Disclaimer: Nope, don't own the Labyrinth. Yep, do own the characters I created.

A/N: Its been a while! Sorry! I had some problems writing, but I hope you'll enjoy this chapter!

Within

Chapter Ten: Of All Things

"Offering? No, that's called forcing!" Sarah retorted.

Jareth sighed, but still held out his palm. "Sarah, please…" But when she didn't respond, he had no choice but to step in, "Thirteen hours." He stated simply, knowing that it would be near impossible to convince her of staying there permanently… at least for now.

"What?" she asked, still infuriated and now slightly confused.

"Thirteen hours of your busy life is all I ask… and if you enjoy your time there, you'll consider staying?" He was proud of his ability to think quickly, but he would be even more proud if and when she agreed.

It sounded too good to be true. Just spend thirteen hours with him, get your fill of your childhood fantasy… yes, much too good to be true. This time she made sure to think of all possible twists of words and such things. Of course, there was the opportunity to bend things in her favor, right? "Okay… but three of those thirteen hours must be spent up here." 'Now how is this bending anything in your favor?' the tiny voice in her head challenged her decision.

A grin appeared on his face as he nodded. 'Ten hours,' he thought, 'that should be enough.' He could almost picture her now. There she would be, standing before him as his queen. Sure he was jumping the gun a little, but it was nice to imagine.

"Alright," he said finally. "Shall we begin tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow…?" she paused in thought, "No."

Was she intentionally trying to ruffle his feathers? Perhaps… "No?" Jareth questioned, his eyes narrowed a slightly as a natural response. 'No one says no to Jareth, The Goblin King,' he thought haughtily waiting for an explanation.

"Let's start today?" her words were slow, as if she was giving it immense thought.

"Today..?" Jareth appeared a bit shocked by her suggestion. "I suppose today would be all right."

Actually, Sarah had no idea what she was saying. 'Today?! What the hell are you thinking, 'Let's start today?' … Stupid. ' Sarah smiled to cover up the inner distress she caused herself. "Um… So let's go somewhere around here…ah let me get changed please?" she spoke completely flustered.

Jareth, thinking it best to give her some time to compose herself, stepped out of her room closing her door behind him. Hopefully she caught his gentlemanly gesture and that raised her affection for him slightly. After all, everything he did was indeed for her.

After his highness closed the door, it took a few seconds for Sarah's mind to kick into gear. What just happened? 'Oh, right' she thought while rummaging through her near barren closet, 'I just rushed into spending time with the Goblin King.' Sarah couldn't tell if she was excited or terrified. It was amazing that she didn't immediately agree to go to the Underground with him. Life here as it was, wasn't life at all… but things were perking up- what with meeting Connor… Sarah sighed. 'It isn't about which one to pick,' she told herself as her hand landed on the perfect outfit.

She placed the black quarter sleeved dress against her body and immediately removed it from the hangar. After slipping it on, her thoughts wandered about.

Sarah opened the door only to find Jareth leaning on the wall across from her. His eyes clearly trailed up and down her body, the smirk on his face making its way to a devilish grin.

Her hair was straight down, just how he loved it…and with the way the dress hugged her curves, 'Oh Gods,' he groaned mentally.

Sarah had to admit it, she liked having this power over him. She laughed softly to herself, 'Perhaps this is what he enjoys about power.' Sarah's lips parted into a smile as she watched his reactions. "So... What do we do about your clothes?"

"Forgotten my skills all ready?" he laughed. With a wave of his hand, Jareth assured her that he would be well in disguise.

Of course, Sarah wasn't so sure, "You don't look any different."

"Not to you. You've already seen me as my true self." He attempted to explain her.

Still skeptical, Sarah opened her mouth but was quickly interrupted by his voice, "Sarah, really, everyone who has seen me has forgotten who I am. Those who failed to run the labyrinth have no recollection of who I am. I assure you, only you see me like this in the aboveground."

In a strange way, Sarah was happy to be with him on the busy street. Sure, they weren't together as in joined together physically by their hands, but she felt there was an air about them that gave off a more than just friends relationship. Of course, it could be all in her head. She knew she did have a tendency to let her imagination run wild. At first it was strange to be out in the open with the Goblin King. He just looked so odd walking through crowds of everyday people.

"Where are we going?" Jareth asked.

His voice shook her from her thoughts. "Oh, well, I thought maybe the park would be nice. I just want to show you the places that mean a lot to me…"

Jareth was silent. Sarah hoped that he understood what she meant. 'I'm going to show you the places that hold a place in my heart- like your labyrinth.' she silently told him.

As they walked down the street together, Sarah thought of things to say in attempts to find out more about the man walking beside her. "So what are we going to be doing when we go..."

"To my castle?" he said, finishing her sentence.

"Yes...there." Sarah quickly glanced at him.

Jareth shot her a little grin, "Well, giving away such surprises isn't really my style."

The park was beautiful, as always. Few people were present, with the exception of a painter near a tree.

"Sarah?" a voice asked. No, it wasn't Jareth's. It didnt have an accent...but it definitely belonged to a man. Both Sarah and Jareth turned to the origin of the voice.

"Connor!" Sarah's eyes widened. 'Crap.' was the first word in her mind.

Initially upon seeing the other man, Jareth instinctively took Sarah's hand in his. His eyes narrowed for a spit second as protectiveness engulfed every inch of his body. 'Oh, well what do we have here?' he silently asked, jealousy taking over. 'Its that fool that was in her dreams...that gave her the book.'

