Once again, thanks to all my reviewers and my lovely beta!
Chapter 12: The Confrontation and The Resolve
Raoul was silent. Christine did not dare move for fear of invoking some horrible reaction from the man she was once affianced to.
Erik stood outside the door to the parlor, his ear pressed roughly against the dark wood, as he strained to hear the voices of the people he knew resided within. He jumped slightly as he heard the foolish fop give an enraged cry.
"You little whore!"
Christine's mouth fell open as she sat in shock of her childhood friend's harsh words. She had just poured her heart out to him, told him everything of her life thinking he would understand, and he dared to call her a whore? Her mouth closed and formed a grim line as she fought to keep her own rage at bay. He would not get away with that. She didn't dare flinch as Raoul continued his furious rant.
"You profess your love to me, and then, not even a month- not even a month Christine- after you were left with that monster, you share his bed! Tell me, how long will it be before you have sex with that monster? I can tell you want it, you both do! Not even I was ever granted such liberties, Christine, and you expect me to understand? He does not love you, he lusts for you, and you do nothing but quench his lust! I am quite surprised that his monster seed isn't planted inside you at this moment! All because you are so. . .Christian? Well, that's a little pointless, isn't it, seeing as he's a demon from Hell. I hardly think such a think would matter now. He has taken your innocence Christine! You have let him rob you of your tenderness!
" I do not know why you harbor such feelings for such a beast, but it will result in nothing but your own grief! Do you know what this monster has done to me, your childhood friend? Do you not remember the night of Don Juan, when you gave yourself up for me? Do you not remember the way he threw that lasso around my neck, the way he- . . . " Christine gave a cry of anger as she lurched from her seat, unable to sit through his foolish tirade.
Raoul fell quiet instantly as she lashed out at him just as fiercely, all pity and regret she had had before instantly dissipating as she approached the man she once loved, her voice seething with anger.
"And do you not remember, my dear Raoul, who it is that saved you when you happened upon his lair, almost near death because of your illness that you brought about yourself? Do you not remember the fact that he did nothing that night to harm you, and you threatened him with a pistol?
"Oh, and let me remind you of who it was that brought you to the only person who knew the cure of your illness, when he quite easily could have left you to rot!" She was completely out of breath, her chest having as she tried to calm her racing heart. What a fool Raoul was!
She glared at him, her eyes brown pools of fire. Raoul looked taken-aback, and he did nothing but open and close his mouth continually until the fire came into his own eyes. He put his chin in the air like a haughty child, and opened his mouth to retort before Christine once again cut him off.
"I am not finished."
Raoul's face fell, and his haughty face turned ashen as he collapsed in a chair.
"You always think me a child, Raoul! I am a grown woman! I am not your Little Lotte, nor will I ever be again. You think of me as the same girl I was ten years ago, and I don't understand why you won't allow me to grow up.
"Erik treats me like the woman I am. He does not simply lust for me, he looks at me with the same adoration I show him every day. There is love there, but not the overprotective, childish adoration I always get from you. I do not need your protection, nor do I need your presence when I am perfectly happy here with Erik. I love him, and always will! Do not fool yourself in thinking my heart belongs to you."
Raoul's eyes flashed for a moment, before melting into cold, blue daggers that scrutinized Christine as if she were nothing more than a whore at a brothel. Christine remained silent, awaiting Raoul's inevitable come back.
"You're absolutely right. My Little Lotte is gone. And in her place is a lunatic who's fallen in love with a- . . . " Christine broke him off before he could finish, her voice a menacing hiss.
"Don't you dare insult Erik in my presence. He is more a man than you will ever hope to be." Behind the door, Erik stood, mouth agape, staring at the door as if it had just sprung to life. Christine had just insulted her past lover and defended him in the same sentence! He could hardly breathe!
There was silence from within, and he could only guess Raoul was as taken aback by surprise as he was. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to be feeling at the moment, but all he could make out was his immense astonishment at Christine's sudden growth of courage. She had always been a brave girl, but this was just astounding!
His mind reeled as he tried to take in all that Christine had said. Had she said she loved him? In front of Raoul? He wasn't certain he'd ever be able to get over this. He had also heard that fop call her a whore and a lunatic, and had to force himself to keep his anger to a minimum and focus on the conversation going on behind the door.
