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labyrinth-runner · 4 years

Text

All You Need Is Love

Chapter 10 of The Greatest Thing

Christian x OC

Moulin Rouge Fanfic

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As the days drew on, Estelle spent more and more time with Poppy, learning the ways of the courtesan. At first, Poppy was hesitant to teach her any more than just suggestive speaking, but Estelle was her friend and she didn't want her to lose the man she loved to someone because they had more experience with certain things than she did. Watching Estelle's confidence grow as they went on was perhaps what Poppy was most proud of, not that Estelle had ever been timid, but that she finally understood her full worth on her own and knew how to carry herself in a way that showed that. Their goodbye the night before Estelle left for Paris had been tearful, but Estelle had promised to write and tell her all about the Moulin Rouge and how Poppy was so much better than any of the women there. The next morning, however, saying goodbye to Mary had proved to be a bit harder than Estelle had anticipated.

"I can't believe you're leaving to travel for months," Mary had pouted as she sat on Estelle's bed while she finished some last-minute packing.

"You know precisely where I'm going and why I'm going there," Estelle replied.

"Yes, but, what are you going to do once you find him? What if he's with someone else? Oh, Elle, I don't want your heart to get broken and for you not to have your sister there to pick up the pieces," Mary sighed.

"I'll be fine. I may not have the best sister in the world with me, but I'll have Annalise," Estelle chuckled.

"What will you do if you stay in Paris?" Mary asked softly. "With him?"

"Annalise and I already have a plan worked out should I decide to stay," she replied.

"You'll have to let me know. I know father cannot know, but I wish to know should you stay there," Mary pleaded.

"Alright. If I stay... I'll write something cryptic in your letter. Something that you would know, but father would not should he read it," Estelle said thoughtfully.

"What would you say?"

"Something poetic and meaningful," she murmured. "I've got it! If I stay, I'll tell you: 'The lights in the city are so bright that they light up the night, vanquishing the dark.'"

Mary chuckled. "It's certainly poetic."

Estelle had a small wistful smile on her face as she sat on the bed next to her sister, "It certainly would be true."

"I'll miss you," Mary sighed, resting her head on her older sister's shoulder.

"And I'll miss you. If it weren't for you, this house would be unbearable," she admitted, wrapping an arm around Mary's shoulder.

A knock sounded at the door and their butler looked in. "Miss, the carriage has arrived."

"Thank you," Estelle smiled, picking up the last of her luggage to head downstairs. She paused next to the butler for a moment, "Take care of them for me while I'm gone, please."

"Of course, Miss. Like my life depends on it," the butler said with an affectionate nod.

Estelle made her way down the stairs to place her final bags in the foyer for the carriage boy to load. Then, she hesitantly made her way over to the cracked door to the library. She heard the muffled voice of her father talking, and when she peaked in, she saw that it was to the painting of her mother.

"Keep her safe, Maggie," he murmured.

Estelle had a sad smile on her face as she knocked on the door. Her father immediately straightened.

"Come in," he stated.

Estelle walked into the room. "The carriage is here, father. I didn't want to leave without saying goodbye."

"Yes, well," he said, turning to look at her where she stood a few steps in the room. His eyes scanned his daughter in her dark blue traveling dress with a black jacket and a matching hat and parasol. She looked so much like her mother did at her age that if he didn't know any better, he would think that he had traveled back in time. "You will write, won't you?"

"Of course, Father," Estelle smiled. "I would be a fool not to keep my family apprised of my adventures."

"I'm sure your sister would be disappointed if you didn't. She does live vicariously through you," he mused.

Estelle was taken aback by his demeanor. For a moment, he seemed like his old self again. He didn't look at her with sorrow, but he was looking at her with regret.

"Father, are you well?" she ventured.

"Of course, child. I am just pensive this morning," he replied.

"Father, you needn't worry about me. I'll have Annalise. We'll be perfectly fine," she reassured him.

"Oh, I'm not worried about that, Estelle," he said with a small smile. It was true, he wasn't worried about her traveling. Deep down, he was worried that she'd never return home after seeing the world, having found somewhere special and then finding London lacking in comparison. "Now, your carriage has arrived, has it not? You should go. You don't want to miss your ship."

