"Good evening, precious," a lazy drawl called out from behind Sarah, a slightly bitter tone tainting it.

Sarah almost poked her eye out with the eye liner, startled by his sudden appearance. She took deep breaths, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart before she turned to face him.

She turned around slowly, feeling irritated now that her initial fright had worn off, "Tell me, do you ever use a door?"

He raised one of his eyebrows, glancing at the wooden door to her room. Turning around he smirked smugly, "I find such things beneath me. Besides, why bother with a door when you can appear anywhere with a snap of your fingers?"

"Why indeed," she muttered, rolling her eyes before turning back to the mirror and resuming her previous work of applying make-up. He made a face before coming to stand right behind her, watching her through the reflective surface of the mirror.

"What do you want Jareth? Didn't Hoggle tell you that today you can't visit?"

"Of course he did," he growled out, anger coloring his tone, "Which is why I came."

"He told you the reason?"

Her face had paled and she looked up at him with wide eyes. He smirked again and Sarah knew that the person before her wasn't her childish best friend. He had become her old arch nemesis, the terrifying Goblin King. And he only ever did that when he was extremely angry.

"Under penalty of being thrown into the bog," he crooned softly, "Now, dear Sarah, you're going to tell me WHAT YOU'RE DOING GOING ON A DATE?"

She stumbled back a few steps before her eyes narrowed in anger, "What I do is none of your business! And I can go on dates if I want to! You have no power over me and you don't own me, Jareth!"

He grimaced and backed up a few steps, looking immensely hurt and as if he had been physically slapped. His mismatched eyes darkened in pain and he turned away quickly, his hands clenching and unclenching. An awkward silence hung over them before he spoke.

"You're right," his voice was flat and emotionless, "It was a mistake coming here. Have fun on your date."

He vanished quickly, leaving behind a thin dusting of glitter on her carpet. Sarah stood rooted to the spot, her throat dry. In all four years they had been friends, she had never seen such an expression on his face. One of such hurt and pain that it seemed to cut into her soul. And he had never left like that. Sure, he had vanished quickly before, usually to keep from being discovered. But he had always come back soon after the person left.

"Jareth?"

She could feel the regret and the guilt already setting in as the silence stretched on. She realized she had overstepped her boundaries but she had just been so angry. He had no right saying that she couldn't go on dates. And then a thought struck her, leaving her more miserable than before.

Jareth was jealous.

For the four years they'd been friends, Sarah had tried to ignore the fond and adoring looks he sent her, telling herself that they were just friends. But she knew, deep in her heart that Jareth felt more for her than just friendship. And what frightened her was that with the way things were going, it would only be a matter of time before she fell for him.

If she hadn't already.

She ran a hand down her face, already regretting her harsh words, no matter how out of line he had been acting. It had been a low blow on her part, as well as a lie. It scared her when she thought of just how much power the blonde Fae held over her.

"Jareth? Please come back…I'm sorry," she whispered to the still silent room. She could feel tears gathering up in her eyes when the room continued to be Jareth-less. A muffled knock on the door had her hurrying to wipe her tears away.

"Yeah?"

"Sarah, David's here," Karen's voice sounded from behind the closed door. Sarah cursed slightly under her breath. She was still not ready. And with thoughts of hurting Jareth making her feel depressed, she wasn't sure if she could go out on a date now. She debated with herself for a moment, wondering whether to go or not. If she went, Jareth would definitely go into depression. But if she didn't go, she'd not only hurt David's feelings, she'd be left to worry at home and would probably drive herself crazy.

"Be right there!"

She finished applying her makeup, her mood dampened. She slowly walked down the stairs, attempting to smile. It must have been good enough because the blonde boy at the door didn't seem to notice anything wrong. Only now did she realize that David resembled Jareth a little…both had white-blond hair and deep blue eyes though David's were a bit duller than Jareth's penetrating icy blue.

