AN: Sorry it took so long to get up, guys. I'll try to get the next one up quicker, now that my outline's back on track.

Disclaimer: Anything that you recognize from somewhere other than this story does not belong to me (Unfortunately, that includes Jareth... damn). Anything you recognize exclusively from this story, I do own. And anything that is completely random and new and doesn't make any sense? Well, we'll just blame that on the muses. ;) enjoy!

I woke up the same way I went to sleep, curled in the arms of the man who owned my heart… where did that come from? Still, I couldn't help but nuzzle my way deeper into his arms, loving the way his hands rested on my waist and shoulder, holding me up against him. I could feel his arm beneath my head, pillowing it and his body was so much warmer than my own. The rise and fall of his chest was soothing and I was close enough to hear his heartbeat, slightly faster than mine, but still very strong. Happily, I slipped back to sleep.

When I woke again, it was clear that I wasn't the only one. I knew Jareth was beginning to wake up as well because his breathing had changed and his heart had sped up just slightly. I kept my breathing even and relaxed. I would have only one shot at this. If I freaked out, he would leave and I didn't want that. I felt him begin to move a little, tightening his arms around me, then burying his nose in my hair and inhaling deeply. I kept my body relaxed and repeated my actions from the last time I awoke, nuzzling into him. I took a deep breath, mimicking him, and tightened my grip on his shirt.

He froze and I moved again, rubbing my cheek against his throat and letting out a small purr. When his hand flexed on my shoulder, I tilted my head up to him and opened my eyes, knowing he would be watching me.

I whispered a single word, knowing he would hear me, "Jareth."

He stared at me for a moment.

I stared back, then reached up slowly and wrapped my arm around his neck, pulling myself up and brushing my lips against his.

He let out a small sound of pleasure, but otherwise held completely still.

I pulled away and looked at him, hoping he would help me out a little.

"Sarah…"

I took a deep breath and pressed my mouth against his again, letting my lips part just a little to breathe him in. I let my eyes slip closed, focusing on the way he felt, his body completely contrasting to mine and relaxing myself into his frame, allowing my body to think for once instead of my head. This is what I want, this is my dream, I thought, and the next thing I knew, he had tilted his head slightly and dragged me up a little higher, his mouth pressing more fully against mine and causing my body to rub against his, making me shiver a little.

He tilted his head a little more to the side. I carefully tilted my head to the other side and felt him smile in approval. Then, he slowly opened his mouth a little wider and I felt my jaw begin to follow his before I hesitated for a minute. Immediately, I felt teeth come down on my bottom lip, making me gasp in slight pain before he slowly licked the hurt spot. I shivered and my grip on his hair tightened slightly. He slid his tongue in further and stroked mine, causing me to tug rather roughly on his hair. He growled and I couldn't help but moan. It was the single most erotic sound I'd ever heard. He paused in the kiss for a moment, pulling away.

"Sarah," he growled in my ear, "don't defy me."

I couldn't help the little whimper that escaped me when he did that. He smirked and kissed me again, picking up where he left off, teasing my tongue.

I mimicked his motions, letting my tongue trace over his and was delighted when he groaned into my mouth. He slowly pulled his tongue back a little, and then brushed it up against mine before pulling back again. I slid my tongue after his and he licked my lips as I did. Before I realized it, my tongue was in his mouth and he was sucking on it, causing me to moan and whimper, wriggling against him. His hand caught my hip, holding me still as he pulled away again.

"I think it's time to stop, at least until you are dressed," he spoke, breathing heavily.

I blushed as I realized that at some point, he had slipped his hand under my shirt and was now gripping my bare waist. He chuckled and squeezed with that hand, causing me to jump and blush brighter.

"Or, we could continue… it's up to you, luv," he whispered. I shivered, knowing that I needed to get up, but wanting so very much to stay in bed, partly because I was only in a long shirt and boy-shorts…. But partly because I liked the way he felt wrapped around me. I buried my head in his shoulder, trying to decide and heard him chuckle again, effectively making it harder to think.

"Jareth…" I growled, hearing his breath catch, "not helping the decision-making process!"

