Chapter 12: The musical

The two went to Palace Theatre and Christine hummed Disney tunes excitedly. She had her hand in Erik's and she grinned up at him. "You're not too disappointed that I chose a modern musical?"

"I actually find the subject quite enjoyable." He winked at her.

"Oh yeah? Why's that?" she asked hesitantly.

"The beast gets the beauty." He squeezed her hand, "Sounds familiar."

"Oh hush," she said sheepishly and pulled him close. "You are perfect… Absolutely perfect."

"Nonsense." They got in their seats and Erik looked up at the stage. "Are you excited to start performing?"

"Me? Perform here?" she giggled. "Yeah right."

"I could see you up there."

"I doubt I could ever make it up there."

"Of course you could, and you will." He smiles at her.

"You always believed in me," she purred to herself.

"Can't help it." The lights went down and the show started. Erik looked eagerly towards the stage.

Christine had thought this would be a good idea, but the plot line of the musical had gotten her to thinking about their past and she had turn awfully pale.

Erik looked over at her and whispered, "Christine are you okay? She just nodded and closed her eyes. She couldn't find her voice.

"Let's get you some air…" He helped her out of her seat and to the lobby.

"N-no I'm okay," she murmured, but went out with him anyway. She was panting softly and ran a hand across her forehead.

"Christine you don't look good. Let's get you home."

"I-I'm fine, Erik," she sighed. "I just need a minute…"

"I'll get you some water…" He went over to the concession stand.

While he was gone, Christine sat down and felt tremors wracking her body. This is what usually happened when she recalled the past. It was much worse when she first remembered, in fact; she had actually fainted that day. "Of course this had to happen now," she growled to herself. She placed her hand on her forehead to try and calm herself down, as memories flashed before her eyes. She hoped Erik would take a little longer because she felt ill.

Erik had to hunt down someone to buy some water. It took him a good ten minutes before he came back to her, "Sorry it took so long. Here you go." Christine didn't look much better when he got back. She gotten paler and her hands shook as she took the water.

"Thank you, my Erik," she breathed out.

"Christine...let me take you home. You're pale."

"I'm sure there's nothing wrong," she sighed and took a long drink. "I'll be alright. I don't want to ruin our evening."

"Nonsense. Maybe you should lie down. We could put in a movie and lay in bed."

"I-I guess," she murmured in disappointment. She knew that once the memories hit, then they'd be hitting all day long. She should've known better after the dream she had last night, to stay in today.

They got in a cab and headed home. Erik was worried about her and kept trying to figure out her symptoms. When they got back he made her lay in bed and continued asking what she needed.

"Love, I'm okay, really I am," Christine stated tiredly. "Come and lay down with me." He nodded and got into bed with her.

"What do you want to watch?"

"I don't care, I'm probably gonna sleep or something," she yawned.

"Okay." He put on a random movie and held her. He laughed every so often, he was so happy with her even though she wasn't feeling great. They laid together and Christine fell asleep, but it didn't help her get any better. Erik noticed that even as she "peacefully" slept, she got to a ghostly white and trembled in his arms. She was having horrible nightmares.

Erik had put on some music, hoping it would calm her in her. He tried to go to sleep but he was still worried about her. They were like that for a while; Meg peeked her head through the door and frowned.

"Hey… Thought you'd guys weren't gonna get back until later," she murmured. "Everything okay?"

Erik whispered back, "She's not feeling well. She got really pale during the show."

"Oh," she didn't seem too worried about it, figuring out what was wrong immediately. "I'm sure she's fine."

"I don't know...maybe she should see a doctor…"

Meg just chuckled, "Really, Erik, she's okay. Just let her sleep." She left the room. Her attitude about her best friend being sick was odd. Erik frowned to himself and ended up eventually falling asleep as well.

The next morning, he woke up just as the sun rose since they had gone to bed so early and in his arms, Christine looked so much better. He smiled and kissed her forehead before silently getting up to make breakfast. The other three took awhile to get up since it was Sunday, but Christine was the first to enter the kitchen. She looked perfectly fine too, as if nothing had happened yesterday. Erik was already dressed and ready to go for the day. He smiled at her when she got up.

"Hey baby! How are you feeling?"

She answered him cheerily, "Much better, thank you! What are you cooking?"

"French toast, I hope you're hungry. It's all ready and there's coffee too." He grabbed his bag.

"That sounds good," she smiled and sat down at the table. She was curious though as to why he was digging in his bag, hoping he wasn't going to leave today. However to her disappointment, he slung the bag over his shoulder and slipped on his shoes. "Wh-where are you going, babe?"

"Church!" He came over and kissed her, "I'll see you at noon!" He quickly left and Nadir rolled his eyes as he sat down for breakfast.

"I don't know how he gets up this early on a Sunday."

"What the fuck?" Christine snapped. "Erik Destler, the phantom of the opera, the feared opera ghost, and angel of death… Goes to church?!"

Nadir grunted and ate some bacon, "He sings in the choir."

"Dammit that makes sense," she grumbled and munched on her toast. "And damn him if I don't love him even more for it."

Meg sat beside her, "It's actually very beautiful. Maybe we should all go next Sunday."

