Chapter 20

Erik stared at Christine. She'd spoken. She'd said four words. But, no. She couldn't have said those four words. She must have said something else. Or, perhaps she hadn't spoken at all. That was possible, too. He was staring at her, though. Her lips had moved, he'd seen it, and now she seemed to be... glowing. This was-..

"Forgive me, but what did you say?" Asking her to repeat what she'd said would surely erase his confusion.

Christine was resolute. "I love you, too," she repeated, smiling.

He sat still and studied her with skeptical eyes. The same words as before reached his ears. How ridiculous, to imagine the same thing twice. But, he'd heard what he heard. He needed to address it now. What was he supposed to say, though? The word, "No," was the first thing to escape his lips. It came out as a shocked whisper.

Her brow furrowed. Christine wasn't expecting him to challenge her feelings. "Umm.. Yes."

Erik stayed silent for a moment. "...Why?"

"Why?" She thought about it. "Well, because. It's inevitable, right? I'm pretty sure I was in love with Phantom, I had strong feelings for Derik, and my Angel was one of my best friends. And you're all three of them. It doesn't take much for all of those feelings to be, in a way, reapplied to you. The real you is just like them... only better," she added with a grin.

His entire face paled. What she was saying was frightening. For her to talk about him and his other identities in such a kind, caring way was just sick. I have made a real mess of things this time. "I- I never meant for this to happen..."

"What do you mean?" Hadn't he wanted this all along?

"I hurt you," he reminded her. "I hurt you in an unforgivable way, and you're acting as if it didn't happen."

"Oh, it happened," Christine told him, crossing her arms in a disapproving way. "And I don't plan on letting you forget it any time soon." Her tone was teasing as she smirked at him.

"This isn't happening," Erik said in horror to nobody in particular. His eyes made contact with a tree, and he stared at it blankly.

Christine shook her head and reached out to touch his shoulder unwilling to let him act like this. Right before she could, however, Erik grasped her hand gently. "What are you doing?" He gulped nervously.

She sighed. "Trying to calm you down." He seemed to realize that he was touching her hand, and he quickly let go. "You don't have to do that." To show him what she meant, Christine took hold of his hand again. "I like the way this feels."

He had to talk some sense into her. "I like it, too, but Christine... What are you thinking? You aren't supposed to love me-, you aren't even supposed to like me."

"But, I do." She was kind of liking this. Perhaps he was feeling a few of the emotions she herself had felt when he'd told her the truth. Disbelief, surprise, feeling that this wasn't reality.. I don't want him to question anymore, though. "Shouldn't you be happy, Erik?"

He blinked. "Why should I be happy? You've gone insane."

Christine took a second to process his words before laughing loudly. "I'm not insane!" She laughed some more before placing her hands on his shoulders, ignoring as his body tensed. He needed to accept this. "Look, this is real. I love you. And I'm saying this in my right mind. Can you believe me? Or are we going to have to spend the night out here? I'm willing to stay here until you can believe me, but I kind of wish we could just go ahead and hug each other."

Erik watched as she blushed. It was a real Christine emotion. So, if she were really insane, would she be acting so much like herself?

It would be so easy to accept what she was saying... If he could accept it, they could hug! But, he would not be selfish about this. He studied her expression. "You're serious?" he asked slowly.

"Yes."

She certainly looked like she was. "I know you wouldn't lie to me, but how can I be sure you're... how did you say it.. in your right mind?"

"I don't know how I'm supposed to convince you. Can't you just look at me and know?"

Hmmm... Erik looked at her, the young woman he knew very well and loved very much. "Yes, I suppose I can," he hesitantly replied while still looking at her, trying to be sure.

"So, you believe me now?"

He noticed that she sounded excited. Erik wanted to keep her that way, happy and excited. He would always make sure to keep her that way. "Yes," he said nodding. "Yes, I believe you."

Without hesitation, she leaned over and hugged him. "Thank you."

Erik's heart was pounding in his chest. He tried to return her hug, but he did so tensely. "I- I should be the one thanking you."

She chuckled and hugged him tighter. "Loosen up, Erik. It's ok."

He took a few deep breaths. His muscles were slowly starting to relax as they continued to hug. "Is that better?" he asked softly.

She nodded against his chest. "Everything's perfect." Her eyes closed in contentment.

He couldn't agree more. "You're right."

They broke apart a little while later, and Erik was bold enough to move a strand of hair behind her ear. They couldn't stop gazing at each other. "I must admit, this feels too good to be true."

"It's good, but it's not untrue," Christine told him.

"I may never understand."

She thought about that before grinning and saying, "Maybe I can make you understand."

Erik didn't seem to get why she was grinning, as if there was some hidden message to her words. "What do you mean?"

His oblivion was cute, Christine decided. And the fact that he didn't know what she was talking about was pretty funny. She thought she was clueless when it came to flirting, but it was nothing compared to him. Making him understand was going to be fun.

Christine slowly scooted closer to him until they were only a few inches apart. "I want to try something, Erik."

Finding that his throat was going dry, he was finally coming to understand. "You're welcome to try anything-"

Before he could finish, she leaned forward and kissed him, but it wasn't on his lips. It was on his left lower jawline, which wasn't covered by the mask. Her lips lingered against his skin, and after a moment, she backed away.

Erik's heart was racing. He wasn't even acknowledging the fact that she'd almost touched his mask. She'd actually kissed him! It was something he'd only ever dreamt of. He never thought it would actually happen. Not to someone like me... Feeling close to tears, he cleared his throat and shifted a little on the bench.

He looked uncomfortable... She wanted him to say something. His lack of speaking was making her feel insecure. Maybe I should have kissed him on the lips?

He seemed to sense what she was thinking. As she said, 'loosen up, Erik'. "That was amazing, but I think it would be appropriate for me to take it one step further. I have been wanting this for quite some time, after all." Erik reached out to touch her cheek. Looking at her exquisite lips, he slowly leaned in just as she had.

"I love you," he whispered before closing the distance between them and kissing her. Their lips connected softly as his hand caressed her cheek, moving along her perfect jaw and under her chin.

Christine wrapped her arms around his neck, and their kiss deepened. Everything else was forgotten in that moment. All that existed was the two of them.

Neither knew how long they stayed like that, kissing each other and exchanging words and love and devotion.

But, by the time they stood and began walking back towards Ballad, a few things were known. One, they knew they loved each other. Two, the lies were forgiven. And three, they knew they were both ready to start over and do things the right way. Everything else would fall into place.

The story's not finished yet. One more chapter. It'll be an important one, too.

I hope this was ok.. I know it was short, but it was an important moment that kind of needed to stand alone.

Thank you for the reviews!

Please review :)

-Lauren