Erik's POV

I slept that night with only waking from a nightmare or two. Music had certainly helped me with my sleep and I knew it would continue to do so. Though, when I woke, there was something lying on my pillow, something I had never seen before. I sat up and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and immediately thought about my mask…It was off and I knew it would frighten Christine if she saw my hideous face. I placed my hand over my deformity and looked around the caravan, taking notice that the woman was nowhere to be found. Feeling a sense of relief, I placed my mask back over my face and looked at the object that was lying on my pillow. It was a small round object that was wrapped in string with a few feathers hanging off the end of it. Beside it was a note…

"Erik,

I didn't want to wake you, for I know how hard it is for you to sleep soundly. This should help… Hang it above your bed and it will catch the bad dreams, much like a spider catches flies. It's called a dream catcher…"

A dream catcher? How considerate of her to make me a dream catcher. I ran my finger over the beautiful piece of artwork and hung it above my bed just like she had told me to do. Afterwards, I washed up and dressed before heading outside. We were traveling today to another town and I knew that everyone would be packing up by now. I stood against the railing of my caravan and watched my employees work… usually, I would be walking around and bossing them to work faster, but this morning, there was only one person on my mind.

"You look well rested."

I was caught off guard when I heard a familiar voice. I immediately came out of my daydream and saw Nadir gathering up his belongings from a short distance away.

"Yes, I am," I said. "No thanks to you…"

Nadir rolled his eyes and continued to work. "I would be more than happy to knock you out again if you call my wife anything but her name."

Usually, I would have been in an arguing mood, but I didn't feel like it today. This obviously bothered Nadir when I didn't fight back, for her finished putting his things away and came strolling over to me.

"Are you not well?"

"No, I feel fine, Khan. My question is why are you bothering me?"

"Well, Erik, seeing that you always love to get the upper hand when it comes to our arguments, I am very concerned. Have you lost your touch?"

I would have continued to listen to Nadir, but Christine came into my view. She was walking around the tiny stream with the gypsy boy. They were filling up canteens with water and getting ready for the long journey we had ahead of us. I watched as she smiled and laughed with the boy and couldn't help but find her beautiful.

"Erik? Erik are you listening to a word I've been saying?"

"I…I think I'm in love with her, Persian…"

"What? What are you talking about?"

When the man seen me staring out towards the stream, he turned around. Then, walking by Christine at that very moment was Bertha, the show's bearded lady.

"Who? Bertha?"

Oh, that deserved a slap! I knocked the Persian upside his head for that one.

"No, you fool! Christine… I think I'm in love with her."

"Oh, not this again, Erik. Do you remember the last time you were in love with the girl? It got you into nothing but trouble."

"Oh, now because I am starting to have feelings for her again, it's all wrong…But you were the one a few weeks ago that suggested that there may be some love in her heart for me."

"I was only trying to cheer you up! I never thought you would have feelings for her again, not after what happened back in Paris. No, I don't think it's a good idea, Erik."

"And why not? She's a widow, and with no Fop standing in my way, I believe I may just have a chance with her."

"You truly believed that Raoul was the one preventing her from loving you? Are you crazy, man? Have you noticed that you're wearing a mask? Or that what lies behind it is the sole reason why?"

"I…I think she may have some feelings for me as well, Khan. She's been kind to me, kinder than usual. After what I did to her when she first arrived, I don't deserve to be acknowledged."

"And what will happen when she denies your love again? What will happen when she finds another handsome patron to run off with? Where will that leave you? Stalking the poor girl and kidnapping her from the world? Is that what's going to happen?"

There had been a small fire within me, one that ignited the moment Nadir said those exact words. No, she couldn't love another man! I would forbid it! If she couldn't finally love me, then no one would, for I may have been second best, but with the fop out of the picture, I deserved to be number one again! I would be number one!

"You listen to me, Persian!" I growled. "She is forbidden to see any other man, are we clear? She had her handsome lover and he died!"

"That's right, Erik, he died… But that doesn't mean that she won't find love again. She's very young and deserves to be happy."

"She deserves me! I may be ugly, but don't I deserve happiness as well? I've lived on this earth longer than anyone has without love and I believe I deserve it!"

"Erik, you've come so far since Paris. Don't drop back down to that dismal level again… A level filled with murder and useless seduction."

"I will do whatever it takes to get that girl to love me, Persian!"

"But…"

"No buts! You have yourself a wife and a bastard on the way…Go mind your own life."

