The Phantom And Me?

Chapter 5: Fear Can Turn to Love

Later that day, I decided to go through my closet and see what dresses that his cape would go well with. After trying on the dozens of dresses and setting aside the ones that were way too small, to give to some of the younger ballerinas; I found about 5 or 6 dresses that looked great with his cape. I put on the dress that looked best with it, put the cape on over it, and stood in front of the mirror. Temporarily forgetting that he could see through it but I couldn't, I slowly put my hand over the right side of my face, to mimic where his mask was. I had no reason why, but wanted to see what it would be like to look like him. After about a minute of my hand being over my face, his white mask appeared on the other side of the mirror. I quickly lowered my hand, and blushed as I turned away to pretend that I was looking at something else. Suddenly the mirror opened and slammed shut, causing me to nearly jump out of my skin. Two firm hands turned me back around hastily, and I was met by a pair of angry, hurt, yet confused blue eyes. "What were you doing, there (y/n)?! Why were you imitating my mask? Do you think I'm a hideous monster, so you mock me? Insolent girl! You don't know what it's like to be shunned from the world for your entire life, and being rejected by those you love(d). It's horrible and agonizing. But when they mock you, and fear you, that's the worst torture of all!!!" He shoves me down onto the floor, rips off his mask and begins to scream at me, cursing his face and me for mocking him. As he finishes ranting and starts to cool off, silent tears fall down my cheeks. He turns to look at me and sees my sorrow, and seems to want to comfort and apologize to me. Instead he covers his deformed side of his face and begins to sing "Stranger than you dreamt it. Can you even dare to look, or bare to think of me, this repulsive carcass, who burns in hell but secretly yearns for heaven, secretly, secretly, oh (y/n)." He turns to look in the mirror again then turns back towards me and sings again "Fear can turn to love. You'll learn to see, to find the man, behind the monster. This... This loathsome gargoyle, who seems a beast but secretly, dreams of beauty. Secretly, secretly, secretly. Oh (y/n)..." I see that he really is hurt and I didn't mean to upset him. I gently grab his mask off the floor and hand it to him. Tears still quietly falling down my cheeks. I finally get the courage to speak. I open my mouth but no words come out. "Good way to start, (y/n)." I think to myself. I then do the unthinkable and hug him tightly, burying my face into his chest. He hesitates at first, because he's never had affectionate contact before. Eventually he hugs me back softly, then tightens the grip as he becomes comfortable with the affectionate gesture. I speak softly as I hug him "I'm so sorry phant-""Erik" he interrupts. "My name is Erik Destler." He follows up. "I'm so sorry Erik. I never meant to upset you. I wasn't trying to mock you in a bad way, I just wanted to know what it felt and looked like to be you." His eyes widen as he realized how badly he just reacted over a misunderstanding. "(Y/n), I... I didn't know. I'm so incredibly sorry. But you wouldn't like being me. You've seen what it's turned me into... A monster." I cup his face with my hands and look into his eyes. Slowly I lean up to his face and close my eyes. I then hesitantly put my lips on his, kissing him gently, reassuringly. Trying to change his views on himself. He tensed up at the sudden contact but then slowly relaxed. He slowly put his arms around me, then quickly deepened the kiss. He kissed me deeply, begging for entrance to my mouth, and I let him in. We explore each other's mouths, our tongues dancing in sync. I then reach up to grab his mask and pull it off his face quickly, tossing it onto my bed. He tenses up and I hug his neck as I kissed the deformed side of his face, then the rest of his face. He began to cry and hug me back and I believe I saw a smile. Then I look into his eyes and tell him "You're not a monster, Erik. You're my angel of music." He blushes softly at my words and then what I say next, he became as pale as a ghost. "I love you, Erik Destler." I then turn around towards my bed to go grab his mask back for him. Suddenly something hit the back of my neck. My vision became blurry, then the world went dark....