Blood & Glitter in Paris (Phantom of the Opera/Labyrinth)

Chapter 10

It was two days after their tear-filled confessions and Christine was confused yet again. Erik point-blank refused to touch her. He never actually said the words but in every movement, it was obvious to the girl. It was confusing that the man who claimed to love her wouldn't want to be near her. He left the house every time he possibly could and even when he was around, he wouldn't look her in the eye and tried to avoid her by retreating the one room she was forbidden to go into – his bedroom.

Christine moved around the house like a ghost, looking for her ghost but he was nowhere to be seen. He's gone again. She thought as she settled down in the living room and brought her knees to her chests, a few tears slipping down her cheeks.

"Why are you crying?" A voice asked from an arm chair near her. Christine nearly turned inside-out as she bolted away from the new occupant of the chair. After a moment, she was able to calm her thundering heart and looked over at the Fae who was giving her the oddest look in the world. As if he had expected her to know he was there and not spook.

"I'm sorry for scaring you. I forgot you didn't know that I was there." He said. Christine smiled slightly and returned to her seat. I suppose that is an understandable mistake. She thought as she smoothed her skirts.

"It's alright. I understand." She whispered as she again pulled her knees up to her chest. Jareth shifted his posture and slung one leg over the armrest and on arm over the back of the chair, settling in comfortably.

"Now, back to the other question. Why were you crying?" Christine looked up at him and quickly made sure her eyes were dry.

"No reason." She whispered as she buried her head in her knees. Jareth knew something was wrong. Women rarely cried for no reason and when they said it was for no reason it usually meant it was for a reason but they didn't want to talk about it. That applied for Fae and Vampire girls. How different could human girls be?

"Tell me the truth." He said. Christine looked up at him and realized there wasn't any lying to this Goblin King. They barely knew each other but she felt comfortable telling this Fae why she was unhappy. It would be nice to talk to someone other than her silent, distant lover.

"Erik doesn't want to be around me!" She blurted out and tears instantly began to slip down her cheeks. "He doesn't want to touch me and doesn't speak with me!"

Jareth's up-curved eyebrows instantly lifted in surprise. I really should keep a closer eye on Erik. He thought before speaking,

"Mademoiselle," He said, the French term rolling off his tongue smoothly though it was still clipped with a British accent. "I am immortal and very wise and not to mention, handsome, talented, and magical. But, I have yet to figure out omnipresence. Would you please explain what you're talking about?"

Christine instantly blushed. She hadn't thought about it but her opinion of him had been that he would just know what had been going on. Now, she could see she had been wrong.

With that in mind, she proceeded to tell him everything that had happened since he had left two days ago, leaving out nothing. By the time she was finished, Jareth understood completely what had happened. After spending over a hundred years with Erik, he understood his mindset.

"Christine, you did nothing wrong." Christine looked up, hopefully.

"I didn't?" Jareth nodded and looked into the fire.

"Erik is a mentally disturbed vampire, as I am sure you know. In his way of thinking, touching you is the worst crime he could commit." Jareth rose to his feet and tossed another log into the fireplace. "You must convince him that touching you isn't wrong. It will take a while to change over a hundred-year-old mindset." Christine nodded quickly.