CONEY ISLAND

FINALE

Right before the Opera, Christine pulled the company in a dark side-street to say goodbye.

"Christine," Erik said. "We're saying goodbye for two days, not two years!"

Christine rested her head on his chest and whispered, "I know, but  two days without you sound like torture! After all the time we didn't spend together, I just want to be with you every moment for the rest of my life."

Erik gently kissed her forehead. "When we return, we'll never part again. You and I, together forever. And Gustave," he added, when he saw him with the corner of his eyes. Gustave, hearing his name turned the attention from Nadir to kiss parents and ran to hug them, pulling Nadir with him. They stood like that for a moment, just hugging.

"We better get going," Erik said, breaking the silence.

Nadir, Gustave and Christine went back to the entrance and Erik stayed behind watching them. Just before they turned left, Christine looked back and smiled to him softly, making him feel warmth in his heart, despite the cold air around.

////

Erik spend the day and the night in his old home. Apparently they didn't find out, because nothing had changed. Everything was just the way it was when he left Christine that awful morning. The night was terrible, he barely slept at all, for flashbacks and memories of his sins were haunting him.

Christine was right, he thought. I shouldn't come here. But what was done was done and there was nothing left to do, but cope with the pain.

Down here, it was very easy to lose track of time. He tried counting hours to know approximately when Christine was going to get him. A couple of hours before that, he finally fell asleep, listening to the echo of a wonderful singer, performing on the grand re-opening of the Opera.

He dreamed a little cow, jumping into the water, followed by a kangaroo and woke up to a sound of door opening.

He jumped up, not sure for how long he slept, running towards Christine. The fact how that one day made him miss her was incredibly silly and stupid. He ran to her, half blind, not as used of the dark as he used to be. He ran, his arms wide open, ready to embrace her, as a loud sound rang in the room and he felt a sharp pain in his chest. He collapsed, grabbing the wound, as blood stained his shirt.

Then he stepped into the light, looking as handsome as ever with that stupid grin on his face, saying, "At last, you got what you deserved."

Just a moment later, Nadir, Christine and Gustave came running in. "Erik are you okay? What happened? We heard a --" Then they saw him there, lying on the floor, grabbing his stomach.

Raoul stayed just enough so they saw him, dropped the gun and started running away, Nadir chasing him. Gustave started screaming and Christine ran to him, placed his head on hrr legs and started whispering something.

"G-Gustave," Erik started repesting and Gustave ran to his father. His face was soaked up. ", I love you," Erik said. This was the first time he ever said that to someone other than Christine and his heart filled with warmth and he was so mad that he didn't do it before. Gustave squeezed his hand and threw his arms around his father's neck, saying it back.

Seeing this, Christine was more than decided not to lose it. "Gustave, go get help," she said and Gustave nodded obediently as he ran out.

Once he was gone, Erim started shaking as if he was trying his hardest not to when Gustave was still here. He started shaking and mumbling something. "Don't speak Erik, you'll live," Christine said, a single tear escaping her eyes, as she held on to his hand tightly and smiled weakly at him. "You'll live, and we'll go back and have a proper wedding! And there's a whole surprise party waiting for us back in America!" she said, trying to sound as happy as she could.

"I'll wear a proper wedding dress."

"And Gustave will bring up the rings," he added, his voice shaking. "And there'll be flowers!"

"Yes," Christine said, holding back the tears. "Lots and lots of flowers..."

Erik raised his hand to touch her cheek, but he wasn't strong enough, so he just dropped it down halfway there.

"And after that we'll sing," Christine said after a moment of silence and gulped down the knot in her throat.

"W-why wait..." Erik suggested.

Christine understood the request. She saw he was weak, and she knew what's about to happen and she had no strength to lie to him in these last few minutes, so she started singing Think of Me, a song she sung the night they met.

Erik started playing a movie in his mind. A movie about how Raoul never visited that day, and how they raised Gustave together. The pretty wedding, Nadir pulled off and Gustave's first concert.

The song started getting closer to an end. Christine didn't want to stop and Erik didn't want her to stop. He had so much he needed to tell her. He wanted to tell her that he loves her, that she's the best thing in his life, he wanted to say to thank Nadir, for everything that he had done for him. But as Christine started singing the last verse, Erik's eyes closed and never opened again.

IK I PROMISED A BETTER ENDING BUT HEY WE HAVE OLD MEG BACK AND THATS GOOD AMIRIGHT?
UGH I HATE THE ENDING, I HATE THAT HE DIDNT GET TO SAY GOODBYE TO NADIR AND GIRY, I HATE THAT MY WRITING SKILLS PROBABLY DIDNT MAKE IT EMOTIONAL NOT EVEN A BIT BUT HEY THIS IS THE FIRST FANFIC I'VE EVER COMPLETED SO THATS GOOD AMIRIGHT?
I WOULD LIKE TO THANK YOU ALL ESPECIALLY  Phantomess_Rose AND Mi-kayla AND Angel_of_Nighttime MY LOYAL READERS AKA THE ONLY PEOPLE THAT READ THIS THANK YOU FOR READING I LOVE YOU