Disclaimer: Again, I own nothing.

CHAPTER TWO: Admitting

Sarah allowed Mark to kiss her briefly before pulling away. She looked back at him and smiled shyly. She had had a really good time with him; they had gone to dinner at a nice restaurant (Mark had a ton of money, though he didn't gloat about it) and just talked for a while about various subjects: movies they liked and hated, school, and books—especially books. She found that they didn't have much in common; Mark was a sci-fi fan, whereas she loved fantasy, and he loved horror films, which she detested. But she found that these differences only made him more interesting.

Mark stepped back to look at her, smiling in return.

"So Sarah, do you want to do this again some ti—" he said, breaking off when he heard Sarah gasp loudly.

"What?" Mark asked, confused. He whipped around to look where Sarah was staring.

A very blond man stood behind Mark, glaring at him lividly. Mark looked him up and down. He had weird clothing, and blue in his hair, for God's sake! And he was wearing heels! Overall, Mark thought that his appearance was better than the odd man's. But the newcomer looked scary as hell—he looked as though he was about ready to haul off and punch him.

"Whoa," Mark said, backing away from the tall blond man. "Where did you come from?"

Jareth looked Mark over, his lip curling in disgust. He supposed the boy looked decent enough, as far as human fashion went, but the child looked stupid and ignorant. This is what Sarah is interested in? Jareth didn't think he would have too much trouble, if this was the competition.

Mark looked over at Sarah, trying to figure out her expression. She seemed to know the weird guy, although she didn't look too pleased about seeing him. Thoroughly freaked out, he decided it was about time to go.

"Yeah, y'know, Sarah . . . I'm gonna bail. Gotta get up early." Mark had already started backing away.

On a Sunday? Sarah thought. He's ditching me. She let him go, seeing that he was scared (not that she had much of a choice; he was already halfway to the car by the time she could answer).

Sarah peeled her eyes away from the shiny new Volkswagon that was speeding out of her driveway and looked instead at the man in front of her. Although she was slightly nervous, she was more annoyed about the fact that he had just ruined her date. Jareth had still not said a word, although his face had retained its furious expression. He looked absolutely terrifying.

She cleared her throat. "What are you doing here?" she asked Jareth shakily. She inwardly scolded herself for allowing her fear to show. No need to give him any more ammunition.

"Known him long?" Jareth asked, completely ignoring her question. He was torn between emotions; half of him wanted to pull Sarah to his chest and be happy that he was able to be in her presence again, while the other half wanted to scream at her for being so blind and then run of after the intellectually challenged wanker that had been kissing her and rip his head clean off his shoulders. He chose to stay where he was, fists clenched tightly and eyes looking more glacial than usual.

"About a year," Sarah shrugged. Why does he care about that? she wondered. It made no sense to her as to why he should suddenly care about her choice of boyfriends.

Jareth fought with himself to remain calm. He was certain it had been their first date; he would have noticed if it had been more. Still, just to be sure . . .

"Do you love him?"

Sarah blinked, taken aback by this. "I, uh . . . don't know. He's. . . . nice, I guess." They had only been on one date, and she was just finishing high school, for Christ's sake. How was she supposed to know?

Internally, Jareth breathed a sigh of relief, though his facial expression remained annoyed.

Sarah was still puzzled as to why Jareth would care about her relationship with Mark. An idea struck her that was so absurd, so funny, that she actually laughed aloud. Jareth looked at her questioningly. Has she completely lost her mind?

"And what, may I ask, is so humorous?" Jareth asked, agitated. She's gorgeous when she laughs. He mentally kicked himself, forcing himself to focus on the matter at hand.

Sarah giggled for a few more seconds, attempting to regain her composure and keep a straight face. "You know," she said, laughter still evident in her voice, "you sound jealous." The absurdity of this statement sent her into another fit of giggles. Jareth, the king of the goblins, jealous of an eighteen-year-old human boy?

Jareth looked down at the ground. He could think of nothing to say, because what she had written off as ridiculous had been entirely true.

Sarah noticed his silence, and as she studied his face another thought struck her. She gasped, and Jareth looked up at her. Sarah saw everything in his eyes. She shook her head violently, as if doing so could get the notion out of her head. It was absolutely insane.

"No. No way," she half-whispered. Jareth looked at her defiantly.

"I love you," he said simply. He could see the color drain from her face as she absorbed this knowledge. Jareth refused to look away- refused to make it easier for her. At the same time, he tried not to let his emotions show on his face. It would kill him if, after two long years of trying to work up the courage to tell her, she rejected him a second time.

Horror washed over Sarah like a huge wave, dragging her under. How in the hell could he possibly be in love with her? She struggled to understand. Had he given her any clue? Was she completely oblivious?

"No way," she repeated.

Jareth felt himself becoming simultaneously angrier and more heartbroken. He was completely in love with this woman, and she had now rejected him—again! He'd had enough. Furious, he stared her down, eyes cold and mouth thin. He positively shook with rage.

"Yes. And sadly, Sarah, I will not give you a choice in the matter this time."

Jareth grabbed her upper arm and they vanished from the front porch.