Sarah eyes popped open, she wasn't sure what had roused her and the room was pitch black. Her room was never that dark, had there been a power outage? Was she dreaming? She reached blindly for the lamp and felt something move in the bed beside her. "Ack!" Tumbling out of the bed she landed painfully on a hard floor. "Oww!"

A voice in the darkness muttered. "Sarah?"

She was both relieved and mortified that she recognized the voice. "Jareth?"

His voice was sleepy. "What are you doing in my chambers?"

"What?!" Sarah scuffled to her feet. A light flared and she was confronted with the sight of the Goblin King peering at her sleepily from a large canopy bed draped with dark velvet curtains. He sat up and his naked torso was visible in the light from the crystal he had conjured. His wild hair glowed in the light, his lean body seemed to almost shimmer. Sarah gasped and averted her eyes but there was nothing else to see, the rest of the room was still shrouded in shadows. She tentatively glanced back towards him. "I'm sorry, I...are we dreaming... or am I really here?"

"You are very much here." His eyes traveled the length of her body. "Care to join me?" He patted the bed.

Sarah looked down at her way too short old t-shirt that she had worn to bed and blushed furiously, tugging down trying fruitlessly to cover herself . "Umm... I..."

"You may borrow my robe if you wish." He picked up something from beside the bed and tossed it at her, she caught it and saw that it was a blue silk robe. Hastily she put in on and tied it. She hesitantly sat down on the edge of the bed, avoiding his eyes.

"T-thank you." Sarah's exhausted, mortified brain was having difficulty processing the situation.

Jareth sighed. "Sarah, this unconscious travel between our worlds is quite worrisome."

Sarah blushed again. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to invade your privacy."

His smile held more than a trace of smirk. "You misunderstand, I assure you that I see your presence in my bed chamber as quite the opposite of a problem." His heated gaze was giving Sarah butterflies. He pulled down the coverlet beside him, Sarah averted her eyes again just in case. "You may sleep here if you like."

Sarah's brain was kind of short circuiting at the thought, she fidgeted with the ties on the robe so as not to look at the halfdressed (undressed?) Goblin King. "I... um... I think I should go home, I work in the morning."

Jareth smiled at her flustering and raised his hand to graze her cheek. "Then we shall discuss this tomorrow."

The room shifted and suddenly she was back in her own bed. A screech startled her and Tiger wiggled out from under her, he had apparently taken the warm spot as soon as she had disappeared and did not appreciate her abrupt reappearance. Sarah laughed at his offended grumble then grabbed a pillow and sighed into it from a mix of embarrassment and frustration. After a few minutes Tiger jumped back on the bed and snuggled against her hip.

...

In what felt like only a few minutes later there was a light tapping sound. She tried to ignore it, but then she heard a rough whisper. "Sarah, ya up?"

Sarah looked towards her vanity, in her mirror were Hoggle, Sir Didimus and Ludo, all looking worried.

Looking down to make sure she was decent, she grunted, "I am now, come in."

Hoggle glanced around nervously. "But, what about you know who?"

Sarah smothered a laugh. "You don't have to worry about that. Now get in here!"

The threesome appeared in her bedroom and she jumped up and hugged each of them warmly. Hoggle grumbled and Sir Didimus complained about lack of propriety. Ludo's hug almost knocked the wind out of her. "Sawah!"

"I've missed you all so much!" She wiped away a happy tear.

Sir Didimus bowed tilted his head before inquiring. "Are thou well Milady?"

Sarah frowned. "Of course, why?"

Hoggle looked around suspiciously again before confiding. "Well, the other king seems to be gone, but I saw Jareth yesterday afternoon and he seemed to be in an oddly good mood. I was worried he's up to no good."

"I have something to tell all of you..." Sarah hesitated, her friends all looked at her expectantly, she took a deep breath and continued. "I went to the Underground yesterday... It's a long story... but I helped Jareth get rid of the other king. And... after... Jareth asked to court me-"

Hoggles eyes bulged even more than usual. "What!"

Sarah looked nervously at each of them. "And I accepted."

Sir Didimus gasped and bowed deeply. "My lady!"

Ludo frowned in confusion. "Sawah Queen?"

Sarah shook her head at the gentle beast and smiled. "No Ludo, at least, not yet."

Hoggle was furious. "You... in league with that rat?" His eyes widened as he noticed the luxurious robe. The betrayal in his expression hurt. "Courting? That's not what I would call it!"

Sarah flushed deeply and stumbled over her words. "Hoggle... please... it's not what you think..."

He stormed away from her and disappeared into the mirror without looking back. She slumped on the end of her bed,

Sir Didimus frowned in Hoggle's direction and then took Sarah's hand. "My Lady, I offer felicitations on your courtship. I am certain that you shall make a fine Queen." He bowed again and turned towards the mirror, Ludo followed.

Ludo paused and hugged Sarah again. "Sawah fwend."

"Yes Ludo, always." She hugged him back and turned him back towards the mirror. In a second both Sir Didimus and Ludo were inside, they waved and disappeared. Sarah fell into her pillows and cried.

...

When the alarm began blaring Sarah smacked it and pulled her pillow over her head. Do I have to get up?

Her inner voice nagged her. Even if you call in sick, you still have to watch Toby tonight...and Jareth will be there. And it's only a couple of days til vacation.

She huffed into her pillow. "Ughhhhh! If I survive til then."

Getting up she glanced out the window and was immediately tempted to just go back to bed, the sky was leaden and it was pouring rain. Throwing on a blue t-shirt with black jeans and sneakers she tamed her hair into a ponytail and headed for the kitchen. Opening the fridge she groaned, she still needed groceries. Sarah grabbed her rain coat from the closet but couldn't find her umbrella anywhere. She locked up and thumped down the stairs. Jogging to her car she jumped in and headed to work. When she arrived at the traffic jam on the main road she wanted to scream.

