A/N: I am so sorry for the delay! Enjoy the story! By the way, F/B will mean favorite book. I know it's weird.......but oh well. Also, all of the things I mention, like the dress, the trunk, and the closet will all be above. Also, here is the URL for the second outfit that there will be: https://www.polyvore.com/love_already_blossomed/set?id=222692501
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The stone walls held nothing but silence in the moments that passed by. The scratching of Y/N's pen on paper had stopped and the soft, alluring sound of the organ had ceased to exist, at least for the moment. Y/N huffed out a breath, breaking the ever-growing silence. She was twirling the pen between her fingers, trying to think of what to do. There wasn't much to do around here.... not anymore, that is. The opera house was deserted and closed. The only sound that ever echoed through the stage was the sound of days gone by (A/N: that was a Les Mis reference, if you didn't catch that) and the echoing of the memory of old songs that were sung and the laughs that once rung through the large business. Another disadvantage of living underground was not only that she could not let herself be seen, but all of her books were read. Some of her books were even burned, even F/B. This really upset her, and she was determined to acquire a new copy, but the only dilemma was that she didn't know how. She was only aloud out of the Phantom's lair when they needed something important, like food or water. She was only aloud to purchase things for her own pleasure if it was a holiday or some other special occasion. This was for safety and privacy reasons, and Y/N understood that fully.
But, suddenly an idea popped into her head. It was an idea so rebellious (at least in Erik's mind) that the thought just made the urge to leave the lair greater.
So, she quickly fetched the papers on which she had just written, and brought them with her to a trunk (the picture above) which sat next to her closet/dresser. She kneeled down in front of the closet and pulled a drawer open a small fraction. In the drawer, there were all sorts of underclothes and corsets folded neatly in small piles. She lifted those piles up and put her free hand underneath them, searching for the key to her trunk. The smooth, light brown wood of the closet grazed her fingers, the smooth bumps making her fingers gently lift up a little. Suddenly, the familiar feel of perfectly carved circles of metal met her fingers. The feeling immediately gave her the impulse that it was a key that she softly graced with her fingers. Her fingers searched for the top loop of the key and two fingers slid through it (if you are thinking weird things, get your mind out of the gutter) and latched on. She pulled the key out of the drawer and brought it so it was in front of the lock on the trunk. She eased the key into her trunk and when she felt it hit the back of the lock, she turned the key, and the lock clicked open. She pulled on the latch which separated the bottom of the trunk from the top, and gently lifted the lid. Inside were many papers and books, photo albums, and most importantly, a few picture of Erik. She had taken these pictures when he was not looking, though he noticed afterwards and got really angry at her, but, she thought it was worth the fight, and she wouldn't change what she did for the world. With distant memories dancing softly in her mind, she smiled and lifted a certain box that she often used for keeping pictures. She placed the papers below the small, rectangular, wooden box would be, and placed the small box back in its place on top of everything else. She closed the trunk softly and pulled the latch down. She grabbed the key, which she subconsciously placed on the floor out of habit, and locked the trunk. She turned back to the closet's drawer and lifted up the first pile of clothes. She placed the key underneath it, and slid the drawer until it wasn't protruding from the closet anymore. She got up and brushed her knees, her dress swaying around her feet.
She stood in front of her closet and opened its doors, revealing dozens of dresses sitting, smushed, next to each other. She had many, many dresses, and they were close to each other, but they were just far enough that it left a little space at the end for Y/N to maneuver them on the bar that held them. Y/N swiped through the many beautiful and extravagant dresses she had until she finally found the one she was looking for. It was navy blue with a section of white running down the middle. The white part was a lace-like fabric and had small blue flowers embroidered on it. There were tulips and what seemed to be daisies on it, and their stems entwined with each other, but their leaves stood alone. There was a wire-like belt stretching across the ribs. It started under the breast and zig-zagged its way to the middle of the body. On the sleeve and the neck of the dress, there was a green-ish gold looking rim that held the outside and inside fabrics together. The navy blue part was velvety and soft, unlike the coarse material of the lace, which was of coarse cushioned by a softer fabric on the inside. The sleeves, which were very large and billowed out around her arms, had rings of fabric at the middle of her bicep that matched the fabric of the white lace-like cloth that stood sewn in to the middle. She pulled the dress off of the hanger and draped it on her arm. She then grabbed a large, round black box from the shelf in the closet that was above the dresses. She reached next to the empty space and found a tin, rectangular box, which was also black, but was tied with a red ribbon. Y/N snatched that off of the shelf and gripped it tightly in her free hand. She strode in the direction of her dressing screen, but came to a halt as she was passing her bed. She placed the two boxes on it and continued to her dressing screen, where she stripped of her previous dress and pulled on the new one. She dragged her arms through the large sleeves, and adjusted the dress so it would fit her body. She walked out from behind the dressing screen and back to the open closet to retrieve a change of shoes. She picked them up and walked to her bed and sat down. She carefully undid each button on her previous shoes and slid them off of her feet, replacing them with new ones. She slipped them on, one by one, and put her newly covered feet on the cold stone floor. Y/N then moved to her dressing table, which was next to her desk, and sat down in the stool that was waiting patiently for her.
