The Morning After

Disclaimer: Let's all take the disclaimer oath (Stand and place right hand over your heart) We don't own any of these character, and don't mean any harm by using them in our stories. So please don't sue us, because most of us don't anything in the first place that we can give up. (Sits down again)

Summary: Sarah wakes up the morning after, and tries to sort the events of the previous night, with Jareth's help.

Hi all. Sorry it took so long for me to get the next chapter up, but I was having this very bad pain in my body. I went to the doctor and was diagnosed with a classic case of pure writer's block. The remedy was a lot of rest and time to think. I also used my recovery time to add a few chapters onto one of my other stories titled, "Looking into your Heart." I have been getting a lot of feedback on it, but I want more. Call me greedy, (Go ahead, I dare you to). So if you feel up to it, go and check them out.

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All that she could see was black, and all she could feel was pain. Whoever was beating her was doing a good job. Sarah thrashed around wildly, trying to get away from whoever it was that was pounding her. She cried and screamed for someone to help her, but it felt like nobody would come.

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She was having a nightmare, and Jareth took pity as he watched her sleep. Even though she was thrashing around in her bed, she was still fast asleep.

It had been a rough night for both of them, and there was still a long period of time before the sun would come up. Jareth had heard Sarah call for his help and when he arrived to help her, what he saw almost made him sick to his stomach.

The only thing he could see was red. Apparently, the other man who was in the room was standing over her, pounding and beating her so badly that her bathrobe, which he assumed was supposed to be white, was appearing red.

And the only feeling Jareth had was pure rage. So he did the only thing his mind was allowing him to do.

He picked up the man by the throat and threw him across the room and into the wall. The man hit the wall so hard that it knocked him out and he collapsed on the floor in a ball. He then transported him to the local jail. At the present time, he was probably waking up in his cell right now with a major hangover and no recollection of what had happened the previous night.

Jareth's focus turned back to Sarah as she began to whimper in her sleep. He didn't want to sit down next to her and hold her for fear that she would wake up, but he couldn't just stand there and watch her suffer.

The only thing he could do was pull up a chair next to her bed, take hold of one of her hands, and stroke her hair until she quieted down. When she finally did, he sat back in the chair and admired how beautiful she looked, even though her face was bruised. He smiled as he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

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Sarah woke to find that she was in bed. Her head was pounding and her entire body was sore. At first, she couldn't remember why she was hurting so much. She was having short flashes from the previous night. Someone hitting her, someone raping her.

She couldn't remember who it was that did this to her. She tried her hardest to remember the face. The only figure her memory brought back to her was a shadowy frame with no face. Sarah tried with all her might to remember, but it was making her head hurt so much worse than it already was, so she had to give up.

Sarah rolled onto her side and curled up into a little ball. It was the only comfortable position for her. She didn't hear the soft breathing of the figure sitting in the chair next to the bed. She opened her eyes to see Jareth sitting there, fast asleep. The only thing that she could do was scream.

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Jareth stood up instantly, knocking the chair over in the process. The screaming coming from the Sarah in the bed had scared him. He instantly tried to calm her down. "Sarah, please calm down. Sarah listen to me. It's okay. Please calm down." he said, trying to hold her and stroke her hair.

The only thing that Sarah could do was curl into her little ball, and shrinks away from his touch. She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping that this was all just a terrible nightmare.

Jareth felt so useless. He wanted to comfort her, and take away all of her pain, but if he tried to get near her or even touch her, she would scream louder and shrink away from his touch. He felt the best thing would be to stand away from her until she calmed down.

Sarah continued to sob out loud and cry for a long period of time. Why was he here? Why couldn't he just leave her alone?

"What are you doing here?" she asked him, ears flowing down her cheeks.

"You were in trouble, and you called for me. So I came here to help you." Jareth said, taking a few cautious steps towards her.

"No. It was you. You were the one who was beating me. This is all your fault. How could you do this to me?" She screamed at him.

Jareth didn't know it, but Sarah's last question had more than one meaning behind it. Sure, she thought that he was the one who beat her, but she was also asking why she came back into her life after all these years, when it seemed like she had finally gotten over him.

