Paige's Angel

Chapter Three- Not Alone

A/N- I know this is kind of short, but I'm posting whatever I finish so if my school decides to be a butt and give me a bunch of stuff to do I can stay (sort of) on top of things!

DISCLAIMER- THE ANGEL OF MUSIC WOULD LIKE TO INFORM YOU THAT ERIK DESTLER IS NOT THE PROPERTY OF JULIETTA ROSE AND NO SONGS BELONG TO HER (UNLESS SPECIFIED) AND THE ANGEL OF MUSIC DOESN'T BELONG TO HER EITHER!!!!!!! ONLY THE STORY IS HERS!!!!

When Paige awoke the next morning, Erik was already up. “Good morning!” she said cheerily.

“You are in a surprisingly good mood for someone awake at six in the morning.” Erik said, chuckling.

“Well the bed is very comfortable.” She said. Erik arched an eyebrow and shook his head at Paige.

“Are you ready to return to your world?” Erik asked.

“No.”

“Why not?” Erik asked.

“I don’t like my world.” Paige said simply.

Erik was flustered at her response. “Why not?!”

“Because people are irritating, and my only real friend is Meg and she has Christine, so technically I could stay down here and no one would ever know.” Paige said, it made perfect sense in her head.

“You would rather stay with a wanted criminal?” Erik asked.

“What crime have you committed?” Paige asked, facing him.

“I… umm… stealing from the opera house!” he said.

“Ah, because that is SO bad.” Paige said, scoffing. “I’ve stolen chocolates from the kitchen, it’s not that big a deal!”  

“I have killed someone.”

That made Paige stop laughing. “Really?” she asked. “Why?”

“The man who was my “master” when I was a prisoner in the gypsy circus.” Erik said. “He beat me and tormented me for my scars and so I killed him to escape.”

“I see.” Was all Paige said.

“You can’t stay down here.” Erik said to break the silence. “People need to live in the light.”

Paige gaped at him. “Oh really?” she asked, folding her arms and arching an eyebrow. “And how long have you lived down here?!”

Damn. He thought. Paige was quicker than he anticipated! “I am different.” He said.

“What makes you so different?” Paige asked. Erik gestured to the mask and Paige cried “You can’t use that as an excuse!”

“Yet it was the excuse for me to be tortured!” Erik yelled, feeling his temper rise.

“Why?!” Paige yelled. “What do you hide behind the mask?”

“You shall never know.” Erik said, somberly as he turned away from her.  

“Why not?!” Paige yelled, her temper rising as well. She was tired of not getting a straight answer.

“You will laugh, or flee in disgust.” Erik answered.

“I thought you wanted me to leave…” Paige muttered. When Erik said nothing, she strode over and yanked the mask away. His reaction was immediate.

He pushed her away and screamed “Damn you! You little prying Pandora You little demon Is this what you wanted to see? Curse you, you little lying Delilah You little viper Now you cannot ever be free! Damn you, curse you!” with that he sank to his knees and buried his face in his hands.

Paige rose to her feet and walked over to him. She knelt down in front of him and cupped her hand under his chin, causing him to look at her. She put her hand on the wrist of the hand clutching his face and said “Let me see it Erik. I promise that I will not think any different of you.” Erik allowed her to pull his hand away and her eyes fell on the deformed side of his face. She didn’t scream or make any noise and her face gave no reaction. Erik's eyes dropped to the floor, but the touch of her soft hand made him look back up. Paige’s eyes wandered over his face, memorizing every detail. She traced every scar and oddity on his cheek and Erik wondered what she was thinking. Erik gave himself up to the kindness and gentleness in her touch and his mind fogged over until he was blind to everything but Paige. She smiled at him, causing his breath to catch and she said “See? You are not alone.”

Erik could do nothing but gape at her, awestruck by the fact that she was willingly touching the monstrous side of his face! Paige’s eyes were full of worry when he didn’t say anything, so she went back to looking at him, and tracing his scars. Neither one of them knew how long they stayed like that, but it ended when Erik’s expression grew hard and he grabbed the mask from Paige. “Come, we must return. Meg and Madame Giry will be missing you.” He said. They walked back to the secret passage in silence. Just as Erik turned to leave, Paige grabbed his hand and he turned in surprise. “Promise me that I will see you again.”

Erik sighed and said “I can’t promise anything.”

“Please Erik.” She insisted. Whatever the feeling was inside of Paige was terrifying her. It was NOT love. She had only just met the man after all! But it was that feeling that caused her to say what she did, and as Erik thought about it, he realized that if she hadn’t said it, he probably would have.

“I can’t promise that we will talk like we did tonight, but I can promise that I won’t be far away.” He tried to leave, but a nagging feeling crept into his heart and he turned back to her and said “And if you ever need me, you know the way.” And then he vanished, leaving Paige standing alone.