A/N: Thank you to obol707, peanutpup, Phantomgirl24, and pinkdynamite for the reviews!
Staring at his phone, Erik debated texting Christine for what seemed like the hundredth time over the last few days, but once again no words came to him. Setting the phone aside, he dropped his head into his hands.
The opera company had given the last performance of La Traviata the night before, and Christine, Gustave, and Adelaide were scheduled to leave for Denver very early in the morning for their flight back to New York, something that Erik had spent the last several days trying to come up with a plan to try to prevent. However, short of outright physically restraining her from leaving, nothing had come to him that might work.
Deciding for the final time that as tempting as that possibility was, there was no practical way to make it work, Erik reached for his phone again. Sending Christine a short message, he asked if they could meet in his suite in an hour to talk.
xxxxx
When her phone buzzed with Erik's message asking if they could talk, Christine let his text sit for fifteen minutes before sending him a reply - a pretty response, but one she couldn't help enjoying just a bit after the way he had been avoiding her the last few nights. Ever since they had returned from Denver after the baseball game, Erik had inexplicably seemed to want nothing to do with her, brushing off her attempts to talk to him.
Wondering what he wanted from her now, Christine left her suite to knock on Erik's door. Was it possible he had some plan in place to try to manipulate her into staying with him? Knowing Erik as she did, she couldn't discount that possibility, reminding herself to keep her guard up as he opened the door.
"Hello, Christine," he said, stepping back so she could come in. "Thank you for coming over."
"Hi," she answered, not sure what else to say as Erik gestured toward the couch.
"Can I get you anything to drink?"
"No, that's okay," she replied as she sat down, wondering how they had gone from their very passionate encounter on this same piece of furniture just a relatively short time ago to acting like strangers as they were now - although when Erik was involved, any situation could always take an unexpected turn.
"I thought we should talk, since you're leaving tomorrow," he started, taking a seat in the armchair that sat at an angle to the sofa as Christine stiffened, certain that he was about to reveal whatever plan he had concocted to get her to stay - only to quickly be disabused of that notion as he continued speaking.
"I was wondering what your thoughts are about the situation with Gustave - specifically, if you're going to allow me to continue to be in his life after you leave."
Staring at him blankly, Christine tried to collect her thoughts, while also attempting to tamp down any foolish disappointment she might be feeling at this confirmation that Erik truly didn't care if she left. So much for her theory that he was going to try to force her to stay with him, she thought bitterly before forcing herself to focus on Erik's question.
"I don't have all the answers yet - we probably need to talk to a lawyer - but yes, I'm not going to try to keep you out of his life. We can find a way to make this work."
Erik's eyes closed for a long moment. "Thank you, Christine," he whispered, before continuing more firmly, "I'd like to come visit him soon, if I can. And, if it's alright with you, I thought I'd stop over tonight to tell him goodbye."
"Okay," she answered, hoping in spite of herself that Erik was going to say something about wanting to see her soon as well, but when he remained silent Christine rose to her feet.
"Well, I guess I should get going. I've got a lot of packing to do yet," she said, moving toward the door and hoping she could get back to her own suite before she started crying, completely missing the way Erik dropped his head into his hands in despair as she walked out the door.
xxxxx
Christine reached over to her phone, checking the time for what seemed like the hundredth time in the last hour. She had fallen asleep surprisingly quickly when she went to bed earlier, but now she was wide awake with several hours to go before they needed to leave for the airport, and her mind wouldn't stop racing.
Almost before she realized she had done it, Christine suddenly found herself getting out of bed, grabbing her phone as she left her bedroom to walk out onto the balcony. Moving over to the railing, she stared out into the quiet night for several minutes before turning to the hidden door that led to Erik's balcony. Knowing she was probably going to regret it, she nevertheless reached for the catch he had shown her on that night that seemed so long ago now, letting herself through the door before closing it after she stepped through.
Taking a deep breath, she reached for the glass door that led to Erik's suite, both surprised and not when she found it unlocked. Erik wasn't one to leave any vulnerabilities open to his home; on the other hand, he surely knew that she was the only person who would be likely to enter this way, so maybe he had left it unlocked in the hope that she would come to him, she thought, finding enough confidence in that possibility to step inside.
Erik's voice spoke in the dark room, startling her. "What do you want, Christine?" he said, confirming that he was both aware of her entry and exactly who she was, even though she couldn't see a thing.
Unable to find an answer to that unintentionally loaded question, she crossed the room to him as he turned a lamp on low light, stopping when she was directly in front of him. For a long moment, they merely stared at each other, until suddenly they moved toward one another, Erik reaching up for her as she leaned down to him, their mouths meeting in a wild kiss.
