How could I be so stupid?

by LiltingBanshee

Author´s note: here´s a little Erik for all of you. He will be fully involved in the next chapter:)

phantomann: on his way:)

Phantomandvampirelover: yup, take care where ever you´re going:)

satinzevi89: there you go:)

ragingfire666: Thanks:) Erik will be involved very soon:)

Kill Mary Sue: Well it´s the characters just playing around in an alternative universe...:)

Phreddie: Thank you so much:) well, Christine is under 18, so her parents might have something to say...

Wandering-Phantom: Maybe he will maybe he wont...:)

Shdwcat27: Hehe, we all know how fond you are of Raoul...so it´s ok for youto feel "sorry" for him;)

Ok, off we go...

Christine blushed heavily and looked at her unfinished food.

"Would you care to explain to us why Doctor Webber would think you´re still pregnant, seeing as he was the one to take care of your abortion? Because you did have an abortion, right Christine?" Charles seemed very calm, but that worried Christine just as much as if he had yelled at her.

"No...I didn´t..." she admitted.

"What do you mean you didn´t? We set up the appointment and I brought you to the clinic and... oh Christine!" Marie joined the discussion, but suddenly stopped when she realized what had probably happened.

"That day Mum, when you were called to aunt Beatrice´s house I saw the opportunity to save my baby. I left the clinic before they could do anything" Christine said.

"You lied to us through all these months?"her father asked.

"What else could I do Dad? You wouldn´t listen. You just ordered me to get rid of the child. Why would you do this to me? Don´t you care about my feelings? Don´t you love me anymore?" Christine was on the verge of tears now.

"Of course we love you dearest! We´re doing this for your own good. You are still a child Christine and you have your whole life ahead of you! Why do you insist on ruining your future with this child?" Marie asked desperately.

"I´m not going to ruin my life! I can do this! Erik and I can do this together!" Christine cried.

"Erik?" both her parents looked puzzled.

"The baby´s father" Christine whispered. "He´s 30 years old and lives in Paris. He´s a lovely musician and he´ll take care of both me and the child. He´ll be happy to know that I´m pregnant and he´ll love the child just like I do."

"He´s 30 years old?" "You haven´t even told him yet?" Her parents asked at the same time.

"Please let me explain" Christine whined. "He might be older than me, but it wont be a problem. He´s very sweet and caring. I didn´t want to tell him about the baby in a letter, so I´ll tell him when he comes to see Meg´s mother during the summer. I love him and he loves me! We will be alright".

Marie looked horrified.

"Christine, are you talking about Anne´s composer friend?" she asked carefully.

"Yes Mum. He was here last year" Christine answered.

Marie gasped. "Oh Christine, do you not know of this man´s disease? Why he wears that mask?" she asked.

Anne Giry and Marie had been best friends for many years, so of course Anne would have told Marie about Erik´s face.

"Yes I know. He told me Mum, but I don´t care. I love him" Christine said. She didn´t bother telling her parents about the morning where she had carefully peeled the mask for Erik´s face...

Christine awoke to the sound of Erik playing the piano. Mrs Giry and Meg were away for the weekend leaving Erik alone in the house. He had taken the liberty to invite Christine to stay the night.

Slowly she went down the stairs and found him sitting at the piano in the musicroom. He was absorbed in his music and didn´t hear her approach.

His white mask glistened in the light from the candles he had lit and she felt drawn to it with a strange force. Carefully she went to stand beside him and gently brushed her hand down his unmasked cheek in a soft caress. He leaned into her touch without his fingers leaving the ivory keys, but the music came to a sudden stop when he felt the cool air on his right cheek. She had removed the mask!

The next few minutes was a blur to Christine. Erik´s rage was beyond anything she had ever experienced. His hand flew to hide his exposed cheek as he pushed her away from him.

"Damn you! You curious little witch!" he yelled.

Christine fell to the floor from his forceful shove and she felt tears trail down her cheeks.

"Why would you do this Christine? Do you take pleasure in a tortured man´s deformed face?" he hissed at her.

"Erik I ..."she tried.

"You´re no differentfrom the rest of them! Go on, have your laugh and leave!" He was crying now and Christine felt her heart break for him. She got up from the floor and went to him.

As he sat at the window weeping he seemed so different from the raging person he had been just moments ago. Gently she put a hand on his shoulder. He flinched and tried to avoid her touch.

"Don´t touch me Christine" he said weakly.

