Her eyes snapped open around 5 a.m. She crawled out of bed to take another shower, even though she had taken two the night before. Scrubbing herself numbly, she examined the marks on her neck in the small mirror that was suctioned to her shower wall. Hot tears mixed with the water as she stared upon the angry fingerprints.

Done with her shower, she pulled on an oversized t-shirt and busied herself with changing her sheets. After loosely making the bed, she slipped between the covers and wondered what to do with herself for the rest of the day. Her mind was already spinning, she knew she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. It was Saturday, so she had two days without classes or obligations. She wasn't currently in a show, so she had no rehearsals to attend or prepare for. While she didn't really want to do anything, she certainly didn't want to be stuck in her own head all day.

Her eyes drifted over to the note that was sitting on her bedside table and she mentally replayed the words that she had since memorized: Don't forget your power, Sarah. Call on me tomorrow, if you so wish. We have things to discuss. -Jareth

She cursed herself for thinking his name. She had no plans of calling him that day, but she knew he would feel her thinking of him if she kept this up. As far as she was concerned, she had been vulnerable around the Goblin King enough for a lifetime. He'd seen her at her absolute worst, naked and sobbing. Sarah felt too embarrassed to face him, although he had been careful to give her no reason to feel embarrassed. Quite the opposite, he had assured her that she had nothing to be ashamed about. Deep down, under all of the raw pain of the previous night, Sarah believed him. Then, there was the matter of him alluding to some kind of feelings… and he'd mentioned a bond years ago. She had questions.

Sarah…

She froze. She knew that he had pushed words into her mind last night, but it was shocking to hear his voice saying her name in her head all the same. She pushed thoughts of him aside, stubbornly.

Sarah sensed a blinking in the corner of her vision and looked over to see that there was a bright number 2 on her answering machine, indicating that she had two unheard voicemails. She sighed, though secretly grateful for the distraction, and reached over to tap 'play.'

A robotic voice drawled, "You have two new messages. First new message—" Karen's clipped tone filled the room. "Hi, Hon, just checking in on you. I know you're busy with classes— oh, okay, Toby, hold on! —anyway, someone here wants to say 'hi.'" There was the muffled sound of the phone changing hands. "Sarah! You missed it. My teeth, I mean, they are gone! Well, not all of them, just a few of them. The front ones! Anyway, I can shoot milk through the holes! Mom said the Tooth Fairy won't come if I do that, though. She wants the phone back now. I love you!" Karen's voice again. "He misses you, Sarah. We all do. I hope you're taking care of yourself. Have you been taking the vitamins I gave you? Are you getting enough sleep? Okay, well… call me back. Love you."

Sarah shook her head and wondered how Karen could sound controlling and tender at the same time. Then she thought about Toby firing streams of milk through his smile and almost smiled herself. Almost.

The robotic voice clicked on again. "You have one new message. First new message—" The sound of someone clearing their throat brought bile to her own. She didn't have to hear the voice to know who it belonged to. Before she could reach the 'delete' button in time, she heard, "Hey, Sarah, where'd you go—" Her finger made it to the button, pressing it frantically. "Message deleted."

She sank back into her bed, feeling sick. A sob gathered in her throat, spilling out of her mouth and ringing in her ears. She wrapped her arms around herself, panic gripping her chest. Jareth, she thought, before she could catch herself, I need you.

You must speak my name aloud for me to be able to come to you.

She sat up, blinking disbelievingly. He was sending her not just her name, but whole, clear, sentences now.

Creep, she thought to him, deliberately.

She couldn't hear his laughter, but she could feel it, she was sure of it. Wasn't he not supposed to be able to hear the content of her thoughts? Her list of questions was growing.

Sarah sighed. "Jareth, can you please come to me?" She extracted herself from her bed and made to walk over to the window where she expected his owl form to knock.

He appeared abruptly behind her, without any fanfare; no swoosh of fabric, no glitter, no feathers. He simply did not exist, then existed, right in the middle of her bedroom.

"Holy shit," she cried out in surprise, clutching her chest. "What the fuck? You can't just—" she gestured wildly, "—pop in here like that!"

"I can, apparently." He tossed her a smirk. "My, my, such profanity!" When he noticed her tears, he let his smirk drop and took on a more neutral countenance. "Are you all right?"

Sarah shrugged, wiping her tears away dismissively. She wanted answers more than comfort. "I'm fine. How can you just appear like that now when you needed to come as an owl before?"

"The owl is a formality. I used it years ago because you had not explicitly called me. I needed to be invited in because the bond was not as strong then as it is now." Jareth paced slowly back and forth in front of her, hands on his hips. "But when you call on me, Sarah, it is as though a path opens between the two of us that I can more easily travel along. It seems the more often you call on me, the easier it becomes to reach you."

