Anywhere You Go

Chapter Three

This chapter is dedicated to @lunasimagination 

Disclaimer: I suck at dialogue so bear with me in this chapter. Reading it I cringed but I don't feel like changing it sooooo yeah 😂

~Christine~

After that instance, things began to change. I had moved into my old bedroom in Erik's lair. It was just as I remembered. Nothing had changed. From the pastel pink bedspread to my white vanity, everything was the same. I smiled as I finished unpacking the last of my clothes from the small bag of possessions I owned and flopped on my bed. I was so excited to begin this next chapter in my life. After a minute or so, I heard a knock on my door. I leaped off my bed to open it, and there he stood. The love of my life. I smiled and kissed him.

"Hello roommate," I teased. He smiled and kissed back.

"I'm all unpacked!" I exclaimed after we had pulled apart. He smiled at me and tucked a stray hair behind my ear.

"That's good," he said softly, a very intense look on his face. I glanced up into his beautiful golden eyes and smiled at his gaze. He stared at me as if I was the only other human on the planet. It was very overwhelming and heartwarming at the same time. I couldn't take the weight of his intense gaze and looked away. We were so close yet not close enough. That moment was sheer perfection. And then I realized something.

"Erik, what time is it?" I asked, slowly pulling away from his arms.

"Around noon, why?" he replied instantly. I began to panic. 

"Oh no, oh no, oh no," I kept saying over and over. I began pacing around my room in my panic-stricken nature. How could I be so clueless?

"What's going on?" he asked, very concerned. He looked like he wanted to reach out to me to calm me down, but he didn't know how to help, so he just stood there.

"It's Sunday and I've missed mass! I haven't missed a single mass at all my entire life! I feel terrible!" I exclaimed. Erik looked borderline annoyed. His whole demeanor changed. He seemed like he wanted to roll his eyes, but he refrained from doing so.

"It's just one week, what does it matter that you missed? You'll go next week," he replied, somewhat apathetically. I stopped pacing and stared at him with an intense look in my eyes.

"What do you mean it doesn't matter? God has done everything for me and He has been there my entire life and I repay Him by not even doing the small thing I can do? He sent His Son to die for me! And I repay Him by forgetting about mass. How dare you insult God in this way! He created you! He loves you! He sent His ONLY SON to die for you!" I ranted angrily. I didn't raise my voice yet, but if this conversation continued I would end up doing so. Erik huffed angrily at my words. Clearly I had struck a nerve.

"You say God is so great, but where has He been all my life? Why would He create someone like me? Why would he sit by and let a child be tortured his entire life?! You say He loves me, but how can that be since He has never shown that He loves me. If this God of yours is so great, why did He let your father die?" Erik growled. That just made me angry.

"Because the world we live in is sinful, Erik! You don't think I wonder that every day of my life? God has a plan, Erik, and if my father dying was apart of that plan, then I just have to accept it! God was with me all throughout that! From the moment I was born, nay, the moment I was conceived He has been with me! As for you, God loves you and was with you too! You just reject Him! Bad things happen to everyone Erik because we live in a fallen world! It is incredibly selfish to think about it the way you do!" I lectured angrily. Erik looked stung and hurt when I called him selfish, but I didn't care. I was too busy defending my God.

"How can I be selfish when I've never cared about myself? When nobody has ever cared about me?" Erik asked calmly, yet there was anger in his eyes. It also looked as though tears were forming in his eyes. Angry tears were already streaming from mine.

"What do you mean 'nobody'? Am I nobody? Do I not matter to you?!" I fumed. 

"Of course you mean something to me! You're the best thing that's ever happened to me!" Erik yelled.

"Erik you are the best thing that's ever happened to me! I know God has a plan because if my father hadn't died, I would never have met you! God led you to me! And you know what? Now that I'm thinking about it again, if God made your appearance worldly beautiful, the world wouldn't be able to handle the amount of beauty you radiate! You have the most beautiful soul of anyone I have ever met! So stop being so selfish and self-deprecating and man up!" I erupted. It was silent after that. I was trying to cool off, letting the angry tears fall. Erik let a single tear fall from his eye, and he had an emotional smile on his face. I was curious as to how he could possibly be smiling, but I let it go and focussed on trying to calm myself down.

"Christine, will you marry me?" he asked softly. I was taken aback.

"What? How?" I asked, very confused. How had he gone from being incredibly angry to that?

"Christine, I've realized that you are the person I want to argue with for the rest of my life. I always knew that, but just you being here has made me realized that I want that. I want a normal life. I want a life with you! I want that life I was never able to have, the life I always dreamed about but was never able to achieve. I have someone who truly loves me for the first time in my life, and I will never let that go again. Christine, if you'll have me," he said, trailing off. I was utterly shocked.

"Of course Erik, of course! Under one condition," I replied. Erik nodded.

"Anything you want, of course, what is it?" he asked.

"That you go to mass with me next week and try to let God in. If you have an open mind and you try and you still don't believe, I won't pester you any more about it," I replied, pleading with my eyes.

"I can do that," Erik replied heavily as if trying to convince himself he was actually going to do so.

"Thank you," I replied. I then couldn't stop the smile from growing on my face. I slowly walked up to him, using a lot of self-control, and embraced him. He immediately wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer to him. We stood there for a long time, letting the anger burn into passion and love and emotion. I felt very overwhelmed, yet safe at the same time. After years of searching, I had finally found a home. I sent a silent prayer to my God, apologizing and thanking Him at the same time.

After a while, Erik gently pushed me away.

"Follow me," he gently commanded. Out of curiosity, I followed him without protesting that I could do whatever I wanted. He led me to his organ. I didn't quite understand what was going on, but I went with it. And then I saw it. The onyx ring he had gifted me oh so long ago. It was such a beautiful ring.

"I know I gave this to you before, but will you wear it now with a different meaning?" he asked. I nodded, tears reforming in my eyes. Smiling, he gently put it on my finger. It fit perfectly as it used to.

"I never told you the story behind this ring. It was the only nice thing my mother ever gave me. She said it belonged to the mother of my deceased father. She told me that it brought her pain, just as I brought her pain. I cherished the ring simply because it was a possession of my father's whom I never met. A month later she sold me to the traveling circus and the rest is history," Erik told me, reliving the story with much pain in his face. I put my hand on his arm to reassure him. He gave me a small smile.

"I'm here now. I promise your life will have difficulties, but I will be there every step of the way to help you through it," I told him. 

And I was right.