A/N:I am not ashamed of how this chapter ends. Enjoy it, sorry for the late update.

I stared at him in surprise. He was afraid of my love? But I thought that he just wanted to be loved. I lowered my gaze and furrowed my brow.

"Is there something wrong with me?" I asked, looking back up at him, a hint of humor flashed in his eyes, a ghost of a smile tugged at the corners of his lips. The way he looked, it was that of a man who was very familiar with this, a look of tired wisdom was worn on his face, he just looked old, even his mask, his eyes were dull. That small smile a sad one, sucking every ounce of energy out of him, like a spider sucking the blood out of a robust bug caught in the tendrils of its web

"No, there's absolutely nothing wrong with you, Christine. I'm the problem. I'm everlasting, Christine." He told me. I frowned. Right.

"Is there any way to take it away?" I asked. Erik shrugged; he stood and turned, placing the violin in its case on the desk. I watched him with sadness seeping into my soul. I blinked back tears.

"Are you condemned to being alone forever?" I asked, my voice cracked, I hugged myself. Erik looked at me.

"You are stronger than that Christine." He told me. I stood abruptly and returned to my room. I buried myself in my blankets and I didn't come out for the rest of the day.

The sun rose and danced into my room. I cursed it for being so bright, so warm. I turned my back to it and pulled the comforter over my head. There was a knock.

"I don't see why you're so upset about this, Christine." I heard Erik's voice through the door, I huffed angrily. I always hid behind anger when I was sad. It was a major flaw in me and I knew it.

"I love you and we can't be together without you being destroyed." I yelled at him from underneath the covers and through the door.

"Christine I can hear you but I can't understand you. Please come out. I didn't mean to upset you. You're all I have left now and I just don't want to have to watch you wither away and die like I had to with James and his family." Erik told me. I uncovered my head.

"Even if we don't act on our feelings, Erik, you'll have to, if you stay in my life that is." I told him. The door opened and he stuck his head in my bedroom. We made eye contact. He entered my room fully and sat down on the edge of my bed.

"That's just it, Christine. I'm tired of watching people die. That is the one thing that I have never gotten used to in my life. People dying." His voice cracked. I sat up watching him.

"It's really something that a person should never get used to, Erik." I told him. He looked to me from the floor, his eyes red with tears.

"I don't want to get so attached to you that when you die it will destroy me. And I know if I do get anymore attached to you, I will never be able to let you go without feeling nothing. I became very accustomed to people leaving me, that before I even saw Christine Daae." He told me. I left my warm oasis and hugged my beloved friend.

"I'm sorry Erik." I told him He kissed the top of my head, and brought me closer to him.

"Do…do you think I could become everlasting?" I asked him. Erik was silent.

"Would you really want to do that? Would you really want to become everlasting for me? Even if I knew how to make it so?" Erik asked. I swallowed.

"Maybe. I mean, all I need, or really want is you." I told him. He let out a sob. I pulled away from him and looked Erik in the face. A tear went down the unmasked side of his face. I wiped it away and then hugged him very tightly. He buried his face in my neck and just cried. I kissed his head. His arms slowly came around my waist and he pulled me a little closer to him.

"I love you." I told him softly. It was the only thing I could do. I was stuck. I couldn't leave, I always ran, every time. Every time when faced with the climax of anything I have run; my mother, Erik's alcoholism, and last night. Not anymore, and not just because Erik was holding me. I was done running. I was done with that part of my life. I wasn't going to run like a coward anymore, as a matter of fact I was sick of it.

We just held each other, for hours. It was noon by the time either one of us had the ability to say something. My eyes were closed and I was resting against him, we had long since laid back against the pillows and just stayed that way. But he moved, pulling away from me and sitting up. I opened my eyes and sat up myself, looking at him. He was staring out the window; his eyes were a weak watery blue, his expression blank. I touched his shoulder. Erik looked at me with a forlorn look on his face.

"We need to find the alchemic recipe in order to do this. My friend's home was turned into a library, it's in Southern France. I'm sure the alchemy books are still there." Erik told me, getting up and walking away.

"You're going to do it?" I asked. Erik stopped, grabbing the tall bedpost at his side, he looked at me and nodded.

"Yes. Throughout the years I have helped dozens of people, hoping that one day one of them would offer to stay with me forever. I would never ask them too, I always wanted them to think of it themselves. I knew someone one day would. But they never did. Until you. I've spent so many years alone, Christine, I'm so old. I've seen two world wars; I've seen men kill each other brutally. I've seen genocide, enslavement, horrible things. Each of those things, I lost faith in humanity. But with each of these people, I've gained it back. I didn't lose it when they left either. They had bigger and better things to do. And I'm not saying you don't, but I hoped, with you, I wouldn't see just the violence. That maybe I would see the light in the dark. And you showed me that. I'm not going to be dramatic and tell you to leave me when you want to stay. I've made that mistake before. I won't do it again." He told me. Chills went through my body. I stared at Erik in wonder. He had seen it all.

All the destruction of the twentieth century. All witnessed by that one man. All on top of his own personal wars. How had he retained his sanity? A living relic. A living witness, to everything, for the rest of time, until the end of time. And I would stand next to him to bear witness as well.