"But this will," he murmured before slipping out of bed and yanking the covers off me, baring me to his gaze. I blushed again and whimpered at the look in his eye. His eyes ran over me hungrily, pausing on my chest and causing me to blush wildly as I realized that my nipples were standing completely at attention. His gaze ran lower, I glanced down to see that my shirt had ridden up almost to the bottoms of my breasts, revealing my entire stomach and the boy-shorts I had worn to bed the night before.

"I stand corrected; this isn't helping the decision-making process at all. At least, not the decision to get up. It seems to be helping the one to ravish you quite a bit." He murmured, the thickness of his accent alone making me bite my lip, much less his words. His eyes narrowed and he smirked, "I've made my decision… you have three seconds to make yours."

I yelped and leapt out of bed, racing for the shower, grabbing my jeans on the way by. I could hear his calm voice, counting behind me, "two…"

I made it in, slamming the door as I heard him say 'three.'

I heard his laughter from the other side of the door. Blushing, I locked the door before getting in the shower. The hot water did very little to calm me, working only until I thought of Jareth, which is to say, not very long at all. When I had been in there long enough to gain some semblance of control, I turned the water off, dried off and got dressed. I took a deep breath before unlocking the door. I slipped quietly out, wondering why the house was so silent and why I felt a dull ache in my chest.

There was a crystal sitting on the counter with a piece of paper.

Pet,

I swear I will be right back, I'm just changing clothes.

J.

P.s. Leslie is home, I thought it would be good to warn you. She is asleep while I write this, but don't be surprised if she suddenly pops up.

I smiled and moved to make some breakfast. Sure enough, about halfway through, I heard a zombie approaching the coffee pot. I grabbed a cup, tossed in several ice-cubes, and poured some before she got frustrated that she had to walk across the kitchen and back. You could say it had become routine over the years… either she woke up to a pot of coffee…. Or someone died. I did my part to keep the world safe. She grabbed the cup from me, downed it in a single swallow, dumped the ice-cubes and poured a second cup. I just shook my head, still not sure how she could do that.

"So, Sarah," she started, innocently enough, but I automatically cringed, "Nevermind…. What happened to make you all jumpy when I say your name…?" she grinned evilly. I whimpered, knowing that I had effectively screwed myself over.

N-nothing…" I stuttered.

"Nice try, girl, but not convincing enough!"

I swear that the only thing that could wake that girl up faster than a couple cups of coffee was the promise of making my morning a living hell.

I sighed, opening my mouth to tell her at least part of it, even though she would probably get the whole thing out of me anyways, but the knock on the door had me bolting to open it, glad that Jareth had come back at that moment. I flung the door open and threw my arms around him, "Thank you for saving me from Leslie!" I cried.

"Ummm…. You're welcome, I guess."

The voice wasn't Jareth's… oh… shit…

I looked up into the eyes of a very confused telemarketer. I immediately dropped my arms and stepped back, embarrassed, "Sorry, I thought you were someone else," I said quietly.

He laughed, "It's fine. After all, it's not every day that you find a beautiful young woman throwing herself at you when she answers the door. Especially not in this line of work!"

I covered my face with my hands, mortified. I heard Leslie step up behind me, "Did you seriously just launch yourself at a telemarketer, just to get away from my curiosity? Now, I've got to know what happened while I was gone…" she said behind me.

"Well, Les, what do you think happened while you were gone?"

She looked at me for a moment, then her eyes got wide, "Did you finally realize you are in-love with him?" she squealed.

"Les… no." I'm not in-love with Jareth King, "I might however have mentioned not wanting him to give up on me, happy?"

"No. but it will do for a little while."

Jareth chose that moment to come walking up the driveway.

"Besides, Sar, if you won't tell me, I'll just pry it out of him," she jerked her head down the driveway, but the poor telemarketer was in the way and looked more confused by the second.

"She's talking about the guy coming up the driveway. There might be a lot of screams coming from this house, so if someone looks like they are gonna call the cops, stop them. I'm afraid I'm too nervous of her," I hooked a thumb in Leslie's direction, "to buy anything and she's too hyped up on the latest gossip about her best friend," I gestured to myself, "to buy anything either. And there's no real point in asking him," I pointed down the driveway, "either. If it had been another day or you were selling duck tape, I might have bought some. As it is, I suggest you go find someone else to sell your stuff to. Make sense?"

He nodded, stunned, and turned around, walking down the driveway and getting in his car.

