PART III

Chapter II


The third time Jareth kissed her, Sarah finally let herself go. There was no blinding revelation, no cheering friends – nothing in the world existed except for Jareth and his lips on hers, his hands on her waist, his voice as he murmured her name with upturned lips.

Until Toby's triumphant cries of "I knew it! I knew it! Mooooom!" burst their perfect little bubble and Sarah jumped, pulling away from Jareth just in time to catch sight of her little brother's back as he ran into the house, calling for Karen. She gaped after him, wide-eyed, until Jareth's low chuckle and his tightening grip around her waist drew her attention to him.

She could have panicked. She could have blamed it on him. She could have frozen him out.

Sarah laughed and hid her face in the hollow of his neck. "You know what this means." She stated dryly, her hands slipping around his middle to mimic the embrace Jareth held her in.

"I'm afraid, precious, that your plan has been foiled, the charade exposed." He said seriously, prompting her to pull back and look at him – really look at him, for the first time since her sudden attack on his person and his heart mere minutes ago. The firm set of his lips was serious, and so was his tone, but Jareth's bright eyes, dancing with joy, ruined the mask.

"And?" She asked with bright eyes of her own, a matching smile on her face even as she regarded him warily. Jareth grinned then, a playful show of mischief.

"I will have to play the part of your lover, of course, in front of everyone present, your family included now that young Toby has spread the scandalous news." He informed her, a shadow of lingering doubt creeping into his eyes when Sarah frowned and remained silent for a moment.

"Sarah-" He called, an anxious edge to his tone as his smile faded. Sarah's eyes snapped up and fell on his, and she smiled reassuringly as she drew one hand away from his torso and reached up to settle it on Jareth's cheek; neither missed the way he turned into her touch instinctively despite the rigid set of his shoulders as he waited for her to speak up.

"I was under the impression that it's no longer just a part." Sarah spoke softly, eyes searching his to observe his reaction. She caught fleeting glimpses of relief and happiness before he settled on cautious hope.

"What am I to think, Sarah-mine," Jareth spoke softly, the first signs of doubt and the slightest hints of fear – fear of rejection, again – present in the weary tone of his voice. "When you suddenly kiss me the minute you see your brother whole again, the day we are to stage an act? Eleven months and now you make the first move, and I never thought I would question your affection but tell me, dearest, that you did not act out of gratitude, that you're not caught up in-"

Sarah's hand slipped from the side of his face to his mouth, two fingers pressed up against his lips to silence him as the other rose up to tangle her fingers in his hair, bringing him closer to her as she spoke.

"I kissed you," She said evenly, her voice firm and convincing. "Not because you healed Toby, but because he is healed and I'm happy, and you're the one I want to share that with." She pinned honest green eyes on him, watching as the tension seeped out of his form. "I kissed you because you're the first person I want to see in the morning and the last one every night, and when you're not around, I wish you were, all the time." Her fingers slipped from his lips and trailed downwards, coming to settle on his chest, just above his beating heart.

"I kissed you because I wanted to, not because I'm thankful or we're selling an act, and if you could just accept that," She gave him a tentative smile, fingers still laced in his hair. "I'd like to kiss you again."

She took the crash of his lips against hers as an unspoken answer to her plea and smiled into his kiss, letting him pull her closer as her palm pressed against his heart, feeling the hummingbird thump-thump-thump of it as surely as she felt the rapid beat of her own in her chest. She let herself drown in Jareth and his kiss and the warmth he radiated until she felt her chest constrict with the burning need for air, and she felt Jareth break the kiss, almost knowingly, as he released his claim on her lower lip.

She rested her head on his shoulder as she gasped for air, focused on her quest for oxygen until she felt Jareth's mouth on her neck, his lips curving into a grin.

"Don't look now, dearest, but we've drawn quite the audience." He teased and laughed when Sarah groaned and pressed her face into his chest, missing the curtain of hair she usually wore down as a defense. She cursed lightly under her breath when she thought of her hair all messed up, a telling sign of what she'd just gotten up to with the Goblin King… on her neighbor's front lawn, no less.

