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Falling, Falling in Love
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"Sarah!" Providence train station reverberated with the mixture of Karen and Toby's thrilled voices while Robert chuckled behind his frantically waving family members. Disembarking, Sarah returned an enthusiastic wave then clasped Gerard's hand and guided him towards her family.
"Don't mind them; they get a little over excited sometimes."
Gerard laughed, "No bother, I'm chuffed to meet them, too."
"Yeah, well...this is the first they've heard of you so don't be surprised when they inundate you with questions."
"Just so long as you're by my side, luv." He squeezed her hand and tugged her closer. They shared smiles right before she was accosted by a gangly, sixteen year old boy.
"Sarah!" Toby barreled into her, his arms wrapping around her waist, knocking her back a step and pulling her hand from Gerard's.
"Tobes, need to breathe!" Bringing up the rear, Karen and Robert strolled up at a more leisurely pace, their faces broadcasting welcoming grins.
"Sorry, sis, missed you." He released her and stepped back then noticed Gerard. Unnoticed by anyone, Toby gave Gerard an odd look while Gerard focused on their approaching parents.
"Missed you, too, kiddo. Mom, Dad, hey," she nodded exchanging hugs then looked to Gerard, slipping an arm through his, "I'd like you to meet Gerard Scott." Bending his elbow, he captured her arm securely to his side and bestowed a sweet kiss. Restraining a giggle, Sarah shuffled her feet slightly and blushed. A knowing look passed between Karen and Robert.
"Gerard," Robert held out his right hand, "good to meet you. I'd say I've heard so much about you, but Sarah only spoke of you this morning."
"Robert!" Karen exclaimed then held out her own hand after the men finishing shaking. "Excuse him, it's a pleasure to meet you, Gerard," she said cordially.
"The pleasure is all mine, Mr. and Mrs. Williams." He shook their hands in turn, displaying his world-class charm causing Karen to sigh softly and Robert to cock a brow inquisitively.
"And who might you be, young man?" Gerard asked of Toby who watched the previous interaction raptly, yet with a trace of skepticism.
"Toby," he said confidently, watching Gerard closely, "Sarah's brother."
"Indeed?" He offered a hand and Toby eyed it warily for a moment before shaking it, "Happy to meet you, Toby."
"Uh-huh..." her brother mumbled and stepped back with scowl.
"Toby..." Sarah said admonished gently.
"It's quite alright, Sarah. I'm unknown to him," he said with an understanding smile. Obviously the boy's friendship lived in a tougher shell.
"Uh-huh...yeah...unknown." Everyone gave Toby a puzzled look and an awkward silence descended.
"Well," Robert clapped his hands, not too loudly, but enough to break the tension. "We have a roast finishing up at home, how about we get out of here?"
"Sounds good to me," Sarah agreed.
"Roast sounds brilliant, lead on," Gerard said cranking his smile full wattage, and they followed Sarah's family from the station to the parking lot.
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"Without doubt, Mrs. Williams, your cooking is the most superb I've tasted in some time." Gerard praised wiping his mouth delicately with the cloth napkin.
"Oh, please, I've told you...call me Karen, especially if you're going to flatter me so," she teased.
"But he's right, dear," Robert said amicably, "you've out done yourself tonight."
"Well," she fought a sly smile, "I did so want to impress our guest this evening."
"Sheesh," Toby said rolling his eyes, earning a cough and a warning 'Toby' from his father.
"You've succeeded brilliantly, Karen." Gerard grinned and Sarah restrained her snigger courteously before adding her own compliments. He reeled in her step-mother without any effort, but she couldn't blame Karen; Gerard's addictive charm worked under one's skin so easily. Karen soaked up the praise graciously, twittering endlessly how she enjoying cooking gourmet, but rarely did so these days do to less family in residence.
"Toby plays so many sports these days, and Bob stays so busy at commuting to New Haven for work now that it usually ends up being me and my lonesome for dinner during the week."
"New Haven, Connecticut?" Gerard asked, "May I ask why, Robert?"
Preening, Robert leaned forward onto the table, "I hired on at Yale a few years back in their law college." Karen patted his forearm proudly.
"That's right; my sweetheart retired from law and became a professor!"
