Fandom: Phantom of the Opera
Disclaimer: Please don’t sue. I don’t own *insert fandom name from above*... All I own is an overactive imagination.
Summary: AU. I shoved the POTO characters into a hospital setting. Slash btw, as though I write anything but.
Warning(s): slash, AU
Pairing(s): Erik/Raoul
Word Count: 5,121

A/N: Almost done with this fic! I’m kind of excited for it to be ending (just because it means one less story I’m working on). And, of course, that they’ll finally get together. Of course. Hope you all had a good weekend.
Story note: That’s quite an ominous chapter title, right? (I find it kind of amusing that ever since the UTC ending, you all think I’m going to kill Raoul at any moment. It’s actually downright hilarious, though understandable.) Long chapter (too long IMHO; don’t expect this again).

o.o.o.o

Garnier Hospital – Death
By: Lucifer Rosemaunt

o.o.o.o

Philippe arrived at Raoul’s loft mid-morning to check on his brother. Raoul was, thankfully, where he’d last left him, in bed. The fever had only gotten worse after his escapade, so Philippe wasn’t too surprised; even Raoul had to succumb to illness at some point. Unfortunately, it meant that Philippe still hadn’t been able to talk to him about his patient, and the memory of Christine’s challenging voice was starting to irritate him. She thought she knew Raoul better than he did. How could she? She had barely been reunited with him.

And Philippe had just been separated. Maybe he was a little jealous of her. Just a little. As much as Philippe loved his sisters, he was closest to his brother. Raoul was the one he could do more than just tolerate, and while he was happy for Raoul’s newfound independence, he was more than a little worried. This was Raoul, his baby brother.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Philippe gently shook him. “Raoul,” he whispered, placing a hand on Raoul’s brow. It seemed normal, but he’d have to find the thermometer to be sure.

“Raoul,” Philippe shook him again. “It’s time to take medicine.”

Raoul moaned, blinking his eyes open. “Philippe?”

“Recognition.” Philippe smirked. He joked, “That’s good. You didn’t lose too many of your brain cells. Now, what does a high leukocyte reading indicate?”

“Shut up,” Raoul groaned, his voice gravelly, as he weakly pushed him away.

Philippe just laughed.

Raoul pulled the covers up over his head, complaining, “You’re shaking the bed.”

“Come on.” Philippe tugged the blanket down.

Raoul gave no resistance, moving to get off the bed. Philippe pushed him back down. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Getting ready for today,” Raoul looked at him expectantly. “What else?”

“What?”

“You know,” Raoul was starting to think that he wasn’t the only one who’d been ill. “Our parents asked that I spend the day.”

Philippe pursed his lips before asking, “What day do you think it is today?”

Suddenly unsure, Raoul said, “Saturday?”

“It’s Sunday,” Philippe replied, “I visited yesterday as well. Ring a bell?”

“No.”

Philippe pulled up the blankets higher on him, “Well then. More reason for you to stay in bed now. It’s practically near noon anyway. So whatever plans our parents might’ve had for the weekend are pretty much officially over.”

Raoul reached over to grab his watch off the night stand. He checked it before dropping back onto the bed, “How sick was I?”

“Pretty sick, but you’re unsurprisingly better.” Philippe said, “My diagnosis. You were tired and working too hard.”

Raoul rolled his eyes. “What if it’s a passing bug?”

Scoffing, Philippe patted him on the head in a patronizing manner, “I doubt that, Raoul.”

“Stress induced fever, Philippe?” He crossed his arms in front of his chest, “You’re just trying to say that I wanted out of the family event.”

“If you recall, you were at the family event,” Philippe stood up and headed towards the kitchen to grab a glass of water and some Tylenol. He barely had to raise his voice to continue, “I’m just saying you’re stressed, which I’m guessing is a very accurate statement. But even if you were just mentally making yourself sick to get out of family time, I would’ve suggested that you sleep, just like I’m suggesting right now.” Returning bedside, he saw Raoul already had his eyes closed. “Come on. Take your medicine first of course.”

Raoul opened one eye to glance at the medicine before sighing. He swallowed the medicine with a gulp of water. Handing the glass back, he asked, “Happy?”

“Ecstatic.” Philippe motioned for Raoul to move. “Now scoot over so I can lie down.”

“Are you avoiding home?” Raoul asked, sliding over.

“No,” Philippe answered, “I’m just spending time with you.” He twisted to fluff the pillow Raoul had just been lying on before settling down.

Raoul simply sighed. “I’m tired.”

