Phantom's Fate 《Phantom of the Opera Fanfiction》

24

A/N: Here's another for tonight! Enjoy!

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《Alia》

"Come. Sit here. Let me fetch a blanket."

Erik ushers me to the large sofa and disappears down the hall for a moment, then returns a second later with a fleece blanket. He drapes it over me gently, pulling it up to my shoulders. I whisper a 'thank you' and grip the edge of the blanket close while he pulls out the chair at the desk and snags his spare mask. He works with diligent fingers, tweaking something about it since his other one is in pieces on the roof.

Before coming here, Meg had been kind enough to let us be together to sort everything out. She promised she'd be okay, and that I'd visit her soon enough to check up on her. Now, however, finding the courage to talk about the elephant in the room proves to be a tedious task. My heart has been at a nonstop race, making every bone in my body jitter restlessly. Too much has happened in the past few hours that it's hard to focus on working up a forgivable apology. Ivan...scared half of my soul out of my body while he pinned me near the edge of the roof. He cried and threw a fit of rage over betraying him for Erik. He scorned Meg as well, since she seemingly is on our side. I had tried explaining...but every sentence I started, he cut me off with another burst of fury. I could do nothing but cower under him until Erik and Meg finally found us.

Closing my eyes with a sigh, I swallow the thick lump in my throat. Everything was going so smoothly until I returned to the surface. Until...Don Juan announcements, which caused a series of reactions. I can't blame the list, though. After all, everything has been my fault, from Ivan's anger, to my own jealous fit which hurt people as a result... Erik must hate me for all of this. His main mask is now shattered because of me, and he has a new shiner on his eye, with a busted lip. Meg also sports a welt on her face, which stabs my heart with a painful reminder.

This is all my fault.

"How does this look?"

Erik turns on the chair with the new mask on his face, it closely resembling his last one. The only difference is the nose piece, which conforms to the actual contour of his nose much better. "Horrible. Take it off," I frown, hating the fact that he hides his face. "The mask fits perfectly, but you should never have to wear it anyway."

A low chuckle slips from his lips as he stands, leaving the mask on. My scowl grows deeper as he kneels beside me. "You know I only wear it to spare people's eyes."

"I'm not people, Erik," I reach up and slide the porcelain off his face. "You'll only be neglecting my eyes from seeing your real face. I told you I think you're beautiful."

"And still, it never ceases to amaze me," he murmurs and plants a quick kiss to my forehead. My cheeks tingle at the touch of his lips.

"You should always feel comfortable around me..." I smile a little while running my fingers across his jaw. There is a moment of silence between us, and I feel my pent up anxiety rise again. Do I say something now? What if it's the wrong time to bring it up? God, help me. I take a deep breath and close my eyes for a moment.

"Erik, I'm sorry--"

"I must apologize--"

We speak at the same time, and I quickly bite my tongue. We stare at each other for a second, awaiting the other to continue. A small smile appears on Erik's lips as he touches my temple tenderly. "You go first."

Swallowing again, I drop my eyes and prepare myself. "I'm really sorry for today, Erik. For everything. The way I reacted was so wrong of me..." my eyes trail back to his. "I promise I'm not normally like that. It's just, what I know from my time twisted my thoughts into blatant fears, and I got extremely jealous and paranoid. It blinded me, really..."