Confusion

She felt warm and comfortable. The sun felt good on her face. Sun? But her room didn't get any morning sun light. It faced the west. Her eyes shot open and she glanced around frantically, calming when she realized that she was lying on the couch in her living room. She glanced around again looking for Jareth. He was no where to be found. She was alone.

Had he left her and gone back to his Labyrinth or was he still here keeping himself busy with something? She didn't know the answer to either question, she just knew that the house was very quiet. So quiet she could hear the ticking of the second hand on the grandfather clock in the upstairs hall. So she lay still within the blankets that were wrapped around her. Last night had been so strange. She had come home from work, finished the extra work from her boss, wrapped Jareth's burned hand, ate with him and then watched a movie. And he had kissed her... She closed her eyes and felt dreamy as she thought about how gentle he had been with her. She told him she wanted nothing more then friendship and he had respected her wishes. He had sealed their friendship with a kiss and he had been a complete gentleman about it. Even after she had dove back after his lips like some lovesick teenager.

She knew deep down inside of her she still loved him. She loved the way he looked at her, the way he gently touched her, the way he said her name, his accent. She had loved those things about him when she was 16 and 17. When she had written everything down in her diary. Every last detail about him, how he made her feel and how she wished she could see him again. Her wish had finally come true 20 years later.

She had regretted leaving the Labyrinth and him the way that she had, but it had to be done. She had to save Toby and he was right about her. She was too young to understand back then. Too young to understand what his words meant in their final confrontation and too young to understand her own growing feelings for him.

Had it really been 20 years since she had last seen him, had defeated the Labyrinth and had seen her friends? Her friends, dear Hoggle, Ludo and Sir Didymus. She had not called them back since the night she returned from the Labyrinth. She grew up quickly after that banishing the ideas of fantasy creatures partly from her mind. Yet her fascination with the Goblin King had grown and then tripled as she hit the tender years before she became an adult. And now he was here, in her life again and had willingly accepted to help her and become a friend. She grinned and rolled over, staring out the bay window. It was a beautiful day outside.

She heard a creak in the floor and she turned to see Jareth standing in the doorway. His hair was damp and she was surprised that she had slept through the sound of the shower. It squeaked something awful at times.

"Good morning" He said softly. "I was wondering if you were going to sleep all day." He stepped fully into the room and she couldn't help but gaze at how beautiful he was. Beautiful usually wasn't the word she used to describe a man, but he was beautiful. With his long, wild hair, his soft pale skin and those eyes of his, so enchanting. They drew her into them every time. She could drowned in them. He was dressed in a flowing white low neck, open front shirt. The ruffles fell gracefully along the necklace he wore that dangled over his chest. He wore his usual black pants and knee high black boots. He was handsome in his own way. Much different from past movie stars and boys at college she had drooled over. Yes, he was beautiful and handsome. She smiled lazily looking up at him with her face resting on her hands, her elbows resting on the cushions of the couch.

"Good morning." She smiled sweetly.

He smiled. She seemed to be in a wonderful mood this morning and he had not missed the way she had let her eyes roam all over his form.

She flipped over onto her back and stretched her arms above her. "Ah, what time is it anyway?"

"11 o’clock."

She shot straight up. "11 o clock! Oh god!" She threw the covers off of her and got to her feet. Not realizing that the blankets had wrapped themselves around her legs she went sprawling forward, the carpeted floor coming faster into focus. And then she stopped from falling in midair. Two strong hands held her and she looked up to see Jareth, grinning at her.

"Now what on earth was that all about?" he asked pulling her to her feet. She kicked the blankets away from her and they landed in a heap on the floor. She looked up at Jareth who she realized still held her.

"It's trash day and I haven't put the trash out yet." She told him.

He let out an amused chuckle and finally released her from his grasp. "No need to worry Sarah. The trash was put outside and it's already been taken away."

"What...how?"

"I saw your list on the refrigerator." He made a gesture with his hand and the list materialized in between his gloved fingers. "Things to do on Saturday." He read aloud. "Take out the trash, done. Wash and hang the laundry outside, done. Clean the house. Done. Dishes, done. The only thing I could not do was the grocery shopping."

She stared up at him in amazement. "You...you did all those things for me?"

"Of course." He said with a tiny bit of arrogance laced in his tone. He made another gesture and the list was gone.

She squinted her eyes and put her hands on her hips, a knowing smile playing on her lips. "You cheated didn't you? You used your magic."

"Not for everything. I brought the trash out myself. Although I suspect that your neighbor Linda will be asking you questions sometime soon."

"What do you mean?"

"She was outside, putting her own trash out. I know she was dying to ask me questions, but I refused to acknowledge her."

"Oh man. She hates to be ignored."

