The Man Clad in Black (Phantom of the Opera)

One Love - Chapter 28

You froze...

Why did he want to know where you were? Oh God... did he know that you helped the Vicomte get down there? You carefully peeked your head over the blankets to try and see if Erik looked upset or angry, but as soon as you did so, you noticed that he was staring right in your direction.

You paused. Of course, you could have easily tried to hide all over again, but the fact that you locked eyes confirmed that he had, in fact, seen you.

He was quick to make his way over. With each step that he took, the louder your heart pounded in your ears, and he finally yanked you up from off of the mattress... He stared at you for a moment, almost as if he was searching for something, and before anything was said, his lips broke into a smile as he wrapped you into an enormous embrace.

"You're alright..." he said, his arms tight around you. Of course, you thought that he sought to rip your head off after what you had done to betray him, but nonetheless, there he was, hugging you like you were the last thing on earth. To describe how relieved you were would have been an impossible task.

"Why wouldn't I be okay?" you asked hoarsely.

Erik paused before moving away from you, keeping the both of his hands on your shoulders as he stared you straight in the eye. Regret seemed to flash across his face for a moment, and before you knew it, he was hugging you all over again.

"The chandelier," he muttered, not quite yet letting you go. "I had entirely forgotten that you were onstage... God, you could have been killed!"

You shook your head.

"No, the Vic - Antoine was able to get me off before anything horrible happened," you said with a slight nod... You knew that bringing up the Vicomte would simply do more harm than good - especially now. You knew that his heart was still raw after everything that had happened with Christine.

"Thank God for that," he muttered. After another moment or two, however, he quickly pulled away from your embrace, a sudden look of worry in his eye. "Come quick - I can hear people coming."

He grabbed onto your hand as he began to lead you somewhere, but you stopped immediately once you heard someone speak.

"[Y/N]?"

You whipped around to see Meg. She simply stood there and watched you, an unbelievably concerned expression etched on her face before she ran up to the shore. "What are you doing here?"

However, once she got a look at Erik, she gasped.

"Watch out, [Y/N]!" she said quickly grabbing a candlestick to defend herself with. "That's the man who was onstage... quick! Before he hurts you!"

"No, Meg, he..." you started. You glanced at Erik, flashing him a reassuring smile before turning back to Meg. "He promised that he wouldn't harm me."

"How can you trust him?" she asked, an aggressive (though clearly afraid) expression on her face. "Didn't you see what -"

"Meg, please," you said quickly, dropping your hand to get closer to her. You glanced above you, beginning to hear more and more footsteps, and you were quick to shoot Meg a desperate look. "I'll explain everything to your later - just... please. For my sake... let us go."

Meg stared at you, then shifted her gaze to Erik. You could practically see the wheels turning in her head... however, to your relief, she threw the candlestick to the side as she stared up at you.

"Alright... I won't say anything," she said with a soft nod. "Just as long as you tell me everything later."

You let out a sight of relief as she said this, and before you could stop yourself, you let go of Erik's hand before wrapping the ballerina into an enormous hug.

"Thank you for everything," you said, keeping your grip on her tight. "Really... you're a life saver."

Literally.

Meg smiled softly as she returned the favor, giving you a gentle nod.

"Of course," she muttered. "What else are friends for?" As the footsteps continued to echo in your ears, Meg looked a little frightened as she watched you for a moment, her eyebrows furrowing as she glanced behind her. "That's my cue, I suppose... Good luck."

And, just like that, you were left alone with Erik all over again. You heard Meg's voice exclaim that there was nothing down where you were, and you couldn't help but smile softly to yourself.

You turned back to Erik.

He seemed to be thinking, too - the wheels were clearly turning in his head, and as you grabbed his hand to try and encourage him to lead you off again, he froze.

"Let's go - quickly," you said... However, instead of continuing on his path to lead you off, Erik firmly wrapped his other hand around your waist to get you to look at him.

"[Y/N]..." he muttered, glancing down and gently grabbing your hand. Slowly, he stared up at you, looking you right in the eye as he searched for an answer to... well, something. He seemed to hold so many emotions in his expression that it seemed almost unbearable, and he gave your hand a gentle caress as his eyebrows furrowed. It looked almost as if he had finally realized something. "I'm so sorry..."

You sent him a confused glance.

"For what?" you asked, your lips parting into a small smile. As he stared down at you, though, you knew just about how serious he was being.

"I never even asked what you wanted," he muttered. "All I've done is ask you for favors... and what have I done in return - make you swim in dirty water just to get to me?"

"It's alright, Erik - I promise," you said with a small smile. Despite your comment, however, he opened his mouth to say something else, so you were quick to gently place a hand on his face. "Please don't worry... It doesn't matter anymore."

He gently placed his hand on top of yours, his eyebrows furrowing a little as he searched for something in your eyes... "[Y/N]... why?"

That could have applied to many things... Why shouldn't he be worried? Or why weren't you upset? But, between the both of you, you knew the exact question he was asking... Why, after all of this, did you still treat him like a man?

You hated yourself for your next action. Oh, God, you hated yourself for it.

Three words:

You kissed him.

A/N: *lE gASp* Finally! We got a kiss! Haha, it took me forever to get to this point, but we're finally here!!! #ThankGoodness