"I would love that," Christine grinned and leaned against her. "Especially if I get to hear him sing…"

"You know, I never did before...like in the past." She frowned at her plate. "Except at his opera, but that's not the same."

"It's unlike anything in this entire world. It's like that feeling you get when you're about to fall asleep… That feeling of being wrapped up in warmth and comfort," she purred. "Like falling in love and being cared for."

Nadir and Meg looked at one another and burst out laughing. "Damn Chris, when's the last time you two had sex?" Nadir teased.

"Fuck you," Christine growled, blushing furiously and got up. "You have no idea what it's like for him to look at me and not see me the way you look at Meg. He has no idea who I really am, asshole. Excuse me for missing the love of my life." She shook with rage and stomped out of the room.

They both watched her walk away and Meg sighed, "I'll go talk to her…" She knocked on her door. "Chrissy?"

"What?" she groaned from the other side of the door.

"Can I come in?"

"It's opened," she mumbled. She was sitting on her and Erik's bed, hugging his pillow.

She sat beside him, "Chrissy...You know Erik is madly in love with you, even if he doesn't remember the past."

"It's not Erik that's bothering me," Christine said sadly. "It's just me."

She frowned, "What do you mean?"

"It's the memories," she whispered. "They're what warm you up from the inside… But they're also what tear you apart."

"You're letting them… You have to appreciate what you have now and try to let go of the past. Erik loves you and he's here for you… You two finally can be together just focus on that. You'll have the life you have always wanted."

"Yeah," she whispered and rubbed her face. "I know… I know, I should be happy and I should be grateful! It's just hard when in the back of my mind I'm in the past, and then I have to focus on the present. Sometimes I see him as my opera ghost and then it fades back into h-him… This perfect guy. God he's fucking perfect. I don't understand why this keeps happening, Meg."

"You don't want him to be perfect?"

"N-no, I do… But I just don't get it. You two don't get sick when you think of the past. Why is it Erik has no idea who he is and anytime I get a "painful" reminder, I'm comatose for the whole day?" Christine snapped.

"I don't know…" She mumbled and looked away.

"I just wish we'd both have a normal relationship for once," she sighed.

"As far as he knows, it is normal."

"Yeah," she mumbled. "Look, I think I'm gonna search for a job or internship at the university or around town. I need a good distraction for today." She got up from her bed.

"Okay…" Meg got up and went to finish her breakfast. Christine got dressed and went to the university, applying for a job at the library. Erik called her after church.

"Hey baby! Want to go to lunch?"

"Yeah, honey, I'm at the college," she sounded tired. These past two days were really taxing on her. "Wanna meet up at the diner on campus?"

"Yeah, I'll meet you there!" Erik was there a few minutes later and was all smiles.

She raised her eyebrows and chuckled at him. "How was church, my Erik?"

He kisses her, "Great! I had a solo." He grins and sits across from her.

"I was thinking that next Sunday I could go see you sing, Meg and Nadir wanna come too," she said with a façade of cheeriness. She didn't want to seem tired in front of him.

"That would be great! Father Andre is a very good man." He opened a menu. He visibly saw her shudder at that name.

"F-father… Andre, you said?" she stammered.

"Hm? Yes. Do you know him?"

"Umm," she cleared her throat. "The name is familiar."

"It's a pretty common name love. I think I'll get a chicken salad."

"Not as common as you would think," she grumbled to herself and then nodded. "I think I'll have the same." The waitress came over and Erik ordered for them. He sipped his water and smiled at her.

"So, what did you do today?"

"I applied for a job today," she smiled slightly. "Figured it'd help with my citizenship and give me something else to do."

"Oh? Where at?"

"The college library. They needed people to help out with college funds. My inheritance can't cover it all."

"Your inheritance?"

"W-well… Yeah? I mean I told you my dad was dead before I left for Sweden…" she tilted her head. "I have about thirty thousand dollars to my name." Christine didn't mind talking about it; she was used to her dad being gone at this point.

"Oh...you never said. You said you didn't have much as a kid."

"Sure I saw that and I said it was because of my foster home. We never really had too much money to have really nice things, but I didn't mind. Best life I could ask for," she said nonchalantly. "I'd rather be in a home like that, then not have any home at all."

"Yes, I understand." Their food came and Erik ate eagerly. The subject of Christine's dad churned her stomach a little and she picked at her food.

"I'm sorry...I didn't mean to upset you."

"Hmm? Oh it doesn't bother me," she gave him a little smile and shrugged. "It's just a bit of a sore subject."

"Yes… So, tomorrow is Monday. What classes do you have?"

"Oh the usual shit," she shrugged. "Music theory, appreciation, and then the basic shit like math and composition. Then of course at the end of the day we both have theatre together."

"Well I probably won't see you until theatre. I have all of my business classes in the morning."

"Yeah that's what I figured," she sighed. "It's okay, I'm just glad I get to see you at the end of the day." Christine took his hand from across the table. He smiled and kissed her hands.

"I love you so much," Erik sighed happily.

"I love you too, babe." She leaned over and kissed him. He smiled against her lips. He was inconceivably in love with her.