Okay, I really don't have time to say much but here is chapter twenty-four, like I said it's very important!

Sunday Breakfast

"How about that one?" Maria asked pointing with her chin to a scruffy looking man down the street.

Christine scrunched up her nose. "No way."

Maria sighed and took a mouthful of French fries.

They were sitting outside Pink's on the outside tables watching the people go by and eating breakfast at the same time. It wasn't exactly breakfast, Maria had said. They were eating burgers and fries at ten in the morning.

They had met up at Virgin Records to go out for breakfast. They wanted to start their summer vacation by going to the beach.

They watched some of the guys walk by and Maria started a game in which they would look at different guys and say if they were cute or not. She said that even though she dug girls, she still had her taste in men.

Christine pointed to one crossing the street with a surfboard and swimming trunks. "That one."

Maria grimaced. "I don't think so."

Maria looked over at a car that blasted Spanish rap music. When Christine looked, she saw a guy with hair on one side of his head and tattoos on the other. "Y ese papi? And that one?

"Pass."

Maria laughed. "That's right, you only like rock stars."

Christine looked up from her burger.

"Dustin told me about your little acquaintance." She reached into the purse and took out a Virgin Records bag, inside there was an unopened CD.

Christine recognized it as it being Erik's.

"I can tell you one thing," Maria said as she opened the CD with her teeth. "I'm gay but this guy sure can make me change teams very quickly."

Christine laughed.

She opened the CD and took out the little booklet. Looking at the pictures she started smiling. "H-O-T. Hot." Then turning over the page over she said, "I wonder what he's like in bed."

This prompted Christine to spit out the coke she had been drinking at that moment. She reached over, took the booklet and hit Maria on the head with it.

"You and Dustin will be the death of me. I wouldn't be surprised if you two were split up at birth."

Maria smiled mischievously. "That good, huh?"

"Why is it that that's the only thing you can think about?" Christine said shoving fries into her mouth, trying to hide her blushing cheeks. "And for your information, I wouldn't know."

If Christine could read Maria's mind her thoughts would probably be along the lines of 'Yeah, right.'

"Really."

Maria shrugged her shoulders and placed her sunglasses on her nose. "Dime. Tell me, what's he like?"

Christine smiled. "He's so caring and very kind. He's always concerned for my well being when he's around me. He doesn't do anything that might upset me. He's nothing like my ex."

"Don't compare him to someone else. Just tell me about him."

Christine smiled. "He's so considerate. You should see the way he looks at me."

"He likes you that much?"

Christine shrugged. "He did once. But I don't know anymore."

"You knew him before?" Maria asked curiously.

Christine nodded. "I did. Before he was--- let's not get into that. But now, he's perfect. I never knew him like I do now. He used to be so secretive but now, he's so open and honest."

"Wow," Maria said taking some of her coke. "Perfect and everything? He must be even better looking in person."

Christine shook her head. "It's not that. He is but it's different. It hasn't got to do with his looks. I got to know him, the real him for the first time. I never got the chance before. It's so different now."

Maria smiled. "You like him?"

Christine nodded, not thinking twice. "Yes. You should have seen him not too long ago, he's so romantic. We danced under the stars without needing music. His look alone told me that he thought the moment was perfect. Not even then, every time we're together, his eyes get really soft when I'm around him, even at the awkward moments." She smiled contently. "He's so sweet. He made stir fry the other night as celebration for Faust. It was perfect." And I had to ruin it by bringing Raoul up and crying into his arms.

"You really got it bad," Maria said giggling. "It sounds as if you love him."

Christine smiled gleefully finally finding the word to describe how she felt about Erik. It would explain why she would get nervous around him or the constant need to look good for him. She would just look at him at different times without realizing it. All thought would go to him even if no one brought him up in a conversation. Or how every time he showed up at her door, she would be filled with joy or when he left, she wondered when she would see him again. She finally found out how she felt.

But somehow she felt as if that emotion had always been there. When Raoul and her had let him go, she always wondered if he was watching her. She craved to see him again. To hear his beautiful voice again, his extravagant music. To see the look of love in his eyes.

Except it was different then, she hadn't known him as she did now, it was a totally different feeling. She loved her Angel of Music, not Erik, the man. She could be with him without having to worry about him killing anyone or living in the underground lair. She had fallen in love with the new Erik, the one that she had always tried to reach before but never could. The Phantom and Erik were two different people entirely, she saw that now.

"I do. Maria, I love him." The words were strange on her lips and she had to say it once more to make sure she felt that way. "I love Erik." Her smile seemed to cross her face even broader. "I love him."

--grins-- let me know what you think!