Chapter 15: Dear old friend

From then on out, Christine didn't recall the past and she didn't have memory shocks anymore. Things were going perfectly with the musical as well as between her and Erik. She was getting all A's in her classes and so was Erik and she had gotten that job in the college library to keep her busy. She was conforming solidly into her new life and had been going strong for weeks until one day, Raoul showed up in the library.

He strolled on up to the desk she was sitting behind.

"My, my, what do we have here?" He smirked at her.

"Fuck," Christine grumbled and didn't look away from the book she had just placed on the shelf. "What do you want, de Chagny, I am very, very busy."

"That's all you have to say to me?"

"Yes and no," she gave him a sickly sweet grin, finally meeting his eyes, only to find that the awful bully from high school had grown up into a man she used to know. "I have nothing to say to you, but ever since I completely learned English, my curse word vocabulary has grown quite extensively. Take your pick."

"That is no way to talk to your husband, Christine." His smirk grew.

"Ah, so that's why you came down here, hmm?" Christine growled and narrowed her eyes at him. "Well my darling hubby, you can take that hundred-year-old marriage and shove it up your ass. You couldn't let go of what happened with Erik and now it seems you still can't."

She then pleasantly smiled again and gathered her things to go.

"Christine… wait," he murmured in a way that did make her stop. "Look, I'm sorry about what happened both in the past and in high school. But I don't think it's right that you're with him. What if he remembers, but in the wrong time? What if… What if he hurts you."

Christine stood up and continued to put her things into her bag, but in an angry way anymore. She chose to listen.

"Raoul, it seems as though Erik won't remember, so I have decided to forget. Perhaps you should do the same," she sighed. "Come and walk with me."

"Y-you're gonna talk with me?" he truly sounded surprised and quickly followed her out of the library where they could speak better.

They found a bench outside the building and Christine bid him to take a seat.

"Listen to me, Raoul. I know whatever you must be feeling from the past is strong. You're probably feeling protective, noble, maybe even a little scared, but things have changed now. I'm very independent, I live with Erik, and… I'm really happy with the way things are going, okay?"

Raoul hung his head in defeat. "I just can't help how I feel about you, nor can he. I just want to make things right, Christine. I want you."

She took his hand sympathetically. For the first time in this life, they were getting along, maybe even better than they did in the past life. They listened to one another with open hearts.

"I know, but Raoul, you and I… This isn't our second chance to be together," Christine said gently. "This is for everyone to make things right, to be with the right people, to make a change. I don't think it would work out between us. I'm sorry."

Christine gave his hand a gentle kiss and stood up, giving him a little smile. That was their goodbye and Raoul just sat there, watching her go.

Erik and Christine didn't see one another until rehearsals that day. She didn't feel guilty for her talk with Raoul, it was going to happen someday, but she decided to text him. It was really for her own sake, making the silence go away from the thoughts of the past that plagued her mind ever since she saw the face of her previous husband.

"Hey babe, how was your shitty classes today?" she texted in a rush.

Unfortunately for her, he didn't reply all day, which made her day all the worse. By the time they saw one another, Erik already had the prosthetics on and he was in a chair with his head lolled back like he was dead.

The sight of him cat napping after classes made her smile. She walked past him with a textbook in hand and dropped it on his lap, startling him awake.

"Oof!" He choked out and sat up straight. When he saw that it was Christine, he smiled rambunctiously. "Well hello to you too, cutie."

"Uh huh," she chuckled and picked up a strawberry that was set out for the cast. "How was your day, le fantome?"

He rolled his eyes and answered, "Utterly boring and pointless. You?"

She just shrugged and tossed the end of the strawberry in the trash.

"Same shit, different day."

"You should get ready, love. We need to be on stage in fifteen minutes."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Last couple rehearsals," Christine said with false excitement. "Have you got the character down?"

"Yeah," he nodded slowly. "I've been doing some research and watching videos online of other actors."

"Huh… You know, I think the guy who nails the character the most is Hugh Panaro. Erik was kind of childish, honestly, and Hugh acted that out the best. He would go from being a menace one second to being afraid of you the next. You might wanna try that," she suggested.

"Yes, I think I will. Some of us were thinking about going to see it on Broadway before opening night."

"Oh," Christine mumbled, but then lightened up her voice. "That's great. It'll be nice for the cast members to do some bonding before show time."

