Well I have received some lovely reviews for chapter two…please keep them coming! I love to know what you think, although some seem to want more fop bashing! I promise that I don't like Raoul either, but he somehow weaselled his way into my story and not as a villain! So sorry to all those who hate Raoul and want him to die…I do too, but for some reason not in this story. But as I said before, it WILL end up as E/C eventually, don't worry! And I'm sorry we are not seeing much of Erik yet, but he will be back soon…anyway, here I present chapter three!

Chapter Three:

Declaration

As Christine drew away from Raoul after a few minutes, she sat back on her knees and surveyed him. His hair was slightly tousled from where she had entangled her hands, but his eyes shone with happiness. It brought a slight leap to her heart to know that she was the source of this happiness, as she had always longed to be. She watched him as he straightened the collar of his shirt, and he smiled up at her.

"Of course, you never actually took your ring…" he teased, and Christine slapped him playfully on the hand. "You don't have to take it if you don't want to…" Christine folded her arms and pouted like a toddler. Raoul rolled his eyes. "Well, if you insist…I suppose…" He rose to his feet and took both her hands in his. He felt in his pocket again, and brought out the band for her to see.

As soon as Christine laid eyes on her engagement ring, she could not suppress a gasp. It was so beautiful, she could hardly believe it. Raoul had such different tastes in beauty than her Angel had done…with her Angel, everything was black and gothic, which did hold beauty, but Raoul loved the light, the fun of life, and summer. All this love was clearly evident in the ring he presented to her. It was so different to the ring that her Angel had forced onto her finger. Her Angel's had been a thick black band, probably made of titanium, although Christine didn't know very much about precious metals. It had looked too masculine on her, despite only being taken from his little finger, and made her feel rather like she was wearing shackles rather than a ring. But the delicacy and the care with which Raoul must have picked this ring shone through. It was a simple silver band, although Christine suspected it was more likely white gold or platinum, knowing Raoul's exacting standards, and in the middle were set three gems, all in a line. There was a slightly larger green stone in the middle, probably an emerald, that was so clear that she could see the buttons of Raoul's shirt through it. Set to either side were two slightly smaller gems, that were such a pale blue they were almost completely clear. It reminded Christine of summertime, and the two blue stones were almost the same colour as Raoul's eyes, although his eyes were a slightly darker blue. It was just what Christine had always dreamed of wearing on her finger, and she would be a proud bearer of it. She looked up at Raoul with teary eyes.

"Raoul, it's…it's so beautiful," she said quietly. "I can't…I don't even know what to say. Raoul, it must have cost a small fortune! Are you sure…is it really mine?" She looked up at him with wide eyes, and Raoul laughed.

"Nothing less for my Christine!" he chuckled, and scooped her up into his arms. Christine felt a slight twinge in her heart. "My Christine" he had called her. Only one person ever called her that, but he was gone. Christine felt immediately guilty and angry at herself for thinking of her Angel. Raoul had every right to call her his, for what else was she? Her Angel was long gone, and besides, she had never felt any romantic attachment to him anyway. She was Raoul's now. Raoul must have felt her tense in his arms, for he stopped and looked down at her, his eyes brimming with concern.

"What is it?" Christine shook herself.

"Nothing, darling. I was just…I was just thinking about…everything that's happened. It's nothing." Raoul smiled down at her.

"Of course. How could you not think about it? But I think perhaps we should return to the surface. It's getting late." There it was again. Her Angel used to call it "the surface". "Perhaps we could even tell Andre and Firmin the happy news!" Christine beamed at him, shaking away all feelings of regret, and squeezed her arms round his neck and shoulders.

"And Madame Giry and Meg!" she said, and Raoul nodded his assent. "Take me to them!" she cried with a laugh, flinging one of her arms out from around his neck and out in a theatrical fashion. Raoul laughed with her, and together they began to make their way back to the surface, out of the cellars.

Meg Giry was pacing around her bedchamber in distress. It was past midnight, and neither Raoul nor Christine had yet returned. She wondered what was happening to them down there…and then shivered and tried not to think about it. Her overactive imagination, coupled with the flickering candles emitting the only light in her room, did nothing to improve the situation. She tried to distract herself by humming the aria that Christine had first sung, the one from "Hannibal", but ended up just getting frustrated because she couldn't reach all the notes. Just as she was about to give up and try and get some more sleep, she thought she heard a knock on the door. Meg looked at the door for some time, trying to determine whether or not she had imagined it. But then it came again, and this time accompanied by a small whisper.

"Meg?" it said. "Meg, are you there?" Meg was uncertain; she couldn't quite recognize the voice because it was so quiet. But the voice's next words made her heart leap. "It's Christine. And Raoul's here too. May we come in? I'm so sorry if we woke you…" Meg bounded over to the door and opened it to find Raoul and Christine stood hand-in-hand, both beaming with happiness.

"What…?" Meg started to say, but the couple in front of her looked at one another, and then Christine spoke in a hurried tone.

"We're getting married! Meg, Raoul and I are engaged!" she gushed, and gripped her friend's hands fervently. "Can you believe it?" Meg could do nothing but gape at the pair in front of her. She had never seen Christine so happy!

"Oh my goodness, that's wonderful news!" she cried, but was still more than a little confused. "But the Phantom…he took you…Raoul, you followed with my mother…did he let you go…what happened?" she stuttered. Christine giggled.

"Oh, Meg…I hardly care anymore. But Raoul and I are engaged to be married, and everything is going to be wonderful!" Meg began to usher them down the corridor to her mother's room.

"I'll wake Mother, and you can tell us both exactly what happened!" she said excitedly, and off they went down the hall, chattering excitedly, with one of Christine's hands in Raoul's, and the other looped through Meg's.

Nobody heard the barely audible whisper of "Oh, Christine…" from behind Meg's door, and no one saw the golden eyes that watched until the party were out of sight, and then disappeared into the darkness of the night, seeking solace from the cruel world that merely sought to break his heart over and over…

Dundundun… So another crazy ending! Erik will be making an appearance in the next couple of chapters, but I just wanted to establish some more relationships first. Again, please review and let me know what you think, I love to hear from all of you no matter what! Thanks so much to the previous reviewers, followers and favouriters…it means a lot to me! Thank you all again, you're all great!