Chapter Nine: …

Gildan's Note: MY CREYS. This chapter AUGH - okay sorry for the delay :')

Jareth did not look at Sarah, only at the other side of the window's wall.

"Oh – uh, hello Jareth." She said, but the nerves in her voice were evident.

"How was your day?" he asked solemnly, tossing a crystal ball from one hand to the other.

"Fine." She replied.

"Sarah…" he looked at her, and she could immediately see the hurt in his eyes. What had she done?

"Jareth I-"

He got up from the sill and walked over to her, clearly angry. "Tell me right now and tell it quick, I want to know if I'm wasting my time – here I am for you, for only you, giving you all I can like I always have! Like I did before– yet you're still taking it for granted! Aren't you? Have you even changed at all?" He found himself shouting, and Sarah was taken aback, scared even, but her defenses rose.

"HAVE YOU?" she shouted, her voice cracking. "You're still your scary mean old self aren't you? What? Have you been playing me a fool this whole time with your sappy talks? They don't mean anything do they!"

"Sarah!" he pleaded, grabbing her arm, but she pulled away.

"Don't you dare touch me, you're nothing but a…a monster! You're not gentle like I thought you were, not like Warrick is. He's calm and kind, and you're the opposite, they were all right about you! I can't believe I didn't listen, I thought maybe since I didn't remember you entirely they were just going to get to me with all the negatives about you, but they were right weren't they? I thought you were different then that though, but now I see it's all a lie!"

"NO IT'S NOT!" He yelled, slamming the crystal into the ground, where it shattered immediately. Sarah screamed and tears welled in her eyes, she found herself trembling. Jareth's eyes widened, realizing that he had scared Sarah. He hadn't meant to scare her, hadn't meant to be so cross with his first words, and he wasn't even going to grab her so strongly, just enough to make her snap out of it, to listen to him. Just a touch on the arm, that was only that was. But he hadn't expressed his feelings right, had he? Was he still the same as before? Still manipulative, still hurtful?

"G-get away! Don't come near me! I'll get Warrick, don't think I won't."

"…Sarah." He murmured, stepping back towards the window.

She wiped tears from her eyes, "Just go."

"Sarah I didn't mean to-"

"I said GO!" she picked up some of the crystal shards and threw them at him. He knocked them out of the way with ease, but continued to back up.

"Sarah please I never meant to-"

"JUST LEAVE! I want you to leave! I knew Warrick was right for me – so just go!"

"…Sarah."

"STOP – stop saying my name, and leave my room, and don't come back!"

He stopped when he reached the windowsill. "…as you wish."

Sarah was soon alone in her room, and she fell to the floor and cried. But not because she was scared, but because she was so hurt. Hurt because she thought Jareth was different; she thought he was nice and kind, even gentle. She had loved him, or what she thought he was. She had wanted him to come to her window every night, wanted to talk to him…laugh with him. She thought of the kiss on her hand, and put her hand to her lips, but it had just been a lie. The kiss with Warrick however – that wasn't a lie. She went to clean up the crystal shards but found they had disappeared – so she climbed into her bed and tried to sleep. Tomorrow would be another day with Warrick. She wouldn't have to see Jareth ever again.

Jareth sat alone in his room, thinking about the previous events. He hadn't meant to be so harsh, hadn't meant to act out. He just had felt so betrayed, yeah – betrayed by a girl who wasn't even with him, wasn't with him or Warrick, she could be confused if she wanted to. Still, it was hard to see the person you truly love kissing someone else. Choosing to do so. Had he changed? He would never hurt Sarah, never grab her roughly, yet he had yelled at her. Not at first, but he was still harsh, still angry, still hurt.

He felt tears form in his eyes, he hadn't cried in so long. But his heart hurt too much – here he had thought he had changed, thought that he could love Sarah to the best of his abilities, love her, be gentle to her –

But how could a Goblin King be gentle? Goblin Kings cannot know such tenderness.

Goblin Kings are monsters.