The Man Clad in Black (Phantom of the Opera)

Injuries - Chapter 31

Despite the fact that Erik had tricked Matthew into allowing him to sleep in the same room as you, he was most definitely still a gentleman. Firstly, he picked you up before resting you on the bed... And even though he had a perfectly good opportunity to do something as simple as sleep next to you (not with), he decided to sleep on the floor.

You couldn't imagine it was comfortable.

It was the next morning and, after a long stretch, you found yourself nearly falling asleep again... Although the first thing you saw was Erik.

What a gentleman.

He was still asleep, although thankfully turned your way (otherwise... Who the hell would be sleeping in the same room?).

The events of last night flooded onto you quickly. First, you remembered Christine getting kidnapped, and how you helped the Vicomte get to her... You remembered how magnificently the chandelier fell, and how you were so blinded by heartbreak that you could barely move yourself out of the way.

"Good God..." you whispered, sitting up a little as you pressed your palm to your forehead. Immediately once you did that, however, you noticed the bandage wrapped tightly (and yet, ever-so-delicately) around your left hand.

Your grand escape hit you like a train.

You remembered kissing Erik, then running away with him to get away from any possibly authoritative figures. You also thought back to the way he held you - it was so kind, yet so firm at the same time.

Carefully, as to not wake the man next to you, you got up from your bed, making your way to the door and opening it with a tremendous amount of care.

To your surprise, Matthew was already awake. He was halfway from walking from the kitchen to fold up the blanket you had used last night, and despite the fact that it was hardly even sunrise (yay winter time), he already seemed to be dressed for work and everything.

"Good morning," you whispered groggily, slowly closing the door behind you as you made your way toward him.

Matthew's head perked up as he flashed you a small smile.

"Morning, [Y/N]," he whispered. He made his way over to the couch as he folded up the blanket, setting it on the armrest again as he looked to you. "Did you sleep well?"

You have a slight nod.

"Absolutely," you said with a smile. You glanced down to your bandaged hand and back up to Matthew... For a moment, you tried to connect the dots. Erik was normally the one to help bandage you up, but he didn't bring any bandages... Had he? The thought seemed absurd. It had to be Matthew - it only made sense. "Thank you for wrapping up my hand, too - it was getting really sore."

Matthew paused as he glanced down at your hand, and upon noticing the bandages, he couldn't help but chuckle softly.

He knew that he had given those to Erik.

"Oh, that sneaky little..." he muttered jokingly. You stared up at him, wondering what was so funny, and he shook his head out of entertainment. "That wasn't me, [Y/N]. The man you were with - Erik, I presume - asked for those bandages... He said that he needed them, but that doesn't seem to be the case."

You paused, although after a moment, your lips broke into a smile.

That sounded like an Erik thing to do.

"Typical," you said softly with a smile. "He has a tendency to... Take things into his own hands. No pun intended."

Of course, you were referring to your injury, and you couldn't help but chuckle softly. In fact, Matthew shared the laugh with you, and he offered you a hand. It wasn't romantic, of course - at least, you didn't think so - and you smiled up at him.

"Mind if I have a look?" Matthew asked. A smile was still rather prominent on his face, and it was clear that his intentions were in the right place.

You gave a slight nod as you placed the back of your hand in of his, and carefully, he began to unravel the bandages.

The sight wasn't nearly as bad as you thought it would be.

Yes, there was most definitely a cut - a pretty bad one, to say the least - but it was well-cleaned and didn't seem to be infected. The only thing that concerned you was how sore it still was.

"Interesting," you muttered, glancing up to Matthew. "I could've sworn that it was - "

"What are you doing?"

The voice interrupted your conversation, and quickly, you dropped your hand from Matthew's and sharply looked over to see Erik. He looked a lot more well-rested than before, but along with that seemed to come a new-found rage...

Yikes.

"Erik!" you exclaimed quickly. "I was just showing him my hand!"

You hated yourself for Beale tripping over your words.

"It's true," Matthew intervened. "She just asked me about the bandages, and I thought that she - "

"Oh, shut it," Erik murmured, quickly making his way over to you. He grabbed your wrist - harshly like he used to - and he examined your wound all over again... He began to wrap your hand up again, but you quickly yanked your arm away, deciding to wrap it up yourself.

"What's gotten into you?" you asked, looking down at your hand as you began to tightly wrap it up. "He was looking at my hand... What does it matter anyway?"

Erik paused. His jaw clenched as he looked at Matthew, an he slowly turned his gaze back to you.

"I just wanted to make sure you were alright," he muttered. Before he could say anything else, he made his way into the kitchen...

You were somewhat glad to see that he was making himself at home.

"I am so sorry," you said, tying off your bandage. "I promise that he's normally not like this - he's quite kind once you get to know him, actually."

Matthew gave a slow nod, although he looked somewhat guilty.

"No, he has all right to be upset," he frowned. "I understand why he would be - it must have looked like I was going to kiss your hand or something."

He had done it before, simply out of common courtesy... Why was it different now?

"Why does that matter?" you asked with a slight snicker. "You've done it before - it's no different from the way you would do it now."

"That was before I knew the two of you were in love," Matthew muttered.

Wait...

What?

A/N: Ohhh snap! The shade has been THROWN! And a double update? Who is she? Haha, anyway, thanks for reading... And a shoutout to Myatnoe123 for adding my book to their reading list! It means a lot... Vote, comment, and all of that good stuff. I'll see you soon!