Jareth made it to the door and I moved aside to let him in, hoping that his arrival would keep the questions at bay… he slid against me, allowing his hand to trail across my waist after he passed and this time, instead of trying to ignore it, I let myself drift into it and shiver.

When I looked at Leslie, her mouth was open and she looked flabbergasted, "not in-love with Jareth King, my ass!" she yelled.

I groaned, "Leslie, I don't know how I feel completely yet. I've never been in love. If being in-love means you think of someone a lot, then, yea, I'm hopelessly in-love with Jareth King. But honestly, I know that's not all there is to it, okay. Because if it was, I'd be in-love with you, too. Make sense?"

She shuddered, "Yea, I get the picture…. It would also mean that you are in-love with Mr. Dirksen… gross!"

"Exactly!" I said, shutting the door and going back into the kitchen to finish the food, thankful I hadn't turned anything on. I finished up with the omelets I was cooking and placed one in front of Leslie, one in front of Jareth and grabbed a fork as I sat down with the third one.

"Jareth, I warn you that we might get interrogated," I murmured as I passed him, sitting in the chair next to him instead of Leslie. He just nodded.

Sure enough, as soon as the plates were in the sink and we were all in the living room, she rounded on us, "SO, Sarah, Jareth…. What happened while I wasn't here yesterday? Because let me tell you MY side of the story. I'm at work, minding my own business, when suddenly I get a call from Sarah. Wondering what's up, I answer. 'Don't laugh,' she says. So I say okay and then she confesses to the fact that she is sitting alone at her desk trying to do homework and being distracted, because she doesn't know where you," she pointed to Jareth, "are. She says that she feels as though you aren't in this reality. I tell her to calm down, that you are probably running an errand, and tell her to stop doing homework because it is the weekend and she has a few days. She agrees and we hang up. What happened next? Don't bother lying…"

"Well," I continued from where she left off, "When I got off the phone, I decided to take a nap. So I'm asleep and I start to have this bad dream, it's like a reenactment of the ballroom, but I wind up trying to find Jareth, getting shoved down, and then watching Jareth walk away from me because he was trying to help me up and I was pushing his hands away. I started sobbing. I'll leave it to him to explain what happened there after that."

Jareth glanced at me, almost as if asking permission to tell everything.

"Go ahead; she'll just pry it out of me later."

He chuckled and began, "I was running an errand, something that came up suddenly and I realized that I had no way to contact either of you, so I hurried through it as quickly as I could. Unfortunately, it took longer than expected and I didn't manage to get out of it until almost three hours past the time I was expected. I came over rather quickly and knocked on the door. No one answered so I knocked again.

"Suddenly, I heard sobbing coming from the other side of the door and without thinking, I flung it open, worried that something had happened. I saw Sarah, on the floor, curled into a fetal position and sobbing in her sleep," he looked at me, slightly pained, "and I rushed to her side, trying to wake her. She wouldn't snap out of it and started saying, 'Jareth, I'm sorry… I'm so sorry,' I picked her up so that she was standing and told her to wake up again. She came to, and whispered my name. Immediately, I asked what was wrong. She told me that I had given up on her and I replied with 'not yet.' She looked relieved and told me about the dream.

"When she was finished, she was sobbing again and saying that she thought I was mad at her while I was gone. So, I pulled her close and told her that I wasn't mad at her, I hadn't given up, and no matter how many times she pushed me away, I would always try once more," he finished, looking at me to pick up the story from there.

I pulled my eyes away from him and looked at Leslie, preparing myself for a scream… or at least a wild jumping, "and then he brushed his lips against mine," I blushed and avoided their eyes as I said the next part, "and heat ran through me. He pulled away and held me close and I couldn't help but begin to sing. I sang that song that I remembered and when I finished…" I looked at Jareth, unsure if I could say the next part with him in the room.

"I probably already know what you felt, but if you want me to leave, I can," he said, standing up.

I smiled, "no, you can stay. Just no making fun of me after…"

"Of course not. Not if what happened is what I think."

"When I finished," I picked up where I left off, "our eyes locked and it felt as though he could see everything about me, as though he knew my most intimate secrets, things I don't even know. It felt as though he had seen everything there is to see, as though he looked straight into my soul and accepted me…" I drifted off, remembering that feeling of pure vulnerability and safety.

