They sat in uncomfortable silence for a moment before Gabrielle said "I don't want you to be uncomfortable here Erik, you've had enough hardship in your life. I don't want to be the cause of more"

His expression softened a little "You are never a hardship my Gabrielle", he reached out to take her hand in his. "You have been a ray of hope in my dismal world, I just hope you can forgive me for treating you so badly and abandoning you"

A soft hand reached up to silence him "You don't have to apologize, I understood why you felt you had to leave."

Erik reached over to tuck a stray curl behind her ear "Perhaps" he whispered "But that still doesn't excuse my behavior" the finger that had moved her hair trailed down her jawline "I used you a most shameful way, I never should have-"'

"I'm not sorry for that night, I have no regrets and I would do it again" Gabrielle declared, her blue eyes daring Erik to contradict her. "I would've given you anything, even if that was a piece of my heart"

This little aristocrat continued to astound Erik, he couldn't stop himself when he leaned in to capture her lips in a kiss. Her hand came up to cup his bare cheek, causing him to jerk back suddenly and while Gabrielle tried to hide her hurt she wasn't entirely successful.

"I won't hurt you Erik, I won't ever take your mask without permission. But you don't need to wear it around me" his jaw clenched and his eyes hardened as she continued on to say "You made love to me without your mask" her voice was trembling slightly "Wear it for you, not for me"

It was impossible for Erik to ignore the instincts that had served him for his entire life but he knew he had to try for Gabrielle's sake. He took her hand and pressed it to his smooth jaw, closing his eyes as she explored the plane of his unmasked face, her fingers moving down his jawline before traveling up to disappear into his hair. Gabrielle watched as Erik's lips trembled under her touch, it pained her to see him struggling so much.

He couldn't help the gasp of surprise when he felt her lips on his cheek, but was quickly silenced when her lips covered his. Without thought Erik's arms encircled her waist, hands splaying on her back pressing her to him as her lips moved over his. One of his hands moved to clutch the back of her head holding her head as the kiss went on forever. They pulled apart only when they could no longer continue without taking a breath. Unwilling to move from her he let his head rest on her shoulder, his face pressed into her hair. Gabrielle let her hand caress his face and neck, allowing him a few moments to compose himself.

"I'm glad you came back Erik" she dared to whisper into his ear. She was rewarded with a smile "I could hardly stay away, I found that I wasn't content to live my life without you in it Gabrielle. I only hope you can be patient with your poor ugly Erik"

"You are not ugly Erik, I don't like to hear such self deprecating comments. You are intelligent, you create beautiful music...you have beautiful green eyes, your voice..." she allowed the thought to trail off "I find you very attractive Erik, don't ever doubt me"

He scoffed and pulled away from her, the tension returning to his shoulders.

"I've never lied to you. This" she touched his mask "Never mattered to me. I've seen your face Erik, I've seen the thing you are capable of doing" he straightened and pulled away from her so he was no longer touching her, his hands clenched into fists. "But none of that changes the way I feel about you" she allowed him the space he desperately needed, though his eyes finally met hers...his tortured expression nearly undid her "I love you Erik" she said as though it was all very simple "I've loved you from the moment I heard you sing in that filthy cage...I've given you my body and my heart. I'm not going anywhere, there is nothing you could do to make me stop loving you"

Her sweet words were reducing him to tears and she wasn't done.

"I'm not going anywhere, I will be here for as long as you will have me. But I'm in this for good, there's no turning back. So you need to decide if you're ready for what I'm offering. I'm offering you a 'life' here with me, no more hiding in the shadows under the Opera House and no more running away." she grasped his hand "I don't need a ring, I don't need to be married. I will take you any way I can get you" her finger swiped at a tear that had run down his cheek "Just stay here with me Erik, stay here in the light"

Who was he to deny his sweet little aristocrat anything when she spoke such sweet words to him. His heart thumped in his chest, hope blossoming in him. He knew now was the moment that would make or break their future. No longer could he hide. He was tired of the constant pain, fear, anger consuming him. With a shaking hand he reached up, barely daring to breath as he pulled the porcelain away from his face as he bared all to her.

Gabrielle breathed a silent sigh of relief as Erik removed his mask, she took it from his hand and let it fall to the floor next to them. His eyes finally met hers, and all he saw was love shining in their blue depths. Even more shocking was when she pressed her lips to his scarred cheek. His sweet angel, his Gabrielle. He couldn't stop himself as he felt tears streaming down his face only to be wiped away by her gentle touch. She allowed him to rest his head on her shoulder as he released years of pent up anguish. Her arms held him as he cried, hands rubbing circles on his back.

When the last tear was shed Erik was finally able to let go but not before kissing her, in thanks. He now had the promise of tomorrow and the day after that...an eternity with his love, his Gabrielle.