She considered this, canting her head to one side. "Does the same reasoning stand for why you're suddenly able to read my thoughts? And seemingly press thoughts directly into my brain? The more I say your name, the more open the—" she made air quotes, "—'path' becomes?"

He smiled. "Well done, Sarah. That is what I believe, although, it is worth mentioning that there is no book or history written about such things. All I can do is surmise based on observation. It would not surprise me if, as your powers grow, you learned to read my thoughts, without me sending them to you. Perhaps you will even be able to travel."

Her jaw dropped. "Are you serious? You think I'd be able to do that just by saying your name enough times?"

His lips twitched. "To put it simply, yes. It is worth trying, is it not?" He took a step closer to her, eyes glittering with something both dark and playful. "Besides, I do so enjoy hearing you say my name."

Sarah raised an eyebrow at that, noticing an edge to his voice that had not been there the night before. Is he… flirting with me?

Definitely. His sharp teeth flashed in a grin.

Sarah stepped backwards away from him and sat down on her bed. She covered her face in her hands. She felt overwhelmed. The man who had turned down her offers of sex in her darkest hour was now seeming to make advances, small ones, but advances all the same. The same man who she shared some kind of fantasy bond with, who could now full on read her mind. She felt frustrated tears against her palms.

"Too much?" His flirtatious tone had changed to the gentle one from the evening prior. He took a step closer to her, but stopped himself before approaching further. "I apologize. I meant only to tease you, I realize now that now is not the time, especially considering what you've been through."

She said nothing, her face still hidden by her hands. "Sarah, forgive me," he cooed, "may I sit with you?"

She shot him a look between her fingers. "Are you done being all—" She made a vague motion with a hand that really did nothing to describe how he was being.

"For now, yes." He winked.

Sarah sighed. "Winking is flirting, you know." Patting the space beside her, she offered him a small smile.

Jareth strode over and sat next to her on the bed. "If I make you uncomfortable, please let me know. I realize I can be a bit… direct."

After a pause, she steeled herself and declared, "You were pretty quick to reject me last night, but now you're flirting." It was a statement, but there was a question buried beneath it.

"Sarah," he said, leaning away from her a fraction, "please consider what you are saying before you allow yourself to feel rejected by my lack of reciprocation last night. What kind of man would I be if I had taken you up on your offer at that moment?"

"You're not a man." The words were out before she knew what she was saying.

He chuckled. "Beside the point, and incorrect. I am not a human, but, I am very much a man, with all the desires one might have. Whether or not I am a good man remains to be seen, I'll leave that judgment up to you. I do try… especially where you are concerned."

She just stared at him, taking in his admission that he was not a human. She had suspected this, of course, but that left the question: What is he?

"I am fae, Sarah." His voice was matter of fact as he observed her reaction carefully.

She scowled. "I'll never get used to that, you pulling thoughts out of my head." She expected him to smile at her dismay.

Instead, Jareth frowned. "I assure you I am not trying to do so. I do not intend to be invasive. You deserve privacy and autonomy for your mind just as much as you do for your body. I wish so many boundaries were not being crossed for you against your will. Truly, Sarah."

She sniffed. "I appreciate that." After a moment, she said, "I think you're a good man, Jareth, for what it's worth."

His eyes glittered. "Do you?"

"Yes, I do." She took a breath, wiping the last of her tears away. "You came for me last night. You didn't have to. You could have caused me a lot of harm, you could have mocked me, but you didn't. Instead, you were kind to me. Thank you for that. I can't say I quite understand it, but it means a lot to me."

He let her words sink in. "You are most welcome, Sarah. Hurting you further would bring me no pleasure."

Sarah slipped her hand across the covers and took his hand in hers. "Are we friends, then?"

He looked down at their hands and gave hers a squeeze before meeting her eyes. "I would like to think so, yes."

They shared a careful smile. After a pause, he asked, "How are you?"

"I am… I don't know. I've been in sort of a daze all morning. I just kind of alternate between feeling numb and crying. I've showered three times since last night and I still feel filthy. I want to scrub my skin off."

"You are not filthy," He said, firmly.

"It's just how I feel. I saw my reflection and my neck is just… I clearly can't go anywhere and I feel isolated. Not that I even want to go anywhere, but knowing I can't if I wanted to makes me feel lonely. And then, to make it all worse, his stupid voice was on my answering machine. It made me feel so sick, Jareth. Like a kick in the guts. I panicked."

"I am sure you did," he said, calmly, "a perfectly natural reaction. Be gentle with yourself."

"Anyway," she continued, "that's when I called you. I was feeling weak."