I caught Jareth smiling out of the corner of my eye, a soft smile, as though he was remembering as well.

"Wow," Leslie breathed, "Sarah, you have got to be the luckiest girl anywhere, above or underground."

Jareth's eyes snapped to her, "Where did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" she sounded puzzled.

"That part about above or underground."

"Her mom used to use it all the time," I answered for her, "it's become something we use, because we heard it all the time when we were younger. Why?"

"I've heard it often. I didn't know that many people here knew it. It's mostly a saying from where I come. That's all," he said quietly.

We were silent for a moment, then, "What happened after that?"

"Leslie…" I groaned. "That's all there is to it," I lied.

She was about to look disappointed, I could tell, when Jareth spoke up, "actually, not quite all."

I glared at him as Leslie smiled, "I'm going to kill you…"

He just wound his arm around my waist and pulled me closer, placing a kiss on the top of my head.

"Spill."

I winced at the look on Leslie's face.

"Okay, okay!" I took a deep breath, wanting to get it over with quickly. "I was still pretty shell-shocked from the whole 'looking into my soul' thing, so he decided it was time for bed. He pulled off my shoes and jacket and asked me if I wanted to sleep in the clothes I was wearing. Automatically I said no," Leslie began to grin, "and he was a perfect gentleman, keeping his eyes on my face the entire time and helping me change into a long shirt," I cringed backwards at the demonic grin on her face.

"And then he started to leave and I asked him to stay and then he almost didn't and then I felt sad but he changed his mind and then I asked him to lay down with me and then he did and then he put his arms around me and then I fell asleep."

"Sooo… he spent the night?" she asked, deceptively calm.

"Technically, yes."

"What about waking up?"

Oh yea... that part of the day… ummm…. I blushed.

Her eyes narrowed, "Sarah… Don't defy me."

My eyes widened and I whimpered. "Well, we sort of ummm…. Made out?" I hid my face against Jareth.

"About time!" she screeched. Jareth chuckled and I buried my face deeper into his side.

"I agree," he murmured, causing me to blush brighter as he stroked a hand over my hair.

"And then?"

"Well," Jareth picked up where I left off, "I mentioned that we needed to get up and she needed a shower, and she seemed reluctant to do so, so I may have yanked the covers off of her and threatened to ravage her if she didn't. It seemed to work," he shrugged.

I moaned against his shirt, knowing that I shouldn't have let him start talking.

Leslie was silent and I was scared. I peeked up and looked at her.

"Is this true, Sarah?"

I almost denied it, but frightened of the look in her eyes, simply nodded.

She looked like she was about to lose it, so I buried my face in Jareth's shirt again, prepared for a scream.

"You had better fall in-love with him soon, Sarah, because if you let him get away… I will personally wring your neck…"

I risked a glance at her and found her smiling at me, threateningly, if that's even possible.

I nodded a little and felt Jareth's breath catch, making me smile.

Our 'happy' little powwow broke up and I moved to clean the kitchen while Leslie hopped in the shower. Jareth followed me in and helped. As we finished them, arms slid around my waist and lips brushed my neck, "Sarah?" he asked as I leant back against him, "What are we right now?"

"What do you mean?"

He sighed, "Are we together? Or simply friends still? You call the shots right now."

"Oh. Well, we are definitely not just friends anymore… do you want us to be together?"

He nuzzled my neck, "very much so, luv."

I purred as he nuzzled me again, tilting my head to the side to give him better access, "As you wish..."

I felt him smile against my neck.

"So, how do I introduce you?" I asked.

"what do you mean?"he murmured against my throat.

"it's just… I don't know what to call you. We are not lovers and even if we were, it would be too intimate a title to use in public."

"Honey, just call him your man. Everyone'll get the picture!" I heard Leslie's voice from across the room, making me jump.

Jareth chuckled. "How about you simply admit you love me and then call me the love of your life?"

"What do you mean, 'admit'?" I growled.

I saw Leslie leave the room out of the corner of my eye.

"Well," he teased, "you are the one who asked me to not give up on you. That means that you must have something beyond toleration for me."

I sighed, "True, but is it love? I don't think so, I'm sure that if I fall in love with you, I'll know it…"

"When," he murmured quietly.

