A/N: okay next chapter is here yay!! Thank you again for your reviews, a shinny penny to each of you :D I realised that whilst writing, these chapters seemed long but when I uploaded them they were really short so I do say I'm sorry so they will be lil chapters…as they say good thing in small packages.

Disclaimer: Again I do not own anything; I am poor and do this for me only.

Jareth was gobsmacked. No he had to of heard it wrong, Sarah was always close to her father, this didn't make sense. 'Your father?' he asked her more to justify if he was imagining it. She nodded briefly before crying again. The doors to her emotions were finally open and she couldn't close them. Too long she had hidden her pain and now it was ripping through her. 'Why did he do this?' He asked calmly trying to resist the urge to disappear to her house and kill the fucking bastard that had caused this girl so much pain.

Sarah had tried to compose herself as best she could and slowly pulled away from his warmth and sat up straight rubbing the remaining tears from her eyes. 'I walked in from school and found my father starring at me with anger in his eyes…' Sarah continued to relay the story of today's events. Jareth listened to every word she said and many times resisted the urge to just pick her up, walk away and never look back. After she finished her tale she sat very quietly twiddling her fingers. He slowly opened his mouth to speak 'Is this the first time he has done this?' She looked up into his eyes, those eyes she had once feared to look into; but now all his eyes showed was an emotion she had never seen in him before. She couldn't hide anything from him, she quickly shook her head. She slowly lifted up her woolly cardigan, he tried to stop her unsure of what she was doing but she shook her head. She revealed her flat abdomen which harvested a few small bruises but what really caught his attention was the larger one that ranged from her middle round to the side. 'After my step mother left my dad blamed me because we didn't always see eye to eye, I apparently was the reason she left. So I'm getting punished for what I did, it all happened a couple of weeks after my visit to the labyrinth…that's just when I decided to grow up.'

Jareth pulled her close to him, never wanting to let go of her again. He could feel her sobs rise from her throat as she started to shiver with the cold. He gently pulled her even closer allowing no gap between them, any closer and she would be sitting on his lap. He hated seeing her like this. He wanted to fix it, she deserved that much.

Sarah realised she had been out of the house for almost 2 and half hours. She needed to go home, if her father caught her out or realised she had gone…she shivered with the thought 'What am I doing?!' she had just poured out her deepest secrets to someone she considered a stranger, she had to leave now!

Jareth was wondering if she would consider leaving for the Underground with him. He had loved her from the first moment he met her, when she was just 15 (but he knew he would have to wait for her), he could not force her against her will. He at least predicted 10 years not 3 to visit her again. 'Wrong place, wrong time buddy! Do not think about this now you are here for her.' He noticed that Sarah had stopped crying and that all could be heard were little hiccups. He relaxed his embrace around her.

She felt his embrace relax, this was her chance. Of course she appreciated him being there and everything but she just had to get back. She shot out of his arms, she began to run. Each step was increasing her dizziness, she knew she would pass out soon but she had to get back then she could pass out 'Come on feet!' …She tripped up a branch that lay over her path and began to fall as if in slow motion, closer to the ground.

It all happened so quickly, all he noticed was she had gone from his arms, running and then the branch. Just before she hit the floor something or someone had grabbed her and carried her as if she was an innocent child, her head against his chest. The dizzy spell was quickening, she looked up and as the darkness closed around her she saw the pair of miss matched eyes staring down at her.

He couldn't just drop her off at her house, back to that monster, that would be wrong. Like dropping the prey into his lap and her not stand a chance against the predator that was her father. Anger flared once more behind his eyes. 'Okay…calm down…you can't take her to the Underground it's far too soon.' As much as he'd like to he couldn't. PING! The light bulb in his mind switched on…he knew where to take her. And with that he evaporated leaving no sign that either he or Sarah was there apart from the mist of glitter that was captured by the wind.

He gently laid her down on the bed, careful not to wake her up; he knew she hadn't slept in weeks probably haunted by the nightmares that her father had given her. He brushed a stray hair from her face, which showed her pale face now calm and peaceful. He gently placed his hand hovering just above her head, and muttered something, words? He then slowly stroked one finger up her arm from her wrist, across her shoulder and up to where her neck joined her head. Sarah shivered but remained asleep, the cuts and bruises had been healed but Jareth knew the emotional injures could not be healed by his magic. He placed a thick blanket over Sarah and gently placed a kiss on her forehead. He then settled in an armchair at the end of the bed and watched over her all night until he drifted off to sleep.

A/N: Review Review Typing next chapter as we speak :D