A Christmas chapter in the middle of spring, why not? I admit this is a silly chapter. I have a head cannon where Erik is absolutely horrible when it comes to remembering holiday traditions. He lives under a rock (an opera?), but he tries his best for Christine. Enjoy!

Chapter 18: Erik's Holiday Mishap

Tonight was Christmas Eve. Erik paced around his kitchen, eagerly awaiting the arrival of his guest. With each passing week, it was increasingly difficult to remain calm when the hour Christine's lesson approached. He was a man in love, and it wouldn't be long before Christine loved him too. Perhaps she already did! The thought was electrifying.

The front door opened. Erik ran into the foyer where he caught Christine sneaking into his house.

"There you are! Sorry, I forgot you wouldn't be having any other lessons," she said. "I didn't want to disturb you by knocking."

"Yes, I'm afraid all my other students cancelled on me. Something about Christmas Eve?" Erik teased as he led her into the living room. She set a plate of homemade cookies on the coffee table, along with a small wrapped box. It'd been Erik's idea to exchange gifts, but both promised to keep it simple.

While Erik hung her coat in his foyer closet, Christine admired his Christmas tree. The ornaments were sparsely distributed, but Erik had filled in the gaps with a string of lights and plenty of tinsel. She pointed to the topper: a delicate angel holding a harp.

"It's an Angel of Music!" Christine exclaimed.

"I suppose so…" Erik replied, but he frowned in confusion.

"Oh, it's just an old fable my father used to tell me," Christine explained sadly. "We had a little joke between us that…well, the story's special to me, you know what I mean?"

Erik nodded, silently observing Christine's wistful expression as she admired his Angel of Music.

"Would you like to take it home with you?" he offered. "As a Christmas gift?"

"Oh! No, thank you. I think it belongs on your tree." Christine smiled. Her father had always used to tease her that if he ever made it to heaven, he'd send her the Angel of Music. She'd played along with the joke for far longer than she should have, yet, she wished her moody teenage self hadn't insisted that she was "too old for that sort of thing." She'd never get her Angel, but at least she had Erik to help her. Grumpy, brilliant Erik who surprised her at every turn. He deserved to have his little Angel of Music watch over him.

They closed their lesson with a round of Christmas carols. Though Christine heard Erik sing every week, his voice never failed to stun her. Perhaps, she had gotten an Angel of Music after all…

"Would you like to eat dinner?" Erik suggested as he closed the fallboard over the piano keys. In the dining room, Christmas Eve dinner was set out beautifully on a crisp white tablecloth, but something was missing.

"I'm sorry. I don't have a dining room table yet," Erik said. He sheepishly gestured to the tablecloth spread out on the floor of his dining room. The bungalow was bigger than his tiny apartment back in Persepolis and he hadn't fully furnished the place. Christine, however, was delighted.

"It's like a picnic!" she exclaimed. She'd gone on many a summer picnic, but a Christmas picnic was something new entirely.

"Yeah, I guess it is!" Erik replied, his spirits lifting. A picnic with Christine, that sounded heavenly. He could picture them sitting in the town park, beneath the shade of a tree. It'd be a warm summer day, and Christine would be wearing one of her colorful sundresses. She'd be pointing to something excitedly, a bird or a squirrel perhaps. He'd try to pay attention of course, but she was just so distracting, the way she smiled and laughed. She'd turn back to him and catch him staring at her. Her smile would disappear, but there'd be a curious look in her eyes, as though in that very moment she'd finally realised that she-

"Erik, do you need help with anything?" Christine asked. He was just staring at her, as though he'd forgotten something.

"Oh…no…sorry…" he mumbled. Erik pulled the lid off the main pot and began serving dinner. His eyes darted up as he handed Christine her plate, but he quickly dropped his gaze. Would they still be friends by summer? Would she even still be in Gothenburg? After all, that's what these lessons were for, weren't they? She wanted to go back to opera. She wanted to move back to the city. She'd be gone by summer.

Erik pushed the thought away. Christine wouldn't be going anywhere before the end of the school year. He'd better appreciate the time they had together instead of being greedy and wishing for more.

He picked up his fork and dug into his dinner. Erik never considered himself someone who enjoyed cooking. It was another useless chore in his opinion, but tonight, he'd gone above and beyond to cook the meal he was going to share with Christine.

"Erik, this is fantastic!" she insisted. "I'm serious, you have talent!"

"Haha…thanks…" Erik said shyly. He didn't correct her. Christine didn't need to know most nights he lacked motivation to eat dinner at all, let alone cook for himself.

"I'll help you with the dishes," Christine said when Erik set his fork down. She'd eaten more than her fair share, but the man had barely touched any of his own food.

"Oh, no, thank you. I'll get it tomorrow," Erik said. "Why don't we exchange gifts now?"

"Alright," Christine agreed merrily. She ran into the living room to retrieve Erik's present. Spinning quickly to return to the dining room, she collided with her host.