“That’s shocking,” he answered sarcastically.

Raoul didn’t bother to reply. Even learning that he’d spent all of yesterday asleep, he couldn’t deny the appeal of sleeping today off as well. He wouldn’t want to go to work sick after all.

Relaxing, it was several minutes before the silence was broken.

“Raoul?” Philippe started, “Are you seeing anyone currently?”

“I see a lot of people, Philippe,” Raoul quipped. He grinned to himself, “For instance, I see you right now.”

“Don’t be an ass,” Philippe nudged him with his elbow. “Seriously. Are you interested in anyone?”

Heaving a dramatic sigh, Raoul pretended to think about it. He flippantly replied, “Nope, no one comes to mind.”

“Really?” Philippe pressed. He didn’t want to go right out and ask about that patient. It would probably bias Raoul’s answer.

“Why would I lie about something like that?”

“I was just wondering,” he was quick to respond.

“Oh God,” Raoul said, pushing himself up so that it was easier to look at Philippe, “I did something didn’t I? Please tell me it wasn’t with Carlotta.”

“No,” Philippe grimaced. “Why would it be with Carlotta?”

“I don’t know,” Raoul exclaimed. “You made me worry. Why are you asking all these questions?”

Philippe knew he had to talk to Raoul about this. Christine had been right about one thing; he’d been acting like his father, and he refused to do that intentionally. “Do you remember what you did the night I brought you home after the charity event?” Philippe amended, “Stupid question, you never remember what you do when you’re sick. What do you remember?”

“I think,” Raoul pushed himself higher on the bed so that he could lean on the headboard. “You and I were talking about going home.”

Waiting for a few seconds for Raoul to continue, Philippe prompted when he didn’t, “That’s it?”

“Yeah,” he responded slowly, “About. What did I do?”

“You ended up at the hospital.”

Raoul looked at him expectantly, “Well, which one?”

“Garnier,” Philippe replied.

“Okay, that’s good. I guess,” Raoul shrugged. It was better than ending up at the Chagny hospital. He didn’t need another reason for his father to be disappointed with him. He paused, “Oh no. What did I say to Christine?”

Philippe raised his hands in a placating manner. Sighing, he pushed himself up so that he could sit beside Raoul. “Nothing,” he tried to assuage his fears. “Well, I think nothing.”

“Then what’s with all these relationship questions? What happened?”

Philippe shrugged, a little hesitant having to explain why he’d become overprotective.

Raoul glared. “You wouldn’t ask if I didn’t do something that made you think I was interested in someone. Now what did I do?”

Reluctantly, Philippe said, “You simply ended up in a patient’s room.”

Raoul moaned again. “I think I’m going to get a headache. Which patient? I didn’t harass one of them so that they had to call security? Please tell me I didn’t.”

“I think,” Philippe shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant, “it was the other way around.”

“What?” Raoul paused. A patient had harassed him? “Erik? I ended up in Erik’s room?”

Both Raoul and Philippe had to wonder at how quickly he’d managed to come up with that conclusion.

“Yes,” Philippe said suspiciously.

“But why would you ask…?” Raoul looked at him in confusion before stopping himself. “You think I like Erik? Like that?”

Philippe was going to deny that the thought crossed his mind but decided otherwise. A different tactic was in order, “From my experience, I think he’s more interested in you than as his doctor.”

Raoul shook his head, laughing of such a suggestion, “That’s not how it is. I don’t think…”

“He’s interested,” Philippe interrupted. He was certain.

“At least let me finish my sentence,” Raoul paused to see if he would interrupt. Philippe nodded at him to continue. “How do you even know that?” He motioned with his hands vaguely.

“He’s interested.”

“Repeating that isn’t explaining, Philippe.”

“What do you think of him?” Philippe asked instead, knowing he wouldn’t be able to convince his brother without having to explain how the man’s hand had been in his hair. But at least he should be able to gauge how Raoul felt about him, even though Philippe was certain he already knew.

“I think I can help him,” Raoul answered as honestly as he could.

“Raoul,” Philippe sighed. That was definitely Raoul. “You do remember there’s a line not to cross with your patients.”

Raoul would have liked to scoff at such a statement, but he knew that he’d been less than professional with Erik. It wasn’t even just once; it was on a constant basis, since the very beginning, and if Philippe even managed to notice that, he hated to think how badly it had gotten. Maybe he was treading a dangerous path with Erik. Philippe wouldn’t lie to him.

“You get involved with your patient’s lives too much.” Philippe stated frankly. “That’s dangerous.”

