Charlotte knocked on the front door, adjusting the bag on her arm. It seemed all so sudden. Just a few hours ago, she was nothing more that a lonely girl with no friends - with the exception of one - and now she found family. And not just that - someone who had understood her perhaps more than anyone ever had or would.

The door soon opened and Erik stood in front of her. "Hello, Charlotte," he said with a smile.

"Cheerio," she smiled brightly. "Would you mind helping with my bags? The black case is rather heavy. It has my art supplies."

"Of course," Erik said as he reached forward to take the large suitcase from her, groaning a bit as he lifted it. "Good god, it is heavy."

Charlotte giggled. "It might take two of us to get it up those stairs."

"I should be okay," Erik replied as he got his free arm underneath the case and started to carry it. "You should go up first so if I fall back, I don't fall on you."

"Just let me help you," Charlotte nodded.

"I'm okay, truly. Go ahead," Erik said as he gestured towards the stairwell with his head.

"Alright," Charlotte sighed, beginning to go up. "Are you sure you don't want help?"

"No, no, I'm okay," Erik said, walking up behind her with the case in his arms. "Thank you, though."

"Okay," Charlotte chuckled, setting one of her suitcases in front of her door.

"I would never have known that art supplies could-" Erik began as he reached the top of the stairs, only for one of his knees to buckle a bit with the weight he was carrying and sending him tripping forward.

"Woah," Charlotte said as she quickly grabbed onto him. "Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?"

"Yes, I'm...I'm fine," Erik said, locking eyes with her for only a moment before he set the suitcase down. "My knee just gave out, but I'm not hurt."

"Are you sure? Maybe you should sit down," Charlotte said worriedly.

"I'm okay," Erik repeated with a little chuckle. "Thank you for your concern, though."

"Alright. As long as you're fine," Charlotte nodded. "Thanks for your help."

"My pleasure. I hope the room is to your liking. I made the bed and cleaned it up a bit," Erik said.

"That was kind of you," Charlotte smiled, opening the door. "Oh my. It's lovely!"

Erik followed her into the room, lifting her suitcases in with him. "I'm glad you like it. I may have designed it, but it wasn't necessarily designed for a young woman to be staying in it."

"You designed it?" Charlotte asked in wonder.

"I did, yes. Architecture was one of my first passions besides music."

"You're a musician too?" Charlotte smiled. "I just love music. I sing, but I'm sure I'm rubbish."

"I am indeed. I play, compose, and sing," Erik explained. "And I'm sure rubbish is far from the right word for your abilities. With your Daaé blood, music is in your veins."

"Maybe I'll play something for you tomorrow and prove you wrong," Charlotte chuckled.

"So you play instruments as well? You're shaping up to be quite a talented young woman, considering you call yourself 'rubbish'," Erik said.

Charlotte blushed slightly. "I mean...I don't play that many instruments."

"What do you play, then?" Erik asked, smiling a bit when he noticed that he had made her cheeks flush.

"Violin, cello, piano, bass, and viola," Charlotte shrugged. "And I don't know if vocals is considered an instrument. I've heard some call it that, but I don't think it's quite correct."

"Charlotte, that's incredible! The strings are a difficult family of instruments to master, and you have clearly done just that!" Erik exclaimed. "And of course one's voice is an instrument - the most beautiful one of all, in my opinion."

"Thank you," Charlotte smiled. "You're much too kind."

"I simply know a talented person when I see one, and I am looking at one right now."

"You flatter me," Charlotte laughed softly, her cheeks turning a deep shade of pink.

"I tell the truth," Erik replied with a smile.

"Well, thank you," Charlotte said softly. "I should unpack a bit before I get to sleep."

"Yes, I...I'll leave you to it. Goodnight," Erik said.

"Goodnight," Charlotte nodded, giving him a quick kiss on each cheek.

It was Erik's turn to blush a bit as he gave her a smile and quickly left the room, closing the door behind him and leaning up against it. He wasn't quite sure what he was feeling or what to do with those emotions...this was more than simply taking note of a talented performer. A blossoming friendship? Admiration, even? Shaking it off, Erik headed off for his room, figuring that some time spent reading would be enough to clear his head...or at least, that's what he was hoping for.

