Chapter 24

What the hell was going on? First, he wouldn't sleep in the bed, and now he wanted to find something for her to do? What the hell was the man thinking?! Find something for her to do. Ha, to get her mind off the War. Why the man was crazy. She didn't have the War forefront in her mind. No. She was more worried about him not getting enough sleep.

Standing in their bedroom, Sarah sighed as she looked out over the Labyrinth. She had so much on her plate already. Toby took quite a lot out of her, and Jareth took the rest. He hadn't touched her really since the night they had gone to the Heart.

All right, he said he loved her but hadn't done much to prove it. Well, okay, he had but not since they had gotten married. Okay, he did do the romantic dinner to make up for the almost day long meeting, but he hadn't kissed her. She really was starting to doubt he had ever slept in the bed with her. What the hell was going on?

Sarah moved away from the windows. Okay, he must think she was bored to think she needed something to do. She would have to talk to him about it. That is if she ever saw him today. She hadn't seen even a hair of him since he had walked out of this very room.

Taking a deep breath, Sarah rested a hand on the chair Jareth had sat in the dark. He and she really needed to have a nice long talk. She moved around the chair and sat down. Things needed to change, and they needed to happen as soon as possible. She needed to also deal with her feelings for him.

Sarah rested her head against the back of the chair. She had pushed dealing with them because of everything going on, but now she needed to deal with them, before anything else happened.

Since that night five years ago, he had haunted her day and night. She compared the few guys she had gone on dates with to him, and none of them could compare to Him.

Sarah released a breath. Did she love him? Ah, she barely knew him. Yes, she had married him, but that had been because there had been no choice. She might barely know him, but there were a few things she did know. He cared about his people a great deal, even the ones that were waiting to declare war against him. Probably cause of the wish-away children, he liked kids and seemed to care a great deal about them. Jareth would play with Toby as if he was just a normal dad playing with his kid. He'd be a great a dad. Sarah's eyes grew wide. Where the hell did that come from?

Sarah took a deep breath. She really didn't want to think about that. Right now she didn't need to even think about that. Slowly, she stood up. She refused to let those images even enter her mind. Walking back over to the windows, Sarah sighed. She looked back out over the Labyrinth. The dark clouds looked as if they were piling up on top of each other. That couldn't be good. Lightening flashed among the clouds.

A pop came from behind her. Slowly, she turned to face the sound. "We need to talk."

Jareth sighed. "I know." He looked past her. "They haven't given up."

"Can they see that?"

"Yes, but I doubt they know what they mean."

"Jareth, what's going on? Why aren't you getting any sleep?" She gestured towards the bed.

"Sarah, it has to do more with me than you."

Sarah frowned. "Is it you don't want me? You said you love me." Tears started to fall down her face. He had lied to her. She was so stupid for believing him.

Jareth walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her.

Sarah struggled against him, but he just held on. "Let me go, Jareth."

"No, Sarah. You're going to listen." Sighing, Jareth pressed his forehead to hers. "I do want you, Sarah, but I have so much on my mind. I am trying to stay one step ahead of Garen, and he's being difficult."

She nodded. "I understand, but that doesn't mean you can sleep deprive yourself."

Jareth pulled back a bit. "I know, but everytime I close my eyes I remember something that needs to be done, or should be done."

"Not a good excuse."

"It's all I have, Sarah. I get a few hours at best, but nothing what I should."

"I can help you know."

Jareth sighed. "I know."

Sarah pushed gently against him. "Then why don't you get some sleep, and I'll do what I can. If I need help I'll call Vivienne."

Slowly, Jareth released her. "It doesn't work like that."

"I'm fairly sure that if you laid down, you'd fall asleep eventlually."

Groaning, Jareth moved towards the door. "Sarah."

"Don't Sarah me. Take a nap. I'm sure I'll do fine for a few hours."

Jareth turned towards her. "Alright, I'll take a nap." Sighing, he walked towards the bed. "Sarah, I'll do my best to spend as much time as possible with you."

"Time isn't the problem, Jareth."

"I know, Sarah, but it does have a hand in it."

