Hallo thar! Wow... Chapter twenty, and I'm nowhere near being done. In the original, the story conisited of a prologue, twenty four chapters, and an epilogue. :P It was my intention to make it longer, though if you remember from a previous chapter I had said that this would be about thirty chapters. That, so far, is looking like a lie. Because there is no way that I'm going to end this after thirty or thirty five chapters. Nothing will have finished the way I want it to. Not to mention-- I have to end it write for Everlasting Winter! (-- name of IMTSFNO prt 2, basically. :P) Enjoy~!

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Chapter Twenty: True Romance

November eighth will be a day that I never forget.

No matter the years that pass, nor the memories made or lost, I will never lose the terrible, haunting feelings that ripped through my being when I received that phone call…

I woke early the Saturday morning following my meeting with Jareth in the park. I was saddened to see that he had gone and I had returned to my room after a nice nap. But with the stress of school and hiding the scents of peaches from Sarah, that hadn't mattered to me for long. The time was as meaningless as the next useless object or thought that crossed my mind. Jareth hadn't visited me at all in the week, but I was too busy and too exhausted to worry about it. Besides, he was a King. He had his own affairs to deal with.

The sunlight poured through my window from the East. Sarah had to go in today and grade papers for her classes, which left me alone for the afternoon. I sighed, and stretched, popping the joints and flexing the muscles that had been stiff all night long. I lazily pulled the blankets from my being, and stood up, feeling the blood flowing in my veins as circulation began the routine again. I crossed to my dresser, pulling out a pair of black denim jeans, a white t-shirt, and a dark red fish net.

I tugged everything on, before pulling my hair into a loose braid that hung at my mid back. I glanced at my reflection in the mirror, tucking strands behind my ears. My stereo gently played a violin version of Finger Eleven's Paralyzer while I fixed my outfit and look. A moment later, just above the volume of the music, I heard my phone buzzing on the side table. Glancing over at it, I saw Heath's name upside down as she tried calling me. I frowned, and walked over to my phone, lifting it into my palm, before sliding it open, and holding it to my ear.

"Hello?" I said. Heath was breathing hard— like he had been running.

"Aerynn?!" He said, breathless.

"Yeah?"

"You need to come to the hospital right now!" I frowned again, and walked to the center of my room. His breathing was ragged, and I heard other voices in the background, but none that I could clearly recognize. Confused and worried, I turned on my heel and faced my lamp, which sat on the table about five feet from me.

"What— why? What happened?" I asked, my heart hammering in my chest. Heath didn't answer for a long moment, which made me worry even more so. What was going on?! Why did I need to go to the hospital? Had something happened to one of my friends? Was Sarah okay? What about Toby? Was the radiation making him sick again? All of these questions circled in my head like a tornado, and I wasn't getting any answers in the short seconds that passed as Heath tried catching his breath before replying.

"I— it's Chelsea…" He stammered, regaining the ability to properly breathe. My heart stopped. "She was in a car accident."

The world froze as my phone fell from my hand, crashing against a wooden box. The battery popped free of the casing, and the phone called was terminated in a matter of moments. I stared at the shaded lamp, my room melting away from my peripheral vision into inky darkness. Only the lamp was there, and soon, it was gone too. It was much colder than before, and I could feel nothing cold sweat formed on my face and the back of my neck. I trembled as the world spun around me, making me sick to my stomach as I stumbled to my stairs.

In any circumstance, because of my dizziness and lack of proper focus, I should have been unable to descend the stairs safely, but I managed it. My limps weren't working right and my bones felt like jelly. Like I had been tasered. I was disoriented as I stumbled through the kitchen and into the living room. The sight of sunlight washing across the floor snapped me back into focus for reasons unknown, and the realization and dread filled my heart as I crashed to the floor, screaming a silent, tear filled scream. This wasn't fair!

Even long after coughing my lungs out, I still shook on the living room floor, stifling sobs that would send my house crumbling. Through a tear-blurred sense of vision, I stood, and hurried to the front door of my house. A wave of fear coursed through my body, mixing with adrenaline as I bolted from my home, leaving the front door ajar. My bare feet pushed off of the grass, which then became pavement. I knew somewhere in the back of my mind that I would regret this later, for every rock and twig that connected with my skin left some kind of scratch or bruise.

Pumping my arms at my sides, I felt like I was flying as I sprinted down the center of my street, seeing the world blur around me. It seemed like I was traveling through the space time continuum. I wasn't sure if I ever breathed as I tore down, passing neighbors and strangers alike. The sensation of wildly running with one destination in mind was similar to when I ran from my father— but this was different. I wasn't running away from danger, but rather to the victim of it. My love, Chelsea— one of my best friends since middle school— had been in a car accident. Tears flew away from my face, and my velocity actually dried them before they managed to streak down my cheeks.

