ARGH! This one isn't 600 words!! ... But it's the Christmas Special. Enjoy, and thank you Megan for the idea!
Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN PHANTOM OF THE OPERA! (though i want to buy it from Leroux but he's dead. XP)
# Part Thirty-two:
Erik was playing softly on the organ, trying to get a chord finished. His hands glided over the keys, each finger gently pressing a certain note to weave a pattern that made a melody. He sunk into his music, letting it wash him away to the place where he was free, he smiled. A wrong note in the song stopped him, the spell was broken. He bit his tongue, annoyed; he couldn't get that section right. Scratching his head with the quill Erik crossed out the sour note and sighed, resting his head in his hands. What could he do to fix it? He walked out, he couldn't work anymore.
"Erik! Erik, come here, please!" Lark called down the hall from the doorway that led to her room. "What?" Erik grumbled. He grudgingly made his way over to her. She beamed at him. "Here, stand right there." Lark commanded excitedly, her eyes sparkling. Obeying her childish request, Erik let her position him in the doorway in front of the beaming girl. "Good!" she praised, clapping her hands together. "Now, can you kneel, please?" she asked.
"Why?" Erik demanded. The girl gave him a serious look, but the playful glint in her eyes ruining the image. He sighed; he had recently learned that just doing what Lark wanted let whatever it was go by fast and usually without problem, usually. Making a face, Erik kneeled down and looked Lark sternly in the eyes. "Alright, I'm kneeling," he said. "I must ask…" he started, but was cut off short when Lark suddenly gave him a short kiss on side of his masked face.
Startled by the gesture, Erik stood up abruptly, face burning. "What was that?" he snapped. "I got you under the mistletoe!" she giggled and pointed up. He glanced up to see a bundle of the leafy plant tied to the doorframe above their heads. "What?" he asked coldly, though his face was still burning. Lark beamed again. "Mistletoe. Whenever two people are under mistletoe, they have to kiss!" she said simply, enjoying Erik's befuddled reaction.
"I-I…Wait…What?" Erik spluttered, the words in his mouth stumbling over each other, his face heating up again. Lark just smiled at him, amused and eyes sparkling happily. He found his tongue. "It shall not happen again!" Erik finally shouted and stomped off to the organ's room. Lark could only giggle and watch him, smiling to herself. How funny it was to see a man like Erik react as he did to a little thing like a kiss on the cheek; she grinned. He had barely reached the door when she hurried over to him and was embracing Erik in a backwards hug.
He threw his hands up in despair and sighed. "What trap have I fallen in now?" Lark laughed and hugged him tighter. "It's not a trap!" she exclaimed. He didn't move but shifted his weight back and forth on each leg. "Then why, I must ask," he asked quietly, "are you content to hug me so?" Lark looked up at him, smiling. "Because, you're my friend, I like you!" She let her arms fall back to her side and turning on her heel, she skipped happily back to her room. Erik could only stare after her. The thoughts echoed over and over in his mind. She liked him. Lark…that young child cared for him. Considered him, him, a monster, as her friend.
"Thank you." He murmured, and he headed back to his own room, a hidden smile on his lips.
Updated. XD