Hey everyone, thanks for the reviews. Just a note to those out there who hate my story and are reading it anyway, I don't want any kind of bad hate mail being sent to me. Please if you don't like the story then don't read it, nothing makes me more angry then to have people send me nasty emails. I know there has been some spelling errors and from now on I shall be a bit more careful. This is my story and I shall do as I please. Well here is the next chapter for those who have been loving it so far…enjoy…

The ship had finally anchored in New York city after almost two days at sea. For most of the journey Erik tried to catch up on some of his rest as Christine sat there crying and wishing that she had never done what she did. When the ship docked, what else was she to do then to go along with Erik. It was late at night when they finally snuck off the ship and began to walk down the deserted streets. Before Erik was shot days and days ago he was supposed to go to New York and stay at the Opera house on fifth street. He kept a close watch on Christine out of the corner of his eye as they walked towards the opera house. Madam Giry had a few friends who owned the opera house and were supposedly good people. Once Erik and Christine arrived he turned towards her and said "you won't put me in harms way will you?" Christine didn't know what to do but she knew that she didn't want to be left in New York all alone if something happened to Erik. She couldn't even speak to him and just nodded. Erik then opened the door, and held it open for Christine as she entered behind him.

There was a woman around Madam Giry's age sitting at the front desk, and she stared at them as they came closer. "can I help you?" she asked. "I am Madam Giry's friend." said Erik. "oh you're Erik, you were supposed to be here almost two weeks ago." she replied. "well Madam I was injured and couldn't leave my room until now." said Erik. "oh silly me, I am Margret Hammerstein. My husband owns the opera house and I work the night shift. Who is the lady with you?" asked Margret. "this is my student Christine Daee." said Erik looking at Christine who was standing silently behind him. "oh ok. Come I shall show you your room." said Margret getting to her feet. "come Christine." said Erik following Margret to the stair case. They walked up the rusty old stair case almost all the way to the roof where there was a small door. Margret opened it to reveal an attic with an old organ sitting across the room. "it's not much but the view from the window is nice." said Margret. "this will be fine." said Erik. "I shall keep your whereabouts a secret as long as it is needed. There are clothes and linens in the closet and I would try to keep as quiet as possible." said Margret. When she left, Erik walked over to the window and looked at the lit up skyline of the city. Christine had a seat on the small bed and looked at Erik who had more sorrow in his eyes than she had ever seen. "what are you going to do to me Erik?" asked Christine nervously. "nothing." said Erik. "I know you brought me here because you were upset about me marrying Raoul." said Christine. "why else would I have brought you here." said Erik. "you know sometimes I think that I was so worried about being alone that I may have rushed into things a little too fast." said Christine. "what are you saying?" asked Erik. "what you did was wrong Erik, you shouldn't have kidnapped me." cried Christine. "I love you Christine, I finally got the guts to come confess my love to you and instead of it being true -you go off and marry Raoul." said Erik. "I'm not married to him, I never said the words "I do" to him." said Christine. "that still doesn't change the fact that you were standing at the alter with him." said Erik. "the love I have for Raoul is different then the love I feel for you Erik." said Christine. "how so?" asked Erik. "I love Raoul because he is my childhood sweetheart and I only love you out of pity." said Christine. "but Christine I love you, I want to be with you night and day. I know that I have denied it lately but I can no longer hide the voice that screams it deep down in my heart." said Erik. "I don't know what to do Erik." said Christine. "fear can turn to love Christine." said Erik. "what if I can't learn to love you for the man that you really are?" asked Christine. " I don't want to have to make that decision." said Erik. "then what do you want out of me?" asked Christine. "give my love a chance, see me as the man I want to be. I can be a good lover if given the chance Christine." said Erik.

Christine didn't know what to do, and she was in New York with him. She had no idea if she was going to see Raoul ever again but knew that she could either be Erik's friend or worst enemy. She sure didn't want to live with Erik's angry side and besides she did have some sort of feeling towards him. "ok, I will give you a chance." said Christine. She saw Erik's eyes light up as she agreed. "you mean it?" asked Erik. "yes." said Christine. "you're not just doing this because you're afraid of me are you? Seriously Christine would you give my love a chance?" asked Erik. "yes I will." said Christine. Erik began to cry and Christine couldn't bare to break his heart again. Even though she only loved him out of pity deep down she wanted Erik to feel love, to be cared for by a woman and to have what every man should have. He had given up his life to teach her how to sing and now she was going to repay him and teach him how to love and be loved.