"You really do enjoy bumping into me, don't you," Erik joked, not that he minded. Christine could bump into him as many times as she wished, and he'd sit there and take it.

"I'm sorry...Here!" Christine giggled as she handed Erik her gift. It was a small rectangular box, neatly wrapped in shiny gold paper; a red bow completed the picture-perfect Christmas gift. Erik, in turn, handed her his gift: a large flat rectangle. His wrapping skills were abysmal compared to hers, but the red plaid paper and the green bow were festive enough to distract anyone from having ill thoughts on such a joyous occasion. Erik lit a fire in his fireplace and settled onto the couch beside Christine.

"You go first!" she said. Erik eagerly opened his gift, careful to not ruin Christine's precise wrapping. His gift was a black leather bound book; gold musical notes were printed across the cover. When Erik opened the book, he laughed. It was a pocket calendar!

"I should've seen this coming," Erik said, grinning.

"And look inside!" Christine could hardly contain her laughter. Each page was covered in her neat handwriting. She'd notated the holidays that Erik overlooked each year. On a few of them she'd even written helpful reminders.

October 31, Halloween: Don't forget to buy candy!

"Don't worry. I won't make that mistake again!" Erik said. He'd come home on Halloween night to find egg yolks dripping down his windows. Although he attributed the prank to rebellious teenagers rather than his lack of candy, one could never be too careful. Thank goodness Nadir gave him an extra day with the car because Erik had been exhausted by the time he got home, so exhausted he made the mistake of leaving the gooey mess until morning. Cleaning dried egg yolk was no easy task.

Erik flipped to another month. He laughed again when he saw the next holiday Christine considered important enough to include.

Christine Daae's Birthday

"It's a national holiday!" she teased. Erik memorised the date. He'd be sure to buy her a gift.

"Now it's your turn!" Erik said. He watched in anticipation as Christine opened his gift. Similarly, she politely tore the paper, so as not to ruin Erik's wrapping, but why was she being so careful? His wrapping looked as though he'd hastily slapped it on at the last minute, even though it'd taken several tries to get the final product.

"Did you compose something for me?" Christine looked up from the sheet music in her hands.

"Yes, and I'll perform it for you."

Erik didn't need the sheet music. The composition was memorized. He sat at his piano and took a deep breath before plunging into the piece. Christine followed along in the sheet music, but her focus shifted to the musician himself. At Erik's command, an emotional ballade poured out from the instrument. The piece sounded oddly romantic, but then again, Erik was a passionate player. After the final note faded away, Erik's hands hovered over the keys. He lifted them in an elaborate flourish.

"Erik, that was beautiful. By far, the greatest gift I have ever received." Christine burst into gushing applause. She wiped a tear from her cheek, just as she was meant to after hearing his marvelous performance.

"I'm glad you liked it," Erik replied, but "glad" was an understatement. As he resumed his seat beside her, his heart leapt for joy. He'd never experienced such dizzying exhilaration in his life.

"My gift to you is so lame in comparison!"

"Nonsense. It's very thoughtful! It's something I needed!" Erik assured her, but Christine still believed Erik's gift to her was more thoughtful.

She added composer to the ever growing list of Erik's talents and accomplishments. Really, was there anything this man couldn't do? She was beginning to think the answer was no. Christine looked down at the sheet music, covered in Erik's handwritten musical notes. Now that the piece had been played, what was she to do with the papers?

"I think I'm going to frame these," Christine said, proudly holding up the sheet music.

Erik laughed. "Frame them? I didn't realize my work was museum quality," he teased.

"Well, I don't think I could play it myself. Not as well as you," Christine said. She could find her way around a piano, but even someone with far greater experience would never come close to Erik's playing. "I mean really, Erik, whoever dissuaded you from pursuing music was a fool," she added confidently. Not only had they done Erik a great disservice, but the entire world was missing out on this genius, this hidden gem cached away in a small town in the middle of nowhere. Even the most talented musicians she knew were imposters in Erik's shadow.

"Thank you. That's very kind of you to say," Erik replied. He shifted the slightest bit closer to Christine, barely enough for her to notice, but to him, it made all the difference.

"It's the truth! I really don't know what you're doing here of all places." Christine laughed, but Erik stopped to contemplate the situation. As a child he'd dreamed of being the concertmaster of a big city orchestra or even better, having a career as a renowned soloist. What if he had followed that path? What if he'd gone to conservatory instead of joining the military? He would've been another person entirely.

"I think I'm glad the way things worked out," Erik said thoughtfully. "I never would have met you, Christine!"

As she giggled, a blush crept across her face. "I suppose that's true...I guess I'm also glad it worked out this way," Christine agreed. The words felt strange coming out of her mouth, though she meant them entirely.

"Do you want to watch a movie?" Erik suggested. It was getting late, but he wasn't ready for this night to end.

Apparently, neither was Christine.

"That's a great idea!" she said. While Erik found his computer, she reached for her plate of cookies, so they could snack during the movie.

