Hi guys! Yeah, I'm still around. It looks like I haven't updated Time is Short since 2016 which is terrible?! I don't really have any excuses, but like I keep saying, I will finish this story (and then I might edit it afterward because I began it 4 years ago and yeah, some of the early chapters need some work). I've included a little snippet of the last chapter because it's been so long! I hope the huge gap hasn't affected the plot or the writing style. Let me know what you think! Phanty belongs to Leroux & Lloyd Webber!

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Chri- Little Lotte, it is me… are you there?"

"Are you alone?" She finally called back.

"What are you doing?!" Erik spat.

"Thank God… Yes… of course!" Raoul replied. "I've been so worried!"

"You want me to leave him out there in the cold?!"

"Yes!"

Ignoring Erik, she marched to the door and opened it…

Chapter 42

In the doorway stood le Vicomte. A harsh wind blew through him and into the house.

Christine stared at him for a moment. It had been so long since she had looked upon that face; those features that once brought her so much comfort and warmth, that she had once associated with her childhood and her father and everything that had mattered…

Once…

Now, his face looked weathered – he was unshaven and dark circles rimmed his eyes, circles that appeared to have settled in. He had lost weight and he was staring at her with an air of desperate longing, the very same look she had seen in Erik's eyes on the night of Don Juan.

"Christine…" He began. His gaze shifted to Erik who stood behind her, but he said nothing.

Before Erik could speak Christine rushed to the man in the door way and embraced him.

"Raoul." She spoke as she held him tight. "How glad I am to see you."

"And I, Christine. You have no idea how worried I have been."

Erik remained still. He knew what Christine would say; that it meant nothing, that she was simply happy to greet him as a friend. But he had watched this embrace in silence for long enough and once more his possessive streak bared its teeth.

"Do come in, Vicomte. I am sure that the fire will provide you with more warmth than my fiancé."

Christine shot him a look before releasing Raoul.

"Yes, come inside Raoul. You must be freezing."

"Yes, please do." Erik snapped, taking a step backward as Raoul entered. He hadn't forgotten what the man had done for him, had done for them both upon their escape from the Opera, but he could not help the way he felt. Raoul was still in love with Christine. He could see it.

Nadir remained silent.

"Monsieur." Raoul began, addressing Erik as he removed his coat. Snow fell from it as he shook it and hung it by the door. "Christine summoned me here this night. I have not come to…"

"Yes, a fact that I was made aware of only moments ago." Erik grimaced. "Christine, may I speak to you in private?"

Christine obliged and followed him upstairs. The sounds of Raoul and Nadir becoming reacquainted with one another followed them up, and she could still hear them as Erik closed the door behind them.

Erik stood still, his arms folded across his chest, his gaze trained on the floorboards.

"Christine." He spoke, his voice low. "You know what I'm going to say."

"Erik, please try not to overreact."

"Overreact? How could you invite him here?" He asked, his voice rising in volume. "You told me I could trust you!"

"And have I broken that trust?"

"You invited the boy here behind my back! You might have mentioned that that was the reason you wished to write him!"

"You didn't want to know what the letter said!"

"Oh, and you didn't think I needed to know that?! You didn't think you should have told me, given everything?"

"Given everything, I didn't think that you would react this way. You and I have come such a long way since we last saw Raoul." Christine took a seat on the small bed at the end of the room, her hands in her lap. "And…yes, perhaps I should have made a point of telling you, but you should not react this way. Not when you know how I feel about you."

She patted the bed beside her, and invitation for Erik to join her.

Erik eyed her. He had listened to her words, and the better part of him told urged him to trust her; to have faith. But there was a niggling voice in the back of his mind, as he feared there always would be that suggested the worst.

She invited him here as your replacement

Now that you're out of harm's way she doesn't have to stay with you out of guilt

She can leave with him

Leave with him as she had always intended to.

Christine offered her hand with a smile.

"I'm sorry. I should have told you. But you need not worry. If Raoul has the letter I sent to him, I'm more than happy for you to read it…"

"No." Erik answered curtly. "No, it's… that isn't necessary." He slipped his hands into his pockets and approached her slowly. "I constantly think the worst of you." He said. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright." She answered, pulling one of his hands from his pockets and holding it.

Erik smiled.

"I know that it is still difficult for you. To… see him and speak with him, to have him in your home with everything still fresh in your mind, but… can I ask that you try your best not to be too cruel to him?"

Christine stood up.

"I imagine that it is quite difficult for him to see me, to see the two of us together before him. I… I believe that he is in love with me still."

"Oh, I am sure of it."

"Yes." She looked down at his hand in hers. "I don't know how to say this in a delicate way, and so I am just going to say it."

Erik's brow furrowed in the darkness.

"What?"

"You know just how it felt to be in his position, and it wasn't too long ago." She felt Erik's grip tighten on her hand. "Be kind." She added, her gaze meeting back up with his.

He nodded solemnly before pulling her into a tight embrace. The mere mention of a time when Christine was not his made him want to weep.

Downstairs, Raoul had found himself a seat near the fire.

