The story is now getting a little bit more serious and complicated. My eternal gratitude for judybear236, she has helped me a LOT in proof-reading. So now enjoy!

Chapter 8 Angel or Mermaid

Erik waited patiently in the office of Fabrizio. The room was spacious, with an enormous wooden desk; there was a large window in one side in which the sunlight streamed down over books and a table on which Fabrizio's violin rested. To his left was an old bookshelf with books of all colors and sizes. Erik gazed out of the window to the Florentine streets. He sensed Fabrizio needed to talk about something important with him, but had no idea what was to be de discussed. A week had passed since Antoinette's letter had drastically changed their lives. Apparently everything had continued normally, but Erik knew that Meg thought about it constantly. Sometimes she would be lost in her thoughts, gazing at the distance; she would bite her lip or slightly furrow her brows.

It was Friday and Gisella and Fabrizio had decided to close the studio for the holidays, so the last class was today and then the studio would be closed until January. Meg and Erik went a little bit earlier than usual to assist. At the end of the class Fabrizio had asked Erik quietly if they could talk in his office later. Erik had been in there a few minutes while Fabrizio bid farewell to his students.

The door of the office opened and Fabrizio entered, saying goodbye to someone outside and closed the door, the room growing silent again.

"Sometimes I think that those kids are smarter than me" chuckled Fabrizio touching Erik's shoulder as he walked to his desk "Do be seated Erik, make yourself comfortable"

Erik did as he was told as he watched Fabrizio put away some papers and folders into a drawer. As soon as he was finished he placed his elbows on his desk and leaned towards Erik.

"You like Meg"

Erik looked up surprised to meet Fabrizio's intense gaze. Clearing his throat he straightened in his chair "She is my friend"

Fabrizio laughed calmly "She's more than that to you, everyone can see it"

"I can't afford to think of her in that way" was Erik's quiet reply as he shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

Fabrizio gave him a confused expression and crossed his arms "What if she thinks of you in that way?" he raised an eyebrow.

"She doesn't…We can't…" frowned Erik "We can't be together"

"Why not?" asked surprised Fabrizio.

That question. How many nights had Erik stayed awake thinking of reasons to leave and reasons to stay? He could easily go and leave Meg here, she had a house and Arabelle would look out for her. He would leave enough money to pay for the villa and anything she needed. She could live here, teaching at the studio, and someday, she would meet the man who would be her husband. But what if he stayed? He knew they could live in Italy without problems…but then Antoinette's request appeared in his head. Meg was expected to be in Paris with her husband, what would happen if she appeared alone? Surely authorities would suspect Meg of hiding something, to be precise, someone.

"You look exhausted" Fabrizio said after a while "Erik, what's going on?"

"I think I need to leave," answered Erik curtly.

Fabrizio frowned and studied Erik for a moment "Florence?"

He nodded "It would be the best…for Meg-"

"Of course it wouldn't be the best!" interrupted Fabrizio frustrated "Let me help you, tell me what is going on between you two"

Erik remained silent for a long time thinking if he should speak. He had met Fabrizio only a month ago, should he trust him? He was probably his own age, maybe a few years younger. His life devoted to his family and music.

"All right" sighed tiredly Erik "We came to Florence because we needed to be in a distant place from Paris. Meg has tried to hide my past, telling only entertaining stories, never saying what made us come here. You see, I have lived my whole life hiding away-"

"Like a ghost" murmured Fabrizio. Erik looked surprised at him and slapped himself in the forehead, laughing at his choice of words "What's so funny?"

Erik opened his eyes, his laugh beginning to fade "That's how they used to call me! The Opera Ghost!"

Fabrizio smiled slowly "You are definitely not a ghost…what happened then?"

"I have been forced my whole life to remain hidden" he pointed to the right side of his face "In Paris they never treated me the way they do it here…I lived under the Opera House, hidden from all the world. To make a long story short, I fell in love, but as you might suppose she didn't loved me back. I realized that too late, after all the damage had been done. I nearly destroyed the Opera House, and now the French authorities are looking for the one who caused it"

Fabrizio rubbed his chin "So you came to escape the authorities…what about Meg?"