—————

The next morning...

"Hello, Gustave," Charlotte smiled, looking over her shoulder as she stood in front of the stove. "Have a seat at the table. Breakfast's almost ready."

"You made breakfast?" Gustave asked.

Charlotte nodded. "Sausage, eggs, and toast."

"Wow. That's a lot of food. Does Papa know you're doing this?"

"No. He's still asleep as far as I know."

Gustave nodded. "His door was still shut when I came out of my room."

"Perhaps we should wake him up," Charlotte chuckled. "Would you mind doing that for me?"

"Sure! I'll be right back," Gustave said as he hurried back up the stairs and slowly opened the door to the master bedroom, where his father was still fast asleep. He walked over to his bedside and gave Erik a few gentle taps. "Papa. Papa, wake up."

Erik shoved his face further into his pillow. "No," he mumbled.

"Get up or I'll call Charlotte," Gustave chuckled.

"No, don't bother her," Erik said, his voice still gravelly from sleeping. He rolled over to face his son but frowned when he smelled the food from downstairs. "Are you trying to make breakfast? Gustave, what have I told you about trying to use the stove?"

"No, Charlotte's making breakfast. She asked me to wake you up," Gustave explained, pulling on his father's arm. "Come on."

"She's making breakfast? Why is she doing that?" Erik rubbed his face and sat up in bed, pulling his arm away from Gustave. "I'm coming, I'm coming."

"I don't know why she's cooking. I just woke up and went downstairs, and there she was," Gustave shrugged.

Erik shook his head as he got to his feet. "Alright, I'm coming. I'm going to change. Being in my pajamas around our guest isn't exactly the best thing to do."

"She's in hers," Gustave said nonchalantly. "I don't think she'd mind."

Erik pondered over that for a moment before he reached for the dark red robe hanging in his closet. "Okay, let's go downstairs," he said as he slipped it on and wrapped it around himself.

"Okay," Gustave grinned, hurrying downstairs.

"Good morning," Charlotte smiled, her brown curls bouncing off her shoulders as she turned her head to face Erik.

"Good morning. I'm sorry I slept in. I should have been up to make breakfast, not you," he replied.

"It's alright," Charlotte shrugged. "I thought I'd do something nice as a thank you for letting me stay."

"You shouldn't have. It is my pleasure to have you stay here," Erik said, giving her a smile. "Can I help you with anything?"

"If you could just take down the plates, that would be lovely," Charlotte smiled.

Erik nodded and opened up the cupboard where he kept his dishes, pulling out three plates and setting them on the counter before he poured tea for himself and Charlotte. "Gustave, do you want tea this morning? Or some of the juice I bought the other day?" he asked.

"I'll have juice," Gustave smiled. "Please."

Charlotte dished up the food and set the plates on the table. "I'll get it, Erik. You sit down."

"It's only juice, and you've already done so much for us this morning. I can do it," he replied with a smile.

"I'm used to this," Charlotte shrugged. "Come on, have a seat."

Knowing better than to argue when a Daaé girl had her mind made up, Erik threw his hands up in surrender and sat down at the dining table across from Gustave. "Determined, isn't she?" he whispered to his son.

"Very," Gustave whispered back with a small smile. "I like her. She's nice."

Erik couldn't help but smile. "I like her too."

Charlotte set a glass of juice in front of Gustave. "Here you are. You two enjoy. I'm going to figure out I want to make for dinner and then head to the market to get the needed ingredients."

"Charlotte, my goodness," Erik said as he turned to her. "You are here as my guest, not a housemaid. Sit down and eat breakfast with us, at least. The day only just started - there is plenty of time to go out shopping."

"I'm sorry, I guess it's just how I'm used to things. Back in Italy, I wasn't allowed to eat with the family. I had to wait until they finished and pray there were leftovers."

"I see. Well, now you will never have to worry about that again. Serve yourself a plate and sit with us. You and Gustave can get to know each other since he didn't get to talk to you much last night," Erik replied as he picked up the nearby newspaper and opened it to read.

"Alright," Charlotte smiled. "Thank you." She quickly put some food on a plate for herself and sat down next to Gustave. "Hello."

