It was exactly a year later. She was twenty that day and they'd all gathered together again. Things had changed in that time. Lauren had broken up with Nick almost immediately. Surprisingly Nick had understood. This made everything only slightly easier for Lauren. She had wept bitterly for Jareth for days on end. This had been replaced by a suffocating despair that had taken the efforts of all her friends to lift her from but Lauren was still changed. She was more subdued and seemed to hold a secret grief in her heart.
Jareth was pacing his throne room. He'd spent the past year in anguish. Not caring about anything that happened in his kingdom. He hurled a crystal against the wall in frustration. He wanted her back but of her own free will, and that, he knew, was not going to happen. He sat down with a sigh. He hadn't been watching her in the crystals for the whole of that year. Trying to let her go but it was no use. He had to see her again. One last time.
The other three were all nervous but in a state of preparation in case Jareth should choose to make an appearance. Lauren smiled at their nervousness. They needn't be worried. Jareth was gone. It had taken her several months to realise it but she'd finally accepted it.
When there was a knock at the door they all jumped. Lauren shook her head at them and answered.
"Hel…" The word froze in her throat. Jareth was standing there.
"Happy Birthday," he smiled and flourished a rose at her, which she took gingerly. "Don't worry, it's not a trick. This is the last time you'll see me. Now I'm not going to bother you again."
Lauren's throat had seized up. A dream, surely a dream. Jareth looked at her once more, as if waiting for something, then bowed and walked away. Lauren closed the door slowly and walked back into the living room in a daze.
'Enough now' he thought, 'she clearly does not want to see you. What were you expecting her to do? Throw her arms around you and profess her love?' He didn't know what he had expected but anything would have been better than the fact she'd done nothing.
"Who was it?" asked Mel.
"Jareth," she whispered laying the rose on the table and staring at it uncomprehending.
"Jareth!" they all cried. It suddenly sank in. She'd convinced herself so hard that he wasn't coming back that when he had she'd not believed it.
"Jareth!" she shouted to herself. Jumping up and grabbing her coat she pushed her feet into her shoes and raced out the door. Leaving her three friends looking at each other in surprise.
Lauren ran down the streets searching desperately but she knew she wasn't going to find him. The longer she was out the longer she started thinking that it was her imagination. For the first time in ages, since she'd closed her heart off, she felt her chest ache unbearably and the feeling that she was suffocating returned. Turning to go back to house she realised she was being followed. Walking a little faster she heard the gang sped up too. Breaking into a run she skidded down a side street and found it was a dead end. Gasping she turned around. They were advancing down the alleyway sneering. A group of about five boys, hardly boys, they were all about the same age as her. She was reminded of the wolf pack; only there was no Jareth to call them off. The first one grabbed her and she kicked him, then the second one. She tried to fight them off but there were too many. She was thrown against the wall and one of them pinned her to it. He smiled at her leeringly and began to tear at her clothes. Lauren closed her eyes in dread.
"Hey! You want to let her go?"
Lauren's eyes flew open. Jareth was heading towards the group looking murderous, "by the way that wasn't a request."
He hit the first gang member, knocking him out cold. The others began to group together for security. The one holding Lauren let her go. Immediately she whacked him on the back of the neck. He too slumped to the floor. Jareth had fought his way through them to her and now stood in front of her. Protecting her.
He was winning, surprisingly, despite the fact it was now three on one.
Lauren saw a flash of silver as one of the guys flicked open a penknife.
"Jareth, look out," she cried too late as the knife was buried into Jareth's chest. Angrily Jareth pulled it out and whacked the boy round the head with it. The others fled.
Lauren saw Jareth stagger and the bloody knife dropped from his grasp. He leaned against the wall heavily.
"Jareth, oh Jareth," Lauren sobbed, tears coursing down her cheeks.
He looked at her, pain on his face, "Sorry. I said I wouldn't bother you again but…"
Before he could continue Lauren had slid out of her coat and tearing off her jacket she put it as a pressure pad on the knife wound.
"Jareth I'm the one who should be sorry. I came out here foolishly and now you're going to die and its all my fault."
Jareth looked down at her in confusion.
"Don't die, please don't die." She leaned her head on his chest.
"Lauren…" he winced in pain.
"Sorry."
He smiled at her weakly.
"Its nothing a little magik can't handle." He paused, "Unless…"
"Unless what?" Lauren panicked.
"Iron is deadly to Fae. It wasn't iron because I'm still alive but I can't seal the wound. That means the blade must've been made of something else, like Iron."
Lauren picked it up, "Its steal. That's an alloy of iron."
"Brilliant," Jareth muttered.
"What?"
"I'd need a lot of magik to heal a steal wound. There isn't enough magik in Earth air. If I were back in the Underground I'd be fine but I'm too weak to get back. I don't have enough magik."
"Meaning what?" whispered Lauren.
"I'm going to be dead from blood loss within the next hour," Jareth answered sadly.
