The Phantom and the Ballerina

The Face of a Friend

Time passed in the Opera house. Everyone was kept busy between putting on shows and practicing dances. Overall things were quite normal. Erik continued to get his salary and Box Five so, for the most part, everything ran smoothly. Juliette's friendship with Erik also continued to grow as did Erik's love for Christine.

Something Juliette did notice was that as time went on her memories from her previous life were slowly fading. Anything that did not relate to the world she was in now began to disappear. For instance, she could no longer remember the names or faces of her Aunt and Uncle. This was somewhat troubling to Juliette but as Meg pointed out when she mentioned it to her, there really wasn't much to do about it and it didn't really matter to what was going on right now.

Both she and Meg were nearing their sixteenth and seventeenth birthday. However, the important fact about this was that Erik would have to fulfill his promise to Juliette and show her his face. Honestly, Juliette wasn't that scared about seeing it.

She had seen about every version of his deformity possible from films back in her old life. Besides this was her chance to really prove to him that he did have someone who didn't care about his face.

On December twenty-seventh Juliette got up and as usual spent the morning with her sister and a few friends as well as getting a happy birthday from her mother. However, later in the day she made her excuses and snuck down to the lair. Erik was sitting at his organ as per usual. Upon her entrance he turned.

"Hello Juliette, happy birthday," he said giving that small smile that he reserved purely for her.

"Hello Erik," she replied. He gestured for her to come sit next to him on the bench and she complied. Juliette paused waiting for him to make the next move.

"I trust the rest of your day has been satisfactory?" he asked. It was clear to Juliette that he was trying to avoid the topic of his face in the hopes that she would forget about their deal.

"Erik, don't try to distract me. We both know you have a promise to fulfill," Juliette said sternly. Erik sighed and said quietly.

"I had hoped that you had forgotten that." Juliette looked him straight in the eyes.

"Don't you trust me. You know that I care about you. Why would your face change that?" she asked.

"You don't know what you ask. My face has always driven others away. Even my own mother. You know this. I don't want to lose one of the few friends that I have," Erik told her.

"Erik, your face won't matter I promise you that. But you did make a promise to me. You must trust me," Juliette said. The two had another staring contest before he finally gave in. Erik reached up and removed his mask and wig finally revealing his face.

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He had hoped that Juliette would forget the promise he had made to her about revealing his face but she had not. He stared her in the eyes for what seemed like ages before taking a breath and removing his mask. He closed his eyes and prepared himself for her reaction.

He expected her to scream or run. Instead, he felt a gentle hand run over the ruined side of his face. She took her hand away and placed it on his shoulder as he opened his eyes.

"Do you honestly believe that I would run from this?" she asked quietly before hugging him tightly.

"Everyone else has. After all I'm a monster," he said in reply.

"No Erik, you are not a monster and don't ever tell yourself that. You are a man and you are also my friend. How you look doesn't matter to me. Am I going to say your face is the most handsome in the universe?" she said with a slight smile.

"No. But I don't care because while you may not seem beautiful on the outside, you are beautiful on the inside. I'm not going to run just because you have a deformity. You never have to worry about me leaving because of your face."

"Oh Juliette," Erik said softly as he pulled her close. "Never change." He could not believe the kindness of this girl. It was practically a miracle that she could look upon him without fear or disgust. He was truly blessed to have her with him. They pulled apart.

"You never have to wear that mask around me. But if it truly makes you feel more comfortable to have it on that is perfectly alright," she told him.

"In that case, I believe I will stick with the mask," stated Erik as he replaced the mask. Juliette gave him a small smile and nodded in understanding. They sat there in silence for a long time each contemplating what had just happened. After what seemed like forever Juliette took her leave and Erik returned to his music, his heart light.

Author's note: And now she's seen his face! Personally I prefer the one from the twenty-fifth anniversary to the bad case of pink eye in the movie. I am basing this off Karimloo but I guess you could put almost any Phantom you prefer in here if you like this story then please PLEASE leave a comment below telling me your thoughts! Thanks for reading!