The Man Clad in Black: Book Two

A Singing Lesson - Chapter 5

Sure enough, after waking up the next morning and attending long a day of work, you found yourself rehearsing in the catacombs all over again.

Erik had one of the songs from the opera prepared for you - unsurprisingly the duet between the leads - and he seemed to begin your training almost immediately. He sat down at the organ and made you stand at his side, critiquing you for your posture every once in a while as he rested his hands on the keys...

Your rehearsal began... However, after barely an hour or so, Erik already seemed to be getting a little frustrated.

He let out a sigh as he held his head in his hands, and quite quickly, he stood up and stared you on the eye. He moved quite close to you as he held your hands in his.

"You need to be passionate!" Erik pleaded. "I know you can do it, [Y/N] - I've seen it from you... Now sing it again, and show me exactly how it feels."

He sat back down at the organ again, and as he began to play through the song, you sang through it all over again... You tried to follow his directions, but unfortunately, you still didn't seem to meet his expectations.

He let out another sigh before he buried his face into his hands again, seeming to try and think things over... After a moment, he suddenly seemed to be struck with an idea. He stood up and made his way over to you. You stared up at him as he grabbed onto your waist, and he seemed to search through your for something.

"Remember when you taught me that dance?" he asked. You gave him a slight nod - after all, it was the song that broke your heart. "Good, good..." he muttered. "We are going to sing through the segment once."

You paused.

"We're going to sing through it?"

"Yes," Erik said simply. "I'm sure you remember the words."

"I do," you nodded. Of course you did... During that song so long ago, they were the very words that thought would kill you - and yet, you here you were. Staring up at the man you loved, and who you knew loved you.

"Wonderful," Erik said... He didn't sit down at the organ again. Instead, he stood a few feet away from you as his eyes locked with yours. "Whenever you're ready..."

Sure enough, you found the both of yourselves singing through the duet.

"Past the point of no return...
The final threshold -
The bridge is crossed so stand and watch it burn!
We've past the point of no return..."

All pressure of doing well had faded from your mind. You were just being honest, practically painting your emotions into each of your words, and you had barely realized that Erik had made his way over to you. As you realized how close Erik and you were, your lips were just inches apart, and it seemed almost as if you had done the exact thing that he was looking for.

"That's it," Erik muttered, his lips moving the slightest bit closer to yours before he stopped himself. His eyes fluttered shut after a moment before he let out a long sigh. "Like that..."

After a moment, he backed away from you, leaving you a little confused... However, you soon understood.

"We do it again," he muttered as he took off his cloak... "And this time, we dance."

You held your breath.

"I... Alright," you muttered. You backed up after a moment. You tried to give yourself the right amount of distance between you two - at least, how far you remembered being during those late-night rehearsals - and you noticed that he let out a sigh as he readied himself.