Without a care in the world Gabrielle and Erik began their courtship slowly, in blissful ignorance of the storm approaching them. Raoul's letters from London had spelled out the marital discord between the two newlyweds and while Gabrielle felt bad for her brother she was too wrapped up in her own love affair to read between the lines.

Christine had become almost obsessed (the irony was not lost on her or her brother) with Erik, it nearly consumed her; the specter of him shadowed the De Chagny household and Raoul was at his wits end with Christine's attempts to return to the Opera House to seek her former teacher out. Raoul had never seen how damaged Christine really was…he'd never really considered the trauma of losing both parents so young. All Gabrielle could do was encourage patience and compassion; obviously pregnancy was scrambling what little good sense Christine had left.

They were in Gabrielle's library enjoying a game of chess, which shockingly Gabrielle was winning…for the moment anyway.

The telltale sounds of a carriage making it's way up the curved driveway went unnoticed, they continued with their game paying the visitor no mind until the study doors burst open to reveal Christine.

Erik leapt out of his chair as though he'd been burned, Gabrielle rose as well watching as Erik stalked to the darkest corner of the room and turned his back to the ladies.

Christine's look of betrayal at Gabrielle rankled under her skin, so wrapped up in their thoughts the three occupants didn't hear the thundering hooves on the gravel outside, nor the quick booted footsteps as the most recent guest hurried through the main foyer to the library.

It was a bad dream, Gabrielle was sure of it when she saw Raoul storm through the doors shouting for his sister before taking in the tableau in front of him. Raoul's eyes drifted from his sister to his wife to the figure in the corner.

"Gabrielle, what is the…what..what the hell is going on?" Raoul demanded, still out of breath from his hasty ride over here though he continued to glare at his wife. Clearly he'd suspected Christine would drag Gabrielle into their madness, despite his efforts to warn her otherwise.

To her credit Gabrielle tossed him a dirty look for the use of profanity before approaching Erik cautiously, as one would approach a wounded animal. She placed a hand on his shoulder, feeling how tense he was. "Erik, I can ask them to leave," she whispered to him.

"No, we have been avoiding this for too long. No sense in putting it of any longer" he responded, his expression softening when he looked at her.

Gabrielle nodded and approached her brother; kissing his cheek before taking his hands "Raoul, this is Erik Devaux" she implored him with her eyes to be kind. "He challenged me to a game of chess, thinking I being a mere female would be an easy opponent"

Raoul had to smile at that, their father had taught them all to play chess. Gabrielle was quite good. He couldn't quite hide the concern in his eyes though as he said "Ah, his mistake"

"Indeed, I will have him in Checkmate in 4 moves"

Raoul patted her shoulders "Good girl" he tried to take a cleansing breath "Perhaps you will introduce us properly?"

Gabrielle smiled and squeezed his hands; he was trying. "Of course" she led him to the corner and pressed a hand to Erik's shoulder. When he turned around she stepped close to him and said "Erik, may I present my brother; Raoul, Vicomte De Chagny" Raoul held his hand out, slowly Erik bowed from the waist before taking his hand "A pleasure monsieur le Vicomte"

Raoul nodded, unsure what to say. He stepped back away from Erik to allow him a moment to compose himself. He took the opportunity to speak to his wife in hushed tones.

"He's trying Erik" Gabrielle implored him softly.

"Indeed" Erik nodded trying to calm the pounding of his heart and the urge to run away. Gabrielle bucked propriety by pulling him in close for a quick kiss, his expression softened as she pulled back. He had not expected to see Christine so soon…certainly not as pregnant as she clearly was. One more betrayal, he realized…one more betrayal that without Gabrielle he was sure would have killed him. His anger at her was building; he prayed she not antagonize him. Gabrielle could see the anger and sorrow in his eyes as they swept over Christine's pregnant form.

Unbeknownst of all the chaos she was causing Christine still looked hurt and angry as Raoul whispered to her irritably. Unable to control herself any longer she stepped forward, shrugging off Raoul's hand as she said "Gabrielle, what…how do you two know…why are you doing this?" her eyes darting back and forth between Erik and Gabrielle.

Raoul tried one more time to pull his wife out of the room, he knew that while Gabrielle was normally gentle and kind but if provoked she had the devils own temper.

"I've known Erik ever since we were children," Gabrielle answered, pulling herself up to her full height daring Christine to challenge her. "You need not know any more than that. We are doing nothing wrong, so I suppose I don't understand your question Christine" her eyes flashed a warning.

