A sorrowful melody filled the hall as her fingers caressed the black and white keys. The piece reverberated, the sounds lingering only to be instantly replaced by the next set of notes. Sarah did not require any music sheets. All the notes and rests were all in her head. It was expected- after all, she was the one that spent hours perfecting and tweaking this piece. She had fallen in love with it ever since she heard it and despite searching relentlessly for a music sheet on the internet, she had not found one. Deciding that it could potentially be more productive to actually arrange the piece herself, and since she had done something similar before, Sarah gave up searching and set to creating the notes for the piece.

It had been a few years since then and 'Crystal' was still one of her most favourite pieces to play on the piano. On her sixteenth birthday, Sarah had, with the money she had earned from a part-time job, bought good quality music sheets and transferred each and every bar from the few rough pieces of paper. It was one of her personal treasures.

As Sarah finished playing the last bar of the song, the note echoed and lingered in the hall and for a few seconds after that there was total silence.

Then the noise started as her classmates started applauding and she bowed, feeling slightly light-headed from the rush of playing. She haven't had such a feeling in a long time. Perhaps this school would help her improve even further.

Sarah walked down from the stage and was met with Anne's squeal.

"That was really, really good! I mean," she continued with an excited voice, "you've played it countless of times before but it still sounds so good!"

"Thanks, Anne," Sarah smiled at her, giving her an encouraging smile, "It's your turn now. Go up there and wow us." She finished with a wink and her best friend laughed.

Anne brought her case up onto the stage and brought out her violin, and Sarah was once again struck by that serious expression on Anne's face. Sarah felt like Anne became a different person every time she played the violin. As Anne's hand lifted the bow and started to play, Sarah could not help but smile at Anne's own smile. She looked really peaceful up there playing the instrument she loved. It was a wonderful feeling. Sarah would know. The piano was like that for her.

The morning ended like this after everyone had done a short introduction and played a piece of their choosing. Each class had a variety of instruments and it was refreshing to Sarah, seeing different kinds of people with their passion in music.

They had the afternoon off and Sarah had no idea what to do. To tell the truth, she had kept herself busy after the encounter with enigmatic Jareth, but she couldn't deny that she wanted to see him again and breathe in his earthly, musky scent. He was like a drug.

Shaking her head from such thoughts, she glanced over at Anne.

"Hey Anne, what are you intending to do later?"

"Hmmm…. I don't know. Why don't we just explore the school? The two of us. We haven't had some girl time in a while." She grinned at Sarah

Sarah opened the lid off a packet of food. "Sure, let's eat first, though. I'm really hungry."

"Oh my god, look! It's so pretty!" Anne bounced on her heels, pointing at a building that seemed to be one of those housing numerous music rooms. It was Victorian-styled like the rest of the buildings but not all of them had a small path leading to it like this one. Wild flowers grew alongside the path in a neat, orderly row; contradictory by itself. Anne led the way down the path and Sarah followed, breathing in the clean air. The sun was not overbearingly hot, thank god, and her summer dress was just suitable for the weather.

As they got nearer to the building, the unmistakable sounds of the guitar travelled to their ears.

"Hmm? I wonder what that is?"

Sarah couldn't help but be reminded of Jareth and she almost jumped in shock when they passed by a slightly open window and there was Jareth in the room.

Anne had stopped a safe distance away so that they would not be seen and Sarah made no move to stop her, her eyes drinking in the scene.

Jareth was holding the guitar and was focused intently at a boy playing his own guitar. It sounded good to Sarah ears. The boy stopped playing and Jareth gestured, speaking about something she couldn't hear. He demonstrated and Sarah caught the faint sounds as a breeze started.

"Woah, that's so cool. I've always wanted to learn the guitar." Anne's voice sounded from her left.

Sarah twisted her head at Anne who was staring at her with a wry smile on her face. "What, since when?"

"He's good-looking, isn't he?" She smirked, head tilting in Jareth's direction.

Sarah fought to keep her composure. "He's alright, I guess."

"Hmmm? What are you not telling me?" She advanced on Sarah who retreated.

A moment of playfulness struck her and she stuck her tongue out at Anne. "Not telling you."

Anne mock-pouted but ruined it by throwing her arms around Sarah. "What did you do? And don't say nothing, because I can so totally tell when you're lying."

Sarah sighed, a little embarrassed at having to relay the events to Anne. Anne listened to her without interrupting, a feat for her.

"Oh, I can just feel the tension." She made kissing sounds at Sarah who shoved her away playfully.

They leaned back against the bench they were sitting on.

"So, I think you should go back. You know, make a new friend, boyfriend…" She added the last word in a whisper.

Sarah laughed at her even as her heart jumped at the thought. "Totally didn't ask for your opinion, dear Anne."

It was Anne's turn to swat at her.

"Well, it's up to you. Though if I were you I sure would!"

"Come on, we should be heading back." Sarah stood up.

I wonder what he was doing though. It seemed like he was tutoring.

They slowly made their way back to their dorm. At the entrance, they were intercepted by Anne's roommate, and Anne went along with her after making dinner plans with Sarah.

Sarah reached her room to find it empty. She plopped onto her bed, taking out her phone and browsing through it. She gave up after a while. It was just too boring to be lying here on a perfectly fine afternoon.

She headed out the door again and found herself walking along the same corridor that she had escaped from so frantically before. Her hand rested along the wall as she eyed the door a few steps ahead and she looked around her a few times to make sure no one was there to witness her trespassing- again.

With as little noise as possible, she managed to slip into the dark room. It seemed like he had not returned yet. Resolving to wait for him, she turned on the lights and sank into the armchair in the adjoining room. The room smelled more like him and she breathed it in. It was calming, being here. When he came back, she would apologise for her rudeness.