Estelle hesitated for a moment, deciding on what to do. However, sentiment won in her mind and she went and hugged her father. "Goodbye."

After a moment, he rested his hand on her back. "Do not cause any scandal."

Estelle shook her head as she pulled back. Her father gave her one last nod of acknowledgement and she left.

The trip to Paris had been fairly uneventful, with the exception of Annalise suffering from motion sickness on the boat. The rocking of the waves lulled Estelle to sleep in comparison, but only until Annalise found herself feeling sick once more and needed someone to hold her hair. Their first day in Paris had been slow. Annalise had to meet with some of her father's friends as they owned the flat that her father had rented out for them for the week. Estelle played along, truly grateful, but she was chomping at the bit to get out and into Montmartre to the address that William had given her. She wanted to know what kind of place Christian had been living in. She wanted to see the people he interacted with, but most of all, she wanted to see him. She needed to know that he was okay, although somewhere in a place inside her that she kept hidden, she selfishly wanted to know if he missed her as much as she missed him.

After their obligatory lunch date, Estelle gave Annalise a pleading look.

"Fine. I'll handle tea with Father's former mistress myself. I always did like Cecile best. She at least had the decency to give me a gift whenever she saw me," Annalise said, rolling her eyes.

"Anna, you're the best," Estelle grinned.

"I know," Annalise winked. "Now, get out of here."

Estelle did just that, making her way out into the street. She found a carriage, giving them the address and soon enough she found herself outside of a slightly shabby building.

"He's living here?" she murmured to herself. Hastily, she made her way into the building, going up to the apartment indicated on the address. She knocked on the door multiple times, but heard no response.

"Excuse me, Mademoiselle, but, are you looking for someone?" a short man asked as he and another, taller, man came down the stairs.

"My friend," she replied, turning to look at him. "According to the address on this letter, he lives here."

The smaller man's eyes widened as he elbowed the other man in the thigh, but the other man had fallen asleep on his feet.

"Is everything alright?"

"I do apologize, but are you Mademoiselle Devereux from London?" the short man asked.

"I am... I beg your pardon, but have we met?" Estelle asked in confusion.

"Non! My name is Toulouse. I am a friend of your friend. You're just... precisely how he described," Toulouse murmured.

"You know Christian?" she asked excitedly. "Would you know where I might find him?"

"He's at the Moulin Rouge rehearsing," Toulouse replied, "We are going there now. Would you like to accompany us?"

"That would be lovely, thank you," she smiled, but then she looked at the taller man, "Although, I do believe he is asleep."

Toulouse sighed. "That's Santiago. He does that."

Estelle nodded, following them to a magnificent building with a windmill atop it. Her eyes widened in awe.

"It is quite a sight the first time," Toulouse smiled.

"It is," she murmured.

Inside however, was not an amazing sight. As Toulouse and Santiago went forward into the rehearsal space, she stayed a few paces behind, watching them from behind a pillar. Her eyes softened as she spotted Christian laughing, but then she noticed the other woman sitting in his lap. She was beautiful, with red hair and bright red lips. Her outfit had significantly fewer layers than Estelle's. Estelle felt her heart drop. Had she been replaced? She swallowed the lump in her throat. She had to leave. She pushed her way back through the double doors and into the courtyard for air. Perhaps this had been a mistake. Perhaps she should never have come. Perhaps she should have just-

"Ellie?" a voice called out.

Estelle looked up, locking eyes with him.

"Christian," she said softly.

They stood in silence gazing at each other for a moment as if neither believed that the other was truly standing before them. The world had slowed, letting them hear their heartbeats in their ears until it sped back up again and they were rushing into each other's arms to hold each other tight.

"I don't understand," Christian said, pulling back, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm on holiday with Annalise," she replied. She didn't want to tell him that she had come here for him, not when he was clearly with another woman.

"How long are you here for?" he asked softly.

"A few days," she replied.

"Come, let me introduce you to everyone," Christian grinned, taking her by the hand and leading her back into the building.

"A-are you sure?" Estelle stammered.

"Of course. It'll be nice for them to put a face to the name."