I ripped across a dried meadow, feeling the jagged blades of dead grass cutting against my feet. There was a chain linked fence coming close, but I stepped up onto a flat rock, grabbed the top of the fence with both hands, and hurled myself over the top. I landed in a crouched position, before flying through numerous rows of trees, leaping over exposed roots. My braid snapped against my back, but I didn't care about it. I was certain my heart was racing, but I didn't feel it. Blood pumped through my veins, a drumming sound in my ears that was speeding up with every stride.

The hospital was coming into view. I had to go through an intersection to get to the parking lot. My adrenaline was spiking so badly I didn't bother to wait for the lights, but tore through the middle. Horns honked, and I was stopped short when a Toyota rammed into my side, sending me tumbling to the ground. It had been going slow enough that I wasn't flying. The driver had gotten out, seeing if I was okay, but I had gotten back up and continued running; the pain was subsided by my determination.

The wind whipped around me and clouds rolled over the sunlight. The forecast was said to have clear skies all day long.

Funny how they are often wrong.

Legs aching and lungs burning, I pushed through the revolving door of the hospital, charging passed the front desk. I glanced up above me to see that the ICU was two floors up. I was too wired for the elevator, so I took the stairs three at a time. I'd heard shouting behind me in the front lobby, but it was dulled and muted to my ears. The drumming sounds were still ringing, louder and faster.

Bursting through the doors, I stumbled into the waiting room, seeing Heath, Helena, Caitlyn, and Charlotte crowded with Mrs. Andrews, Heath's mother. Their eyes shot to me, most of them bloodshot from crying. I exhaled loudly, and stopped about twenty feet from them, not remembering that I had been hit briefly by a car. Heath and Helena stared at me for a long moment, their eyes locked at my legs, most likely seeing the cuts and bruises. I glanced down too, before attempting to take a step.

I collapsed to the floor.

"Aerynn!" They cried, rushing over to me. A nurse came too, checking to see if I was okay. Breathing hard, I tried to steady my racing heart, but it was difficult. Slowly, I inhaled through my nose and out through my mouth. The nurse helped me into a wheelchair, even though I protested. My friends swarmed around me with questions as the nurse examined my side, seeing that I had several bruises forming. She lightly pressed on them, but the pain wasn't as bad as she feared. I had no broken bones. Just heavily bruised.

Charlotte wheeled me to where they had been sitting. I had taken the time to really look at my feet as the nurse rushed off to get a first aid kit and bandages. My toes were purple, the under sides of my feet completely scratched raw. My left big toe twitched, and I hissed in pain. The tops were slightly red, but nothing too serious. It was every where else that had made contact with pavement, rocks, and Mother Nature. My hands were shaking, a single puncture mark that was only a few centimeters deep from where I had roughly grabbed the chain link fence.

As the nurse cleaned and bandaged my feet, I glanced up at Heath. "How is she?" He blinked, before laughing slightly.

"You just ran barefoot from your house— not to mention you where also hit by a car— and you're asking how Chelsea is doing. Shouldn't you worry about yourself?" I shrugged, wincing at the pain in my side.

"I've had worse." He sighed.

"She and her mother were in their car, heading down to Borders. A Dodge rammed them head on. That's what one of the nurses told us, anyway. We don't know for sure how she's doing. They won't let us in yet." He said.

"How did you find out?"

"She was conscious long enough to tell them to call one of us. They randomly selected from her phone book. Well… a nurse did, anyway." I nodded slowly, feeling the gauze being pressed between my toes. I looked down, seeing that my left foot looked like it was covered in a sock. The bandaging wound up to my ankles. My hands were still shaking violently. Caitlyn slipped her palm into mine, trying to stop the shakes. I smiled at her as best I could.

"Who else knows?" I asked.

"Just us. We considered calling Derek and Christa, but…" Helena glanced at me, and I didn't look at her. My face was expressionless. I could have cared less, but I knew that Derek would think it was an insult for my being here. If anything, it would have been the exact opposite.

"Decided against it." Charlotte finished. I nodded slowly, glancing down the hall to where I assumed Chelsea would be. My heart had calmed, and I was beginning to shake less and less when a male doctor came shuffling down the corridor. His light brown hair was neat and his brown eyes were calm, but seeming to be tired. I had half the mind to stand, but Heath held me by my arm; a gesture for me to stay in the wheelchair. I sighed softly as the doctor stopped by us.

"Well?" I asked softly. He cleared his throat.

"She's stable, but one of her ribs punctured her left lung. We've finished surgery, so she's sealed up good. Both legs are shattered, and she got a mild concussion. She's resting right now, but if you are quiet, you may see her now if you wish." We nodded slowly, and Helena pushed my wheelchair in front of everyone else as the doctor led us to where they had Chelsea sleeping. The white walls were bare and cold; we passed several doors, before reaching the last one on the left.