"I've noticed."

"Thank you for doing all of the chores for me. Now there's nothing to do but the grocery shopping." She reached for her neck to rub the insistently sore muscles.

"Here allow me." He said softly, walking behind her and replacing her hand with his own. She closed her eyes and allowed him to knead the flesh of her neck.

"Thank you." She said pulling from him.

He nodded and smiled sweetly. "Anymore headaches lately?"

"None. I haven't even needed to use the crystal that you gave me. Speaking of crystals, I wonder how Ary made out at school with hers."

"No doubt we'll hear all about it when she returns from your brother's."

'Oh yes and we'll hear about Snickers the cat again, as well as every detail of her weekend. She's going to talk your ear off, now that you've paid attention to her."

"That's all right. She's a delightful child."

"Well, I'm going to take a shower and then go grocery shopping. Do you want to go for the ride with me or would you rather stay here and watch TV."

"I'd much rather be with you."

She blushed and swatted at him playfully. "Stop that." She told him.

He grinned deviously. "Stop what?"

"You know what."

"I'm afraid I don't. You'll have to tell me."

"Oh never mind. Before I shower, I want to look at your hand." He stubbornly hid it behind him as she reached for it. "Stop acting like a child or I'll treat you like one." She told him.

"Really Sarah, the burn is not that big of a deal. It will heal well enough on it's own."

"That's not guaranteed. Now let me have it." She reached for his hand and he moved away from her.

"I'll let you have it all right." He grinned devilishly.

Her eyes widened but then she stood calmly. Two could play at this game. When he least expected it, she lunged at him and toppled him. He went staggering backwards and landed in the recliner with her falling on top of him. She laughed wildly at his surprised expression. Then he too began to chuckle softly.

Sarah meant to get up off of him and snatch his hand to see how the burn looked but she couldn't move. His mismatched eyes had locked with hers and she saw such love, such devoted passion in them that she couldn't move away.

All he could see was how beautiful she was. 20 years had not dented her beauty but made her even more desirable to him. Her hair was hanging in her face and tickling his cheeks as it dangled over him. He could feel her warm breath and could feel her body pressed against his as she leaned over him. Her eyes were locked with his. They were full of an emotion he couldn't comprehend, dared not to...

Silence drifted between them and Jareth was about to make a joke or offer his burned hand for her to finally examine to break the awkwardness, but he wasn't given a chance. Warm soft lips descended onto his. His hands had a mind of their own as one lost it self within the dark strands of her hair and the other settled on her waist, pulling her closer to him. He lost all rational thought as she hungrily attacked his lips. He didn't hold back this time and gave into her, showing her the same raw hunger she showed him. He felt one of her hands bury itself into his blond mane. The other was on his shoulder, and inching towards his chest.

They needed air and he broke away first, taking a much needed breath and then focusing his efforts back on her. He flipped her so that she was on her back looking up at him. His lips left her mouth and ventured to her neck, placing soft kisses along her flesh. A soft groan escaped her mouth and that was all it took for Jareth to return to his senses. He was clearly angry with himself when he forced her away from him.

"Sarah, stop. This isn't right." He sat on the arm of the chair and she sat on the cushion, trying to calm her racing heart and steady her breathing. "This isn't how friends behave... You don't know what you feel for me, and Aryanna comes first remember."

She nodded lamely and looked as if she were ready to cry. One gloved hand cradled her face in its palm.

'I was being selfish wasn't I?" she admitted softly.

"I don't know what was happening just then. I will admit that I was surprised by your actions."

"I wasn't." she whispered painfully soft.

He let out a sigh. 'Sarah... what are you saying?" his heart was pounding in his chest.

She shook her head, her hair flying wildly around her. "I don't know what's going on. I know I feel something for you... I know that I'm attracted to you..."

His eyes widened and he grinned, brushing back the strands of hair that had fallen into her face. "You...you're attracted to me?"

She allowed a soft laugh to escape from her. "Gee I thought that was pretty obvious. You are good looking. It it hard for you to believe that I would be attracted to you?"

"No, I suppose it's just unexpected, that's all." He sighed and continued to touch her hair. "You're confused right now Sarah. You think you know what you want, but you don't know for sure. I'm not going to let you do things that you aren't sure of Sarah. Only when you're sure of how you feel about us, about everything, will I offer myself to you."

"Do you love me Jareth?"

"Sarah..."

"Do you?"

"You know that I do. I never stopped and that is why I will not let you do anything you may regret. I love you too much to become a passing fancy or a regret."

"Oh Jareth... I really don't deserve you."

"The feeling is mututal, now, I believe that you wished to look at my hand?" He offered it to her with a grin.

