Chapter Twenty

So What Am I Afraid of?

Don't fret, she thought bitterly as she went out onto the dance floor. The fae she had his hand round her waist, and his blond hair, his icy blue eyes distracted her. She gave one more glance towards Jareth who looked… afraid. Which worried her more because if Jareth was afraid there HAD to be a problem. A song started and Piper was forced to look into the fae's eyes. Oh dear, she thought to herself, this is gonna be bad. Two minutes into the song she started feeling… odd.

What's your name? he asked her, the words echoing in her mind.

"Piper," she said quietly. He smiled and spun her around. She caught another gimps of Jareth. Piper paused a moment at the realization. Jareth. Jareth was worried about her.

Swear to me you won't fall in love

That's a lovely name, he thought to her do you like dancing with me?

Swear to me you won't fall in love

"I suppose," she said shaking the hazy feeling from her eyes. The song started to end and the man pulled her closer and leaned down. Piper closed her eyes for a moment, a moment longer than a moment but heard it again.

Swear. Swear to me you won't fall in love. Keep your mind on something… someone very dear to you. Don't let your thoughts waver from that person.

"Hey," she snapped and pulled back as the music stopped "I said I would dance with you, not make out. Now, if you don't mind I think I'll go back to my friends. Thank you for dancing with me though." She quickly pulled away but when she looked around, it seemed her friends had gone off somewhere. Figures, she thought dryly as she walked off the floor I risk being seduced so I can save someone from being bound forever and what do they do? Leave me. She made her way out to the balcony and sat on the ledge for a moment, catching her breath. She shivered.

"That was brave," Jareth said and she jumped. "Did I scare you?" She didn't say anything. "Are you alright?" She nodded. "Can you talk?" She nodded again and smiled a little this time. "What's wrong."

"It was too close," she said quietly. Jareth frowned and sat next to her. "Where's Sarah?"

"She went home after I told her you were safe," he said quietly "seems she can't stand me anymore than when I first met her. It really is a shame."

"Do you like her?" Piper asked.

"I don't know," he sighed "she's just, hey, stop changing the subject." Piper grinned a little. "What'd you think of?" Piper paused a moment, what HAD she thought of?

"Well," she paused "I thought a lot about what you kept telling me, and I looked over at you and Sarah a few times. And uh, not a whole lot actually."

"You thought about me?" he asked looking at her, surprised.

"No," she lied "I thought about what you told me." He grinned at her. "Okay, so I thought about you. But I've never had anyone care about me before. You're the first person besides my grandpa that's ever been nice to me and Daniel. Since the first time I called you you've been nice, you've been my friend, so why not think about you?" He just looked at her.

"You're too strong," he muttered and she laughed. "No seriously, no one else would have risked that much for someone that would leave as soon as they saw they were off the hook." Piper shrugged. "I believe you owe me a dance, and since my date seems to have left me…"

"Of course," Piper smiled as they went back inside.

"You thought about me," he laughed again.

"You know what!" she asked in a teasing voice "you'd better be nice. I'll poke you."

"Oh your SO scary," he teased turning her around on the dance floor and then grinned at her. "But very lovely when you blush."

"I'm not blushing," she lied.

"Oh," he nodded putting his hand on her side "you just change color for the fun of it."