Erik's POV

When Gustave was feeling better, the world instantly came off of my shoulders. Oh, how worried I was for him. All I ever cared about was the health of my boy, and when the spots began disappearing, so did my worriment. On the morning that he was to return to school, I woke early and made him his favorite breakfast, which was French toast and bananas. I never expected him to enjoy such a combination, but as his father, I lived and learned. I nearly had breakfast on the table, when he came walking out and took a seat.

"Here, Gustave," I said, pouring him a glass of orange juice. "As soon as we're finished, I'll walk you to school."

Gustave had the fork in his mouth, when he paused and looked up at me.

"Um…I can walk myself, Mister Y…"

I raised my brow in confusion. "What are you talking about? You love it when I walk you to school."

"I don't need it anymore, Mister Y. I can walk myself to and from school."

Are you sure?" I questioned. "You know I don't mind walking you there."

He nodded. "Yes, I'm sure."

And I didn't argue with him about that. For days after his first day back, he walked to school around eight and returned around three. I never found anything strange with it at all…Though, my luck was about to change, because one afternoon nearly three weeks after his return, I got a knock at the door. I was sitting at my desk upstairs, working on drawings of rides I wished to add into Phantasma in the coming season, when I heard someone knocking on the door. It was strange, for no one ever came knocking, especially at my door. Though, deciding to see who it was, I made my way downstairs and pulled the door open to find Gustave's teacher standing there. Why was she here? Yes, it was most likely the children's lunch hour, but why was she here at my door?

"Mrs. Smith?" I questioned. "How strange to see you here, at my door…"

She smiled and handed me a stack of papers.

"Gustave's homework." She replied. "I've been worried about him."

My mind began to race…worried? Gustave had been back to school now for nearly three weeks. What was she possibly going on about?

"Mrs. Smith, I'm afraid I don't understand. What are you talking about? And why are you worried about Gustave?"

"How is he, Mister Y?" she questioned. "I know a few weeks ago he came down with the chicken pox, but I never imagined he would have been out of school for this long."

"What?" I gasped. "I don't understand what you're talking about. Gustave has been back in school for nearly three weeks now."

"No, he hasn't…"

There was a long pause of silence, and then, my question.

"Hasn't Gustave been in class? He walks to school every day, Mrs. Smith."

And then, everything came together. This was the reason why Gustave didn't want me walking him to school or walking him home. He wasn't going to school at all! Oh, how could this be? Why wouldn't the child be going to school?

"Mister Y, is something wrong?"

I shook my head. "No, but I apologize, Mrs. Smith, Gustave will be in class tomorrow morning come hell or high water. This, I guarantee!"

When his teacher left, I slammed the door closed and began pacing the floor. Oh! How dare my child play hookie! How dare he! Oh, how I would clobber him when he came home..How I would punish him for making me look like a horrible parent in front of his teacher! Oh, he would pay indeed.

"And you couldn't have told me this!" I cried as Christine's form appeared.

"Angel, some things I am forbidden to tell. Sometimes, it is best not to be the tattletale."

"And why is this?" I cried. "Your child has been missing vital days of school! Why would he skip, Christine? Why!"

"He's obviously having some problems, Erik, problems that need to be resolved between father and son."

"Oh, I'll resolve them all right! He lied to me, Christine, lied!"

"And he must have had a good reason for it, angel… But don't yell at him, don't be angry."

"Easy for you to say! You don't have to be the one to raise him, you don't have to worry about his wellbeing twenty four hours a day! Oh, he's done for, Christine, done! Just wait until the little brat gets home…"

"Erik," Christine embraced my shoulders. "Don't hurt him, please…Don't hurt your own flesh and blood!"

"Who said anything about hurting him, Christine?" I sneered. "But every child needs a good whack on the bottom every now and then. My own mother used to lash me with her belt when I misbehaved from time to time. Though, with her, she enjoyed it so much that she whipped me every day, even when I was behaving! She whipped me because I was a disappointment!"

"Erik, you're his father!" Christine cried.

"And he is the child, Christine! He needs to be taught a lesson, he needs to be taught to obey me! How dare he miss school! How dare he lie to me day after day. I ask him everyday how his day at school was and every day he replied with "good." It's all been a lie, Christine, a lie! He's been missing school, missing work, missing an education! Why would he do such a thing to me? All I ever wanted was for him to grow up to be smart. He needs school, Christine, and he will attend every day of it from this moment forward."

"You are going to frighten him…"

"I am going to prepare him for life, Christine…Life is filled with fear and responsibilities. He needs to start learning now…No more Mister nice guy…If I need to be firm with him, then so be it!"

