Next chapter, woo! Thanks for the reviews guys! I wrote today this instead of doing uni work, just cause. And now i feel guilty for not having done any work... :/ Anyway! Hopefully it was worth it. Let me know!

Phanty belongs to Leroux and Lloyd Weber

Erik

I was angry with her, I was furious at her for foolishly putting her life at risk, for presenting herself to me when I had spent so long trying to forget her; trying to live without her. I was angry at her for walking in on me getting changed; for having the nerve to mention my scars when she should not have seen them in the first place and most definitely would not care where they came from should I condescend to explain them.

What did she want? Why had she come? I wanted to ask her but more so I wanted to speak to her as little as possible; speaking would only serve to open the wounds I had spent weeks attempting to close. We were no longer what we used to be, and the fault was mine. I knew that. It was all my own doing but she did not even give me the chance to explain myself. She left without so much as a second thought, and yet she returned to me. Why? She was trying to explain herself to me but I would not let her. After all, she had not afforded me the same kindness...

After the rescue I kept my distance from her, avoiding eye contact where I could and not allowing myself the torturous pleasure of being near her; close enough to be cruelly reminded of her scent, the texture of her hair, the softness of her skin... Those eyes... those lips.

I had almost escaped our encounter unscathed; she had not breached my fortress walls because I had not allowed it... And then...

She touched me.

My heart skipped a beat as her cold hand came in contact with the exposed skin of my chest.

I near lost all of my resolve at that moment. I looked down at her hand in disbelief and it was all I had not to weep right there; right in front of her. I did not hate her. I did not even dislike her. How could I possibly? I loved her. I had never stopped loving her and at that moment I realized that I was foolish to believe that I ever could. All it took to realize that was a single touch from her, a single, voluntary touch; almost accidental in nature, at least at first was all it took to remind me of what we had and how monumentally daft I had been to jeopardize it. How had I lived these weeks without her touch? I hadn't... I had not been alive until this moment.

We looked at one another; finally aware of each other's presence, of the feelings we had once shared. And now that those feelings had once more awakened, I could not bear it. I could not bear to stand before this woman, stripped of all my vices and defenses. Now, finally meeting her gaze, it was more unbearable than ever before. She stood before me with an unreadable expression upon her perfect features and beckoned me to answer a question she had not asked. A question I did not know the answer to.

"Why are you here?" I asked. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"Doing?" She responded softly, apparently unaware of what she was putting me through just by being.

"Are you oblivious to your affect on me?" I asked. "Do you know how much it pains me just to look at you? And... to know that I... can't." I moved to touch her face but decided against it... I knew that that part of her life did not belong to me anymore; perhaps it never had. Perhaps I had never deserved such happiness; it had been a mistake made by a higher power, or a cruel trick. My clenched fist fell to my side in frustration. I wanted to leave; to walk away. I wanted to be released from her gaze, from her spell. But she would not remove her hand and did not possess the strength to remove it myself. Her fingers seared my flesh where they lay; deliciously maddening and burning away at what was left of my sanity.

"I just wanted to see you." She said. I scoffed, still convinced that she was just using her wiles to convince me to return her to the surface. I looked down at her small hand once more and smiled; thinking of a time when I was allowed to hold it; when she wanted me to hold it. I reached up and traced her fingers with my own, painfully aware of what my hands were capable of, the sins they were responsible for. Christine did not flinch, she simply stared at my hand on her own, frozen... most likely from fear more than anything else.

"Why did you want to see me?" I dared.

Christine looked down and was silent for a few moments.

And then, the words that near broke me escaped from her lips.

"Because... I love you."

I blinked in confusion.

It could not be. She had to have been lying; lying to me so that I would return her to the surface as soon as possible.

"Christine..." I stammered. "Why do you say this?" I removed her hand from my chest and stared at her, awaiting the logical answer I needed to hear.

Because you wanted to hear it.

Because I don't want you to hurt me.

"What... What do you mean?" She asked innocently. "I say it because... It is the truth."

"You cannot mean that." I said, releasing her hand. Such a thing was not possible. "Do not lie to me, Christine. Whatever else you do... do not lie to me."

"I'm not lying to you!" She said indignantly. "Why would I lie about such a thing?"

"I do not know." I said, looking down and resuming the buttoning of my shirt. "But please, tell me why you really came."

"Why is it so hard for you to believe what I say?"

Because of the way you left me...

