Chapter Ten

Jareth climbed from the back seat speedily and rushed to the front door. Sarah had already beaten him. She ran past, bumping into him in her flurry and opened the door. With one disgusted look back, she slammed the door and Jareth heard the audible click. Jareth sighed and his shoulders sagged. He looked back at the truck and Hoggle's face in the passenger seat. Hoggle just shook his head sadly and they drove off to the next neighbourhood. Jareth screwed up his courage and moved forward with purpose. The door was unlocked when he got there but he wasn't late enough. Yelling could be heard as Sarah made her displeasure known to Robert, the second voice in the catastrophe.

"Don't you dare ask me how things went! Ask him if you're so interested! I'll be in my room!" Sarah marched past her father and up the stairs, slamming the far door.

Jareth entered carefully and slowly. He looked at Robert and asked, "Did she just bar me from my room?"

Robert sighed. "It seems like it. Do I dare ask what happened?"

Jareth shrugged his shoulders and dropped his bag on the ground. "It was a good weekend. We settled some differences but I told her today that I couldn't afford any distractions from my tas-…" Jareth cleared his throat, "from school work. Yeah, the load is getting fairly heavy. So uh, how was your weekend?"

Robert laughed a bit. "Very relaxing without the hassle of teenagers. I don't know what I will do once Toby is a teenager. I've heard that the youngest in the family is always the worst."

Jareth snorted. "Yeah right. I'm the youngest in my family and my sisters were always worse then me!"

"Somehow I just can't believe that." Robert put an arm around Jareth's shoulders familiarly. "Come on, I think there is some pie in the fridge we can pilferage before dinner."

GOBLINKINGxGNIKNILBOG

Jareth sat on the couch going through the assignments he had for the weekend. They were all done but he didn't want to retire to his room just yet. Karen had managed to talk Sarah into leaving her room and going back into Toby's. The little twerp had been so excited when he saw Jareth that he almost did a head dive from his highchair. Merlin was fairly excited as well and Jareth tripped over him once or twice. When Merlin jumped up on Jareth, placing his front paws on Jareth's shoulders, he once more received the strange vertigo that accompanied déjà vu.

Jareth pushed himself from the couch and stretched, grabbing up his bag and heading up the stairs. The house was quiet and dark, just how Jareth liked it and he didn't bother to switch on the lights when he got to the hall, he just walked straight to his room. He opened and shut the door before turning on any lights. He switched the light and turned around before screeching like a little girl. Sarah was leaning against the far wall, waiting. She jumped when Jareth yelled and tried to shush him quickly. The bag that was in his hand had managed to make its way across the room. Jareth was panting and trying to catch his breath.

"Jareth," Robert called from down the hall. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah," he glared at Sarah. "I just stubbed my toe!"

"Ok, good night."

"Night!" Jareth took a deep breath and looked at the dark haired girl. "Are you crazy?"

Sarah stepped forward, "No, I wanted to talk to you."

"I was downstairs a while ago! By my self!" he yelled-whispered at her.

Sarah glared at him and picked up a pillow from the bed before hucking it at him. "You're a real pain in the ass you know that!"

Jareth caught the pillow and tossed it on the ground. "What's got into you?"

"What's got into me? What's got into you? First you tell me you love me then we actually get along, finally you tell me that you find me distracting and you were deviating from your path! Who the hell do you think you are? Some pompous prince that gives you the right to toy with hearts?"

"Sarah, I-."

"Nauh, buddy, I'm talking. Stay away from me. I'm telling my parents that it's not working out and that I would like it if we can find you a different family to stay with. I can't take it Jareth, I just can't." She moved slowly past him and out the door. She shut the door softly so not to disturb the family and went back into her room.

Jareth stood frozen, staring at the spot where she leaned against the wall.

GOBLINKINGxGNIKNILBOG

Jareth moved around his room heavy eyed, picking up his clothes and other items that his father felt the need to pack. He made the bed and straightened up the furniture, making sure everything was in order. He sighed and headed downstairs with his duffle bag.

Robert was waiting for him in the front entrance playing with his key ring. "Well, are you ready to go?" He asked.

Jareth nodded and took one last look back before following Robert out to the car. He sat down in the passenger seat and waited. Robert climbed in slowly and turned to face Jareth. "I know things didn't go as planned, Jareth, but maybe you two just need a little time apart. Sooner or later, Sarah will want you to come back."

Jareth frowned at him, "I'm an exchange student, nothing more. This family didn't work out and hopefully the next will."

Robert took a big breath in and looked away, backing down the drive. He waited a few more minutes before saying quietly, "You don't have to pretend anymore, Jareth. I know."

Jareth turned to him wide eyed, "You know? Since when?"

Robert shrugged. "Since the beginning I suppose."

Jareth cursed. "I wasn't nearly careful enough. I should have listened to Hoggle."

"Yes because it would have been harder-."

"It would have been so much easier to keep the pretences up. I should apologize to Sarah."

Robert frowned, "Sarah-."

"Deserves so much more." They were at the area representative's house and Jareth jumped out. "Thanks Robert for the ride, and everything else."

He stated towards the house and Robert called out, "If you need anything…"

Jareth just turned and waved.

GOBLINKINGxGNIKNILBOG

Jareth sat on the counter in the bathroom of the empty house and spoke to Hoggle.

"So she talked to you already?"

"Yeah, she said you're staying at the area rep's home for a couple of weeks." Hoggle looked over his shoulder quickly and adjusted the phone on his shoulder as he looked into the mirror again. "Robert really didn't ask to see Rose?"

Jareth shook his head. "No, he didn't even ask for a phone number or anything. I got a strange vibe from him today…"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, he was saying how sorry he was that things worked out like this and I think we were talking about two different things." He shrugged, "The guy seems kinda familiar as well, as if I met him before I even knew Sarah…"

Hoggle frowned. "That doesn't make a lot of sense Jareth. He's just mortal."

"I know, I know."

GOBLINKINGxGNIKNILBOG

"He's living in an empty house in St. Peters Court." He said as he adjusted the cuffs on his sleeves.

"I wonder what it is he's doing there. Why did bow to Sarah's will?" Karen reached under his arm and smoothed down the seam of the shirt.

"I don't think he did. His father is just as confused as we are. Kendrick says he feels another presence around."

"And that means what, exactly?" Karen straightened her dress and smoothed the front of it.

"It means that someone up here knows about Jareth."

GOBLINKINGxGNIKNILBOG

She watched from the window, calmly waiting for the boy to fall asleep. She smiled and dreamwalked beside him, step for step, pace for pace and warned him once more not to stray from his path.

Jareth rolled over and snored.