Author´s notes: I actually pity Raoul in this one... well, anyway, Erik scores in the next chapter! And hunting4max - Enrinye liked the name. Originally, it wasn´t supposed to be Leroux, just a random violinist. But while searching for a French surname, I came across the name Gaston... and the rest is, well, history :-) Beware: Cliffhanger!
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Chapter 18 – Say You´ll Go Away (that´s all I ask of you)
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Christine was sitting in the chapel, alone.
She was mad. Mad because she had searched the whole Opera Populaire for Raoul, but that damned Fop seemed to have some way of avoiding her whenever she needed to find him and finding her whenever she wanted nothing more than cut his precious hair off.
Currently, she was trying to relax and calm herself somewhat, hoping that Erik got her note. Fortunately, her theory that if she couldn't find the Fop, the Fop would come to her, proved correct. Minutes after she decided that she would punish him by being a bit more… passionate, yes, that was the right word, during Don Juan, he appeared at the door, looking determined.
"Christine, there you are. I´ve been wanting to have a word with you." He said, walking in, about to sit down next to her when Christine jumped to her feet, her face very cold.
"I would assume this has something to do with your latest plan about Don Juan Triumphant."
Raoul looked puzzled. "How do you know?"
An angel told me. "It´s enough that I know. And you should know that I refuse to be part of this." She said firmly, hands on her hips. "I refuse to cooperate."
"Christine! The plan is our only chance of capturing this so-called Phantom! We can use his own trap against him, it´s fullproof…!"
"You make me laugh." Christine noted, though far from laughing. "You think that simply because you are naïve, he is as well? Even with a far more sophisticated scheme, your chances would be minimal. But I will sing in Don Juan." She said when he seemed to want to interject. "I´ve promised I would."
"Who? Him!" Raoul said, a frown on his face. It softened when he looked upon Christine as if she was a child that didn't understand what she was supposed to do with the doorknob to make the door open. "Christine, you cannot be serious about that. The man is mad – Madame Giry told me all about him. He is obsessed with you."
Christine nodded. "I am aware of that."
"And he is a murderer!"
"And I knocked you out when you tried to take him out." Christine added smugly, "Raoul, look…"
"No, Christine – listen!" he grabbed her hands, almost desperately, "I want to help you. I know it must be hard for you and that you cling to a so-called angel because you miss your father, but this man has no connection to that. He is a blackmailer, a murderer, he is mad. He will stop at nothing to get you."
"And your point is?"
"Christine… let me protect you." Raoul said gently, "Just say that you need me with you, to help you, and I will take you away from all this, and we will be happy, you will live in wealth and comfort, away from anything that could harm you – I will see to that."
Christine had to admit that it was kind of sweet, and that there were moments when she didn't really mind the romantic talk, but right now, it wasn't one of those moments. She wriggled her hands out of his grasp and sighed. "Raoul. How am I supposed to tell you this?"
"Say whatever you need to say… say the word and I will follow you…"
"No!" Christine cried, backing away a bit. Whoa there, buddy. "No! I want to say that I don't want this, Raoul! I want to say that besides friendship, I cannot see any relationship forming between us."
His mood silently dropping, he quietly asked, disappointed: "Why?"
"There are countless reasons!" She went for the usual phangirl explanation why RC was a blasphemous ship. "Music is all I have left of my father – and you would take it away from me. I live when I sing… when I am on the stage. Being a housewife is not a future that was meant for me. And a noblewoman doesn't belong in the opera anywhere else than in the audience."
Hanging his head, Raoul said sadly: "Is it because of him?"
Christine bit her lip. She was feeling a bit sorry for him, but it would have been worse had she given him false hopes. It was better to say this right now. "Not only because of him." She said, avoiding the question carefully.
Sighing, she turned her back on him and went to walk out of the room, but not before his final words reached her. "The plan is set… the managers won´t back out of it. And I won´t, either."
Then burn in the fires of Hell, tortured by EC shippers! Christine mentally yelled before slamming the door, hard. Had she turned, she would have really stayed true to her promise in the letter – and she didn't have the tools for it. She would have to shatter the glass angel there to get something sharp… and it was too pretty to break it.
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Meg almost waltzed into the ballet dorms that evening, and when Christine asked her what had happened, she only demonstrated her newfound mastery of the deer-in-highlights look, so Christine laughed and correctly assumed that someone had scored.
The two didn't talk much that evening and Christine set out for her rehearsal with Erik without another word the next day. Meg´s ballet practice went well, she was ahead of schedule, and was in a great mood, since she and Gaston were regularly going for lunch or dinner these days. Not that it was much of a variety to choose from, but she wasn't complaining.
Overall, Christine´s reunion with Erik went well. Neither mentioned the last lesson, but Christine noticed that Erik carefully avoided PoNR from that point on, leaving it for the last moment.
The night of the premiere drew closer, and neither Christine nor Meg were as nervous as they thought they´d be. Actually, they were pretty relaxed, considering that they had the major climax of the storyline to handle very soon. However, they had things planned out, so it was going to be easier. Besides, they knew what to expect.
The day came, and no one in the Opera seemed to be able to concentrate on anything, shaky and a bit nervous. Only the two girls were alright. Raoul sometimes kept casting Christine thoughtful frowns, but otherwise, nothing out of the ordinary happened.
Even the rose Christine found on her vanity before she changed into her costume wasn't out of the ordinary, by their standards.
Don Juan went rather smoothly. Christine watched the whole thing off-stage, and thought it looked really cool. She was nervous now, but only slightly, she knew what was going to happen, so it was okay. Her costume was fine – the "sleeves" were fun, she liked the rose, thought she looked a bit like a gypsy in the shirt, and considered the bracelets very pretty.
It was not as revealing as Meg´s, but even so, she probably wouldn't have worn this kind of dress in the 21st century.
Meg pirouetted around Piangi, smiled, caught the purse he threw her, and ran out of sight, winking at Christine, who was standing on the opposite end of the stage, waiting for her cue. Christine smiled and continued watching the scene. Although Piangi and Passarino were both quite fat, they were pretty good tonight. They probably knew how important it was.
When Piangi vanished behind the curtain, Christine took a deep breath and began walking forward, singing the introduction to the hardest part of the opera.
No thoughts within her head but thoughts of joy…
No dreams within her heart but dreams of love!
Sitting down, she began fiddling with the roses in her basket, mentally attempting to brace herself for the scene. When she raised her head a moment later at the sound of a familiar voice, she knew that there was no bracing for this.