Time seemed to blur as Christine found herself pulling Erik up and into the bedroom, automatically setting her phone down on the nightstand before reaching for the buttons on his shirt, while he started pulling at her clothes at the same time. Once they were both undressed, he gently pushed her onto her back on the bed, immediately fastening his lips around one of her nipples while he reached between her thighs with one hand, groaning when he felt how ready she already was for this.
Moving lower, he began to kiss and lick her while still leaving his fingers deep inside of her, but Christine quickly found herself pulling at his shoulders, and as usual, Erik sensed what she needed without words, pulling back from her so he could slide himself inside her, hesitating for a moment to give her time to adjust.
When she moved against him, he took the hint, and soon they were moving together almost frantically, their mouths meeting occasionally as they both gasped for breath, until Christine felt herself letting go, dimly aware of Erik following her soon after.
Afterward, they lay in the darkened room, catching their breath in the silence, until suddenly Christine's phone alarm sounded. Reaching out to silence it, she rose from the bed, starting to pull her clothes back on, willing Erik to say something - anything - but when he didn't, she finally whispered, "I have to go," and when he still remained silent, she moved to the door, only to pause when he finally spoke.
"Goodbye, Christine."
Hurt and conflicted at his easy acceptance of her leaving, she exited the room without another word, not sure she could trust herself to be able to say anything anyway, unable to stop her mind from comparing tonight to that night five years ago, when Erik had been the one leaving her behind - although with the key difference that this time they both knew what was happening. And as she went back to her suite to change and wake up Gustave, she couldn't help but think that the worst part of all of this was that if Erik had just asked her to stay, she knew there was a possibility that she would have.
xxxxx
After Christine left the room, Erik swiped angrily at the tears that had begun to fall from his eyes, hating that he was barely restraining himself from running after her and begging her to stay with him - because even though there was nothing in this life that he wanted more, he knew he had to stick to the realization he had come to over these past few days that Christine deserved better than him.
Suddenly, he started, jumping out of bed and quickly pulling his pants back on before going out onto his balcony, eyes drifting over the closed door to Christine's suite before moving over to look down upon the hotel's entrance area - just in time to see one of Phantasma's black SUVs pull around. Watching Christine, Gustave and Adelaide enter the vehicle as their luggage was loaded in the back, Erik was forcefully reminded of the day they had arrived - and hit with the realization that in his plan to see Christine again, he had never considered how empty he would feel when she left at the end of the summer.
At least he knew he would see them both again, though, Erik reminded himself as he watched the taillights of their vehicle until they faded into the still-dark morning. Even seeing Christine in the context of visiting Gustave would be better than nothing - and more than he deserved, if he was being honest with himself.
He would simply have to find a way to be content with that.
xxxxx
After a mostly silent early-morning drive to the airport, Christine found a brief distraction from her inner conflict over Erik in the activity required to get their bags dropped off and the three of them though security, but once they were waiting at the gate for their flight back to New York, she felt him invading her thoughts once again.
Gustave, who had made his displeasure over leaving clear during the past few days, was sitting quietly, letting out the occasional sniffle left over from the brief crying spell he had had once they arrived at the airport. Wondering if the feeling she had that he would fall asleep on the plane was merely wishful thinking, Christine smoothed a hand over his dark hair, lost in her thoughts until Mamma's soft voice interrupted her reverie.
"Are you sure this is what you want, Christine?"
"It's not really about what I want," she answered, closing her eyes as she spoke. "I don't know what I want," she continued, aware that she was making very little sense, but as always her foster mother understood her, even when she couldn't understand herself.
"Did you want Erik to ask you to stay?"
"Maybe," Christine said, closing her eyes against the burn that she could feel building in them. "Probably. I don't know."
"Well," Mamma started, pausing momentarily as the announcement to begin boarding came over the loudspeaker, "you know I'll always support you, whatever you decide, Christine."
Unable to speak, all Christine could do was nod before she stood up to get their belongings gathered so they could move to the gate, once again reminded how fortunate she was to have this amazing woman in her and her son's life.
xxxxx
Looking out the window, Christine couldn't help but think back to the flight that had brought her to Colorado at the beginning of the summer; specifically, how optimistic she had been that day - and how she felt completely opposite now. Turning away, she let her gaze rest on Gustave, who had fallen asleep leaning against Mamma while the older woman read a book.
Once again gazing out the window, Christine swallowed the lump that refused to clear from her throat, searching for answers that she couldn't find as the plane carried her away from Erik and the happiness they'd found so briefly.
A/N: Getting so close to the end! I think probably two or three more chapters to go. As always, thank you for reading, and please feel free to leave a comment :)