Robert beamed, "The law paid well but worn me down emotionally. I looked forward to the change, but I hated the thought of uprooting the family. Toby's nearly finished with school, so I suffer the long commute four days a week."
"He does have three day weekends though!" Karen said brightly. Sarah couldn't help hearing the nostalgic note in Karen's voice, and mentally swore to visit more often. Poor Karen suffered an empty nest, maybe she and Gerard might help fill it up for her occasionally. The thought brightened her mood.
"Oh, honey," her father said patting Karen's hand, "I need to take you out more. Not healthy to be cooped here by yourself."
Karen sniffed using the napkin to dab her eyes, "I'm alright, dear, just remembering when the house was full," she smiled at her husband, "but going out more
would be lovely."
"You're reminiscing when I was a brat?" This statement piqued Gerard's interest. His Sarah...a brat...he supposed it coincided with her tale of her childhood selfishness when she dealt with the Goblin King.
"Sarah, you were never a brat," Karen protested and Sarah sputtered causing Karen to amend her statement, "well, perhaps a trifle difficult as a teen, but things were hard for you. I understood."
Robert chuckled, "I was grateful when my two favorite ladies finally starting getting along." He looked to Sarah, "That's was around your fiftieth birthday, wasn't?"
"Um...yeah, Dad," she answered vaguely, her eyes flicking to her brother for a moment. Toby's eyes caught hers for a moment; he looked at her curiously, "Just after Linda's big surprise for my birthday." ...
And before I wished Toby away. "Speaking of Linda," Robert asked warily, "Have you heard from your mother lately?"
"No..." Dropping her gaze she played with her vegetables, mashing and chasing them on her plate, "No...Not for some time." Gerard's hand snaked its way onto her thigh underneath the table, his fingers digging into her muscle reassuringly. She knew he stared at her, but she refused to look up. She spoke of her mother to him briefly before, but he knew very little of their history. "The last number I had for her is disconnected so..."
"I see..."
"Yep..."
"She sucks."
"Toby!"
"Well she does, Mom!" Her brother tossed his fork down on the table causing a dull clatter of metal on wood, "You're more Sarah's mom than her own mom is, so...she sucks!" Gerard silently observed the family argument, wisely refraining from commenting, although he agreed whole-heartedly with Toby's immature yet true assessment.
"Tobias..." his father started but Sarah interrupted finally meeting everyone's faces.
"No, he's right, Dad. Karen's always been more of a mother to me." The women's eyes met across the table. "I love you, Karen. Thanks."
"Oh, my...you're very welcome; I love you, too, Sarah." Karen's eyes misted then she cleared her throat. "Well, anyone for dessert?" Enthusiastic assents circled the table and Karen sprang from her chair immediately followed by Sarah. Both disappeared into the kitchen; whether or not they bonded further only they might say. However, a few minutes later, two smiling ladies entered bearing a homemade, double-layer, ganache chocolate cake and plates, inspiring moans of delight from the males.
"A piece of cake, Gerard?" Karen asked. Her dagger-like cake knife suspended mid-air prepared to strike.
'It's a piece of cake, piece of cake, piece of cake...' "Gerard?" Karen spoke his name again, her cake knife waving dangerously, light scintillating on the flat, silver blade. The reflection played tricks on his eyes; there appeared to be numerous blades swiveling toward him.
"Gerard?" Sarah walked around the table and touched his shoulder.
"Pardon?" He asked sharply, "Were you speaking to me?" Everyone stared at him, perplexed.
"Would you like some cake?" Sarah asked quietly pointing to the dessert awaiting dismemberment.
"Yes...please...a little slice," he said in a mildly shaken voice.
'Little slice, little slice, little slice...' "Of course," Karen said attacking the innocent confection; the harsh sound of her knife clacking against the porcelain of the cake plate caused Gerard to flinch each time it struck.
"Jer, are you alright?" Sarah asked sitting next to him
"Yeah, just tired. Been a long day, luv." He smiled and even Sarah saw the pain lurking in his eyes.
"It has been, hasn't it?" Nodding, he accepted the plate from Karen and cleaned his plate with gusto. Mustn't allow anyone to see how much his head truly hurt again, or else Sarah would bundle him off to the nearest hospital.
"Well, after dinner we'll turn in. Start fresh tomorrow."
"Good then."
