A/N: The summary is awful, I know X6 I'll try and get around to fixing it. Anyway, this ended up way longer than I expected . . . and I don't know if it turned out like how I thought it would but I'm pretty happy with it anyway. I don't own anything, sadly. The idea just came to me and I decided to have some fun with it. I keep avoiding my multi-chap like it's the plague :(

"Hey Sarah!" greeted a waitress with short blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail.

"Hi." The brunette returned with a smile.

"Your regular booth is open. I'll be right with you."

"Thanks Jess." Sarah said as she made her way over to the booth in the corner. The diner was as busy as usual; it was hardly lunchtime and nearly all the tables were full. But Jess was good at what she did. Sarah watched the blonde flit around the diner, delivering food and clearing away empty dishes, all with a certain elegance, a practiced ease. She finally made it over to the booth and gave Sarah a bright smile.

"Let me guess, the usual."

"Please and thank you." Sarah replied with a grin.

The blonde laughed and said, "Anything else? Cook made some peach cobbler this morning. It's to die for."

Sarah tried not to pull a face as her stomach shifted uncomfortably. Instead, she flashed a strained smile and said, "I'd actually love a chocolate shake."

If Jess noticed her discomfort, she didn't say anything about it. "Alright, one burger, a Coke, and a chocolate shake, coming right up."

She disappeared into the kitchen, returning a moment later with a tray full of food. She dropped off Sarah's Coke and then went about distributing the rest. The brunette thanked her before taking a huge gulp from the drink. She was staring idly out of the window, watching cars and pedestrians go by, when her food arrived.

"Thank you Jess." She said, taking a fry and dipping it into the shake.

"You're welcome love."

She nearly choked on the fry. "Oh my God."

"If you say so."

She looked up and instead of Jess standing before her, there was a Goblin King. And the smirk on his face set her blood boiling. At least, that was her excuse for the redness in her cheeks.

"May I?"

"Absolutely not."

"Hmm." He murmured and sat down across from her anyway.

"Where's Jess?"

"Are you suggesting I did something to her?" He studied her face for a moment and then chuckled softly. "I'm not that evil, pet."

"Sure." She said in a voice drenched in sarcasm. She yanked her plate closer and started eating her fries. Her eyes were beginning to wander, taking in his appearance. His pale hair was in its normal perfect disorder and his mismatched eyes were framed with dark blue. From what she'd glimpsed before he'd sat down, he was wearing tight dark denim jeans and leather boots that came up just past his ankles. And stretched across the lean muscles of his chest was a charcoal gray shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. It was positively criminal for someone to look that good. She hadn't realized she was raising herself off the seat to get a better look at his abdomen until the sound of his voice broke her out of her trance.

"Find something you like?"

Her eyes snapped up to his face to find his eyebrow raised in question, but the smirk on his lips confirmed that he knew exactly what she'd been doing. Heat flooded her cheeks and she looked away.

"No."

She felt like sinking into the seat cushion when his laughter rolled across the table.

"What are you doing here anyway?" she demanded in an attempt to change the subject, snatching up her hamburger and taking a vicious bite. With her mouth half-full, she said, "Stealing more children?"

"Don't talk with your mouth full. It's bad manners."

She sneered at him with her teeth full of food and he rolled his eyes. She finished chewing, swallowed, and chased it with a sip of Coke.

"You never answered the question."

He gave her a sharp-toothed smile and said, "I was in the neighborhood and I heard about this little diner with the most splendid peach cobbler. And I just had to taste it."

Sarah squirmed, much to his amusement.

"So not to steal children but to warp young girls' minds."

"You're hardly a girl anymore, Sarah."

She thought her insides would melt under the intensity of his gaze and she gulped audibly. Then the smirk was back on his face and he was reaching for her shake.

"Hey!" she protested, lashing out to take it back. But of course she was too slow and she watched in stunned anger as he popped a giant spoonful into his mouth.

"That was mine." She growled.

He merely raised his eyebrows in an expression that absolutely screamed 'so?".** Clenching her jaw, she leaned forward and grabbed it out of his hands.

