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

Returned

Two more weeks passed and Christine, Erik, and Nadir had finally finished their plan. Erik would return Christine home and come back to the second home, Christine would most likely have to tell the police, her friends, and her father about what had happened and her feelings for Erik, then they would set up a court date, and pray that the judge would be lenient. It wasn't the most stable plan, but it was all they could come up with.

"Are you ready?" Erik asked.

Christine nodded. She hugged Nadir and they exchanged goodbyes.

"I'll see you soon." Christine said with a sad smile.

Erik led her to the car and he began driving. They sat in silence for most of the ride, neither knew what exactly to say. When they neared Christine's neighborhood, she looked over at him. He looked extremely sad. When they were a few blocks away from her house, Erik pulled over on the side of the road. They sat there for a moment and then Christine turned to him.

"I have your phone number, I'll call you as soon as I get things on track." She said.

Erik nodded sadly.

"Hey, this isn't the end, okay? Things are going to work out. I'm not going to let anything happen to you or Nadir, I promise."

Erik touched her face. Christine took off his mask and kissed his cheek.

"I love you." She said.

"I love you too." Erik replied.

With a small wave, she slipped out of the car and disappeared around the corner. Erik drove off back to the second home, where he'd just been with his angel. Was trusting her a mistake? Was she lying about really loving him?

Christine felt like a piece of her had just been ripped out. It was going to be a hard lot without Erik or Nadir there. She'd only been with them for over a month but they were some of the most eventful times of her life. Christine stood in her driveway and looked up at her house. It was just as she remembered. She walked inside and shut the door behind her. An officer glanced at her but did a double take.

"Hey." He nudged one of his co-workers.

"Wha- oh my god."

Soon, everyone was staring at her. Nobody moved. Christine walked past several speechless officers and looked around. Her eyes caught her father who was sitting on the couch next to a policeman.

"Dad!" She yelled and ran up to him.

"Oh my god, Christine." Gustave squeezed her in his arms and wept into her shoulder.

Once they finally pulled away, everyone started barking questions at her.

'Where were you kept? Do you know who took you? Are you alright? Explain in detail what happened.'

"Enough!" Christine shouted.

Everyone went silent again.

"I'll explain everything, I promise. Let's all just sit down and-"

"Christine!" A voice yelled from behind her.

She turned around and found Meg, Raoul, Antionette and Marie standing in the doorway. Meg balled her eyes out as she rocked back and forth on the ground with Christine in her arms.

"Meg, I can't breathe." Christine managed to say.

"S-Sorry." Meg sniffled and let her go.

Another pair of arms wrapped around Christine and she found Raoul crying into her hair. Once everyone had greeted Christine and asked if she was alright, they all moved to the living room. Antionette, Gustave, Meg, Christine, Raoul, and Marie sat on the couches as the officers filled the room. They all held small notepads and waited for Christine to begin.