A/N: Thank you for all the well-wishes! I'm feeling much better now. I appreciate all of you.

Jareth's dramatic entrance bought him immediate popularity. By the time they'd gotten the lights back on and he'd alighted gracefully from the stage, he was mobbed by students. It was only Sarah and the Cullens who would resist the allure. Edward had gone tense beside her and even Alice looked upset, sending more pointed looks towards Edward. After finally raising her head out of her hands, Sarah caught Jareth's eye as he gave her a smug wink. She groaned and buried her head again.

Strangely enough—and though Sarah refused to admit it—Jareth not only looked the part of a theater teacher, but he looked good. His normally wild blond hair had been pulled back into a pony trail and his clothes fell somewhere halfway between normal teacher wear and his usual outlandish costumes. It would have been a stretch to call him normal-looking, but that only served to make him stand out all the more. At the very least he'd opted to wear blue jeans as opposed to his usual tights. There were enough murmurs around him from the girls as it was, Sarah didn't even want to imagine what they'd think if they saw that.

"Did you know?" Edward asked quietly. Sarah raised her head again. He wasn't looking at her, but Sarah knew she was expected to answer.

"I guessed," she said. "The timing was suspicious."

"But you said nothing?"

"What good would it have done?" she asked before sighing. "I was hoping I was being paranoid." Hoping but not really believing. Of course it was Jareth. Sarah couldn't even pretend to be surprised. "This is going to be a pain."

"And?" Sarah glanced over at Edward with confusion. What else did he want? An apology? However much Jareth bothered him, Sarah had more cause to be annoyed, didn't she? "You're not going to do anything?"

"Do what?" Sarah asked, lifting her arms up for a full body shrug. "What can I do? He's not really the kind to meekly follow orders, in case you haven't noticed. Once he's set his mind to it, there's no stopping him." If she had that kind of power over him, she wouldn't have had to travel all the way across the country. No, in the end it seemed she was the one who had no power.

Her words clearly didn't sit well with Edward, whose face continued darkening. For once someone else was the center of attention, thankfully, so his chilling anger went unnoticed. Unnoticed by everyone but Sarah. A small chill ran down her spine. Maybe she didn't think there was anything she could do, but his expression left her thinking that she had to try. Sighing, and with her Jareth-sized headache firmly in place, Sarah stepped forward to attempt and bring some order.

Mr. King—as Jareth had delighted in calling himself—had very little backstory to him. As Sarah pushed into the crowd, she could hear him being flooded with questions, all of which he met with a thoughtful hum and a casual attitude that left her believing he was making up every answer right on the spot. Each one made Sarah regret showing up ever more.

"What's your first name?"

"Jareth."

"That's a weird name. Where does that come from?"

"It's a secret."

"What? No fair! Is it foreign?"

"You might say that."

"That's so cool!" Somehow all of his cagey answers only incited more interest from the crowd around him, though every new question sent a jolt of panic through Sarah. Jareth was good at a great many things, but she'd never known him to be subtle. "Where are you from?" Jareth tapped a finger to his chin, a secretive little smirk tugging at his lips.

"From a very special and magical place. Far, far away."

"Where's that?" Jareth opened his mouth to speak, but Sarah coughed, reminding him not to say too much. A grin spread over his features.

"Phoenix." Sarah was glaring. How much did he know? Every time he spoke she felt as though she was being toyed with. A few of the other students turned towards her, making Sarah hurry to adjust her expression lest she give anything away. She could see amusement dancing in Jareth's eyes. Damn him.

"Aren't you from Phoenix too?" someone asked her. The throbbing in her head increased to the point she didn't bother to look who was talking. She forced a smile that she didn't feel.

"Small world," she commented with her very best attempt at sounding casual.

"Do you two know each other?" A chill flashed through her and Sarah became painfully aware of the cold sweat clinging to her skin. By now she couldn't see anything, all too focused on the pounding of her heart. She let out a laugh that sounded surprisingly calm.

"There are 1.6 million people in Phoenix," she said. To deflect Edward's probing questions of the previous months, she'd read the entire Wikipedia article on Phoenix. Twice. She could have recited those basic facts in her sleep. "We've never met."