He once again put his ear to the door, thinking they were perhaps whispering at a level he couldn't hear. Instead, he heard the rustle of fabric as if someone had stood, and Christine's angry command. "Sit." There was once again silence, and Erik couldn't imagine what else Christine could have to say to him. Regardless, he was rather enjoying his sinful eavesdropping.
He heard the rustle of fabric again, and knew Raoul had sat. Christine's next words took him by complete surprise.
"You can come in now, Erik. No point in you continuing that foolish eavesdropping." Her voice was no longer angry, and he could've sworn there was humor hidden beneath the exterior of her words, but he was too surprised to concern himself with that. He stood back from the door, completely appalled, before stepping nervously into the room.
Raoul's eyes shot to his face, and he could practically feel the fire being pierced into his scalp. He felt strangely vulnerable, and he wished Raoul would quit staring at him. It was rather unnerving.
He avoided Raoul completely, looking at Christine as if asking why he had to be brought into this. She gave a small smile, before instructing him to sit. He obliged, once again amazed by Christine's bravery at giving him an order, him!
In silence they sat, Raoul glaring at Erik, Erik pleading with his eyes for Christine to let him leave, and Christine looking at them both in strong determinedness. At that moment, despite all that had transpired between Raoul and Christine, despite all that Raoul had said to her, insulting her and whatnot, all of Erik's emotions were blinded then by his immense love for Christine. He loved her more at that brief moment as he gazed at her -sitting upright and looking more tense and on the edge than he had ever seen her- than he ever had. He knew he would die if for whatever reason, Raoul won in his attempt to win back Christine's heart.
He felt a twinge of fear in his stomach as this thought invaded his mind, but as he gazed into Christine's eyes, he saw the same love there that he felt for her every second. She smiled at him, before instructing him to look into Raoul's eyes. He looked confused for a moment, but obliged for the simple reason that he could never deny her anything.
He looked towards Raoul, and was unsurprised to find him still regarding him with that murderous gaze that was burning into his skull.
When their eyes met, Erik felt every ounce of hate that Raoul felt towards him pour into his soul, before he realized that it wasn't hate at all. No. It was something he had felt all too often in his miserable life. It was pure jealously.
Raoul was looking at him incredulously, as if studying him to find out what Christine could ever desire in such a person. Erik simply looked, knowing he had won anyway.
Christine let them sit for a moment, Erik savoring his victory, Raoul scrutinizing Erik as if he were the devil's son himself.
Finally, Christine's voice, smooth and clear, rung through both their minds, causing them to awake from their childish thoughts.
"Raoul, you look into the eyes of the man I love, the man that I have always loved and always hope to love. You study him as if his face is enough to fuel my hatred, but it does nothing but increase my love for him.
"Erik, you look into the eyes of the boy with whom I was once infatuated, the boy who has reduced from the loving sweetheart from my childhood to an arrogant aristocrat who is too stubborn to realize that I am not the child I once was." She then settled her gaze on Raoul, who seemed to cower beneath her now-penetrating eyes. She softened at the sight of his weakness instead of lashing out.
"Oh Raoul, please understand. I do not wish to gain the hatred of the only friend I had in childhood. Why you cannot understand my feelings is only more proof of your blindness to my age." She spoke softly, as a mother would to a child.
"I refuse to let you leave until you promise me you accept my feelings." Raoul had stood to leave, wanting nothing more than to leave this embarrassing confrontation before he burst into tears of hate and longing. But at Christine's request, he stopped before reaching the door.
"No, Christine, I will never accept your feelings. But only because you are correct. I will never be able to forget my Little Lotte, and I will never be able to look at you without seeing that little girl for whom I saved the scarf from the sea."And with that, he reached under his dress coat, and pulled out the blue scarf he had saved all those years. He threw it upon her lap, where she looked at it in utter astonishment before looking up at him with tears in her eyes. Why was he making this so hard? All she wanted to do was run away with Erik, and have him love her until she died. Was it so difficult to find happiness?
