything."

He frowned, deep in thought. "You may be right… but for a different reason. I'm sure I could arrange a way to send music to the publisher without them seeing me, could I not?"

This isn't what Christine had meant, and she really didn't like the idea of Erik hiding from the world, or the idea of him running away instead of facing his problem, but she didn't know how to express her feelings. Instead she nodded.

"Of course. I can talk to Monsieur Reyer – he's the conductor and leader of the orchestra – and see if he knows of a good publisher who's looking for some new musicians."

Erik smiled broadly down at Christine, kissing her forehead. "Thank you."

XXX

Several hours later found Christine and Erik both sitting on separate ends of the divan, both immersed in books. Or at least Christine was. Erik was pretending to read, watching Christine instead.

Her hair was over one shoulder, and her chest rose and fell slowly with her breathing as she turned a page. Sighing softly, his eyes trailed over her chest a bit, then up to follow the line of her jaw. She was so beautiful…

Erik had taken advantage of Christine's books earlier while waiting for her to finish a bath, and he'd found several romantic stories that became rather graphic, at least for someone as pure as Christine to be reading. He was curious about taking Christine into his arms and kissing her like the men in the books had kissed the women they loved. He wondered if Christine would respond to his touches like the women in the story did, and with purpose he set the book aside, sliding down the divan until his leg was pressed to hers, and their shoulders were touching.

Looking up from her book, Christine met Erik's eyes. "Yes?"

He simply took her book, marked the page, then placed it aside and stroked her cheek. Christine's eyes fluttered closed and she leaned her hand into his palm, smiling delicately.

"You're so beautiful, Christine..." he whispered, and she flushed. Quoting the last novel he'd flipped through, Erik leaned down and brushed his lips over her cheeks, murmuring distractedly to her as he silently thanked his near-photographic memory.

"The way you make me feel, Christine… how I wish I could show you what you mean to me…"

Was it getting warm in there? He felt a heat rush through him that he knew had nothing to do with the ambient temperature of the living room, and he groaned softy before continuing.

"I could live a thousand years and never be able to tell you enough how perfect you are-"

His hands rested at her sides, gently stroking, as his lips fastened to the skin just below her ear. He was just about to continue his narrative, when he noticed that her trembling had become more pronounced…

Christine was giggling, and he drew back, hurt in his eyes. Seeing his face, she tried but failed miserably to squash her mirth.

Erik stood, embarrassed and made to leave the room, but Christine grasped his arm, still giggling softly.

"No, don't go… I didn't mean to hurt your feelings…"

He sat back down reluctantly, and she put her hands against his chest, leaning close to him.

"Have you been reading my books, monsieur?" she teased, and he went red.

"I… I only wanted to…"

She just smiled, leaning in and kissing him as she settled into his lap.

Flushing, Erik returned her kiss, holding her close to him and moving his lips down to trail over her neck and shoulder shyly. At her soft sigh of obvious pleasure, he gained confidence and nibbled at her pulse point, shocked when she grabbed his hair in her hands and let her head fall back.

Drawing back slightly, he met her eyes and swallowed hard, licking his lips.

"Erik, I love you…" she murmured, and he trembled, tears filling his eyes as he curled against her instead, embarrassed at how her words were affecting him, but unable to keep from giving a soft sob.

"Oh God, Christine," he managed to murmur without his voice breaking too badly, "no one has ever loved me…"

She shushed him softly, rubbing his back and moving her fingers through his hair slowly.

"Shhh, well I love you, you won't ever be alone again…" she purred, and he snuggled a little closer, pushing his marred face into her neck, "My Erik…"

They sat that way for a long time, Christine gently rocking back and forth, until Erik's tears stopped and he fell into a contented sleep. Smiling, Christine kissed his forehead and joined him in slumber.