A/N: Oh boy where do I begin? First off a little bit of this is from Moulin Rouge, second, this chapter is really short, and third I took a little bit from the music video "What Hurts the Most". It is all going to fit in with my next chapter which might be my last before the epilogue. I don't know yet. Enough of this, here is the story. Enjoy.

Erik watched as the rain came down from the so called, "heaven". His entire body was numb except for that one sentenced, his brain refused to stop repeating, that had made him loose his breath. I'm dying, Meg. Yes, Erik had heard the entire fight the two had after he was dismissed. A pain he knew all too well in his chest formed when he heard Madame Giry forbidding Meg to see Erik ever again, but his sweet, Little Meg didn't give up. She fought for him; all until they had both heard the words that would change their lives forever, come out of Madame Giry's mouth.

He walked over to the wall that separated Meg and him, and lay there, resting his head on the wall. He had then heard her sing.

Today's the day

When dreaming ends…

Tears streamed down his face. He knew what those cruel words meant. He began to sob and sing at the same time:

Come what…

He had to gulp before continuing:

may

Erik buried his face into his hands. His heart was sobbing. He once again lost to another man, a man who was rich and handsome. "Marguerite, I love you." He whispered desperately. Not knowing that she sat on the other side of the wall, hearing his shaky voice. It seemed as if love was now a lost illusion or a shattered dream for Erik. He felt as if everything was just one big dream and now it was time for him to wake up and face the hard, cold, truth; that Meg belonged to someone else. She would bear another man's children and grow old with another man. Not Erik, Damien.

Once again Erik felt lost, alone in the darkness, trying to find his way. Madame Giry had always been there. She had raised him and taken care of him as a big sister. She had shown him kindness and had given him nothing, but love. He remembered the day she had helped him escape from the fair. She had been about nineteen; Erik had been eight years old. "You can stay hear until I know a place for you to hide. I know it's scary, but you'll be fine with the candles. Here you can sleep with my teddy bear, I've had it since I was born, it has always brings me comfort." And for once, Erik hadn't felt alone. He had finally found light in the dark tunnel he had been walking through all his life and that was the same with Madame Giry's daughter when she had met him.

"Erik." He had barely heard her whisper his name. He had been numb to the rest of the world, not even hearing the creaking of the old, wooden, door. He had felt like this many times before, sometimes with alcohol or whores, other times when he played his music. There had only been four nights in his entire life Erik had been numbed to the world without alcohol, whores, or music. The first time it had been when he had seen Christine and Raoul professing their love, then that night of Don Juan and then when Meg had left him, not seeing his precious dancer until five years later. Tonight had become the fourth time in his life where he had grown numb.

"Erik." She whispered again tip-toeing slowly to him. He looked up at her. She stopped. She had only seen that look on his face once before. A long time ago, on the roof of Opera Populaire, after they both had listened to Raoul and Christine sing their duet. Her heart was slowly bleeding, each drop of blood falling on her soul; turning it into nothing.

She gracefully went on her knees and hugged him. He clung onto her as if she would slip away like an angel, back into the heavens that she came from. They needed each other; to wipe away the many tears that danced down their faces. They both knew this was the end of it all. They knew they were being torn apart; their hearts that had once become one was now tearing into two pieces. Hope of somehow being together for eternity was now a lost illusion; somehow finding a way to marry each other and grow old together was now broken pieces that lay on the floor along with the rest of the broken pieces of Meg's dreams of becoming a Prima Ballerina, and Erik winning the heart of Christine.

That night they cried together, they cried for the world and its' cruelties, they cried for Meg's mother, and they cried for the love that they both shared. Neither of them let go of each other. Finally they both fell asleep in each others arms, exhausted from the day's events. But what would happen to poor Erik and Meg?

The next few days were the hardest days of both Erik's and Meg's lives. Meg's wedding dress had been delivered, the floweriest brought different bouquets of flowers for Meg to pick out and last minute changes were being made. The wedding was only a week away. Every night seemed to be the same for Erik and Meg. They would sneak out during the night and make love in the fields and then hold each other and begin to cry. It was the only way they could be together.

They avoided discussing the wedding or Damien's return to Paris. Madame Giry did not tell him about Erik and Meg and they were both very grateful. Meg felt like she was wearing a mask. During the day she put it on for Damien and at night she took it off for Erik. She did not dare tell Erik how scared she truly was or Damien how much she was in love with Erik. Meg was beginning to realize that she was not the girl she had been a few months ago. She had been sad and felt incomplete, but when Erik had somehow came back into her life she had smiled and felt complete. She was now a strong woman like her mother and not a timid girl who kept quiet.

For the first time in her life Meg had followed her heart. She had yelled at her mother and against her mother's wishes she still ran off during the night with Erik, not knowing her mother always watched them escape, from her window. "Do you ever think about the future?" Meg asked two days before the wedding, in the aftermath of their love making. They looked at each other for a few minutes.

Erik sighed, "All the time." He began to stroke her cheek lovingly.

"What do you see?" She asked eagerly. He saw how much this meant to her, it was as if her whole life depended on it.

"I see…you." He whispered into her ear. Erik still had hope that somehow Meg would be his. It was of course a false hope and empty dream, but he still depended on it, instead of facing it like a man. She kissed him passionately on the lips. "What do you see?" He asked her after their perfect kiss ended. She smiled at him, before kissing him again. "What do you see?" He asked again. She stood up and threw her night gown back on. She smiled a small, sad, smile and ran back to the house, leaving him there to wonder what her answer might have been.

The rest of the night Erik couldn't sleep. All he could think about was Meg. He loved her with all his heart. He couldn't imagine going through the pain of loosing her all over again. It hurt too much. How he had survived the first time? He did not know. It seemed that destiny had stepped in; leading him back to Meg. He had heard Madame Giry tell her daughter the reason why she wanted her to marry soon and the reasons why she did not want her daughter marrying Erik. It would be unfair to Meg, to give up her light for his world of darkness. He already knew that they could never live a normal life and that was why Erik packed up all his belongings; leaving Meg with only a goodbye letter and his white, porcelain, mask that Meg had found five years ago.