APWH Exam is finally over as of today! and Summer vacation if on the way, so that means that I'll have more time to post new chapters. Just gotta get through finals now :) (At least when I type this, not sure when it will be when I post this)

That night just came too quickly. But Christine waited and waited for him to come and pick her up; he ever did. Finally, late at night, she dressed into her nightgown, ready for bed.

As she got underneath the covers, he appeared in her mirror. She looked at him in surprise. "Why can't you just use the door?" was all she asked him.

"Then I wouldn't exactly play my part as the Phantom, would I?" he said, and reached out to take her hand.

She took it softly, already mesmerized by him. "This is just a voice lesson, Christine. I need you to remember that", he reminded her.

This made her mad at him again, and she let go of his hand quickly. Just because she was angry at him, she hoped she looked seductive in her see through nightgown. And he knew that he couldn't see more.

They silently went the same way they had so long ago, but then they were star crossed lovers. Now, they were stiff and awkward toward each other.

As he helped her out of the boat, touching her as little as possible and not being very gracious, she finally approached him with a question she had been meaning to ask. "If you hate me so much, why did you let me resume voice lessons with you?" she blurted out.

He stood lost in thought for a moment. "I don't hate you, Christine. As a matter of fact I love you. I just don't want to put you through what you've put me through. As in, changing between me and that boy. I know how you feel about him", he said simply, looking away.

"Do you really, Erik? Are you sure you understand? Because judging by what you just said, you don't know about anything that is going on between us", she said angrily.

"See, there you go again. Looking for my pity. I won't give it you. You know, Christine, if you keep this up, my love for you could soon turn to hate", he said, ignoring the voice telling him not to lie.

"Then, why, Erik? Why would you still offer me lessons? Why do you keep managing to always see me?" she asked him.

"Alright, then Christine. I understand. Leave me and go back to that boy. Go, I'll even take you!" he said, putting his cape back on.

"You've been a stranger to me. You've been possessed by bling hatred for me. But...No, Erik. Wait. I'm sorry. Please, let's continue with our lesson. I need to practice for Don Juan", she gulped. She couldn't lose him.

She was tantalizing, and he couldn't take his eyes off of her. The little girl he had helped was now a queen of beauty, with her long, chocolatey curls and her pale skin. Her eyes shone, even when she was angry. She had been through horrible things in her life; her bright eyes had been a little less bright ever since she had been raped. They would go dull with the loss of him. He didn't realize this-he thought she loved Raoul still. But he would teach her. God forbid, he wouldn't touch her in any way, but he would teach her.

"We'll just practice then, but not for long", he added, closing his eyes to shut out her curvaceous and voluptuous form, even easier to see with the candle light reflecting behind her thin and flowing nightgown.

"Do you sing for me, Christine? Or do you sing for my past, or even for that boy? Was everything we've ever done together just out of...pity?" he asked her when they finished her lesson.

"I don't give my body out because of someone's pity. I let them have it because I love them", was all she replied.

"But you can sing to me. But you won't sing for me. I know it, Christine Daae. I see it".

She was silent for a moment. "I can't sing for you anymore, Erik. I used to be able to, but now, no matter how hard I try, I can't sing for you. You're right-I do indeed sing for your past. Your past that has made you the cruel man you are today".

"Did my love and affection mean anything to you, Christine? Was it all just... a little girlish fantasy, a fairytale? That's the only reason you've pretended to love me?"

"Oh, Erik. If only you could see. It meant the world to me. It's the man now, the man looking at me this very moment that makes me like this. I never pretended to love you. Did that one night say that I didn't really love you? Or were you so lost in the indulging of a woman that you couldn't see?" she asked him back, a sharp tone edging its way into her voice.

"Yes, Christine. I was lost. Indulging out of love with a woman I had admired ever since I had seen her. It was something I had only dreamed of, something I had never thought would never really happen. But it did, and when the time came, I savored it".

"Then why do you treat me like this, Erik? Why won't you let me show you the love I have for you? I do have it-you just won't let me show it".

"Christine, you've tortured me with the love you say you have. I hardly thought that anyone was able to be tortured that much. Not having real love is better for me and you than to not have the false love you claim you have".

"I think it's your fault that you have never experienced love. People have loved you, as I do, but you cannot except it. You are unwilling and not ready for it. But when you are ready, and you realize that I do love you, I'll always be here, waiting", Christine said, just one tear sliding down her eye after she blinked.

"Don't lie to me, Christine. Please. You don't understand... how hard it is to believe you after what you've done to me. I've seen everything you've done with that boy and the admiration in your eyes for him".

"Then take me back. Do you want me to just say it? Do you force me to one day say it? Say that I love him and not you. Well for the sake of you, then, I shall try my hardest. And I'll tell you when I am able to love him. No matter how long it takes, I'll do my best to love him for you. You seem to want me to. Therefore, I shall".

"Christine, I didn't mean..." he started. She had gotten it all wrong.

"I heard what you said the first time, Erik. But please, just take me back to my room. And I think we don't need to be seeing each other, if that's the case. I'll just practice what you've already taught me on my own. Thank you for teaching me, but I'm afraid that's all I can really thank you for", she said.

Those words were worse than any torture he had ever endured. This just couldn't be. No. Christine Daae, with her beautifully pale shoulders clearly visible now that her too-big sleeves had slipped from her thin shoulders, had just officially declared everything, everything that mattered to him, over.