Sarah frowned. "I'm still trying to figure out what exactly I feel for you."

Jareth sat on the bed. "I know, but me trying to give you space may work against that."

Sarah shook her head. "No, it helped me some, but I need to be reminded..."

"That I love you. I understand, Sarah."

"We're not finished, Jareth, but go head and get some sleep."

Jareth closed his eyes and quickly opened them. "What else, Sarah?"

"Oh, I'm really upset about that, but I'm furious about this crazy idea of yours of finding me something to do."

"Sarah."

"Really, Jareth, don't Sarah me. I have enough to deal with. Toby takes up most of my time."

"Actually, I've been thinking of getting a tutor for Toby. He is old enough."

"I'm not letting some stranger raise my brother."

"I'm not asking you to let that happen, but Toby does need to learn, Sarah."

"So it would just be a teacher?"

"Yes, the tutor would only be a teacher. We are going to raise him, and I don't plan to get someone we don't know."

"Who do you have in mind?"

"Actually, I was thinking of both Sir Didymus and the Wiseman."

"Why?"

"They each have their own area of expertise."

Sarah nodded. "When will they start?"

"They can start tomorrow, but with Toby busy with his lessons you'll need something to keep you busy."

"I doubt there really is anything that I could do here."

"There has to be something?"

"I don't know how to sew, embroider, or anything like that."

Jareth nodded. "What do you know how to do?"

"Not much really. After my run, I started writing, but I can't do that all the time."

"True." Jareth sighed, "we can think of something. You could always learn something new."

"True, but I've never really been interested in learning that kind of stuff. No matter what, I want to be the one who chooses."

"Don't worry, you will be. I just wanted to find something so you wouldn't be bored. Once things get bad I won't be able to spend as much time with you as I can now."

"I understand, Jareth, but it's my choice not yours."

Jareth released a breath. "I'll leave it up to you, Sarah."

Sarah nodded as she moved away from him. "Good." At least, she'd have some control over her life.

Jareth stood up. "Wait, Sarah."

Sarah stopped and looked at him. "I'm still a bit upset, Jareth, but I'll be fine."

Jareth walked over to her. "I'm not a mind reader, Sarah. If something is bothering you, please tell me." He gently took hold of her forearm.

Looking at him with a raised eyebrow, Sarah moved along as he pulled her back towards him. "What?"

Placing his hands on her shoulders, Jareth turned her to face him completely. "That might have taken care of, but the other matter hasn't been dealt with."

"I've still got time to figure stuff out, you said so yourself." She hoped he meant that he would stay so hands off.

Jareth nodded. "Yes, but that's not what I was talking about, exactly." He bent down towards her as he moved a hand towards the back of her neck. "Stop me if I go too far for you."

Sarah's eyes grew for a moment as Jareth captured her lips with his. Slowly, her eyes closed shut as his other hand gathered her hair. She almost felt like she floating and the only thing grounding her was Jareth. Her hands soon found themselves buried in his mass of wild hair.

There was no telling how long they stood there. Hell, Sarah didn't care if he reordered time. There was no longer any doubt in her mind that he wanted her. She could feel it.

Finally, they came up for air. Both of them were breathing heavily trying to catch their breath.

Slowly, Jareth lowered his hands to her waist as Sarah lowered hers to his shoulders. "Don't ever think I don't want you, Sarah."

Sarah swallowed. "Promise."

Jareth nodded. "All right. I promise to never let it enter your mind again."

Sarah nodded. "Kay."

A slow smile formed on Jareth's face. "Now, you go on, and I'll take that nap."

Sarah nodded. "Okay."

Sarah watched as Jareth walked back to the bed and climb on top of the covers. Shaking her head, she left him to his nap.

So there is Chapter 24. I do hope you liked it. I haven't really been working on Chapter 26 as much as I would like. Blame work. It's looking like I'm going to real busy the next few weeks. So I can't say when it will be finished. I will not update Chapter 25 until I have at least finished the first draft of Chapter 26.

As always, thanks for all of the lovely reviews, and review if you please.

Love,

CL

Edited: 6/13/14-More changes really.