Estelle blushed. A face to the name. He talked about her?

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet Ms. Devereux. She's my friend from London," he grinned.

The red-haired woman's eyes alighted at this new information. "So you are the infamous Ellie."

"I wouldn't say infamous..." Estelle trailed off. She couldn't tell if the woman was kind, or if there was a hint of jealousy in her eyes, but the air between the two of them and Christian felt charged. Estelle was worried that she had disrupted something by being here.

Christian introduced everyone to Estelle and she learned the woman's name was Satine. Then, they had to get back to rehearsal.

"Christian, have you finished that scene yet?" Satine asked.

"No. I'm still working on the seduction scene," he sighed.

"Perhaps I can help you after," Satine winked.

"T-that's quite alright," Christian stammered.

Estelle looked away. "I should head back."

"Let me walk you out!" Christian replied.

The walk out of the building was silent, but once they were outside, he sighed.

"She's just a friend," he said.

"It's alright. After all, I'm just a friend, too," Estelle said with a sad smile.

Christian ached to correct her, but this wasn't the time, nor the place. "When can I see you again?"

"Annalise and I have things planned the next two days. Then, we have a fairly open day in case anything of interest came to our attention. The following day we leave," she explained.

"Then... I should like to take you out on that day. There's a lovely café that I think you'd enjoy," he smiled.

"Alright," she replied. She gave him the address of her flat and sighed. "I'm glad to see you doing well."

"And I am glad to see you," he said pointedly, taking her hand and kissing her knuckles. "I'll see you soon."

Estelle nodded and got into her carriage to return to the flat.

When she got back, she found Annalise waiting for her with a piping hot pot of tea.

"Well?"

"He's at the Moulin Rouge, writing a play. I think... I think he might have found someone," she said with some difficulty.

"Nonsense. If she's from the Moulin than he's either paying her, or she's scamming him," Annalise said dismissively.

"You didn't see the way they were," Estelle sighed. "There's definitely more to it than that."

"Are you going to see him again?" Annalise asked.

"On our open day," she replied.

"Good. Well, we have dinner reservations. You may wish to get changed," Annalise sighed.

Estelle nodded and went about it, but her mind was still on Christian.

In fact, her mind didn't leave Christian the next few days. The more she thought about him, the more she wondered if she would actually be able to leave him again. However, then she thought of Satine and figured that he may be just fine if she did.

When the day finally arrived to see him again, she was a bundle of nerves. Questions swirled in her head about whether she had been foolish to think that they would be reunited and pick up where they left off in London or if she had been right and he did miss her. As they walked in silence with her hand on his arm, she felt as though she were suffocating in the confines of her own mind, and oh how dark a place it had become there. She didn't think that even the city of lights could illuminate her darkness.

"Darling, you've been awfully quiet," Christian murmured as they sat at the table in the café.

"I just have a lot on my mind," she replied with a small smile. "But, enough about me. How have you been?"

Christian gave her a look of concern, "Well, I've found some friends who are very supportive of my work. They're not at all like the fuddy duddies of London society that we had to interact with for the season. I've been working on something new. You saw some of the play rehearsal, actually, but I've honestly been stuck."

"Stuck?" Estelle asked, leaning forward. "That's not like you at all. Back in London you seemed to go on about anything that interested you without trouble."

"I know. I'm writing this play about a penniless sitar player who falls in love with someone well above his station, but I'm having some difficulties with it," he sighed.

"You're having a hard time writing about love?" she asked incredulously.

"I know. It's hard, though, especially when my muse has been in London," he said softly.

She blushed. "I'm sure there's some courtesans who would know more about seduction that I will ever know."

"There's a difference between just seducing a woman's body and seducing a heart. You've always been good at both, if I may be so bold," he blushed.

"Then, I shall help. After all, what kind of muse would I be if I didn't?" Estelle replied with a wink. Her fears about Satine drifted away. She felt like they were back in London again.

"I would love that."

"Well, would it be instant attraction?" she asked in amusement.

"Yes, darling, I suppose it would," he smiled. "Although he has followed her career for quite some time, but when he first lays eyes on her... oh, the world stops."