“That’s not true brother. I don’t get involved too much,” Raoul was quick to defend, “It’s…” He stopped himself when he realized what he was about to say. It’s only with Erik. “It only happens sometimes,” he finished lamely.

“I know you care, but just be careful. Please,” Philippe asked. He slid out of bed. Leaning back over, he kissed Raoul sloppily on the forehead.

“Philippe!” Raoul wiped his forehead exaggeratedly, “That’s disgusting.”

“Don’t be a baby. I’m going to meet up with our parents now. I’ll tell them you’re deathly ill because of what father did to you at the charity,” he joked. They both knew he’d never do that. It would only make things worse. “Just give some thought over what I said, okay?”

“I always do, brother.” Raoul closed his eyes, listening as Philippe walked to the door. He yelled after him, “Don’t forget to lock the door!”

The door slammed shut. He didn’t hear the lock turn for a few seconds.

“Philippe?”

More seconds passed during which Raoul groaned at the mere thought of having to get up.

“Just kidding!” Philippe called through the door before locking it.

Raoul rolled his eyes at his brother’s antics, even though he couldn’t help but grin. He frowned when his mind immediately turned towards what he’d said. Raoul did care about all his patients. Maybe he cared too much about Erik though. He’d simply gotten so involved with trying to discover more and more about the man that he’d forgotten his place. Philippe was right. He was a professional. He needed to re-establish that boundary between them.

In fact, Raoul needed to find another physical therapist and a masseur while he was at it.

o.o.o

Come Monday, Raoul was ready to be the professional he knew he could be. He strode into Erik’s room with his resolve firmly in place. He’d decided that it was necessary to speak with him first, to explain what he was trying to do; just suddenly acting like a completely different person probably wouldn’t work.

As Sunday had passed, Raoul found that he remembered a bit more than he told Philippe. He couldn’t quite remember how he got to the hospital or back to his loft, but he remembered most, if not all, of his conversation with Erik. He cringed just thinking of the things he’d said to the other man. Massages and happy endings? He knew he wouldn’t hear the end of it, and if he had any hope of acting professional, he had to stop Erik from bringing it up first.

“Good morning, Erik,” Raoul walked into this room, deciding against taking a seat. “About Friday night…”

“Shall I disrobe now or do we need more small talk?” Erik mocked. He’d been waiting all weekend for this moment.

He’d already confronted Christine about what she’d said about Raoul asking for another doctor. She claimed misunderstanding, but Erik was beginning to think otherwise. He’d have to watch out for her. She managed to prove her point though; he wouldn’t tell her such a thing, but the message had gotten across quite well. He needed to treat Raoul better – or at least tell him more, allow Raoul to help him so that he could get closer to him. As slow a progress they’d been making so far, Erik realized that he wasn’t adverse to the idea of getting closer to his young doctor, not adverse to the idea at all. Who was he to deny massages and happy endings?

He continued, “I convinced Christine to give me twenty dollars. Is that enough for a little extra?”

Raoul groaned, making sure the door was closed. “Erik.”

“Or do you need forty to disrobe yourself,” Erik reached under his blankets and pulled out the cash.

“Okay, okay,” Raoul moved closer to the bed. He tried to fight down the blush but could feel his face heat up. “I get it.” He pushed the hand that was holding up the money at him down onto the bed. “In my defense, I was sick.”

Erik glanced down at Raoul’s hand still atop his own, “I think you were hitting on me, doctor.”

Raoul took a second to appreciate the fact that Erik had called him by his title. “And I appreciate you stopping me from undressing.”

“I don’t believe anything in life’s for free,” Erik stated factually. He nodded down to their hands. “I wouldn’t want to be indebted.”

Pulling his hand away quickly, Raoul cleared his throat. “I need to talk to you about that.”

“The fees or the fact that you sounded quite desperate when you said I might just send you away?” Erik asked. He was enjoying this a bit too much. He’d dissected their conversation and was certain that Raoul would eventually and hopefully very soon, give into his advances. Once he realized that’s what they were. “Is there something you’d like to tell me, Raoul?”

Even though he thought it impossible, Raoul blushed harder. He’d rather hoped that Erik hadn’t picked up on that. He didn’t know what he’d been thinking; his sister would tell him it’s abandonment issues from a father figure. Raoul just didn’t want to fail to help Erik, just didn’t want to be pushed away when they’d been making so much progress. “Erik, please. I was ill and not thinking.”

Erik was quick to point out, “Not having a filter doesn’t mean you were lying. It usually means you tell truths you’d rather not tell.”

