Erik sat at his organ, spinning Mia's wedding ring in circles. He didn't know why he had taken it, doing so didn't make him feel any better, but the knowledge he had it over Gaston was the only thing keeping him sane in the days since the masquerade. His head shot up as the mirror swung open suddenly. The next thing he knew, Mia was in his arms. "Gaston's in Calais or lying about being with his mistress, but either way, I can stay for the rest of the week," was her only greeting.

He wanted to hold her and forget the world, but he couldn't. "Mia, we need to talk," he said, pulling away.

"No. Not right now."

"Yes right now," he argued. "This is important. We can't keep doing this."

"Why not?"

"BECAUSE I HAVE FEELINGS TOO!" Erik roared, leaping to his feet. "I am more than just a toy for you to play with then toss aside at your leisure! I am not a whore for you to come to whenever your desire needs satiated then leave once you're done! I am not a dog who will come when called! I want dignity and respect! Is that too much to ask for?" He lowered his voice, trying to reign in his temper before he lost it completely, but as a result, a tremor developed. "I love you Mia, with all my heart, and every time you leave me, it breaks it a little more. I can't deal with this. I can't take the heartache. "

"It's not fair," Mia moaned into his chest. "I don't want to do this to you Erik, but I have to. I love you Erik, but if Gaston…"

"I don't want to hear that name anymore!"

"He's my husband Erik! I don't know what you want me to say!"

"Mia, I want you to say that you'll stay with me! I can keep you safe! I can help you with Amelia! What does Gaston do for you? He's hurt you and he doesn't care about you!"

"Are you listening to me?" she screamed back. "Gaston is my husband! I have a duty to be with him and just by being here with you, I'm being disobedient!" Mia dissolved into sobs. "I want to be with you Erik, I really do, but Gaston terrifies me! I'm afraid what he'll do if I leave him!"

"If you just trust me Mia, I can protect you."

"I do trust you," she replied through her tears. "But I don't trust him more."

Erik sat back down at his organ. "Mia, we can leave if you want. Just say the word and I can make you disappear without a trace. Say the word and we'll go away where no one can find us."

She sat in his lap and buried her face in his neck, her arms around his waist. "Please Erik," she murmured. "I don't want to talk about this anymore. If you want me to go back to Gaston, then tell me to go and I'll never bother you again. Otherwise I can stay here with you until Sunday and only until then."

"Why do you insist on doing this to me? To us?"

"I said I didn't want to talk about it anymore!"

"Goddammit Mia this isn't just about you!" Erik snapped, pushing her away.

"And it's not just about us either!" she shouted back. "It's bigger than that now! We aren't the only two being hurt Erik!"

"Who else then?" he demanded, not believing her.

"Well for starters, Gaston has been punishing my maid for no reason other than me being gone."

"She can find a job elsewhere."

"And how is she going to make a living until then?" Mia shot back. She stood and began to pace. "Besides, there's my family to consider. What will they think if I vanish? My parents, Raoul, Philippe, I can't just leave them with no explanation."

"They didn't seem to care when I held you prisoner for over a month."

"That's not fair! You and I both know I switched your letter with one telling Raoul that I was in London for an indefinite amount of time. He couldn't have known that he should have been worried. Say what you will about him, but I have to admit, Raoul still cares about me."

"Your parents? The ones who forced you into an abusive marriage that you didn't want? The ones who drove you to the brink of insanity, drove you to what some will say is past that?"

Mia had tears rolling down her cheeks. "They're still my family Erik. They still matter. Not that I'd expect you to know what that's like. How could you?" She froze when she saw the look on his face. "I'm going to go," she said, turning back towards the mirror. "I should be there anyway. I shouldn't have come. This was a terrible idea."

"You're right," Erik admitted when she opened the mirror. Mia froze and her back went rigid. "I don't know what it's like to be in your shoes. I don't know what it's like to have parents or siblings or any semblance of a family. I don't know what it's like to have someone worry about me. I don't know what it's like to have someone care about me."