"Hi," Gustave said with a wide grin. "This food is really good. Thank you for making it for us."

"You're welcome," Charlotte said softly. "It was my pleasure."

"So, do you sing like Mother did?" he asked

"I do sing a bit, yes," Charlotte nodded.

"Can you show me?"

"Gustave," Erik said, dropping the newspaper a bit, "don't just demand things of people."

"It's perfectly fine," Charlotte said kindly. "And I would be happy to sing for you, Gustave."

"Maybe after breakfast. I'm sure your voice is beautiful. Mother's was. That's part of why Papa loved her so much," Gustave said, glancing over at his father. "Or at least, that's what she told me."

"Well, I think that's really sweet," Charlotte smiled. "It's refreshing to meet people who are...I don't know, accepting of me."

Gustave cocked his head to one side. "Why wouldn't they be accepting?" he asked.

"I'm...different than most people," Charlotte shrugged.

"What do you mean?"

"Gustave..." Erik warned, his face behind the newspaper again.

"Erik, it's fine," Charlotte assured, turning back to Gustave. "The skin on my right shoulder is...deformed."

"Oh...sort of like Papa's face?" Gustave asked.

Charlotte nodded. "Precisely."

"That isn't bad. Why would people not like you because of that? You're just unique."

Charlotte smiled tearfully, pulling him into a hug. "I love you already."

Erik dropped the newspaper again, smiling proudly when Gustave laughed and hugged Charlotte back. She met his eyes then and smiled back at him, but Erik held the paper back up so she wouldn't see how he flushed when she did.

"What was that?" Charlotte chuckled.

"What was what?" Erik asked.

"You just tried to hide the look on your face with your newspaper."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Oh, come on, I'm not blind," Charlotte giggled, her laughter sounding like music.

Erik only found himself blushing more when he realized how sweet her laugh was, so he made sure to keep the newspaper where it was. "Perhaps you are and you just haven't realized it," he replied.

"I think I would notice if I couldn't see," Charlotte laughed.

Finally, Erik dropped the newspaper. "I didn't do anything, alright?" he said through a little laugh. "You're imagining things."

"You're blushing," Charlotte smirked. "Why are you blushing?"

"I'm not blushing," Erik said quickly as he stood up to pour himself tea that he didn't need because he had hardly touched the tea he already had.

"You're going to overfill your cup."

Erik huffed a breath before he took a few sips of his tea before he poured himself more. "Now I won't," he replied.

Charlotte giggled. "You're so funny."

"Am I?" Erik asked as he turned to face her again, sipping his tea to mask his smile. "Well, I appreciate that."

"You're cute," Charlotte laughed. "I wish I could say I've never been able to make a man blush so easily."

Erik swallowed his drink hard and set his cup on the counter. "I'm going to go change out of my pajamas. Excuse me," he said, quickly leaving the room.

Charlotte giggled. "Your father is hilarious," she whispered to Gustave.

"He is funny," Gustave commented, still looking at the doorway that his father had just rushed out of. "But I feel like that was more than him trying to make you laugh."

"What do you mean?" Charlotte asked as she sipped her tea.

"I think he likes you a little bit."

"I'm sure I just remind him of your mother," Charlotte shrugged. "Would you like more eggs?"

"I'm okay, thank you. I'll be back," Gustave said, getting to his feet and running upstairs, then bursting into Erik's room. "You like Charlotte, don't you?"

"What?" Erik frowned.

"You like Charlotte," Gustave smiled, observing his father's bright red cheeks.

Erik rolled his eyes, as he buttoned up his dress shirt. "I like her as a person."

"You like her romantically," Gustave chuckled. "It's obvious."

"And how do you know what that looks like, hm? You're only ten."

"It's the way Raoul would look at mother."

Erik sighed, turning his back to Gustave to grab his cufflinks. "Don't be ridiculous, Gustave," he said quietly.

"I know what I see," Gustave smiled. "You like Charlotte."

"I don't, so you can drop the subject," Erik said as he turned back to his son. "Can you pass me my tie? It's just on the desk beside you."

"Alright," Gustave nodded, handing him the dark blue necktie. "I'm just telling you what I see."

