A soft whisper roused Christine from her slumber. A smile played at the corner of her lips. This night had been more wonderful than she could have ever imagined.

The hinges of the door in the next room creaked and the wood thudded softly. She felt the cold bed next to her. Christine's heart dropped. Where was Erik going? Quickly she wrapped the blanket around her and ran for the door. She could only just make out the dark figure retreating down the street.

"Erik!" She called desperately.

Erik kept walking. She wasn't supposed to have awoken. He could not face the loathing and rejection that would surely be in her eyes come morning.

"Erik!" she called again. "Where are you going?"

Erik's head involuntarily inclined toward her. In the dim candlelight from a nearby house he saw her chasing after him, barefoot with nothing but a blanket around her.

He turned to her, "Go back inside Christine, you'll catch a chill."

"Not without you."

"Christine, please. Go back." He couldn't do this. He couldn't face her.

"Not without you." She repeated defiantly and continued walking toward him, rocks biting at her feet.

He sighed and closed the gap between them. She threw one arm around his neck and he swept her up in his arms, carrying her back to the small, abandoned house.

He laid her on the bed and gently brushed the rocks and dirt from her feet.

"Why were you leaving?"

"You know why," the Phantom replied softly.

"No, I don't, so tell me, please. Do you not love me?"

"You know I do, Christine. You are my everything."

"Then why were you leaving without so much as a goodbye."

"You deserve better than this. You deserve the life the Vicomte can give you. I can't give you what you need."

"Yes, you can," she insisted.

Erik shook his head.

"I don't understand, Erik. Once you tried to convince me that the fear I felt at the sight of you would turn into love. Only weeks ago you were prepared to kill to keep me with you. And now that I'm here willingly, wanting you, you reject me."

"Oh Christine," Erik climbed up beside her and pressed his hand to her cheek. "I needed your love. I needed you to pull me from my personal hell. I needed an angel to rescue me. And you did. When you kissed me beneath the opera house; when you put your arms around me with out any trace of horror or disgust I knew you loved me. And I knew I loved you too much to condemn you to an eternity of me."

Tears rolled down Christine's face. Her heart broke for her Angel of Music. Erik turned his back to her and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Which is why I have to let you go now; why you have to return to the Vicomte. You have to go back to the life you deserve."

"Don't I deserve to be able to make my own choice?"

Erik looked at the ground, fighting to repress the feelings that were burgeoning in his chest. He had to go before he ruined her life, before she changed her mind and rejected him. He made to stand just as Christine wrapped her arms around him from behind keeping him on the bed. Her hand slid up his chest and over his neck to the edge of his mask.

He pulled away from her. The first signs of daybreak were just starting to appear out the window. The friendly cover of darkness would soon be gone. He walked over to the window and stared sadly at the horizon.

"Once this night is over. Once you've had a chance to really think it through. You will see that I am right, and you will go back to Raoul."

"No." She crossed the room and pulled the mask off before he could protest. The soft lighting of the sky made it just possible to see the outline of his face.

He instinctively flinched away but she pulled him back and brought her lips to his. She pushed his back to the wall and pressed herself against him as tightly as she could. Her fingertips brushed lightly over his deformity.

His hands seemed to act of their own accord against his better judgement. He should push her away and disappear but instead one hand slid around her thin waist and the other weaved it's way through her hair, holding her mouth to his. His resolve crumbled under her touch and he allowed her to pull him to the bed.


Christine held him tightly. Even in sleep her arms stayed firmly wrapped around his waist, her head resting on his chest. Erik stroked her hair. His heart imagined what it would be to spend every night like this; to bask in her goodness and love every day; to live in his own personal heaven for a change. His mind fought to banish those foolish hopes and dreams. He could not give her what she deserved. An angel as wonderful as she deserved every comfort in the world. She deserved a normal life. A house, children, a husband she didn't have to hide. He knew he had to give her that. As soon as she fell into a deeper sleep he would leave but for now he relaxed into her, holding onto this memory to make it last a lifetime.


Christine smiled as she awoke, reassured by Erik's soft snore. She pulled herself up on her elbow and watched him sleep. He looked so peaceful, the worried lines in his face now smooth and relaxed. She brought her hand up to his deformity and lightly brushed the back of her fingertips across the mangled flesh and bone.

Her mind wandered back to the first time she pulled his mask off. His deformity had frightened her but not nearly as much as his reaction had. His anger had frightened her the most but now she understood it; understood a small piece of what had shaped him into the menacing, masked phantom. Her heart ached for his sadness, and for the horrors he had been forced to endure. But that was all over. Her choice was now sure and she had no second thoughts about the prospect of a future by his side and giving him all the love that he deserved every day for the rest of their lives. She would always care for Raoul but here with Erik was where she belonged. She couldn't live without him.


Erik's eyes twitched under their lids. He kept them shut, clinging to the last vestiges of this wonderful night but he could tell the room was full of light and Christine's grip had slackened. It was time for him to leave. He inched himself away from her warmth and opened his eyes. Christine's hand slid off his chest and wrapped around his hand. He glanced up at her face to find her staring at him, her face expressionless.

"You were right," she said, "I did need time to really think it through."

Erik closed his eyes, bracing against the words she was about to say. He was acutely aware of what his naked, monstrous face must look like in the glaring morning light. He should have run for it when he had the chance. How would he ever survive this rejection?

His breath stuttered as her fingers ran their way up his arm.

"I'm sure of my choice. I don't want the life Raoul has to offer. I don't need the money or the social status. I don't need the titles and the obligations. If these past few weeks have shown me anything it's that I don't need him to survive. I need you. I want you. I love you and I need your love. I need your music. I need my angel by my side now and forever."

Shock wrenched his eyes open as Christine threw her arms around him, burying her face in his neck, inhaling his intoxicating scent. "If we are penniless and destitute the rest of our days, this will be enough."

He sighed, reveling in the ecstasy of her touch. His arms wrapped around her, "I can't stay here, Christine. The lawmen search for me daily. I will never be safe in Paris again. I have passage on a ship bound for America in two days time."

Christine looked up at him earnestly, "Then let me go with you. Let's start a new life together in America."

Erik stared into her face. Her beautiful eyes were full of love and not a trace of regret. He kissed her deeply, holding her tight to his chest. They would be happy, together.