"Oh Erik," Mia whispered, turning to face him again.

He was trying to fight his emotions and was about to lose, but he kept going. "You are all I have. There is nothing on earth I have to care about besides you and my music, and without you, I don't think there will be any more music." He sank to his knees, bitter tears running freely. "Go ahead and go. I won't stop you. You'd think I'd be used to everyone leaving me by now."

The next thing he knew, Erik was being pulled into a warm embrace. "I don't like this any more than you do," Mia murmured, pulling his head against her chest and stroking his hair in a soothing manner. "I hate this too, but it's the only way we can be together."

Once the heat from their argument was calmed, things settled back into a regular pattern with the two, as though Mia had never left. During the day, Erik would play and sing for Mia, and she would share her poetry with him, and during the night when they were together, Gaston was the furthest thing from either of their minds.

At Mia's insistence, he did hypnotize her still, trying to help her with Amelia, although she never seemed to fight Mia for control. She was bitter about Mia's infidelity, it seemed and she was waiting for Mia's life to crash and burn around her. However, Erik was noticing that sometimes their memories blurred together, and that the two were starting to pick up each other's traits. Mia was starting to fight for herself a little bit more, and Amelia was a little less likely to be confrontational. He hoped that meant the two were slowly growing closer to joining together, but Erik also feared that meant losing the Mia he loved.

However, when Mia announced she had to return home, their fight was even bigger than the one they had on her arrival. "Erik, you knew I was going to have to go!"

"But I didn't exactly expect you to go through with it!"

"Erik, move! You're blocking the mirror!"

"I don't want you to go Mia!"

"We've discussed this!"

"You're not leaving!"

"If Gaston gets back before me…"

"I'll kill him if that's what it takes."

Mia froze. "Erik, if you go near my husband, my brother, or anyone else in my family, I swear to God, I will personally find every single gendarme in a fifty mile radius and I will bring them down here myself!"

"Fine! Then I just won't let you leave here. I've kidnapped you before and I'll do it again!"

"Erik, if you don't let me leave right now, I'll never ever come back!"

"You don't mean that!"

"Please Erik, I don't really want to risk finding out."

He pulled Mia into his arms. "Stay with me Mia," he pleaded as his voice grew hypnotic. "You don't have to go. I'll keep you safe. I'll take care of you."

For a moment, she relaxed and started to go limp as he lulled her into a fog. Suddenly, she jerked backwards and pushed herself away from him. "Stop it Erik!" she cried, backing away from him. "I have to go." He was so stunned at the fact Mia had resisted his hypnosis, Erik could only stare in shock as she pushed past him and disappeared into the passage.

"Mia!" he screamed after her, once he had come to his senses. "MIA!" When he realized she wasn't coming back, Erik slammed the mirror shut with a couple of choice words from various languages. With a roar of rage and single swipe of his arm, everything sitting on his organ went flying. He wanted his Mia back, not this…this combination of her and Amelia. Erik couldn't help but wonder if he could bring her back to the way she had been before. But then he realized that wasn't fair. All Mia wanted was to be normal, a desire he knew all too well. Erik knew he had promised to help her, no matter what, and it looked like he was paying the price.

He kicked aside some papers that had been scattered across the floor during his tantrum, before crouching down to pick up a familiar, leather bound book. Mia's poetry. Erik let out a sad sigh. It wasn't that he wanted to hurt her, in fact, he wanted the opposite, but he feared what would happen if she continued to stay with her husband. His abuse had turned physical, and it was only a matter of time before he did something serious to Mia.

His blood began to boil as he thought of Barineau hurting Mia. Hadn't he caused enough damage already? Erik placed Mia's book back on the organ before turning to glare at his reflection in the mirror. She said he couldn't kill Barineau, but Mia said nothing about making his life a living hell, and that is exactly what Erik planned to do.