"There's one thing though...my parents they're very...traditional." One brow cocked, he non-verbally questioned her.
"That's right, Gerard." Her father interrupted with a protective father smirk as he reached for his share of cake, "we've prepared the guest room for you while Sarah will use her old room."
"Ah..."
Toby laughed at Gerard's disappointed, stunted response while Sarah threw a napkin at her kid brother. Gerard covered his reaction with a amiable smile and eased into conversation. Her parents smiled indulgently at the banter while their family chatted over dessert.
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"A bit of warning would've been appreciated, luv," Gerard groused, bags in hand, trudging up the stairs, and down the hall as she led him to the guest bedroom. "You knew we'd be separated."
With an evil smirk over her shoulder she said, "Yeah...I did, surprise!"
He shook his head mournfully, "How long must we suffer the indignity? We're grown adults!"
"Who says we'll be suffering?" She pushed open a door to a plain, but nicely decorated bedroom.
"Well, I'll be suffering at least...I don't know about you, then." Shutting the door behind them, she took his shirt collar in hand and tugged him close. The bags dropped from his hands to thud on the carpeted floor.
"My dad will be in his study for at least an hour while Karen and Toby clean up after dinner." Trailing kisses down his neck and upper chest, she quickly unbuttoned his shirt, "If we're quick we won't be disturbed," she murmured into his chest.
"Is that right?" His hands got the message before his brain, and they pushed up the edge of her shirt, brushing the globes of her silken clad breasts. Her moan and her warm breath upon his skin made him instantly hard. His shirt fell from his shoulders as she pulled him down for a kiss.
"Too bad you don't remember anything from last night after the dancing."
"Why?" He pulled her shirt off and went to work on her bra between passionate kisses.
"You were amazing and I quote: 'I want to shag you right now, and I don't fucking care who sees us.'" She said before she released a strangled gasp as his fingers circled and pinched her nipples.
"I said that?" He asked walking her backwards to the bed, his face buried in her neck.
"You did more than say it, you did it." He heard the lust thicken her voice and jerked his head back at that.
"I did?" His brow furrowed, bloody hell...he didn't remember
that? "At the club?"
"Uh-huh..." she sat down at the edge of the bed, tugged his belt buckle open and unzipped him, "on the dance floor, in fact..."
"
I did?" Now his brows rose, Good Lord...why couldn't he remember that? "With you wearing the bleeding fuckable leather skirt? In public?
I've forgotten that?"
"Apparently," she said light-heartedly right before she engulfed him in her mouth, one hand encircling his shaft while the other cupped his balls and massaged. His knees trembled and his body jerked; he rested his hands on her shoulders to support his weight.
"Bloody hell, Sarah..." he exclaimed struggling to keep his voice down. Her sucking mouth and rasping tongue worked him like hard candy, probing his tip and stroking him. His sensitivity to her brought him too close too rapidly. Like a sodding teenager with her, he was; couldn't decide if that was good or bad.
"Wait, wait..." he mumbled and gently pushed her off.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, luv, just don't wanna finish yet." He picked her up under her arms and tossed further on the bed. Giggling and bouncing, she quickly stripped off her jeans and panties while he kicked off his shoes and trousers then crawled on top of her, nuzzling the entire way.
"That tickles!"
"Shhh...quiet now...mustn't let the family hear us."
"You're cruel."
"Only as cruel as you, my Sarah." He teased proceeding to kiss her senseless, their nude bodies rubbing sinuously.
"Oh God, Jer, I need you." Her leg wrapped around his hips coaxing him close until he nudged her entrance. Her hands scored down his back, her nails scratching red paths until she gripped his buttocks and pulled. Her hips tilted up to accommodate him, and he slide within her to the hilt with a deep groan and shudder.
"S-sarah." He tucked his face into the crook of her neck and set a fast yet sensual pace, visions of her leather skirt in his mind. Her every pant and groan informing him that she neared as promptly as he.
"Good...you feel so good, so perfect," she said arching beneath him, drawing him in deeper. "Harder, Jer, please!" She said into his ear, her breath hot, and he complied without hesitation. How he loved this woman, his Sarah, no logic explained it, only pure emotion. A few drifting, rational brain cells remembered what Dee told him earlier in the day, and he chose to act on her advice. As he climaxed, thrusting frantically with his forehead touching hers and his forearms bracing his weight, he said loudly, barely kept from shouting:
"I love you, Sarah, marry me!"