She laughed and reached for it, pulling the black leather glove slowly from his hand. She pealed back the bandaging. "Well the swelling has gone down. It's still red and raw though. C'mon, I'll put some medicine on it." He followed her up stairs and she again dabbed it with medicine and bandaged it.

"You take your shower and get ready and I'll be downstairs waiting to go grocery shopping with you."

She nodded with a smile and he leaned over placing a soft kiss on her cheek before he left the bathroom. Sarah let out a tremendous sigh and leaned against the wall, sliding along it until her bottom hit the tiled floor. God she was confused. Although she was certain of one more thing in her life. The Goblin King was a good kisser!

A half-hour later she was showered, and changed into a sweatshirt and a pair of jeans. The weather forecast predicted a beautiful sunny day with a high in the 50's. Odd for the end of February but she wasn't going to complain. Maybe after they went grocery shopping she would take Jareth sight seeing.

Jareth was standing beside the mantle over the fireplace when Sarah came downstairs. She didn't say anything at first, but just watched him. She held her breath as she watched him glance at all the pictures on the mantle. He stopped at one in particular and gazed at it for a long time, finally reaching for it and picking it up into his hands to gaze at it intently.

"I should have put that picture away a long time ago." Sarah said softly.

He spun to face her quickly putting the picture back onto the mantle. "It's all right." She told him. She made her way to his side and picked it up for herself touching the glass in the frame with one finger. "This was taken so long ago. Nearly 10 years ago." Her voice quivered as she spoke. "Things went wrong 8 years ago and some days it feels like it happened only yesterday or the day before. Other days it feels like it was a life time ago."

He reached for her silently and pulled her slowly into his arms. He knew she was going to cry and he couldn't blame her. She'd caught him holding a picture of her and Adam, the man who had left her and his own daughter behind. She probably had not looked at the picture for years. He knew this because it was the only picture covered with dust. It wasn't clean like the others. Other pictures like the one of Sarah with Aryanna when she was a baby. Or the two of them at a park, with Sarah pushing Ary on a swing. A picture of Sarah and Toby, both of them adults and a picture of her entire family. Father, step- mother, Toby, Aryanna and Sarah. He's been foolish enough to touch it and she had noticed that he had.

She didn't cry, not right away so he just held her. Running his hand along her back. She leaned against him, thankful for the safe haven he provided her with. He was so much more then she could ever have hoped for. She knew it would only be a matter of time before she fell for him completely. He was exactly what she needed in her life and she dared to hope that he was what Ary needed as well. Only time would tell how things would turn out.

He felt warm against her and strong. He was so much stronger then she was. The picture she held in her hand fell as she let it go to move completely into his arms. It shattered as it hit the slate floor that lined the front of the fireplace. As soon as she heard it shatter, she lost it and the tears fell freely from her eyes. Jareth said nothing but continued to hold her, rocking her in his arms as she sobbed against him. She finally pulled herself together and after a few moments stood back from his embrace. She hastily wiped the tears from her eyes and cheeks and she reached for his hand.

"It's a beautiful day and I want to spend it with you." She told him. "No more crying or feeling sorry for myself Just you and I today. We'll go shopping and after we bring the groceries home, I'll take you sight seeing."

"That sounds wonderful." And he meant it. She surprised him when she threw herself into his arms again. But she didn't cry. She hugged him tightly as if he were a friend or family member that she loved. And he was content with that. She held his hand, much like Ary did that first night he had met her. They walked to the side door that led to the garage. She opened the side door for him and she stood quietly for a moment just looking at him.

"What is it?" he asked softly.

"I...I was just curious as to what other people see when they look at you. You told me that Ary and I see you as you truly are and that others see your magic."

"They see an illusion that I've placed over myself to hide who I really am."

"I want to see what they see, just for a moment."

He hesitated but nodded. He shimmered in a sparkling blue light before her and in his place stood a tall thin man. His long blond hair was pulled into a ponytail. He wore a black shirt with a black leather jacket over that. He wore jeans, not nearly as tight as his black pants and boots that were concealed under the pants. He looked completely different. The only thing that made her realize who he was, were his eyes. She regarded him for a while but she shook her head.

"I like the real you, much better."

"You don't like me looking 'normal'." She could tell the word normal didn't taste right to him.

"No. I like the way you really look, the way you were meant to look. The dashing Goblin King, dressed in his ruffly shirts, black pants and knee high boots." He nodded and he shimmered again, transforming back into his true form. "Much better." She told him and she reached again for his hand, squeezing it before she headed to the opposite side of the car. They both got into the old station wagon and she started it up. He watched has she turned the key in the iginition, pulled the brake and shifted the care. She let it warm up before she hit the garage door opener and backed out for a new adventure.