David smiled charmingly at her, his blue eyes twinkling excitedly, "Wow, Sarah, you look absolutely beautiful."

Somehow the compliment reminded her of Jareth. He always made it a point to tell her she was beautiful every time he came to visit. She cursed, attempting to put all thoughts of the blonde Fae out of her head.

After giving Toby a kiss on the forehead and her father and Karen a fond hug, she made her way out the door. David opened the car door for her and they were off.

All throughout the night, Sarah was reminded of Jareth.

At dinner, they had peach pie for dessert. The dance with Jareth instantly popped into her mind, his honey sweet voice echoing in her ears before she shook it off.

A soft hoot as they walked to the movies had her looking around, searching for a white barn owl. Her eyes found the bird but it was a brown great horned owl. Not the owl she was looking for, not HIM.

The movie they decided to watch had a heroine who was unknowingly in love with her egotistical best friend. The similarities between her life and the movie were uncanny and she tried to convince herself that it was nothing like her life at all.

Even looking at the popcorn didn't help as it reminded her that Jareth loved to throw the popcorn high in the air and catch it in his mouth when they would watch movies together.

She breathed a sigh of relief when the movie ended and they were once again outside in the chilly night air. Looking up at the stars had her thinking of a song Jareth regularly sang when he thought she was asleep, about laying his love between the stars. She shook her head, trying to dispel Jareth from her mind.

"Sarah, you seem kinda distant. Are you all right?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm okay. Sorry, what were you saying?"

"You've been out of it the whole night," David looked down at her, a knowing glint in his baby blue eyes. She flushed as she realized she had not really heard a single word David had said throughout the whole night.

"Sorry, David, I just don't know what's wrong with me," she muttered, feeling a stab of guilt. David was a nice guy and she hoped she hadn't hurt his feelings.

"There's another guy, isn't there?"

"What? No, there isn't," Sarah protested, but even she could hear how feeble her attempt was.

"Sarah, I'm not stupid. You've been sighing the whole night and looking around like you're expecting someone to show up. Everyone at school said you probably had a boyfriend and that's why you never went on dates…So, I was surprised when you said yes. But it's obvious that you you're in love with someone," David offered her a small smile, managing to conceal most of his disappointment.

Sarah sighed dejectedly, "Are you upset?"

"No…a little disappointed but not upset. Want me to take you home?"

"No, that's all right, David. My friend's house is just down this street," Sarah lightly kissed his cheek, grateful that he was being so understanding. David nodded, waving at her before driving off in his car.

Sarah waved back then started walking in the direction of Liz's house. If anyone could give her advice, it would be the redhead. Liz was a master at matters pertaining to love. She walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. The door opened a few minutes later and her friend's freckly face appeared.

"Sarah! What are you doing here? I thought you were on a date," Liz wiggled her eyebrows suggestively up and down before noting Sarah's expression.

"Liz, I need your help," her desperation must have shown in her voice because Sarah was quickly ushered into the house. The redhead led her to her room, dashed out and returned with her arms laden with chocolate.

"Okay, what happened? Was David mean to you? Did he hurt you? I swear if he put one finger on you, I'll cut off his…"

"LIZ! No, David was quite the gentleman," Sarah cut off Liz's rambling, "I was the problem."

"What do you mean, sweetheart?"

"Liz…I…I think I'm in love with my best friend," she uttered so softly Liz almost missed it. Sarah felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off of her as she vocally said the words she'd been stewing over the whole night.

"That guy you told me about? The one you hang out with sometimes right?"

Sarah nodded, her throat tight. Liz looked at her sympathetically, handing her a piece of chocolate which Sarah gratefully accepted.

"I can't quite believe it, Liz…I mean, just a few hours ago, I only thought of him as a friend…and now, he's all I think about. And he's definitely not my type. He's rude, conceited and…amazing and wonderful," Sarah groaned, cramming the chocolate piece into her mouth.

"My guess is that you've been in denial," the redhead shrugged sympathetically then proceeded to stuff her own mouth with the chocolate.