I did not answer. Truly, I did not know what to tell her; where to start. Was it because I had never experienced the even the smallest amount of affection in my life? Was it because I did not trust anyone to tell me the truth due to what I had experienced? Was it because something so pure and beautiful could not possibly befall someone as loathsome as me? Was it because if she were telling the truth, my poor, pathetic excuse for a beating heart could not comprehend such feeling? I did not know how to love, and yet I loved her. How was it that she... loved me in return?

"Do... Do not toy with my emotions, Christine..." I said, absentmindedly tucking in my shirt.

"Why is it so hard for you to believe me?" She repeated. She stood in front of me once more. "Why!"

"Because..."

"Tell me! I have come here to tell you that I love you and you will not even speak to me!"

"I...can't..." She would not let me speak.

"What, Erik! I almost died trying to find you, the least you can do is tell me what you are thinking!" She was now the one yelling and I was becoming overwhelmed. The words seemed to stick in my throat and every time I opened my mouth to speak she stepped closer to me, yelled louder.

"Do you not love me? Is that it?"

"Christine!" I yelled, infuriated.

"Why can't you just speak to me? Why..."

"I cannot speak because you will not allow it!" I yelled. Christine was silenced. "I cannot believe that you are truthful in your words because it is too painful; I cannot bear it. I cannot bear the thought of not seeing you for another few weeks, for another day... another hour! It is intoxicating simply to be around you, Christine Daae and you seem either oblivious or completely uncaring to the fact that you have such an effect on me. Why would you come here after all the time that has passed, all the healing I have attempted to undergo in your wake? Have you come to torture me further with promises and declarations you cannot fulfil?" I walked past her to stand on the edge of my glassy lake as I had done during the many lonely nights... "You know nothing of the life I have had. I cannot accept that you love me because I am... unfamiliar with the sensation... If you leave again, I may not recover." I turned to face her and I softened my voice. "I know why you left, and the fault is mine... The fault is mine and I am sorry for all that I put you through. Every waking minute I regret that choice that I made. But I cannot take it back. How can you accept what I have done now that you know who I am? Now that you know what I am capable of? You cannot. Who could love someone like this... someone like me?"

Christine walked to me and took one of my hands.

"I could. I could love someone like you, and I do. I know what you have done and I know who you are... but that does not change who you are around me. What you did was terrible, and it frightened me. I was... terrified of you..." She looked up at me. "For a time... Nothing excuses what you have done but what you have told me... helps me to understand it. For weeks all I did was replay that night in my mind; the things you said. And I will admit that I cannot completely comprehend my feelings..." I snatched my hand from her grasp and turned to face the lake once more.

I could not allow her to convince me; to sway my thoughts. I loved her more than anything else on the earth, more than air, more than food, more than music... And I wanted her words to be true. I wanted her to love me. But I could not believe what she was telling me. She was still afraid of me. She would stay with me for a time and then she would leave.

"But I will not deny their presence..." She continued. "What I do know is that I love you, and I could not bear to be away from you again." She snaked her hands around my waist from behind, pulling me into an embrace as I stared at the glassy water.

"Christine..." I said uncomfortably. "Don't..." My arms remained where they were, folded across my chest. I could not give in to her.

"I missed you, Erik. All I did for weeks was miss you and I thought that you had left me... for good..."

"I... would never leave you." I whispered, my resolve almost broken. "Don't you know that?"

"Erik..." She called.

"Yes..." I responded cautiously.

"Look at me..." She offered, releasing me and turning me around gently. I turned around and looked at her. I had nothing left, my defences were lost, and my resolve was broken.

She reached up and stroked the left side of my face gently.

"I love you." She said softly.

"How... can I know that you mean what you say?" I questioned. To this she smiled and pulled my face down to meet hers until we were mere inches apart.

"Christine..." I whispered; one last attempt at resistance. She stared at me, her dark brown eyes searching my face for recognition, for an answer...Her breath was warm against my face. Her thumb was caressing my cheek where it lay and her other hand had found its way beneath my collar and was doing the same with my neck. I could not resist any longer. Her eyes beckoned me, beseeched me to do what I so desperately desired to do. Just when I was about to close the gap between us, Christine moved forward and placed her lips upon mine. The kiss was gentle, delicate... but longing just as our last had been. After a few seconds she pulled away, something I did not possess the power to do. When she did I had tears in my eyes. She hadn't been lying... Against all odds she did love me.