"Jer, Oh...oh! Wh-what?" She uttered in surprise during her own orgasm, amazed at his confession. "Marry you?"
"Yes!" He rained kisses upon her face, ending at her lips, "Marry me, Sarah, and give me my dreams, my deepest wish."
"Oh God...yes, yes I'll marry you!" She said returning his kisses, her hands encircling his face. Was this crazy? This was crazy! She'd known him less than two weeks! But she knew...didn't she? She knew she lo—
"Sarah! Sarah, are you still upstairs?" Her father's voice boomed from the first floor.
"Oh shit! I think he's walking up here!" She said. Full panic mode taking over, she shoved Gerard off of her, sat up, and scrambled for her clothing. "He can't find us like this!" She added in a hissing whisper slipping on her jeans.
"Sarah..." Gerard rolled comfortably onto his back.
"Get dressed!"
He chuckled at her frantic behavior, "Whatever for? I'm in
my room. You're the intruder, yeah?"
"Oh...you..." she said, her voice muffled through her shirt as she pulled it over her head.
"Sarah?" Her father called again, sounding closer.
"Damn it...stay here," she told Gerard as he had yet to shift from his naked, sprawled position on the bed, his arms cradling his head as he observed her.
"Your wish is my command, precious," he said with a leer and a suggestive hip wiggle. "Don't be long."
"Oh, boy..." She sighed, forcing herself out the cracked door with a sidle just in time to walk face-to-face into her father. "Dad! Hey!"
"Sarah, I've been calling you. Is Gerard settled? Does he need anything?" He glanced around her towards the closed bedroom door.
"Nope, nothing...I mean, yeah, he's settled...all good." She smiled and bit her lip.
"Okay, well...Karen wanted me to check and ask you to come downstairs for a minute." Her father leaned in to whisper, "I think she wants a girl talk with you."
Sarah's eyes flicked toward Gerard's door then back to her father, "Okay, Dad," she answered reluctantly following him downstairs. At least their private time escaped her father's interruption; that scenario made her mentally shudder in horror. She hadn't been caught out by her parents since high school, and that was heavy petting only. But she was engaged now...wasn't she? A goofy grin spread her lips, made her grateful her dad led the walk because she wasn't quite ready to share this stunning development with her family. She preferred to savor it with Gerard more before piecemealing to others. There was time to celebrate as a group. For now they'd celebrate privately, as soon as she finished talking with Karen.
Sarah decided after an hour of intensive girl talk that step-mothers, even ones as loving and supportive as Karen, could be downright aggravating,. The more she attempted to extricate herself the more Karen dug for details: who was he, where'd they meet, how'd they meet, had they...you know...? Eventually she conceded to herself that Karen's fortitude the greater between them, and Sarah gave up a losing battle.
By the time she escaped and snuck back to Gerard's room, she found him sound asleep and tucked head to toe in the comforter. His peaceful visage and soft snores discouraged Sarah from waking him. Instead she brushed his short bangs from his forehead and placed a light kiss on his lips; he didn't stir.
"I'm going to marry you, Jer," she whispered before leaving him to sleep alone while tip-toeing to her old bedroom and preparing for bed. Complying with her parents' wishes may be respectful, but it really sucked she decided, and she instantly missed the comfort of Gerard's embrace as she snuggled down in her adolescent twin mattress.
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The ceaseless running exhausted him; the same nightmare diabolically altered giving him minute threads of hope. Time shortened but did not expire, he could make it. The narrow stone path led him through the surrounding darkness. Ahead he saw it connected to a widened platform of stone with loose chunks of random masonry floating above and about it all levels. At last...his destination! His panting echoing in his ears, Gerard stumbled the last steps onto the larger stone floor and crouched forward to catch his breath.
"Give me the child." Who spoke? Gerard looked up and around, saw a young girl several feet away, her back to him. In front of her stalked a man draped in a ragged gray cloak swirled by winds affecting none other. Long, pale hair framed his haggard face. The man appeared worn thin, near defeat, and looked uncomfortably familiar. A thought his consciousness eagerly shied away from presently.
"Sarah, beware..." The man said calmly with a touch of desperation, "I have been generous up until now, but I can be cruel."
