A/N #1: This is probably the last chapter I'm writing before I leave for church camp. I'll be back Friday!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A week later, Christine made her way up to the dressing room with the mirror to pick up Cameron.
She stood by the mirror for a few minutes until he arrived in the dressing room, quietly closing the door behind him. In his hands were suitcases. Then he walked over to the mirror and stood there.
"Cameron," she said slowly, opening the mirror, "what are you doing with all of these suitcases? Are you traveling somewhere and just coming to tell me that you won't be coming down?"
He shook his head. "No. I'm moving down in your lair with you... I'm tired of the above world."
Her eyes widened. "What?" she gasped. "You're moving down there with me? But... but... why? I'm not properly equipped to have two people constantly living in my lair."
"Oh," he said, sounding rather disappointed and bowing his head slightly. "I'm sorry... I should have given you some sort of notice or warning. But I already moved out of my apartment, and I've already got my bags with me." He held up his bags.
"Well," she began, "I suppose that I can adjust things so that I can have two people there. But why are you doing this? And what about your fiancee? Were you not going to marry her at some point?"
He looked angry suddenly. "We've separated," he said rather shortly. "I don't want to associate myself with her any more. She's mad; she almost killed you, after all. Therefore, I'm moving down here with you. I don't like the above world any more - it's so full of cruel people."
"You're telling me," she said incredulously, "that you and your fiancee are no longer engaged? You're not going to marry her? That just seems... I don't know; unusual. I never thought that you two would separate."
"Well, believe it or not, we have." He smiled at her briefly. "I'd never marry a girl who would hurt one of the few dear, close friends that I have. And she hurt you. You came first, so I'm getting rid of the second."
She gazed at him, amazed, for a moment. "Wow... I never knew that you cared that much about me." She extended her hand to him and smiled. "Well, come down with me now - we shall have you settled in by the end of the night."
He smiled and took her hand. "Oh, I'm so happy," he said enthusiastically as she closed the mirror and they started walking. "I get to live underground with you. Something about that makes me happy."
"Happy," she echoed softly. "You're happy to be with me... that's something that makes me happy." She let out a sigh as they stepped onto the gondola and she grabbed the rowing rod. Then they rowed away.
"Cameron," she continued as she rowed the gondola, "I have a very impertinent question to ask you, and it's foolish, but I'd very much appreciate it if you gave me a completely honest answer. Do you promise?"
"Of course," he said as he looked at her, sounding surprised. "I wouldn't lie to you, Christine, ever. Well, I might lie if the truth might hurt you, but I wouldn't lie to you for anything else. What is it?"
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, preparing herself to ask a question that she'd had on her mind since he'd returned to her. Then she opened her eyes and looked down at him. "Do you love me?"
He gazed at her intently for a moment before shaking his head. "No, Christine. I don't love you... I know that you love me, but to me you're nothing more than a friend."
"Oh." She bowed her head slightly, feeling disappointed. Then she glanced back up at him. "Do you think," she began hesitantly, "that you could, maybe, learn to love me at some point?"
"Well, I think I could," he said, smiling at her. "Yes... I just might learn to love you, Christine. But we'll have to give it time. Do you think you could wait and see if I can change?"
"I'll wait for as long as it takes," she said softly. Then she saw that the gate was opening in front of them. "We're here," she said brightly, smiling. "Welcome back to your new home, Cameron."
"Oh, I'm so glad we're here," he said with a sigh, smiling at her. "It's good to be home. I think that I'm going to like living here very much, Christine. I love being down here... with you."
"Well, thank you," she replied, rowing the gondola onto the shore of the lake and stepping off. Then she removed her cloak, hung it up, and walked back over to him, extending both of her hands this time. "Here - hand me some of your bags."
He handed her two of his suitcases and rose, picking up the other two suitcases and stepping off of the gondola. Then he followed her into his room and turned on the light as they stepped inside his room.