"Her mother and I have been friends since I was a boy, she helped me escape and somehow sent Meg with me to look after me and help me" Erik gazed out of the window and chuckled darkly "But now everything is complicated"

"What has changed?" urged Fabrizio.

Erik met his waiting gaze "A few days ago her mother sent a letter" he continued, pulling the letter out of his pocket and handing it to Fabrizio. He had carried the letter the whole week, too afraid of losing it. He leaned back against his chair and watched as Fabrizio began reading it.

After some minutes, Fabrizio looked up with a stunned expression written upon his face "You need to marry Meg?"

Erik nodded gripping the arms of his chair tightly "To protect her"

"But a marriage is more than that, Erik!" answered surprised Fabrizio "For Meg it seems to be"

Erik glanced away, remembering that Meg had said almost the same thing to him a week ago "I know…we have talked about it"

Fabrizio studied him while he returned the letter to Erik "What did she say?"

"That I need to make a decision, she would be glad with what I decide to do" he mumbled, closing his eyes.

Fabrizio's laugh made Erik open his eyes again as he leaned over his desk to shake his hand "In that case let me be the first to congratulate you." He laughed while he shook his hand "You two make a very beautiful couple"

Erik looked stunned at Fabrizio "I haven't made a decision"

"You will marry her, it's obvious!" his eyes sparkled with excitement.

"I don't know yet, I don't want to force her to say yes if she doesn't want to" stated Erik.

Fabrizio looked at him surprised "But she let you choose! Behind what she said, she agreed to marry you. It's obvious she would agree to anything just to be with you!"

Erik stared at him, considering that maybe he was right "It would be to protect her only"

"Nonsense" protested Fabrizio "You both are falling in love with each other slowly, everyone sees it but the both of you!"

Erik closed his eyes in frustration "I can't make the same mistakes I did in Paris, I won't force anyone to love me and marry me"

"You are not forcing anyone, Erik" urged Fabrizio "I understand that you are afraid of beeing hurt, but have you thought of Meg? Her feelings?"

"I know that even if we don't get married she will face the authorities on her own" said Erik quietly, smiling darkly remembering how stubborn she was.

"She feels she's the one who is forcing you to marry her" reasoned Fabrizio "For the time I've known her, I know she is a unique woman, but she will follow the rules of marriage, even of the proposal. She won't ask you to marry her… she wants you to do it"

What Fabrizio said sounded reasonable. And Meg definitely was a unique woman. She was stubborn and proud, she wouldn't ask him to marry her, maybe she did wanted to marry him…but was waiting for him to take the first step.

"She's waiting for you, Erik" said Fabrizio in a soothing voice.

"I just want her to be happy" confessed Erik.

"You need to believe that her happiness is maybe at your side, and even if you don't want to admit it, she brings you happiness" explained Fabrizio calmly.

"How can I allow her to get closer to a condemned man like me?" asked Erik thoughtfully, mostly talking to himself.

"Too late Erik, you now need each other" declared Fabrizio.

"Do you really think she will say yes?" muttered Erik, his own fear of rejection written upon his face.

Fabrizio smiled warmly and nodded "There is a really strong possibility of her saying yes."

A soft nock on the door interrupted their conversation. Fabrizio stood up and walked to the door while Erik followed behind. Before he opened the door, Erik placed a hand over Fabrizio's shoulder.

"Thank you, for all you've done"

Fabrizio smiled "You will make the right decision at the end"

Erik took a few steps back as Fabrizio opened the door. Somehow he knew the conversation they had just had would help him in making a final decision, although subconsciously he had always known the answer.

"Signore Fabrizio!" exclaimed a childish voice "Signorina Meg said you would be here with…" the door opened a little wider and Clara's little head peeked inside looking for something and when she spotted Erik she laughed cheerfully "Signore Erik!"

Erik walked to stand in the threshold with Fabrizio and looked at Clara with a warm smile. Behind her stood Meg with a pacific smile while she tried to take Clara out of the office. Her father, Marco, stood by Meg's side with an expression of apology while he muttered several apologies to Fabrizio.

