I sat in front of my computer, staring at the Skype symbol on the screen. Should I? I looked around my bedroom. There wasn't anything there to tell me I shouldn't. I huffed and clicked it. Skype opened and I clicked Margie's address. The call started going through. Margie's face appeared on screen. Her usual kind wise smile on her face.

"Hello my love." She told me.

"I…. I know about the truth, Aunt Margie." I told her. A look of sadness came over her features.

"Did he tell you?" She asked. I shrugged and made the sorta sign with my hand.

"I already had the hunch. But he asked me why I was addressing my mother by her first name and I kind of put two and two together." I told her. Margie looked away from the camera.

"I'm sorry, Leamera. I… I was ashamed and before I had realized I wanted to keep you Attica had already taken custody. I wasn't going to fight for it back. I didn't want to ruin my relationship with my sister." Margie told me. I frowned.

"But I'm the reason you couldn't break the curse." I replied. I wasn't just part of the reason, my mere existence kept Erik from his freedom for another twenty-five years.

"Leamera, the reason you were born is because you are the one to break his curse. I've seen it. Stop wallowing in self-pity and move on! You're better than this." She snapped at me. I stared at her in surprise.

"Okay. Sorry." I told her, looking to the ground. Aunt Margie heaved a sigh.

"How is he? What did he say?" She asked.

"Nothing really… we lit on the whole 'you're actually my mom' thing right after I told him you said hi." I replied. Margie pursed her lips. I stared at her for a moment.

"Did you love him?" I asked. Margie laughed; I thought she was going to dismiss it.

"Yes. No woman that speaks with that wonderful man actually gets to know him, know his passions, sits and talks with him for hours, can resist fall in love with him. He's so full of love and he's passionate, when you're the focus of his love and passion, it's impossible to not love him back." She told me. I shook my head.

"I don't understand. If you loved him, why did you sleep with other people?" I asked. Margie shook her head.

"I was irresponsible, Lee. If I could've slept with him and kept my job I would have. You know what he looks like." Margie told me shamelessly. I laughed a little.

"He's a good kisser, I'll give him that." I said, giving a surprised yelp as it passed my lips. I covered my mouth and turned tomato red as Margie stared at me with wide eyes.

"You kissed him?" She asked.

"Well he kissed me I just… replied." I told her.

"He never kissed me. Well, not on the mouth. He's quite the gentleman, when he wants to be. He'll go from a knight in shining armor to an equivalent of his Don Juan in five seconds. He tried it on me once, just to fool with me." Margie told me.

"Like he was playing around?" I asked. Margie nodded.

"Well darn. He's never done that with me. I'd like that better than the kissing." I pouted. Margie laughed.

"Look at us, comparing notes." She commented. I smiled lazily.

"But after he kissed me, we went back inside, and told me we'd talk about what happened further. And he just left, all freaking melodramatic and fading into the darkness of his hall and all that stupid stuff." I said, bringing my knees to my torso and hugging them. Margie laughed.

"You'll live Lee. He's just taking things slowly, keeping his thoughts together. Erik isn't the only one that needs to move slowly and be cautious." Margie told me. That struck me. Wow. I didn't really realize. I stared at her for a second.

"You have so much to learn, Lee. I have to go. Goodnight, my child." She told me looking very pleased with herself. I smiled and told her goodnight and logged off.

But what was there to talk with Erik about? It was obvious what was going to happen. We were going to enter a relationship. Maybe I could get him out of the asylum then. That would be great. I wouldn't have to wait to see him. If he stayed with me in my house, all I would have to do was go into the room he was in to see him. I smiled dreamily. That seemed fantastic. The very thought itself just made me giggle.

It was kind of lonely in my house again. Mom and Andrew had gone back to America. So really my only interaction with people was back at the asylum. Maybe I should try and make some normal friends. That was probably a good idea. I went into the living room and phoned Nautia.

"Hello?" She asked.

"Hey do you have any plans for supper or something? I know you were off today. Mom and Andrew went home yesterday and I've been feeling kinda lonely at the house." I told her. She laughed.

"No. You wanna meet somewhere before you go to work? There's a good pizza joint down the road from my apartment." Nautia suggested. Despite what has recently been shown, Nautia and I are actually really cool with each other, just when one is in a bitter mood it kind of effects any and all interaction between us. Heaven have mercy when we're both in a bad mood.

"That sounds great. Four-thirty good for you?" I asked.

"Yep, meet you there or at my place?" She asked.

