Upon Christine shutting the door to her dressing room Raoul asked, "What's on your mind?"

"Well" she said, starting to walk in the direction of the stage, "I needed to talk to you about something."

They where now backstage, Christine was avoiding Raoul's eyes, fingering railings and small trinkets as they walked, "I don't know how to say this." she said, walking with him in the direction of the stage.

"Christine, darling, my little lotte. Just say it." Raoul urged her, while she was still not making eye-contact.

They where now on the stage, all the seats where vacant. They where standing, facing each other. Christine finally meeting Raoul's eyes.

"When I was at William's house...locked up in that room, I had plenty of time to think." she said quietly.

"Yes?" he urged her on.

"Well, I thought about you. Us." she was now stuttering slightly, as if the words where requiring tremendous strength to work out, "Raoul?" she asked.

"Yes?" he said once more.

"I don't love you the way we both thought." she was once again not making eye contact.

This hit Raoul hard. Very hard. "What? What do you mean?" he said, hurt.

"It was in that time I had alone, that I realized my love for you is not...not..." Christine was struggling to find the word she needed, "Romantic."

Raoul didn't say anything, just stared, listening on, in utter confusion and hurt.

"I love you in the way I would love a brother, if I had one. I hadn't noticed it before, but our love has changed, transformed like the changing season. Only I expect it shant change back, unlike the seasons."

Raoul was almost at the point of tears. She didn't love him the way he had thought. Their love was one-sided.

"I'm sorry." she finished, pulling her engagement ring off of her finger, putting it into Raoul's hand.

"It was a gift." he said plainly, returning the ring into her grasp.

"I shall see you soon." she said, still not looking into his eyes. She walked off of the stage, leaving Raoul in the middle of it. Surrounded by empty seats. She obviously couldn't stand his pain, and being around him only increased her guilt of breaking his heart, breaking his world.

Raoul stood quietly on the empty stage. Christine only loved him as a friend. The thought traced through his mind a million times, etching it into his memory as if set in stone. It was over.