The room was a peach color, with a sofa, a bed, and machines hooked up to a bandaged figure. I could see a slight mop of dirty blonde hair pouring from bandages on her skull; her face was pale and her lips gray. Her wrists were wrapped in gauze, slightly tinted. A cream colored blanket covered her from with waist down. She was dressed in a blue gown, her chest rising and falling slowly. Her heart was beating at a steady level. But the sight of her made tears form in my eyes. It wasn't right for her to be lying there like that.

I covered my mouth with my hand, trembling slightly as tears blurred my vision again. I didn't want to see her there. She should have been standing, smiling… not bandaged and barely alive! I turned my head away quickly, shaking more so now than before. Heath began to wheel me away from the room, but I stopped him, inhaling slowly. What I was about to do would be painful, but I would bear it. Gripping the arm rests of the chair, I shakily pulled myself to my feet, biting my lower lips as my toes felt like they were on fire. Using the wall as support, I felt a hand on my shoulder, trying to ease me back down, but I shook my head. The hand slipped away, and I stumbled slowly to the bed where Chelsea lay.

Up close was even worse than I had though it to be. I could better see the bruises around her eyes and nose, the scratches and cuts in her arms. I noticed that her index finger on her left hand was swollen and blue. There were slight burns on her shoulders and her collar bone— I could only assume that the car had caught fire. My hands twitched, and I grabbed the railing of the bed to hold myself steady. My feet were killing me and my side ached painfully. I'd dealt with worse, but then again, I'd never been hit by a car before. I sighed, wondering what Sarah would think…

My head spun slowly, and I closed my eyes, inhaling deeply. I bent down, and kissed Chelsea on the forehead— something I did often in the eighth grade. I felt chilled, and the need to sit down— better yet to lie down— was growing on me. My knuckles had stretched and turned white from gripping the railing so fiercely, and I stood as straight as I could, and turned to face my other friends. I sighed again, glancing down at the floor. I didn't want to leave by myself, but all the same, I didn't want to have to call Sarah and ask her to come and get me. Mrs. Anderson had to stay with my other friends, so I had no other choice. Lower than they could hear, I whispered a delicate name. Heath and Helena walked over to help me into the chair again, but a figure appeared in the doorway. His blond hair was swept over his green and silver colored eyes. I stared at him, taking in the beautiful sight of his creamy skin covered in a white flannel shirt, black pants, and black boots. He looked about twenty, though the last time I had seen him in this guise, he appeared about thirty.

"Who're you?" Heath asked, slightly defensive.

"My name is Roy; I'm a friend of Aerynn's." Jareth said, his voice sounding slightly accented in Austrian, but that could have been a Fae's accent. I couldn't tell for sure. Perhaps it was part of the illusion. I hobbled over with the help of Charlotte and Helena. Jareth frowned, and glanced at me quickly. His expression softened, but I twitched my hand as if to say 'later'. He hummed in response, and gently held onto my waist as I slid my arm around his. Caitlyn and Charlotte glanced warily at him, perhaps vaguely remembering him from before, but I smiled. I was thankful that he looked young, for this would have been strange indeed otherwise.

"I'll be fine. I promise." I said softly.

"Don't get hit by anymore cars, y'hear?" Heath said, half jokingly, half serious. I smiled, and nodded, feeling Jareth's hold on me tighten, and his eyes piercing into me.

"I won't." I said, and I hobbled across the threshold of the room, leaning on Jareth for support. He wrapped both of his arms around me, and I buried my face into his chest as the world spun around us. My eyes were squeezed shut even long after the world stood still, and I felt familiar blankets beneath me. I sighed, before slowly opening my eyes again, and staring up at Jareth. He was still disguised as Roy, but his eyes were normal again. His face was stern and worried, perhaps even angry.

"You were hit by a car?!" He hissed. I frowned, and looked away, but nodded. He sighed, though it sounded more like an anguished moan.

"Aerynn, I hate seeing you hurt like this… can't you imagine the misery I was in when I saw what your rat bastard father did to you?" He bowed his head into his hands— he looked so small and sad. I reached over, and stroked his hair gently. It was silky, just like always, but shorter; lighter. Beneath my touch, his hair darkened to its normal color, and grew out. I stared in awe at the transformation. His clothes melted into his normal attire of a white poet shirt, a black vest, and grey pants.

"It wasn't exactly my fault that I was hit." He glanced up at me.

"Why were you hit in the first place?"

"Heath gave me a call and said that Chelsea was in the hospital. Out of fear and sadness, I ran from here to there. I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings and I was hit." His eyes sparkled with shock, and he exhaled loudly, placing his forehead on my shoulder. His fingers delicately trailed over my bandaged feet.