"But, she's a courtesan, and he's a penniless sitar player. I think he would have to seduce her a bit in order to have her even look at him twice," she replied with a small smirk as she took a sip of tea.

"S-seduce her how?" he asked. His tea cup trembled slightly as he put it on the saucer.

"You're the writer, you tell me," she replied, crossing her legs, a trick she had learned from Poppy. Her skirts slipped up a bit and exposed her ankles, causing him to blush harder. She knew he'd been spending a lot of time at the Moulin Rouge, and she could see the appeal, after all, he was a man. However, the fact that her childhood friend was still flustered showed that he really hadn't changed much since she last saw him in London all those months ago.

His eyes traced over Estelle's face as if trying to decipher her. She'd grown since she'd last seen him at the start of the season in London. Back then, he'd been just as much of a dreamer as he was now. However, that was one of the things she loved most about him. He was a dreamer. He didn't see life just as it was, but how it could be. Talking to him made her want to believe that anything was possible… that she could find a match that was made in love as well as good standing. When he left, it was like there was a void in the London scene, and in her heart that she could never fill. Sure she'd had marriage proposals, but they weren't from the man she'd wanted the most. In this moment, watching him study her, she realized that she wasn't content to just let him slip away again, not when talking to him made her feel so free. Part of her, though, was still upset with the way he'd left things. It was apparent in her eyes. The passion within them burned, keeping him in place with the heat of her gaze as she challenged him to acknowledge it and the hurt that he'd caused by leaving.

After a moment of silence, he spoke. "You're mad at me."

Estelle blushed and looked down. "Nonsense. Why would I be mad? I'm not your keeper."

"I should have said goodbye," he sighed. "I owed you that much. I owe you so much more. That night, my father and I had a fight and I just left. I didn't think anyone would care that the hopeless dreamer had left. I'd been there for multiple seasons at that point, and everyone's father was telling them to steer clear of me."

"I cared," she said quietly before taking another sip of tea.

"You were the only one that ever did," he said with a small smile. "Which was why I couldn't say goodbye. If I had, I would never have been able to leave."

"You hurt me," she admitted. "I worried that it was something that I'd done."

"No," he said emphatically, taking her hand in his. "Ellie, you were the one good thing about London."

"One person isn't enough of a reason to stay in a place where you are ultimately unhappy," she said with a sigh.

"Not if you love that person. Love is a many splendored thing," he smiled. "Love lifts us up where we belong. All you need is love."

Estelle chanced a look around the small Parisian café that he had chosen to meet in. It was more colorful than the one's they had frequented back in London, but somehow seeing him here… this felt correct. In a way, she'd always felt like he was out of place in London when compared to everyone else. The colors back then were muted and his personality shone like the sun in comparison. But here? Here she felt like he belonged. He still stood out, as only someone like him could, but he also was a fixture, a focal point in a painting. The eye was drawn to it, but it wasn't out of place. Love may lift one up where they belong, but she loved him enough to want him to be in a place where he already felt at home.

"Annalise will be looking for me soon," she replied with a sigh, gathering up her parasol and purse.

"Will I see you again?" he asked hopefully.

Estelle paused to take him in. "Would you want to? I thought you wanted to cut ties with all the… oh, what did you call them… 'fuddy duddies' of London society?" she asked with a raised brow.

"Darling, I could never call you that. You were always so much more than our peers," he replied, getting up to walk her back to the flat.

"I'd love to see you again," she smiled as they made their way through town, parasol shielding her from the sun. It felt just like old times, and she was not about to let him walk out of her life again. She chewed her lip in thought, choosing her words carefully. She felt like Christian had missed her, but she couldn't help but worry that she may be wrong. "Perhaps I could convince my companion to continue on without me on our holiday. I've found Paris to be a bit too lovely to leave."

"You'd stay?" he asked in amazement as they came to a stop outside her building. "But, how would you pay for your flat?"

She turned to him with a small smile, "I was hoping that perhaps I could stay with a friend?"

He flushed at the suggestion. If she were anywhere else, with anyone else, they'd remind her immediately that that wasn't proper. Estelle could even see it in his eyes that he was warring with himself on whether or not to say it now, but to do so would be to say he still cared about the rules he'd left behind in London.

