Checked for continuity, grammar, and spelling: May 3, 2011.

Chapter Nineteen: Ball Games and Boy Friends

Sarah did not move. Not that Jareth would have allowed her to if she tried, it seemed. He held her with only one arm, snaked around and up her back, his hand buried in her hair. She had the strangest feeling that she would not be moved, he would not let go even if something should attempt to drag her away forcibly. In fact, it felt as though she was standing against a statue, he was so still and solid. The only indications otherwise were the slight rise and fall of his chest as he breathed, the warmth emanating from his body, and the tiny circular motions of his thumb against the nape of her neck. She stoically tried to ignore the tingling sensations cascading down her spine, as well as the other completely illogical and irrational thoughts running through her mind.

Not wanting to focus on that too much, she stared instead at the five, sheepish looking, young men who were staring back and Jareth and herself. If she had not just received such a scare at nearly being pummeled by a football, she would have found their slack jaws and slightly bulging eyes rather amusing. Listening to the rhythm of Jareth's breathing, Sarah finally began to calm down.

She sighed heavily, realizing that the only way to get out of this awkward situation was probably to simply ignore it. Before she could do anything about that, however, Jareth interrupted her thoughts. "Is all well?" His low voice at a near whisper, it likely did not travel farther than her own ears. She tilted her head back a bit to look up at him and found him regarding her, concern only mildly evident in his eyes. Otherwise, his demeanor exhibited cold indifference.

It surprised her more that his lack of reaction did not surprise her than anything else. Yet had he behaved in a more frantic manner she knew it would have seemed affected at best. Not quite knowing what to say in general, she nodded. He gave a nearly imperceptible nod in return then relaxed. As he released her, he trailed his fingers through her hair, once more tucking it behind her ear. The intimacy of the scene was disrupted when, at the sound of uncomfortable coughing, Sarah remembered that they were not alone.

Turning, she faced out once more. After another long minute of silence, Sarah found her voice. "Hello boys."

"Um... Hey Sarah." Edmund was the only one who actually spoke; the other four merely gave embarrassed half waves. "How's it going?" As soon as the words left his mouth, he winced.

"Oh, not bad, considering. What are you guys up to?"

Edmund was fully aware he had not heard the end of this. In fact he could already hear Agnes' lecture. However, he took the cue that they were to overlook what had just happened for the moment. "Well, you know. Just playing some ball."

"Of course."

"Friends of yours, Sarah?"

Once again, chills spiraled down Sarah's back as Jareth spoke low against her ear. "Er, yeah sure." She gestured at each in turn. "That's Edmund, Rex, Herb, Nathan, and Clark. Guys, this is Jareth." As the usual pleasantries were exchanged, Sarah noted everyone's behavior with amusement. Edmund looked as though he wanted nothing more than to be swallowed up in a pit at the same time as attempting, and failing, to be subtle about sizing Jareth up. I wonder how much of this I should tell Aggie, she thought. Rex, Herb, and Nathan had adopted the mannerisms of teenage boys trying to demonstrate their maturity and masculinity in the presence of someone who played sports on the professional level. There was something else too, as though they were attempting to let Jareth know who the real men were, apparently thinking all the while they were pulling it off though it was obvious they were completely out of their league. If it had not been such an odd thing for them to do, she probably would have found it even funnier.

Clark and Jareth were the only ones behaving like normal human beings, though she supposed in Jareth's case such an assessment was completely relative. She suspected this was due to neither having anything to prove.

Clark was at least three years older than she and the other boys and really had no relationship to her beyond the briefest acquaintance years ago. His sense of self worth would have no basis on the opinions of someone so unconnected to him as she and a man he had only just met. Not that the others had any greater connection, really, for she knew them only as being friends with Agnes. She wondered if that had anything to do with their behavior, as well as what Agnes may have told them all.

As for Jareth, he was merely being himself. Though he seemed to have toned down quite a bit. She was moderately surprised at his openness and congeniality toward them, having half expecting him to do his 'I am the Goblin King; be intimidated by me' thing to them after they nearly hit her in the face. She knew that she would have been terribly affronted at his apparent indifference and lack of concern had she not known that, inside, he was still at least partially seething. She was slightly stunned at the realization she would swear this to be true with great conviction. Additionally, it was based on nothing beyond her thinking she could feel what he was feeling. Before she could carry the thought further, however, she was drawn out of her musings at the sound of her name.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" she asked. Jareth broke out into a half smirk inspiring a great desire to kick him in the shin.