For a moment, Sarah couldn't process what was happening. Her eyes widened and her brain went on overload. She didn't even notice that Jareth was holding her hand. Connor was just standing there with a smile on his face. 'Okay, just play it cool,' she encouraged herself. "Uh, Jar…emy. I mean, Jeremy," Sarah laughed nervously, glancing at Jareth, "Jeremy, this is Connor." An arched eyebrow on Jareth's face was only to be expected. However, unbeknownst to her, the King of the Goblins was a wonderful actor.

"Oh, a friend of yours?" Jareth tilted his head toward Sarah and shot her a look of concern, but once he faced Connor, he immediately put on his act. Jareth held out his hand to the man before him, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

As the two men shook hands, Sarah desperately searched her brain for something to say, but Connor spoke first.

"So Sarah, is this your boyfriend?" It was obvious that Connor felt awkward. The curve of his lips wasn't quite a smile, but seemed to be mixture of a frown and a sheepish grin.

At first, her eyes drifted to her hand which was joined with his, then up to Jareth for an answer, but the Goblin King remained poised and had a questioning look on his face as well. "Well," she started slowly, "we're… dating." As soon as she finished her sentence, she could feel her cheeks burning. 'Dating?!' the word echoed in her head.

"I see, well it was nice meeting you…" Conner paused, taking a good look at the blond male. "I'd best be on my way now, Good-bye, Sarah." Connor gave a small smile and turned to leave.

"Oh, bye...Keep in touch?" she asked, feeling bad for being the cause of his discomfort.

"Sure." He said without turning around and simply waved.

'That was cold.' Sarah thought.

"So, that's the one that wrote the book... There is something familiar about him…" Jareth didn't even make eye contact on her. Instead, his eyes were glued on the man leaving them.

"What?" she asked, expecting more question's about Connor.

Jareth's voice was stern, "It seems that he likes you."

Sarah sighed. 'Well I guess it doesn't matter anyway, does it?' she asked herself. "Well, I told him we're dating..." she sighed again.

"You sound disappointed..." now Jareth's tone was down. "If I am correct, dating is similar to courting?"

"Sort of." she half corrected. "Well, let's sit down somewhere?" she asked, but pulled him along anyway.

Jareth stumbled at first. This is what he loved about this woman. Yes, she controlled parts of his emotions, but for the most part- she was able to make him smile. Not any kind of smile, but a true happy smile that wasn't influenced by another's misfortune or having his own way of things.

Jareth found himself comfortable leaning against a nearby tree, while Sarah sat near him. After she caught her breath from the unexpected encounter, Sarah glanced up at him. The whole image of Jareth leaning against the trunk of a tree was, well… it was Jareth. His eyes weren't on her at the moment and he seemed so relaxed, but his face had a somewhat solemn expression- as if something was on his mind.

"Hey," she said aiming to get his attention. "Isn't it nice?" Sarah turned to look at the rest of the scenery. "I would come here a lot when I was younger."

'I know.' He wanted to say. 'I've had my eye on you for quite some time.'

A sigh escaped from her lips as they parted into a smile. Sarah slowly stood up, brushing the loose grass from her dress. She then repositioned herself next to him by the tree. "Do you want to do something else? You look bored."

"Well, I could think of other things to do," he laughed, "but this is doable- for now."

The closer she got to him, the faster her heart would beat. There was no denying it now- this is definitely attraction. The physical attraction was there and the only other thing needed was the emotional half of it. Now that she thought about it, the physical attraction was always there…

Little did Sarah know, Jareth had his eyes on her the whole time. She was looking at the ground, concentrating very hard. He found it somewhat comical. Just as he was about to say something, she turned to look at him. Her mouth opened as if she was going to say something, but then closed. Jareth wasn't sure what to make of that. 'Only about an hour has gone by,' he thought.

As if Sarah knew what he was thinking, she finally spoke, "Well, we aren't getting anywhere like this, are we?"

"What would you like to do?" he asked.

Sarah's brain proposed a series of suggestions, 'Oh I don't know- get closer to you, have my heart beat faster, or maybe just tell you that I really am thinking of changing my whole life for you?'

Before she responded, he spoke, "It seems as if you're overworking your brain, love." This time he stood up and nonchalantly made his way in front of her. "Sarah," he said, using an arm to lean against the tree and draw himself closer to her. The grin on his face was a clear indicator of his confidence. They were merely inches away from each other now and he was slowly getting closer.

As each second went by, she could hear the pounding of her heart grow louder and louder. Her eyes closed in anticipation of his lips touching hers.

As soon as he set foot into his apartment, Connor bolted to the bookcase adorn with novels and textbooks of varying size. Finally, after searching for a few minutes, he pulled a thick dusty book from its resting place. "Oh, that's right." He laughed leafing through the pages. "Hmm… Jareth," Connor pointed to a picture in the book. "So Jareth, King of the Goblins, has his eyes on her too?"

A/N: I can't belive how much reviews I had for the last chapter. We're five away from one hundred and that is so AMAZING! I never imagined that the story would gather so much attention! Thank you again! I hope you'll review again for this one! Please?

Much mahalos goes out to aaanderson, animetvgirl, TheBabeWithThePower, carrie132, CoffeeKris, futrCSI1490, Ginabella59, Happy Depressive, hazlgrnLizzy, The Hot Mage Aeris, Irene Sharda, jojo661538, Kaline Reine, moonie, notwritten, PassionHime, SuicidalAphrodite, Sylistra the Scholar.