"Are you sure you'd want to stay with a friend in Paris when your best friend is traveling on?" he asked tentatively.

"Of course. I'm sure I could help my friend with his writing," she winked.

He was speechless, something that she'd seen rarely. It made her heart ache. Surely her affections weren't one-sided. No, this was the right choice. She knew it in her heart.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow," he said softly, taking her gloved hand in his and placing a quick kiss across her knuckles.

"Good night, Christian," she replied with a slight blush as she entered the building, leaving him on the front step. Estelle picked up her skirts and made it up the stairs to covertly watch him from the window that overlooked the street. She stifled a chuckle as she watched him stand on the steps dumbstruck for a moment before breaking out in a smile. He turned to walk down the street, jumping and clicking his heels together mid-air happily before continuing on his way.

"How'd it go?" asked a voice from the next room over.

She walked in to find Annalise in her corset and changing into her dinner attire.

"It went well, but I have to talk to you about something," Estelle sighed as she sat on the edge of the bed.

Annalise had a small smile on her face as she pinned up her golden hair. "You want to stay."

"How did you-"

"You're my best friend. I know he's the reason you turned down everyone else, and I know he's the reason you would never be happy with anyone else," she replied, looking at Estelle in the mirror. She placed her hands in her lap as she turned to face her friend. "How am I going to cover for you?"

Estelle smiled. Annalise was a schemer. "Well, I figured I could send you the letters for you to send to my family. That way, they'll think I'm with you."

She nodded, "Alright. That's one problem taken care of. Now, how will you pay for the flat? It'll be expensive on top of anything else you might need."

Instinctively, her nose scrunched up as she prepared to break the news to her. "I'll stay with Christian."

"I cannot allow my best friend to stay in some hovel," she sighed.

"It won't be a hovel," Estelle replied, "If Christian is there, then it's home."

She chuckled and shook her head at Estelle. "The two of you are a match made in heaven, that's for sure."

"Does that mean you'll go along with it?"

"If this is what you truly want. Just… include a letter to me along with your reports to your parents so that I may keep track of you," she replied, coming over to take Estelle's hands in hers. "And, if he even dares to break your heart again… I will break him."

With a chuckle, Estelle patted her hand on top of her's. "I'll be fine. Thank you, Annalise. I couldn't ask for a better friend."

"That's true," she winked, getting up to finish getting dressed. "Now, get changed. We have a standing reservation for dinner and then we're going to the opera."

With a happy sigh, Estelle pushed up off the bed and went to her room to get dressed. She was determined to make the most of her last night with her friend, but she was also excited to see what tomorrow would bring. Part of her felt like a Bohemian, turning away from everything she knew and living unchaperoned with a man. She wasn't as innocent as she once was, thanks to Poppy, but few people knew that Estelle knew about those kinds of things. Poppy had taught her many things about men, and she wondered how Christian would react to them. Then again, considering his current company, he may not even be shocked.

The rest of the night was spent with Annalise on the town. When they came back to the flat and were going to go their separate ways, Annalise stopped her.

"Stay with me tonight? Like when we were girls," she smiled.

"Just let me get changed," Estelle replied, disappearing into her room.

She emerged a bit later in her nightgown with her hair flowing around her shoulders.

The two of them laid next to each other, staring up at the canopy of the bed.

"Are you nervous?" Annalise asked, looking at Estelle out of the corner of her eyes.

She let out a sigh at her question. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't."

"About living with Christian?" she asked.

After a beat of thinking, Estelle answered. "It's not quite that. I trust Christian. I'm more nervous about living with just him to rely on. What if… what if our relationship doesn't grow? Then I'm stuck here."

"You wouldn't be stuck," she reassured, turning to face her friend. "You'd never be stuck. I'd rescue you if you ever needed it."

"I appreciate that," Estelle said with a small smile. "Now, we should sleep. You have a long day of traveling tomorrow."