"Denial?"

"Yeah, denial. You convinced yourself that all you felt for him was friendship, probably because you were afraid of ruining your friendship. I'd already guessed that you felt something for him from the times you would talk about him," Liz broke off another piece of the Hershey's bar, nibbling it thoughtfully.

"Oh, what do I do?"

"Well, just tell him…the worst that can happen is that your friendship will be kinda awkward," Liz replied after swallowing her chocolate, reaching over to grab another bar.

"But Liz, we fought before I left on the date…I said some things I shouldn't have…But I was so angry! And now, I don't know if he'll ever speak to me again!"

"Why did you guys fight?"

"He wasn't happy about me going on a date…I've never seen him so angry," Sarah curled into herself, wishing that this night had never happened. What she wanted more than anything was to take back those awful words she'd said to Jareth.

"Well…if he was jealous enough to try to keep you from going on the date then he definitely has romantic feelings for you," Liz smiled reassuringly, giving her friend a pat on the back. Sarah blushed but couldn't help agreeing…she'd always known he'd cared for her as more than a friend.

Sarah nodded, feeling a bit better though she knew there was still a lot she would have to figure out. Like how she was going to apologize.

Or how she was going to tell Jareth she was in love with him.

And keep him from getting a big head because of it.

"I think this calls for a movie," Liz hummed, going over to her vast DVD collection and picking up Pride and Prejudice. Sarah chuckled, nodding her assent and making herself comfortable on the plush carpeting of the room.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

"I'm home," Sarah called out, smiling when Toby came charging out of the bathroom in the nude. His body was covered in suds and his blonde hair foamy with shampoo.

"Toby, please, let daddy finish giving you a bath," a tired Robert made his way out of the bathroom, his clothes soaked and his hair covered in bubbles. Sarah couldn't hold back the giggle that burst from her lips. Her father gave her an exhausted look.

"Hey Dad…Having trouble?"

"I don't know how you and Karen manage it…he won't sit still long enough for me to wash him," her father ran a hand down his face, looking exhausted.

"I'll take over for you if you like," she laughed at her father's relieved expression, "Where's Karen?"

"Out grocery shopping," he grumbled, shuffling towards the master bedroom, "How did the date go?"

Sarah sighed, "All right…"

"Did that kid do anything to you?"

"No, he was very polite and respectful," Sarah said quickly, worried for David's safety, "I'm just not feeling too well."

"Oh…all right, well, I can finish giving Toby a bath if you want to go lay down," her father stepped forward, his hazel eyes worried.

"No, its fine, I can do it," she shooed him away and finished bathing the squirming 4 year-old. Only when Toby was properly dressed for bed and tucked in, did Sarah venture into her room.

She was not quite expecting the sight that greeted her.

A subdued Goblin King stood in the middle of the room, his usually twinkling eyes dull. He looked up as she entered the room, a small smirk that was sadly lacking twitching his lips. She quickly closed her door, moving forward until she stood a few steps away from him.

"Jareth?"

"Sarah, please, don't say anything…You were right. I was out of line and I…apologize," he said the word with some difficulty as if he wasn't used to saying it.

Considering Jareth, he probably wasn't.

"Jareth, I…"

"Sarah, please forgive me," he looked deep into her eyes, as close to almost pleading as he had come in his long life.

Almost pleading because Goblin Kings just didn't plead.

Sarah huffed in frustration, "If you had let me talk I would have told you that I'd already forgiven you hours ago…shortly after you left. I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have said those things," she offered him a warm smile which he eagerly returned, his mismatched blue eyes once again glowing with life.

"So, friends?"

Sarah wanted to protest and tell him that, 'No, I don't want to be just friends anymore'. But she couldn't bring herself to do it. Not at that moment. She was still getting used to the idea of being in love with the magical being.

"Yeah, Jareth, friends…"

Somehow the word left a bitter taste in her mouth.