Hey guys. I owe you an apology once more! Life has been pretty busy this week :( however, essay has been handed in and all is well so hopefully there will be slightly more frequent updates from now on. Can't promise anything though - am going home, where small goblins await me...

Three days passed, and there was no sign of Jareth. The goblins had returned as usual by the end of the first day but there wasn't so much as a sparkle from their ruler.

Sarah spent the time doing university work, teaching goblins how to knit, and becoming increasingly tense and twitchy. She was convinced that his absence was a deliberate attempt to unsettle her, and in an effort to be prepared for whichever moment he should choose to reappear, she became so high-strung that the slightest noise could make her jump.

A by-product of this stress was a glut of baking, to the point where even the goblins had had enough cupcakes. By the beginning of the third day, which was a Monday, Sarah was forced to bring her latest batch of cookies in to her French conversation class because she'd made so many. Given that she had no excuse for her sudden generosity other than "Well Jareth hasn't turned up yet and I know he's just trying to get to me but it's still driving me crazy so I've been baking nonstop to distract myself," this was fairly humiliating. When she got home that evening, she was once again in a Bad Mood.

It was ridiculously hard to get on with what used to be her normal routine of work, food, a bit of internet surfing and then sleep with the dual disruptions of goblins and their conspicuously absent monarch. No matter what she tried to do – read, watch a movie, make a quiche, paint her nails – she couldn't focus her mind on the task at hand. This became all too apparent when she woke from a reverie (as a matter of fact, she was day-dreaming about smacking the Goblin King over the head with a heavy book – a weirdly satisfying scenario and one that sated her bloodthirsty irritation towards him) and realised that she was no longer painting her toenails but Ginger's arms. Ginger was one of her newest acquaintances and had already shown an alarming tendency to cross-dress. He was currently happily watching as Sarah absently painted pink shimmery stripes along his skin, clashing violently with the bright orange scarf he'd nicked from Beth and was wearing like a toga.

She jerked back when she realised what she was doing (much to Ginger's disappointment) and lay back on her bed with a groan. This was absurd. Jareth shouldn't be in her head to this extent. Only a week ago she'd been perfectly content (well, more or less) with her life. She'd forgotten all about the Goblin King (liar, liar) and his stupid Labyrinth (pants on fire). And now what, he'd turned up twice and she couldn't stop thinking about him? Fickle, Sarah. That's what you are.

She sat up suddenly, knocking three goblins off the bed, when a thought entered her head. He's doing this on purpose. He wants me to wish him here! That's what all this is about! And then he can crow about it and how much I want and need him, etc etc. Ha. As if I'd be stupid enough to fall for that.

She lay back down and contemplated the ceiling for a bit. Her lampshade was really very ugly. Why had she never noticed that before? An indignant squeaking broke out in the corner of the room and without looking she waved a lazy hand in the general direction of the rumpus.

"Jo, Chip, put it down. If you can't share, neither of you can have it." But maybe… maybe he wants me to think like that. Maybe this is a double-bluff and he's expecting me to figure it out. Maybe his game is that if I don't call on him, he wins.

No, that would be crazy. Of course he wants me to call on him. Sarah decided it was pyjama-and-cosy-tucked-in-bed-time, and got up to undress. The goblins dutifully squeezed their eyes shut until her pyjamas were in place, and she handed round their usual quota of Bedtime Marshmallows. (On Sundays they were allowed hot chocolate, but she'd ruled it out as an everyday treat because of the levels of hyperness that ensued.) Once they were all tucked up as normal on her armchair, she got back into bed and pulled the covers right up to her chin, glorying in the warmth and comfort of her bed.

I could call him. Just to see if he'd come.

No, brain! Bad! Bad idea! That's just what he wants!

Or is it?

She groaned again, rolling over and shoving her face into the pillow. "This is ridiculous," she said out loud, and then laughed at how silly her voice sounded when it was muffled. "Just go to sleep, Sarah."

But no matter how hard she tried, sleep simply would not come. She counted goblins. Tried to divide numbers by other numbers. Listened to music for a bit.

Eventually she sat up in bed and looked bitterly over at the goblins, who clearly had no problem whatsoever with insomnia. That insidious feeling of loneliness crept over her once more, though she tried to fight it. It was a familiar sensation. She'd never been too good at making friends at school. Everyone had been too obsessed with boys and makeup to be any fun to play with; so she'd spent more time in her room, mirror-chatting to her Labyrinth friends Hoggle, Ludo and Sir Didymus than outside. In sixth form, she'd begun to come out of her shell, and to talk to Hoggle and co less and less. By the time university had uprooted her from home and forced her to make human friends, the Labyrinth was a distant memory in the back of her mind.

Now all her university friends had graduated and were far away, and she was stuck here with no one to talk to. She wondered if Hoggle would come if she called him still. A wave of guilt washed over her as she realised it was the first time in several years that she'd thought of him at all. Some friend she was.

She got out of bed, shivering as the cold night air struck through her thin pyjamas. Pulling a hoodie over her head, she went and stood in front of the full-length mirror on the wall and stared at herself in the darkness. Her skin was ghostly white, her eyes two dark holes in her face. Shivering again, though this time not from cold, she lit a candle or two and then faced the mirror again.

"Hoggle?" she called gently. "Sir Didymus? Ludo?"

Silence. Had she really expected an answer?

"Hoggle?"

The surface of the mirror was ice-cold to the touch; implacable, impassable. Despair threatened to choke her. I'm alone. No one hears my voice.

No one except…

Don't do it, Sarah!

But she wasn't even listening to herself. "I wish the Goblin King would come here right now," she whispered and her voice pooled into the stillness, spreading ripples as over the tranquil surface of a pond.

Not even a flicker from the candles. She waited, her whole body tense, for what seemed like forever, and still there was only silence.

Was that disappointment creeping up on her? She fought it angrily. No! If anything, I'm relieved. What if he actually had turned up? She gave a little shaky laugh. Now that would have been some fun explaining to do. 'I didn't mean it.' Yeah, cos that went down so well the first time.

She yawned, suddenly feeling her eyelids heavy and her legs wobbly. Sleep, an arbitrary visitor, had decided to finally make its presence felt. Its advent hit her so hard that it took three attempts to blow out the candles, and then it took some time to find the bed in the darkness that this time was friendly and inviting. Eventually she fell, rather than climbed, in and with a sigh of bliss let all her muscles relax into the bed. It was deliciously warm and soft; it folded her in an embrace that felt almost human…

Almost…

Wait a minute…

All in a moment, Sarah came violently and fully awake.

There was someone in her bed.

Thanks for all the lovely reviews, which made me smile muchly. I love how everyone seems to rather like Sarah when she stands up for herself. Can't stand the soppy, 'Oh-Jareth-says-I-have-to-marry-him-so-I-will' Sarah so often found in fanfic - c'mon, this is the gal who stole Hoggle's jewellery and rescued Ludo from goblins and faced up to the Goblin King in all his glory at the tender age of fifteen! She may make some impulsive decisions sometimes but she will never let herself be short-changed.

Though you're right - even kick-ass Sarah may not be able to handle Jareth's sneaky 'courting' ways...

Oh, and yes, the story will hopefully have an end at some point. I've a vague idea as to where it will wind up. Right now it's just lots of ideas about fun scenarios for them to find themselves in - if anyone has any fun suggestions, review and include them and I'll consider whacking them in too...

Love and glitter, and endless apologies for the late update!