Annalise yawned in agreement and turned the other way to sleep. However, Estelle stayed up a little bit longer, looking up at the canopy, worrying whether or not this was the right choice. However, in her heart she knew it was. After all, the life here with Christian may not be what she was used to in London, but all she needed was love, and she felt as though Christian could give that to her. With that thought, her worries were gone and sleep claimed her.

The morning was a blur of packing and saying goodbye to Annalise. It wasn't long before Christian showed up after she left.

"Good morning, darling," he beamed as he picked up her luggage and placed it on the carriage she'd rented. He offered Estelle his hand to help her into the buggy, crawling in after she'd settled herself into the seat.

"I must warn you," he started nervously.

"Christian, you're an artist. I'm not expecting the Taj Mahal. A house is only a house. What makes it a home are the people inside," she replied pointedly.

He blushed. "Right. Of course, darling."

The carriage pulled up outside his building and he picked up her things. Not wanting to watch him struggle, she helped him by carrying some of her lighter suitcases. She had told him that she wasn't expecting much, but that still didn't prepare her for the apartment with a massive hole in the ceiling. Vaguely, she remembered his friends telling her they fell into Christian's life on the walk to the Moulin the other day. When she saw those same faces popping through the hole in the ceiling now, she realized they had meant it quite literally.

"Christian! You didn't say you'd be bringing home a woman," Toulouse smiled.

"Hello, Toulouse," Christian said, blushing awkwardly. "You remember my friend, right?"

"Oh, yes. She is hard to forget."

Estelle cleared her throat as she set about unpacking her things into the room.

"Toulouse, if you don't mind, would you talk to the land lord about fixing the hole in your floor? Now that there's a lady here, I'd like to give her some privacy."

"Of course!" Toulouse replied before disappearing back up into his own apartment.

"Sorry about that," Christian said sheepishly.

"No need to apologize. Your friends are sweet," Estelle smiled. Then, she turned to spot the portrait on the wall. "Christian... is that...?"

Christian blushed. "Yes, well, I was missing you terribly and Toulouse painted that for me to cheer me up."

"It's beautiful," she murmured, reaching up to straighten it on the fireplace.

"You are," Christian replied before sitting at his desk to write on his typewriter.

Eventually, she pulled up a chair and sat next to him.

"What scene are you working on?" she asked curiously.

"The one we were discussing the other day in the café."

"Oh, the seduction scene! Well, how does he end up seducing her?"

"I…well… I'm still working that out. That's why we've been going to the Moulin Rouge so much outside of rehearsals, but it hasn't helped inspire me in any way."

Part of her had to be happy at that. She was sure that Satine would have been a great help with this, but since she wasn't, Estelle figured she could implement some of the things she'd learned from Poppy.

"Well… you've always had a way with words. Why not have him make suggestive comments?" she suggested, a small smile toying at her lips.

"Like what?" he asked, turning to her.

She bit her lip, debating on whether or not to push her luck. Gently leaning forward so that her lips were inches from his ear, she whispered, "Well, he could speak softly into her ear."

He stiffened before shivering slightly at her actions. With satisfaction, she watched his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed, "A-and, what things would he say?"

"Things like… sometimes at night I dream about what it would be like to have you underneath me as my hands slide up your chest," she murmured in his ear.

"I-is that so?" he stammered, blushing furiously.

Hesitantly, she placed a hand on his thigh. "He touches her thigh, slowly sliding it up as he tells her how much he wishes there weren't any fabric in the way."

His eyes nervously flicked to her's. This was a side to her that he'd never seen before, and quite frankly it scared him. It wasn't that he didn't like it, but rather that he wasn't used to it. She was so bold and confident. Her eyes looked like they would devour him on the spot, which made a flicker of a thought flash in the back of his head. Clearly someone would have had to teach her this in order for her to replicate it. Had someone else had her before he could? Yet, he couldn't talk since he hadn't been chaste either. There had been one drunken night that- He banished the thought away as he looked down, seeing himself start to tent in his pants and reluctantly he stayed her hand.

She took his chin in between her thumb and forefinger, turning his head towards her so she could search his eyes. "What is it?"

"He's supposed to be trying to seduce her," he said quietly, "Because he knows that she's used to being the one working for affections."