(The dressing table is pictured below)
She searched through an abundance of glass boxes after glass boxes of berry juices and vegetable juices (Don't judge me. That's all they had for lipstick and blush back then) until she found the box that had a small strawberry engraved onto the golden lid. She pulled that box forward and lifted up the lid, placing it beside its other half. She dipped her finger into the light red liquid and spread it carefully on her upper lip while looking in the mirror. Once she felt that her finger had dried, she swooped her finger down, and collected more of the sweet liquid. She spread it a little on her upper lip before moving her finger to softly paint the curve of her bottom lip. She did this until her lips were stained a soft red color. Y/N searched for a different box now, a box which had the figure of a beet engraved onto the lid. After a few seconds of careful searching, she finally found what she was looking for: then beet juice. The thought of rubbing this on her cheeks made Y/N cringe, but it did its job, so she went to work and rubbed the beet juice in careful circles on her cheeks. Once she was satisfied with how she looked, she went on to pinning her hair up. They were already in soft curls from the morning, when she first curled her hair. Y/N was thankful for this as she opened the left drawer and pulled out a smooth red ribbon. She bent down and her hair fell forward, creating a flowing river of curled, shining hair. She placed the ribbon where her head reached its end and the hair began to flow freely, and she snapped her head up, careful not to let the ribbon slip from its place. Y/N tied the ribbon loosely into two loops on her head, and the loops fell on top of the rest of the ribbon. She took one last look in the mirror, fluffed her hair, and elevated herself from the chair.
Y/N strolled to her bed, where her hat and gloves lay, and slowly lifted the top of the round box which held the hat. She lifted the hat up out of the box and placed it on her head. The hat had a back where it was to sit on the back of the head, and there were rims that slowly that revealed her face. The rims lifted and slightly curled upwards and held a small but noticeable addition of a white ruffle. The hat, too had a red ribbon which was tied into beautiful bows, but had two loose pieces where Y/N was to tie it around her head to keep the hat in place. Y/N took those two pieces and tied them into a large bow, which rested at her collarbone. What was left of the two pieces drifted to the top of her breasts.
Y/N reached next to where the round box would have stayed and picked up the rectangular box which was still waiting to be used and relieved of its weight. Y/N untied the red ribbon that held the two pieces of the box together and sighed. Why everything Erik bought her had to have either red or black ribbon, she did not know. Maybe he had a fetish for ribbon or something. At least that is what Y/N figured, but she did have to agree with him that ribbon is beautiful and makes bland things a decoration, but an overuse of it could make things seem dull and boring. Erik was on the borderline of using a normal amount of ribbon and excessive usage of ribbon, but Y/N didn't mind. She had certain things that she liked, and she had to admit, she often overused them sometimes, so it wasn't her place to be teasing Erik. She shook her head and pulled out two black gloves from the box. She connected the top and the bottom prices of the box, and pulled the right hand glove onto her right hand and her left hand glove onto her left hand. She reconnected the top of the circular box with the bottom and placed them both into the still open closet. She shut the doors of the closet and continued out the lair. She brushed past her curtains and walked into the music room. Y/N looked everywhere in the area, but Erik was no where to be found. A small smile crept onto her stained lips. Perhaps Erik was asleep. Y/N grabbed a piece of parchment and Erik's pen which he uses to write music. She dipped it into the ink and started writing in elegant loops and curves of script.
Erik,
I have left to purchase food and bring us more water from the well. If I should be gone while you are awake, do not worry. I will be back shortly. I am sorry for disturbing you in your moments of peace. I shall be back soon.
Your friend and student,
Y/N
Y/N closed the ink and walked quietly into Erik's room. She was indeed correct; Erik was lying on his bed, asleep, his face relaxed, his mind cleared of the worries of the world. His mask was on his bedside table and his black wig wasn't visible in the area. He was resting on the left side of his face, and his scars were visible. Y/N smiled. She couldn't get over how beautiful he was, even with his scars. She knelt beside his bed and looked at him. He looked so peaceful and relaxed when he was asleep. Y/N had to fight the urge to run a hand over his face to remind him that somebody loved him, even if he didn't love that somebody back. He did, but not in the way Y/N had always hoped and dreamed. He loved her in a platonic sort of way, as friends. She was like a sister to Erik.
Y/N sighed and placed the note on his bedside table under his mask, where he was sure to find it if he was to wake up. She walked past the curtains that separated his room from everything else, and she walked toward the boat, where there was Y/N's coat lying in a large straw basket. There was a huge wooden bucket, which had a small amount of water left over from a few days ago, and had a metal handle. She picked up her coat and placed it so it was properly hanging off her shoulders and clasped it the two sides of the black coat together. She emptied the bucket into the lake and carried that with her, and picked up the basket by the handles. She got into the wooden boat that was waiting for her, took the row, and started rowing away from the lair, her precious home.
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A/N: Thank you for reading A Love Already Blossomed! I hoped you enjoyed it. Again, I advise you to look at the outfit for this chapter: https://www.polyvore.com/love_already_blossomed/set?id=222692501
I hope you have a nice day/night/afternoon!