"Do you believe what I say?" She asked as she pulled me into an embrace. I did. Of course I did.

"I... I am so sorry Môn Ange." I whispered into her hair as I returned the embrace. "I am so, so sorry for what I have done. Please forgive me. I cannot bear another second without you."

"It is already forgiven." She placed a kiss on my neck and I felt light-headed. I took a deep breath held her tight. Suddenly I noticed that the front of my shirt began to feel damp.

Of course. She had not changed her clothes...

"Christine..."I pulled away gently. "You need to change. You will become ill."

"Oh... yes." She said, apparently distracted.

"There is a wardrobe in the bed chamber you... spent the night in... there I keep ladies clothes you... may change into."

Christine gave me a quizzical look. Understandably so.

"I wanted you to feel comfortable should you ever decide to spend the night..." I explained awkwardly. I had nothing but honourable intentions should a situation like that ever come to pass... I hoped she knew that.

"Thank you." She said, releasing me. "That is... very thoughtful."

I smiled uncomfortably.

"I... will take you back as soon as you ask, of course. It was... just for emergencies."

"I understand." She smiled.

"Go and change, please. The last thing I want is you taking ill... damaging your voice or worse."

"Oh. Very nice to see where your priorities lie." She teased.

"You know I didn't mean it like that, Christine." I smiled.

"I know. I know." She said and began towards her sleeping quarters. As I watched her walk away I could not quite believe what had just happened. In less than an hour my life had changed completely. I looked around me at the destruction I had caused and the regret at what I had done was overwhelming. Christine had seen it all. She had seen me at my worst and still she confessed her love for me. How was it possible? I could not comprehend it.

When she returned I was sitting at my organ, finishing some notation for my latest work... my latest Opera.

She walked up behind me and touched my back affectionately. I smiled and leaned into her touch as her fingers began to knead my shoulders gently, the same way they had done that very first night. What a marvelous sensation. Who knew that her small, delicate hands were capable of such a feat?

"What are you working on?" She asked; her hands still on my shoulders. "What is... 'Don Juan Triumphant?'"

I took the music from its stand and placed it face down atop my organ. I had begun the opera in the depths of despair she had left me in... To have her read it at this moment would be nothing short of mortifying. No, she would not see it until it was complete. No one would.

"Ah..." I began. How could she expect me to speak or concentrate when she was touching me in such a way? Each time she touched me, I lost myself further within her. "It... it isn't complete." I stammered. "I will show you when it is done, rest assured."

"Oh, please show me!" She asked.

"No, no." I answered with a chuckle; a sound which hadn't escaped my lips since the last time I had seen her. "Not until it is complete."

She sighed.

"Alright." She said, disappointed. Then I felt her fingers trace the scars on my back through the fabric of my shirt and I knew what her next question was sure to be.

"What... are your scars from?" She asked apprehensively. I took a deep breath and dropped my head slightly.

Which ones?

"I don't think it is... prudent to discuss that, my dear."

"Please? I won't tell anyone..."

"It isn't that." I said, turning to face her. "I would simply prefer not to revisit that time in my life. You should not have seen them... I apologise for exposing you to such things."

"Don't apologize." She said, sitting down next to me on the piano bench. "I want to know about you. Did someone... do that to you?"

"Yes, Christine." I said standing up. "Someone did. I would rather not discuss the matter, alright?"

As soon as she discovered my past she would leave me again. Therefore I would delay that for as long as I possibly could.

"Alright." She said, slightly withdrawn.

"Would you like to go back now?" I offered. I did not want her to feel uncomfortable or trapped in any way and I hadn't meant for my last words to sound quite as harsh as they had.

"Well..." She began. She appeared taken aback by my forthright question. "Do you wish for me to leave?"

"Christine..." I began, touching the side of her face gently. "Of course not."

If I had my way she would never leave.

"Well... I should go. Although I do not wish to... I should return to let Madame Giry know that I am alright." She began. Was that how she had found her way to me?

I wanted nothing more than to let her stay for as long as she wanted... Then I looked around me once more. How could she possibly stay? What could I offer her? I had no food to speak of. There was nowhere for her to recline and read as she had once done. I was all of a sudden incredibly ashamed of myself. As soon as she left I would clean up my disastrous mess. I would start over.

"I... I am sorry about all of this." I said, waving my hand at my surroundings. "There is nowhere for you to sit. When you return everything will be as it was."