"You ran barefoot, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"There's always time for safety."

"My adrenaline was spiked— I didn't feel anything until the nurse started cleaning and bandaging them."

"That's not the point though…" He whispered, carefully unwrapping my feet. I stifled several hisses of pain, until he tossed the bloodied wrappings to the floor. My jaw dropped at the mottled sight of my bare feet. They were purple, red, blue, and black in various places. Cuts and bruises littered the once tanned flesh, and I looked away. Jareth was right, there was always time for safety.

"Shit…" He said, his fingers lightly gliding over my toes. I lunged forward, and bit down on his shoulder, muffling my cry. He hissed, his hand flinching away from my foot and grabbing my wrist. I bit down as hard as I could, despite his words for me to let go. How could I let go when my foot felt like it was being burned and run over by a truck at the exact same time?! He must have been mad to think that I would simply tolerate it.

"Aerynn… if you let go of me, I can heal it." He said. My jaw locked for a brief moment, and I thought I tasted blood, but that would have been impossible. That would have meant that I had gnawed through leather and cloth— not to mention his skin. Slowly, I pulled away, biting down on my tongue instead. His fingers hovered over my foot, and I could feel the heat radiating off of them. I squeezed my eyes shut again, expecting for there to be massive amounts of pain before anything got better, but the burning and crushing sensations minimized to a small point, before vanishing. I opened my eyes, and saw that my foot was completely normal.

"Other foot." He said simply. I nodded, and gingerly positioned my leg over his lap so he could unwrap my bandage and heal me. I knew what to expect, and I braced myself when needed. Just as before, the gut wrenching sensations of pain vanished quickly, and my foot was normal. Jareth sighed, looking slightly exhausted. There were tinted circles under his eyes, but nothing that sleep couldn't handle, it seemed.

"What side to the car hit you?" He asked. I pointed to my right hip, and he nodded.

"Okay, lay down with your feet at your pillow." He said. I slowly did as he was told, wincing occasionally, but nothing was serious. Jareth lifted my shirt to just beneath my breasts, and I noticed from the corner of my eye that a white-ish glow formed around his fingers. The room smelled strong of peaches, and I relaxed. He traced different shapes that I couldn't tell one from another against my side and onto my stomach. My skin felt warmer, and he told me to slowly roll onto my stomach. I did as I was told, and noticed that I felt numb. He traced onto my back as well, up along my spine. I exhaled heavily, feeling drowsy.

"There." He said softly. I moaned in response, feeling the bed shift as he climbed over me. I sat up, and rested my head against his chest, hearing his heart beating beneath his skin. I smiled slightly. His hand played with my hair slowly. He began to hum a soft melody that sounded like the song he had sung to me— what seemed like ages ago, yet only a week. I closed my eyes.

"Aerynn…?" He whispered.

"Yes?"

"I— I love you." My eyes opened again, but I didn't turn to face him. I let his words sink in, and I smiled slowly. His left hand rested near my head, and I reached up, intertwining my fingers with his.

"I love you too." I said.

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Jareth: SQUEE! I'M IN LOVE!
UndergroundValentine: Did you seriously just say 'squee'?
Jareth: Yes...
UndergroundValentine: You are so gay.
Jareth: YOU DO IT TOO!
UndergroundValentine: That's different.
Jareth: No. No it's not!
Alice: He's got a point.
UndergroundValentine: SHUT UP ALICE!
Alice: And I thought I was the angry and violent one.
Jareth: LOL.
UndergroundValentine: DO YOU WANT TO LOSE YOUR MANHOOD?!
Jareth: EEP! *hides behind Alice*
UndergroundValentine: DIDN'T THINK SO!
Jackie: Ho--snap!
UndergroundValentine: GAH! *storms off*
Jackie: What's up with her?
Alice: Who knows.
Jareth: Eep...

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Responses~

notwritten: thanks hun!

Opulent Skyscrapers: Neaw, thanks for the review hun! And Vizael can't perish in fire. Cause he's... you know... a bloody fire mage. XP

Dothacker16: I must be. :P Not that you mind, though, right?

CrystalusAurora: I typically like discussing Jareth's family because we never knew if he even had any! People like doing that because then they can do whatever they want! We don't have to follow a strict image. But with the Laby characters in general, we have flexibility. Jareth can be a romantic sweetheart, or a sinister lust-crazed Fae who hunts on poor fifteen year old Sarah. And Sarah can be all damsel in distress or a fierce woman who knows right from wrong. :P So, I can't speak for everyone else who writes about Jareth's family, but I add the fact that he has a mother, father, sister, and brother because then I have a broader sense of relationships other than romance. Besides, I believe that since Jareth is kick ass, he should have a kick ass family! XD