Chapter Nine: Only Forever
"Jesus, Mary and Joseph!" Sam yelled as the pair appeared back right where Sarah had left.
"How long has it been?" Sarah asked, looking around anxiously.
"Barely five minutes, but-"
"No time to explain. Jareth, you need to get in the cupboard." Sarah managed to tuck an extremely indignant ex-Goblin King into her wardrobe just before the RA entered their dorm room.
"Alright, girls, what's happened here?" Sarah and Sam stared at each other, having an intense argument with tiny eye movements, then turned and pointed at the same time at Sarah's bed.
"I just woke up covered in glass and feathers." Sarah spluttered.
"Right... this is probably some weird prank. Do you have any idea who could have done it?" the RA looked flushed and tired. She didn't seem to have noticed the cuts on Sarah's face.
"No idea", the girls said in unison.
"Ok, I'll call the cleaner and find out if they need anything specific done with that glass, and you two just try and keep away from it." She headed towards the door. "I'll have some paperwork for you later."
The door closed behind her and Sarah and Sam exhaled.
"Sarah."
"Yes?"
"You look like shit and there's a man in the cupboard."
"Yes."
Sarah hurriedly opened the cupboard. Jareth practically fell on top of her.
"You put me in a cupboard", he scowled.
"And you put me in an oubliette," Sarah retorted, "so get over it."
She helped him over the Sam's bed and sat him down. He was still in terrible shape, with several of his cuts still bleeding and bruising which was suggestive of broken ribs.
"What on earth did you do to deserve all this?" Sarah said quietly, running her fingers across his ribs.
Her stared at her darkly and she dropped her eyes.
"Sarah?" Sam tapped her on the shoulder.
"Yes?"
"You disappeared and reappeared and then there was a man in the cupboard", Sam took a deep breath, "and now he is on my bed and he looks even more like shit than you do."
"I do not like this friend of yours", Jareth declared, scowling again.
"Sam, I love you, and I will explain, but right now I need some kind of first aid kit."
"No, nope, I am not letting you stick bandaids on this guy without telling me who he is first." Sam crossed her arms.
"His name's Jareth." Sarah sighed. "He's- well, it's complicated. Maybe even more complicated than it was when I left."
"Oooooh, so this is Jareth! You talk about him in your sleep."
Sarah's whole face flushed pink and Jareth's face turned triumphant.
"How long is he planning to stay?" Sam asked.
"Um, I think he has to stay forever." Sarah frowned, searching Jareth's face for confirmation. He nodded, looking even more triumphant.
"You're my Guardian now. You have to make sure I don't get up to any... trouble."
"Ok, well, you can't stay here. I'm going to go text me cousin, he's got a spare room", Sam headed to the door, waggling her eyebrows at Sarah. "You two get some privacy for now, but I expect an explanation."
The door clicked shut behind her and then it was just Sarah and Jareth, alone.
"You'll have to get a job. I can't support you", Sarah started blathering. "Why did I agree to this? This was a terrible idea. The whole thing was a terrible idea. I don't even like you. You kidnapped my brother. This was a terrible idea."
"Sarah..."
"I'm not even supposed to have guys in the dorm room."
"Sarah." His hands cupped her face gently, pulling her face up to his.
"I'm still covered in salt..."
"Hush, moon-heart." Jareth closed his eyes and brushed his lips against her hairline. He ran his hands down the sides of her neck, her shoulders, her arms, wrapping one arm around her waist and bringing the other hand back up to cusp her chin. "Thank you. For being my Champion. For coming when you were called."
"I don't even like you", she whispered.
"You'll just have to learn." He brushed his lips against her hairline again, then pressed them gently to her forehead.
"I don't know how I'm going to explain this to... anyone."
"Sshhh." His fingertips grazed her hip under the edge of her sweater and his other hand found its way into her hair. "We have forever to argue now. Just give me this moment."
"That's not long at all." She smiled weakly. "But you can't ask me to keep giving you thinks when you took so much from me."
"Sarah..." His mouth was on the corner of her jaw and she shivered deliciously. "You took my heart, my kingdom, my title, my powers, and almost my life. And now, you've taken me. Is that not enough for you? I ask for so little."
"Ok." She took his face in her hands, pulling him up to look her in the eyes. "I'll give you this."
His mouth tasted like blood and magic and she hoped that forever would turn out to be a very, very long time.
Author's Note: Hello! As you may have guessed, that's the end! I had so much fun writing this and I hope you've enjoyed it. Now, I do feel like the ending is a little abrupt and there are a lot of questions left unanswered, so I'm beginning to think about thinking about a sequel. If enough people are keen then I am definitely up to writing one, so let me know if that's something you'd like to see. Anyway, thanks for reading my first fic in 5 years!