"It's alright, Sarah," Jareth soothed, mistaking her muttered oh, shit for mere embarrassment at the thought of an audience. She could just see Karen in the very middle of it, surrounded by the gossipy Rose Meyers and their posse of chatty neighbors.

"Easy for you to say, since you're not going to spend the rest of the day facing your neighbors looking like you've just been… been…" Sarah found herself at a loss for words and pulled back to see Jareth smiling his usual grinning smirk or smirking grin, she hadn't actually found a word for it yet.

"Ravished by the Goblin King?" He offered suggestively, enjoying the reaction he was sure to get. "No, that comes later. But if it's your reputation you're concerned about…" He trailed off, one hand moving to the back of her head where he pulled away the elastic she'd used to hold her hair in place. He ran his fingers through her newly-freed hair, smoothing down flyaway strands with his hand and a little magic as Sarah watched him with curious eyes, just the slightest bit comforted by his ministrations on her hair.

"There. I'm afraid you'll have to wear your flushed cheeks and swollen lips proudly, but pink is very becoming on you and I'm sure my own lips are equally as bruised after your sound and thorough attack." Jareth teased, finally relinquishing his hold on Sarah. She rolled her eyes at his words, ignoring the flush of her cheeks as she contemplated the thought of her written all over him, on his lips and in his wilder-than-usual hair, and drew her hands away before reaching one out for Jareth's unoccupied right hand.

"Come on then, Goblin King. Time to face the audience." She sighed reluctantly, leading Jareth up the handful of stairs that brought them to the front door, wide open and just waiting for them to step into the lion's den. Jareth chuckled at her words and released her hand to hold her waist, dropping a reassuring kiss on her hair.

"Ah, but it's not just a show anymore, precious." He reminded her just as their hostess showed up to greet them.

"Sarah! How wonderful to see you again. Come in, come in." She ushered as the couple stepped inside, her eyes finally landing on the Goblin King. "And who's your friend?" Rose asked with a knowing glint in her eyes, and Sarah introduced Jareth for the first of many, many times.

It seemed as if every single minivan mom Sarah had known while growing up in the neighborhood stood in their way as they tried to navigate through the party, teasing Sarah relentlessly as they fawned over Jareth and tried to guess, out loud, how far the two were from tying the knot.

"Sarah never brings just anyone back home, you see," Shelly Johnson, mother to Toby's best friend, Tim, told Jareth in a stage-whisper and he played along.

"Well then, I'd best prove myself worthy." He smiled, conveniently leaving out the fact that Sarah had already brought him home a few times and he was well-acquainted with her family. Sarah herself was surprised that Karen hadn't already blabbed about everything to Shelly, considering the fact that she'd been convinced they were secretly together ever since Sarah had first introduced her stepmother to Jareth. But then again, they hadn't gotten along that well ever since it had been revealed that Tim's dare was what had caused Toby's accident.

The boys, however, had long gotten past this particular incident and were now back to their usual selves as they raced up to Jareth and Sarah, out of breath and hopping in excitement before they burst into synchronized chanting:

"Jareth and Sarah, sitting in a tree, K-I-"

"Toby!" Sarah snapped, clapping a hand over her younger brother's grinning mouth. He promptly bit her finger and went right back to his childish teasing as she dropped her hand away in shock, with Tim joining in after a missed beat.

"S-S-I-N-G!"

"That was most inappropriate, Tobias," Jareth said mildly, and Sarah's eyes widened in surprise for he would usually encourage Toby's behavior. Then Jareth smiled and Sarah knew she'd spoken too soon.

"Your sister and I were nowhere near a tree, let alone sitting in one." He corrected, earning himself a beaming smile.

"Hey, Jareth," Toby greeted, once again hopping from one foot to the other in excitement. "Are you gonna teach us how to juggle again?"