“You’re right,” Raoul said exasperatedly, seeing that he was going about this the wrong way. “I think we need to work on our relationship.”

“Really?” Erik asked, his mocking on pause.

“Yes. I’ve overstepped my bounds. We need to be doctor-patient not…” Raoul gestured with his hands, “Whatever we are right now.”

“You’re breaking up with me before we’re even together?” Erik joked even when he didn’t like where the conversation was heading. He appreciated their relationship the way it was currently, because there was always the possibility of more. And from the moment Erik had met Raoul, more was something he wanted. Maybe he’d been uncertain to the extent, but it had become clear – even Christine had realized it, bribing him.

Raoul nodded. It was as good a summary as any, “Yes. I shouldn’t have said any of those things about… well, about taking advantage of you. I’m here for your health. The other factors shouldn’t have come up.”

Erik definitely didn’t like how this conversation was turning. He hadn’t expected this from Raoul. In fact, it almost sounded like… “Did your brother tell you to say these things?”

“What?” Raoul actually took a step back.

“Your brother,” Erik nearly snarled, and he could hear the complete anger in those two words. He held his breath, waiting to see if Raoul would react how everyone else did when he got as angry as he was now – flee, as quickly as possible.

He very well knew how he could affect people. He didn’t have facial expressions to clue people in, so he’d easily learned how to say more with his voice than simple words. The threat of death, fear, enticement, and a myriad of emotions could easily be conveyed with a single word or in a tone, and he’d found people responded to that subconsciously no matter who they were, as though he could tap into that without trying. He’d been careful around Raoul, careful so that he wouldn’t scare him away anymore, not after that first time. Sure, he’d been testing his limits lately to see how angry he could sound, how much he could try to scare him away, but he’d never lost his control.

“Well,” Raoul only shrugged, and Erik stared at him in confusion even as he let out his breath in relief, “he brought it to my attention and he’s right. You can’t disagree.”

It took Erik several moments before he could form a response. “What if the only reason I want you here is explicitly because I don’t consider this a doctor-patient relationship?”

Raoul’s head tilted as he considered that. “Are you sure that’s what you meant to say because it sounded an awful like…”

“Not romantically or sexually, Raoul,” he amended for Raoul’s sake even while he smirked. He was glad to see Raoul could follow his train of thought.

“If we’re not doctor-patient, then we’re kind of… you know,” Raoul floundered for the right word, “flirting.”

Erik refused to respond to that. Flirting was a very accurate word for what they’d been doing. He’d known it all along and had wondered when Raoul would finally catch on.

“And I know that’s not what we’re doing,” Raoul quickly amended even when he suddenly knew without a doubt that that was exactly what they’d been doing, what he’d been doing.

“I don’t like doctors,” Erik stated simply, expecting it to convey his feeling about Raoul’s newfound dedication to formalities.

“I’d still like to be yours, Erik,” Raoul said, moving closer. “Your doctor,” he clarified.

Erik didn’t respond. He was not going to agree to this new situation.

Raoul sighed. “When I come for lunch, we’ll start your physical therapy like I promised.”

“You?” Erik asked, noting the vague statement for what it was.

“Yes,” Raoul said. He tried to find someone else; he actually did find someone. He’d called and inquired but when it was time to actually set the appointment, he simply hadn’t been able to do it. There were boundaries; he kept reminding himself of this fact. He just wanted to be the one to do this for Erik. He wanted to personally make sure that Erik would get better, and he didn’t want to have to question why.

Amused, Erik baited, “Shouldn’t you find an actual physical therapist to do something like that?”

“Things’ll be different,” Raoul stated firmly. “They will.”

Erik nodded even though he saw Raoul’s new resolve as nothing more than a challenge.

o.o.o

It took almost two weeks before Erik could admit that he’d been overconfident in his abilities to garner a response from Raoul. In fact, this new Raoul who visited him every day was everything but Raoul. Sure, he still smiled and inquired about his day. He still looked pained whenever Erik’s muscles spasmed painfully. He even still offered painkillers – persistent that he was –, and on the days after Erik was having a particularly bad day, Raoul would come with a banana to share with him. True to his word, there were no drugs in it.

But it wasn’t Raoul. He was subdued, didn’t respond to his blatantly obvious attempts at sexual humor, in fact, didn’t even grin in response. He just smiled politely. Erik even received on a constant basis warnings that such actions were looked down upon. Things were different and Erik was rather displeased with this new course of events.

