Weeks passed and each night Jareth would sneak into Sarah's room and make sure she slept well. He had never done this with Eriku before; with Sarah however he felt as though he had to. She seemed so scared when he was not around, truth was he wanted to protect her and make sure she knew everything was okay. He would crawl into bed and hold her close, gently caressing her and lacing small kisses on her shoulder, arms, hands but never on her face. The face was too dangerous and he would not allow that pleasure.

After about two weeks of watching Sarah and doing nothing but ignoring her, Jareth felt as though he was going crazy. The anger would come out in snide comments and rude looks towards the girl who in return would talk back to him. The hurt look never escaped him though causing his heart to ache. At night he would remind himself that he would make it up to her. Nights were now his favorite part of the day.

Eriku never noticed him gone and Sarah never noticed him there. He was always back in his bed by the time they got up even if he fell asleep with Sarah in his arms. She would sub-concisely cling onto him, whispering his name softly. Jareth would answer her by holding her closer and placing a soft kiss on her head.

One morning Jareth had saw her laughing in what seemed to be in a long time. The girl looked so beautiful when she was dong that. He had not known what made her so happy as he watched but he could not look away. When she turned and caught his eye on instinct a cruel look passed over his features causing her to glare back at him. Rolling her eyes she turned around and continued to giggle.

This angered him to see her react like that. Taking long strides towards the girl he placed his hand on her shoulder and quickly forced her to turn around. A book slipped from her hands he had not seen crashing to the floor. He had forgotten how much she liked to read so for a moment this surprised him. "Look what you made me do!" She yelled at him causing the feelings of longing to wipe away her anger. This just caused his own frustration to grow.

"Well it would never have happened if you did not treat me so rudely."

"Rudely? Rudely!" Sarah stormed up to him and searched his eyes to see if any hint of kidding around was there. "You are the rude one! Giving me rude looks all the time you never even treat anyone with kindness besides…" Her words faltered and a look of sadness passed over her features. Oh if only she knew what that look did to her.

"Besides who?" He sneered.

"Besides your wife!" With that Sarah turned on her heel to run off not able to cover her tears in time. That night Jareth had waited till he was sure his wife was asleep before walking into Sarah's room only to stop in mid step to find she was not in there at all. Where was she? Had their fight been the last straw? In fear he rushed throughout the castle hoping that she was at least on the property. When he could not find her he had thought about calling the goblins awake and making an excuse for them to find her.

Then he saw her, she was outside just sitting down on one of the tall steps towards the entrance of the castle. Slowing he exited the entrance hall and exited outside even though the cold was almost too much for his bare skin. At the sound of the door opening Sarah quickly stood up and looked back staring at the man who was walking towards her. Her face was red from crying and she tried to wipe the remaining tears so he could not see her weak. He only cared for his wife and not for her at all, she was sure of it.

Jareth stood there without saying a word her raw emotions almost too much for him to see. Her streaming tears left red streaks down her pale skin, her brown eyes seeming to sparkle even more but not in happiness. She stared at him just daring him to make some evil comment about what situation he had caught her in. To her surprise he just advanced towards her before pulling her into his arms and holding her close to his body. As his hands stroked her hair in quick motions she let out her tears freely his comfort too much for her to hold it back.

Sarah continued to cry letting out all the feelings she held in her heart all the while Jareth just whispered her name, placing small, butterfly kisses on her head while holding her not letting her go until she was done crying. Pulling back Jareth wiped away the remaining tears smiling softly down at the girl. "I know you have been visiting me in the night." Was all she whispered. "I would wake up in the middle of the night and see you laying there, holding me. Why?" Her eyes were full of questions and some anger but mostly confusion.

"Because." He looked down too scared to start what he could with this one truth.

"Because why Jareth? I am so confused! You act as though you hate me but all of a sudden you are comforting me while I cry! What is going on Jareth, you can't do this to me-"

"Because!" He yelled out. "Because, I am scared to admit that I am in love with you." His words came out in a soft and scared tenderness that both broke and caused happiness to arouse in Sarah.

"Say it again please." She whispered not sure she had heard it right. Hands tilting her chin up gently Jareth stared deep into her eyes his feelings showing clearly through that his words held truth.

"Sarah, I am madly in love with you. I always have been and will be and it scares the death out of me." She had no choice to respond with her words but when his lips crashed down on top of her own she responded with the movement of their kiss. Their lips moved softly, slowly exploring each others mouths until Jareth deepened the kiss by pressing his tongue into Sarah's eager lips. Jareth's hand wrapped around the girl's slim waist the other holding her head in place.

Sarah's own hands were exploring the man's body practiced from all the dreams she had had about this moment. Her fingers slid up his bare chest all thoughts of how bad this ways out of her mind. He loved her! He did care about her! With the way he was kissing and touching her he wanted her as well. Soon she grasped a handful of his soft hair in her hands enjoying the silky touch against her skin.

The kiss came to an end as they both needed air before Jareth kissed Sarah once more he looked down into her eyes and whispered. "You love me too?" It was a question and the look in his eyes almost caused Sarah to go weak. He so desperately wanted the same answer he had given her; she had the power to break his heart, make him cry, make her pay just like he had done to her. However as he grasped her hair and held her head in place she could only say four words.

"I love you Jareth."

--------Authors Note-----

Merry Christmas everyone! This is my present to you I hope you like it! This story is coming out way different then I thought but I am finding it very fun! I hope you guys are as well.