"Your place?" I replied.

"Sounds good. See you then." She answered.

"Bye." I told her and hung up. I had a busy day today. Peyton was off and I was handling the asylum alone since two and a half months ago, and I was getting Erik a computer today. I was kind of excited to see how he dealt with them, hoping that it was a wee bit comical. I grabbed my keys and went to the computer store. I had already researched a laptop for Erik so I had the one I wanted on lay-a-way; all I had to do was pick it up.

I jogged up the steps to Nautia's apartment and knocked, hers being the first door on the right on the second floor. She immediately answered the door with a kind smile on her face.

"Hey Lee." She told me simply, stepping out of her apartment

"Hey Nautia." Looking at her I realized that I was her older sister with a smirk on my face. I tried to make it appear to be a sincere smile.

"Are we taking my car or yours?" She asked.

"I prefer I drive in my car so I can just drop you off after supper and head on straight to work." I told her. She nodded as she locked the door behind her and we started down the steps to my car.

Entering the pizza place we went up to the counter. She ordered a calzone while I ordered to slices with pepperoni, extra cheese and bacon bits.

"You sure you want to eat pepperoni? After all you are going to see Erik aren't you?" Nautia asked teasingly as we waited for our order.

"I can pop in a mint or two. What does it matter that I'm seeing Erik and eating pepperoni?" I asked. Nautia raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow.

"Don't pretend like the way you run around with him isn't the talk of the staff." Nautia told me. My jaw dropped and I nearly sunk into the brick wall behind me.

"What?" I squeaked. Nautia looked genuinely surprised.

"Oh my gosh, you really don't know." She replied.

"Yeah, I really don't know; what you are talking about!" I demanded.

"You and him have been the main source of gossip since you started acting all cozy with him. Peyton told Mr. Wellhem about it a while ago. He was worried about you, but Mr. Wellhem kind of just brushed it off for some reason. Paper work was filed, so it got to the secretary, and we all know how much of a gossip she is… so it kind of just spread." She told me nonchalantly, like this wasn't a big freaking deal.

"When did Peyton say something?" I asked.

"A few weeks ago, when you were acting all squirrelly." Nautia told me. That relieved me a little. At least he wasn't acting brash, in light of his new, unreasonable jealousy. He was acting out of genuine concern. He didn't mean for that to happen.

"Oh my God." I muttered. Our order was called; I ignored it, but Nautia graciously went and got out food for us. She gave me my slices and sat down next to me.

"It's not that big of a deal. The system knows the whole situation that goes on with him." She told me. I scoffed.

"Yes, but everyone else doesn't. God I must look like a desperate skank." I muttered, burying my face in my hands. Nautia elbowed me in the ribs.

"Go ahead and eat. You can figure out your problem later." Nautia told me. I numbly obeyed, then took Nautia back to her place and sucked on a mint or two on the way to work. As the asylum rolled into sight I felt a shudder go down my spine. Eyes watched me and I knew who they belonged to as I got out of the car. I pulled the computer out of the box along with the charger and owner's manual. I slid them into my bag and went to the asylum.

Unexpectedly, Erik wasn't in the day room or anywhere else. I found him in his room. He was sitting up on his bed, reading. I tilted my head at him, then knocked on the open door. He looked up excitedly and basically jumped off the bed, but stopped himself. I smiled.

"What were you planning on doing, hmm?" I asked. He smiled.

"Perhaps, giving you a hug. But I'd rather have your permission first." He told me, shuffling his feet sheepishly. I laughed softly, opening my arms.

"Come here you dork." I told him. He smiled rather brightly and embraced me. I nearly sighed aloud.

"Look at what I brought you." I told him once he stepped away. I went in my bag and pulled out the laptop. Erik grinned gratefullly. I handed it to him and he opened it.

"I snuck into the break room a while ago and figured out how to use the computer at least." He told me quite pridefully.

"Where is the charger?" He asked.

"Right here." I told him and handed it to him.

"How did you figure out to use a laptop?" I asked Erik, sitting down on his bed and crossing my ankles.

"I asked." He replied simply, plugging the charger in and then connecting the laptop to power. I went back into my bag and pulled out the owner's manual.

"You might want this." I said and tossed it to him. He caught it without batting an eyelash.

"Thank you Leamera." He told me. I smiled.

"No problem. So whenever you want to get out, what do you do?" I asked.

