Chapter 7! We got here fast! HERE is Maya's third appearance...she should only have had one ¬_¬ Damn OC's, makin' their way into the story.

"What a dick!" Maya said, sounding completely outraged. "Joey, will you tell her that he was being a dick?"

The red-haired girl scooped more ice cream originally intended for Sarah into her mouth. Sarah had not touched it. This was beyond the ice cream, and Maya did not quite seem to understand this. This was trust shattered for a second time.

"Yeah, it does sound like he was bein' a dick," Joey agreed.

"Gosh, and I really thought that you two were perfect. I mean, what's it been, two days? And it's already gone to hell. Damn, Sarah. You and your luck with men."

"Tell me about it," she replied half-heartedly.

"But..."

Both girls glanced at Joey, Maya glaring especially hard.

"Well, think of it from his point of view. He left because he was obviously pretty pissed, right?" Sarah nodded. "I mean, you slugged him and you were gonna do it again. Maybe he was worried that he was gonna end up hurting you back?"

"Joey, he called her a whore!" Maya defended. "And not just any whore, Neal's whore! Besides, he did hurt her. Look at that! It's gotta hurt like a bitch."

Maya grabbed Sarah's hand and yanked it out to Joey so that they could all scrutinize the rather dark bruise now forming all around her wrist. It would have fit Jareth's hand perfectly. In fact, it did.

"Yeah, but that was an accident, wasn't it? I mean, I wouldn't wanna be slapped again either."

Sarah felt a strange rush of gratitude towards Joey. She did not want any misunderstandings. Jareth had not hurt her intentionally, she was certain of that, and she was not sure he ever would. But as Maya said...

"He still hurt her! He left a bruise just like Neal did! I don't know why you're defending him! You don't even know him."

Joey looked at them both, wringing his hands in a strangely calm manner.

"Look at it this way. He got rejected and then got pissed off. Then he left when he was kicked out. Not a word since. On the other hand, when Neal was rejected, he tried to force himself on you, Sarah. He hit you, he threatened you, he stalked you and called you almost all the time. Just think about it."

The three were silent for a while as Maya shovelled more ice cream down her throat. If only they knew the whole truth of it. Jareth would be a saint compared to her water demon. He was.

"I know that out of the two, Jareth is the better man," Sarah admitted. "It's just...he knows everything that happened between me and Neal and he still had the nerve to say what he did. He promised me he wouldn't ever hurt me, but he did."

Maya sighed in an odd mixture of defeat and triumph. Joey simply sighed.

"Where'd he fly off to, anyway?" Maya asked.

Sarah flinched at her choice of words. Because he, in fact, had flown away.

"Home, I think."

"Where's he live?" Maya asked. "You want me kick his ass for you?"

Sarah laughed weakly and looked out of the window which she had left open since Jareth had exited through it.

"He doesn't live anywhere near here."


Jareth paced the throne room furiously. To relieve his tension and anger, he had already bogged several goblins and tasked some with the job of retrieving them. He had also conjured several crystals with the intentions of looking in on Sarah, but after catching a glimpse of her with her red-haired friend and a tanned boy he assumed to be the Joey she had spoken of, he shattered every crystal he held.

The goblins had sensed the mood he was in almost instantly and they had ushered each other and their prized chickens from the room to leave him alone (and save themselves from bogging).

As he paced, he only got himself angrier instead of calming down. How dare she speak that way to him and slap him! He was the King of Goblins, Master of the Labyrinth, and Fae, no less! She should damn well be showing him the respect he deserved. And yet...

He sighed as he felt some of his anger melt. Now, he mostly felt tired, when he had just woken up not thirty minutes ago. He sank into the throne and leaned his elbows on his knees, resting his head in his hands.

When he thought about it without the red anger clouding his judgement and rationality, he realized how royally he had just cocked up. She had trusted him and he had blown at the first sign of hesitation. She hadn't even told him to stop, she'd simply told him to wait...to wait for a measely minute! He was sure that after four years of waiting he could have managed another bloody minute! But no, of course not. He was her villain, after all. The cruel, impatient, leering and selfish Goblin King. He was a fool to think he could have been anything more to her, especially now.

What kind of anger had that been? Red and dark. Maddening. There was a name for it, but he could not quite put his finger on it.

Grinding his teeth, he summoned another crystal.

"Bring me Hoggle."

It hardly took more than a few minutes for Hoggle to shuffle into the room, nervously eyeing him. He fiddled with the jewels in the drawstring bag around his waist.

"Jareth? Er - yer majesty?"

"Hoggle," Jareth sighed. "I rarely ask for your counsel and you know that I would only do so were it important."

The Dwarf nodded and trudged towards him, wary of getting too close.

"What's this about, Jareth?"

"It is complicated and concerns Sarah," he explained, then added, just to uphold the appearance of a merciless ruler, "I do hope you can keep up."

He related the tale of Nøkken to him and skipped over the minor details of what he and Sarah had done so far. He briefly explained his concerns about Ifreann, then went straight to the fight, and he was thankful that Hoggle did not seem as angry at him as Sarah had.

"I called her a whore, Higgle!" he moaned, burying his face in his hands.

"Hoggle! An' I'm sure she'll understand if ye' jus' apologize," the Dwarf reasoned.

"She started calling me by my title again, instead of my name," he continued, not really listening to the little man who was trying to help him.

"Jareth, don't ye' think ye' should go back?" Hoggle suggested. "If what yer sayin' 'bout Ifreann an' Nøkken is true, then ye've jus' left Sarah an open target. This is jus' what they'll be wantin'."

Jareth jerked at this, but shook his head.

"She would never accept my presence if I went back now."

"That don't matter!" Hoggle said, clearly annoyed. "What if she gets killed?"

"Look at the mess I've caused after saving her life before."

Hoggle glared at the king, and Jareth found himself taken aback. The Dwarf had never had the audacity to glare before.

"Ye' love 'er, don't yer?" he demanded.

"Of course I do!" Jareth snapped. How dare this lowly creature question his love for Sarah?

"Then go an' be there fer 'er! And say sorry, while yer at it!"

Jareth scowled.

"Hedgewart, I do not care for your t-"

A strange feeling of dread suddenly washed over him, drenching him in cold and clammy anxiety. Was that a scream he could hear? He suddenly felt quite sick.

"Sarah," he gasped out.

VERY short chapter, just to keep you all in something that resembles suspense. Reviews are much loved and they usually speed my updates :D