Chapter 13.5

The clock had just signaled one o'clock, and Meg felt no closer to sleep than she did when she laid down hours ago. She couldn't put her mind to rest from the events of the past few days, that felt like she had been thrown upside-down. She felt such excitement in learning everything there is know about the man she was going to marry, it almost overwhelmed her. He was so complex, and yet she felt she always knew what exactly was on his mind. So quick to let anger overwhelm his very being, but delivers perfectly constructed and sincere apologies. Meg didn't know whether to be frightened of him or fascinated of him.

But, she loved him. Loved his mending spirit, and broken heart. admonished his dark humor, and admired his loving soul. He loved with his whole being, and detested with the fire of Hades. But in all his complexities and honest feelings, was a man, lost inside his own body, desperate to love and be loved in return; a beast transforming into a beauty.

Sitting up in the bed that Erik had insisted she take, she distantly heard the fire crackle from the front room he was sleeping on the couch in, Meg was left wondering if Erik was as restless as she was.

She wrapped herself in the quilt from her bed, and walked gingerly down the creaking steps. But as she approached the couch her Phantom was supposed to be occupying, she noticed it was empty, and panic momentarily grasped at her chest. Desperately trying to convince herself that he hadn't been frightened off by being forced back into his childhood nightmare by her, she searched the rest of the house, finding no trace of him but an open book laid on the floor of the front room.

Dimly, and barely, lit only by the moonlight, she saw him, standing at the base of a large tree at the edge of the property. Slipping on a pair of shoes, and in a moment of anxiety and vanity, she made sure her braid was still in tact after rolling restlessly around in her bed. Silently, she approached him, watching him look on at the, seemingly, endless meadow. Oh, she loved this man. Such admiration and feeling rose up from the pit of her stomach, she thought for sure he could just feel her bubbling spirit approaching him, but he remained transfixed until she was standing on his right.

"Meg," Erik whispered, though he had not broken his staring contest with the valley. "haven't you ever learned not to sneak up on the elderly?"

Meg laughed quietly in the silence of the country, "Shall I aid you in sitting down, or can your old knees handle it?" She patted the place next to her, the ground was wet with dew, but she didn't mind. It just served as a reminder that she was finally here, with him. He silently sat on the roots next to her. "I was starting to believe you had run away, when I came down the stairs you were just- gone."

He scoffed quietly, unaccusingly, and looked away from her imploring eyes. "I would think, madame, that it is you who should be running from me?" He playfully retorted. She grabbed his hand, cupping his face at the same time, and forced him to look at her once more.

"You couldn't get rid of me, even if you wanted." She was quite serious, but Erik was laughing at her. "Don't laugh at me, you bear of a man!"

"I don't mean to poke fun, my love," He chuckled. "But you seem to forget that you are the only reason I am alive to have this conversation. I have thought of running, I won't hesitate to lie to you, but only because I am afraid of what expectation you might have that I can't live up to."

"The only expectation I've ever had, Erik, is to have you here with me always. You are the only thing I think about at night, and the only person I want to see when I'm awake; and I know it's terribly inappropriate for a lady to be sitting here, babbling on about her intentions in a nightgown, alone, at night, but I can't bring myself to care."

He said nothing to her then, but chuckled silently to himself- afraid he might upset her again, in which case he didn't know what she was capable of. He wrapped his arms around her, and only hoped his silent gesture could confirm all the feelings he couldn't put into words for this woman.

He loved her, that much had been obvious, but from what he has put himself through, he was surprised he could even love at all, and then he looks at her, her cheeky smile and tinkling laugh, her fire red spirit, and passion, and nothing else matters to him. All that matters is Meg. Erik finally found himself excited about the future, and what he could accomplish with Meg soon-to-be Destler by his side.

Meg's soft, even breaths told him she was soundly asleep so he pulled her snugly against himself, and wrapped the blanket around himself, falling into a dreamless sleep of his own.

A/n: A short little half chapter I wrote on the fly, just to get some last minute feels out, and then I lost my train of thought so it's a little thrown together and awkward. Oh well.

Hope you enjoyed!