"What should we watch?" Erik asked as he scrolled through a list of holiday films.

"Let's watch Rogue Nation!" Christine suggested. "Since we were talking about it on Halloween."

"Alright!" Erik pulled up the movie and set his computer on the coffee table. He stood up to turn off the living room lights, leaving only the glow of the Christmas tree and the crackling fire in the hearth.

During the movie, Erik sat tensely. His posture was rigid, his hands folded tightly in his lap. Every so often he'd look over at Christine. She was hugging a throw pillow to her chest, engrossed in her favorite movie. He tried inching closer to her, but there was only so close he could get before she'd figure out what he was doing and get uncomfortable. Maybe he could try the classic "yawn and stretch his arm around her shoulder." No, that was the oldest trick in the book. She'd see right through him…

Erik looked back at the movie. The credits were rolling across the screen. He'd spent the past two hours debating whether he should make a move instead of actually doing it. Christine stood up from the couch and walked over to the window. Outside, light snow had begun to fall.

"We're going to have a white Christmas!" Christine exclaimed. In the morning, lampposts adorned with Christmas wreaths and red bows would stand out against the blanket of fluffy snow. Icicles would glisten in the sunlight from the eaves of houses. Children would dot the white landscape with snowmen on their front lawns. The thought gave Christine a warm feeling that could only be derived from holiday merriment. She looked at Erik to share the moment, but he was staring down at his watch. She frowned. Was she overstaying her welcome?

"What time is it?" she asked.

"Half past eleven, give or take."

Christine gasped. She hadn't expected to stay so long. "I should get going," she said as she stared glumly out the window. Driving in the snow was never fun.

"What?" Erik looked up. "You don't have to leave if you don't want to. Why don't you stay a bit longer?"

"Well, I guess I don't have to leave quite yet, if you don't mind-"

"Of course I don't mind."

"Alright, but I do want to beat out the worst of the storm," Christine said. She returned to the couch and reached for another cookie.

And so, they extended holiday festivities just a bit longer. Christine could have lengthy conversations with Erik these days, but tonight he was distracted. He checked his watch every few minutes. He probably hadn't really meant it when he invited her to stay. It was late. The man surely wanted to sleep, and she was keeping him up because she was desperate to hold onto the last bit of the holiday season. Her phone's clock said it was nearly midnight, and the few stray flakes had turned into a blizzard.

"I think I should be on my way, Erik. Thank you very much-"

"One more minute," he muttered looking at his watch.

"What?"

"It's midnight!"

Erik gleefully swept Christine into his arms and planted a kiss on her lips. One of her hands shot to her mouth while the other shoved him away.

"Erik, are you drunk? What on earth was that for!"

"Merry Christmas!...It's midnight...and you kiss someone!...Isn't that how this works?" Erik asked innocently.

Christine lowered the hand she was about to use to smack him. Her eyes were wide with shock and confusion, before realization sunk in.

"Erik, that's New Year's, you big dummy."

"Oh. Fuck."

Erik's masked face fell into his hands as he repeatedly muttered curses and insults to himself.

Christine would've been furious that a man had taken such liberties with her, but she was too amused by the situation to be angry, not to mention she was suffering from serious second hand embarrassment. Erik was too ashamed to remove his hands from his face and look her in the eye.

"Erik, is this why you asked me over and made me stay late?" Christine asked coyly. Erik's only response was a tiny nod "Well, if it makes you feel any better it wasn't a bad kiss...I suppose it could have been better though."

Christine smirked as she gently took Erik's hands off his face. They fell limply into his lap. She took his face between her hands and kissed him again. When she pulled away, his eyes were still closed and he was grinning ear to ear.

"You're right, Christine. That was better," he whispered.

She had kissed him. Erik leaned forward for another kiss, but Christine turned away, and he silently cursed himself for being greedy again. He'd already gotten two kisses, more than he deserved. But Christine had only turned away to remove her high heels.

"My shoes are killing me," she said, with a small laugh. She smiled at him.

She had that look in her eye, that same curious look he'd always imagined. Christine laid her head on Erik's chest. Why ruin the moment only to leave this cozy room and drive home in a snowstorm?

Erik gawked the woman curled up against him. Christine was beginning to fall asleep. He gingerly wrapped her in his arms and leaned his head on hers, taking extra care not to disturb her lest she change her mind and run off into the night.

"Christine…" he whispered. She gave a sleepy hum to acknowledge him. "Christine, I swear there's a Christmas tradition where you kiss people. What am I thinking of?"

"Mistletoe, Erik. You're thinking of mistletoe," Christine replied.

"Hmm...that's it."

"You're really not good at this whole holiday thing, are you?"

"I must confess I'm really not."

They both gave small chuckles which turned into sighs before they drifted off to sleep in each other's arms. As snow fell silently outside, the only noises in the living room were steady breathing and the last crackles of a dying fire.

Thank you for reading! :)