Not long after she had defeated his Labyrinth, she found that she was constantly thinking about him. It seemed like he was always on her mind. She couldn't stop thinking about the many confrontations that they had in that time. Especially when they were dancing at the ball together. She had loved the feeling of being in his arms. Sometimes she would hope that he would come back to her, even if it was for a visit.

But she began to grow up, and date boys. It was very hard for her, but she got over him. Or at least she thought. Right now, her head was pounding. First of all, she couldn't remember anything that happened the previous night. Second, she couldn't understand how or why she called for Jareth and that he had actually responded. And third, she didn't know if the feelings that she had for him in the past that she had buried were now resurfacing.

"I have no idea what you are talking about, Sarah, but all I know is that I was just sitting on my throne, not doing anything, and suddenly I felt a bad vibe. I didn't know what it was, but I could tell that something was wrong. And somehow, you were involved." Jareth said, continuing his slow walk to the side of her bed.

"When I arrived here, I found you curled in a ball in the corner of the living room, with a man, who I assume is your boyfriend and who appeared to be very intoxicated with his pants around his ankles, was standing over you, constantly kicking and beating you, and doing things to you that I can't even imagine anyone doing to anyone else."

"The only thing I could think to do was dispose of him immediately." Jareth said, sitting down in the chair next to the bed very slowly, careful not to disturb her.

"You didn't do anything terrible to him, did you?" Sarah asked, not remembering a single word that Jareth was saying, but being humanitarian, she couldn't imagine anyone hurting another person.

"What do you take me for, some kind of sick jerk?" Jareth asked. "Of course I didn't. Except that I picked him up and threw him against the wall, but it was so that he would leave you alone. Then I transported him to the county jail, so that he would sober up with all the other drunks."

"Well, if you have all the answers, how did I end up in my bed in a clean set of pajamas, when you said that I was all bloody?" She asked him.

"Well, you were hurt so badly, and I didn't really want to take you to the hospital, so I had to clean you up and change you out of your robe and into some clean clothes." he said, looking down at his hands.

Sarah looked down at her hands as she felt her cheeks flare up. She couldn't believe that Jareth had seen her body. Jareth saw her blush and quickly reassured her, "Believe me when I say this Sarah, but I was so involved in taking care of you, that the fact that you were naked didn't eve cross my mind. And even if it did, I wouldn't have done anything to you in your vulnerable state."

While saying this, Jareth took both of her hands in his own, not thinking about whether or not she would cower away from him again. Sarah was letting all of this sink in and didn't realize that Jareth had grabbed her hands.

"Now, do you believe what I am saying?" Jareth asked her. The only thing that Sarah could do was nod. "I believe you, but I cannot remember any of it," she said as she felt the tears brewing in her eyes and begin to pour down her face.

Without hesitation, Jareth perched himself on the bed next to her, held her in his arms, and began to rock back and forth, cradling her and trying to comfort her. Sarah allowed herself to let go, and clung to him for dear life as she sobbed into his chest. The only thing that he could do was continue to rock her and stroke her hair, trying his best to comfort her.

"Do you need anything, right now," he asked her after she had quieted down. She shook her head, which was still buried in his chest.

"All I want is to get away from this. I just wish that I could hit pause on my life so that I can sort out what happened." she replied.

"Then that's what we'll do," Jareth said, as he let go of her and stood up and walked around to the edge of the bed.

"What's what we'll do?" Sarah asked, confused about what was going on, and not understanding what he was saying.

"I'll take you back to the Underground with me. We put this world on hold so that you can sort everything out and try to put it behind you." Jareth said. "Would you like to do that?"

Sarah didn't know what to say. Jareth was standing here, offering to take her away from all of this pain, and to give her time to heal. But how did she know that she could trust him. She couldn't decide.

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What is Sarah going to decide? Should she go with Jareth, whom she hasn't seen in a long time and doesn't know if she can really trust him, or should she stay here and try to sort everything out on Earth. The sooner you leave reviews giving your response to this question, the sooner I might be able to post another chapter. (Hopefully it will be a lot sooner than the last time.) So please leave you questions, comments and concerns on the way out. :)