Ch. 4

His eyes were piercing hers as he walked towards her. She couldn't tear her gaze away. She was afraid if she did, it might not be real. Or maybe she was scared that it would be real. She couldn't tell whether her heart was beating so hard because of fear or excitement.

Both, she decided as Jareth stopped directly in front of her. The man he was with was already engaged in conversation with Julie, who looked happy as a clam.

That left Sarah alone. With Jareth. Never had she felt more alone, even though there were hundreds of people around her. She barely even heard them. All she could concentrate on was Jareth and the way he was looking at her.

"Sarah," he said, gazing into her eyes. She felt a shiver run through her at the sound of her name on his lips.

She licked her dry lips and took a long drink to wet her parched throat. She had imagined seeing him again so many times, now here he was and she couldn't think of a thing to say. If only he would say something else, could he please do something except stare at her with those hypnotic eyes?

"What are you doing here?" she asked him, her voice cracking slightly. She blushed and took another sip of her drink.

He thought carefully about how to reply. It wouldn't do to have her know he still cared for her. She had ignored him for ten years, he couldn't let that go. No, it was best to make her think he didn't want to be here.

"You called," he said with little warmth.

Sarah thought back frantically through the last few hours, she was a little confused. "But I never called you, I never even said your name!" Although I can't say I'm sorry you're here now.

Jareth smiled at her, his eyes glinting. "Ah, but you did, dear Sarah. You don't always need to say my name to bring me here. In your mind you wished to see me."

Sarah remembered what –make that who- she had been thinking about when Julie had arrived to pick her up. "But that was nothing! That doesn't even qualify as a wish, all I did was picture you for a second, it wasn't anything like I usually fantasize-" she cut herself off abruptly, realizing what she was saying. She felt herself turning red as she grabbed her drink and gulped down the last swallows. She wasn't a big drinker, she could feel the effects of this one lousy drink, she could blame her babbling on the alcohol, she-

"Like you usually what?" Jareth asked her with a satisfied smile.

By the glimmer in his eyes and the way he was smirking at her, she had the feeling he knew exactly what she was going to say. Sarah tried to avoid telling Jareth that she had had more than one fantasy about him, and not all of them were innocent.

"Well, I don't usually daydream about you, that's all, so it's odd that when I suddenly had a passing thought of you, after all these years, you all of a sudden show up. And anyway, even if I did want to see you, why didn't you just come to my house, why are you here, of all places?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

Jareth could tell she was lying about dreaming of him, but he decided to let it go for the moment.

"I thought it would be more amusing if I surprised you here. I admit, I thought it would be interesting when I heard you and your friend discussing your plans to come here," he replied, realizing too late his mistake.

Sarah looked up at him, her eyes flashing. "And just how did you happen to hear us talking?" she asked suspiciously.

Being the cold Goblin King that he was, he didn't blush but he also didn't meet her gaze. "That's not important. What's important is that I've been called here, by you, whether you believe it or not, and I can't go back until we've resolved whatever issue that made you bring me here. So I suggest you start explaining." He crossed his arms and stared at her expectantly.

A/N: Please review! Let me know what you think.