It had been months since their conversation and Christine couldn't be happier despite the situation. They were still living in an inn but at the same time, it was better than nothing.
She was just happy to be carrying the love of her life's child. She was already starting to show a little. It wasn't obvious, just the slightest bit of a bump. She often found herself stroking it, something that got her dirty looks from the older woman.
But Christine couldn't bring herself to care about what Madame Giry thought. Not just because she was happy, but because her concern happened to be elsewhere.
Erik was worrying her again. She didn't know for sure what he did for work, but whatever it was put him in quite the state. It was a state that took him forever to snap out of.
He could be rather reactive in it. She still remembered the way that Erik had grabbed Madame Giry's wrist when she touched his shoulder. It had been less human and more like the actions of a wounded wild animal.
Sometimes Erik flinched. Other times he walked like every move was painful for him. She couldn't bear watching it anymore. She really couldn't. It hurt her to see him in such a state.
This morning, she awoke to the bed shifting and Erik letting out the quietest of grunts. She rolled over and opened her eyes, a startled gasp leaving her.
She'd always known that Erik's back was full of scars, but that wasn't the issue. The issue was all of the brand new marks there.
There was no denying that the deep red crisscrossing lines were recent. They'd be more faded if they weren't. She didn't know how to feel. She was mostly concerned and a little horrified.
There was even a deeper part of herself that felt betrayed by the revelation. It wasn't impossible to figure out just why his back was like that. Christine wasn't a complete idiot, after all.
"Erik.." Christine breathed, unable to stop his name from slipping past her lips.
She hadn't even noticed the tears welling up inside her eyes until they slid down her cheeks. She sat up and waited for him to acknowledge her, one hand resting on her abdomen.
His shoulders tensed, but he refused to look at her. Clearly he had been trying to avoid waking her. For very obvious reasons as well.
That also explained why he'd insisted on sleeping in his shirt the night before. He'd only been doing that until he was sure that she was in a deep enough sleep.
It was bad enough to know that he was willingly putting himself through such torture again- but to know that he was purposely going out of his way to hide it from her made it so much worse.
"Erik...please." Christine pleaded this time, ignoring the urge to grab his shoulder and turn him around.
She didn't want to hurt him, after all. His pain would be worse than her own. Her own was just emotional. She blamed herself for him doing this. There was no other reason he would.
They both knew he wouldn't be doing this if it was just him and Madame Giry. No way in hell.
Erik might not hate the older woman, but he definitely didn't have an overabundance of pleasant feelings towards her.
"Christine... Not now. I have to get to work. Please just go back to sleep." Erik finally responded, rebuffing her.
Christine flinched, laying back down. She curled up as best as she could. She wrapped her arms around her midsection tightly and closed her eyes. She didn't feel the need to speak now.
There was a soft sigh and the bed shifted once more. The motion continued and the next thing she felt was his misshapen lips against her forehead.
"I'm sorry." He uttered quietly before straightening up.
She didn't acknowledge it. She listened to the noises he made as he moved around the room and soon enough, the door shut behind him.
Christine sat up and that was when the tears really began flowing. He had sounded so exhausted. Worse than that, it hadn't even sounded like sleeping would help in this case.
Perhaps she really should've stayed in France. At least if she had, he wouldn't be miserable. Not in this way at the very least.
Erik felt guilty, incredibly so for the way that he'd snapped at Christine. He just hadn't expected her to find out. Not yet at least. If he would've had his way, she would've never found out.
Then again, perhaps he should've expected it. He had gotten rather sloppy last night. He should've kept that shirt on. No matter how much the material irritated his back.
He knew she would've asked him to quit if he would've allowed her to speak. He wouldn't have been able to deny her, looking into those teary eyes of hers. He didn't have to look at her to know that she'd probably been in tears. She was always rather sensitive.
But this was different. Erik couldn't afford to be weak. This was the only way that he knew to make the money that they needed. He refused to let his woman and their unborn child suffer, just because he could barely handle what he was doing.
Was he risking losing her? Perhaps. But at least he could give her the money to get a place to live. If she hated him for the rest of his life, he could handle that. So long as she and their child were taken care of.
He'd never really cared what happened to him and he probably never would. He just couldn't bring himself to do so. He was nothing. He'd always been nothing and he'd always be nothing.
But Christine? Christine was absolutely everything to him. His world. His life. His heart. The sooner she accepted that? The better.
She wasn't meant to worry about him the way he worried about her.