...

She arrived at work sopping wet and fuming. Dropping her bag at her desk she made a beeline for the kitchen. Upon entering, she stiffled a groan. Carla was already there, almost bursting with curiosity. "Sooo, how did the date go?"

Sarah held up a hand for silence. "Not before coffee!" She grabbed her mug, filled it and sat down sipping it carefully, ignoring her hair dripping down her back.

Carla waited a moment and then sat beside her. She looked worried. "That bad, huh?"

Sarah slumped further into her chair. "No, the date went fine, it's everything after that went to hell!"

"What happened?"

"Didn't sleep well, had weird dreams again and woke up to an empty fridge and no coffee. Then there's the weather, the traffic." Sarah took another sip of coffee. "Oh, and I received a call from an old friend that started well but then there was a misunderstanding and they hung up on me!"

"Here." Carla opened a box on the counter and handed her a croissant. "Take a few minutes, you can start work when you're feeling human again."

Sarah took it gratefully. "Thanks Carla...I'm sorry for snapping at you."

Carla smiled. "No problem... but you do still owe me the details on this new hottie!"

Sarah glared at her and took a bite of croissant. She took her time sipping her coffee, when she finally got up Tina and Carla were preparing the machines for a new job. She dug into her to-do pile and got to work.

...

A while later Carla peeked in her office. "Sarah-" she stopped short at the sight of Sarah, head leaning in her hand, asleep.

"Sarah!"

Sarah blinked awake, realized that her boss had caught her dozing at work, again and blushed.

Carla pretended not to have noticed. "Tina and I ordered sushi, would you like some?"

At the mention of food, Sarah's stomach rumbled, she nodded and joined them in the break room. The sushi looked delicious but Sarah cringed as she saw Carla ready to burst with questions..

"So... how'd you meet Jareth?"

Sarah paused with a sushi halfway to her mouth. "I don't remember you saying that lunch came with an interrogation."

"Come on Sarah! Gorgeous man like that just appeared in your life and you expect me not to have questions? Like does he have a brother?"

Sarah snorted. "No, he doesn't."

"So, how did you meet him?"

"I told you already, we met briefly years ago and crossed paths near my apartment the other day. He asked me out officially only yesterday. We ate Thai food and watched a movie. There's not much to tell."

Carla pouted at Sarah's lack of details. Sarah only put a few California rolls on a plate and returned to her desk. Sitting down she looked into the crystal, there was a new message. "Where shall we meet?"

Sarah was a bit embarrassed to face him after popping in on him last night, but it would be a good idea to talk before heading over to her parent's. She wrote "At work, 5 o'clock." and placed the crystal on it. She wolfed down the sushi and got back to work.

A while later she heard a knock on her door frame. Carla regarded her wryly. "You have a visitor."

Looking at her clock, she saw that it was already five o'clock. "Oh, um... just a second." She rubbed her eyes, grabbed her bag and went to meet him.

Jareth was being introduced to Tina. He was dressed more casual, dark blue jeans, a grey button up shirt and three-quarter length black leather jacket. When his eyes alighted on Sarah he smiled at her warmly.

Tina glanced from Sarah to Jareth and back again and wiggled her eyebrows approvingly Jareth noticed and smirked. Sarah blushed and tried to steer Jareth to the door. "See you tomorrow."

Carla stopped her at the door and pulled her aside. "Sarah, take the rest of the week off." Sarah tried to interject but Carla cut her off. "You are exhausted, you have fallen asleep at work two days in a row. You haven't been eating properly. Your vacation is supposed to start this weekend anyway. If you can't afford to take extra time off you can come back early. But I do not expect to see you until at least next Thursday." She put something in Sarah's hand. "Here's this week's pay, plus your vacation pay. We can settle any adjustments when you get back."

Sarah blinked. "Uh... thanks." Carla was letting her off early, even after Sarah bypassed her gossip? She must really be worried.

"Now go and get some rest." She turned to Jareth with a frown. "I know new love and all, but if she doesn't look rested when she gets back I'll know who to blame!"

Sarah turned deep red and wanted to disappear. Carla on the other hand squinted at Jareth. "I mean it, she's exhausted."

Jareth frowned back. "Sarah is quite capable of making her own decisions."

Sarah grabbed his arm and rushed out the door to end the conversation before it degenerated. The awning of the building was tiny and so they huddled close together watching the rain pour down for a moment. Sarah groaned. "Ugh! What a day to not be able to find my umbrella!"

Jareth held out his hand and a crystal appeared, it popped and Sarah was surprised to see her own umbrella appear. Jareth opened it, It looked a little worse for wear and the rain leaked through in several places. Seeing the Goblin King in Aboveground attire holding a faulty umbrella made Sarah giggle. "I take it one of the goblins brought it to the underground?"

He nodded and shook it out, it once again did its job of keeping them reasonably dry. "If I had discovered it only moments later you would not have wanted it back."

Sarah raised a brow inquisitively. "Dare I ask?"

"A couple of goblins were about to try and use it as a boat, on the bog." He wrinkled his nose at the memory.

Sarah let out a small snort of laughter. "Oh dear!"

Still holding the umbrella Jareth tilted his head. "Where to Precious?"

Sarah thought for a second. "Well... I'm supposed to be at my parent's in an hour. We'd better get going."

...

Author's note

Hi everyone! Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. My work schedule changed, I participated in Inktober and this chapter fought me every step of the way. Please let me know what you think.

Unfortunately with my new schedule I may not be able to post as regularly as before but the rough draft of the next chapter is written, I hope to have it ready to post soon.

Thank you to Guest 2019 and Mae-E for the reviews.