Christine's POV

"So, do you think the master liked his dream catcher?" I asked Gustave as we filled canteens up with water from the stream for our long journey.

"I hope so… Looking for all of those supplies weren't easy. Just don't tell him that I found the string and feathers… He might get angry if he found out that I took them from some of the costumes we use in the show."

"I won't…"

Gustave had gotten awfully silent in the last few moments, which was why I turned around to face him. Though, when I did so, I noticed that Erik was standing right behind me. Gustave was obviously frightened, for he wasn't moving a muscle.

"Don't you have some work to do with preparing the horses for our journey?" Erik questioned.

The child nodded. "Good, then scram…"

Gustave didn't even say goodbye as he darted across the camp, leaving me alone with Erik. I wasn't sure if he was in a good mood or bad, that being the reason why I just waited for him to speak.

"You're getting water for the journey, I see?"

I nodded. "Yes, I don't know when we will see it again."

"I…I wanted to thank you for making me that dream catcher. It was thoughtful…"

"I didn't want to disturb you, Erik… I saw you sleeping and decided to let you be. I do hope you slept well last night."

"I did… I only woke a few times, but that was better than one hundred times."

I went back to filling up canteens with water, the silence between us lasting a few moments. I knew he didn't just walk all the way down here to thank me for making him the dream catcher. No, there was more to this than I was seeing and it was driving me crazy. Though with Erik, I knew it was better for him to come out and tell me the reason why rather than having me ask…I knew there were always consequences when I asked first.

"I liked our little music session last evening," he began. "I do hope we could do it more often? Spending time with you is a blessing, one that I hope continues. That is, if you're still not wanting to leave the camp, that is?"

The man was holding his breath, as if he were waiting for me to tell him that I was still planning on leaving the camp. Yes, in the beginning, when Erik had me shackled I had wanted to leave, but I hadn't thought about it lately. He had unshackled me and he seemed to be a bit more trusting as of late.

"I like living in the camp," I continued. "If not here, where else would I go?"

I heard a sigh of relief release from him, as if the world had been lifted from off his shoulders.

"Why? Do you want me to leave? Have I done something wrong?"

"Of course not, Christine! Don't be silly! I…I was just making sure that you liked living in the camp. I have promised you that I won't shackle your ankle ever again…And when I make a promise, Christine, you of all people should know that I never break it."

"I know, Erik…"

I was gathering up the canteens I had filled with water, finding that I didn't have enough hands to carry them all. I was struggling to my feet, a few of the canteens falling back to the ground. Erik was making me very uncomfortable and I wanted nothing more than to get back to the camp.

"Here," he said, reaching down to pick up the canteens that had fallen. "Let me help you."

"I don't need help, thank you…"

I took the few canteens from the man and began walking away from him. Though, a few seconds later, Erik came hurrying back and stood in front of me.

"Christine, wait…"

I stopped and looked up at the man. He seemed desperate, as if he thought I was going to run off in the middle of the night.

"Yes, Erik?"

The man reached out to me and brushed his shaking fingers against my cheek. What was he doing?

"Christine, I…I was wondering…"

The man's hand was shaking so badly that he pulled away, afraid that he would frighten me.

"Erik, I have to hand these canteens out before we leave."

"I understand," he said. "But I was wondering if perhaps you and I could have dinner together?"

Dinner? Why did Erik want to have dinner with me? The man had promised me over and over again that he would never love me. As I was trying to put all of this together within my head, Erik was growing inpatient.

"I…I can take a hint," he groaned. "I'm sorry for bothering you."

The man seemed crushed, crushed that I had taken too long to answer him. Erik never asked me to have dinner with him, not ever, not even in the past. Usually, it was me who was begging him to have dinner with me. Could it be that he was finally trying to hold a relationship with me?

"Erik!" I called out his name and hurried to his side.

"I have things to do, Christine," he growled. "Thank you for making me the dream catcher, but I have to pack up my things before our journey."

"When were you thinking about having this dinner?"

His eyes lit up and I could hear his heart rapidly beating from within his chest.

"Um…I…I wasn't…I mean, I didn't…."

"How about tonight?" I asked. "While everyone is performing? I don't have a set job in your camp yet, and seeing that we will both be available, it would be the perfect time."

"Yes, that would be nice."

I smiled and waited for Erik to say something else. Though, when he didn't, I bid him goodbye and headed off to deliver the canteens of water to everyone, knowing that tonight, I had a dinner date with Erik.