Chapter 13: Cruel irony

Christine and Erik spent everyday together. No matter how much time they spent together, it never seemed to be enough. Nadir, Meg, and Christine went to see Erik in the church choir that next Sunday and Christine made sure to go every Sunday after that. The four of them got to be even closer than they were over a hundred years ago and Christine slowly began to get over her memories. At least… She was beginning to.

During theatre, they were finishing up the props and Christine got a very bad feeling about everything and how familiar it all looked. "Oh god," she murmured when she saw the costumes. "Oh god, oh god, oh god, no." There was a white mask being held up by the professor and the students starting laughing.

"Well ladies and gents, I decided to have a little fun this year and turn our little stage into a much tinier version of Majestic. We are doing Phantom of the Opera for our opening musical this year," Professor Firmin stated proudly. Everyone seemed rather excited except Christine and Erik.

Erik had never liked the show...it hit a little too close to home so he had all but forgotten about it until now. He sat down next to Christine, "Wouldn't it be funny if we were both the leads?"

"Oh believe me," Christine growled. "We probably will."

"Now that I think about it...there are some similarities."

"It's best if you don't think about it. I fucking hate Andrew Lloyd Webber," she hissed.

Erik chuckled, "Why such hostility?"

"Because him and Leroux are nosy little cock suckers who need to mind their own goddamn business," she snapped and stomped off.

Erik looked over at her in shock. "Tell us how you really feel Christine."

She sighed and shook her head. "Sorry I just… Hate that storyline a lot."

"Why?" he questioned. "It's just a story."

"Because I think it's real… A little bit, and I think it's really, really sad." Erik gave her a look and turned his gaze back to the teacher. He didn't want to upset her by saying anything. "What?" Christine murmured and when he didn't answer her, she spoke again. "No, no, what were you gonna say?"

Erik sighed, "Let's talk about this later."

She frowned deeply and got really anxious about that. After class, Christine walked up to him. "What is it?"

"You're just being ridiculous. It's just a show." He started heading to the train.

"Excuse me?" she chuckled irritably and followed him closely. "Do I not have the right to my own opinion, Mr. I don't like modern musicals?"

"Sure you can, but you don't need to despise the people who are trying to make a living just like the rest of us. Weather you like it or not, this musical has been running longer than any here. You have to have some kind of respect for that at least."

"I have no respect for that nosy man! He should've been minding his own business," she growled lowly. "He shouldn't have been anywhere near that opera house even if he was a reporter. After that chandelier crashed, he just wouldn't let it alone."

"You're being insane! It's just a story!" He got on the train and sat down next to her.

"You're being kind of an ass, Erik," she narrowed her eyes at him. "Why can't you just accept the fact that I don't like it, hmm? It's not hurting you at all."

"Because you don't have any valid reasons! Do you know how hard it is to make it in this business? They found a story that could work for them, so they used it!" Some of the people were starting to look at them in the car.

Christine gave them a "mind your own business look" and glared up at Erik. "You have no idea, Erik. If you had any idea the personal connection I have to this story, then you wouldn't be saying this. Yeah, yeah it's a famous story, but I don't like it. I don't like it because it hits too damn close to home."

"HOW?!" He shakes his head and marches out of their train station and to the house. "Because you have the same name as the girl? That's ridiculous! I have the same name as the murdering lunatic but you don't see me crying over it!" They got in the elevator in their building.

"HE'S NOT A MURDERING LUNATIC!" She hissed at him, but Christine suddenly stopped her arguing when she saw it: that familiar look in his eyes. That enraged, fiery, fierce look her Erik would get… She felt her heart race and she suddenly pinned him up against the wall, kissing him roughly.

Erik was going to argue back but he gasped in surprise when she kissed him. He kissed her back, giving in to his desires. He would never deny her lips. The elevator stopped at their floor and he dragged her inside to his room where he quickly laid her on the bed. Christine didn't say anything more and nearly tore his clothes off. They had vaguely heard Nadir and Meg laughing at them as they stumbled into his room. They made love quickly and roughly, not sparing any desires.

After, Erik held her in his arms and smirked to himself tiredly. "That was good."

"You're so goddamn sexy when you're mad…" she moaned.

"Hmm, I don't like fighting with you but the sex was great," he chuckled tiredly. His breathing started to deepen and in minutes he was asleep.

Christine kissed his forehead and pulled on one of his shirts, going out to face the two roommates who were right outside the door. She needed to have an 1890's chat with them.

They were both on the couch, surprisingly close to one another but quickly pulled apart when she came in, "Oh, hey." Meg smirked.

"Hey losers," Christine grinned and plopped down on the couch with them. "I hope I'm not interrupting."

"Nope. You have fun?"

"Hell yeah," she sighed in delight. "We got into this huge blowout fight and I saw that old spark of my old Erik. It got me so hot…" She cleared her throat awkwardly. "Umm, anyway, it turns out the opening musical this year is Phantom and I blew up."

They both stared at her in shock. "He doesn't think it's weird that you're performing that though?"

"Nope, in fact, he defended it the entire time," she chuckled. "Ironic right?"

"Wow. He's gonna regret that one day."

"Right? I called Webber and Leroux a… Oh what was it?" Christine laughed hard. "Oh right, nosy little cock suckers who needed to mind their own goddamn business."

Nadir and Meg both laughed with her. "So, you saw a spark of him?"

"Hell. Yes. You know that flaming look he'd get in his eyes when he was about to really lose it? That's my old Erik right in my perfect one. He's sexy as hell," she purred.

"Be careful...it might be bad if he remembers."

"I completely agree," she sighed. "This musical is gonna be a complete wreck for us all. He's going to remember… H-he has to after all this. We're both going to get the lead, that's obvious."

"That makes sense…" Meg agreed.

Erik came in and curled up against her. "Mmm hi."

"Hey, cutie," she giggled and kissed all over his face. "Goddamn I love you so much with your sex hair."

"Mm love you too," he mumbled tiredly. He had been up at 5 a.m. that day and went to five classes.

Christine giggled and leaned down, kissing him upside down. "Mm saw that out of Spiderman once. I always to try it, my tired boy."

"Come back to bedddd," he whined playfully. It was only almost six in the afternoon.

"Fine, fine," she smirked. "Good evening, you two. Go back to whatever it is you were doing." Christine got up and dragged Erik back to bed despite the time and snuggled with him.

Erik curled up with her and smiled as he closed his eyes. "Mm, you're so comfortable."

"Mhmm," Christine sighed and kissed his forehead. "Goodnight, my Erik."