Erik's POV:

That night, the night she came back, Paige drifted to sleep in my arms, as I sang her to sleep. She looked so delicate, so fragile, in my arms, as if I might break her if I were too harsh.

She was so beautiful. Her long brown hair cascaded around her, engulfing me in her scent. Her porcelain skin gleamed in the candlelight. Her wide, hazel eyes were shut, her round, pink lips seeming to beg for a kiss. I kissed her softly before climbing out of the bed and retired to the divan once more.

And who was I to be greeted by, but none other than Madame Giry.

I quickly turned around, replacing my mask. I had almost forgotten that Paige had taken it off.

"Hello, Erik," she greeted.

"Hello, Antoinette," I said.

"I would like to know where my missing chorus girl has gone," she said, eyeing me with an inquisitive look. "Her name is Paige Mallory."

I suddenly realized that I'd never heard her last name.

"Don't look at me, Antoinette. She returned of her own will. I told her to go, but she refused," I explained.

"Strange," Madame Giry mused. "All four of the new girls are a bit strange."

"Different," I corrected. Madame Giry nodded.

"Where is she now?" she asked.

"Asleep," I said.

"You didn't…!"

"No! I would never, not unless she wanted me to."

Madame Giry nodded, though I could tell she wasn't exactly trusting my words.

"Antoinette, I love her," I assured her, "and she loves me. I would only do something… like that if she allowed me to."

Madame Giry nodded again, turning to leave.

"Tell her I visited," she said.

"I will."

As soon as Madame Giry left, I returned to my room. Paige was still asleep, as breathtakingly beautiful as ever.

I crawled in beside her, wrapping my arms around her waist. In her sleep, she cuddled into my side. I smiled, kissing her lightly on the forehead.

I looked back on my conversation with Madame Giry. It was true; I would never do something like that to Paige without her permission. I had her love and acceptance, and she had mine. Could I ever ask for more?

The answer was yes, of course. But I was getting ahead of myself. We only discovered our love tonight; I needed to give the idea some time.

Still, I could not keep lustful thoughts of her out of my head.

~0~0~0~0~0~

Paige's POV:

I awoke in the same position that I fell asleep in; I was in Erik's arms, which was fine with me.

"You're awake," he murmured.

"What gave it away?" I asked, looking up at him.

He smiled. "Your breathing changed."

"Darn," I muttered, winding my arms around his neck and kissing him.

"Please," Erik moaned under my kiss. "Stop."

"No," I said defiantly. I continued to kiss him, surrounded in complete bliss, that is, until Erik pulled away.

"Is that going to happen every time I kiss you?" I asked, panting from our kiss.

"Most likely," he said, much the same as me.

I kept my arms around his neck, and he kept his arms around my waist. We laid there for a while, until Erik insisted that I ate breakfast.

"I'd much rather stay here," I disagreed. "But if you insist…"

"Which I do," he laughed.

"Then breakfast it is."

Breakfast that morning seemed to drag on forever. Erik prepared for us eggs, bacon, and blueberry pastries.

"You're tormenting me, you know that?" I said somewhat accusingly.

"Why?" he asked with a laugh.

"First of all, you're wearing your mask again," I said, taking it off.

He smiled weakly. "Sorry about that. Late night visitor."

"Who?" I asked.

"Madame Giry," he said. "She came to check on you. You know, you're probably the only person I know that doesn't want me to wear my mask."

"I know. I prefer to see you without it. Which brings me to reason number two," I said. "You won't let me kiss you properly."

He looked away from me guiltily. "Ah," he said softly. "That."

"Why?" I asked, not realizing that I whispered.

"I…" He trailed off, unable to finish. "I might… go too far…"

"But you would never hurt me," I concluded. "It seems that only I believe in you."

"So it seems," he agreed.

"I don't think you'd ever do something like that," I said defiantly. "Not unless I wanted you to."

"I might not be able to control myself," he admitted quietly. He looked at me hungrily, his eyes full of want.

"What if I don't care?" I asked softly. "What if I wanted you to?"

His expression was thoroughly surprised, then remorseful.

"I could never be able," he said slowly, "to let you be cursed with… my… offspring."

"Cursed?" I asked, hurt. "That's what you truly think…"

"I care about you too much to put you through that," he said.

"But I don't care, Erik," I said, my tone and expression determined. "It doesn't matter to me."

"You say that now," he muttered. "But later… that's a different story."

"It isn't different in the slightest," I said.

I felt like Bella in Twilight again. It was that type of situation- except Erik wasn't thirsting for my blood, but thirsting for me in general.

I kissed Erik again, expecting the usual out come- him pulling away, and insisting that we move on to some trivial matter.

But this time, he didn't stop. He kissed me back, pulling me closer and closer. We stood up, never parting. He picked me up, breaking our kiss, and carried me to his bedroom.

I saw his plan. He was tricking me into thinking he'd lose it, so I'd learn a lesson or something stupid like that.

He set me down, kissing me once more. We lay on the bed kissing each other for a while, until he finally gave in.

"I can't," he said. 'I just can't."

"You can," I corrected. "You're just being too stubborn."

"If being stubborn keeps you safe," he said. "Then that would be a yes."