"Yeah," Erik smiled and kissed her. "Okay now off with you, mademoiselle! I need some time to get into character and you need to get dressed."

"I bid you adieu, monsieur le fantome," she giggled and gave a mock curtsey before leaving.

The cast met out on stage for rehearsals and Erik entered in looking very dapper, which made Christine smile down at her feet. They all started from the top. Christine particularly favored the masquerade ball scene. She gave Webber credit for making her Erik look especially "bold" in his costuming. Even as the two of them went through the final lair scene, Christine didn't faint and she frankly didn't care. She had accepted the fact that her Erik was never coming back and she had found a way to be okay with that.

The show went wonderfully and they all had quite a bit of fun. Christine had never seen Erik so happy before. He was made to be a performer, but better yet, was accepted, which made her all the more proud and happy for him. They went out for drinks later with Meg and Nadir, who noticed how happy the couple was and how different things were now that Christine had decided to let go of the past.

"Maybe it wasn't a bad decision after all," Meg murmured to Nadir when they were getting ready to go to the bar. "Maybe it's for the best."

"Yes," he sighed as he watched Erik and Christine. "I just hope that it stays this way. That she made this decision for nothing… And that this modern Christine can accept the modern Erik."

"Only time will tell."

He nodded in agreement.

That evening, Erik got plastered drunk and kept ordering drinks for everyone. He ended up nuzzling against Christine's cheek like a cat at one point.

"Oh my god," she giggled hard. "You're so fucking cute when you're off your ass drunk."

"Mm… You're so warm," he sighed, his breath smelling thickly of rum. "And soft…"

He slid his hand between her thighs with a boyish giggle, which Christine slapped away. She shook her finger at him and he tried to bite said finger, making Meg laugh at the two of them.

"Christ alive, Erik!" Christine laughed out.

She really wasn't used to him being this forward with her in public. She gave him a chaste kiss on the mouth, which he returned most eagerly, but it was a little sloppy since Jack Daniels had taken the wheel.

"I like you drunk," she growled in his ear before grazing her teeth along his earlobe. "You're not as shy… You're not afraid to take what you want."

"Mmm…" Erik started to speak but was suddenly shaken and yelped in surprise as Nadir spilled his ice water him.

Nadir started laughing hard and stuffing ice cubes down Erik's shirt.

"Fuck you!" Erik groaned and threw the ice cubes at him in retaliation.

Christine and Meg were nearly on the floor, laughing at them and shaking their heads at how childish their boyfriends were.

"Ugh, I'm all wet now," Erik whined.

Nadir laughed to the point that he was nearly crying. They were all having an amazing time and on the verge of an all-out food fight. Erik took the ketchup and started squirting it at Nadir.

All was well until a voice sounded right behind Christine right as she was about to join in on the fight.

"Excuse me?" Her blood ran cold. "Is this seat taken?" It was Raoul, in a very nice suit, and he was getting ready to sit down next to Christine. "Or are the loud drunks across the table going to bother us?"

When Erik heard his voice, he put down the ketchup and glared at him.

"Hey! You can't be here!" His words were slurred.

"Oh can't I?" Raoul chuckled and sat down anyway. "What are you going to do about it anyway?"

He laughed in a way that was charming and most girls would swoon at, but Christine glared and Meg grabbed her arm.

"I'm taking you home, right now," she said in a motherly way, but Raoul stopped her.

"Meg, come now. Christine and I are in the middle of a conversation," he purred.

Erik, fuming with drunken anger, got up and stumbled a bit.

"You," he jabbed his finger at Raoul's chest. "You can't talk to her! She's mine!"

"Really," he smirked at Erik and murmured. "I would hate for her to think otherwise…"

Raoul boldly took a strand of her curly hair. Normally, Christine would've punched him in the face, but she was frozen. The alcohol had numbed her senses.

"I think I know her much better than you do."

"Hey! Don't touch her!"

Erik tried to punch him from across the table, but his swings were way off from hitting Raoul and it was a little pathetic to look at.

"That's enough from the both of you," Christine said, sobering up. "Nadir, calm him down. And you come with me."

Christine got up from the table and took Raoul out to the dancefloor.

"Fuck off you… You um… Pig!" Erik stuttered out as he sat back in his seat with his head against the table. "Mm, I got him…"

Meg and Nadir took care of Erik, who didn't even know Christine was with Raoul.

