Arielette beamed as she returned to the party, her eyes glowing, her face even more so. She looked younger than she had in years, and everyone seemed surprised to find her in such good spirits. Those around her assumed it was because one Erik Destler, who was quite well known in the theatre, was now happy. Their assumptions were ridiculously true, but not in the way they assumed.

It wasn't that it didn't break Erik's heart to leave his fiancee, Arielette was sure, but they were meant to be together. Her heart felt it as she returned and greeted her father.

His eyes narrowed upon her in suspicion, his not as vivacious as her own.

"You look too cheerful. Have you finally let young Erik go?"

She scoffed at 'young'.

"I don't wish to speak of it."

He huffed, not approving of whatever it was she was hiding, and gestured beyond their little bubble in the large surroundings.

"The young de Chagny is looking for you," he told her with a smile, "He's a suitable prospect."

Arielette cringed thinking but minutes ago she could have certainly accepted such prospects. The poor man was handsome, and she wouldn't have minded his company terribly if her and Erik's conversation hadn't gone so unexpectedly well. Alas, they were in a different situation now.

"He is too young for me. I should be a spinster now if it weren't for your money and my tragic tale," she jested, though surely she meant it.

"Don't let your mother hear of that. She'll have you married before the year is done. At least finish the night with him?"

Charles was pleading now, and Arielette could not say no as her father looked at his wife in adoration. She couldn't hurt her mother's feelings.

She was also sure that Erik would have no qualms with a rushed engagement if Arielette truly felt like pleasing them both.

"Fine, direct me towards him?"

"He's with his brother."

Arielette knew that was enough, luckily Raoul hadn't completely left from the party.

With a swift turn, her purple skirts followed and she headed towards the only red suit in the building.

She approached them, not a fearful bone to quiver, and smiled at Raoul. He was very handsome, in the blunt reality of the word, but she liked Erik's face... it kept the competition away, and jealousy was not fear. That awful trait she feared she possessed just a bit too much of.

"Arielette!" Raoul said fluidly, "You went around the back, and I thought you'd left, but you started to weave through the opera, and I lost you!"

That was the point.

"I'm sorry, I was just worried for his safety and needed to see him with no interference from anyone," she said. The look cast over to Philippe was purely accidental.

Raoul hardly noticed as he grabbed her hands, his frequent touches and wants foreign to her. Erik had always been, and apparently was no longer, very meager in what he took from her. He hadn't ever had any liberties in what he did, for he had never been afforded them before. That was one of the things she loved about him, and their kids earlier was a heavy promise she looked forward to.

"You've come back, that's all I care for. Arielette, will you dance with me again?"

She feared that wasn't the real question he had wanted to ask her.

"If you wish."

Raoul nodded like a child being offered a sweet, and she was off again to dance with him.

After an hour, Arielette felt eyes on her, a feeling she had not experienced before. They didn't frighten her, of course, but she needn't be frightened of them anyways. The gaze was familiar, and within a few moments, Arielette knew it was Erik who spied upon them. He wouldn't like her being with Raoul, not even for a few dances, but certainly he would not appreciate the fact that his hand was on her waist, and the young boy continued to take his liberties. The kiss to her hand was unwanted, and the one to her cheek was more than enough.

"Raoul," she said as a kind warning when the night came to an end. Arielette was hoping to thank him for a nice evening, and then slip off to see Erik once more before she left. There were not that many people left of the party, and it would soon be hard to escape if Raoul held her any longer.

"Arielette, I think you're the most beautiful woman I have ever met."

"Thank you-"

"No," he insisted, taking both of her hands, peering at her with hopeful blue eyes, "No need for that, I only want to ask of you something."

She couldn't form a reply to him, the thought of what he was about to offer was sad. She truly did pity Raoul de Chagny for his dedication to her, especially since she was off-limits, as the eyes upon her back proved.

"Would you agree to a courtship with me? I've talked it over with my brother, and age is nothing if it means that I have you and your beauty with me. Your youth at this age means good things for our children, God willing."

Arielette would have been offended if it weren't for the laugh she was holding back... and for Erik.

"Raoul," she started, ready to break his heart, "I can't. I'm sorry, but someone else holds my heart."

His smile fell, and those unwrinkled eyes took on a couple years in mere moments. Some distant part of her felt bad for the boy, but she couldn't seem to find it.

"I don't want to let you go, Arielette. Is there nothing I can do?"

It was so innocent of him to assume simply that Erik was engaged, it was not him that she was involved with. The only reason Arielette made the assumption at all was that he knew Erik wore a mask, and she knew that Raoul was a vain boy who would not have liked her pretty face going with his... different one.

"No," she told him briefly, sliding her hands from a loose grip.