"Move in with whoever breaks the curse I suppose, maybe, depends, I haven't really planned... I have to give all the same information that a normal patient would, so I will have to need a normal place to stay." He told me absently as he fiddled about with his new toy.

"Why do I have the feeling you're going to have this mastered before the end of the night?" I asked. Erik grinned, giving me that look that made my insides turn to jelly.

"Because I will." He said like a smart ass. I also had the feeling he was a smart ass. Like the cool kind… not the annoying jerks that were idiots. Erik was the kind that knew when to shut up. But I also knew that Erik was the kind that could and would chose not to stop talking depending on the person he was talking to. I smiled. The computer turned on, its light illuminating his face.

"I've already eaten by the way." He told me as I stood to leave. I looked back at him.

"Really? That's a big stride, Erik." I replied. He nodded.

"I've never eaten in a public situation. So I suppose so." He told me, giving me a glance from the corner of his eye. I waved him goodbye, realizing we hadn't spoke about what happened last night. I nearly stopped, maybe he didn't want to talk about it yet.

But sure enough, when all the patients were in their rooms, he appeared, as though he was the Phantom in his Opera House all over again. Striding about like he owned the place as he entered the day room. I watched him as he came over to the cubicle and knocked. I stood and opened it, almost stepping out only to have him step in and sit where Peyton usually sat.

"You are quite smug today aren't you?" I asked closing and locking the door. He only laughed.

"Not smug, just in a rather good mood." He told me as I sat down. I smiled, twisting my seat to have a look at him. His eyes smoldered. There was no more ice of his eyes. He was prideful, almost to the point of arrogance. I tilted my head.

"So, the internet?" I asked, leaning back in my chair. He smiled, flashing his perfect white teeth. How he managed that I don't know.

"Quite intriguing." He replied, fiddling with one of the trinkets that one of the day shift nurses had on the desk she shared with Peyton.

"How so?" I asked.

"All sorts of information." He replied "More than I've seen my whole life." He finished. I laughed softly.

"Don't trust Wikipedia, anyone can change it. And if you do find facts that you approve of, triple check with three other articles. High school drilled that into my brain. And how to cite works. Never doing that again. But I'm going to have to if I want to go to college after this…" I muttered. Erik chuckled.

"You could probably pursue a career in nursing if you like." He told me. I shrugged.

"I might want to change careers though. I had to get a nursing degree in order to take this job. You know, the asylum contacted me when I was seventeen? I was still in high school. I was a junior." I told him.

"I'm aware. It was your older cousins here then. You were quite close to one of them, she spoke to me about you a time and again." He said.

"Who, Angela?" I asked.

"Was she the bubbly one?" He asked, I nodded, laughing.

"Do you know that we're the talk of the asylum?" I asked him. Erik's attention sparks and he leaned against the counter some.

"No. What are they saying? How did they find out? Have you told anyone?" He replied a spark of anger lighting up his eyes. I slid away from him a little, slightly offended that he thought that I would even consider telling anyone about this.

"No on that I'm not related to! Peyton just thinks that I became and little too caught up in helping you, he said something to Mr. Wellhem, paper work was filed and his secretary saw the files, she blabbed to some unknown third link and it all just fell like dominos. Apparently everyone is talking about us. That's what Nautia told me." I replied.

"And why would you just assume?" I demanded.

"Why wouldn't I just assume? You were supposedly the only other person that knew about this other than your family and suddenly we're the gossip of the facility?" He leaned back in his chair and covered his face with a frustrated groan.

"This is the Opera House all over again." He muttered.

"Excuse me? So suddenly I'm some naïve little girl that can't get a handle on reality enough to realize the voice coming through the walls isn't really an angel?" I spat at him standing up. Erik's face lit up with concern.

"No, I didn't say that. You know I didn't mean that. You're much more in touch with reality than she was." He told me. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest; I turned my back to him.

"Leamera." He said softly. "Don't be a child. You're too mature for that." He told me. I huffed, not saying anything.

"I'm sorry; I wasn't comparing you to Christine in any fashion. I was comparing the asylum to the Opera House. Please forgive me?" He asked his voice suddenly close to me. I turned and looked to him. He was very close to me with eyes that made the taste of honey seem bitter. He touched my cheek gently and put a gentle kiss to my lips.

"I forgive you but not because of the sickening sweet display. Aunt Margie was right though." I told him. He gave me a confused look.

"About what?" He asked. I smirked.

"You can go from knight in shining armor to seducer in five seconds flat."