"Was that really necessary?" Christine snapped. "I thought we straightened things up today."

"Yeah, well," Raoul tried to reason, but there was no other excuse. "Maybe it's because I'm still in love with you! I mean you can't walk away from it all, Christine, there are feelings still there!"

"That was over a century ago and keep your voice down," she snapped as they made their way through the crowd at the bar to the doors.

When they got outside, Raoul took her hands. He held them tightly, desperately.

"Please, Christine," he whispered. "I don't want to see you get hurt by him. I don't want to lose you."

"It's over, Raoul," she sighed and pulled her hands away gently. "I don't want to be the one who hurts you… But you need to get this in your head. You and I… It's not going to happen again. I with Erik and I'm very happy. We're happy together."

Raoul had tears in his eyes and that made Christine feel all the more awful. She agreed that there were feelings still there, but those feelings had faded. They weren't regarded to her anymore because her feelings for Erik had grown past whatever she felt for Raoul. He hugged her back tightly, thumbing his way through her curls.

"Please…"

"If life wanted us to be together, we would've stayed buried in the ground next to one another. I loved you, you were my husband, you were my everything back then, but I'm not that girl by the sea anymore."

Christine pulled away and smiled up at him. She had tears in her eyes too now but was too strong to let them fall. She couldn't cave, not when he was struggling.

"And you're no longer that little boy sopping wet from the ocean water, scarf in hand," she laughed sadly. "It's time to move on, Raoul… It's time to be the people we were meant to be, without the chains of the past. I hope you can move past this… Past me."

He nodded once and wiped the tears from his eyes. He turned to walk away, knowing he wasn't welcome around her or inside the bar anymore. However, before he walked away, he paused and looked back at her.

"You'll always be my little Lotte."

The look he had in his eyes made her smile, finally a tear falling down her cheek. Some of those memories were good ones that she had with him, but they were old and unnecessary now.

"And you'll always be the little vicomte who saved my scarf."

"Goodbye, Christine," he said as he turned away once more. "If there's anything you need… Call."

"Bye, Raoul," she whispered back and quickly headed back into the bar.

When she got back inside, Nadir had gotten Erik up and was dragging him to the door. Meg had a worried look on her face that was soothed when she saw Christine enter back in.

"You guys ready to go?" Christine asked in a falsely cheery voice.

"Yeah, I think the big shot phantom is ready to go home," Nadir commented and practically carried Erik the whole way home.

The four of them got home and Nadir laid Erik in bed where he slept on top of the covers with his shoes still on. Meg tried to comfort Christine and ask what happened.

"Raoul just came to say goodbye," she said, which was partially true. "That's all."

"Is there anything I can do?" Meg inquired gently, knowing her friend better than the answer she was given.

"No, I'm fine," she whispered and gave her arm a squeeze before going to sleep on the couch.

Nadir reemerged from Erik's room and held Meg close.

"You know, I don't think she's okay at all," he murmured.

Meg looked up at Nadir in surprise that he was holding her with the other two around. He just shook his head, not thinking anything of it, and kissed the top of her head before going to sleep.

"Goodnight, Meg, happy hangover," he chuckled.

"G-goodnight…"

The next morning was filled with hangover cures, coffee, and silence. When Nadir and Meg dragged their way to the kitchen, they noticed that Christine was gone. She had left a note saying that she was at work and would be going grocery shopping later. Opening night was only two days away and the three of them could feel it: something bad was going to happen. They were all anxious, which was why Christine was so insistent on going to work despite her raging headache and upset stomach.

For the first time all year, Erik didn't go to his classes because he was so hungover. He didn't feel the same anxiety they did, which was why he didn't care to keep himself busy today. He woke up and immediately threw up.

"That sounded good!" Nadir called from the living room.

He groaned and laid on the floor, "I wanna die."

"Well you look great," he chuckled and leaned against the doorframe, drinking a cup of coffee as he watched his friend suffer.

"What even happened last night?" he sighed and sat up, holding his head.

"Well… We drank a lot and then Raoul came to the bar. He kind of harassed us a bit… You don't remember?"

"No, not really," he muttered. "Where's Chris?"

"She left this morning for work before any of us were up. I have no idea how, we were all hammered last night."

"Mm, Nadir, stop spinning…"

"Christ, Erik," he chuckled. "Go lay back down, I'll make you some coffee."

"Mmkay, thanks," he yawned and dragged himself back to bed.

