Mirrors

Almost

A/N: Hello! So, I'm not really sure how I feel about this chapter yet, but I do hope you guys like it! Enjoy! Pretend Mr. Darcy here has a mask and all will be well (not saying that the images attached are the actual castings for this story).

The past few weeks, Erik and I had seen each other almost every day. Each day, the conversations would be short, but each one proved to be somewhat informative. So far, I've learned that Erik did in fact live underneath the opera house, and that he had no living family that he knew of (though he did not seem to believe that statement himself). Erik learned that I have a sister and a mother that live in Bordeaux, and that I've been living in the opera house ever since I came to Paris. The conversations were simple really, but it seemed as though we both enjoyed them and their simplicity.

It was a week before the debut of Don Juan. One week. Everyone in the opera house was scrambling about, trying to memorize a lyric, or trying to coordinate a dance. Even us maids were beginning to get nervous.

Marie, who seemed to be worrying more and more about me, had made it her duty to make sure I was done with my work, and eating dinner a whole hour earlier than normal, afraid I would be killed by the opera ghost. I worried that this would become a problem with my daily meetings with Erik, but was proven wrong when I saw him waiting for me in the Prima Donna room that day. This time, though, he was not sitting in the stiff wooden chair, placed conveniently in the shadows. He was sitting on the floor, against the mirror, with his long legs stretched out before him.

He had his back pressed flat against the glass, and his hands neatly folded in his lap. A ghost of a smile slid across his thin lips in a greeting before he motioned with his chin for me to sit next to him. I did so, almost in confusion.

I stared straight ahead at first, watching the closed door of the Prima Donna room, almost not knowing what to do.

"You seem rather relaxed today." I finally said. It was quite confusing to see him calmly sitting on the floor, when he usually sits stiffly in a chair in the shadows. It didn't help with the confusion when I remembered that his opera was premiering in one week.

"And you seem rather confused today." He replied, and even though I wasn't looking, I could tell he said that with a smirk.

As I turned my head to lock eyes with him, I was able to confirm that yes, there was a smirk placed neatly on his lips.

"Well, shouldn't you be getting ready for your opera?" I questioned, explaining the source of my confusion to him.

"There is nothing more that needs preparing." He said simply.

I sincerely doubted that. Had he not seen the chaos going on around the opera house? I decided not to ask, though, and I dropped the subject.

The silence that fell upon us was actually quite peaceful. I had let my legs slide to the floor, parallel of his, and he had let his head gently rest against the glass of the mirror. I let my eyes close as I let my head lean back like Erik's. All was calm and quiet, until I felt a pair of eyes on me.

I let my eyes slowly open, but I did not dare look to the side quite yet. I remained staring at the entrance doors of the prima donna room, pretending to be deep in thought. A few moments passed, but the feeling remained with me. It wasn't necessarily a bad feeling. It was only a feeling that existed, and something that I wasn't sure if I should recognize or not. It took moments more before I finally decided to recognize it.

I slowly turned my head to the right, until Erik's face came into view. Yes, Erik had in fact been watching me with those deep brown eyes. I blushed under his gaze, but I did not let that break my eye contact with him.

It was almost like a type of tunnel vision, just without the negative connotation. It was just he and I and the rest of the world that faded into the distance while he became more focused. It felt like it was the first time in a long time that I had actually lived in the present- not only recognizing what was happening at the moment, but actually properly living in the present.

The moment of peace was quickly disturbed for me, though. My frantic mind began to search for excuses to not do what I wanted to do. It searched for a damned question, and it happened to find one- a question that I had been hoping to save for later. Why did you kill Joseph Bouquet?

The moment shattered around me, and reality came back into focus. Erik blinked, and his eyebrows furrowed. His reflection mirrored his expression in the glass of the mirror, making it feel as if there were two of him staring at me. That's when I realized I had said the question out loud.

I swallowed hard. I knew I made a mistake, and I wanted to tell him that, but for some reason the words were stuck in the back of my throat refusing to come out. While I did want to know the answer to the question, I knew that this was the wrong place, and certainly the wrong time.

Just when I thought he was going to say something, I heard a door swing open. My head snapped to the front of the Prima Donna room to see an angry looking Marie standing in the doorway.

"You're late." She said, anger evident in her voice.

I looked to my right, worried about Erik, but Erik was gone.

A/N: Okay, so I know a lot happened in this chapter and it all happened very quickly. I guess I kind of wanted to show how it was supposed to be like any other day, but then bam shit went down? Also, I know the "almost kiss" might have been a bit rushed, but I knew that if it didn't happen now, it probably would have never happened and this story would have just been a bunch of fillers. I also thought it was necessary for Isabelle to bring up Joseph Bouquet, and I know that if I was in her situation, I probably would have awkwardly blurted it out at an inappropriate time as well (hey, nobody's perfect). Anyways, tell me what you guys thought of this chapter! I love to hear from you guys! I'll see you all in the next chapter! 3