"But," Jareth began and Sarah squeezed her eyes shut. Silently she begged him to stop talking. "You do remind me of someone I used to know." Sarah's eyes popped open and she looked at Jareth pleadingly. His eyes twinkled back at her before he finally turned his gaze away. "Ah, but her name wasn't Bella. What was it?" Jareth's eyes flickered back to Sarah again. She swallowed, fists balling at her sides as she tried her best to keep in her angry retorts. Her face burned, but she knew that in this moment he held all the power.

"Oh, but look at the time," said Jareth, finally making Sarah look up at him. Her cheeks were still flushed lightly pink, and anger seethed within her. "We've gotten ourselves distracted, haven't we? I do believe it's time to start rehearsals." He was toying with her, that much was certain, but she felt a rush of relief as he segued away from the previous topic. Not that talking about the production with him would be any better, but at least she felt herself calming down again.

"O-oh… yeah," Sarah said, still feeling like her legs were shaking but at least she was able to tear her eyes away from him as she dug through her bag. "A script. I need to… get you… a script."

"What play is it we're doing?" Jareth addressed the room at large, but Sarah could tell that he already knew. He sounded so cocky in his tone and puffed out his chest in such a way that she was certain someone had already told him. She sighed quietly to herself. Her head hurt. Right now she wished she could be anywhere else.

"It's called The Labyrinth," said Mike helpfully. "It's about a princess who has to solve a maze to save her brother from the evil Goblin King." Jareth turned his gaze onto Mike, his smug amusement finally fading and a look of affront crossing his face.

"Now, now, that's quite a judgement. Evil?" Jareth shook his head dismissively. "Cruel, perhaps, but isn't that what the princess wanted? After being locked away in her castle for so long, wasn't she looking for an adventure?" Jareth's eyes found her again, and Sarah couldn't look away. "Is it not possible that she misunderstood him all this time?" Sarah swallowed. She felt Edward suddenly standing next to her, body tensed as though only barely holding himself back. It would be a disaster if he lost it in the middle of the auditorium with so many people watching, but Sarah still couldn't take her eyes off of Jareth.

"Good people don't steal babies," she said flatly, though with a tremor to her voice.

"A man does what his lady commands," returned Jareth.

"Or he's just looking for excuses."

"Is he the one looking?" Jareth laid emphasis on his words in such a way that left Sarah feeling defensive.

"All she wanted was to take her brother and go back home."

"Then tell me Miss… Swan," Jareth's brow furrowed at the name, "this princess… when she did return back to her castle—and with her brother no less—was she happy?"

"Of course," Sarah replied, a little too quickly, like she wanted to convince herself. The way Jareth raised an eyebrow said that he didn't believe it.

"And she didn't miss the Goblin King? Not even a little?"

"Not even a little."

"A sad fate for him then," said Jareth quietly and without his usual self-assuredness. She could have fooled herself into believing his eyes looked sad. As quickly as he could stoke indignant fires within her, he cooled them with just a look.

"A story that must end in tragedy," he continued just as seriously. "But a complex and interesting role, is he not?" Jareth's tone picked up again, reminding Sarah that they were still standing in the crowded auditorium. It was so easy to forget about the rest of the world when she was with Jareth. There was something about him that demanded attention. "Whoever undertakes that part will have some very large shoes to fill." The way he directed the words toward Edward made Sarah certain he'd already surmised who was playing the role.

"You've seen this play done before?" asked one student. Jareth smirked.

"You might even say I was in it," he replied, a knowing smirk hanging on his lips.

"Really?" Someone tugged on Sarah's arm. "Then you must know him! That's where you saw the play, right? Phoenix?"

"I've never seen it," said Sarah coolly.

"But you said…."

"You must have misunderstood." There was something about her tone that warned not to push her. She thrust the script at Jareth, smacking his hands as she did so and hoping it would serve as a reminder to stop talking.