The next morning, Christine awoke to find Erik sleeping beside her. His mask was on and his one hand was covering it, probably to make sure she didn't sneak a peek during the night. How badly she wanted to kick herself for screaming at him on the night she awoke to find him without the mask on. His hands were still broken but still as handsome as the first night she felt them against her skin. Christine had fallen asleep to Erik sitting on the windowsill the night before so he must have crawled in bed with her a few hours later. Christine easily touched his hand that lied on his mask, awaking him from his slumber. "what's wrong?" asked Erik. "it's morning." said Christine. "do we have to get up?" asked Erik. "no not if you don't want to." said Christine. "I shouldn't be lying here next to you anyway, it is not proper." said Erik. "it's fine." said Christine. "I was just so dreadfully tired due to lack of sleep." said Erik. "it's fine, I had no problem sharing a side of the bed with you." said Christine. "I'm going to go play my music for a while." said Erik getting up and fixing his shirt. "let me help you." said Christine sitting up as well. "no this is something I have to force myself to do alone. If you continue to help me then my fingers shall never get better." said Erik taking a seat at the organ. Erik lied his fingers down on the keys and as he tried to press them he gasped in agony. Christine couldn't bare to watch him force his body to do something that wasn't ready to be done yet so approached him as he banged his fists down on the keys in anger.

Christine sat behind him and intertwined her fingers with his like always. "no Christine I would like to do this on my own." said Erik. "you are going to do this on your own, but with my help." said Christine. "what do you mean?" asked Erik. "we are going to take baby steps Erik." said Christine. "let us play Don Juan." said Erik. "no, you cannot expect to get better if you jump into something as physical as that." said Christine. "Don Juan isn't that physical." argued Erik. "we are going to play "Mary had a little lamb." said Christine. "you cannot be serious." laughed Erik. "it's going to hurt you to even play that." said Christine. "nonsense." said Erik. "you'd be surprised. Now let us begin." said Christine lying her fingers on top of his. Christine got Erik's hands to where they had to be and pushed her finger down on his finger causing it to hit the first key in the song. She heard Erik gasp in agony and stopped pressing on his finger. "are you ok?" asked Christine. "yes fine." said Erik. Christine then pressed her finger down on his finger to hit the second key in the song causing him to gasp in agony once more. Christine let go of his hand and said "we should stop, your hands just aren't ready to play on their own."

"what if my hands never get better? What if I can never play again?" questioned Erik as tears built up in his eyes. "you will play Erik, just not today." said Christine. "I wish they would recover so badly." said Erik. "maybe I can help." said Christine. "how?" asked Erik. "love's touch." said Christine. She then placed her hands over Erik's and gently began to rub each finger one by one. "that feels so much better." sighed Erik as he leaned against her. "your fingers need love to heal." she replied. "Christine would you forgive an old fool for his actions?" asked Erik. "what ever do you mean?" asked Christine. "I should not have done what I did. Kidnapping you was wrong and threatening you with sex was the worst I could have done. I realize that I have an anger problem when things don't go my way and as long as you try to forgive me then I shall try to stop yelling all the time." said Erik. "you're forgiven." said Christine. "then let us enjoy the day." said Erik.

Raoul angrily stormed into Madam Giry's room, causing her to get up from her dresser. "what do you want?" she asked in anger. "where is Christine? I know you know where the creature is so I demand that you tell me." said Raoul. "I know nothing more than you." said Madam Giry as she put down her hair brush. "you raised that monster and I'll be damned if you think that I don't know about your love for him. He is like your own son and I know that you know where he is." said Raoul. "I shall not tell you anything." said Madam Giry. "why not?" asked Raoul. "because he is far from here and after seeing what you did to Christine you no longer deserve her." she replied. "then let us make a deal." said Raoul. "what?" asked Madam Giry. "tell me where Christine is and I shall not hurt him. Refuse and when I do find them that monster's head is going to be mounted on my wall." yelled Raoul. "you will never find them, good luck Vicount and if you do find Erik may god have mercy on your soul." said Madam Giry. "he will be the one needing god's mercy." said Raoul as he left the room.

Erik had snuck down to the kitchen to find Christine something to eat. He had lost weight due to his un natural eating disorder but Christine still had to eat. He grabbed a bottle of wine along with some crackers. As he began to climb the rafters to get back to his room he looked at the stage to see an opera performing. How badly he missed watching opera's and making Christine the star. He sighed and continued back to his room where Christine would be waiting for him. As he approached the door to his room he noticed that it was cracked slightly open so peeked in. He saw Christine standing by the closet unbuttoning her blouse. He didn't want to stare but he couldn't help himself from not. He once again looked back at her and watched as she took off her blouse and through it on the floor as she searched for a new one. How badly he yearned for her body and every part of it. As he watched her stand bare breasted in the dim candle light he thought of how perfect she was. She was beautiful and he wanted her….but something stopped him. Erik lifted his hand to his mask and cringed in heartache. "she would reject me." thought Erik. When he looked at her again she was dressed in a night gown and knew it was safe to enter. He sat the wine down on the nightstand and handed her the crackers. "thank you Erik." said Christine as she ate one of them. "enjoy." said Erik walking over to the windowsill. "Erik aren't you hungry?" asked Christine. "yes I am but I might through up what ever I put in my mouth." said Erik. "oh Erik you can't keep starving yourself." said Christine. "if I could eat I would." said Erik.