"And I am telling you that what you see is all your imagination."

"Doubtful," Gustave chuckled, going to the doorway. "See you later. I'm going to the market with Charlotte."

"Okay. Be careful," Erik said with a smile as he wrapped his tie around his neck.

"With what? Not stealing your sweetheart?" Gustave teased.

"Would you stop it?" Erik requested, turning back to his son and trying to keep himself from blushing, which would only prove his son's point. "She isn't my sweetheart."

"Whatever you say," Gustave chuckled. "See you later."

As the door closed behind him, Erik dropped his face into his hands with a sigh. How had the boy caught on so quickly? He could only hope that Charlotte hadn't noticed...he didn't know what he would do if she had.

"Gustave, are you ready to go?" Charlotte asked, popping out of her room.

"Almost! Just a minute," Gustave said, looking at her and grinning before he disappeared into his own room.

Charlotte smiled fondly, shaking her head. It wasn't normal for her to be accepted so easily, but she liked it, in all honesty. She did question the fact that Erik seemed so taken with her, though, and made up her mind to keep an eye on him.

Gustave popped out of his room a few minutes later, dressed for the day. "Let's go!" he said, looking over at the door to his father's room and noticing it was still closed. "So he's hiding now," Gustave thought to himself with a smirk.

"Alright. I hope you're wearing comfortable shoes. We're going to walk," Charlotte nodded.

"I am. I've had these ones for a while, so I'm used to them."

"Splendid," Charlotte smiled, taking his arm. They walked the ten minutes to the market and hadn't been there for long when a young man approached them.

"Charlotte?" He asked.

Charlotte turned around and looked up at him. "Thomas! Darling, how are you?"

"I'm good! What are you doing here?" The man asked as he gave her a friendly hug, which warranted a frown from Gustave.

"Well, remember how I left London to find my sister?"

Thomas nodded.

"Well, I got in contact with her, but she was killed before we could meet in person," Charlotte explained.

"I heard about her death. I'm so sorry," Thomas said softly.

"Thank you," Charlotte nodded. "But at her funeral, I met- oh, this is Gustave. Sorry. Gustave, this is Thomas. We used to be sweethearts."

"Used to be? You're not anymore?" Gustave asked.

"Well," Thomas smirked, "I proposed and she technically never gave me an answer."

"I suppose that's true," Charlotte giggled. "Oh, and Thomas, Gustave is my sister's son. I've moved in with him and his father Erik."

"Ah, so this is your nephew! Nice to meet you," Thomas said as he reached out to shake Gustave's hand. "You're a handsome young man already. Do you take after your father much?"

"Not in all aspects," Charlotte chuckled. "Say, are you free for dinner tonight?"

"Yes, I am! I was going to ask you the same thing."

"Wonderful," Charlotte giggled, quickly scribbling down her new address on a piece of paper that had fortunately been in her pocket. "That's where I live. Pick me up around seven and we'll go out somewhere, alright?"

"Sounds perfect. I'll see you then!" Thomas said, giving her another quick hug. "Bye, Gustave!"

"Bye," Gustave nodded.

Charlotte quickly kissed Thomas's cheek. "See you tonight, love."

—————

"Well, I'd say that was a successful outing," Charlotte smiled, setting the basket on the kitchen table.

"Definitely," Gustave said. "You seemed really happy to see Thomas."

"I was, in fact," Charlotte nodded. "It's been ages since I've seen him."

"Right. That was nice." Gustave paused as he put away some groceries. "Do you still love him?"

"I suppose I might. But I doubt tonight's little dinner will turn into anything. He'll likely return to London soon," Charlotte shrugged. "He hates the French, so I'm surprised he's here at all."

Gustave nodded, feeling the slightest bit relieved for his father's sake. "That's too bad," he lied.

"It really is. He's a wonderful man. And I know that if I hadn't met you and your father, I would definitely go back to London and marry him."

"But meeting Papa really changed that?" Gustave asked, but cleared his throat and adjusted his sentence. "Papa and I?"

"Well, I have a blood relative now," Charlotte smiled. "You've changed everything, Gustave."

Gustave smiled and gave her a quick hug. "I'm happy you're staying," he said.

