Hi everyone! So there is a little bit of singing in this chapter, sung with the same tunes as songs from POTO, but with lyrics made by me. The lyrics are pretty pathetic (I'm definitely not a lyric writer :/ ) but it conveys the idea. I just liked the idea of the similarity of the actual play/movie and this story-it adds to the "emotional appeal" of "NO THEY'RE PARTING WAYS!" through singing. So enough rambling, here's the next chapter :)

He just stared at her. He didn't say a word, didn't even move for a bit. He just stayed there, staring, until she could see once more the heavy rise and fall of his chest.

She stood up, cleared her throat, and started lighting other candles with the candle from the bedside table. He pulled her back down so she sat on the bed.

"How, Christine?" was all he asked her, the grip on her arm from him strengthening with each breath until it began to hurt Christine.

"Please, Erik. I have the right to get married. Let go, please. It's beginning to hurt", she asked him, and he let go. She continued to light up his lair once more.

"But to him, Christine? That boy?" Erik said, still a disbelieving look on his face. He stood up as well so they stood looking at each other from either side of the bed.

Christine put down the candle stick and began to straighten out the bed, wanting to hide her face from Erik. She expected her hands to shake as she pulled back the covers, but they were confidently still; the opposite of what she felt inside.

"'That boy' is very kind to me. I love him, and he loves me. Therefore, we're getting married", Christine said simply, hoping that her voice wasn't shaking.

"I gave you my music, and made your song take wing. And now, how you repay me: You turn and fall in love", he sang to her, staring at her as she finished making his bed. She straightened up, and was surprised to see her perfectly calm.

"I..." Christine choked out. "We've been through so much, Erik. It would be so hard, so impossibly hard, to... to live together, and maybe even start a family. It's just... it can't work", she said, and looked up at him.

"But I love you..." he trailed off.

"Yes, and I loved you too, once. But love doesn't have to be permanent. It can change. When Raoul and I are married, you can manage to get along. You may even find someone else", Christine told him, as if she was a mother talking to a child. A twinge of something at the last sentence she spoke confused Christine (maybe jealousy?) but she ignored it and listened to him speak.

"God, Christine. If only you knew, really knew, the love I have you and feel for you. But you have no idea. You saw what happened to me after not seeing you, for what, less than a month? Without you, I am no Angel of Music", Erik said, and looked at her once more to find tears glistening in her eyes.

"You may not be the Angel of Music, but without me, you can still be The Phantom of the Opera, Erik. The man everyone looks up to out of respect. It's not easy for me to leave, either. Leaving my teacher-no, not my teacher, you were much more than that. Madame Giry was a wonderful mother to me, but you took me out of my loneliness-gave me the will and ability to sing, and, as singing has become a great part of my life, of course I would never forget my teacher, the one who started it all", she managed to say through her tears.

"Yes, your teacher, Christine. And your companion. But there wasn't anything more to that, was there? All of it... there's no real, actual love, the kind between a man and a woman, in those words. Yes, maybe admiration for a teacher, but there was no love", he said.

Christine shook her head-the real reason she did this was unknown to Erik. "Erik, I have to go. If you want me to, I can come back to make sure... that you're doing all right. But please believe me when I say to you that I'll miss you, Angel", she said, and walked over to him.

His ears perked at those words. When was the last time she had called him her Angel? "No, Christine. Don't torture me any longer. You don't have to come back", Erik shook his head. And turned to face her.

Christine took up her candle once more and looked at him. "Good bye Erik", she said, and walked out.

But that was not the last time she visited Erik. The night before the wedding, she said good bye to him-a real goodbye, a proper goodbye.

Dressed in only a small, simple white dress with straps as sleeves and her hair wild and down, Christine walked into Erik's lair, peering around the corner. He sat at his piano not playing or anything, but just sitting there.

"Erik?" she called softly in her melodic voice. He turned excitedly at the sound of her voice, but when he saw her attire, he quickly turned back, a blush releasing throughout his face.

"Christine. I thought I told you to leave me", he said gruffly.

"I know, and I'm sorry. But it's my last night staying at the opera house, and I wanted to properly say goodbye to you", she explained simply.

She approached his place at his the piano bench and rested her hands on his shoulders. He closed his eyes in rapture, forgetting that she was to be married in less than a day.

She let go. "Angel of Music, I wish to thank you. For everything you've given. Father once spoke of an Angel. I used to dream he'd appear. Then, when I thought he was with me. It was you all along!" Christine sang to him, her beautiful voice echoing throughout the bowels of the opera house.

"Christine", he sighed. She caressed his masked face, and leaned to kiss him right on the lips. She stopped after what seemed like forever.

"If Raoul ever found out I did that... but Erik, thank you. That was a thank you, for everything you've done, everything you've given me, and everything I've learned from you. God, bless you. You've been through so much... and yet are still able to show affection. I will never forget you. I..." Christine paused. She was about to say "I love you". Not that she did, but it had just seemed appropriate and natural to say so.

"I love you for doing all of that for me. Goodbye, Erik. I will truly miss you", she said. He still hadn't said anything, and Christine got up to leave.

"Christine", he started, and Christine stopped walking away to turn to face him.

"Christine... will you still be coming back to the opera house?" he awkwardly asked her.

She smiled her most beautiful smile ever given to him and lightly nodded. "I won't live here any more, but I'll try to perform. Probably small parts, but I'll still be here sometimes. Not as often, though", she softly told him.

He nodded and turned back to the piano, and she left without another word. He didn't see it, but she looked back so many times as if hesitant to leave once and for all.

Once Christine had left, Erik composed a piece, written through all the sorrow, love, hate, sadness, and affection he had for Christine. If anyone were to hear it, they would say that it was the best and most beautiful he had ever composed.