After Sarah had gotten home, she noticed that the clock had disappeared at some point. No one was entirely certain when that had happened, but they all took it to mean that they'd stopped it in time. After dropping Toby off, she went back to her apartment to see everyone had picked up where they'd left off. The news, broadcasting networks, people's daily lives. Never before was the concept of a Monday thru Friday work week more obviously a manmade construct.

She'd sat up, watching the news for several hours after returning 'd wondered if her lover hadn't reordered time in order to explain away the clocks and calendars all being marked correctly on people's computers and cell phones. It was unsettling, how for the rest of the world, the events she'd taken part in had never happened.

She'd fallen into a fitful sleep, eventually, when her last dose of cocaine wore off. She'd been on her feet for more than twenty four hours total, dealing with magical mischief and trying to save the world. She wasn't entirely certain how she'd managed that, even now. Not the falling asleep, or dealing with all the crazy that had taken place in the last day. It was made more difficult because Jareth hadn't come straight to her, and so she didn't see him in the hours after things finally quieted down.

She woke up sometime near midday, a heavy weight over her midsection and when she rolled over, she found Jareth laying there. She looked at his sleeping face in surprise, feeling a twist of worry in her heart. He seldom just crawled into bed with her to sleep. If she was sleeping when he arrived, usually, he woke her up for some mischief before they'd pass out in her bed.

She lifted her hand, working it through his hairs, finding some of the strands crushed and tangled. She eased the tangles loose, fluffing the hair that wasn't crushed by the pillow. As she did, she considered his face, noting the dark marks under his eyes, the way his luminous skin looked a bit dull and gray compared to usual.

He was exhausted.

His brow scrunched a bit after a long moment and his brilliant blue eyes opened, meeting hers. They were dulled by fatigue, as well, but he gave her a grin that was wile for all the exhaustion in it. He tightened his arm about her waist, hugging her closer. "You fell asleep with a destroyed apartment door, precious. Honestly, do you enjoy making me worry so?"

She glanced towards the door and found that it wasn't in pieces any longer. In fact, it didn't look like anything had ever touched it in the first place. It was closed and secure, once again. She turned her gaze towards him and gave him a small smile before she answered. "I was tired."

"Hmm," he murmured in acknowledgement. He closed his eyes again, doing nothing at all to stop the fingers she was working through his feathery hair. "I'm quite certain that you were. You lost a fair bit of blood, even with me healing you as soon as it was safe to do so. You should have something rich in iron later. Steaks or sushi?"

That sounded almost like he was suggesting they go on a date. She gave him a suspicious look, her lips twisting in amusement. "Will I be eating alone?"

He cracked his eyes, and a grin curved his lips. "Hmm. No, I think not. I need to go along to make sure you do what I said. So I suppose we'll be eating together, tonight. If you're up for it."

She nodded in agreement, a smile curving her lips. She considered his expression for a long moment, the bone-deep exhaustion in it. She hesitated to bring up what they needed to talk about, but he was here, now. She wasn't certain when he'd be needing to go back to the Underground.

"We needed to talk?"

"More than that, my love, we needed to sleep." The words were accompanied by a sleepy smile and his hand slipped up her side, cuddling her closer. After a moment of snuggling her, he went very serious and his fingers found her chin, tilting her face so she couldn't look away from him. "Never do that again. Hurting yourself to hurt our enemy. I can't bear that, Sarah."

She slipped her fingers from his hair, cupping his cheek in her palm. "Then don't you ever let anyone ever use me against you like that again. What were you thinking, Jareth? Dropping that spear? He was going to kill me regardless of your cooperation, you know that. Next time, just do like you did with the Gancanagh and you stab me and the one who has hands on me."

"Are all mortals as confusing and frustrating as you, precious?" he asked, his expression conflicted, even as his lips curved into an exasperated smile.

"I don't know." Sarah felt a grin pulling at her lips, too, as she answered him. "But somehow I doubt it."

A laugh bubbled up from her lover, and he pushed a hand back through his hair. She felt a giggle escape her and they eventually lapsed into a comfortable silence for a few minutes. She could feel his fingers brushing against her side, not far from where she'd stabbed herself. His thumb stroking lazy, soft circles as they lay there, snuggling close. He was just opening his lips to speak when her cellphone rang near her head.

He gave a theatrical groan, rolling onto his back as she rolled towards her phone, lifting it so she could see the screen. Her mother's name showed on the screen and she remembered that she hadn't called her to check on her. A sigh escaped her and she glanced at Jareth for a long moment before answering the phone. "Hi, mom."

"Sarah, is everything alright? You called me at three in the morning, I must have been asleep." Her mother, Linda - now Linda Stewart - sounded worried. She could relate, she'd worried about her mother and father and stepmother, as well.

"Yeah, mom. Everything's fine, I promise. I just had something I wanted to tell you." She hesitated a moment, glancing towards her lover, who had shifted to get out of her bed. She reached out, snagging him by the back of his trousers, giving him a tug that had him landing back onto the bed beside her. It earned her a look of annoyance, but she just slipped her hand through his, giving it a squeeze.

