Chapter 10- Slamming screen doors

Sarah jumped at Jareth's words spilling her drink a little.

"You planned that didn't you?" She said to him.

"Planned what?" he asked moving to sit beside her.

"Molly. You wanted to make me jealous." She took a sip of her drink.

"So you are jealous." He smirked at her.

"Shut up." She smiled.

They were silent for a few moments allowing Jareth to observe her. She was a little jumpy and her eyes were slightly glazed over. There was a funny smell coming from her too. It was acidic and very strong. There was also oranges.

"What-What's in the cup?" He asked after she took another sip from it.

"Try it." She held the cup up for him to try.

Jareth took the cup from her and held it up to his nose. There was a slight acidic scent to it, but it was coupled with the sweetness of oranges. It was obvious that there was alcohol in the cup. After ruling the Goblins for so long, his nose had become attuned to the smell. The contents of the cup also helped explain what the funny smell from Sarah was.

"There's alcohol in it." He commented.

"Yeah, I know. There's a reason for it." She smiled up at him. "Just try it. If you like it, I might even bring you a bottle the next time I see you. Well not tomorrow obviously but sometime after that."

He took a deep breath before allowing the liquid to wash over his tongue. The taste of alcohol was not as prominent as it was in Goblin wine. The main taste was the oranges. Although even they weren't as sweet as the ones he was used to.

"So, what do you think?" Sarah asked after he returned the cup to her.

"The taste is strange. The oranges below are a lot sweeter and the alcohol is rather weak." He replied.

Sarah rolled her eyes at him. "Yes, well we can't all grow up drinking fairy wine or whatever it is you drink."

They fell into a comfortable silence. Both just observing the night sky. Jareth's mind was focused on what had caused him to leave so suddenly the other night. His father had decided to pay his favourite son a visit and despite Beth's best attempts he wouldn't leave until he had seen Jareth. He had never wanted to leave Sarah like that. He had been having fun. He had certainly learnt a lot more about her. Her mother's passing was terrible but it was comforting to know that Sarah was carrying on her legacy with Renee.

"I don't think you should wear those pants to class again." She said breaking his train of thought.

"Why not?" He asked smirking.

Jareth had been listening to the conversation the girls were having before Sarah had left. He had also heard the jealousy in Sarah's voice. This was a good sign. Molly wasn't and he hoped that her jealousy wouldn't cause a rift between the two friends. But the fact that she cared enough about him to become jealous when her friend mentioned what he looked like. That was a very good sign.

"Molly appreciates them too much. You might end up starting something that could land you and her in trouble." She mumbled sipping her drink again.

"What kind of trouble would that be Sarah mine?" He smirked.

"I think you know what I mean." She glared at him.

"What's wrong Sarah? Don't you like the fact that your friend has noticed how, well…Tempting I look in those pants." He teased her.

Apparently though, saying that was taking it too far, since she stood up and moved away from him and towards the house. He rushed to stand up and apologize before she went inside. Once she was inside he couldn't go in. He didn't want to risk the other girls seeing him and possible recognising him.

"Sarah wait." He caught her wrist.

"What do you want Jareth? I have friends to go to." Sarah said in an acid tone.

"Would you just admit that you're jealous? It would prevent us from fighting." He tugged slightly at her arm drawing her away from the door.

"Is that what you want me to do?" She asked glaring at him again.

"Fine. Yes I am jealous of what Molly said. But do you know why? I can't tell her to shut up. I can't tell her that I'm dating my Professor. Not only would that end badly for you, It would end badly for me. I wouldn't be allowed into another college and my family would hate me. You have spun a very large and tight web of disguises. To my parents I'm dating Jared. To the Above world I'm Jared's girlfriend. But once I move down to the Underground, I become Jareth's fiancé." She said loudly.

"I never wanted this. That's not to say that I don't want it now that I know what it feels like. But a few things have to be sorted out. I missed you today. I searched for you and you weren't there. I need to know that you are. I, I feel something for you. I don't know if its love or just that I appreciate your presence but whatever it is I have never felt it for anyone but you.