Erik laid down in bed, Meg and Nadir lounged in the living room quietly that way they wouldn't disturb him. They didn't hear a peep out of Christine all day and Erik was going to call her, but he fell asleep before he could. She didn't make an appearance at all until later in the day when she came home with groceries in hand and a box wrapped in paper that looked like musical scores.

"Hey," Meg said gently and sat up on the couch when her friend entered the apartment. "How was work? I'm surprised that you went to work after last night."

"I wasn't that drunk," Christine stated and placed the groceries on the table.

"You know what I mean."

"Raoul's not going to bother me."

"I wouldn't risk it."

"He really doesn't bother me, Meg," she sighed. "To be honest, last night was good for us. He came to claim me since he remembered the past, but I told him that I was with Erik and I was happy. We said our goodbyes and that was that."

This answer surprised the two on the couch.

"Alright, well damn," Meg breathed out. "Then I guess you don't have a lot to worry about now… But you should just be wary. Just because you're not in the past anymore, doesn't mean he won't try to pull you back."

"I can take care of myself," Christine affirmed and held the wrapped box tightly. "The last thing I need if for Erik to learn about the past… About us. So it's best for me to just stay away from it all in general."

Eyeing the box, Meg decided to change topics for the sake of Christine's comfort, "What's that?"

"A surprise for, Erik," she stated and grinned down at it. "I'm going to give it to him on opening night as appreciation for his work and because I'm so proud of him."

Meg gave her a smile and they chatted awhile longer, but the anxiety that lingered in the room and a groaning Erik kept conversations short.

Christine helped her hungover love get ready for the musical the cast was seeing that night, Phantom in Majestic Theater and Erik was nowhere near ready since he slept the whole day. The two wore business casual clothes after Christine convinced Erik to shower and shave, though he was still feeling poorly.

He tried to soothe his aching head and churning stomach, but nothing seemed to help. He really wasn't up to see a show that night, but he took Christine's hand and they waited with the cast to be let into the theater.

"Love, do you want anything to drink?" Erik tried to ask gentlemanly, but his voice came out more like a croak.

"No thank you," she murmured and kissed his cheek. "I think I still need to recover from last night."

"I'm just going to see if they have something bubbly to sooth my stomach," he stated, which sounded more like a groan.

He slowly made his way back out to the lobby and came back just as they lights dimmed. When he took his seat once more, he laid his head on her shoulder in misery.

"Do you we need to go home?" Christine asked in worry.

She didn't want him getting sick in the middle of the theater.

"Mm no, I'll be fine. Now shhh, the shows starting."

"Mmkay," she huffed, not going to argue.

Christine leaned back in her seat and nuzzled against his head. She wasn't too happy about seeing this show either, but she remained indifferent as best as she could. Erik ended up asleep on her shoulder and missed the entire show. So, Christine had to sit through all of the painful memories while Erik snored quietly against her, but she used it as a test. She figured if she could watch and stay calm and unaffected, then she could handle anything else her past threw at her and she ended up making it the entire show without fainting or feeling pain. She was rather proud of herself. She had to shake Erik awake at the end. "Mmm? Is it starting?" he asked sleepily.

"Yeah, it did… and now it's over," she giggled and helped him to his feet. "Let's get you home."

"It's over?" He looked around deliriously. "I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay, you make a better Erik anyway," she sighed and wrapped her arm around his waist. "It was nice having you that close. You were so adorable, I didn't want to wake you."

"You're the best… Now let's go home and sleep. We have a big day coming up."

"Yeah, the start of a new life in show business, hmm? If we will get a lot of good reviews, maybe a big name will come to watch us," she said hopefully.

It was surprising to Erik that she didn't complain anymore about doing the show and that she was actually looking forward to it.

"You're excited now?" He raised an eyebrow a hopeful, yet tired, smile on his face.

"Hmm? Yeah, sure," she shrugged. "A job is a job, but it's a dream come true if I get to do it with you."

He smiled and kissed her head. They made their way home and he collapsed on the bed.

"Ugh, I'm never drinking again."

"You say that now, but after opening night, we're celebrating like crazy," she giggled.

"That's tomorrow. It's still today and Erik wants to sleep today," he mumbled against his pillow.

Christine smiled and stroked his hair back, whispering to him, "Goodnight, my angel."

"Mm night…" And just like that, he was asleep in seconds.