"What's up, sweetheart?" her mother asked, still sounding concerned.

"Mom, I'm getting married." She said it, smiling at Jareth as she did, and he looked up at her in wide-eyed surprise.

"What?!" Her mother yelped, sounding as surprised as her lover looked. "When did this happen?"

Sarah grinned, lacing her fingers with Jareth's. "Depends on what we're counting," she admitted. "He asked me initially a year ago, but -"

"And your father and I haven't gotten a chance to meet this mystery man, yet?! We didn't even know you were dating someone!"

Sarah winced, but her grin wouldn't go away and she kept right on looking into Jareth's eyes as she spoke. "Well, we've both been sort of busy. And even though he asked me a year ago, didn't mean it was necessarily going to work out. So I didn't want to tell anyone, until now. I guess I was worried all this time he'd get tired of me."

Jareth's brilliant blue eyes were searching hers with intensity and he shifted towards her. "As if I'd have it in me to let you go, precious," he said, a smirk curving his lips that was softened by the light in those eyes.

"Okay, so when is this wedding, I guess," Linda said, sounding bewildered.

"We're still working on that part, mom. But I wanted to tell you. I still have to call dad, and tell him, too." Assuming Jareth didn't pounce on her. His expression was starting to make her think he was going to pounce on her before this call was over.

There was a long pause on the end of the line. "Does your brother know?"

"Toby knows about him," she confirmed, her lips twitching into a smile. No need for her mother to know, however, that her brother not only knew of him, he'd been aware of all of this for ages, and had actually met him.

"So, when are we going to meet him." It wasn't a question.

Sarah saw panic flash on her lover's face for just a moment and he gave his hand a squeeze, smiling at him. "I'll talk to him about it and see when we can all get together, okay?"

Another long silence on the other end of the line. Then, her mother sounded wistful as she asked the question she'd known was coming.

"Do you love him?"

She knew Jareth heard that question, his eyes had widened a bit, his pupils dilating as he looked at her. She gave him a wide smile, her heart feeling like it was swelling with all the emotions in her chest. A sigh slipped between her lips and her eyes closed as she answered her mother. "Yes, mom. I love him. More than I have words to express."

Whatever her mother said next was lost when Jareth pinned the wrist holding her phone down to the bed and leaned over her. He kissed her so deep, it felt like he was trying to devour her. She could hear her mother talking, but couldn't have answered since her lover had tied up most of her neural functions and her mouth with his extracurricular activity. After a moment, he took her phone from her, lifting it to his ear and she blinked, looking up at him.

"I apologize, Linda. Your daughter will have to call you back, later." Then he hung up the phone, tossed it behind him and leaned down and kissed her again, his tongue getting reacquainted with the further reaches of her mouth. She gave a surprised giggle, then a happy groan left her as she wrapped her arms up around him, her leg thrown over one of his.

His weight settled against her and she curled her hands behind his neck, urging him to not go too far away. For just a moment, he broke the kiss and drew back, looking down at her with mischief in his eyes.

"I believe, precious, that you owe me an argument," he said, and his voice was light and teasing, his lips brushing hers with every word. The declaration startled a giggle out of her. "And the potential for destroying some of your furniture in the process. I believe we'll start with this bed. I never liked this bed, you know?"

She gave another giggle before his lips found hers again and she hugged him tight against her, pressing her body closer to his. She slid her hands down his back and dragged her nails up the length of it, enjoying the way he hissed against her lips in response. "You don't like my bed?"

"Not even a little," he murmured against her mouth, his hands working the t-shirt she wore up her sides until he drew back enough to pull it off of her, tossing it into the apartment over his shoulder as he'd done with her phone. He leaned down, again, but didn't kiss her lips this time, his lips on her neck before she felt the sharp scrape of his teeth against her skin. A moment later, he bit down hard enough that it stung and she cried out, arching towards him before he soothed the area with a wet slide of his tongue.

She curled her hands into his starlight hair, arching towards him, the tingle of his bare skin against hers drawing a quiet groan of pleasure from her. The feeling was everywhere, his magic pulsing against her skin. An idea managed to break through the pleasure assaulting her and she grinned. She closed her eyes, focusing for a moment and starting to draw power up through her and she knew the moment he felt it crackling against her skin because he went very still and a choked sound escaped him.

He lifted his face, and there was wicked intent in his gaze as his brilliant blue eyes pierced hers. "Oh, we really do need to examine these new quirks to your gifts that you're discovering, precious."

The tone in his voice was husky, and she felt him hard and thick against her hip. She grabbed the hair on the sides of his face, using it to pull him down and kiss him, again. "Less talking, more destroying this bed you hate, yeah?"

"As my lady wishes," he laughed and she didn't have the ability to think about much after that. They wasted precious seconds squirming out of pants and underwear before he slipped his arms under her knees. She felt the head of his cock brush against her and her head fell back against the bed, arching to try to push them closer, still. He laughed, and when he filled her, they both gave answering moans. There was no slowness or teasing in him. He started fucking her - hard, deep thrusts that had her arching towards him and crying out for want of more. She dragged her nails up his back again, earning another hiss of pleasure from him. His lips found her neck again, his teeth worrying the flesh there.