All things considered, juggling was the least cool thing Jareth had taught him, but Toby wasn't all that happy to share her sister's friend – now boyfriend, he supposed – with the other kids. Jareth taught him lots of cool magic tricks no one else knew how to do, and that was how he intended for it to remain. So whenever he was with his friends, he made sure not to mention a single word about Jareth's magic tricks and stuck to juggling, which was just fine with Jareth and Sarah, who knew that eventually, someone would have caught on to the fact that Jareth's magic had nothing to do with tricks at all.

"Later in the evening, perhaps. I'm here to escort your sister, you see." He leaned down to Toby's height and lowered his voice. "I've heard of a nasty little bugger called Jack." Seeing Toby's eyes widen in recognition, Jareth went on. "Perhaps you've seen him?"

"Jack's a dick," Toby said fiercely, and Jareth raised a brow at the boy's descriptive phrase. Apparently her little brother wasn't as little and innocent as Sarah liked to believe. "I saw him around earlier. Keep Sar away from him?" The young boy requested protectively and Jareth smiled.

"That's what I'm here for, Toby." He promised and clapped a hand on Toby's shoulder, wordlessly commending him on his defense of his sister before rising up to his full height. Sarah regarded the both of them with curious, slightly wary eyes and Jareth smiled reassuringly.

"Nothing to worry about, dearest. Young Toby was merely telling me that his mother is in the kitchen. Shall we find her?" He suggested and with one last hesitant look at her brother, Sarah gave in and let Jareth steer her away. She wanted to hug her brother, to let him know how glad she was to see him back to normal and to tell him she loved him, but Toby would probably push her away if she attempted anything of the sort in front of his friends… especially little Peggy Young, who she'd spotted in the corner of the room, trading shy glances with Toby. He really was growing up too fast.

Sarah was just glad he was growing up at all. She quickly abandoned that particular line of thought and presented Jareth with a fond smile. "Now will you tell me what you two were whispering about?"

Jareth regarded her silently for a brief moment, looking at her in that intense way he sometimes did. She was always taken aback by the fierce emotions she'd catch in those looks.

"I promised him I'd take care of you," He finally said, pleased with his ability to tell the truth, just not the whole truth. Sarah shook her head and smiled slyly.

"You do know you're supposed to have that conversation with my dad, not Toby." She informed him and he shrugged.

"A little practice couldn't hurt." He seemed completely at ease with the idea of confronting her father and Sarah studied him curiously. Weren't all men supposed to get nervous when it came to meeting their… she couldn't really see Jareth calling her his girlfriend, even though he'd introduced himself as her boyfriend a handful of times. Then again, she couldn't really see the Goblin King getting nervous over dealing with her father, either. Still, she had to ask.

"You know he's going to question you like some kind of criminal. You're not nervous at all?"

Jareth paused mid-stride, bringing both of them to a standstill in the middle of the living room they had been traversing to get to the kitchen. His free hand tucked a lock of hair behind her ear before coming to rest on the side of her face. It was becoming a common gesture for them, she noted.

"Precious Sarah, the only reason your father will be interrogating me in such a manner is because he needs to know that I will treat you like a queen." He paused, giving her a meaningful look. "I intend to make you one."

Sarah shivered slightly and it had nothing to do with the light summer dress she'd worn on a slightly chilly spring day. She lost herself in Jareth's piercing gaze for a moment as she came to terms with his words.

"Okay," She finally breathed, nodding resolutely. Jareth smiled brightly at her acceptance of his words and they continued in their search for Karen. They were stopped by four more neighbors before they got to the kitchen and after studying the spacious area and all of the people who were pitching in to help, they found that Karen must have moved on.

"Hi, Emilia." Sarah smiled brightly, tapping on the woman's shoulder as Jareth stood by her side with a polite smile. They'd encountered her earlier and she'd been one of the few who had simply exchanged greetings and introductions before excusing herself. "Have you seen Karen?"

"Oh, you just missed her. She's helping Rose supervise outside." Supervising, in this instance, meant standing in the shade as the women gave out orders to the men who were setting up tables and chairs in preparation for dinner. Sarah thanked her and was about to turn to Jareth when Emilia called out a warning.

"Oh, and Sarah, be careful. I heard her say something about sharing the news with your father."

