Ella looked to Erik, her heart pounding in her chest. This was it, time to face Archer again. Erik took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I'll be right here. Just say the word, and I'll come."

"Are you sure that's wise?" Ella asked. "That would make it obvious that you love me. I thought we wanted to keep us as quiet as possible."

"Well the Phantom isn't known for his subtlety," Meg said. The second she said it, she clamped her hands over her mouth and looked to Erik in fear. She was still really jumpy around Erik, but Ella couldn't blame her; she had been when she had first met him too.

Erik just chuckled. "That is very true Miss Giry." Meg looked relieved that she had amused him instead of angering him. He turned back to Ella. "Are you ready mon Ange?"

She reached up and caressed his good cheek. "I have to be."

"I'm not going to force you to face him," Erik reminded her. "You don't have to do this."

"Yes, I do," Ella replied softly. "Erik, I have to put a stop to all the madness. I have to convince Archer that he's hurting me, not helping me. The problem isn't that he's purposely trying to cause me pain; the problem is that he honestly thinks he's saving me, so he doesn't want to give up. If I don't, he won't stop until you're dead! Erik I can't let that happen! "

"Mon Ange, I'm not that easy to kill. It doesn't usually work out well for the other party." He glanced over to Meg. "Isn't that right Miss Giry?"

"He does have a point," Meg admitted. "No one has ever come close. In fact, it usually works out in his favor, not the other person's."

"I don't care!" Ella cried. "I don't want to spend the rest of my life hiding from Archer!" She paused for a moment. "Besides, didn't you say the police are here?"

Madame Giry nodded. "Yes they are. Why?"

"Maybe they can help. I mean Archer kidnapped me! They have to do something about that!"

"Ella, Archer has a lot of money. Money means influence," Madame Giry replied. "I doubt there's little to nothing that they're willing or able to do."

"Well I have to try," she insisted. She gently let go of Erik's hand. "Promise me you'll stay close?"

He nodded then placed a kiss on her forehead. "I won't let you out of my sight."

Archer was about to lead the police to the staircase that would take them to the Phantom's lair, when the door opened. Madame Giry had an arm around the shoulders of a pale redhead, Meg walking alongside the pair. "Ella!" he shouted. He raced to her, picked her up, and swung her around in a circle, overjoyed to see that she was safe. "Oh thank God you're alright!"

She pulled herself out of his grasp and backed away. "Don't touch me Archer!"

"Where on earth have you been? I've been so worried about you!"

"What do you mean 'Where have you been?'?!" she cried. "You know exactly where I've been! You dragged me kicking and screaming to your mansion and locked me in, ranting about danger and phantoms!"

"Ella, the Phantom of the Opera is obsessed with you! He's dangerous!" Archer protested.

"There is no Phantom of the Opera!" she shouted. "It's just a story that a bunch of superstitious stagehands made up to try and scare the staff. I'm sorry if you fell for it, but don't you dare drag me into your fantasy!"

"Listen to me love, you're in denial! The Phantom is after you whether you're willing to admit it or not! I'm trying to keep you safe." He pulled her aside. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Meg and her mother take a step towards them, but he shot them a look, warning them to stay away. "Ella, even if you don't love me, I don't want you to get hurt. This man will take advantage of you, cause you pain in ways you can't even imagine, then throw you aside once he's used you for all that you're worth. I can't let that happen."

"Isn't that what you're doing to me?" she replied bitterly. His jaw dropped. Why did she so stubbornly refuse to believe that he was looking out for her? Before he could respond, Ella spun around on her heel and left, followed closely by the Girys. Archer just stood there, utterly speechless.

The second the police officer left, Erik stepped into Ella's dressing room. She threw her arms around him, obviously upset. "They didn't believe me!" she cried. "Since I left Archer's mansion and he told them about his plans to go to America, they thought we were going to elope and I backed out. They refused to believe that he kidnapped me!"

"I know," he replied, trying to soothe her. "I heard everything. But Antoinette did warn us that this was a possibility. Dubois is one of the most well-known names in Paris. The police aren't going to risk angering one of the wealthiest families in France because a ballerina said he did something to her."

Ella clung to him as though her life depended on it. "But they refused to even listen to me! They acted like I was making it all up for attention. Archer has them eating out of the palm of his hand."

"Well we don't need them," Erik said dismissively. "We can come up with another solution." Instinctively, his hand went to the lasso on his hip.

"Erik, don't kill him!"

"It'll be over so much faster if I did," he pouted. By the look on her face, Erik could tell that Ella wasn't sure whether was teasing or not, and honestly he didn't know either.

"You're so much better than that Erik," she protested. "Don't prove them right! Be the man I know you are, not the monster everyone thinks you are."

"Speaking of being different than what everyone thinks, that was quite the fiery performance from you," he said with a teasing smile. "Where on earth did that come from?"

"I just want him to leave me alone," she sighed. "I just want him to leave us alone. Archer just doesn't seem to know the meaning of no. Maybe I should try saying it in a different language. Hopefully he'd start to understand me."

Erik kissed her forehead. "It's worth a shot, but I think he only hears what he wants to hear. But we seem to be making progress. I heard him accept the fact you don't love him, or almost accepted it anyway."

"We can hope," Ella replied.

There was a soft knock on the door. "Ella it's us." She opened the door to reveal Meg and Antoinette. "How are you doing?" Meg asked.

She shrugged. "I'm still here aren't I? That's an improvement over where I was yesterday."

Meg wrapped her arm around Ella's shoulders. "It went that badly?"

"They think I'm an overreacting runaway bride and Archer is just upset that I left."

"C'mon, it sounds like you need a hot bath and just some time to relax. God knows you need a break and a chance to catch your breath."

The blonde led Ella out of the room, leaving Antoinette and Erik alone. "I'm surprised you haven't attempted to kill him yet," Antoinette commented. "That's usually your go-to method of dealing with 'issues'."

"Trust me, I've thought about it," he growled. "It would be so much easier. But Ella thinks I'm a good man, and I'm trying to be for her. Which much to my dismay means I can't strangle him no matter how much I would like to."

"So you're going to have to come up with another plan."

"I know that," Erik snapped. "I'm sick of the sneaking around and the hiding, sick of having to watch my back all the time, sick of worrying myself half to death about Ella."

Antoinette smirked. "Sound familiar?"

Erik sighed. "I almost feel bad for putting Christine and her fop through this. Don't give me that look, I said almost."