A/N: Hi, I know it's been quite some time but other commitments will not leave me alone long enough for me to write! So forgive me if this chapter doesn't seem quite up to scratch, but I've been trying so hard to find time to write it for you!

As always thank you all so much for continuing to read and review. Hope you guys are still interested in this story despite the wait! (",)

This chapter is Erik's POV first, then a little of Christine's at the end (her POV didn't need to be too long this time as, essentially, it would only be like repetition of Erik's thoughts in this case).

I must apologise as this may seem like a bit of a short filler chapter but everything happens for a reason & this is necessary in showing how not everything is fixed by "I love you". Sometimes it complicates things even further... ;-)

Well hopefully you all enjoy!

Please don't forget to review!

Chapter 11

In Love With A Stranger

Who are we really?

Does anyone truly know themselves or are we all just strangers pretending to be familiar?

Beyond the restraints of society and fear, in the depths of our souls…Who are we? Can love answer that question?

- Extract from Erik's Journal

My God, this was beautiful madness!

Surely I had died and somehow snuck into Heaven for nothing had ever felt as wonderful as Christine's lips upon my own.

Over and over those breathtaking words played in my mind. They sang through my blood and made my heart almost beat out of my chest. I was experiencing every ridiculous cliché about love which I, in my loneliness, had scorned.

Because Erik…I love you…I love you….Erik….I love you…love…

Was there ever a sweeter sound than my Christine boldly declaring her love for me? Love which I surely couldn't deny, not in that glorious moment. I could compose entire operas from the sound of those words and the reaction they provoked in me.

Never would I have been so bold as to embrace my beloved Christine in such a way before.

But her words made me feel bold.

For once I felt as though I had the right to touch her.

Who had I become? I barely knew myself in that moment.

So often I had dreamed of holding her, touching her…but I had detested myself for my thoughts. I had thought that I would never fulfil my useless desires.

What loathsome sinner could dare to win the affections of an Angel as pure as she?

I had been unworthy then…unworthy of touching her or loving her.

I was a tainted creation only capable of ruining her, and she was so good…so breakable…

But she was here now, in my arms, and she was not broken. She did not seem ruined or damaged…she seemed whole…

Had I done that? Did I truly complete her as she completed me?

She had wilted in my absence, and now, that precious girl gloried in my presence.

She held me to her as though I were the precious one. How had this happened?

What had changed between us to allow this to occur? I had returned to her fully expecting to watch her leave me. I was allowing her freedom and instead she bound me to her tighter than ever before.

She wanted me, she loved me. For me she left Paris…for me she left that boy, Raoul. Raoul, hah! I could think his name now and it didn't matter! It didn't hurt because she loved me. She was with Erik, not him!

The intensity between us grew, as I became ever more euphoric in my lovesick musings. I held her tighter, kissed her deeper. Kissed her as best I could, so that she would never forget my embrace.! The embrace of the man she loved.

She moaned in a sweet, contented manner.

It was a sound I had never heard her make before. And it almost made me pause in my kisses for a moment. Though Christine didn't seem to notice.

There was something about that sound that bothered me almost as much as it pleased me.

I had heard my beloved sing so as to make the angels weep, I had heard her laugh and cry. She had raised her voice in anger at me and whispered to me tenderly.

But I had never heard her sound like that before…so passionate and in love.

It seemed strange and unfamiliar…

I had always known that my dear Christine was a young woman capable of great fire and passion. It shone through in her voice but I had never expected to witness the blooming of this delicate rose.

I had told her that she was changing, and she was…but how much?

No one knew Christine like I did, sometimes not even she, I believe. I had known her as a girl, timid and mournful but with a fire within her waiting to be ignited. I had known her as a student, dedicated and talented with the ability to bring the world to its knees. She had been my muse and my one joy for all the time I had known her.

But I did not know her as a woman; and if there was one thing my Christine had suddenly become it was a woman, right before my very eyes…here, in my arms…

I did not know her as a man knows the woman he loves.

I did not know her.

What did she expect from me now? What more could I give her? I wanted to give her everything but would she want it? I did not know what she wanted from me. Should I have known? Suddenly my joy was clouded by terror. Foolish, childlike terror.

I had never been loved before, I could not understand what it meant for our relationship. We had never openly been more than maestro and protégé. We had never kissed like this, never spoken of our feeling so candidly.

This day had changed everything and I was terrified.

I wanted this more than anything, I always had. My Christine…willing…loving…

But where did we go from here? We were not the same as we were before. Christine was no longer a child, and I was no longer a Ghost.

All that had not changed, it seemed, was my love for her. I still loved her desperately, perhaps even more so now. And so I was deathly afraid of disappointing her.

It seemed that my battles were not finished just yet, but Lord knows I would fight for Christine forever. And that is exactly what I was faced with. I would have to learn to be all that she needed in this new role of lover that I found myself in.

It would certainly be the role of a lifetime.

What a twist in the tale, certainly no audience would have expected it.

But most of all I would have to learn to understand the enigma that was the girl-turned-woman that I loved. I could not command her anymore, I was not her teacher.

I could not frighten her anymore, I was not the Opera Ghost.

I was Erik, I was the man she loved.

Pulling back from her tempting lips, I regarded her in the same shocked sort of awe, with which she regarded me.

I had a feeling that a similar realisation had struck her too.

My God, she was beautiful. She was perfection, even with her flaws.

And suddenly she was a stranger.

I was in love with a stranger.

It was as beautiful as it was terrifying.

Christine's POV

I was frozen by fear and fascination as we stared at one another.

I could tell that we both thought the same thing.

How foolish we must have looked. But I could not think of that at that moment, I was too busy trying to process my thoughts correctly.

Surely I was being ridiculous. There was no need to be so fearful, so girlishly nervous. I had know Erik forever it seemed. I knew of the darkness and the light constantly at war within him. I had witnessed his genius firsthand, I had even inspired it on occasion, (or so he told me). I had felt his passion and his pain.

I knew him more than I had ever known anyone.

He possessed, not just my heart, but my very soul.

And yet, there was much left for me to learn. He was a man now to me in a way he had never been before. Even when he had revealed himself to be no more than flesh and blood, he had still remained somewhat unattainable, untouchable in the secret corners of my mind.

But now…I was finally his and he was mine. He was no longer untouchable.

Was I not here in his arms? He was holding me, he had boldly kissed me with more love than I had ever felt before.

So why did I feel nervous as well as excited at the thought?

Erik was a complex man, and there was much about him that I was still trying to understand. This very human man that he was with me now was unfamiliar to me.

I did not know him.

Yet surely the worst was over now that we were together…

But everything would be different now…We were different now.

We were equals. We were inexperienced. But most importantly we were in love.

And oh, how I loved him! My human Angel.

It was madness really…I barely knew myself anymore.

I was in love with a stranger.

It was as beautiful as it was terrifying.

What happens when you finally have the one you love? The one you have loved for so long and never thought to have? Everything is new…exciting and terrifying!

In essence…you become strangers to one another again.

Strangers in love…

- Extract from Christine's Diary

So there ya have it...any thoughts?

Please let me know, I do so love those opinions of yours (",)

x Restless And Tempted x