The Final Act (A Phantom of the Opera Phan Fic)

Chapter Eight ~ In Which Love is Damned

His head turned to look at me, his eyes holding all the love I once knew and fell for. They were handsome orbs of brown swirled with flecks of gold. Beautiful things. Things that made my heart skip beats and made my hair stand on end in desire and love. The things that make grade school girls grow giggly with butterflies in their stomachs, pink in the cheeks from untamed and immature flattering love.

In the loss of his eyes, I fell in love with him all over again. Gently, Alex took his free hand to caress my cheek, the softness of his touch causing me to shiver. "You alone can make my song take flight."

I felt myself melt into him, losing the doubts I had had, forgetting all the cares and worries we had discussed. Now, in this moment of delicate and fervent desire, all other thoughts slipped from the mind and hid in the darkest corners. The feeling of his lips, his touch, his skin, his heat all made my heart skip and lust for more and more. The moments I remembered, cherished fondly, were those which I felt this closeness.

As we lay beside each other in our innocents and passion, his arm pulling me to him, his lips on my brow, I felt the warmth linger. I loved him, so dearly. It would work out, all of it would. We had each other, but more so we had our angel.

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Ella's POV

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By breakfast the day after my discussion with Alexander had happened, my mind was swimming in thousands of different directions. As I picked at my plate, I could not help but think of the incident that had happened with Erik and Arthur. It started me, sent a fear through me more so than that of having to face my husband again. This was far worse. My baby, my delicate child, being touched by a stranger. The thought alone could make me want to vomit.

As I stared down at my plate, Arthur beside me eating his meal heartily, I felt an unknown presence fall over me before taking the seat in front of me.

"Can we speak a moment?" I heard the voice, a voice so familiar and tenderly soft. Yet still in its softness, it carried a demanding air that was indescribable.

"Eri!" I heard Arthur mutter through his mouthful of oatmeal.

My head shot up, and our eyes locked. Oh how I wished they had not. But when they did I felt as if I had been stripped of something, some covering of my shame or innocents. I felt, in a way, bare or naked before his eyes. The way they locked with mine, the grey-blue spheres so perfectly colored it seemed. But once you caught his eyes that was all you saw, his eyes. The feeling in them. The nature which he possessed -- so soft and tender.

He could have never hurt Arthur, I realized that then. The way he looked at me, the way his eyes held that element that I could not yet explain. They were so warm and humane.

In that lost trance, I had not realized that Arthur had slipped beneath the table and popped up beside Erik, promptly moving to squirm into his lap and wrap his chubby little arms around Erik's neck. Our gaze broke as my son captured Erik's full attention.

"Hello, my friend." He greeted Arthur with a soft hug before moving so his eyes and Arthur's locked. "Did you ask your mother first if you could sit with me?"

Arthur turned around promptly and looked at me with large eyes. "Momma! Momma, can I sit with Eri?" He seemed nearly out of breath as he begged me.

Slowly, I nodded to him. Taking that signal, he quickly turned back to face Erik.

"Momma said I can sit with you!" He said, beaming brightly.

Erik smiled gently and moved Arthur so Arthur sat properly on his lap. Then, again, he looked up at me. "Ella, may we talk? I feel that I must have caused you a great fright yesterday evening. That was not proper of me to think it okay to enter your room unannounced and cater to your son. You must think me to be some detestable person. I feel terribly about this."