The Phantom of the Opera

She looked up at him, her dark eyes tired.

He stared out the window of the train, his temple leaning against the glass. He was so pale and thin one would think he was ill. She studied him as he continued to stare out the window, thinking she was still asleep. He had a straight nose and white teeth. But no one ever saw them. He never smiled. His hair was so blonde it was nearly white and blue eyes were wide and serious. She wondered what he looked like when he was happy. What his smile was like. Why he always dressed in black. Why his eyes were always so sad and lonely.

Everyone thought that he was the proverbial rich kid. That that was just his personality. The product of a family with too much money.

"I've made myself into a monster and I can never change that. They all se me as a selfish, spoiled brat." He laughed bitterly. "Myabe they're right."

But she knew the truth now. He'd been psychologically tortured his entire life. His own father had hit him. She thought of Erik, the Phantom of the Opera. In many ways, they were quite alike- misunderstood, shunned, seperate.

She knew he never had the most pleasant childhood, but now, having met his father, she understood. It was all a mask. If he didn't get close, he coulnd't get hurt. Pushing people away was easier than suffering the pain later. That's why she had to fight him so fervently. When they first met, he'd shown his true self just for a moment and was met with stares of amazement. So he reverted back to the mask he put up and everything returned to normal. He pushed her away like everyone else.

He knew she was different, but he still had the same expectations. To just assume he was a jerk and move on. But she’d seen through it. So he pushed even harder. And she fought back. And look where she was now.

She traced his jaw, where the faint outline of the bruise remained. He looked down at her and smiled sadly out of the corner of his mouth. He was doing it again. Hiding the pain he was really going through.

“Have you ever read The Phantom of the Opera?” she asked.

His brow creased slightly. “Yes,” he said.

“I’ve decided you’re like Erik. You push people away because you’re afraid of getting hurt like your father hurt you. You put up a mask and act like you don’t feel anything, like you enjoy hurting other people, but really, it’s killing you. You hate it. But you feel like you have to protect yourself. And your mother. You think if they don’t get close, they can’t hurt you. So you never give them the chance.”

He smiled down at her sadly as a tear slipped down his face.

“Does that make you Christine?” he asked softly.

She brushed away the tear and he held her fingers tightly in his own. “Because, if it does, remember that she left Erik in the end. She ran off with Raoul.”

“No, I’m not like Christine. I won’t leave you the moment you need me like she did to Erik.”

“I’d rather you just not leave at all. I do believe I’ve fallen in love with you.”

“I love you, too.”

He kissed her softly, and pressed his forehead gently against hers.

“Promise me that you won’t try to hide the wounds from me.” she whispered.

“What?” he asked.

“The scars you hide from everyone else. Don’t hide it from me.” she explained.

He smiled. A true, real smile. His eyes didn’t seem to lonely, he didn’t look so tired. “I won’t.” he promised.

Author's Note

It's amazing what you can learn from the notes left up on the board after a psycology class you're not even part of. :)
Erik, Christine, Raoul and the Phantom of the Opera all belong to the amazing Gaston Leurox. I totally just butchered the spelling of his name, but you get the point.

Reviews

[Calypso]

Nicely written. This needs some indention though or it will remain hard to read.

[Victoria PoetryBunny]

I love the Phantom of the Opera music... the soundtrack haha, though i have yet to seen it, and i really wish too. This is very nice, i love the ending, so sweet and nice, and i could see how you tied your story with the Phantom of the Opera, at first i was wondering how it had a part of your story haha. I saw maybe to words with a letter missing, if you wanted to proof read. Other then this, i like the story a lot, nice care in the end.

[CrimsonDecorum]

Awwwh! I've never seen Phantom of the Opera, but I felt the emotion. I loved how bold the girl character was. She just came out and told him what she thought. Another beauty my dear.

[Rose of Gondor]

It is currently sitting in the Favorite section of my library. :)

[Rose of Gondor]

I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. That's a good thing. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Awwwwwwwwwwwwww~~~~~~~

You didn't COMPLETELY butcher the spelling of Gaston Leroux's name. You just put one word in the wrong place.