Their physical therapy session went as planned, and no matter what Erik said or did, Raoul simply didn’t react. Even when Raoul was between his legs, helping him stretch, he didn’t respond to the leers and dirty suggestions Erik made, and how Raoul managed that when his hand was quite high on Erik’s thigh, he didn’t even know.

It was all mechanical: stretching, arm exercises – flexion, extension –, leg exercises, abdominals, and more. It was enough that by the end of their sessions, Erik would have stopped trying to sexually harass Raoul and was instead sweating and cursing him out for the amount of pain he was going through trying to get his muscles to respond the way they were supposed to. He’d damned Raoul to hell and called him a variety of names ranging from a breathy laugh of masochist to the devil’s bastard son, and each time, Raoul only nodded his agreement, offered to change the bandages on his face for him, and apologized for his pain, promising that he’d trade places if he could. Erik could only respond by damning him again and lying flat on the bed. The bandages did irritate his skin after their sessions; he didn’t have to tell Raoul no though – Erik still refused to show him his face.

What followed next was the massage, the only reason Erik hadn’t lost his temper in his frustration with Raoul. In retaliation though, Erik refused to remove the hospital gown; even though there were no other injuries to be found on his body, he thought it was only fair that Raoul not get to see him naked since he was no longer cooperating in their now non-existent flirtations. As much as he damned Raoul in physical therapy, he praised him, worshiped him during the massage. His hands were always warm and the pressure applied at times painful, but afterwards… afterwards, Erik would be boneless against the sheets unable to do anything but breathe; that is, if he hadn’t fallen asleep during the massage. He was only thankful that he was too tired to properly respond to how skillful Raoul’s hands were or how his mind often went on dangerous tangents of thoughts concerning them.

Sometimes, he could almost swear that Raoul’s hands lingered longer than necessary, but he was beginning to think that it was simply his imagination. Raoul was more than professional. He was annoyingly unperturbed by whatever Erik tried.

He was about to boycott the whole effort – besides the fact that the muscle spasms had decreased in intensity, though he knew the pain would never go away completely, and the fact that he’d be willing to do almost anything to have Raoul massage him – but without those sessions, he was certain Raoul would avoid him even more than he was doing so lately. They didn’t share lunches anymore, simply physical therapy sessions. In the morning, Raoul barely visited longer than a few minutes to check his vital signs, inquire of the pain, and tell him that he needed to do his self-exercises more often.

Erik simply didn’t know what to do to make Raoul revert to the way things had been before, and he knew exactly who to blame, Raoul’s brother. The first thing he was going to do when he could move again, was kill Raoul’s brother – or just physically harm him in some way and force him to tell Raoul to go back to being his Raoul.

As it were, he was left with nothing but his concerned doctor.

o.o.o

Raoul took a deep breath in and tried to will away the tears that were quickly beginning to form; he just had a few more papers to sign. He’d managed to remain strong while he spoke to his patient’s family, and they had taken it as well as could be expected. They hadn’t blamed him for what had happened, but they didn’t need to. Raoul was blaming himself already even though he knew there was only so much he could do. He couldn’t be with his patients all the time, couldn’t watch over them constantly. He knew that, but he couldn’t stop his mind from running through all the possible different things he could have done in order to avoid this very outcome.

After having finished the paperwork, Raoul immediately escaped to the men’s bathroom to have some privacy. He crouched in a stall, leaning against the flimsy wall and he just couldn’t stop crying. His sniffles sounded pathetic to his own ears as they echoed off the tiled walls.

He’d just spoken to the man that very morning, asked about his grandchildren and what they were planning to do since he’d been okay’d by his specialists to be discharged. Everything on his chart had been normal, or at least in the range of normal. He’d been eager to leave, too.

Raoul sobbed, his throat closing up on him. He took in several shaky breaths. After he felt sufficiently calm, he forced himself to his feet, scrubbing at his face with his sleeve. There was too much to do before he could indulge in self-pity. It was almost night. He had other patients to attend to; not many anymore, thankfully, but enough before he could go home.

Exiting the stall, he looked at the mirror only to see red-rimmed eyes and someone he could barely stand to look at. Splashing water on his face, he did his best to dull his emotions. At least he’d stopped crying. People to help, there were people to help, he repeated.

He paid especially close attention to every patient he visited but when he was done, it still felt like a blur. He wandered around the floors, just trying to stay out of the way, lost in the hospital he’d actually grown to love. He ignored everyone, but most of them were smart enough to realize that he wanted to be left alone. He spent several hours sitting in the waiting room, watching people enter and leave, just thinking. Thinking about every single one of his patients and whether he was doing everything in his power to make them healthy.