Each time their hips met, she heard the bed strain under the force of it, but he effectively drove any concerns or thoughts out of her head. In a detached way, she heard something slamming, a rhythmic pounding that wasn't her bedframe smacking the wall. She couldn't place the sound and Jareth didn't seem to give a damn about whatever it was.

All Jareth let her focus on was him. His hands sliding over her skin, his teeth and lips brushing against her, his cock filling her over and over until they came together. She came with a cry that she didn't bother trying to muffle. Jareth's teeth pricked her skin, again, just on the edge of too much but it spiked her release as his hips pressed against hers and he throbbed inside of her.

His body crushed hers, and she clung to him, her embrace as tight as his own. She definitely needed to find the time to tell him she loved him more often, she thought, a smile curving her lips. As they regained awareness of everything around them, Sarah noted that the bed's metal frame had still managed to hold out to their vigorous sex. She bit her lip, but a giggle squeaked out of her, anyways.

Jareth lifted his head, looking at the bed beneath them with consternation, then he snapped his fingers. It gave a shuddering jolt and the metal whined before the frame gave out. Another laugh burst out of her and she saw him looking down at her with a pleased grin on his face. Then, she heard swearing and the sound of her downstairs neighbor slamming a broom up against the floor.

"I suppose it's fortunate that they didn't hear us fuck a hole in your bathroom door, last night," Jareth teased, his tone a quiet growl that, as ever, did wonderful things to her libido. She laughed, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him down against her chest. Her lover relaxed against her, still buried inside of her, his arms tight around her. "When do you wish for me to meet your family?"

She let her fingers play through his soft hair as he cuddled her, finding his weight over her a comfort. "I'll see what we can work out after I talk to my dad." She hesitated for a moment, a thought coming to her mind that caused her to grow sad. She brushed her fingers down his cheek, drawing his attention until he looked at her. He did so much, during what was twenty four hours for her. He'd come here, looking exhausted. "How long were you in your realm, getting things straightened out before you were able to come back here? Never mind during the situation with the moon when you were hypnotised or while time was on the clock."

He hesitated for a long moment while he considered his answer. His fingers found hers and he laced them together with a sigh. "I was under the thrall of the moon for about six weeks. I had a precious, brief time with you before you sent me back, and then it was closer to six months. Time moves differently, between here and there. It's like the tide. Sometimes, just a brief period here is months there, sometimes, a month here is mere days there."

"I wondered if that wasn't the case." How long had he been waiting for her, she wondered, and she gave his hands a squeeze. "I'm sorry I made you wait so long."

"For what?" he asked, blinking at her in confusion.

"For me."

His perplexed expression melted away as he understood what she was saying. "Sarah -"

"I didn't want to have another thing like this happen without me saying it to you. And here I am, making you wait longer still for me to be your wife. I told my mother it had been a year, but that's just been on this side of the veil. It's been much longer for you, hasn't it."

He glanced away from her eyes. For a long moment, she wasn't certain he was going to answer him. She hadn't compelled his answer, so it wasn't like he had to. Still, his arms shifted around her waist and his head pillowed against her breasts and he sighed. "Sarah, I'm immortal - for the most part, at least. I've waited for a very long time for you. A few more years makes no difference in forever."

"Will this be like it was for Grandmammy Rhi?" she asked, combing her fingers through his feathery hair.

He looked up at her, his expression warm. "You'd already be able to do that, if you wished it. Even without a ring involved. You chose to be my lover, and if you still wish to be whenever you pass, then you'll cross the veil and come to my side. Just as she did for her husband. I admit, however, I'm greedy. I don't want to wait that long. If you said you'd give up your world, I would spirit you away to mine right now. We'd rule the Goblin Kingdom together until we both decide it's time to move on to the Summerlands."

She smiled at him, her expression soft. "Maybe not quite yet, Jareth. My brother just found out that he's got Goblin magic. He needs both of us to help him understand what that means for him. Yes, both of us, because you understand Goblin magic in ways I don't. But there will definitely come a time when I will make that decision.

He leaned down, his forehead resting against hers. He brushed his fingers down her cheek, leaving a tingling trail in their wake. "Besides, you want your parents to get to see their daughter get married, hmm?"

She smiled up at him and nodded. He heaved a dramatic sigh and came to rest against her, again. His arms were tight around her as they lay there, her combing her fingers through his hair, taking a moment to just enjoy the quiet contentment. She knew she'd have to call her father and step-mother, later. But right now, that could wait. Everything except them could wait for now.

They'd just saved two worlds, after all. It wasn't too much to ask, she thought, for the heroes to get some time and take a break. Her lips curved into a smile and she gave her lover a squeeze. "I have an idea."

He went still and glanced up at her, lifting a brow. "Is this idea going to kill us?"

"It's a Tuesday night, Jareth, I know how to restrain myself." She scoffed, her lips twisting, somewhere between a smile and frown.

"No, darling, you absolutely do not." He laughed, and he rolled them so she was sitting over him, again, his eyes shining up at her. "Then again, I admit that if you did, we probably wouldn't get along half so well."