"All right," she said, placing his suitcases that she'd brought into his room on his bed. "Do you need help unpacking? If you don't, then I'll go ahead and start our supper."
"Oh, no, that's all right," he said, smiling at her. "I can quite easily unpack and settle in myself. You go ahead and make some supper - what are we having, may I ask?"
"I was thinking that we could have some chicken drumsticks," she said with a shrug. "Unless you'd like to have something else to eat. I cook a range of foods - souffle, Italian foods... just tell me what you'd like."
"I'd like to have chicken; that sounds nice," he said. "I like chicken. I used to eat chicken a lot when I lived in London... but I haven't eaten it for several years. My friend and I used to eat chicken all the time at his house - I practically lived at his house, you see."
"Oh." She nodded. "All right - I'll go prepare and cook the chicken. You go ahead and get settled in, and just tell me if you need any help, all right? I'll let you know when we're ready to eat."
"All right," he said. Then he unopened his suitcases and started pulling out its contents, placing them where they belonged. She gazed at him for a moment, then walked out of his room and into the kitchen to prepare supper.
By the time he was unpacked, she called out, "Supper is ready! Come and get your drink, Cameron, and then we'll eat. I have water and... well, water." She laughed. "All I have is water... I shall have to buy some alcohol for you, seeing as you're twenty - one now."
He walked out of his bedroom and got himself a glass of water. Then he sat down at the table, where the chicken drumsticks were set out on a plate, ready to eat. She'd also put out some candles and lit them. "Candlelight dinner?"
She blushed slightly as she sat down at the table. "I thought it would just make it look nicer," she muttered. "I wasn't trying to set any kind of atmosphere... don't get the wrong impression. Now, let's eat, shall we?"
So they each picked up a piece of chicken and started eating. They ate all of the chicken on the plate until they were done and they started slouching in their chairs, sighing and patting their full bellies.
"I'll do the dishes," he offered, rising and taking the dishes and glasses. "If I'm going to live here, I have to start doing my part in housekeeping now." He walked into the kitchen and washed the dishes.
When he was finished, he walked out into the main part of the lair, where she was sitting down at the piano bench, turned away from the piano, staring off into space. He sat down on the sofa.
She saw that he had sat and sat up straight on the piano bench. Then she started to make conversation and said, "You said that you had a close friend in London... have you seen him lately?"
He shook his head. "No, but he moved here from London about two years ago. I saw him when he first moved here, and I saw him a few times after Emilie and I first got engaged, but I haven't seen him in about nine months."
"Oh. Well, that's nice that you're at least close to him... does he live in a house or an apartment?"
"He lives in a house. It's a very nice house, too - big and full of space, which he really doesn't need. It's got a lot of room in it, but he's the only one living in the house. He comes from a socially prominent family, you see, so he spends money on grand, big things." He laughed. "Yes, he's quite a big spender... but he's wise about his spending for the most part. And the best thing about it is that the money he spends is his own; he won't get his inheritance until his mother dies."
She nodded. "I see. His family is socially prominent... are they snobby and stuck - up? Of course, I don't imagine that you'd associate yourself with snobby, stuck - up people."
"Oh, no, he's very nice," he said, shaking his head. "His family is very nice for the most part... although his mother reminds me of you at times." He gazed at her thoughtfully for a moment. "She has a very bad temper, you see - or, at least, she did the last time I saw her."
"I see." She yawned, stretched, and pulled out her pocketwatch. "It's late," she sighed. "We'd better get to bed."
He nodded and rose, stretching. "Well, good night, Christine," he said with a yawn. "I'll see you in the morning... and you'll take me up to rehearse for Genius's Mistake, right?"
"Yes. Good night."
"Night," he sighed, walking into his bedroom and closing the door behind him.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A/N #2: I hope you were paying attention when Cameron was talking about his friend, and if you're weren't, go back and read it, because it'll help you later on. That's all I'm gonna say.