"A pity," said Jareth. "Not only was the role of the Goblin King expertly done, but the princess played her part perfectly." Sarah suppressed another glare. There was only so much blatant hinting he could do before people would start to notice, wasn't there? Her lips pressed into a thin line. If he saw her irritation, he ignored it, glancing around the theater club members again.

"Ah! And, of course, our leading lady is?" Though this was phrased as a question, Jareth's eyes sparkled with concealed mirth as he turned his gaze toward Sarah. It could have been interpreted as him asking her to point out the actress, but Sarah suspected he thought she was playing the lead. It was a relief to be able to point behind him.

"Over there." Upon the words, Jareth's expression actually looked taken aback, definitely not having expected Sarah to point to anyone else. Sarah took a moment to relish in her small victory. She had the feeling they'd be harder and harder to come by. Jessica had a wide, cloying smile as Jareth turned to look at her, fluttering under the attention. Mike looked annoyed, but Jessica had eyes for no one else at that moment.

"I see." Jareth didn't even attempt to hide his disinterest, but Jessica either didn't notice or didn't care. Her eyes still sparkled just looking at him. Sarah suppressed a giggle. "Such a difficult role…."

"It's like the part was made for me," enthused Jessica, vying for his attention. Sarah raised a hand to her mouth to help to hold back her rising snickers. "I'm the best actress here. I've even suggested some changes to make the play even better."

"Some changes?" repeated Jareth, his brow furrowing over his face. For just a short moment it felt like another victory: seeing him so concerned over the state of the story. In fact, if Sarah didn't remember just what kind of changes had been made, she might have let out a little cheer. His gaze dropped down to the script.

"We can talk about those later," said Sarah suddenly as he began flipping through his copy, "you don't need to look now." The desperate lilt of her tone made Jareth pause for a fraction of a second before he began flipping through all the faster. She knew which part he was going for. She cleared her throat, looking away.

"A kiss?" Jareth said. Sarah didn't need to look at his reaction: she could hear the smirk clearly in his voice. "The princess kisses the King of Goblins? What an interesting choice. One might even say inspired."

"But fictional," said Edward suddenly, making Sarah look over at him at last. He'd been silently fuming beside her to the point that she thought he had been too mad to speak. "It would never happen in real life." Sarah dropped her head into her hands again. Maybe Edward wasn't so subtle either.

"You're right, of course," said Jareth. "Because goblins aren't real." He laughed and a few other members of the club joined in with him. Edward's jaw set. "If they were, however, who's to say what the princess would do?"

"I'm sure she could make up her own mind," said Sarah, sending a fake smile at Edward with a gaze that warned him to stop talking. "Mr. King, as great as it is to have a teacher for the club, you're not planning to stay for very long, right? Not a lot of theater opportunities in Forks."

"It is true, I can't stay long. I have a kingdom to run," Jareth said without the slightest bit of hesitation. Sarah stared at him in disbelief. While she hadn't expected him to take any of this seriously, she didn't think he'd be so obvious about it. She couldn't even muster up her usual terror and paranoia. It was all she could do to blink at him.

"Jar—Mist—Are—." 'Are you out of your mind', was what she wanted to ask, but she couldn't get more than the first syllable of any sentence out.

"A kingdom?" asked Eric, though a sudden bolt of understanding lighted on his face. "Oh, because your name is Mr. King?" And then Eric chuckled. A wave of more polite laughter danced about the room as people dismissed the words as a bad pun. Sarah's mouth fell agape. Catching her eye, Jareth raised his eyebrows as though dismissing all her concern with just a gesture. He wasn't even trying… but apparently he didn't have to.

"It's time to start rehearsals," said Sarah, clearing her throat. She stared pointedly at Jareth. He returned her gaze easily. It was Alice who jumped to her aid, bouncing into the crowd to direct people away from the cluster and on to various jobs around the theater. As the crowd slowly lessened, Sarah felt the tension in her shoulders loosening. Jessica, however, was not so easily dissuaded.

"You'll be here until the end of the year, at least, right?" she asked Jareth.

"I wonder…."

"What does that mean?"