"I'll share with you." said Christine. "no, it's ok really." said Erik approaching the dresser. He poured some water into a basin and placed a wash cloth in it. Erik tried to unbutton his shirt but found it nearly impossible because of his fingers. "Christine could you help me please?" asked Erik. Christine put down her dinner and approached him to unbutton his shirt. As Christine touched the white fabric of his shirt she took notice to how wet it was. "Erik you're sweating." "I'm not feeling well is all." said Erik. "are you hot?" asked Christine. "yes, a little." said Erik. Christine finished unbuttoning the last button of his shirt and walked back over to the bed. Erik removed his shirt from off of his body and found out that he wasn't going to be able to wash himself on his own. He couldn't possibly bend his fingers around the wash cloth, hell getting the food back to Christine was agony. "Christine I feel embarrassed asking this of you but I can't hold the wash cloth to clean my body and I am in need of some assistance." said Erik.

Christine approached him, and said "of course I'll help you." Christine took the soaked wash cloth and wrung it out in the basin and began to wipe his chest with it. She stared at him as he stood shirtless with his trousers being the only clothing still on him. She thought that his chest was quite handsome being that this was the first time she had ever seen him shirtless. Christine then looked up at him and said "Erik let me clean your face." "no, I don't want you to." said Erik. "Erik, your skin will get infected if it is kept dirty." said Christine. "promise me that you won't yell." said Erik. "I promise." said Christine. Erik then closed his eyes in disgust and said "you have my permission." Christine then slipped the mask and wig from off of him and set it aside. Christine tended to the handsome side of his face first, brushing the damp cloth up against his flesh to clean it of the sweat. She then easily dabbed the cloth on his distorted skin as if cleaning the flesh of a baby. "I'm not hurting you am I?" asked Christine. She felt the hot tears running from his eyes as she continued to wipe his distorted skin. Christine then wet his blonde hair and began to gently clean it with her fingers. She then reached for a towel and gently dried his distorted flesh as he tried to hold back his tears. "what is it?" asked Christine. "you were so gentle with me." cried Erik. "well I wasn't going to be rough on your skin." said Christine. "you never turned from as you were washing my face." cried Erik. "why would I? I promised you that I wouldn't scream." said Christine. "do me a favor and get me a night shirt trousers out of the closet." replied Erik as he tried to switch the subject. Christine went into the closet and took out a white shirt and a brown trousers. She then slipped the shirt over his chest and buttoned it for him. "All I ask of you is to unbutton my trousers and I shall do the rest." said Erik. "Erik don't be silly, I'll help you." said Christine. "I don't feel comfortable with that." said Erik. "I promise I wont look." said Christine. "only if you promise." said Erik feeling a bit nervous at the thought of her looking at his manhood. "trust me Erik." said Christine. "ok." said Erik. Christine then kept looking up at Erik as she unbuttoned his trousers. She pulled them down to his knees and then said "lift up your left leg." Erik was too nervous to even question her and did as he was told keeping his eyes on her, waiting for her to break her promise. Once she had him lift both his legs out of his dirty trousers, Christine took the clean ones and had him lift his legs into them. She then pulled them up and buttoned them for him, still keeping her eyes on his face. "there all done." said Christine as she lied back down on the bed to continue eating her dinner. "thank you Christine." said Erik. "anytime Erik." said Christine. Erik put his mask back on and lied down next to Christine and closed his eyes. "Erik you look weak, you should really try to eat something." said Christine as she took a sip of the wine. "I just need my rest." said Erik. Christine finished eating and cuddled up against his body. "take your mask off Erik." said Christine. "no, that would only bring you nightmares." said Erik. Christine slipped the mask off his face and gently touched his flesh with her fingers. Erik's hand easily rose up from his side and hovered over hers wanting to touch her hand so badly but he couldn't do it. Christine smiled, and gently guided his hand on top of hers as she continued to stroke his flesh. "you shouldn't be ashamed to touch my skin." she replied. "how I would love to touch every inch of you angel." mewed Erik as he closed his eyes in enjoyment. "you should write music again Erik." said Christine. "how I would love to write an opera for you my angel." said Erik. "I can't sleep Erik, sing to me please." yawned Christine. Erik loved the feeling of her fingers up against his skin but being afraid of someone seeing him like this he quickly slipped his mask back on and said "I shall sing to you but it is better if my mask stays on." "if that makes you comfortable then fine." said Christine. Erik wrapped his arms around her as they lied there and began to sing to her.

" now that night has come, I can make

Your fears grow numb. I'm here nothing

Can harm you, my song will warm and calm

You. Sleep without the nightmares stop the big

Bad dreams…I'm here with you beside you, you'll

Soon learn what love means…

Love me in your darkest dreams and nightmares…

I'll protect you from frights and scares…

Dream a dream that's nice..one with us in paradise. Dream of me

So we can love at last…Christine don't dream about our past…"

Erik stopped when he saw that his angel of music was fast asleep in his arms. How he loved her and hoped that maybe fear could turn to love….

More to come

R&R