And with that, Christine disappeared, leaving me standing there alone waiting for Gustave, and oh, when he returned, he would pay for his lies!

Gustave's POV

Every day, I snuck out like I was going to school and stay in Phantasma until school was over. My father never suspected anything and it was working out to my advantage. I hated school, and refused to go back. After spending the entire day wandering around Mister Y's park, I checked the time on the Phantasma clock tower and headed home. Though, when I got there, Mister Y was nowhere to be found.

"Mister Y?" I placed my books down on the kitchen table and headed out into the family room.

"Mister Y?"

It was then, that my papa stepped out from the hallway with his hands folded behind his back. He seemed to be acting a little strange, and I wasn't sure why.

"And how was school today?" he slyly asked.

"Good." I lied. "We painted pictures today and took a walk outside to look at the foliage."

Mister Y nodded and stepped closer to me, his arms still wrapped behind his back.

"Is that so?"

I nodded. "Of course,"

"Really, because your teacher dropped this off this afternoon for you."

Mister Y must have been holding papers, for he dropped them down in front of my feet.

"Your homework, young master…" he sneered.

My heart stopped within my chest…Oh, no! How did my teacher know where I lived? Why had she come to Mister Y with my homework?

"Nothing to say, Gustave?" Mister Y questioned. "Not even a single word?"

"I…I don't understand. I've been in class this entire time." I lied.

It happened so fast, that I didn't have time to react. Mister Y raised his fist and struck me across the face. It hurt! Never had I ever been struck in the face before. I grasped my cheek, tears rushing to my eyes.

"Don't lie to me!" he growled. "Lie to me again and you will see what happens!"

I backed up against the wall, my hand still grasping my cheek.

"So tell me the truth!"

I gasped and pressed my eyes closed, hot tears running down my cheeks.

"I'm not lying…"

Oh, how Mister Y came at me so fast… He raised his fist again, when I knelt down and cowered to protect myself. Though, his strike never occurred…He just stood over me with his hand raised above his head.

"Tell me!"

And that's when I began to sob… I sobbed and told the truth.

"I hate school!" I balled. "I hate it, Mister Y! I haven't gone since the day I was beat up."

"What are you talking about?" he questioned. "You never mentioned that before…"

"It's true, Mister Y… Some mean kids hurt me at school. I didn't go after that. I've been going to Phantasma every day, hanging there until school was over."

"You lied to me, Gustave," Mister Y replied. "You lied to me about everything. Why couldn't you just have come and told me the truth?"

"Because you wouldn't understand..I didn't want to disappoint you, Mister Y."

Mister Y picked me up and carried me to the couch before sitting me on his knee.

"Gustave, you don't need to lie to me about things. Do you know how you made me look when your teacher came to the house today? It made me look like a horrible parent. I'm supposed to know your whereabouts and yet, I was clueless."

"I know, Mister Y." I said, looking down at my feet and rubbing my cheek. "I'm sorry."

"You can't continue to stay away from school." He said. "You need to go back."

"But what about the children?" I asked. "What about what they did to me?"

"I'll come speak with your teacher in the morning." He assured. "I'll have a word with her. Nothing bad is ever going to happen to you ever again, do you hear me?"

I nodded and buried my head into his shoulder.

"You're a good boy, Gustave…." He said, brushing his fingers through my dark locks. "And I promise to protect you forever…"

"I was so scared, Mister Y." I cried. "So scared about returning to school, so I stayed away."

"And you won't have to do that ever again."

Mister Y then brushed my sore cheek. "I'm sorry, Gustave. I didn't mean to hit you…"

"Yes you did." I said. "You meant to do it, because I deserved it."

"Perhaps, but promise to never lie to me again. I need your trust, Gustave, and you need my own. I would never lie to you and so, you can't lie to me…Agreed?"

I nodded. "All right."

"Then come along," he said, lifting me to my feet. "Let's get that homework of yours finished. You have three weeks worth to do…"

Mister Y sat me down at the kitchen table and slid the work in front of me. I expected him to walk away, but instead, he took a seat beside me and handed me his pen.

"All right, let's see what we have here…"

I looked down at the math problems that were on the sheet of paper and ran my fingers through my hair.

"Mister Y, I don't like math."

"And neither do I. I like writing better. Though, math is an essential need in life. I use it all the time, Gustave. I use it every day in Phantasma."

"I hate it though…"

"Well, I'll help you with all that I can, Gustave." He said. "And when we're finished, we'll make dinner together and then, work on some music."

"Can you play the piano?" I asked. "For me?"