"I have certain obligations," said Jareth with another contemplative hum. "My wife and I can't stay away for too long." Sarah rolled her eyes. Of all the things that Jareth had said, somehow the reference to her being Queen was comforting. In the midst of everything uneasy and unfamiliar, it felt like a breath of fresh air that she could roll her eyes at such easy and common bait. With the anger she could feel radiating off of Edward next to her, at least Sarah was able to suppress a fond kind of smile. She wrapped her hand gently around his forearm: something to keep him grounded.

"You're married?" Jessica's tone was disappointed, leaving Sarah wanting to roll her eyes again. She did, earning her a dirty look from Lauren.

"Not yet," Jareth said with a smirk. "But soon. See?" He flashed his left hand where a ring sparkled beautifully. On further examination, Sarah was certain it was little more than a cheap piece of costume jewelry and the sparkle had been a kind of magical addition. In fact, it looked just like the ring Sarah had left in the Labyr—.

"But that's mi—!" Sarah stopped suddenly, realizing what she was saying and clamped her mouth shut. Her outburst earned her more than a few curious glances and she felt a small rush of heat rising up to her cheeks. She cleared her throat. "But that's… great! I'm happy for you," she corrected with as natural a smile as she could manage. She could feel Edward's probing gaze on her again, ever more questions churning within him. "But we really should get started. I uh… Ed…. Edward! You said you wanted to run through your lines, right?" Sarah tugged at his arm frantically, though Edward was plenty happy to shepherd her away.

Sarah really tried to focus on the script and she even went so far as to read lines out from it herself in order to prompt him, but Edward's mind was elsewhere. He could barely keep up with his own lines and jumped from one scene to another without paying the least bit of attention. Sarah wanted to snap at him to get his head back in order, but she supposed she wasn't much better. He didn't ask any of the questions she knew were bubbling inside of him. Maybe he was even closer to snapping than she thought.

"Stay away from him," Edward said suddenly, interrupting Sarah in the middle of a line. She bit her lip.

"I'll try," she said. "But he's the theater teacher, there's only so much I can…." One look at his cold, dark eyes and Sarah found herself quietly knuckling under. Her nerves were too far stretched for her to feel the kind of strength she needed to stand up under Edward's crushing anger. "I'll try."

"Promise me." Edward's tone held the kind of steel she was coming to expect whenever it came to the subject of Jareth. Sarah couldn't meet his eye as her gaze wandered around the room.

"Okay," she said. Edward's hand on her cheek caught her by surprise and she instinctively tried to pull back, but he was holding her firmly, if gently. She was forced to meet his gaze.

"Promise me," he said again. Sarah swallowed.

"I promise." But even as she said so, her gaze drifted.

Even with her promise, Edward never left her side for a moment during rehearsals and even pushed her to let him drive her home. The exhaustion settled on her shoulders like an anvil, but Edward stayed relentlessly restless and angry. She thought he might have silently sat and fumed in her driveway for hours if it hadn't been for Charlie pulling up in his police cruiser. That had been the final straw that let her shove Edward out of her truck where he disappeared in an instant before Charlie could catch sight of him. Sarah finally let out the breath she'd been holding on to for hours. She wanted nothing more than to fall into her bed and pretend that the real world was nothing but a dream. At this point even her nightmares seemed appealing.

After a well-deserved bath worked out some of the stress of the day from her shoulders, Sarah sat at her vanity and began to brush out her hair. The action felt soothing. So much so that when her nose tickled with the faint scent of magic, Sarah almost found it pleasant.

"He told me to stay away from you," she said simply, not bothering to turn. She knew he was there. Of course he was there. Even after so long, getting used to Jareth in her life again was shockingly easy. Just a few days since they'd met again and her mouth had gone back to the same autopilot from months ago.

"Did he now?" came the mildly amused voice. "That's a bit unfair, isn't it?" Sarah spun around and rose to her feet as he used the word to mock her. Using that word was unf… damn him!

