Erik's POV:

Paige was an exceedingly strange girl, I learned that very quickly. First, she takes off my mask, then she insists on staying with me, and, more surprising than anything, she insists I wear my mask less often.

"Why in the world would I do that?" I asked.

"I prefer to see you without it," she admitted, blushing and looking away. I smiled, cupping her face in my hand, turning it back towards me. She looked at me curiously.

What was I doing? What happened to Christine!

Forget it, Erik, I told myself. By now she's happy with that Viscount, and there's nothing you can do about it.

I leaned in, kissing Paige's cheek softly, and told her, "Your friends will be worried about you. You should go visit them."

"I'll come back," she promised.

"I doubt that," I said quietly, "but that doesn't matter. Go assure your friends you are safe."

"You don't believe me?" she asked, looking hurt. I frowned.

"Of course I do," I assured her. "But you don't have to stay, and I don't expect you to. Besides, you need to see your friends again before they call the police. I'll come with you."

"I will come back," she repeated. "Count on it."

I didn't reply, so I wouldn't be hurt worse when she didn't return. Why would she? She belonged above, in the opera, singing for large crowds.

That made me think of something. I'd never heard Paige sing. She was a chorus girl, I knew that much, but I'd never heard her sing. Soon, I found myself hoping for her return.

We traveled through the catacombs in silence, having virtually nothing to say. Once inside the hallway containing a large stone door that led to one of the opera's corridors, Paige did the most surprising thing possible.

She kissed me. Her delicate arms wrapped around my neck, and I found myself wrapping my arms around her waist. What was I doing? What was she doing?

Suddenly, she pulled away, breathless, as was I.

"Sorry," she apologized. "But now you know I'll come back."

Soon she was stepping through the stone door, and as it shut, I found myself wondering why she felt the need to kiss me.

~0~0~0~0~0~

Paige's POV:

What was that for? I just kissed the Phantom of the Opera, for crying out loud, and for no apparent reason! But he seemed to like it…

What the…?

"PAIGE!" came a scream from behind me. A girl's scream. Several girls, to be precise.

Cadence, Madeline, Marisa, Meg, and Christine ran up to me, hugging me like crazy.

"We thought you were dead!" Madeline exclaimed.

"We thought the Opera Ghost killed you!" Meg added, agreeing.

"No, no, he merely, ah, welcomed me to his realm, you might say," I said.

"Did he hurt you?" Christine asked. "If he did, oh, Paige, I'm so sorry! It's all my fault, isn't it?"

"No, Christine, he didn't hurt me," I assured her, adding mentally, except for nearly breaking my wrist, but I'm alive, aren't I?

"What's he like?" Meg asked.

"Let's discuss this later," I said. "May we use your dressing room, Christine?"

"Yes, of course," she said. She led the way to her room, closing and locking the door behind us.

"Same question," Meg said.

"Let's see, well, for one, he's very handsome," I began. "He is one of the kindest people I've ever met, but he has the slightest bit of a temper." Okay, he did have a bigger temper than that, but I didn't want to scare them.

"He's handsome?" Meg inquired. "That's not what I've heard."

"Don't listen to what people say," I said gravely. "It's nothing but lies."

"Especially if it comes from Joseph Buquet," Marisa agreed. "What's his lair like?"

"Well, it's huge," I said with a laugh, the others joining me. "It's filled with candles, lots of them, and sheet music, and there's a organ in there, and he plays it all the time."

"It sounds like a musical heaven," Christine mused.

"Christine, only you would think that," Meg laughed.

"It sounds like a musical Bat Cave to me," Cadence said. Of course, Meg and Christine had no idea what we were talking about.

That night, I told Marisa that I wasn't planning on staying.

"You're seriously going back there?" she asked.

"For I have promises to keep," I said, "and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep."

"Okay, Miss Frost," Marisa laughed. "Go ahead, run along to your little Phantom."

I smiled, sprinting the distance to the gondola, and rowing as fast as possible.

Entering the gate, I was greeted by music from Don Juan Triumphant. I smiled as Erik gawked at me.

"I keep my promises, Erik," I said.

"I didn't think you'd come," he admitted. "But I heard what you said about me."

"I told nothing but the truth," I assured him, sitting beside him at the organ.

"You kissed me…" he remembered. I blushed.

"I'm sorry about that," I said awkwardly. "I don't know what I was thinking…"

"Sorry?" he mused. "That was probably one of the best moments of my life."

Awkward…

"You mean…?" I trailed off, not knowing what to say.

"I…"

"Yeah."

I wasn't about to admit that I loved him. That would just make the awkward atmosphere worse. So I kept silent.

Of course, silence only worked for so long.

"Why, do you think," he asked, "you kissed me?"

"Well," I began slowly. "I've never felt this way before, but it feels… different, when I'm around you than anyone else. Than any other man I've ever known. A good different, of course."

"So you're saying…"

"Yes."

"You love me?"

I blushed, looking away.

Erik took my face in his hands, turning my face towards his.

"I've never felt this way before, either," he said. "Not even with Christine. It's like… a connection, like you understand me better than anyone."

"Which I do," I agreed.

"Even better than Madame Giry," he said. "And that's saying a lot. She has been one of my only companions since… a while."

I nodded. "So… do you?"

"Love… You?"

"Do you?"

"… Yes. I do."

My heart leaped for joy. He loved me! Me! He loved me!

I brushed my hand against the unmasked side of his face, then pulled of his mask.

"Much better," I said. Erik smiled.

I leaned and kissed him again, yet this time we knew what to expect. We wrapped ourselves around each other, pulling each other closer, when-

"Stop," Erik moaned. "Please."

I frowned, hurt. "Why?"

"I can't," he said. "You don't want to know what I'm thinking right now."

"Oh," I realized.

"Yes," he said. "Besides, it's getting late, and you must be tired."

I yawned involuntarily. Erik chuckled. He picked me up and carried me into his room, setting me gently in the swan bed.

He turned to leave. "No!" I cried.

Erik turned, surprised.

"Stay with me," I begged.

I could see the internal conflict in his eyes.

"Please," I moaned.

Erik crawled under the covers next to me, wrapping his arms around me. As soon as he started to sing, I fell into a peaceful sleep.

A/N: The "Miss Frost" thing is a reference to a poem whose name escapes me at the moment, by Robert Frost.