ballerina in the music box

chapter fourteen - Erik learns how to swim

 Elizabeth’s POV

Verena’s house was pretty big but with her, me, Erik, Rosie, Verena’s adopted daughter Tanya, her 2 years son David, Verena’s older brother Sam, there was almost no space, but somehow we got it to work, Erik tried to not show it but I knew he felt uncomfortable with all the people around him, I couldn’t blame him, he had grown up in an huge opera house all by himself, and my family can be quite weird sometimes… I hadn’t expected my oldest cousin to be here, last time I heard of him he lived in Spain with his wife and son, but Verena told me that his wife had become mad at him and kicked him out, and now he was a mental wrack, he had been in a mental hospital once but that hadn’t helped so now she took care of him. And last time I met Verena was three years ago and then she didn’t have David yet, so this was actually the first time I met him, I think he is super cute and all but I’m pretty sure that Erik thinks he is scary, Erik isn’t really the kind of person that likes children, but ironically, they love him, Rosie always wants to be around him, and even when he tried to scare her of by showing her his face she still loved him, I sometimes joke about it and say that they are the perfect couple, and then he glares at me. But Erik quickly learned why Verena and all the others didn’t mind his face at all as he meet little Tanya, before she had been adopted she had been with in an awful fire, leaving her face and body full of red burns and in the fire a small piece of wood had gotten in her eyes, she was completely blind and her parents had just left her on the streets in Sweden where Verena found her sitting all alone… well, even if Erik didn’t like kids he got a special connection to the 8 years old little Tanya, I guess he just understood her in a way that no one else could…

One morning as I woke up I found that Rosie already was awake, she sat on the end of her bed and reading some kind of book “what you got there?” I asked and sat beside her “I don’t know, a book with a lot of drawing and stuff, I found it in Erik’s room.” She said and looked up at me, I looked at the book, it was Erik’s sketchbook… “You stole Erik’s sketchbook?!” I said and looked at her “I borrowed Erik’s sketchbook… oh, and did you know that his drawing you?” she said and gave me a look and then she turned the page, there has a perfect drawing of me playing the violin, at first I thought it was a picture that how good it was, I snatched the book out of her hands and walked out of the room “I think he likes you!” she screamed after me, likes me?! He’s a genius, a musician and an artist, he could never like someone like me… never…

I stopped at the door to the guestroom that Erik was sleeping in and knocked at the door, but as nobody answered I did a huge mistake; I just opened the door and walked in finding Erik there turned to a mirror and just about to take on a skirt, my face turned bright red and I ran out and closed the door again, and there I stood, trying to just forget what I just saw, but the image of his muscular back and arms was impossible to forget, Erik opened the door and gave me a look, I just handed him the book, mumbled a quick sorry and walked away, I could feel his glace on me but didn’t turn around, it was to shameful…

I walked into the kitchen where Rosie and Tanya already had started eating breakfast and Verena was taking care of little David, I sat down on the table and hid my face in my hands, Verena looked at me “are you okay? Your face is as red as a tomato” she said giggling, I gave her a look and then Sam and Erik walked into the kitchen, they glared at each other and sat down on opposite sides of the big table, I gave Erik a questioning look but he just started to eat, so I did the same still confused.

The rest of the day we didn’t do much, I had asked Erik to teach me some new songs on the Violin, so he did that, the girls were playing and Verena was out buying food with David, Sam was on his room, doing something. And when Verena came back home she forced us all to leave the house because it was good weather, Sam and Erik protested but I managed to get Erik to leave the house with me and taking a walk, he had of course the decided to take on the robe and the hat with him, to which I just laughed, I didn’t even have to say anything, because in the summer it could get really hot outside and eventually he would take it off by himself, I myself had taken on a short summer dress with according to Erik was “to short”

Verena was right, it was wonderful outside and me and Erik walked together on a small path as we came to a small bridge over a river; me, Verena and my sister always went here swimming as kids, ah, great times… I stopped “Erik?” I said and turned to him “yes Elizabeth?” he said and looked back at me, I smiled “let’s swim!” I said took of my hat and my necklace and the braid in my hair, he just gave me a look “we don’t even have swimsuits with us!” he said and starred at me, I gave him a look “and? We can just swim in our clothes, it’s warm outside!! Come on!” I said and dragged him with me on the small bridge a plan forming in my head on how to get him in the water “Elizabeth, no…” he said, I played sad and sat down on the thing that made that people down fall in “okay…” and then I just let myself fall backwards and fake screamed…

Erik’s POV

The only thing I knew was that Elizabeth had fallen into the water and I felt myself jump after her, but as I was in the cool water and had bragged her up from the bottom of the not so deep river she started laughing…

“It actually worked! I got you in the water!” she said still laughing, I was shocked, the little brat tricked me…!!! But I started laughing myself, the water was nice and cold and it was very hot outside, so it was pretty fun, until…

“Let’s swim to a place where the water is a little deeper!” she said and I looked at her in shook, this was what I had feared… here were we where I could still feel the bottom of the river with my feet, so it was okay, but swimming out to a deeper place?! I don’t know… “Elizabeth… let’s just stay here…” I said trying to convince her to stay without having to say to her that I can’t swim…

“Why?” she said, I sighed, she wouldn’t just give up, right? “I… I can’t… swim…” I said and looked down on my feet feeling my cheeks heat up, I just waited for her to start laughing at me but she didn’t she just gave me a confused look “wait, what? You lived under the opera by a big lake and you can’t swim?!” she said, I shook my head “that was madam Giry’s idea, as I was younger she thought that it could keep me trapped so that I wouldn’t scare all the people in the opera, but I found other ways to get out, so she just gave up… and I never bothered learning how to swim…” I said, she lifted up my face so that I had to look into her eyes “I can teach you” she said, and well, she did… or at least she tried to, but I protested all the time, I had no mask on, and I was a fully clothed, grown man standing in a river and learning how to swim… it was just embarrassing… but I must say, with Elizabeth by my side everything was kind of fun.         

longest chapter yet! hope you like it!!! :D