Yay, something good finally happened! Well, keep on truckin'! ahem I mean, reading. Here's Chapter Fifteen, people! I own none of the characters except Serenity, Luke, David, and Megan. (And Jaques and Angelique, but shh! You don't know about them.) Happy reading!
Pursuit
So Erik slipped quietly into the lives of his lover and daughter. Serenity thought her mother seemed infinitely happier, and soon discovered that missing her father for sixteen years made no difference at all, as he stepped into the role as if he had been there since her birth. The two spent most of their free time together, with or without Christine, and within a few weeks an unbreakable bond was forged between them. Since almost the beginning, Serenity had called the man Papa, as he seemed to be connected to her, and all awkwardness was lost in their closeness. Erik loved that his child showed such interest and talent in music, and Serenity's thirst for instruction was sated by her father.
Serenity's favorite pastime, however, was still composing. Erik read her works, sometimes offering suggestions, and occasionally the two would write a piece together. These collaborative works were usually the best, and Serenity would sit for hours at the pipe organ playing their music.
There was trouble in this blissful life, though. Raoul de Chagny had returned to the theater after having left it in the care of his cousin for almost a decade. He had traveled to America, with his wife of six years, and his two young children, Jaques and Angelique. He had married a noble Englishwoman abruptly only a few weeks after Christine left, and his first child had been born prematurely, so Jaques was one month older than Serenity. Angelique was born a year later, but her mother died during childbirth. So, Raoul returned to Paris a widower, with a sixteen-year-old son and a a fifteen-year-old daughter. He was shocked and not at all pleased to hear that Christine had returned, but he dared not react immediately, lest he raise suspicion.
So life continued, and Erik's family, especially young, pretty Serenity, avoided the de Chagny's as much as possible. Jaques was tall and handsome, but arrogant, mean-spirited, and suggestive toward toward Serenity. She was sure he wanted to court her. The very idea made her shudder in repulsion. And Angelique was petite and very pretty, but her lovely face was marred by the cruelty that glinted from her cold eyes. The younger girl took every opportunity to mock Serenity about her mask, her appearance, her parents. Serenity felt that one day someone would simply snap and break her perfectly sculpted neck.
"Ah, Senna," she sneered as Serenity encountered her in the halls a few days after her seventeenth birthday. "Celebrated a birthday recently, did we? What did you get, a new mask to hide your hideous face?" She laughed coldly, and Serenity shouldered past her roughly and kept walking.
"Oh, yes," Angelique called, "just run to mommy and daddy, they'll make it all better, love." Her voice dripped sarcastic, false concern. Serenity refused to bait the pathetic girl. She turned a corner and abruptly ran into a tall figure.
"Serenity," said a deep voice, "what a pleasant surprise." She looked up into Jaques' wide, fake smile. He placed his hands on her shoulders. She shrugged them off angrily and spun around, attempting to break out of his hold. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her back to him so she was standing against his chest, arms next to her head in his grasp, his face inches from her own. He leaned forward until their lips almost touched and whispered, "There, now, this isn't so bad."
"Jaques," she said calmly, eyes suddenly hot and flashing, "get your hands off me."
"Or what, mon petite?" he laughed. "You'll sic your terrifying father on me?"
She glared at him fiercely, then grabbed one of his fingers and twisted it quickly, before he could react, until she heard and felt the bone snap. He released her, cursing, and she turned and ran.
He stared at her retreating figure, his hooded eyes dark with fury. "I will have you," he hissed, and stalked off to seek medical attention, his finger sending stabbing pains lancing through his arm.
Serenity kept running until she came upon the closest familiar doorway, the complex of rooms that belonged to Meg and her family. She darted in the door, startling the figure lying on the bed.
"Senna," Luke cried, sitting up. "What are you doing here?"
"Shh!" she hissed. "Hiding."
"From whom?" he said quietly, exasperated. She was always running from one trouble or other.
"Jaques," she told him, turning to look at her best friend. She noticed he had no shirt on, and shivered in delight. Then she was shocked to realize that she had shivered at all. Gathering her scattered thoughts, she mumbled, "He... pursued me again."
"What did you damage this time?" Luke sighed.
"I broke his finger."
"Oh God, Serenity! What did he do?"
"Before or after I broke it?"
"Both, I suppose."
"Oh. Before, he caught me coming around a corner and managed to pull me against his chest. After, he let me go and cursed a bit."
"One of these days, Senna, you're not going to be able to get away from him. If he takes... advantage of you, you'll be forced to marry him, you know. Propriety demands it."
"Oh, God in Heaven!" she cried. "Don't say that! Don't even think it!"
"It's true. I couldn't bear it if you ended up with him. I just -" He stopped abruptly.
"What?" Serenity said softly.
"Serenity, I've wanted to tell you something for a long time. I've thought about it for years, but I can't find any other way to say it than being blunt. Senna, I'm in love with you."
"Oh," she laughed gently. "I already knew."
"What?" he said, incredulous.
"Well, everyone always tells me how perceptive I am. Let me see, you first began to care for me when you were about... thirteen?"
He stared at her, speechless. Finally, he nodded. "Yes, the first time I saw you playing the pipe organ, in the cellars."
"You followed me?" she yelled. "And you never told me?"
"Serenity, I love the passion of your music. Your face, your eyes... You seem to lose yourself in the song. I could hear it, too, the wildness, the longing, everything. Sadness, joy, pain, love; emotion fills every note, makes the music more real than I've ever felt. I've never heard anyone play like you. If you knew I was there, it all would have been different."
"Yes, you're right," she said finally. "I knew something about you had changed, then. You... became distant, awkward. I hardly saw you anymore. I missed you," she said softly. She walked to the bed and sat down next to him. He turned and hugged her warmly, and she felt a thrill at touching the bare skin on his shoulder blades.
"I missed being close to you, too," he told her. "Emotionally, I mean," he added quickly, seeing the glint in her eyes, realizing abruptly that he wasn't fully clothed.
Slowly, she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in to kiss him, gently, on his parted lips. His shock rapidly gave way to pleasure, and he kissed her back, fiercely, putting his hands on her back and waist, pulling her closer to him. Serenity broke the kiss and opened her eyes to look into Luke's green gaze, and she ran her fingers through his spun-gold hair. She laughed again softly, and lay her head against his bared chest. "I love you, too, Luke. I've waited for three years for you to admit your feelings to yourself. You certainly took long enough! Now, didn't you say that if Jaques took advantage of me I'd be forced to marry him?"
"Yes," he said warily.
"Well, who says it has to be Jaques?" she asked innocently, and pushed him teasingly down onto the bed, kissing him again.