Both men walked out of the office while Clara tugged hurriedly Meg's hand to walk faster "Let's go!"

Meg giggled "Calm down Clara, what is so important that you needed all of us together?"

When they were at the dancing room, Erik walked and stood by Meg's side. She looked up at him, her big luminous brown eyes sparkling with joy. A shiver ran up his spine, despite his attempt to not reacting to her gaze. Clara ran to a little bag her father was holding and opened it excitedly. She took out two large white envelopes and ran to stand in front of Erik, Meg and Fabrizio.

Marco looked embarrassed by his daughter's actions, but still there was a loving smile on his lips which shown that the little girl couldn't do anything to upset him. Clara took a large step foreward and handed one envelope to Fabrizio.

"Thank you!" he said cheerfully accepting it. Clara turned and gave the other envelope to Erik.

"Thank you, Signorina" laughed Erik at Clara's bow.

"And for me?" pouted sadly Meg, trying hardly not to laugh.

"You are going with Signore Erik!" explained Clara with a grin "So as Signore Fabrizio is going with Signorina Gisella and Lorenzo!"

Marco stepped forward with a smile "We are having a Masquerade Ball on New Year's Eve and Clara wanted to deliver the invitations personally" explained Marco while his daughter nodded enthusiastically as he talked.

"I really hope you can come!" squeaked excitedly Clara.

"Thank you so much, Marco" Meg said with a calm smile as Fabrizio and Erik thanked him too.

"It's nothing, we really hope you can come" answered Marco with a move of his hand.

"We will" smiled Fabrizio.

Marco and Clara bid goodbye and Fabrizio accompanied them to the door. As if realizing they were alone, Meg moved to stand in front of him.

She tilted her head to one side to look at his eyes and grinned "A Masquerade?"

Erik chuckled "I have a friend who knows a lot about masks"

After closing the studio, Gisella and Fabrizio returned to the villa with Lorenzo while Erik and Meg stayed in Piazza della Repubblica to have lunch in one of the many restaurants. After enjoying a delightful meal, they both decided to return to their villa and enjoy their spare time. According to the invitation, the Masquerade was in a week, and none of them had idea of what they would wear for the occasion.

Meg had never attended a Masquerade before, just the one which the managers had organized to celebrate the Phantom's absence which turned out to be a complete chaos. In that ocassion, she had worn a very beautiful gown her mother had asked the seamstress to do. It was the most beautiful dress she had ever worn, unfortunately the party ended soon. For all she knew, this was probably going to be Erik's first party…well, a party in which he was invited and had been requested to assist.

As they walked down the path which took to La Medicea, they took turns trying to come up with ideas for costumes by naming animals, ... or characters from books.

"A fairy?" offered Erik as he observed Meg walking a few steps before him.

She wrinkled her nose almost imperceptibly, but it was enough to show that the idea wasn't of her liking. She turned around and began walking facing him.

"Hamlet?" suggested Meg lifting her brow.

"Artemis?" continued Erik laughing at Meg's suggestion. Hamlet was a prince, and he was by far not a prince.

"Perhaps an animal" pondered Meg thoughtfully as she stopped and kneeled down to grab a rock that was lying on the ground.

"A rabbit" smiled Erik.

Meg raised her head while a look of mocked offense appeared on her face "Do you say I look like a rabbit?"

When Erik was about to protest, Meg raised her hands and positioned them at the top of her head, showing her two front teeth and began making a funny noise. Erik's expression was of complete confusion, but as he realized what she was trying to do he began laughing, that deep masculine sound that made her stomach knot. His gaze was on her, warm and sparkling with amusement.

"I give up" sighed Meg after they had named almost all the animals and Greek gods "Maybe we should just go as ourselves"

"Where's the fun in that?" asked Erik with challenge "If I remember, you assisted to the New Year's Eve Masquerade at the Populaire?"

She nodded "I was an angel"

Erik looked up stunned. She had been an angel. How accurate it was…only he hadn't seen her. The only thing he remembered was beeing infuriated by the Vicomte's marriage proposal towards Christine. Oh how he regretted not being able to watch how Meg had looked that day. He couldn't think of a better costume for her than an angel.