"He came from far away to see her for himself," she replied softly. "When his eyes fell on hers, it was love at first sight. He vowed he'd never let her go. He wants her."

His eyes bore into hers. "She wants him, but she doesn't think she has the right to love him after everything she has done."

"Everyone has the right to love," Estelle murmured, sliding closer to him. "He wants to undo her clothes and let them fall to the floor. He knows its a sight others have seen before, but it will be his first time, and that's all that matters to him. Especially since he didn't need to pay for it."

"She showed him willingly," he replied, cupping her face. "Because he saw her soul first."

"He wants to kiss every inch of exposed flesh and worship her," she added, "Nothing is too good for her in his eyes. He wants to use his hands and lips to memorize her skin, to show her how much he cares."

They had gotten so close in their word exchange. Her eyes were wide as they gazed up into his.

"What are some of the things he says?" Christian asked innocently.

"I know you're used to things being rough, but I want this to be loving. I want to kiss every inch of you, leaving little marks where only we'll know where they are, so that when you see them, you'll know you belong to me. I want to show you the stars that hide behind your eyes," she said intently.

Christian's eyes widened, feeling his pants unbearably tight. Estelle was just talking about the play, wasn't she?

"A-anything else?" he asked breathily.

"I want to make love to you until my name falls from your lips over and over again like a nun praying the rosary. Like it's reverent to you and sacred, because you are sacred to me and I'll worship you like the celestial presence on Earth that you are," she continued.

His heart was hammering in his chest. Her words were beautiful, but somehow he knew she wasn't talking about the play. She hadn't been since she sat down. Although, she was wrong about one thing. He was the penniless sitar player, and she was the woman who was out of his depths now, and he had done this to them. He wanted her so badly, his breath hitching in his throat as she opened her mouth to speak again. He knew he couldn't take another round of whatever she was going to say and instead he kissed her. It was a desperate kiss to shut her up, but she kept trying to talk, so he kept swallowing her words with his mouth until Estelle gave up. She slid herself across to sit in his lap, unable to straddle him like she wished due to the restrictions of her skirt. Christian let out a groan as she sat on his lap, reflexively wrapping his arms around her.

Panting for air, Estelle pulled back and rested her forehead against his.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that," she gasped as her breaths mingled with his.

"I should never have left you," he replied.

"No, this was the right decision for you," she said pointedly.

"But, I lost this. I could have had this so much sooner," he sighed."We both could have been happy in London. I could have belonged to you and been happy."

"At the cost of the freedom to be who you truly are, Christian. That is true happiness. I could never have allowed you to give up on that. I could never ask that of you. You're a dreamer, and I love that about you. I love that you challenge me to dream of a better life, of a better world. I love that you're trying to create that world with your art," she replied frantically.

His eyes snapped up to her's, blue like the sky. "You do?"

"I do, because I believe in it. I believe in all this," she replied, gesturing to the room around her. "Freedom, beauty, truth…" she trailed off to look at him, smoothing her thumb across his cheek as she softly added, "Love."

"The greatest of these is love," he replied with a small smile.

"I love you," she replied softly.

"I love you, too, Ellie," he grinned before kissing her softly. "More than anything."

Estelle sighed, leaning her head against his shoulder. "I have to ask, though. What is Satine to you?"

Christian looked down in shame. "In truth, she's just a friend."

Estelle chewed her lip, dreading the answer to her next question, "Have you slept with her?"

"Once. We were working on lines and we were both very drunk," he replied. "It... it didn't go well."

"How did it not go well?" she chuckled.

"Well, I kept calling her 'Ellie'," he admitted.

Estelle sat up straight, "Oh?"

"And what about you? How did you learn all of... that?" he asked.

Estelle looked down, "I may have befriended a lady of the night on Grub Street?"

Christian chuckled. "Why?"

"I thought that was the kind of woman you wanted. Especially since you ended up here," she replied like it was obvious.

"Ellie, you're the kind of woman I want. I was just too dumb in London and didn't know how to admit it when I had everything to offer, and now I have nothing to offer but the truth," he said emphatically.

"That's not true," Estelle said softly. "You have love to offer. All I need is love."

#Christian x OC #christian moulin rouge #The Greatest Thing

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