Sarah curled up on the comfortable seat, eyes catching sight of a painting hanging on the wall. She must have missed it the first time she was here, since she didn't remember seeing it. A ballroom set elegantly in the painting. A masquerade, Sarah realised, since the people painted in it were wearing masks. A girl stood out amongst them, her dark hair starkly contrasted against the white dress she wore.

When Sarah dreamt, it was of dancing.

Sarah slowly woke to the feel of something covering her and the gentle humming of the air-conditioner.

She could also hear the scratching of pencil against paper, and she tensed, suddenly sure that the man sitting at the desk was Jareth. She peeled back the quilt covering her and ran her fingers through her hair, self-conscious of her appearance.

His hand paused and he turned to look at her when her movements made rustling sounds. He dropped the pencil, turning around in his chair to look at her.

Sarah laughed nervously.

"Well, this is embarrassing…" She trailed off, catching sight of his amused look.

"So, why are you here again?" His mismatched eyes regarded her, not once breaking eye contact.

Sarah dropped her gaze, feeling disorientated staring at his eyes. "I just wanted to apologise for breaking into your room, that's all."

"Apology accepted. That's all?" He returned almost immediately. His eyes still held amusement in them.

A spark of defiance ignited inside of her. "And I like this place." She raised her head and he laughed, his chuckle giving her little shivers.

He turned back to his desk as she breathed in to calm her nerves. Sarah stood up and walked towards him. He tilted his head slightly to glance at her.

She looked at the music sheets on the table, ignoring the flutters in her stomach as her body registered the closeness between them.

"Oh, wow. You arrange pieces too?" She asked, impressed.

He grabbed a chair from the side of the desk and placed it next to him. He patted the chair, motioning for her to sit down. Sarah did, her eyes still roaming over the papers as she moved her hair back over her shoulder.

The title read Mornings of Gold and she studied the notes. From what she could form in her head, it sounded like it would be an elegant tune. What was most astonishing was that Mornings of Gold was a piano piece. She thought that Jareth only played the guitar. But then again, there was that piano in the adjoining room…

Jareth picked up his pencil and continued filling in the bars.

"I composed this myself." He shaded in a black circle of a G crotchet.

"That's cool. I've never composed something of my own before. I've only arranged pieces and even then I feel like there's always something lacking when I play the keys, you know?"

Jareth didn't reply, just glanced at her and continued filling in music notes.

Any other times, Sarah would have been offended by his lack of response but the atmosphere was so calming that she felt comfortable in the silence.

She looked on at his work for a while more before picking up a book lying on the table. A part of her was shocked at her own brashness but she took the book anyway. It was a novel by a Japanese author she faintly remembered hearing of.

Sarah loved reading- and acting out the characters in her books. It was her other favourite pastime besides the piano. She had a hidden love for literature, although music would always be her first love.

She cracked open the book, fingers on the spine as she started to read. All the while, Jareth had not stopped shading and drawing notes with each stroke.

Her knee bumped Jareth's as she moved to cross her leg and she froze, but he didn't comment or move his leg away and she heaved a quiet sigh of relief before she continued reading, unaware of the slight smile tickling the corner of his lips.

When Jareth finished Mornings of Gold, Sarah was still reading, subconsciously biting on her lower lip as her eyes followed each line.

She looked totally engrossed in the book and Jareth took a moment to look at her profile, taking in her unblemished skin, deep-set eyes and full lips.

She was beautiful, and so shy about it. It was refreshing to see a girl like this, so unlike many others that knew their beauty and did nothing but try to flaunt it.

He couldn't help but raise his hand, his fingers sifting through her smooth, free-flowing hair as a smell of something sweet hit him. It was intoxicating and he gently tugged on a lock of her hair.

Sarah startled at the contact, only coming back to the world after she felt his cool fingers touching her hair.

Her cheeks flushed. It seemed too intimate for him to be doing such things but she liked the way it felt.

She looked at him, meeting his eyes which was regarding her with an intensity that made her breath hitch.

He spoke in a soft voice, as if not wanting to ruin the atmosphere.

"It's already nearing seven. Do you want to get dinner?"

His fingers had not stopped running through her hair. She felt her cheeks heat up more.

"I would love to, but I've already promised my friend, so…" She felt like an awkward teenager talking to her first crush.

"It's alright. We can go next time."

She felt a joy fill her at his words. It seemed like he wanted to continue seeing her as she did him.

"Yeah." She gave him a wide smile, not being able to stop herself.

His fingers curled and he released her hair, turning to gather the piano sheet for Mornings of Gold and holding it out to her.

"Here. Play for me sometime?"

Sarah's eyes widened. She didn't know about others but she had always thought that giving an original piece to someone required a fair amount of trust on the composer's part. She felt overwhelmed but a part of her was suddenly snatched by the desire to play the songs he composed.

She accepted it with both hands. "That's really nice of you," she broke off, studying the bars filled with Jareth's effort, her fingers already itching to play, "Thank you, Jareth."

His name rolled deliciously off her tongue and she decided she liked the way his name sounded.

He gave a grin that did things to her insides and replied with his husky voice, "You're welcome. I'm looking forward to hearing you play."


Author's note:

Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favourited and followed this story! My A Levels are over so I have finally written a new chapter. I'm thinking of just one more chapter before the story ends. Hope it wasn't too overly fluffy for you. But then again, this is a fluffy piece :) Please forgive me for the abundance of Labyrinth references too.(I couldn't resist it.) Thank you for your support!