They continued walking until they arrived to La Medicea. It was a warm day compared to others and the sun was still shining in the horizon, a few hours left before sunset.

"I would like to show you something" she said, dipping her head towards him "A secret place of La Medicea"

Something in his eyes changed and his expression lit up with mischief "Let's go"

As she led the way, Meg noticed how sometimes Erik would glance quickly at her, or touch her back softly with his fingertips. Maybe he was doing it unconsciously, she thought, but secretly something in her stirred alive. She watched him absently as he took off his jacket and slowly began unbuttoning his waistcoat. Erik held the jacket with one arm and unfastened the buttons of his vest with a hand. Deciding that he was being ridiculous, she reached out to help him and grasped the shoulder of his vest as he looked down surprised at her. His face was inches from hers, his hot breath hitting her face. Erik drew out his arm, while Meg took it and folded it.

"Thank you" he mumbled "I'm not used to the heat of the day"

She just nodded with a smile and kept walking. The path leveled off as they passed the Palazzi's villa. While they walked, Meg told him how her mother had helped her with her costume and what the dress had looked. He listened interested, his eyes taking in every detail of their surroundings. La Medicea was much bigger than he had thought as they passed by the barn. After a moment, they arrived to where the path ended, a large pond before them. She increased her pace, leaving Erik slightly behind her. He stopped, suddenly amazed by the view.

Meg turned around with a bright smile and waved a hand motioning him to come closer. He walked slowly, marveling at the colors reflected in the water: the gold of the sun, green of the leaves and that unique blue.

"Arabelle had told me about it, but I didn't discover it until a few days ago" she explained with a smile as they began walking near the shore.

"The breeze is quite welcome" chuckled Erik as the air blew a few strands of Meg's hair. Surprised, she took a strand of hair out of her mouth and put it behind her ear. She took off her shoes, surprised when Erik did the same.

She smiled broadly pointing to a tree "A race to that tree"

Before he could answer, Meg had begun running as fast as she could to the tree. Momentarily stunned, Erik began running after her, but soon the race became a chase. Meg giggled loudly as Erik tried to catch her, only managing to grasp the ends of her long skirts. Even if they looked ridiculous, he didn't care; his only purpose at that precise moment was to catch the little ballerina. Her hair glowed with the light of the sun, making it look like gold, her eyes sparkling and her cheeks flushed by the effort.

He chased her for a few minutes, but somehow she managed to gain speed and left him behind. Suddenly and without noticing it, she tripped over a log and stumbled, falling into the pond as she hit the water with a loud splash. She cried out with fear as she began sinking, being dragged down by the weight of her skirts. Erik watched with horror as Meg sank down. Without a second thought he jumped into the water.

With large powerful strokes, Erik swam in the direction Meg was. Stretching his arm to grab any part of Meg's body, he soon felt the fabric of her skirts. Quickly, he encircled her tiny waist with one of his long muscled arms and pulled her close to him. Whirling around, Meg threw her arms around his neck and tangled her legs around his waist. Erik gasped with surprise as he looked intently at Meg's expression.

Before any of them could say a word, Meg began laughing hysterically, throwing her head backwards revealing her long lean neck. Erik observed her, extremely confused at her reaction, he was waiting for her to cry or shake with fear, any sign of surprise. But her reaction had completely unbalanced him.

"What's so funny?" croaked with a deep hoarse voice as Meg's laughter died away and Erik loosened his grip.

With a grin, Meg let go of Erik and taking a deep breath, she submerged into the water, leaving only bubbles where she had been. Erik looked frantically around, only the deep nothingness beneath him. Silently, Meg stroked heavily under the water, leaving a stunned Erik behind. She could hear how he called her name with a tint of panic in his voice. Giggling under the water, she propelled herself to the surface and emerged taking a deep breath. Her skirts swirled around her creating the image of a large yellowish bubble. Turning her head, she saw Erik was a few meters away from her.