"I just said that, seeing as you're done eating and all," Rex told her, "you probably wouldn't mind if we grab Jareth here for a quick game."

"Yeah," added Herb. "That way we have even numbers."

A quick glance at the others showed Edmund avoiding her gaze, Clark shaking his head ruefully, Nathan looking eager, and Jareth bemused. "You play football?" she asked him.

He shrugged elegantly. "Actually, no. I never have."

"Never?" Nathan sounded shocked. "You're kidding."

"Wow, dude. You should have. The way you caught the ball earlier, you're a natural," put in Rex.

"Oh wait, you're English or something, right? You probably only played soccer, not real football." At Herb's contribution, Edmund groaned and Clark appeared to be having difficulty refraining from laughing. Jareth raised an eyebrow.

Sarah nodded slowly. "I get it. This is one of those male things where you have to prove yourselves through a demonstration of athletic ability because of some sort of feeling that if left to other devices you will find yourself intimidated and insecure. Well, just as long as it is only that and not some paltry attempt at expressing the over-protective big brother syndrome inherent in males toward their female friends, especially considering we hardly know each other well enough to merit such behavior that is neither welcome nor required in any case, then by all means go ahead. Assuming he wants to, of course."

There was a pause as Jareth's smirk widened and the others stared at her, sputtering, then Clark burst out laughing. "You're all right, Sarah Williams," he told her, pointing at her before turning to Edmund. "You know, if everything you've told me about your not-girlfriend is true, it's no wonder they're good friends."

"Her name's Agnes," Edmund muttered. "And she is not my girlfriend."

If Edmund intended to stop Clark's laughter, he was far from successful. "That's what I said. Your not-girlfriend."

"I can't believe she said that, man," Rex was saying to Herb. "Like we'd ever do anything like that."

"But I thought-" Herb was cut off when Rex elbowed him in the side. "Ow."

"Forget it," Nathan told them. "So," he asked Jareth, "are you in? Just a quick game is all."

Jareth threw a questioning look at Sarah. While the others interpreted this as something akin to asking her permission, she saw it instead as his way of asking if this was some sort of ritual required in order to gain her approval. Not quite sure where that conclusion came from, and not really caring either, Sarah just laughed and shook her head. "Oh whatever. I'll just watch. From here. And hope there is an improvement in aim." Clark still laughing uproariously and the others sputtering once more, the guys jogged out to the field. Jareth hesitated another moment before inclining his head toward her, a mysterious smile playing on his lips as he followed the others sedately.

If someone had told her when she first met Jareth that she would one day be sitting back watching him toss a football around with some guys she went to college with, she would have suggested they seek professional help. She would have done the same if the comment had been made an hour ago. And yet, there he was, looking for all the world as though this were an everyday occurrence. All the same, she was still having a hard time believing it to actually be happening. It's Jareth, for crying out loud, she thought. The Goblin King. He's... he's... Well, to be fair, I don't actually know what he is, but a football player would have been the furthest thing from my mind. He isn't even built like one. He's more... more... Hm, what is he built like? She watched as he loped gracefully across the field, shielding his eyes from the glare of the sun with one hand and reaching out to catch the football with the other. The release came almost instantly, she was not quite sure if he had even looked to see where Clark was standing before throwing it in his direction. Sarah really did not know all that much about football, but she knew enough to guess that his throw was perfect in form as well as accuracy. Sheesh, is there anything that man can't do?

Her eyes drifted to her keys where they lay abandoned on the picnic blanket. A slow grin spread across her face. "Apparently you have proven to be quite the challenge," she told the Rubik's cube as she leaned over and picked it up. As she looked it over, marveling at how close it was to finally being done, a mischievous gleam came into her eyes. Sarah, you really shouldn't do that, she told herself as she began returning the puzzle to a completely unsolved state. It isn't nice. But the memory of Jareth working toward a solution played again in her mind. She lifted her gaze from the cube in her hands back to Jareth out on the field.

