Thank you again for the lovely reviews! There's something pivotal in this chapter, you'll find out very soon for yourself. Jareth is also very goofy here, showing that his feelings for Sarah are much stronger than he had with anyone else. Yeah this is a bit of a trope, the "bad boy" being sweet and nervous in front of the sweet girl that he likes but I think it also fits Jareth. After all, he was kinda dumb in asking her to stay with him lol

Late at night, after everyone was asleep, Jareth stayed in the library. He was thinking about their near kiss. He cared about Sarah so much. He meant it when he said that he would have done it again for her.

He wanted to be close to her. To touch her. To feel her embrace as he passionately kissed those sweet lips of hers.

He never felt this way towards anyone before. This was more than just enjoying a kiss, it was something much deeper. Much more long lasting. He wanted to give her everything she wanted and more.

But he needed to remain a gentleman. So the closest thing he could do now was to be in the library where she often was. It made him feel closer to her without actually being near her physically. Yes, he was lonely. But he knew that this was not just that. He cared so deeply for her. Desired so much from her.

He looked at the piles and piles of books, lining every shelf. He had read nearly every book in here. Sarah said that she had found a collection of books in a hidden passageway. Clever girl.

He looked through the titles, still thinking about Sarah. One book seemed to call to him.

"What's this?" He picked it up.

It was called "Laws of the Labyrinth."

He had no idea that there was a guide to his labyrinth. Everything he knew was from his own experience or whatever magic that his grandmother had granted him, making him naturally know certain things and feel around with his magic.

He flipped through the pages. Yes, he knew about the 13 hours. Yes, he knew that children did not turn into goblins and that was only told to scare humans so that they would only wish a baby away as a last resort.

A section outlined an interesting topic, that sometimes adults do get wished away. Jareth had only been king for roughly 100 years, so he had not seen that many wished-aways as the human world reached the Industrial Revolution. Although he did get a surge of babies and other children during wars, especially World War II. That broke his heart.

For the adults, it said that they will live a much longer lifespan than humans would. By many, many times. However, they would not become immortal like fae and other magical creatures. That is, unless they bind themselves to an immortal. Not just in marriage, but in every way possible, down to their souls. The downside of this was that if one spouse died, the other would follow almost immediately.

"Interesting." Jareth muttered to himself. He turned the page and he saw something that surprised him.

The Champion of the Labyrinth

Well, this would have been useful to know back when Sarah beat him.

"Should there be a Champion of the Labyrinth, the King or Queen will lose a significant amount of power for some time."

This was true. He remembered being absolutely weak and it was difficult to do magic.

The Champion of the Labyrinth is free to go to and from the Underground and Aboveground as he or she pleases. Even if the Champion is wished away, they have gained the right and power to walk away whenever they want.

Jareth snapped the book shut. He put a hand to his mouth and leaned against the wall.

This changes absolutely everything. If he had known this, he would have sent Sarah straight back the moment she came to his kingdom. That was how much he despised her at the time.

But things were different now. He felt tears welling up in his eyes as he slid down the wall, silently sobbing.

He stomped back to his room. Once he was in, he created a crystal and smashed it on the floor. "Is this enough torture for you, Grandmother? Haven't I suffered enough?"

No, Sarah couldn't find out. If she did, then of course she would leave and never come back. He knew that she was just making the best out of an unideal situation. She loved her friends. She cared about him. But her heart belonged there. If she left now, he would be broken and alone again.

He angrily slammed the book in a locked cabinet, accessible only to him.

He wanted her to be happy. He would give her the moon, the stars. He would do ANYTHING for her.

Anything, except send her away beyond his reach.

He could only hope that this would work.

Because he might just break apart if it didn't.

Jareth found her under his peach tree that he now allowed only her to stay under. He smiled to himself at the symbolism of it, a little surprised that she would want to sit at that particular spot.

He felt himself start to sweat.

It was now or never.

"Good morning, Sarah." He called after her.

Sarah looked up from the book she was reading. "Hi Jareth!" She waved.

He sat next to her. "What are you reading?"

Sarah held up the book and showed it to him. "The Tale of the Tailor's Daughter. I'm at the part where she's lost her magic."

"That's one of my favorite stories." He tapped the book. "A very rich tale, one that has been passed down for many generations."

"Really?" Sarah looked at the book, even more intrigued. "That's really cool."

"Indeed." He pointed at the author's name. "The author is a bit of a revolutionary, she has written the tale in the style of a novel, writing Luvena as a person, from her perspective. Not as a hero."

"That's what I love about these stories, it portrays them as people. Fallible and sometimes dumb, but also brave and wonderful." She said.

Jareth agreed. "Yes, much like one human girl who wished away her brother and went up against a very handsome Goblin King."

"Handsome? Really?" Sarah raised an eyebrow.

Jareth turned his body to face her. "Why? Am I wrong?" He winked.

"You trivialize my adventure by calling yourself handsome instead of dangerous and magical, oh and scary too." Sarah pointed out, but unable to help herself from reacting to his wink.

Jareth stroked his chin sarcastically. "Oh! I remember now, was it not you who said that I was, what, a 'big teddy bear on the inside?' and then proceeded to poke my shoulder?" He said as he poked her shoulder. "You were the one who technically trivialized your own adventure here."

Sarah stuck her tongue out at him.

"Very mature." Jareth swatted her hand away before it could poke him back.

"Look who's talking." Sarah rolled her eyes. "You still never told me why you're up so early."

Jareth clasped his hands together and twiddled his thumbs. The atmosphere changed instantly.