With a giggle she laughed "I know how to swim"

Without a warning, Erik was swimming again approaching Meg. Before he reached her, he stopped abruptly and raised an eyebrow "So you scared me for no reason?"

She nodded with a playful smile. Suddenly, Erik threw an armful of water towards her, colliding against her with a loud splash. Surprised she rubbed her eyes to clear her vision, Erik chuckling at her.

"So it is war between us, Monsieur?" she inquired raising an eyebrow. With a giggle she splashed him back and began swimming away from him as fast as she could, but it was becoming a challenge, her skirts tangling between her legs as her dress floated up. Despite her attempts to leave Erik behind, suddenly a warm hand caught hers and grabbed her pulling her back.

"I won" he smiled wickedly.

"That's not fair!" she protested as he let go of her hand "You have no skirts"

"Pull them up?" he suggested with a chuckle.

Twisting her body, she took the fabric between her hands and tucked it to her side, with it quickly returning to its original position. With a frustrated sigh she tried again, growing upset as Erik floated by her side on his back, laughing silently at her attempts. She marveled at the way the wet white shirt clung to his chest, the muscles clearly showing through the thin material. The bulge of his muscles of his arms as they rested behind his head. Slowly, her gaze went up to his face, his eyes sparkling with amusement as he flashed a bright smile to her.

Suddenly they were interrupted by the barking of Leo, Lorenzo's dog. Soon, the boy came running behind him, laughing when he spotted Erik and Meg in the pond.

"I told Maman I had heard laughter!" Lorenzo squeaked excitedly.

Meg raised a hand and waved at the boy "Hi Lorenzo"

Lorenzo blushed fiercely, but just in time Gisella and Fabrizio appeared out of the villa and smiled widely at the sight before them. Running towards them Lorenzo began pouting.

"Maman can I go in?" he pouted as Meg and Erik laughed silently still floating in the water "Please?"

With a sigh, Gisella nodded as she smiled, and before any of them could realize what was happening, Lorenzo had already dived into the water, his shoes thrown on the shore of the pond.

"Meg what are you doing in that dress?" exclaimed shocked Gisella as they both came closer to the pond.

"Swimming?" answered shyly Meg "It was unplanned"

Erik laughed at her side, grabbing her under the water by the waist and sending a shiver across her spine by his warm touch "I was about to suggest that she needed to remove her skirts"

Meg looked shocked at Erik "You can't be serious"

He smiled wickedly "Oh, but I do"

Fabrizio laughed as he sat down on the shore and took off his shoes, Gisella doing the same and sitting by his side. Lorenzo meanwhile was swimming around the pond's shore, in the surface Leo followed him around.

"He's right Meg, you are going to sink with those" laughed Fabrizio.

"Speaking from my own experience, you are going to be more comfortable without them" said sweetly Gisella as she rested her head over Fabrizio's shoulder.

With a sigh, she reached behind her back unfastening her waistband. Dragging her gaze to his eyes, she saw as he observed her every move, his eyes dropping to her lips unwillingly, but quickly looked at her eyes again. She blushed fiercely at his intent gaze, aware that Fabrizio and Gisella were sitting on the shore.

"Maybe you could be a mermaid" he whispered as his lips curved toward a smile.

Blushing even more, she tugged her skirts free dragging them up through the water and holding them up. With a grin she flung them away towards the shore where they landed with a thud. Fabrizio and Gisella clapped as they cheered her. Keeping her eyes locked to his she smiled broadly, trying to ignore the fact that she would be wearing only her chemise. His eyes dropped to her neckline and with trembling fingers she unfastened her bodice, observing how his jaw tensed. She threw away what was the rest of her heavy clothing. He raised his eyes, showing a mixture of shame and amusement. She settled both hands upon his shoulders, feeling how his warm hands encircled her waist and smiled.

"You can't catch a mermaid" she giggled, tugging herself free from his half embrace and swimming away in the opposite direction as she shouted "Go Lorenzo! Erik will catch you!"

They spent the rest of the evening chasing each other and laughing while Fabrizio and Gisella cheered them from the shore. Meg couldn't remember having so much fun, and Erik's expression and smile said that nor did he.