"Right," Sarah nodded with a grim smile. She just knew Jareth was smirking next to her. "Probably should've seen that one coming. Thanks again, Em."

"Good luck." Emilia smiled empathically at Sarah's reaction. She was just a few years older than Sarah and had probably been through similar situations with her own parents.

"It's as if everyone here has forgotten that I actually know and get along with your father," Jareth commented evenly as they made their way to the French doors that led to the backyard. "Even you, precious."

"The only reason for that is because he finally believed that we're just friends, Jareth." Sarah hissed discreetly as Karen spotted them and waved. She could see her father just up ahead, setting down the table he'd been carrying with two other men. "Once he hears that we were making out in the front yard, you're screwed."

"Thank you for the eloquent warning, dearest. I'll keep that in mind as I charm your father." Sarah wanted to snap at him, to narrow her eyes and tell him he'd better not mean that in the literal sense, Fae magic and all, but Karen had decided to meet them halfway and was now reaching out for a hug as Jareth released his hold on her side.

"Sarah!" She embraced her stepdaughter warmly for a few short seconds before pulling back, not wanting to push her luck. They got along most of the time, and neither objected to being called family, but years later Karen was still a little wary at all times, as if awaiting the inevitable return of the fifteen-year-old stepdaughter from hell. "Jareth," She acknowledged with a nod, smiling as Jareth quickly stepped in and wound his arm around Sarah's waist once more, preventing a similar manner of greeting. Not that Karen had ever tried to hug him, but better safe than sorry and desperate to explain away all of that magic.

"I saw you two outside earlier, but I didn't want to interrupt." Karen teased knowingly and Sarah groaned.

"Not you too!" She cried, leaning into Jareth's side.

"I'm so happy for the two of you," Karen went on undeterred. "Honestly, I was just waiting for some sort of confirmation. You were always so shy and quiet, beating around the bush and calling him a good friend."

Jareth stepped in before she could formulate a defensive reply. "I promise you, Karen, that Sarah was being perfectly honest. Things have only just changed," He shot Sarah a grin. "Quite suddenly, in fact."

"Oh," Karen said in surprise as she watched the young duo get caught up in each other's eyes. She wasn't quite convinced Jareth was sharing the whole truth – they had been awfully close every single time Sarah had brought him along to visit, and there was the part about her bringing him along in the first place – but she wasn't going to bring it up now. It wouldn't make a difference, anyway, now that they were so in love. It was really quite obvious, Karen thought, and she just hoped Robert would see it as well.

Sarah's father chose to join them then, as Karen beamed at his daughter, who seemed quite caught up in Jareth, who was, in turn, looking at her in a way Robert knew all too well. He used to look at Linda that way, people said, and sometimes at Karen, who would smile widely and say in words what he could only use his eyes to express – I love you.

He thought that maybe Jareth wasn't all that bad. He was a good guy, stable and polite, smart and fair, and he got along with the family, plus he made Sarah happier than Robert had seen her since she was a little girl.

And really, Sarah could do much worse, he was reminded as Jack Meyers, the little bastard who'd been out moving stuff for his mother, walked up to them with his usual, insufferable fake smile pasted on his face. Robert had found himself drifting away many times when engaged in conversation with the kid, daydreaming about putting his hands around the young man's neck in retribution for the horrible things he'd put Sarah through in high school. He'd heard Jack mutter, once or twice under his breath, that at least he knew where Sarah got it from, mistaking the older man's homicidal daydreams for the whimsical fantasies Sarah sometimes got caught up in.

"Well, well, if it isn't Sarah Williams." Jack drawled even as he fought to keep his eyes on the young woman and not her companion. He'd heard the rumors, of course, of Sarah being successful and famous and happily engaged, according to his mother, but she'd always had the tendency to embellish a bit, and noting Sarah's ring-less fingers, he knew his mother had outdone herself. But while she wasn't engaged, she was certainly something with the man who stood by her side, one possessive arm around her waist as he fixed a cold look on the intruder.