"Why can't you leave me alone? Don't you have anything better to do?"

"Nothing comes to mind." He replied with a cheery smile.

"God, you're infuriating." She grumbled, taking a bite of the shake. When there was no reply, she glanced up to find his gaze trained on Jess.

"Leave her alone."

He grinned at her steely tone. "Whatever do you mean?"

Before she could reply or move to stop him, he was out of the booth and striding toward the blonde.

"Jareth!" Sarah hissed after him.

He ignored her, instead gently placing his hand on Jess' elbow to get her attention. The blonde was a little startled at the sudden contact but when she turned around a broad smile found its way onto her face. He leaned in and whispered something into her ear, something that made her blush. Sarah's eyebrows furrowed as the Goblin King walked away and Jess came over to the booth.

"Who's your friend?" she asked, the heat not yet gone from her cheeks and the smile fixed firmly on her lips.

"He's no friend." Sarah muttered, stirring her shake aimlessly. "What did he say to you anyway?"

Jess couldn't suppress her giggles as she replied, "Oh, nothing. Are you done with this?"

"Yeah." The brunette replied in a less than enthusiastic voice.

Her mood obviously had no effect on the waitress, judging by the fact that her face was still practically glowing as she picked up the half-empty dishes. She carried them to the kitchen but found her way blocked as Jareth stepped out. A smile curled his lips and he said something but Sarah was too far away to hear what. He shifted out of the blonde's way and, while she vanished into the kitchen, he made his way back to the booth.

"Where were you?" Sarah asked, trying to keep her voice nonchalant.

"Apologies." He replied as he sat down. "There was a small problem in the kitchen, but it's been taken care of."

"Goblin problem?"

He made an uncomfortable noise in the back of his throat and said, "Yes."

The brunette chuckled, "Still as screwy as I remember them being huh?"

"Worse." He muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose briefly.

Sarah grinned rather deviously and, in perfect baby talk, said, "Aww is the king tired? Does he need some time off to relax?"

"What are you offering?" he returned with a feral smile of his own. "Because I can think of several relaxing activities."

Her face took on a most amusing color though he couldn't decide whether it was because of embarrassment or anger.

"N-not happening. Never happening." She choked out.

"We'll see." He said, his trademark smirk curling his lips. Sarah shuddered and, his laughter floating mockingly over the table, took a gulp of Coke to wash away the heat in her cheeks. An incredibly awkward silence overtook the booth and it had her twitching. No, it was his gaze boring into her causing her to twist in discomfort.

"Would you stop staring at me?"

He cocked his head at her but his eyes remained fixed on hers. Just when she thought she might vomit from all the tension in the air, her blonde waitress appeared with a plate. Of peach cobbler.

"Here you go." She said brightly, setting down the plate in the center of the table.

"Oh, no, Jess I didn't order th-"realization dawned and her eyes narrowed in Jareth's direction. "You."

"Thank you Jess." He said with hardly a glance in the blonde's direction.

"Welcome." She replied and turned away before Sarah had a chance to stop her. Her gaze shifted to the cobbler and she eyed it like a snake about to strike.

"It's not going to bite."

"That's not what I'm concerned about."

He laughed softly. "Come now Sarah that was a long time ago."

"And I haven't eaten peaches since." She returned with an accusatory glare.

His smirk deepened as he said in a laughter-stained voice, "I promise there's nothing wrong with it. See?"

He picked up a fork and cut a bite of cobbler. It disappeared into his mouth and she watched his jaw work as he chewed and swallowed. Several moments passed and nothing happened, his brows raised to emphasize that point. He sliced another piece and held it out to her.

"Your turn."

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously at the fork.

"Come on now pet."

With her stomach twisted into knots, she let out a frustrated growl and leaned forward to take the bite. The second it hit her tongue, her eyes slid shut and she hummed. It tasted so good. She chewed slowly to savor the taste but once she swallowed, she opened her eyes and waited for the room to start spinning. When it didn't, she focused in on the Goblin King and immediately felt the urge to slap the smirk off his face.

"Now, was that so bad?"

"Shut up." She growled, picking up her own fork to take another piece of cobbler.