When it was late and Raoul was sufficiently tired, he stood up to leave. Instead, he gave into an impulse and found himself riding the elevator and walking down a familiar hallway. Entering Erik’s room as quietly as possible, Raoul knew why he was there. He just wanted to make sure he was still alive. Erik was on the bed, facing away from him on his side.

Frowning, Raoul moved into the room. He needed to see the rise and fall of his chest. Otherwise, how could he know for certain? He walked cautiously across the room and stopped when he could just barely see signs that Erik was indeed breathing.

Raoul let out his own breath in relief. It had been a stupid fear, he knew, but the idea had held for some reason. Without a second thought, Raoul took his seat by the bed, just watching the rise and fall of Erik’s chest. Raoul sniffled.

“You’re crying,” Erik stated, though he didn’t move.

Raoul lifted his legs onto the seat so that he could hug them to chest. Placing his chin atop his knees, he took a shaky breath in and just continued to watch him breathe.

“Really? Crying?” Erik scoffed, “Who died?” When Raoul only sniffled louder, accompanied by what sounded like near hyperventilation, Erik took a moment to bemoan his choice of words, shifting in the bed uncomfortably.

Raoul ducked his head so that Erik couldn’t see his tears. He knew it would be best that he leave, but if he left now, then Erik would surely see the tears. So, he stayed where he was, hoping he was silent enough.

“Look, Raoul,” Erik started uncertainly. He didn’t know what he should say; he knew what he wanted to say but was certain that would make Raoul cry more. He tried to sound comforting when he said, “I’m sure you didn’t kill him or something.”

In response, Raoul began to hiccup on top of sobbing. He wiped his nose with his sleeve, and Erik tilted his head heavenward asking for some sort of help. He reached out to grab the tissues bedside, offering it to Raoul – more like, poked Raoul’s head with the edge of the tissue box.

Raoul looked up at him, lips quivering, tears rolling down his face, hiccupping softly.

Using his best command voice, Erik said, “Calm down. People die, Raoul. You did as much as you could have done for him.”

Grabbing several tissues, Raoul blew his nose. He still looked on the verge of tears and the hiccupping almost made the whole situation laughable, but the trust in Raoul’s eyes was undeniable. Erik knew without a doubt Raoul believed him.

It took several more moments after the tears dried up before Raoul could say between the remaining hiccups, “Thank you.”

Erik groused, unused to anyone being gracious to him, “I was just stating the truth. Don’t tell me a patient’s never died on you.”

Raoul’s lip trembled for a second before he replied, “I’ve had patients die.” Pausing when he hiccupped, “None that I thought were going home the next day though. I was... surprised.” He continued, not really looking at Erik. “It was so sudden. There was none of the adrenaline that keeps me going in an emergency where you expect death to occur. It wasn’t a life or death situation. He was supposed to just be alive. He wasn’t supposed to die.”

Erik didn’t know what to say to that and figured Raoul didn’t need a response when he lapsed into silence, his eyes still distant. They sat companionably for several moments, only Raoul’s hiccupping breaking the silence. Erik took the time to just watch him like he hadn’t been able to do since Philippe’s meddling.

“I’ve been thinking,” Raoul started. Not waiting for any response from Erik, he continued, needing to say this, “I want to help you in any way I can. Physically, mentally, everything in my abilities.” He stopped short, but his eyes had focused on Erik finally. He nodded to himself after a few seconds, standing up.

Confused, Erik asked, “Was that all? Where are you going?”

“To your bathroom,” Raoul entered the bathroom and came out with a bucket of water. He said, “You smell.”

“It’s all the work you’re making me do,” Erik said defensively. He cleaned himself as best as he could.

“I know.” Raoul nodded, trying to make it clear that he wasn’t mocking. He stared pointedly at the man’s clothes. “Are you going to undress or should I help you there, too?”

“Promise not to take advantage of me?” Erik quipped, already too used to the retorts even though he didn’t expect a response any more.

Raoul grinned and cockily replied, “No promises.”

o.o.o.o

End chapter 08

A/N: Don’t forget to R/R (Read and Review)!
Chapter Review: I think I like other people being the catalyst for making Raoul realize his feelings for Erik – otherwise he’d never realize it. That and yes! Raoul giving a sponge bath? Erik’s in heaven right now. Now I’m starting to wonder what Raoul’s got in mind to help Erik. XD He’s pretty innocent in this one though. Don’t expect dirtiness from Raoul.