Chapter 45 Good Morning

Authoress: Am I good? I'm good (And so is Erik…)

Erik: What?

Authoress: Nothing love, go back to bed, I'll be along in a minute

Adriana woke first the next morning, she blinked a few times, puzzled at the fact her pillow seemed to be harder, and smelt better than usual, and that there seemed to be an extremely long arm curled possessively around her. She grinned, wriggling up to kiss Erik on his marred cheek before curling up against him and falling asleep again.

xXx

An hour or so later, Erik awoke, he lay there a moment, staring at the ceiling, his arm trapped by Adriana sleeping against him, thinking. What had he done?

He had just taken the innocence of a girl who trusted him completely, taken her heart, body and soul, and what had he given her in return?

You made her dreams come true. That damned voice! Erik closed his eyes, (Are you my conscience?) he thought tiredly.

…Yes Erik, I'm your conscience…how are you?

(How am I? How the hell do you think I am?)

Ok stupid question, how are you feeling?

(Inexplicably exhausted, both physically and mentally.)

I noticed that, vivacious little vixen…isn't she?

(She has a name.)

I know, don't want to wake her up by mentioning it though

(How could you wake her?)

It's a long story

(Did you have some other pressing engagement?)

Well I was going to go shopping

(How can a conscience go shopping?)

Oops, caught out

His eyes still closed, Erik raised an eyebrow, fingers unconsciously curling through Adriana's hair.

Ok, I'm not really your conscience.

(Then who are you?)

I'm Jacques de Puppeteer, your girlfriend's muse.

(I beg your pardon? Girlfriend?)

Sorry, hung over, the Authoress is glaring daggers at me for that one. Lover?

(No!)

Doesn't look like that to me.

(Shut up.)

Fine then, your companion, as we shall call her.

(Fine, what are you doing in my head?)

Authoress needed my help, she swings from angst to fluff to bizzarity like a pendulum in this phic and had no idea how to write this thing.

(I thought you were Adriana's muse?)

I am, there are enough paradoxes in this phic to turn a gay muse straight.

(I'll admit to feeling confused.)

Don't feel alone, your readers are probably falling off their chairs laughing at the fact they have no idea what's going on right now.

(So what happens now?)

Excellent question, my suggestion is strawberries and cream and as many kinky fantasies as you desire.

(I regret having asked you that.)

Ha. I don't. Any other questions?

(What happens when she wakes up?)

That I can't tell you, but I can give you some dos and don'ts.

(I'm listening.)

Ok, number one, don't do breakfast in bed.

(And why not?)

Cos she's a better cook than you are and she hates being treated like an invalid.

(I can cook!)

Not very well sweetheart. Number two, remember the vampire fixation?

(Vaguely)

Bite her on the neck and she'll do anything you want.

(Anything?)

Well she wont go shoe shopping, or leave.

(I didn't want her to.)

She'll be glad to hear that.

(Don't tell her!) Erik half jumped, then looked down at Adriana to check she was still asleep. She sighed and buried her face in his neck, breathing in deeply, Erik tried to ignore how good it felt having her pressed against him. "What am I going to do?" he groaned to himself, beside him, Adriana stirred and opened her eyes. Her grey eyes stared at his bare chest for a moment, then travelled up, and up, and up, until she met his golden-eyed gaze. For a moment, neither of them moved, in fact, neither of them even breathed, until Adriana, about to turn purple from lack of oxygen, whispered a soft "Hello,"

Erik swallowed in reply as her eyes searched his face, all of his face…she had discarded his mask. He flinched back from her and violently tried to cover his face with his hand, turning himself away. Unfortunately, the hand he was trying to use as a mask was attached to the arm Adriana was currently using as a pillow and all he succeeded in doing was clunking the top of her head against his chin. "Ow," she grumbled, rubbing the top of her scalp, "Thankyou Erik, much appreciated," she glanced at him curling away from her and hiding his face in his hands. "Erik, look at me." The lean Phantom refused to move, Adriana sighed and put out one small hand on his pale shoulder, tugging him over, "Hey, Erik, please, you could at least have the grace to look at me."

"Where is my mask?" he demanded, Adriana looked around the room, noting for the first time that they had somehow moved from Erik's coffin to the Louis-Philippe room sometime during the night, "Uh, other room?" she ventured, Erik blinked and sat up, keeping one hand to his face he stared around in astonishment, "When, may I ask, did we get here?"

"Excellent question," Adriana murmured, sitting up to lean her head against his chest, "I'm guessing sometime between the second and…" she trailed off, aware Erik was staring at her, "What?"

"I don't suppose you would consider covering yourself?" Erik asked dryly, digging his fingers into his face. Adriana sighed and drew a red velvet blanket up to cover her chest, then knelt beside Erik reaching up her hand to tug his hand away, "I hardly have anything to hide anymore now do I?" she asked, kissing the tip of each finger before drawing his hand away, "And at the risk of sounding clichéd, neither do you," Erik closed his eyes and dropped his hand, "Why should you be faced with the features of a monster, rather than a man?" he asked dully, Adriana smiled and shook her head, taking his face in her hands she kissed him gently, Erik opened his eyes in surprise to find her looking at him with a mixture of amusement and affection, "Erik, did it ever occur to you that I love you because of this," her fingers traced torn muscles and scarred tissue, "Rather than in spite of it?"

Erik groaned in frustration, throwing himself back against the sheets, "You love this repulsive carcass?" he gave a short barking laugh, so different from his usual rich voice, "Why."

"Because you are different to any of the other people I have been forced to suffer!" she replied angrily, "You know music and beauty and pain and passion and torment!"

"And this is important to you?" he demanded, sitting up to tower over her again, she rolled her eyes and pushed him down onto his back, leaning on top of him with her chin resting on her arms, lying on his chest, she stared into his eyes. "It is," she growled, "If I wanted stupidity I'd have stayed at home," her eyes softened, "But even the slightest chance with you is better than there."

Erik glared at her, "You are in love with a murderer," he pointed out,

"And a genius," she reminded him, Erik's eyes burned into hers, "What do you want of me?"

"I want you to trust me enough to be yourself around me," she retorted, "I'm not asking you to change or give up haunting, just to stop hiding."

Erik closed his eyes in pain, "I must have hurt you," he said, Adriana shrugged against him, "No more than I expected," she replied. Erik opened his eyes and stared at her in puzzlement, she wriggled upwards to lean over him, dead straight hair falling in a curtain around him, "It was as much my choice as it was yours Erik," she told him, gently touching his face, "More so, really, when you stop and think about it."

"But why me?" Erik asked, "Why the man feared by all Paris? And with a face so ugly his own mother disowned him?" Adriana sighed and pressed her forehead against his, "I thought I just explained all of that to you," she murmured, her lips brushing his as she spoke. Uncomfortably, Erik felt his body reacting in a rather predictable fashion to her proximity. (Damn hormones!…Sorry, had to interrupt the Mills and Boon moment before I threw up over my own keyboard) "Adriana…" he breathed, sliding his arms around her. She reached down and kissed him again, tasting his sorrow, lust and bitter happiness on her lips as he drew her to him again.