He was standing relatively close to Edmund and Clark and they appeared to be having a conversation about something. From the gestures, she assumed it was either some sort of tactical huddle, or they were making fun of the other three who had apparently forgotten the game and were currently showing off to a handful of young women walking by. They were making such an effort that even members the family across the field were pointing in their direction and laughing. She watched as one of the uninterested members snuck over to the stereo and changed the music to what sounded like Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong's recording of Porgy and Bess. As soon as the first chords played, the others snapped to attention and made to correct this change. The whole scene set Sarah off into a fit of giggles.

The sound drew Jareth's attention. He glanced over his shoulder and found Sarah leaning against the tree again, her hands over her mouth in an attempt to quiet her laughter. Even from the distance, he could see the joyous glimmer in her eyes. Another mysterious smile graced his features.

"So, Jareth," Clark comment, nonchalantly, "see something you like over there?"

"I beg your pardon?" Jareth asked sharply, turning back to the others. In doing so, he found Clark and Edmund exchanging a smirk. Instantly, he realized he was being mocked. Though he tolerated, on occasion, such behavior from the High King and Queen and, much to his surprise, enjoyed it when coming from Sarah, not since his youth had he accepted or even experienced such a thing from anyone else. In that same instant, Jareth knew that should he react as he was wont to do, any number of problems would likely arise. Under normal circumstances, such problems would bear little weight on his decisions. However, he was uncertain about how deep Sarah's acquaintanceship with these five young men went. From her earlier remark, he could assume it was little more than casual. And yet, this Edmund appeared to have some sort of connection to Agnes, Sarah's best friend. Instinctively, Jareth knew better than to disturb even the most tenuous of links as far as Sarah was concerned. If nothing else, insulting her friends would certainly not gain him the favor he so desired. Therefore, Jareth did not respond with threats or haughty commands. Instead, and without missing a beat, he simply said loftily, "No, of course not."

The two friends exchanged another look, this time one of obvious disbelief. The subtext of Jareth's now mildly wicked smile, which underlined the indifferent tone of his words, was not lost on either of them. "You know, Clark," began Edmund, "one look at him and I begin to fear for Sarah's virtue."

"Oh, most definitely," agreed Clark, pointedly ignoring Jareth's look of mild disbelief. "I have the highest suspicion that this is merely the beginning of some sort of grand scheme."

"Mm. So what's the deal, Jareth?"

Raising an eyebrow, Jareth took a chance. "My plan? My plan is to steal her away to another land, keeping her there in a castle until the end of time."

Clark snorted. "Sure. And that makes you the evil wizard-"

"Well," interrupted Jareth with a flip of one hand, "Goblin King."

"Oh, sorry. My bad. The 'Goblin King'. What happens at the castle? You lock her in a tower and ravage her at your will?"

"Not exactly."

"No?" Edmund looked highly amused.

"Towers do tend to be rather drafty, after all." Jareth met their stares with a carefully schooled blank expression.

After the briefest of pauses, Edmund let out a short laugh. "Hah!" he barked. "You're not bad, Jareth. And I think I'm beginning to see what caught our Sarah's attention. I'd be careful, though. She may well give you a run for your money."

"I hardly expect anything less." This was, without a doubt, one of the strangest conversations he had ever had. He wondered vaguely if all young Mortal males reacted thus when meeting the suitors of their female friends.

"HIKE!" Herb's shout distracted them from the enlightening conversation and, once again, Jareth merely reached out a hand to snatch the ball from the air.

Clark looked at Jareth with wonder. "You sure you've never played football, man?"

"Quite."

He shrugged. "Way unfair, dude. Oh well. One more round, yeah?"

Sarah watched as Rex went down on both knees, pleading with the football in his hands. She guessed he was asking for a phone number, or perhaps merely a name, but was meeting with little success. As the young women all gave one last shake of their heads, giggling like bubbleheads, they walked away. Rex fell to the ground, dramatically wallowing in rejection, and Herb took advantage of his distraction to snatch the football away. With a shout, he tossed it across the field in the direction of the other three. With the same grace and agility he had shown all afternoon, Jareth caught the ball. As the game picked up once more, Edmund turned to her and gestured as if to ask permission to continue. With a sigh and another laugh, Sarah nodded and leaned back against the tree again.

The fancy game of catch progressed and Sarah diverted her attention from the players to her toes. Legs stretched out before her, her feet lay in the sun. As she wiggled her toes, a shadow fell across them. Looking up, her eyes widened in surprise. "Sammuel?"