"Would you care for a drink, Vicomte?" Nadir offered, gesturing to the whiskey bottle on the table that had only recently been used to treat Erik's wounds at the Gypsy camp.

"Ah… yes, thank you Monsieur." He replied amiably, rubbing his arms in an attempt to keep warm.

To Erik's surprise, Christine followed the Vicomte and sat across from him.

"It really is good to see you, Christine." Raoul began as she and Erik returned downstairs. "All of you." He added as a glass of whiskey was handed to him. "Thank you, Monsieur."

"Nadir, please. Call me Nadir."

Raoul nodded. Christine sat across from him. She looked to Erik, gesturing for him to sit beside her but he remained standing.

Raoul looked to the man standing across from him and nodded, an acknowledgement of Erik's presence and perhaps even out of appreciation for his civility. Erik reluctantly returned the gesture.

"I'm sorry that it took so long to get in contact with you, Raoul. I truly am." Christine began. "Everything escalated so quickly, and it seems as though it has just been one thing after the other… I saw…" She looked at Erik. "We saw you in Paris, and then again… because of the Gypsies…" She paused, unable to revisit those memories so soon.

"I know. You don't have to apologise. Truly, I was so relieved to hear from you. I… I shouldn't have left you… you needed me and…"

"No, you shouldn't have." Erik cut in.

"Erik." Christine warned, squeezing his hand tightly where it lay on his lap.

"I apologise, Christine." He said. "…but he shouldn't have left." He walked closer to Raoul. "If the Daroga hadn't been there, what would you have done? What would you have done without him when you found the camp? Found me?"

"Pardon me, Monsieur, but the only reason Christine was able to find you was because of me."

"You forget yourself, boy. You may have been of assistance on more than one occasion since the night of Don Juan but do not forget that you are here in the warmth, sitting in my house, breathing because of my charity and nothing more."

"I could say the same to you." Raoul retorted.

Erik scowled at the man before him before turning to Christine.

"I know I said that I would be kind to him, but I can barely tolerate a man who insults me in my own house."

"And I suppose that you have done nothing to exacerbate the situation?" She spat. "You said that you would try. Does that mean nothing to you? Does your hatred for Raoul come before your love for me?"

"Of course not." He shot. "But clearly his hatred of me comes before his love for you!"

"What are you talking about?" Raoul sneered.

"You left her when she needed you. You couldn't stand the thought of her happiness if it didn't involve you and so you left. God only knows what could have happened to her without the Daroga's assistance. If you knew her at all you would know that she would still have attempted to find me – in spite of everything I would have told her – in spite of all my protestations, because that is the kind of woman she is!"

"I know who she is!" Raoul spat.

"Then you would know that she would risk anything for the people she cares about. She would risk anything for you, I'm sure! And you left her."

"I would risk anything for both of you!" Christine interjected, silencing the men. "I care about both of you so can you please stop trying to hurt one another because you're just hurting me!"

Raoul took a deep breath before once more addressing Erik, who had stalked off in a huff and was now standing at the window, his brow furrowed at the falling snow – as if it had wronged him in some way.

"Monsieur." He began calmly. "I do not know that we will ever see eye to eye but Christine asked me here tonight. So I came. Is that not enough?"

As if to punctuate the silence, Christine sneezed. All three men looked at her.

"Sorry." She sniffed. "I think I may have contracted your illness Erik."

Raoul looked at him.

"Not a word, Vicomte." Erik warned.

"Perhaps you should lie down." Raoul offered.

"Do not presume to tell her what to do." Erik spat, approaching his fiancé and kneeling before her. "Would you like something to drink? Something to eat?"

Before she could answer, she was in Erik's arms. He grimaced as his wounds protested.

"You should rest. I will make some soup and bring it up to you."

"Have you ever made soup before, Erik." Nadir teased.

"Quiet, Daroga."

"Thank you, Erik." Christine spoke. "But… you should not be carrying me just yet. I am perfectly capable of walking and you must be…"

"Nonsense. You weigh next to nothing."

He set Christine down on the bed and pulled the blankets over her.

"Be civil with Raoul." She said, rubbing his arm gently as he leant over her. "Please, my love."

Erik gave her a weak smile.

He was worried about her.

"I feel terrible." She continued. "He has come all this way to see me and as soon as he arrives I leave the room."

"He will understand."

"Yes." She drew him in for a kiss which he accepted gratefully. "I love you."

Erik's heart swelled. Would he ever get used to hearing that?

"I love you." He placed a kiss upon her forehead. "I will be up shortly with something for you to eat."

She smiled and turned away to rest as soon as he left the room.

"Is she alright?" Raoul asked as Erik made his way back down the stairs.

"She will be." He replied tersely.

Contrary to what Nadir had suggested, Erik had made soup before. Whether or not it was any good was another question, as no one but him had ever tasted it.

He wished he could more for Christine. All he wanted was the regular, mundane life that everyone else had the right to, nothing more. He wanted to look after Christine, truly care for her as a fiancé or husband should but it seemed all she did was care for him. Now he would have the chance. This was the first proper meal he'd been able to make for her. He was well enough now and things seemed to be settling down for them. He knew that they couldn't stay where they were for much longer. He didn't know where they would go next but maybe then… maybe they would finally be left to live in peace.