Be it the hormones surging through her body or plain stupidity Christine crossed her arms petulantly and said "But how could you have not told me Gabrielle! We were friends! You…you never said anything about knowing Erik"

"I wasn't aware that my personal life was any of your business Christine, we were friends…to a point" she leveled a look at Christine's pregnant belly, which made the young girl flush with embarrassment "It seems I was not the only one keeping secrets. My business with Erik was just that 'mine' and I wasn't about to expose him to you or the gendarmes"

"But…Erik…he was mine" Christine continued, not realizing her grave misstep until the words had already been spoken. Erik whirled around angrily as Gabrielle opened her mouth to blister the young girl's ear; her husband saw the impending explosion from the two lovers and once again grasped her arm.

Gabrielle was on a roll; she put her hand up to stop her brother.

"Yours?" she asked with a dangerous edge to her voice. "He's a person Christine, not an animal! Don't you dare try to tell me he was yours when clearly you were not being faithful to him, while you demand his faithfulness to you?!" she took a breath, trying to calm herself "Did you expect him to lie in that dungeon for all his days, pining for you?"

Erik had a mind to step in but it seemed Gabrielle had it handled quite nicely.

"You're selfish and foolish Christine! You live in a world of fairy tales where no one has any culpability for their actions! You need to snap out of it!" Gabrielle paused to let the words sink in "Erik has committed some horrible crimes, he has blood on his hands. But he is also kind, passionate and intelligent. He's an architect, composer, lyricist, chemist, strategist…the list goes on Christine. All he ever was to you was your ticket to the stage career you wanted. Don't you dare walk into 'my' house and demand answers you have no right to!"

Christine's eyes narrowed "Don't you mean your brother's house?" she responded coolly.

"No Christine" Gabrielle responded quietly "I mean MY house. I mean the house that I bought with my portion of my inheritance, the house that I own the DEED to. " She'd never seen this side of Christine and she wasn't entirely sure she liked it.

Gabrielle was truly mad now, her body was shaking and her face flushed "Get out of my house, you are no longer welcome here. And you may not seek Erik out, your time with him is done."

Christine turned pleading eyes to Erik "Please Angel, are…are you just going to let her speak to me like that?" she begged pitifully.

Erik clenched his hands into fists, his jaw set tight. "Don't ever call me that again Christine" he rasped angrily "You have a lot of nerve, coming here and demanding loyalty when you haven't shown any to me Christine. You were going to leave me to the mercy of that mob! You hadn't a care if I lived or died! If the situation is not to your liking, then I'm sorry but it is entirely of your own doing. You left ME Christine left me to be found and murdered by that mob! You exposed me to the entire audience of the Opera, you humiliated me!" he nearly shouted, his anger overwhelming him.

"I gave you everything! Everything! And you betrayed me Christine! I thought I loved you, I thought I would die when you left me" he was horrified to feel tears welling in his eyes. It wasn't until he felt her soft hands on his that Erik realized Gabrielle had returned to his side, offering him her silent support.

"It wasn't love Christine" Erik said finally, not able to look at anyone else in the room "It was loneliness and desperation. I'm sorry I lied to you, frightened you." His eyes finally met Gabrielle's for a moment before he looked at his former student "But I have found love with Gabrielle…and peace. Please leave me to that peace Christine"

Christine was crying now, childish tears, as she'd not gotten her way.

"It's time to continue on with our lives Christine. I…I'm very sorry for what I put you through. I never knew there was another way. I hope that some day you will be able to forgive me"

Christine began to cry, a hurt and devastated look on her face that he wouldn't rush to her aid and that her distress caused no reaction from him.

It was apparent to everyone in the room that she had no idea how badly she'd hurt him. She was still very much a child; suddenly Erik felt nothing but pity for the young Vicomte.

Christine fled the room crying, unable to tolerate the looks from her husband, Gabrielle and Erik.

When the remaining occupants heard the carriage pull away they relaxed a bit. Raoul rubbed the bridge of his nose, clearly exhausted.

"I'm sorry for her intrusion Gabrielle. She's not well…her doctor assures me once the babe is born she should return to herself. I thought she might try to search you out Erik" the young aristocrat said as he sunk into one of the high winged back chairs.

The two lovers sat themselves opposite him on the divan. Looking more tired than Gabrielle had ever seen Raoul ran his hands through his hair before saying "I…I don't know what to do. She's not well and I have no idea how to help her"

Gabrielle sat forward "I'm sorry Raoul, I'd hoped for better for you. You deserve much more than this"

Erik shifted uncomfortably next to her, unused to this easy camaraderie between the siblings.

"Will you two marry?" Raoul asked after a tense moment.

Erik's head snapped up, his eyes narrowed but Gabrielle calmed him with a touch of her hand "I don't know Raoul." She admitted and opened her mouth to continue when Erik interrupted her "I want Gabrielle to be sure she knows what she's getting herself into" he caressed her cheek "If she will have me, eventually yes"

Raoul nodded "I will do my best to smooth your way with the Comte" he smiled weakly at his sister "Though Philippe has never refused Gabrielle anything"

"Thank you Vicomte"

Raoul stood and pulled Gabrielle to him for a hug and kiss "I'm glad to see you happy pigeon" she grinned at the pet name she'd had since childhood that her brothers had not used in ages.

