I Belong to You (Phantom of the Opera Fanfiction)

Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Again she spoke those words, as if they were natural and true...

Erik couldn't help but wince and look at her parents. He fully expected them to, at the very least, curse him for manipulating their daughter's mind like this.

But, they said nothing.

Erik began shaking his head, not able to understand -or much less accept- her words.

"Can I at least explain?" Christine asked while watching him with patience and care in her eyes.

His head stopped shaking. "Yes. Yes, please explain." Perhaps to hear her thoughts would make it easier to make her see logic when she was finished.

"I've had a lot of time to think while being away from you. At first I was confused, and scared, and not wanting to really analyze things. But deep now I knew I had to. I needed to sort through what was going through my head in order to make sense of it all. And I did. I thought hard about the entire thing- You kidnapping me, you forcing me to marry you, you keeping me locked up... Those facts would sound terrible to anyone else. But then, we're the only ones who know what happened behind the scenes."

Erik's eyes flickered towards her parents again. What were they thinking?

"You and me, we're the only ones who really know what went on," Christine continued.

She was going to go into the gruesome details... Erik understood the fact that she had the right to say anything she felt, but were Norah and John ready to hear it?

"I yelled at you, numerous times," Christine said, chuckling a little. "I tried over and over again to make you see reason. I whined, I complained, I insulted you... But you continued to love me. Through it all, we taught each other different things. You taught me the full extent of your love for me and I taught you what love really meant." She shrugged and smiled slightly. "I realize now that I rather liked the way I raised my voice at you and you remained so patient. That's just the way we are. You're intense and stubborn, and so am I.

"We belong together," she finished.

There was complete silence all around the table. Erik was at a stand-still, and Christine's parents were in deep thought.

Christine felt she'd said it well. She was actually rather proud of herself. Erik always spoke so well, and she'd just done the same. But he wasn't saying anything... "Or, at least I feel like we belong together. Have you changed your mind?"

His full attention turned towards her at that question. "This can't be real," Erik said softly. "You can't mean what you say. Is this a trick? Are you all trying to make me say something that will lead to further punishment?"

Before any of them could speak, he continued, "Of course I deserve your tricks and I deserve the worst form of punishment, but could one of you please just tell me the truth and let me in on what you want? I will say whatever is necessary."

Christine, not being able to restrain herself, reached out and stroked Erik's hand in reassurance.

"No touching," a guard said from his position near their table.

She removed her hand from his and looked into his eyes hoping he would see the depths of her feelings. "This isn't a trick, Erik. I'm telling you the truth. We're trying to make you see that everything's ok. I wish I could make you understand..."

"I wish I could make you see reason," Erik returned, his eyes downcast. "You can't love me, Christine. You shouldn't be talking like you are. It's wrong.. The facts are what you should be focusing on. I kidnapped you, I forced you to marry me, and I kept you locked up. I tried to destroy your soul. It can't be erased, nor should you attempt to look past it."

"You have to stop fighting this," Norah suddenly stepped in. "Because of Christine, you're going to get a second chance at life. She loves you, it's obvious. It isn't fake and she's in her right mind. She's willing to look past your mistakes, and so are we. You should be happy."

"And grateful," John added. "Erik, this isn't merely a visit." He decided it was time to reveal what was actually happening here. "We wanted to talk to you before we went through with what's about to take place. Erik, your charges have been dropped. You're able to walk out of here a free man now."

Erik could only stare at him, his eyes wide and his jaw dropped in shock.