A New Beginning

Chapter 9

(Christine's POV)

"Erik stop that!" I cried as I rushed to his side.

He was holding a knife in his hand, and a half-broken mirror in the other. His mask was on the table.

The scarred half of his face was bleeding and covered with cuts, his eyes were filled with tears, and his clothes were covered in blood as well.

"Just leave me alone! You never loved me, and you never will. You only came back so you could stare at my face!" he yelled at me, and I could tell he was hurt. "Why?" he whispered, looking at the floor.

"Erik, how can you say I don't love you? I'd give anything for you, and I'd die without you. Erik I love you so much, so you have to stop thinking your face stops me from loving you, because it only makes me love you more," I sighed, doubting he would believe my next words, "It makes you handsome."

He started laughing bitterly, "More handsome than the Vicomte, isn't that right, Christine? Why, my face is a pretty sight, so I dare you go ahead and feast your eyes," he said as he leaned down so our faces would only be barely an inch apart.

"You're bleeding too much," I spoke softly as I turned on my heel to leave the room.

"That's right, leave me! Just like you did last time, leave me!" I heard him yell from the kitchen.

I came back a minute later with all the supplies I considered necessary to clean his face, and he stared at me wide-eyed as I walked towards him, trying to conceal the pain I felt on my leg. He had cut more, and he had the knife an inch apart from his face.

"Erik, put that thing down!" I yelled at him and knocked the knife from his hand.

He stared at me again, confused and even a little bit scared.

"Sit down," I told him between gritted teeth, and he immediately did so. I sat in front of him and put the supplies down on the table. "This might sting just a little bit," I told him bringing the cloth I had wet with warm water to his face. He stayed still as I worked on his face, which surprised me. He didn't flinch even once, he just stared at me the whole time, except for when I told him to close his eyes.

"Okay, I'm done," I told him, planting a kiss on his left cheek.

I stood up to put everything back when he grabbed my waist and pulled me close to him. "I'm sorry," he whispered, "I shouldn't have acted that way, and I should be the one taking care of you, not the other way around. Please forgive me, I just-," he paused and I took his hand to reassure him that it was alright. "Erik is just not used to love," he finished.

I gave him a sympathetic smile, "Then you should start getting used to it, and what did we say about talking in third person?" With that, he looked up at me and grinned a little, "No talking in third person because I'm a man, not a thing." He really was a child. Then, he reached his hand to take his mask, but I beat him to it and put it behind my back. "No mask until you're healed, monsieur," I told him and walked out. He chased behind me and scooped me up in his arms. "No walking until you're healed, mademoiselle," he smiled and kissed my cheek, and I smiled back.