"Erik I´m so sorry. I shouldn´t have done this. Please believe me when I tell you your face does not repulse me. Can you ever forgive me for my stupid actions?" she whispered.

He lowered his hand from his face and looked at her.

"Can you honestly say that this doesn´t put you off?" he said and gestured at his face.

She leaned in and put her lips to his scarred cheek.

"I have fallen in love with your soul.Your face will not change that. The way you love me makes me feel so special. I really and truly love you and nothing can change that" she smiled at him.

He brought his lips down upon hers and she knew she was forgiven...

"What is wrong with him?" Charles asked looking from Marie to Christine.

"He is born with a terrible deformity to the right side of his face" Marie said tearfully.

"Oh that´s just great!" Charles huffed. "And what will you do if your child is born like it´s father? And he doesn´t even know? What if he would never want children out of fear of them being scarred like him? Did you ever think to consider that Christine?".

"No... but he will want this child, I know he will" Christine cried openly now. All her defences were falling apart. There were so many things she hadn´t considered.

"You are far along in the pregnancy Christine. You will have to have the baby, but we will arrange for it to be put up for adoption. You will not see the child and you are to forget all about it!" Charles said.

"No Daddy please! I can handle it, I´ll prove it to you!" Christine wept.

"You have proven over and over again that you are not capable of making the right decisions. This time you will follow ordes! You are staying in this house for the remaining time of the pregnancy. We will keep an eye on you. You will give birth, forget the child and concentrate on college!" Charles ended the conversation.

Christine pushed away from the table and ran to her room. Desperately she started throwing her things into a bag.
She stomped down the stairs and headed for the front door. Charles came into the hallway followed by a crying Marie.

"Christine, if you leave this house now don´t bother coming back again" he bellowed

"Charles please..." Marie tried.

Christine put her hand on the doorhandle and drew in a deep breath.

"Christine I´m serious. I will not support you in ruining your life. Don´t leave this house" Charles warned.

"I´m sorry Mum, Dad. Goodbye" Christine whispered and left the house.

"Christine, what hashappened?" Meg gasped as she opened the door to reveal her best friend´s tearstained face.

"I left Meg, they told me never to come back. I´m all alone now" Christine cried and went into Meg´s waiting arms.

"Oh Christine, it can´t be that bad" Meg soothed.

"It is Meg. They want me to give the child away. It´s such a mess" she sniffed.

"Meg dear, what´s going on?" Anne Giry´s voice rang out in the hallway. "Christine dear child! What on earth is upsetting you so?" she asked as she went to put her arms around her best friend´s daughter.

Anne wiped the tears away from Christine´s cheeks and smiled at her.

"So you really knew?" Christine hiccuped.

"Yes, he told me in his letters. He was very afraid of my reaction because you are so young, but he is truly in love with you. He might be older, but he´s just as unexperienced with love as you and I think you now why" Anne said.

Christine nooded thoughtfully. "Do you think I´m completely insane for keeping our child?" she asked.

Anne sighed. "You may not have handled this the best way Christine. You should probably have told him earlier tolet him have a say in the decision, but you can´t change that now. You must tell him when he comes to stay and we´ll see what happens. You can stay here for a while, but I´m sure your parents will change their mind. You´ll see Christine, things will work out".

Anne pulled the covers over Christine. "Sleep now dear" she said affectionally and turned the light off.

Christine was in the living room reading when Anne came to her.
"Christine, there´s a letter for you. It´s addressed to your house so I suspect your mother has brought it here" she said and handed Christine the envelope.

My Dear Christine.

It breaks my heart to tell you that I will not be coming to see you this summer.
Personal affairsare keeping me here in Paris, but I hope I will be able to see you later in the year.
I know this will make you sad, but soon you will be starting college and will probably be too busy to think about me.

Take care of yourself and do stay in touch.

Love
Erik.

Erik stretched and got out of bed to make himself some breakfast. He picked his mail up from the hallway and shuffled through the letters.

Entering the kitchen he placed the mail on the table and opened one of the envelopes.

Dear Erik.
I am coming to Paris as soon as I can. I really need to see you. I know you´re busy, but there is an urgent matter I need to discuss with you.
I will arrive Thursday next week. Looking forward to seeing you.

Love
Christine.

Erik put the letter down. 'An urgent matter? What could that be?' He would love to see her, but this was a really bad time for her to arrive. He sighed and poured himself a cup of coffee. This would be hard.

Secrets to be revealed...Will Erik be happy...?