Chapter Four

Sarah

September 20th, 2002. Day 3 of the quarantine

He was trying to drive her mad.

Jareth was, other than his insatiable habit of poking through her things, a perfect house guest. He left no mess. He prepared her coffee and some of her meals. He provided conversation when she desired it, and silence when she did not. He was stimulating.

And yet she often found herself off-guard. The days seemed longer with little to break them apart from one into the next—she had quickly finished the single freelance project which was still on the table—and, so she found herself thinking about him. Constantly.

She narrowed her eyes. That's what he wants. He wants me to fall for this civility and gentlemanly behavior. It's not going to work.

Sarah knew what he was trying to do, and she refused to give in.

I'm going to lose it.

The Goblin King himself was now lounging on her fire escape, chatting with the upstairs neighbor through their window. "Oh, no, I'm a psychic. A professional psychic."

She could barely hear the muffled reply, but it was heavily interspersed with laughter.

Jareth cocked an eyebrow and glanced back at Sarah, a smile on his open mouth. She blinked, startled to have been caught staring, and looked away. "Let me show you." He summoned one of his crystals, popping it into existence without moving an inch. There was a loud exclamation from upstairs, and running footsteps as the rest of the Italian family joined in.

I'm staring again, she reminded herself. I should go... read a book or something.

But there was a book half-open on her lap at that precise moment, and she could not seem to tilt her head down to glance at it. Which one was it again?

The sunlight turned his hair molten, and the upswept brows and shimmering, colorful skin looked like skillfully applied makeup in the stark yellow glare. Or, perhaps, he employed a glamour and made everyone see something different.

Sarah frowned at this thought as Jareth brought the crystal up to before his face, weaving it back and forth between one hand and the next. Back and forth. Hypnotizing. And with that self-satisfied smile curling his lips, he knew she was entranced. But it was to the neighbors he spoke. "Hector, I see that you are a pianist. You once dreamt of being up on stage in Carnegie Hall, playing your compositions in front of the New York elite. But you're happy where you are, working at that late-night comedy show, and are proud of how far you have come. You're worried about your job, about money—" the crystal stopped moving and Jareth clasped it in one gloved hand. "Aren't we all?"

There was a beat of absolute silence, and then the upstairs erupted in cheers and stomping feet and cries of, "Do it again! Again! More!"

He grinned ear to ear now, chuckling as he raised both hands as though to surrender. The crystal was gone. "I'm afraid I must go back inside for now, but I promise I'll be out here the same time tomorrow, so long as the weather holds." Without another word, he slid through the open window and touched down lightly on her hardwood floor. His eyes found hers. "You have lovely neighbors, Sarah. Hector mentioned he was glad to see you have a gentleman friend, finally."

Heat entered her cheeks. It seemed to be happening with greater frequency these days. "Hector and his family are kind people, but they're a little too heavily focused on traditional family values."

He cocked a brow. "Oh?"

"I caught him lecturing another young woman who lived in the building that no decent man will date a woman with visible tattoos, and I think she was about to lay the beat-down on him when I showed up." She chuckled a little at the memory. "She's moved out since."

Jareth moved toward her, making the movement graceful, predatory. As though he were stalking her. "I have a question for you, Sarah dear."

She felt her stomach flutter and hugged her book to her belly. "What is it?"

"Do you like seeing me in your world? Do you enjoy me being here?"

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Is that all you think of? Yourself? There is a global pandemic going on."

"Answer the questions, Sarah."

"Fine. Yes, I like seeing you here. Seeing you interact with other people, especially. I liked how you handled the cops, I found it thrilling. And watching you with Hector and his family is endearing." She had said too much, but she wasn't sure if it was enough to satisfy the spell. What was the harm in him knowing, anyway? It wasn't as if these thoughts were going to change her mind about him. He was still her adversary. She had conquered him, and he wanted to conquer her right back. "As for if I enjoy you being here, I'm not sure. Sometimes I like it, but sometimes I don't."

She fell silent and tried to feel if the spell had been satisfied, but unlike Jareth, she could not tune herself into its subtleties, only its glaring absolutes. When no blaring alarm seemed to sound, she breathed a sigh of relief and lifted her eyes to his.

There was an inscrutable look on his face. He stood too close. Seated as she was in her office chair by the window, her back to her desk, he had her pinned. Trapped. A shiver worked down her spine, and she lifted her chin, determined not to show she might be afraid. Or intrigued.

"What do you want, Goblin King?" She asked.

"Right this moment?"

"Yes."

Jareth slid forward a little. "I want to ask you the question you won't answer so you're forced to kiss me again. Only this time, I'll be ready for you. You won't take me by surprise again."

She arched a brow even as her heart began to thunder in her chest. "Is that allowed? Can you ask the same question again?"

His smile was sharp. "There is no rule against it." He tilted his head to the side. "But I won't do it, Sarah. I may want to, but I won't. You know what I want from you. I will take your kisses when I stumble upon a new question you won't answer as fair winnings, but I will not return to the same field time and time again. There's no sport in that."

"Oh, this is sport to you, is it?"

He reached down and grasped the arm of her rolling swivel chair. She leaned back as he pulled her closer. His arms bracketed her, her fingers twisting in her lap as his breath fanned her face. "Do you want to kiss me again, Sarah?"

Fuck. Warmth spread through her that had nothing to do with embarrassment. She saw his nostrils flare. "Yes."

"Will you?"

Sarah narrowed her eyes at him. "Probably, yes." Her heart would not stop pounding. She wet her lips, wanting that moment to happen. The moment where he leaned down, brushed against her, the kiss starting sweet but ending with a demand she may meet. Stop it, she told herself. Stop thinking like that. He was her enemy.

His smile was so knowing she wondered, for a panicked moment, if he had read her mind. Then he pushed off her chair, and she took a deep breath, feeling as though the air had rushed back into the room. Jareth moved away from her little office area within the living room and turned on the repaired light in the kitchen.

"I'll make dinner."

Author Note:

I do not own Labyrinth. You know this, I know this, the world knows this.

Surprise, lovelies, there are going to be two chapters uploaded today. The one you're on—chapter four—and chapter five as well. Just wait a few minutes if you don't see it right away, they should be uploaded pretty much instantly.

I wanted to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who reached out in private messaging or in the comments and extended their well wishes this last week. It was a joy to read all of your comments and messages and know that people who are digging my work are also looking out for me a little, too.

Things are still crazy here, but unless I say otherwise once a week looks to be the upload schedule. So you should hopefully see these come up on Friday.

Love you all. Stay safe. Times are weird.