He looked just a bout in tears before tightening his suit and relieving her presence of him.

Arielette looked to see her father busy and bolted up the stair case from which she felt Erik's gaze.

-

Erik took the lonely walk down to the catacombs with sheer dread flowing through every vein and artery in his body. There was so much of it that he began to shake and tremble until he reached the doorstep. Christine was already within the home, candles flickering in their chambers.

He felt true guilt for hurting her as he was about to, but what could he do when he loved another? Christine had been so wonderful to him, and now he hoped they could still be wonderful friends and partners in music. The music would be all they shared, as she couldn't stop her lessons anytime soon! Especially not as Prima Donna!

Erik choked down his worry before entering, masking it in some type of frustrated facade he was sure she needed to see and expected. He set his costume coat upon the hanger and walked silently into their room, enjoying the small jump she gave as reason for his presence.

"How did it go, are you alright?" Christine burst with questions and curiosities, all of which were about to become sorrows.

"I am perfectly fine, Christine, but we have to have a small talk," he eased. His voice was shaking, and in that moment he'd give anything for just an ounce of Arielette's fearlessness.

"Of course," she grabbed his hands after rushing towards him, her white negligee following in tow.

"Sit." Erik was delaying it, of course he was.

Just because he loved Arielette more than Christine, it did not mean that this wasn't a heartbreaking situation. The blonde soprano would be devastated, and Erik understood that feeling all too well. He supposed that's why it was so hard to let her go.

"You look worried, your mouth is in a frown," she noticed, her gentle fingers gracing the spot below the cavity of his nose.

She'd never looked beyond the covering, never had even asked, yet Erik knew she was just as curious now as she was when she first saw him. He had never entertained that fancy though, for he would have lost her before she was even his. Now, though it seemed, he should have done such a thing in the first place. Christine would have been better off.

"I hold worry, and I hold fear, Christine, because what I have to tell you is not good news."

Her own pretty face fell. He hated to see blue eyes so melancholy, and those blonde curls hanging so far below her chest.

"Erik," she pleaded suddenly, "Just tell me."

"I must end our engagement."

Water immediately rimmed the young girl's eyes, and she held onto his hands even more tightly now.

"Why?" Christine stuttered, "Why would you... I thought..."

He felt sympathy rip at his heart as he hugged her close to his chest, still sticking to his resolve, however. Erik needed Arielette, and there was no going back now. He'd kissed her, and if he didn't break his current engagement, then he would have been more than dishonest with Christine.

"I know," he soothed, "but the why is complicated, and that's all I think you want me to tell you right now."

"No," she fought, pushing away from him, her hands that were once clutched upon his vest now tight fists against his ribs, "You can't leave me, Erik, I love you! I love you! And... and I know that Arielette and you have history but I have you now! I brought you out of... I don't know what you did after that, but how can you take her back?!"

The sobbing from her pretty face intensified, and Erik let the guilt make him feel like the despicable monster that he was.

He figured that Christine would put it together, yet another part of him trusted her innocence to keep her safe until she saw them together. Unfortunately, things did not work out in his favor... not that they were working out in his ex-fiancee's either.

"I love her, Christine."

"You love me," she determined, but her lip quivered with little strength, and Erik felt her firsts loosen.

"Once as a lover... and now as a friend. I've always been that to you, when I am not your teacher. We must return to it, Prima Donna."

It would have almost made her smile if her heart wasn't shattered, and Erik could see just a sliver of brightness return to her eyes.

"Where will I go?" She wondered, "How will I tell everyone? Oh, this is all a big mess now, Erik. Are you sure you love her?"

He nodded.

"You can stay here until you find a suitable place to reside. I have the spare bedroom which you are familiar with." Erik watched as she mustered a nod, and he placed his bony hands upon her supple cheek, wiping the tears off. "And you do not have to tell a soul. I will do anything you wish to soothe the pain, if you want me upon the streets proclaiming that I have dishonored you, I will fall to my knees in the snow."

Christine managed a smile that time.

"No," she whispered, "We will come out of this somehow... maybe as friends, but you understand how hard that will be?"

Erik couldn't seem to find the words now that she was taking it with grace. He hated seeing Christine like this, she hadn't looked this pale since her father died.

"I know."

They fell silent, Christine wiping away unnoticed tears as she silently stood from their place at the end of the bed.

"Goodnight, Erik."

"Goodnight, Christine."

She left, her cries becoming much more evident than they had been in the room. He understood why she wouldn't want to cry before him, for she had done that plenty enough before.

Erik knew he would not be able to sleep now, and seeing that midnight was fast approaching, he would make a ghost appearance back at the party. He wanted to see what Arielette was doing, and just seeing her would be more than enough for now.