"Jack." Sarah said flatly, her curt greeting betraying none of the disgust she felt at the mere sight of the dark-haired stocky man. She was reminded of her past relationships and how she'd picked out her dates – as different from a certain Goblin King as possible. After three muscly brunettes she had never really been attracted to though, Sarah decided to put her personal life on hold and hadn't bothered to try again.

Until Jareth showed up and reminded her of why she'd once followed a shock of light hair in a sea of strangers for ten whole minutes until the man turned a corner and the spell was broken. It hadn't even been the same shade of gold and silver Jareth sported.

"Fancy seeing you here," Jack sneered. "Last I heard, you were some famous kid's writer, too big for this little old town."

"Yes, it's really quite impressive to see how much success Sarah has had, especially when in the presence of a similarly educated person who has failed so spectacularly at life." Jareth's words cut through the awkward silence as he squeezed Sarah's side. Allow me to be the villain.

Jack withered under the stranger's glare before the crash of something not far away reminded him of the current situation. He cleared his throat and held out his hand to the man.

"Jack Meyers." He said expectantly, waiting for the British man – he could tell from the accent, even if it was a little different from the ones he'd heard, more clipped and… refined? – to introduce himself. He waited for quite a while as Jareth shot his hand a disdainful look and left it hanging. Jack flushed in anger and humiliation as he stuffed his hand into his pocket.

"So," He turned to Sarah. "I see you got yourself a little lapdog, huh? Bodyguard, maybe?"

Sarah didn't even give him the satisfaction of glaring. Instead, she turned to Jareth and smiled brightly as she answered Jack's unspoken question.

"Boyfriend, actually," She turned back to face the unwelcome addition, a smirk forming on her lips. "And we both know I'm perfectly capable of defending myself, Jack."

When Jack had caught her on a bad day in senior year, mocking her in front of the entire student population, all of whom had dressed up as mystical creatures and princesses according to the prom theme, Sarah had simply waited for him to lean in and then kneed him.

Jack skipped graduation.

Nearly seven years later and he still wasn't quite over it, it seemed, as his face grew red and he stepped closer to Sarah. Jareth's hand shot out protectively, probably to shock him to death with a single touch, as Sarah turned to him and shook her head. Please don't.

"You-" Jack growled and Jareth nearly ignored Sarah's request. Robert stepped in, having a strange feeling that if he didn't, Jack wouldn't as livid and alive once Jareth's raised hand reached its target. The man had always given off a slightly dangerous vibe, something that warned you not to even lay a hand on those he held dear. It had unsettled Sarah's father at first, but then he realized it was probably a good thing for Sarah, someone Jareth most certainly held dear.

"I suggest, Jack," He said evenly, almost pleasantly. "That you stop snarling like a crazed dog and run off to your mother. You do need to earn your keep, don't you?"

Jack blanched at his words – his mother must have told Karen that he'd moved back in, damn it – and shooting one last glare at Sarah, turned around and stalked away, though the effect was ruined when he tripped over a rock no one had seen around up until then.

Robert turned to Jareth then, catching a glimpse of a smirk that was gone as quickly as it appeared, and wondered just who his daughter had gotten involved with. Jareth met his eyes and Robert shrugged, smiling at the man he knew would never let go of a single person who so much as dared to speak badly of Sarah, one way or another.

"I never did like that asshole."


Well, this one took me quite a while to figure out. First I couldn't get it started the right way, then I couldn't break Jareth and Sarah out of their little bubble, and then there were all of these people standing in the way of just getting our new couple home and alone.

More on that in the next chapter, folks.

As usual, thank you all for the great, encouraging reviews. I was genuinely nervous about the way I'd handled things in the last chapter so thank you all for being so nice and supportive. It feels really good to know that we can all agree on how things should have gone for Sarah and Jareth this time. I hope you're as happy with the next (and final) chapter. I'm still working on that even though I've got a pretty solid idea of how things will start. It's just the end I have to figure out and the possibility of it leading to an epilogue. Any ideas or suggestions on what you'd like to see?

E Salvatore,

April 2013.