"You are not weak for seeking comfort from a friend." He gripped her hand a little tighter. Then, he asked, "How is your—" he struggled to find a delicate way of asking, "—do you still feel pain between your legs?"

She lifted her chin. "I'm okay."

He nodded, but looked skeptical.

Suddenly, that familiar buzz of magic from the night before pulsed over her skin briefly. His eyes scanned her, from her head down to her toes, then rose back up to lock eyes with her.

"I could kill that careless boy," he growled, teeth clenched.

Sarah jumped a little at the vehemence in his voice. "I'm really okay, it's not that bad."

He rubbed his thumb over her knuckles comfortingly and his tone changed to something more tender. "Your body will heal itself quickly. Just give it a few days. Do not do anything to irritate your skin, wear loose clothing, no penetration when you touch yourse—"

Sarah gasped, her expression one of horrified shock.

He blinked at her in genuine surprise. His tone had been carefully matter of fact, he had not meant to get a rise out of her. For the first time in their acquaintance, he stumbled over his words as they rushed out of his mouth. "Sarah, I apologize. I did not intend to upset you. I was not thinking clearly, of course you would not want to—, of course it's too soon for you to wish to—"

"—Hold on," she interrupted, holding up a hand. "I'm not upset, I was just taken aback." She paused to think, looking at their hands, then met his eyes. "Can I trust you with something?"

"Anything."

Sarah studied him. When she found only sincerity in his face, she said, "Look, seeing as you're pretty much my only friend aside from Hoggle, Ludo, and Didymus, and since I clearly can't talk to them about any of this, I think Hoggle might actually disintegrate if I did…"

"Take a breath, Sarah," he encouraged, smiling. "You do not need to share anything with me that you do not want to."

"I want to." Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Don't laugh at me, though. I already feel pretty silly."

He kept his expression carefully solemn. "You have my word." He pressed the palm of his free hand over his chest.

A blush rose in her cheeks. "I don't masturbate. I don't like how it makes me feel."

He considered her carefully before asking, "How does it make you feel?"

"Anxious, bored, unimpressed…" She ticked off the feelings with her fingers. "It just, I don't know, feels like whatever I do is pointless and gets me nowhere. Then I just feel frustrated and empty."

He gave her hand a little squeeze. "Can I continue to ask you questions about this? Am I making you uncomfortable?"

"You aren't making me uncomfortable." She shrugged. "I chose to share."

He nodded. "Have you ever found your release by touching yourself?"

Sarah swallowed, but held his gaze. "I've never had an orgasm, if that's what you're asking."

"I see." He paused, gauging her face before continuing. "Please do not feel pressured to discuss this, I recognize that this may not be the best time—"

"—No, it's okay. I promise. It's nice to talk about this with someone I can trust." She moved her hand out of his grasp for a moment, only to thread her fingers in his.

He nodded, smiling at the small intimacy of their laced fingers. "Thank you for trusting me."

A companionable silence fell between them for a moment before he said, "It can be empowering to bring yourself pleasure, Sarah. You do not need the touch of another in order to feel good. Perhaps—"

She held up her hand. "—Don't tell me to just keep trying. I've tried."

His expression grew serious. "I would not dream of telling you what to do with your own body." He took her chin in his free hand, staring at her intently. When she matched his gaze, he said, "I do hope you hear me on this final point: Your body is yours."

Fighting the arousal that was slowly growing in his own body, Jareth dropped the hand holding her chin and shifted away from her slightly. It took everything he had to not initiate a lesson right then and there. Instead, he stood. He brushed his lips lightly across her knuckles and dropped her hand. "Your secret is safe with me. I really must be going."

"Okay," she mumbled, surprised by the abruptness of his departure. "Did I do something wrong? Should I not have—"

"Not at all, dear one. It is important to me that I give you space at this time. Traversing any further down this line of conversation may… compromise my pure intentions."

She blinked at him, a small smile playing on her lips at his words. "I see. So, you're saying I tempt you, as more than a friend?"

"Careful," he warned, eyes glittering dangerously as his tongue rested against the tip of an exposed canine, "I am doing my best, here."

She grinned, putting up both hands. "I consider myself warned."

He tilted his head to one side, looking her over. "May I say one thing more, at the risk of sounding like I am very much flirting? If you would rather I say nothing, I can always just—" he mimicked her gestures from when he had first arrived, "'pop' out of here."

Sarah was still grinning when she replied, "Go ahead, Goblin King. Let's hear it."

He returned the grin, mismatched eyes dancing. "You deserve to feel good, Sarah. If you would like to try touching yourself again, I am happy to offer my guidance." With another wink, he was gone.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Next Chapter will be out tonight as well.