He departed quickly, leaving Gabrielle and Erik to themselves. Gabrielle turned to her companion "Eventually?" she asked softly, disheartened that he seemed to be in no hurry to marry her. Every night she went to bed alone was getting more and more difficult.

Erik pulled her to him, resting his cheek on her head "Gabrielle, it's for your own good" he sighed before pulling her over to the divan "I want you to be sure"

Gabrielle laughed "Erik" she took his face in her hands, peeling the mask away something he'd only recently allowed so she could touch his face "I have never been more sure of anything in my life" she kissed his deformed cheek, something that still made his eyes bright with tears "I have never loved anyone as I love you Erik. I want you in every sense of the word. Every night I go to sleep alone and I miss you" she kissed the corner of his mouth.

Erik was powerless to stop himself as he pulled her to him for kiss that stole his breath away. His dear sweet Gabrielle, every sigh, every kiss restored a piece of his broken heart. Without her he would surely be dead. "Then perhaps I should speak to the Comte?"

With a girlish giggle she hugged him enthusiastically, making him laugh at her glee. "Then I shall," he promised.

They remained on the divan, wrapped in each other's arms until the clock rang ten times. It was with regret that Erik parted with his lover to return to his own flat, which was quickly becoming unbearably lonely without his little aristocrat to breath light and love into it.

After arriving at his flat he flung himself into his large armchair and sat before the empty hearth thinking about how much his life had changed. Thinking back to the childish selfish child from Gabrielle's library he could not feel anything but relief at not winning Christine's hand. Christine had done nothing but hurt him, lie to him and lead him on while Gabrielle…Gabrielle had given him 'everything', she'd accepted his face though she always had, she'd given him her body and soul. She was truly a gift, one he wasn't willing to squander. If he was what she wanted who was he to deny her that happiness.

It was with that in mind that Erik requested an audience with Philippe, Comte De Chagny the next morning. He waited anxiously in the study the butler had left him in.

Erik had waited only a few moments when the elder De Chagny entered.

Erik gave a small bow before taking Philippe's proffered hand.

"It is indeed a pleasure to meet you, Comte De Chagny."

Philippe waved a hand dismissively.

"Please, call me Philippe, I don't much stand on formality," he remarked, gesturing for Erik to be seated, which he did a bit hesitantly. "I must say," the Comte, continued, "I was a bit surprised when I received your rather cryptic message."

"Ah, for that I apologize. There is a matter I wish to discuss with you." Erik began hesitantly but was interrupted by the Comte who waved the explanation off with a careless hand "No need for that. The Vicomte came to visit me a few days ago and made your case for you" his eyes flickered to the mask for a second "I'm sure you've noticed that my sister has never been denied anything by myself or Raoul…or our parents for that matter" he said a bit gruffly though Erik could see the affection in the older man's eyes as he spoke of his sister.

"So long as you promise to treat her right" his eyes hardened for a moment "and make her happy I can deny her nothing" his hands were spread in a gesture of supplication.

Erik felt relief at this "I will do all in my power to make her happy"

"Yes" Philippe's eyes twinkled "I'm sure you will." The Comte sat behind his desk "Now don't you have a proposal to make?" he asked with a smile.

Erik assured Philippe that he had not only the means to keep Gabrielle in the manner which she was accustomed he also informed the Comte that he had designed a villa outside of Rome that was currently being constructed that was to be their home…if Gabrielle wished it.

"Can't say I like the idea of her being so far away" the Comte started out, his eyes growing distant "But I can understand your desire to be away from the prying eyes of Parisian society. And I think Gabrielle has had enough troubles with society…what with the troubles our brother is having at the moment. Poor pigeon has always been the one to save face for the family's sake" the older gentleman pulled himself up and offered Erik his hand "I hope you and my sister will be happy, leave me the address of your man of business and I'll have my solicitor send over the needed documents for Gabrielle's dowry"

"That is unnecce-" Erik was cut of mid sentence by Philippe.

"This was our fathers wish Erik, she will continue to collect her annuity from our fathers estate…he wanted her to have all the independence she wanted from her future husband, as well as a generous settlement for you. It is no hardship and I will sleep better at night for it"

"Very well" Erik said after a long few moments of thought.

"You will have to work out what Gabrielle wishes to do with her house, it is in her name…"

Erik waved off the thought "She will of course keep the house in her name and do with it as she pleases"

Erik took the hint and returned to his flat almost in a daze. All that was left was to procure a ring…and of course propose to Gabrielle.