She tried to push it back into his grasp, but he placed it firmly in her small hands. The tears were streaming down her cheeks now, and her back lurched with her choked sobs as the weight of her burden finally settled in. She was sending her childhood friend away, she had broken his heart and pushed him away for a disfigured genius living beneath the opera house, a man who had murdered two people just that she knew of.
Suddenly, she didn't know why she was doing this, he was a murderer, and here was Raoul, desperate for her to stay, offering her comfort and protection. But as she looked into Erik's eyes, the tears stopped flowing, and she felt her heart skip a beat as she observed the childish way he was looking upon the intimate scene with mild jealousy, and she gave a laugh as she realized she knew exactly why she was doing this.
She accepted the scarf, and looked upon it with a new light in her eyes, without any regret or sorrow. She looked up at Raoul, trying to pour her feelings into his eyes.
He finally seemed to understand, and walked slowly towards the door. His eyes never left Christine's as he touched the knob, but his eyes flashed to Erik before he muttered a good-bye and left the room.
Christine and Erik sat in silence, still trying to digest everything that had happened in the mere fifteen minutes that had passed. Finally, all of Christine's feelings spilled out, and she leapt up from her seat, discarding the scarf by the chair. She ran to Erik's side, throwing her arms around his neck in a pleading embrace. He tensed, still not used to her willingness to show affection. He sat awkward for a moment, before embracing her in his own arms. She was crying into his shoulder, releasing all the anger and pain at what had been said out through her tears.
She drew back from him, staring into his green eyes as the tears continued to fall. She was at a loss for what to say, and he seemed to be in the same predicament as her. Finally, Christine let out a hoarse laugh as she laid her head on his shoulder, sighing as she felt his fingers caressing the tense muscles of her shoulders.
"Erik, you don't think I'm a. . .whore, do you?" He drew back from her in surprise, partly amazed at the fact that that was what was causing Christine pain, but also amazed that she would ask such a thing.
He placed his hand underneath her chin and forced her to look him in the eyes. She looked so much like a child then, so vulnerable and so easily breakable. He placed a gentle kiss upon her lips, reluctant to pull away but knew Christine wanted an answer. He smiled as he saw her closed eyes, her face tilted as if begging for more. She opened her eyes, looking into his for an answer.
" Never, Christine. What could cause you to ask such a thing?" She looked embarrassed for a moment, before breaking eye contact and giving a small shrug.
"I guess it was because I was anticipating everything else he said, but that kind of caught me off guard. I certainly would not want to be thought of as such, and I was rather confused by what gave him that idea. It's not as though I've given myself to anyone." She blushed at her words, before turning back to Erik. She gave him a small kiss, before clambering off of him and starting for the door.
Since they had been rather open with each other lately, he figured now would be the only time to confront her about his own self-conscience thought.
"Christine. . ." She stopped right before she reached the doorknob, and turned back to look at him with a questioning look in her face. She could tell he was nervous about something.
She walked back to him, settling herself down next to him on the couch. He tried to tell her what he was trying to say, but all he could do was open his mouth and close it like a bumbling fool. He felt her intertwine her fingers with his, and he somehow found the courage to speak.
"Christine, I need to talk to you about something. . ." She nodded, urging him to go on. But, just before he started to speak, he studied her. He studied the way she was looking at him with pure love and concern, completely oblivious to his mask and ignoring all the horrors of his past. She loved him, just as much as he loved her. Suddenly, all his doubts were gone. About children or otherwise. Feeling suddenly confident about the life ahead of him, he leaned over towards Christine, placing a kiss on her cheek before whispering in her ear, "Christine, I love you."
Her face lit up, and she kissed him full on the lips before taking both of his hands in hers. He smiled, squeezing her hands tightly before turning away from her face. In his chest, his heart was constricted. He couldn't believe this. She was here, with him, had stuck up for him, and now. . .
He gasped as she slipped her arms around his waist, grasping him tightly and burying her face in his neck, inhaling his subtle masculine scent.
"I love you too, Erik."
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Raoul left the bowels of the opera house in a heated rage, one that he had kept contained until he had fully left that damned lair that he offically hated with a passion. He had weakened, had given up. Now Christine was free to live out the rest of her pathetic life with that monster, and he was powerless to stop it.
Well, perhaps not. He grinned as an idea formed in his mind.