Protect Her, At All Costs. (Phantom of the Opera AU)

Realization

Christine's entire body ached for days. She had bruises all over her thin figure. She would go to Erik's house to sing, but she had to skip sports and school. Erik always looked at her with pity when she showed up at his door. Christine's friends would call her to fill her in on things that were happening at school. Raoul came to her house every day, though. He would bring her things like chocolate and little things she could remember him by. She loved Raoul so much. He was an amazing friend to her.

Christine carefully got in the car and Gustave drove her to Erik's house. She walked up to the door and pressed her finger on the doorbell. In a matter of seconds, Erik opened the door.

"Good afternoon, dear. How are you feeling?" He asked as they walked inside.

"Better. Some of my less severe bruises are starting to fade." She said.

"Well, I suppose that's good." He said, hiding his angry tone.

"Would you like some tea?" He asked.

"Sure." Christine said.

Erik rushed to the kitchen and one of the workers started to make some tea. Erik turned on the TV and watched Christine sit in the chair. She wasn't as active these past few days, but that was completely understandable. She simply stared at her hands in her lap, and shuffled her feet slightly. She looked around the room for a minute and then just looked straight ahead. He sighed and walked over to the squealing kettle. He poured it in a mug and walked out.

"Thanks." Christine said, slightly smiling.

She quickly sipped the tea. She subconsciously pulled on her necklace slightly.

"When did you get that necklace?" Erik asked.

"Hm? Oh, my friend gave it to me for my birthday. Then he came to my house yesterday and gave me this." She said, laughing and holding up her wrist.
Erik stared at a charm bracelet on her wrist but the only thing he could think about was that Christine had said "he."

"Shall we sing?" He asked, trying not to lose his temper.

Christine eagerly nodded and they walked to the piano. They started with warmups and Erik sat at the piano for a moment.

"I have a piece that I would like you to sing, if you're ready." He said.

Christine raised an eyebrow and nodded. Erik took out a few sheets of paper entitled 'Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again' and set them on the piano. Christine's eyes scanned the sheets and she was confused at first.

"Why wouldn't I be ready?" She asked.

"Look at the lyrics." He said.

She scanned the papers again and it finally clicked.

"Oh, well I should have guessed. The name is pretty self explanatory." She said.

"Would you like to learn it?" He asked.

"Sure, I would love to." She said, smiling.

He loved her smile. It brought him so much joy.
As they started to learn it, Christine got more emotionally attached to the song. Once she finished the final run-through, Erik turned and her face was soaked with tears.

"Christine, are you-"

"I'm fine." She said, wiping her eyes. "I just need a tissue or something."

Erik hesitated, but nodded and left the room.

Christine rubbed her forehead and sighed. She looked around the room for a moment and something caught her eye. She walked over to an opened briefcase and pulled out countless drawings. She flipped through them, each one looking more and more like herself. She got to the last one and stopped. She could bet her life that the last drawing was of her and Erik. He was wearing his normal attire and she was wearing a long dress. It was only in pencil, so she couldn't tell what color the dress was, but it looked so similar to her dress she wore on her eighteenth birthday. She was so focused on this drawing that she hadn't heard Erik walk back in.

"Christine?" He asked.

She jumped and turned around, the drawings still in hand.

"I didn't mean to snoop, they just stuck out. Who is this girl?" She asked, though, she was pretty sure she already knew the answer.

"The woman from the painting you looked at the first day you came." He lied.

"Really? She looked a bit older in the painting." She said as she looked down at the drawings. "You're really good."

"Thank you." Erik said.

She handed him the drawings and they finished their voice lesson. He walked her to the door and smiled.

"You did excellent today, dear. I'll see you in a few days." Erik said.

Christine quickly smiled and walked to her car. Her father drove off and Erik closed the door. He was so in love with her, he hadn't noticed her obviously quick departure.

Christine ran to the bathroom and splashed water onto her face. Meg walked in and found her hunched over the sink like she was dying.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay?" She asked.

"Meg, I think some weird stuff is happening with Erik." She said.

"Like what? Here, talk to me about it." She said.

Christine explained everything that had happened up until that point, even about Erik saving her from the group of boys.

"I guess that's all kind of alarming. How did he even know you would be walking on that street?" Meg asked.

"Exactly. I have no idea. The drawings looked exactly like me, too. And a few months ago, his friend Nadir said that Erik never lets people call him Erik, especially not students, and that he ended all of his other lessons. Meg, I'm the only one who can call him Erik, and I'm the only one that takes lessons from him anymore. He composes special pieces for me, too." She said.

Meg thought for a moment.

"That's definitely creepy." Meg said.

Christine nodded.

"And when he drove me home after I got jumped, I never told him my address. He already knew what it was. I know my dad certainly didn't tell him." She said.

"Oh my gosh. This is like something out of those movies you like." Meg joked.

Christine sighed and nodded.

"Well, we should head back to class. The bell is about to ring." She said. 

The girls walked back into class. Christine packed up her things as Meg walked out with another classmate, laughing.

Erik got on his computer and after some digging, he'd made his way into Gustave Daae's virtual calendar.

'September 12th- Christine's doctor appt. at St. Joseph's' it read.

Erik smirked and immediately submitted an application for a job, all of which was fabricated of course. He drank his Brandy and about an hour later he received an email from the doctor's office.

Mr. Destler,

We are very pleased with your application. Your credentials and referrals are very impressive. We are happy to inform you that you will be working with us. Please come in Monday morning to receive more information on our office. Have a great weekend!

-Josslyn; Head of Pediatric Wing

It was simply too easy.