"What did you come for, Jareth?" The words sounded tired and Sarah was. Edward's intense need to protect her was stifling and now that Jareth would make daily appearances in the theater club, Sarah could already feel a desire to run: to escape this situation and never look back. With two stubborn magical beings at her heels, however, that was easier said than done, much though Sarah wanted to believe she could handle any challenge.

"To see you, precious. As always," came the response, a little bit too cheerful, but in a way that left Sarah believing he was mocking her. His character was too naturally devious for her to ever take what he had to say at face value. There was always something more. Sarah thought she knew what.

"I'm not going to become Queen of Goblins," she told him, thinking she was beating him to the punch. After all, what else was there for Sarah to expect? Wouldn't they just fall right back into their same, silly routine? Him stopping by daily to tease her and her blandly refusing him. They'd done that song and dance so much that she could have slept through all the steps. Instead of answering back with a smug response of his own, Jareth tilted his head as he looked at her curiously.

"So you've said," he responded, not sounding put off in the slightest. In fact he appeared surprised by her words as though it hadn't occurred to him to suggest that in this moment.

"There's something else," she observed, a feeling settling in her stomach that was a mix between dread and excitement. It never felt like things with Jareth would ever lead to anything good, but Sarah couldn't help her burning excitement at the idea anyway. Maybe he never brought anything good, but it was always something magical and Sarah was a sucker for anything of the kind. "What aren't you telling me?" Yet Jareth seemed to hesitate at her question, making the dread churn in her gut. How bad must it be for the cruel and devious Goblin King not to want to tell her outright? He'd never held back before, had he?

"Jareth…." Sarah prompted when he still said nothing, his eyes shifting around the room for a moment before they locked back onto her.

"There is something you should know," he finally said, the words sounding carefully chosen, though he looked distracted.

"What is it?" demanded Sarah.

"Another time," Jareth said. "I will tell you another time." The words immediately caused Sarah to open her mouth to argue, though she hadn't made more than a few unintelligible sounds of disapproval before he cut her off. "Another time away from prying ears." That was enough to stop her protests in the moment, though she could only blink at Jareth before looking to the closed door, then to the locked window and then back to Jareth.

"Prying ears? We're alone."

"Are we?" Sarah was about to argue yet again that, yes they were definitely alone, when she caught his glance to the window. It was completely closed, enough so that their quiet voices wouldn't have carried outside to anyone with normal hearing. It would take someone with supernatural abilities to make out any of what they said.

"Oh." The word fell from Sarah's lips quietly as Jareth's meaning settled in. It didn't take much deductive reasoning to figure out who was on the other side of the window and could be listening to anything said between them. Jareth nodded.

"I will tell you another time, one where we truly are alone. And, after I tell you, I'll leave it up to you how much you wish to share. You've been very good at keeping things to yourself lately, haven't you, pet?" The comment made Sarah bristle, but she had little to say in her own defense. How many times had she already avoided telling Edward things that he ought to have known? How many promises of truth had she made and broken? And for what? Self-satisfaction and self-importance. Had she, for even one moment, felt real guilt for doing so?

"That's not fair." Even as she said the words, Sarah hated herself for them.

"It so rarely is." Jareth paused and glanced at the window one more time before crossing the few steps between them and leaning in so close that his breath tickled her ear as he spoke.

"Then, shall I tell you now?" he asked, a whisper. Sarah shivered. "In front of him—in front of them all—should I let them know the truth? Is that what you want?" He paused again. "Do you trust him?"

"I trust him," Sarah whispered back.

"Then you are a fool." Jareth was no longer whispering, pulling away with a shake of his head. His lips pulled down into a frown but one that looked more disappointed than angry. "If you learned the truth would you trust him so much, I wonder?"

"Truth?" Sarah asked, a hesitant note to her voice. "What truth is that?" Jareth eyed her carefully before sighing as he conjured a crystal. A sudden thought crossed his mind and he caught the crystal firmly in hand as he tilted his head contemplatively.

"Do you trust me?" he asked suddenly.

"I…I…." Sarah took a deep breath, struggling to figure out her own answer to that, let alone what she'd want to tell him. "I don't know."

"A fool," he repeated and, in his usual puff of glitter, Jareth was gone.