"Before I can figure out what I feel for you, you need to figure out who you are. Jareth the Goblin King, Professor King or Jared. Because I am getting tired of guessing who it is that I will meet." She moved away from him and stormed into the house.

She liked him. That much was obvious. And he did understand what she was saying. However the problem was that, he had woven this web of disguises as she had put it, to assist her. It was all for her. The identity of 'Professor King' was to teach her about his world and the world that she would soon belong to. 'Jared' was so that he could get to know her and her family on a different level to that of a teacher. Jareth was who he was. He had always been Jareth. It was Jareth she had met that night. Jareth could be found in all of the other identities he had assumed.

He hadn't lost her had he? No, she admitted she loved him. Felt something for you. She never said it was love. So then if he didn't try to fix it, he may still lose her. Not that he ever would since she was going to be his wife soon. But you want her to love you. Sarah would be rather difficult if she didn't love him and he took her as his wife. Admitting there was the chance that she may one day return his feelings, but he didn't want to have to wait for that opportunity.

What he needed to do was give her something. Something that would let her know that he knew who he was and he knew what he wanted. Beth was the ideal person to talk to in a situation like this. They might even be able to link and peer into her dreams. Yes, it was a slight invasion of privacy but he had been doing it for years so why stop now.

The headlights of a car bought him back. Thankfully he had half a mind to jump into the air and change into an owl. He flew past Sarah's window, careful to ensure she didn't see him. She lay in her bed with her two friends lying in sleeping bags on the floor. She twirled his feather in her hand. Occasionally she would stroke it or run it along her check. So she did remember. On Sunday morning he had returned just before she would wake up to see her while his father was busy. With very little time he had simply nuzzled his owl head against her check. Now she wiped her checks as if getting rid of tears. She started at the feather one more time before sighing and rolling over.

Jareth flew away from her window then. He made the familiar journey back to the Underground. Again he landed in his chamber. He had no desire to change outfits at the moment. If anything he just wanted to seek out Beth and ask for her opinion on what Sarah had said. Beth would know what to do and say to Sarah.

Without a moment's thought he rushed out of his chambers in search of his assistant. The most obvious place for her to be would be in his study, however when he checked she wasn't there. This caused Jareth to worry. Where was she? He looked in the library but she wasn't there either. There was the chance that she was in her chambers. Because she was so important to the running of the Goblin kingdom, it was essential that he could call her whenever a problem arose. This meant that Beth and her husband Edward lived in the castle with him. There was a slight danger to this though, especially given the fact that they were trying to get pregnant. But He hadn't walked in on them in a while so it was almost forgotten.

"Beth, Beth…Wake up." He called through her bedroom door after letting himself into their living area. Their chamber was an almost exact replica of Jareth's, though theirs was a little smaller and not as well decorated.

He heard murmurs and the sound of feet moving sleepily across the floor. The door opened slightly, allowing Beth to slip through without risking the light seep into the bedroom. Jareth started to talk to her then, but she took his hand and led him to her own study. She sat down at the desk and looked at him. Her eyes were a hazel colour meaning that she was slightly annoyed but mainly too tired to feel anything.

"Alright Kid, start talking. Your emotions and thoughts are everywhere." She muttered moving to the sweet jar she kept on her desk.

"Sarah is annoyed at me." He explained.

"Why? Did you wake her up in the middle of the night too?' She asked with a small smile playing on her face. Jareth glared at her. "Okay, I'm sorry, continue"

"She admitted that she felt something for me. However she also got angry at me. While I've been above I've had to assume many disguises in order to get to know her better. In one of these disguises I am her boyfriend, in another I am her educator. I can fully understand why she is angry, I just don't know what to do about it." He admitted.

"I can see where she's coming from too. It must be rather confusing to change from one person to another. Can I also assume that under each of these disguises is different social and behaviour expectations?" She asked. Jareth nodded.

"I see. Yeah she has every reason to be annoyed and frustrated at you. You've certainly spun a very large web of lies." She scolded him

"Thank you mother, now what do I do about it?" He asked.