He cleared his throat. "Well, I was hoping to catch you before the goblins could take your attention." He rubbed the back of his neck, sweat beading in his forehead.

Sarah scooted a little closer to him, a little concerned about the way he was speaking. "Is there something wrong? You can talk to me, you know." Maybe something was bothering him and he wanted to speak with her alone. Not that she blamed him, conversation was hard to find in his castle.

Jareth felt his heart squeeze. "No, nothing is wrong. I just have a question to ask you."

She was so incredibly sweet. Should he even be asking her this? Well, too late now. He felt a little jittery. "I was just wondering if you wanted to… to eat."

Naturally, Sarah was confused. "To, eat?"

"Dinner." He clarified. "Eat dinner." He pointed at his chest. "With me."

Man, why was he being so nervous? He had wooed many women in the past. Why was he stumbling over his words with Sarah?

Sarah shook her head. "I'm sorry, but Jareth, we have dinner together every evening. And I've already had breakfast but I can join you if you want."

Jareth shook his head. He was getting nowhere with this. "No, you're wrong. I mean you're right." Gah! He took a deep breath. "What I meant was, dinner as in dinner-dinner." He overturned his hands so his palms were facing up.

Sarah looked sideways then back at him. "I don't know what you mean by dinner-dinner." She even repeated his hand gesture.

Jareth sighed and rested his head on his knees. This was not going well. "I mean, dinner as in… something more formal."

"Formal?"

"Yes. More formal." He pointed at the castle. "You know, not in the… the normal dining room. But in a fancier one."

"Uh huh." Sarah still was not getting it.

Jareth rubbed his temple. It was a testament of how much he changed since meeting Sarah. In the past, even before becoming a king, he was always so hot tempered that when someone didn't understand him, he would either lash out or just give up. Now he realized that part of communication was him too, that it didn't mean that someone else was stupid just because they couldn't understand him.

But he just couldn't say the words. He was so afraid of a rejection and thinking too much about his damn discovery from two days ago.

"You know." He said quietly. "When two people dress up nicely… Just them. I mean others may be around but only the two people are really interacting with each other. And then going to have… dinner. At a formal place. Your world does it too."

Sarah opened her mouth, gaping at him once she realized what he was saying. "Oh! Yes, we do that too. Up there."

Now SHE was nervous too. "I mean, you already knew that, of course. You just mentioned it."

Jareth nodded, too embarrassed to speak.

Sarah let out a little nervous laugh. Never had her heart felt so happy and light. This was unlike any cute guy who had ever asked her on a date or any past boyfriends. "Yes, I would like to do that. With you, I mean. Just to clarify." She gave him a cheeky wink.

Jareth let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Wonderful. Does tonight work for you? I can meet you in the main hall."

Sarah pretended to think about it. He knew that she wasn't really busy, that she just was keeping herself doing things to pass the time or just reading. "Hmm. Let's see, what do I have to do today? I was planning on a chicken throwing contest with the goblins, you know."

"I swear if you are serious, then I am bogging you." He wagged his finger at her, all the tension leaving his body.

Sarah made a pouty face. "Oh, but then I will smell bad for when we dine together, won't I?"

"You are impossible, you know that?" Jareth grinned at her.

Sarah threw her head back and laughed. "Oh you."

Jareth stuck his tongue out at her.

"Well now who's the mature one?" Sarah poked his nose. "Hypocrite. Can I have one request though?"

"Anything, Precious." He said quietly. He really meant it. He would do anything for her…

"Can Hoggle join us for dinner?" She said in a very serious face. It was so serious that Jareth's mouth fell open.

"Uh, Sarah, I mean-"

"AHAHAHA!" Sarah pointed at him, rolling on the grass. "You should have seen your face!"

In his past, Jareth would have hated to look like a fool. He would have been a sore loser and just shoved everyone away. Sarah taught him how to laugh at himself and to enjoy the little moments in life.

"I did specify that this would be two people in this dinner, you know." He said after they were done laughing.

"Yeah yeah." Sarah made a dismissive wave. "I may be too dumb to understand what your dinner-dinner comment meant, but I'm not that dumb, you know."

"Are you sure about that?" Jareth teased her.

Sarah grabbed a handful of the fallen blossoms and blew them at Jareth. "Go away, I have some reading to do."

Jareth brushed the petals off him, but missed one that was stuck in his hair. Sarah thought he looked very adorable. "Sarah, you would rather read a book than talk to me, a very handsome king?"

"At the moment, yes." Sarah said without skipping a beat. "In fact, having dinner-dinner with you is why I want you to leave. I'm giving up my evening reading time to have the dinner-dinner with you, you know."

"Wow, I feel so special and wanted." He snorted. "And are you ever going to stop making fun of me about the dinner-dinner comment?"

Sarah looked up from her book. "Nope. So long as you'll be seeing my face, I will always tease you."

"Good to know. Well, I shall see you this evening then." Jareth gave a mocking bow.

"You mean for dinner-dinner?"

"Good-bye!" Jareth transported away.

Sarah roared with laughter.

I have a soft spot for nervous guys who are emotional lol. I thought it was time for a sweet and fun scene between them to show how close they've gotten.

He has a sort of "plan" for her that will be revealed in the next chapter. So not "evil" but definitely disingenuous and dishonest. The very act of withholding information is dishonest and not great for the start of a relationship.

I think you all can expect what happens next chapter, the next chapter and the one after is very much like Beauty and the Beast. As always, leave a review and maybe a prediction of how you think Sarah would respond and why (although it's kinda obvious, lol)