"This was all your doing?" She asked, following my gesture. I nodded.

"I will help you to clean it up if you'd like?"

"No thank you, my dear." I smiled. "I made the mess. I will clean it."

Christine smiled at me once more and pulled me into an embrace. I rested my chin atop her head and smiled to myself.

"Come." I said reluctantly. "You should return. I will take you back the regular way."

"How will I see you now that La Carlotta has returned to her dressing room?" She asked as she followed me through the dark passages once more.

"Don't hinder yourself with such details, Christine. It will all be sorted. Soon, the dressing room will be yours once more."

"Your new opera?" She questioned.

I turned to her and nodded with a slight smirk upon my face.

"...So mysterious." I heard her remark from behind me; a hint of excitement in her voice.

"Tonight, you will exit through the dressing room door as La Carlotta will have returned home. It may take a week or so for me to make the new arrangements but until then, please do not seek me out..."

There was silence behind me. I turned around to see Christine looking at me questioningly, slightly crestfallen at my last words. I realized at once how harsh I must have sounded. I was still largely unaccustomed to the art of conversation and I had not really spoken to anyone in more than a month...

"...For your own safety." I added with a smile. "You cannot imagine how you frightened me tonight. For now, I will come to you if you so wish it."

"I do..." She said; her voice small.

After a few more minutes of comfortable silence we reached the threshold to the outside world; the dressing room mirror. I released her hand and stood with my back to the wall, my torch lighting her way so that she could see her way to the mirror. Christine stood before me and took my hand in hers.

"If I cannot meet you here, when can I expect to see you?"

"You will see me." I said, attempting to control my joy but failing miserably. "Perhaps it will be a surprise."

"A surprise..?" She smiled. "How intriguing."

"You should go." I said. I brought her hand to my lips and placed a kiss on her cold knuckles. "It does not do to spend so much time in the cold."

"Are you not cold?" She asked.

"...No." I answered, struggling with the notion of someone actually caring about my comfort.

"Alright..." She said, thankfully sated with my answer. She wrapped her arms around my neck. "Don't wait too long to see me."

"As you wish." I said; one of my arms encircling her waist, the other still holding the torch. "I thought that I had lost you, tonight..."

"You haven't." She said warmly. "Good night, Erik." She placed a hasty kiss on my lips before releasing me and walking to the mirror. As soon as she had released me I was enveloped by the cold and the darkness once more. She was my light, my warmth, my life. I touched my mouth pensively; my fingers tracing where her lips had just been.

She closed the mirror before I could speak and my response echoed a little louder than I had intended.

"Good night, Christine!"

Christine

I closed the door to the mirror behind me and tiptoed to the dressing room door, taking one last thoughtful look at the mirror behind me and smiling. I did not know if he was still watching or not...

I love you.

I felt whole again. Once more, I would count the minutes until I could see Erik again. I had not forgotten his crime, no... but I knew that regardless, I could not live without him. His presence in my life was now stronger than it had ever been and while it would take time to adjust to what I had learned about him I was happier now than I had been in the weeks of solitude prior.

Carefully I unlocked the door and opened it, being sure to make as little sound as possible with each move that I made. I exited the room and with a smile still on my face I locked the door behind me just as I had always done.

"Christine." A voice sounded from behind me. I spun around.

"Raoul." I said.

"Who were you speaking to?"

"Wh...what? Nobody..." My mind raced. Raoul could not find out; no one could know. It would surely spoil everything... especially after what Erik had done. The Gendarmerie were still searching for Buquet's murderer and I could not bear to think of harm befalling Erik because of me.

"Christine... I heard a man's voice in there. I heard him say good night to you. Who is he? Another suitor? Open the door so that I can question him."

"There isn't anyone there, Raoul. I promise you..."

It was not altogether a lie; there was no one there. Not anymore... I handed him the key.

"See for yourself."

I prayed that I had closed the mirror. I prayed that Erik had well and truly gone. I saw no reason for him to be there and he was usually quite cautious but he and I had just mended things between us; things were too good to be true.

"Alright..." Raoul said, gently taking the key from my grasp.

He opened the door and to my horror, I saw the mirror half open with Erik standing behind it.

"Christine..." Raoul began; eyes wide and mouth agape. "What is this?" He turned to me. "Who is he?"

What had I done?

So, finally some more fluff. Angsty, sassy fluff... but fluff all the same. They needed it, I think.

But now more drama :0