I am sooooo sorry for the delay. Since school has ended, college has been battling with this story for my attention and, sadly, has been winning. On the bright side, though, I have an awesome schedule for when classes start in the fall, including *drumroll*...marching band! It's gonna be good! Anyways, enough rambling, you have come here to read my story, not hear (or in this case, read) me going on and on about my educational excitedness. Shoutouts to beauty and the beast master, arissaprincess321, nikashirman, lilmarie, AngelNatari, artemisdarkmoon, Ryn of Magic, Lady Nightsong, ILostMyShoe78, Riiot, WatkinsJacara, and all of my reviewers. Without further ado, the continuation of A Twist in Time!

Chapter 28

As the days went on, all I heard about was how much of a hit I was that night. The audience loved me so much apparently I was scheduled to do another show within two more weeks. If this was how it was gonna be every time, I didn't know how I was gonna handle it…

I found out about the next performance when Erik took me to the party which was being held in the ballroom.

"Are you sure you don't want to come in with me? I won't let anything happen to you."

Erik smiled down at me. "You know as well as I that I don't belong in there. You should go and enjoy your success. You deserve it." He said as he kissed my hand.

I rolled my eyes. "Alright, but I'm pretty sure I won't have any fun. Not without you."

"How about this: you can come down to my 'lair', as you so eloquently put it, in about two hours. Would that be sufficient?"

My face lit up. "'Kay." I stretched on my toes and gave him a kiss. "Until then, my love." My love? I've never used that before...but it feels so right.

"Until then." Was all he said as he opened a panel in the wall and pushed me out.

As soon as the wall shut, Christine, Meg, and Madame Giry rounded the corner. "Oh my goodness, Mandy! What on earth happened to you? Are you okay?" Meg exclaimed.

I chuckled. "I'm fine, Meg. He didn't hurt me. He just took me from the stage to make a dramatic exit and deposited me right here."

Meg and Christine instantly looked relieved, but Madame Giry still looked pensive. "Girls, why don't you go on ahead and tell everybody that Mandy is okay and will be out in a few minutes." As they nodded and rushed off, she turned to me. "That isn't all that happened, is it Mandy?"

I sighed. "No, Mad-" I cut off as she pinned me with a glare. "No, Antoinette, it isn't. But before I say anything, what is it that you needed to speak with me about?"

"Well, you already know that it was Erik I wanted to speak to you about, but from the look on your face, I don't think I need to say anything."

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What does that mean?"

"It means that I was going to talk to you about Erik loving you. But I can see that you already know and that you love him, too."

I nodded. "I do with all my heart."

She smiled. "Good. So then I won't have to lecture you on if you break his heart."

"No, ma'am." I said with a mock salute.

Madame Giry laughed. "So, shall we attend a party?"

When we entered the ballroom, I was greeted with thunderous applause. I almost stumbled backwards, it was so powerful. I gave them a curtsy as the applause died down. That was when the managers rushed me.

"Ah, mademoiselle, you are a star!" exclaimed Firmin.

"The entirety of Paris is at your feet!" Andre said in turn.

I laughed. "Surely it wasn't that good…"

"No, it was even better. So good, in fact, that we would like you to do one more performance before the actual season will begin."

My eyes widened is surprise. "Do what?"

"We would like you to put another performance together for two weeks from now." Firmin explained.

"Um…well-"

"Ah, yes! Thank you, mademoiselle." Andre said before turning to the party. "Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention, please? We have a very special announcement to make."

"Oh, here we go…" I mumbled, feeling a headache coming on.

And that, my dear readers, is how I was coerced into this situation yet again. This time, I knew not to expect any surprises from Erik as the managers turned into complete pansies, claiming that I would sue them if I was taken by the Opera Ghost again because such an event is 'so traumatizing'. So, said pansies hired guards to stand watch at the encore performance. I told them repeatedly that they had nothing to worry about, but they wouldn't listen. So I was stuck with performing without Erik, which I did not like one bit.

Since the violin was so popular last time, I decided to do it again, this time to Roundtable Rival by Lindsey Stirling. I gathered the dancers from the last performance, plus a few more, and ran through the choreography with them, receiving no criticism from either them or Madame Giry, which surprised me greatly.

After making sure we had it down, I went to my room, anxious to see Erik. If it weren't for him, who knows what I would be doing right now. Well, for one, I most likely would still be in my time.

I didn't feel as homesick now as I did when I first arrived. I also abandoned any hope of getting home. I didn't want to anyways. Not after finding Erik. Not after finding love.

When I opened the door to my room, I was greeted with the sight of red rose petals scattered all over my bed and the ground. It looked like a rose bomb exploded, covering everything in the 'petally' aftermath.

A flash of white on the bed caught my eye. I walked to my bed and found that white to be a note addressed to me. From the handwriting on the front, I was pretty sure I knew who it was from. I turned it over and read the message.

"Come through the mirror. Follow the path that will lead you to me…"

Oookaaaayyyy…not at all cryptic… I thought sarcastically. I strode to the mirror and pulled it open, finding it to be lit with torches and littered with – you guessed it – red rose petals. That was the path that Erik was talking about.

I was expecting it to lead me the way I usually went, but it led me the opposite direction. I followed it for what seemed like hours. Erik, you had better not be leading me to a dead end or a trap. If you are, I am going to be royally-

All thought stopped there. The path I had followed was a different route that led me to the infamous lake underneath the opera house. But what caught my eye was Erik – without his mask! Yay! – with a bouquet of red roses and baby's breath all tied with a black ribbon, standing by his gondola. A huge smile was on his face when he caught sight of me, effectively making one grow on mine as well. "What is this for?" I asked.

"Can't a Phantom just surprise a lovely, talented, beautiful, amazing girl once in a while?" he asked amusedly.

I could feel red rush to my face. "I don't know about all of that…"

He took my hand and helped me into the boat, but not before giving me a quick kiss. "You are all of that and more, Mandy."

"More as in extremely sarcastic at times, tomboy-ish, and weird?"

I could almost hear him roll his eyes. "You're ruining the moment."

"Not ruining it, just keeping you on your toes." I retorted. I looked back in time to see him shake his head, but he said nothing else as he rowed us on to the lair.