The Music of the Night

Chapter 17

Emmy led me to one of the other large rooms where the set for the Phantom's lair was at, and she stopped me before I could go any further. "Wait here," she said gently, patting my shoulder.

I obliged and wiped my tears away while she walked ahead, leaving me behind. Usually, I would've hated the fact that I was in knee-deep water, but I was too focused on apologizing to Gerard to really care at all. 

Wanting to look somewhat presentable, I straightened out my brown hair and stood up taller, but I didn't feel any more confident.

A second later, Emmy came back and said, "I'll be right here if you need me, Ellie."

I nodded gratefully and took a deep breath, then stepped out from behind the corner and walked in. 

Gerard was standing by what appeared to be an organ, and the candles surrounding him gave his distorted face an ethereal glow. I was expecting him to angrily yell at me as soon as we locked eyes, but instead, he gave me the opposite reaction.

He quickly walked down the small set of stairs and ran into the water, pulling me into his arms when he was close enough. "Thank God you're alright!" he breathed, pressing multiple kisses on the top of my head. "I was so worried about you."

I was so caught off-guard by Gerard's reaction that I didn't immediately respond to him, and I felt like a statue when he pulled back to look at me. "Where were you last night?" he asked frantically. "Everyone was looking for you, but no one could find out where you had gone. I thought something had happened-"

"Gerard." My tone was firm as I interrupted him, and he instantly stopped talking. When I found my words, I slowly asked, "Why are you acting like this?"

He furrowed his brows in confusion. "I don't follow."

I unhooked his arms from around my waist and stepped backwards so that there was a good distance between us. "Did you, like, forget what happened last night?" I questioned, raising my eyebrows high.

"No," Gerard shook his head. "I'm perfectly aware of last night's events, but I'm not blaming you for anything."

My eyes widened considerably, and I could only stutter when I said, "W-what? Why not?"

"Because you didn't do anything wrong," he replied, making it sound like it was obvious. "You were overwhelmed, and you couldn't handle the pressure of your stress. I get it. I've had the same thing happen to me as well."

Why was he so understanding after how badly I had treated him? It didn't make any sense.

I expressed those thoughts aloud by saying, "You can't be serious, Gerard. Do you even hear yourself?"

Gerard looked a bit hurt by my question, but he stood by his statement. "You did nothing wrong, Ellie. Please believe me when I say that."

I couldn't bring myself to understand why he was being so kind to me when I clearly deserved to be punished, and I shook my head in disbelief. 

"I need to leave," I said as I turned around and walked away.

"Ellie, wait!" he called after me. "Where are you going?"

"Away!" I replied back, my tone a lot harsher than I had intended it to be.

But even that couldn't deter Gerard from reaching me, and he splashed his way into my path. I tried to push my way past him, but since he was so much bigger than me, I had no such luck, and he gripped my upper arms tightly.

"Why aren't you listening to me?!" he exclaimed. "Do you think I'm lying to you?" He sounded desperate, and his voice cracked as he asked the second question. 

My heart broke at his almost pleading tone, and I suddenly found myself saying, "No. I don't think you're lying."

"Then why do you not believe me?" Gerard asked while slightly relaxing his grip on me. "I don't understand."

I sighed as a painful memory came back to me. I didn't want to tell him what had happened in the past, but he would never understand if I said nothing, so I stood taller and toughened myself up.

"I used to have a boyfriend, Taylor, when I was in high school," I started, already feeling my muscles tense up as I spoke. "We dated for three years before moving on to college, and I really thought we were going to be together for the rest of our lives.

"But," I continued. "I got stressed one day due to a lot of exams that had to be finished by the end of the weekend. Taylor tried to help me out with it, but I popped like a balloon and had an outburst, similar to the one that you saw yesterday."

I bit my lip as I thought back to that day, and I almost stopped before Gerard placed a supportive kiss on my head. "It's okay," he said quietly. "Keep going."

I nodded and took a deep breath. "Well, I really let it out on him in that moment, and he left me alone for the rest of the day. I found him two days later by the entrance to the college campus, and I immediately apologized for acting so horribly.

"Taylor reassured me that he was fine and that he forgave me, but I knew it was a lie. The look in his eyes told me everything: he didn't want me as his girlfriend anymore. I never said anything, though, because I didn't want to admit that I had ruined our relationship. We broke up a month later, and I haven't had a relationship like that since."

When I finished, it felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I had kept the guilt in for so long that it had started to effect me in more ways than one, and I was relieved to finally have it gone. But there was still a lingering feeling of worry about what Gerard thought of me after I had told him such a story.

It was silent other than the water trickling around us, but he quickly broke it by asking, "Are you afraid that your outburst scared me off like Taylor?"

I nodded, but I didn't meet his eyes.

Gerard then wrapped his strong arms around my waist again and pushed me closer to him. "You could never scare me, Ellie," he said, his deep voice soft. "I know you didn't mean the things you said. It was only your fear talking."

"That's not an excuse," I shook my head. "I should never have said those things to you."

He nodded understandingly. "The point is, you didn't scare me off, and you never could. I care about you too much to ever leave you."

"Really?" I breathed, my heart soaring high.

"Absolutely," Gerard smiled. "As the Phantom, I must keep my Angel safe, and that's exactly what I plan on doing."

I chuckled at his sweet statement and brushed the dirty blond hair/wig out of his handsome face. "I see the tough guy is actually a softie," I smirked. 

"Maybe a little bit," he shrugged sheepishly. "By the way, when are you getting off tonight?"

"8," I replied. "Why do you ask?"

"I'd like to hang out with you," he said in a casual tone. "If that's alright."

I was somewhat taken aback, but I quickly got myself together and nodded. "Sure. We can do that."

Gerard smiled again and pulled me into a hug, kissing the top of my head tenderly.