"When?"

"When, not if. I intend to do everything in my power to make you fall in-love with me," he clarified quietly.

"Jareth…"

"Sarah, I will believe your best friend over you… just this once."

I sighed, knowing that he wouldn't listen. I started to pull away, but he held me still. I turned and opened my mouth, "Jareth, let me—"

His mouth came down on mine, effectively shutting me up as I turned in his arms to get better access. The electricity started up again and I felt his hands run up and down my back. He pulled away after a moment, letting me catch my breath and moved down my jaw line, pausing at my ear to whisper into it, "I love you, Sarah Williams, and I don't plan on letting you get away this time."

My eyes widened and then his mouth was on mine again and I could feel the emotion he had for me, boiling over and yanking on me, looking for an answering one. Just as something was about to snap in me, I broke the kiss, panting heavily and looked at him in shock.

"You… love me?" I asked, overwhelmed.

"From nearly the first moment I saw you" he replied, still holding me against him.

"Jareth…"

"Now you see why I won't give up on you?" he breathed.

I nodded, feeling a sense of wonderment filling me up. Jareth loved me. I wished I could say it back with the same amount of surety. I could feel tears run down my face as I realized that I could easily be in love with him and not know it. I'd never even kissed anyone but him.

"Jareth, how do you know you are in-love with me?" I asked, hoping to put a match to my feelings.

He pulled me into my room and laid down on the bed, holding his arms out to me. I crawled into them and he started talking, "The moment I saw you, I knew that I wanted to know you better. When you pushed me away, I became even more curious. When I showed up at your door a week ago, I was hoping to find out more, but you told me to sit down and shut up, then you refused to do more than acknowledge me when I interrogated you. I prod at you to watch you flare up, admiring the passion you express and the way you move less self-consciously when you are angry," he cut himself off and all of the emotion in his eyes closed off, scaring me.

"Jareth…" I whispered, amazed at what I had seen before he closed himself off.

He simply looked at me, smiled slightly and started to get up.

I held him still and began to speak, "If that's what love is, I'm at least halfway in-love with you already. I just haven't ever felt it before, or put words to it. The truth is, whatever my basis for comparison is, you match it," I finished with a sigh, looking into his eyes and letting him see the confusion, the vulnerability, the need, and the love if it was there.

Lightly, I pressed my lips to his for a second, "I trust you with everything that I am…" I murmured softly, hoping for the emotion to come back into his eyes.

He watched me for a moment, and then tugged me so that I was straddling his waist, "I know," he whispered, pulling me down and kissing me.

This time, he was extremely gentle, coaxing a response from me rather than demanding it and I could feel how foreign it was to him. I followed his lead, and gripping his shoulders, rolled us over slightly so that I was mostly underneath him, relaxing when he rolled the rest of the way, his lips never leaving mine. His body didn't quite settle on me, choosing instead to hover over me, his arms under me bracing himself up. He lightly opened his mouth and I slipped my tongue forward, hesitantly, happy when it brushed against his and he twined it lightly around mine, teaching instead of dominating. When my tongue brushed around one of his incisors, he moaned a little and I could feel him make a physical effort to stay in the submissive.

I threaded my hands into his hair and held him to me, eyes closed as I explored his mouth. My fingertips slid down and brushed over his jaw, his eyelids, then further back to fondle his ears. He moaned and I pulled away, allowing my hands to rest on his shoulders once more, breathless at the emotion I had felt during that kiss, very little of it coming exclusively from him.

"That is how I know I'm in-love with you, Sarah Williams. You are the only person I submit to," he murmured, opening his eyes. If I were standing, I would have staggered from the weight of his gaze, filled with an emotion I'd only ever seen once, in my parents' eyes. Slowly, it retreated until all I could see was an echo as he looked at me.

"Falling… falling in love…" I whispered.

"Only with you," he said quietly.

I smiled.

AN: Wow. I had no idea that a single chapter could be so hard to write when the story goes off the outline. I must have rewritten this thing four or five times and I'm still not sure I'm happy with it, haha. I now have a MUCH greater appreciation for those authors that use the characters' refusal to cooperate as an excuse for the time between updates! Whatcha think? Ready to shoot me yet? I'm kinda surprised I haven't gotten any flames... Review! ^_^