He nodded. "If you do a good job on your homework."

"And can we sing, Mister Y?"

"We'll see…" he said, patting me on the head. "Now, let us work on your homework."

And with that, I picked up my pen and began working on my problems, feeling as though the world had finally been lifted from off of my shoulders.

Erik's POV

Like promised, after Gustave finished with his homework, we took our places at my piano to enjoy countless hours of music. How strange it was to have a child sitting beside me and much like myself. If we played ten songs, we played twenty, only stopping when the grandfather clock in my home began to chime in the late hour of nine.

"Come, Gustave," I said, lifting him from the piano. "It's time for bed."

My child yawned and placed his hands back over the keys. Oh, he was so much like me it was unbelievable. Years ago, I would pry myself from hours of sleep, just to finish one conchatro that could wait until morning…Though, with me, music could never wait.

"But I'm not sleepy," he yawned. "I want to finish the song we started."

"Right, and I would love to do the same, Gustave, but you have school in the morning and as of now, school is the most important thing."

Before he could begin playing again, I lifted him from the piano bench and carried him to his room and sat him on his bed. While he exhaustedly undressed himself, I rummaged through his wardrobe for his night clothes, bringing them out and handing them to him in exchange for his dirty clothes.

"Mister Y, do you miss mother?"

I placed his clothes into his wash bin and turned to face him.

"Only every day, Gustave. Your mother was the light in darkness and the music of my life. You know how I feel about your mother, and I know you want her here beside you. I want the same."

There was a long pause of silence, and then, I placed my child beneath the covers.

"All right, Gustave, time for bed."

"Mister Y, I was wondering if we could possibly do something this weekend?"

"Like what?" I questioned. "Phantasma is closed for the winter. The weather is getting colder now and there isn't much that can be done until the snow melts…Though, we haven't gotten any yet. The leaves are still changing colors."

"Everything is so different here from Paris, Mister Y. The colors and smells make this place strange to me. But, it's strange in a good way, I guess."

"In the fall," I began. "I travel out to the farmlands to purchase animals for Phantasma. It's next weekend, actually. Perhaps you would like to join me?"

Gustave's eyes widened in excitement and he jumped into my arms.

"Really, Mister Y? Really?"

"Yes, yes…" I chuckled. "You can come, but for now, you must go to sleep."

"I'm too excited to sleep, Mister Y!" he exclaimed. "It will be the best day trip ever! Back in Paris, Raoul never took me on day trips with him. Oh, I would beg and beg, but he always said no."

"Well, you can come with me." I assured. "But just rest now and we will talk more about it next week."

With that, my child finally laid down and closed his eyes. Like usual, I bid him goodnight and left the door cracked as he preferred it, and wallowed my way up the stairs to my room. Because of my outburst today with Christine, hardly any of my work had gotten done. If there was one thing I didn't want to do, it was stay up all night to complete it, but things were seemingly heading that way. After undressing and donning my waistcoat, I took a seat at my desk and lit a candle, ready to take my second shift of work once again.

"You handled things very well today, my angel."

I turned to spot Christine standing beside my desk seeming very pleased.

"Yes, well, I tried."

She smiled and ran her fingers through my sparse locks of hair.

"You did a wonderful job, Erik. Though, I didn't approve of you hitting him like you did."

"Every child deserves a good whack once in a while, Christine. Sometimes, it is hard for me to control my anger, but I tried my best for the boy's sake. Really, I did."

"I know…I'm just glad you only struck him once and not twice. He had a reason for skipping school, Erik. It wasn't like he just decided to do so out of anger."

"I know, angel…."

"Hey, I was thinking," she began. "Perhaps you and I could have dinner with one another tomorrow night?"

"And what made you think of this?" I curiously asked.

She shrugged. "I did agree to spend time with you, Erik, and yet, you haven't even asked me to do so."

"I've been too busy, I guess. Preoccupied with Gustave you could say."

My angel giggled and pressed an innocent kiss to the side of my neck. Oh, how that kiss made me remember her, made me want her…If there was anything I missed, it was her kisses. I had been so busy with taking care of Gustave, that I began to forget what was important in life, one of those things being kisses from my angel.

"So, tomorrow night then?" she questioned. "Around nine if that is all right? Gustave will be in bed by then. And we'll take it up here so he can't see us."

"Well, see me." I corrected. "It would look like I'd be having dinner with myself. Which is a bit strange, don't you think?"

Once more, she giggled. "I'll see you then."

And as my angel disappeared, I smiled…"It's a date…"

Awwww...fluffy chapter! Please review!