"Get packed, we're leaving soon." Erik told me. I nodded. Thankfully I had washed my clothes recently and I had them neatly folded in a basket waiting by the door. I pulled my suitcase out from underneath the bed and brought it over to my clothes basket.

"Oh and Christine?" Erik asked from the doorway. I stood and looked at him.

'Yes?" I replied. He stepped forward and kissed me.

"I love you too." He said, pulling away. I stared at him in shock. His lips were soft and warm and he smelled good. I smiled at him goofily and he smiled too and my heart fluttered. Erik disappeared through the doorway and I heard him going upstairs. I got back down on the ground and started to neatly stuff my clothes into my suitcase.

My phone rang. I looked up and saw it was Raoul. I rolled my eyes and answered it, putting it in between my shoulder and ear so my hands were free.

"What?" I asked.

"That's just a little bit rude, Christine." He told me in reply. I gave a huff.

"Good afternoon Detective, what is it I can help you with?" I asked snarkily.

"And I thought we were friends, Christine." He replied. I laughed a little.

"I treat everyone like this." I told him.

"Except Erik, right?" He asked.

"Shut up." I replied, picking up my bag and taking it to the bathroom. I grabbed my toothbrush, paste, and my hairbrush and hairdryer and stuffed them in there too.

"If that's Raoul tell him we'll be going away for a while." Erik whispered, I turned and he was standing there in the doorway. I stared at him; he was like a freaking ninja. I nodded.

"Oh, and by the way, we're going to be going away for a little bit. We have some business in South France to deal with." I told him.

"What business? Erik is a hermit and you're barely an adult. " Raoul asked.

"He isn't a hermit anymore." I replied as I looked at Erik.

"Tell him, we're going to be three of a kind, might as well let him know." He told me. I nodded again and left the bathroom.

"I'm going to become like you guys. Someone's gotta stick around to make sure you two play nicely." I told him. There was a silence.

"Christine, you can't do that." He replied calmly.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Do you really want to live forever? I did it when I found out what Erik did to make sure he didn't hurt anyone. He didn't do it on purpose. Christine, a person needs to have a very good reason why they should do this in order to keep their sanity." Raoul replied. I nodded even though he couldn't see.

"I do have a good reason. Beside you, Erik will be alone. Do you think he'll be able to make it much longer with just you as company?" I asked. Raoul was quiet again.

"Probably not. But what makes you think he wants to go on much longer? I'm not trying to be mean or anything, but think about it." He replied.

"The fact that he is still around. He thirsts for knowledge Raoul. He loves it. Erik will stay around for as long as it takes to satisfy his search for it." I told him. He was quiet.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. But I'm coming, Erik only knows the potion that erases memory on top of everlasting life." Raoul told me. I scoffed.

"I think we can find the potion you used without your help, Raoul." I objected.

"Nope, I'm coming too, whether you two want me to or not. Go tell him. When are you leaving, today?" He asked.

"No, I won't tell him-" My phone was taken.

"Yes, as soon as we're ready. Meet us here. Say." Erik checked his watch. "One-thirty if you're ready by then. We're all going to be the only steady factors throughout time so we might was well make peace." Erik said. There was silence from him as he listened, he then nodded.

"Okay, we'll see you soon, Raoul." Erik told me. I stared at him as he handed me my phone. I took it without ceasing my staring.

"You are the ultimate example of character development you know." I told him. Erik smiled and laughed a little.

"Well one can't live in the past Christine." He told me, stealing another kiss. When he pulled back the look on his face was grateful and self-satisfied. I smiled and laughed, he slunk out of my room with the snootiness of a cat. I continued to get ready to leave.

I came into the living room and set my bag down on the ground. Erik was sitting in his armchair, drinking a cup of tea with his bag next to him.

"So road trip with Raoul de Chagney and the Phantom of the Opera sounds like a freaking fanfiction." I muttered shaking my head. Erik gave me a strange look.

"Fanfiction?" He asked, raising an eyebrow in an adorable way as he took another drink.

"Oh, it's when fans of something, say, Phantom of the Opera, write a story or something about the characters. It's pretty popular in America." I told him. He smiled.

"Strange. Why not just leave it the way it is?" He asked. I shrugged, laughing a little, and then sitting down on the couch.

"Because it's fun." I told him. "You can put together people you think would make great couples and write all sorts of what we call fluff. They're just cute little romance scenes. There are all sorts of it for you and Christine." I told him. Erik gave me a strange look, sitting up and placing his cup on the table locking our gazes together as he stood and joined me on the couch, wrapping me in his arms, holding me close to him

"Fluff hmm." He asked in a quiet voice. I was paralyzed.

"Yeah, kind of what we're doing right now." I told him, catching onto his game. He smiled, giving me a laugh.

"Clever little girl." He whispered in my ear. There was a knock on the door. I stood up and answered it. Raoul stood there with those ridiculous earmuffs on, a suitcase at his side.

"Hello Detective." I told him as I let him in. Erik stood and they shook hands.

"Are we ready to go?" I asked as I got my bag. Erik was very clearly hiding how smug he felt right about now, but I could tell.

"Yes we are, let's get on the road. Lots of driving to do." Erik said, grabbing his bag and heading out the door with Raoul and me following.

A/N: Fourth wall, what fourth wall, I know not of this fourth wall of which you speak.