"Talk to her. Tell her why you've taken on all these identities. Send her warning before you are going to appear and tell her who you are appearing as." She offered.

"She said, she said she felt something for me. What do I do about that?"

"Jareth, you have been with how many fae women, surely you can figure something out." She smiled. Jareth did have a rather big…reputation of being a ladies man, especially at parties.

"But they never mattered. Sarah is important to me and I don't know what I's do if I did lose her." He explained.

"So I never mattered?" she asked in a timid voice.

"Beth that was a mistake. We both agreed to never mention it." He cautioned.

It was true. They had slept together. In fact they were each other's firsts. But it didn't mean anything. They were young and didn't really know what they were doing. It really had been a mistake to do such a thing with his best friend. They had both seen this and it had all but been forgotten. Or so he believed.

"I know. I just wanted you to recognise that Sarah isn't the only female in your life who is important. Have you contacted your mother yet?" She asked.

"No, I haven't. Father only just left and I can only deal with one parent at a time." He grumbled. "So you don't have any suggestions on what to get her?"

"Jareth get her something that will mean something to her. Something that she can have whatever disguise you wear." She yawned.

"You should go back to bed." He commented.

"Well I would still be asleep if some pompous snot-head hadn't woken me up to try and sort out his love life." She smiled before yawning again.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. You can go back to dear Edward now." He laughed.

"Ed will love that." She winked at him before leaving.

Something that she could have with her all the time. What on earth could that be? A dress? Chocolates? What else do you get women? Yes Jareth had been with a lot of women but most of the time it was for one night and then that was it. There wasn't any point in keeping them around any longer. Sarah was going to stay with him forever. Well, hopefully.

Jewellery? That was always an option. Something that would be significant no matter who he appeared as and where they were. If she stayed down here he could have given her a ring. An engagement ring to be more exact but she didn't really need to know that. From what he could tell she didn't really wear much jewellery. Except for the odd pair of earrings. They were an idea, but maybe something better than that. From what he could understand people often forgot that they were wearing earrings. No, something that wasn't intimate or suggestive like a ring, but not as small as earrings.

A bracelet.

It was innocent enough for 'Jared' to give it to her and if he had it made down here then it could have an underground element to it. And if he placed it on her right hand then when she moved in class it would remind her of him. It was perfect. All he had to do was design it. This would be hard. Sarah was very unique. She had her own style and despite her insistence that she had grown up since her adventures in the Labyrinth, her clothing hadn't. She wasn't wearing medieval gowns at the park anymore, but she still maintained that other world dress sense. This would impact the design of her bracelet.

There was also the shape of it. Would it be chunky or would it be a band with stones or would it be a chain with something on it? Sarah seemed like the kind of person who would prefer a chain. So what's going on the chain? He had no idea.

He took a piece of parchment from Beth's desk and began to draw a few things. One design had an owl charm on it, another had the word 'dream' like her tattoo. But neither of them suited her. Jareth could always just give her the chain and add to it later. No, that wasn't an option. It had to be completed tonight. It had to be something that showed her how much he loved her and what he thought of her. Something that represented her too in some way.

A butterfly.

They were beautiful and there were so many stories that associated them with fairies. Although this was completely false and they hated each other. It was symbolic of her too. There were butterflies on her dress in the ballroom and they flew so they could also be associated to himself. A butterfly was innocent enough to be placed on a bracelet and if anyone asked she could tell them that Toby had picked it out. Yes, a butterfly was perfect.

Jareth quickly drew his design on a piece of parchment. It was an exact replica of the one he had created in his head. Now to inform the royal jeweller that there was a job of utmost importance. He clutched the design as if it was his lifeline as he transported himself to the Jeweller's house. With any luck it would be completed by tomorrow morning and he could leave it beside his feather.

A/N: Hello everyone, sorry about the wait but here it is chapter 10. Yay, now I know that a few of you won't like the bracelet idea, but honestly I don't care, it's important. Review if you want.