"Me too," Charlotte nodded, kissing the top of his head before she glanced at the clock on the wall. "Oh, dear. Is that the time? I should make lunch."

"I'm going to go say hi to Papa," Gustave said, walking out of the kitchen and up the stairs, then knocking on the door of his father's study. "Papa? Can I come in?"

"Of course, Gustave," Erik said warmly, finishing up a design.

Gustave walked in and over to Erik's side, looking at his work over his shoulder. "That's amazing," he said.

"Thank you," Erik smiled, kissing the boy's forehead. "How was your outing?"

"Good. We got lots of fresh groceries for lunch and dinner."

"Wonderful," Erik nodded. "Did you two have fun? Did anything exciting happen?"

"We laughed a lot. Exciting...well, something interesting happened. Exciting for Charlotte," Gustave replied.

"Oh?" Erik asked, trying to show as little interest as possible as he pulled out a fresh sheet of paper.

"She met a man named Thomas. Her old sweetheart, she said," Gustave explained quietly. "They're going to dinner tonight."

Erik stiffened a bit, but tried to shake it off. "That's nice," he said.

"Are you alright, Papa?" Gustave asked softly.

"Fine, yes. Why wouldn't I be alright?" Erik asked as he put his pencil to his paper and started on a new sketch.

"Because you like Charlotte and this man once proposed to her," Gustave shrugged.

"He proposed to her?" Erik repeated, more irritation in his voice than he had been prepared to hear.

Gustave nodded. "And...she told me that she likely would have accepted, if she didn't met us."

Erik felt a pang of jealousy, but pushed it aside. "Well, she didn't accept...and I doubt it was just because she met me," he said, only to bite his tongue. "Because she met us."

"She never actually said no, Papa," Gustave said after smirking at his father's slip of the tongue.

"But she didn't say yes either, so it's fine."

"He seemed nice, though. I wouldn't be surprised if she did say yes."

"Whose side are you on here?" Erik asked, only to blush. "Not that I have a side for you to be on."

Gustave grinned. "You do like her!"

"Keep your voice down!" Erik said quickly, pressing his hand over his son's mouth.

Gustave chuckled, moving his father's hand. "If you didn't like her, you wouldn't care so much if she'd heard that."

Erik rolled his eyes and pushed his chair away from his desk so he could get up. "Are you pleased with your discovery, then?" he asked.

"Quite," Gustave smirked. "This promises some wonderful entertainment."

"Oh, you're ridiculous. Besides, it's not like I'm going to do anything about it."

"You'd better not," Gustave snorted. "Do you have any idea what that would look like?"

"I know, that's why I'm keeping this admiration to myself, as difficult as that may be," Erik admitted.

"Well, you aren't doing a fantastic job, so try harder," Gustave advised.

"Try harder with what?" Charlotte asked from the doorway.

"Charlotte!" Erik said, practically jumping backwards when she spoke up. "Try harder with...with...Gustave, what was I saying?" He turned to his son and gave him a desperate look, begging Gustave to help him.

Gustave shrugged. "The fact that he likes you," he said with a playful roll of his eyes, acting as though it were a joke.

Charlotte laughed. "You two are so funny," she smiled. "Well, I came to see what you wanted for lunch."

"Whatever it is you have ingredients for. I really don't mind. It's up to you," Erik stammered with a smile.

"Alright," Charlotte nodded. "I'll make sandwiches and call you when they're ready."

"Wonderful. Thank you," Erik said, smiling until she left, which is when he turned to Gustave. "What was that?!"

"I made it seem like a joke, don't worry," Gustave laughed.

"You and your jokes will be the end of me," Erik mumbled as he messed up Gustave's hair with his hand.

"Hey, watch it!" Gustave chuckled, moving his father's hand away.

"You should have thought about the repercussions when you tried to tell her that I admire her!" Erik replied, ruffling the boy's hair even more.

"Okay. Calm yourself,"  Gustave said seriously. "She thought it was a joke. No harm has been done. Relax."

Erik sighed, but eventually nodded. "I'm going to try and relax, but I doubt I'll manage," he said

"Alright. I'm going to go see if Charlotte needs help with anything," Gustave nodded.