He smiled down at his soup. It didn't matter how it tasted. It was a taste of things to come.

He'd found a bottle of wine hidden at the back of one of the cupboards which he'd used for the soup. It wasn't of the best quality but somehow, it still tasted good enough to drink. Perhaps he was just desperate. It felt like an eternity since he'd poured himself a glass of red wine. He was just about to take a sip of this one when Raoul entered the kitchen.

He paused above the glass.

"Just the man I wanted to see." He mused darkly, before taking a sip out of his glass.

"I want to clear the air between us." Raoul began.

"I'm sure." Erik spoke, stirring his soup with one hand, a glass of wine in the other. "I don't wish to argue any more tonight. I haven't the energy."

"I don't wish to argue."

Erik remained silent.

"I don't know why you refuse to be civil with me. Christine chose you."

Where was Nadir? The last thing he wanted was to get into this right now.

"I don't understand why you loathe me so."

Erik sighed.

"I don't loathe you."

"No?"

Erik shook his head before taking another sip of his wine.

"I loathe what you represent."

"Well, that is hardly fair, is it?"

"It isn't. But life isn't fair."

"Look, I care about Christine. I know that she does not love me as she does you…"

Erik scoffed.

"Can you stop?!"

He looked at Raoul then, beckoning him to explain.

"Stop acting like that for just one moment! Stop acting like you are above everyone and everything and just listen to me!"

Above? Below! Far, far below. If only he knew…

"Why do you insist on being so unpleasant?!" He continued.

"I enjoy it I suppose…"

"No, you don't." Raoul spoke sharply. "That's what you want everyone to believe, isn't it? But you don't."

Erik flinched. That had hit a nerve.

"Oh, and all of a sudden you're able to see right through me are you? You think that you know me? You think that you can tell me what I am, fix me and in doing so receive some deranged form of catharsis? You want be the hero in everything, is that it?"

"Listen to me!"

Erik was taken aback. He had never seen the boy possessed by such conviction.

"You need to listen to me! This isn't for you, and it isn't for me. This is for Christine. You still care about her, right? You still care about her above your own ego?"

"Alright." Erik began tersely, walking toward him. "You have my attention. What is it?"

Raoul sighed before sitting down at the table before him.

"I came because Christine asked me to, but there is something you need to know."

Erik stared at him, willing him to continue.

"I've spent a lot of time in Paris these past few weeks."

Erik continued to stare at him. What was he waiting for?

"I didn't know where you both were. I hate myself for what I did that night. For leaving Christine… You were right. She needed me and I left."

"What are you after, boy? A reward? While you were with Christine debating whether or not you had a conscience the gypsies had me chained to a wall in freezing temperatures. They told me she was dead. Can you imagine what that felt like? I won't bore you with the details of what happened afterward. If you have a point, get to it."

Raoul rolled his eyes and continued.

"Listen to me. I didn't know where you both were. I went to the place where they kept you, but they were gone. I went to the cemetery. I searched everywhere I could think of for clues… I went to the Opera… Monsieur… this is what I need to tell you…"

"What is it?" Erik was growing impatient.

"The talk around Paris is… Well… they haven't forgotten. They haven't forgotten what you did. They are still searching for you and they are beginning to search the outskirts of Paris."

This silenced Erik.

"It won't be long before they begin searching the surrounding towns as well."

Erik sat down across from Raoul. He sighed.

"I see." He said, taking a rather large sip from his glass and re-filling it.

Of course he had known that he was still wanted man, but it had been weeks. The thought of being separated from Christine again made him feel sick. What would he do? Where would he go? He wanted to down the whole bottle of wine and forget who he was.

"Why are you warning me?" Erik asked darkly, looking up from his glass. "Nothing would happen to Christine if they found me."

"But something would happen to Christine. Do you think me that blind? That inhuman to think that separating you two would do her any good? I cannot pretend that you are innocent – that you have committed no crimes, but…" Raoul's breath caught in his throat. Erik stared at him. Was he… was he about to weep? "…but I love that woman more than anything in the world, no matter what you say, and I would do anything for her happiness." He took a deep breath, attempting to hold himself together and looked down at the worn timber of table he was resting his elbows on.

"Thank you, Raoul."

Raoul looked up, confused at what he had heard, but the sight before him only served to increase his confusion. The fact that this was the first time Erik had addressed him by name was lost on neither of the two men, and Erik's expression was something Raoul had never seen.

It was the sincerest he had ever seen the man, but before he had the chance to add to the conversation, Erik was up stirring his soup as if this exchange had never taken place.

"You are welcome to some of this… I suppose." He spoke, not turning around.

Raoul smiled.

"Thank you, Erik."

He saw Erik glance over his shoulder awkwardly, and couldn't hope to guess what he was thinking. For now, it didn't matter. Deciding to leave this on good terms, or whatever terms these were, he slowly stood up and left the room.

Oh, Erik :( Stop being a tool!

Let me know what you think, friends!