'
Sarah,' Gerard thought witnessing their exchange, '
my Sarah?' "Sarah!" Gerard called out to her stepping closer. Neither Sarah nor the man responded to his voice. "Sarah?" Gerard called her name again reaching toward her, careful to avoid the man. Based on what he remembered of Sarah's story, this scene seemed very much like her final confrontation with the Goblin King. And the man, so much like the reflection in the mirror, so much like
him...
"Generous! What have you done that's generous?" Gerard heard the obvious skepticism in her question. Apparently so did the man as he verbally lashed back before she finished speaking.
"
Everything! Everything that you wanted I have done." The man said circling her, and as Gerard drew closer he realized this
was his Sarah as a younger version. Gerard watched, fascinated, as the man paced and ranted. "You asked that the child be taken. I took him. You cowered before me; I was frightening. I have reordered time. I have turned the world upside down and I have done it all for
you! I am exhausted from living up to your expectations of me. Isn't that generous?" He asked ending on a plaintive note. Gerard wondered at the man's unusual accent: smoothly upper British yet altogether different.
With furrowed brows and a small frown, Gerard rather agreed with the man's estimation of his generosity. Sarah's retelling, though quite similar, did leave this slant of the story out...assuming the man was indeed the same Goblin King. Gerard watched in engrossed absorption as the teen Sarah ignored the man's pleas, turned his plotting, and proceeded to
stalk him. The man's defeat loomed ever closer as the bright and shining young woman completed her journey.
"Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the Castle beyond the Goblin City. For my will is as strong as yours and my kingdom as great..."
Something inside Gerard twisted sharply upon hearing Sarah speak those words and watching the man grimace. He knew this and not because of Sarah's telling...why? He lunged forward and grabbed Sarah's arm wanting to force her to stop speaking, to take her from this place. Another hand clamped around his wrist, pulled him away.
"Do not touch her. It is forbidden." The man said harshly to Gerard, his preternaturally strong grip tight around his wrist. Gerard shifted to look at the man just as he realized Sarah vanished. "You shouldn't be here," the man added with a narrow-eyed, predatory gaze.
"Where's Sarah? What'd you do to her?" Gerard struggled to yank his arm from the pale man.
"I? I've done nothing to precious Sarah." He released Gerard with no more effort than dropping a used towel, but Gerard stumbled back several steps nearly losing his balance. "You should be asking what has
she done to
me," the man tilted his head, his lips curling with a mild sneer, "and you as well, Gerard."
"How...how do you know my name?"
The strange man sauntered closer to him now, much as he did to Sarah before. His head tilted, his eyes blazing, "I know a great deal about you."
"Bloody hell...you're really him, aren't you? You're Jareth, the Goblin King. Sarah told me about you."
The man smirked causing Gerard to gulp at the show of sharp, inhuman teeth, "It's about time you figured things out," then a shadow fell over Jareth's mien and he abandoned any pretense of amusement, "Such a pity it has to end this way, Gerard. I rather liked you."
"Pardon?"
"Do say hello to Sarah for me when next you see her," Jareth said as he moved into Gerard's personal space, grasped his shirt, and maneuvered him rapidly to the edge of the stone platform.
"What the bloody hell are you doing?" Gerard shouted struggling futilely in the Goblin King's unusually strong grip. Looking over his shoulder, Gerard watched the stone edge loom as the king's confident strides shoved him rapidly closer.
"Sending you home," he said bluntly then smirked again, his eyes glazing as if a private joke occurred to him, "for now. Things would've worked out for me, but you and your blasted free will had to ruin it."
"
What? I don't know what you're—"
"Save it for your next life," Jareth said just before he tossed Gerard over the edge of the platform into the empty void. Gerard fell, spiraling out of control through the black, a scream caught in his throat until...
His eyes snapped open to the normal darkness of the Williams' guest bedroom; he rolled sharply and continued to fall over the side of his bed. The carpet did nothing to soften the blow of his harsh landing, and he released an 'oaf' when his chest met the floor.
'
What the bloody hell...' he thought,
'I've officially crossed over to Crazytown.' Shaking his head, Gerard levered his body off the floor with a groan. Tendrils of the nightmare clung to his mind and his muscles quivered throughout his body as he crawled back into bed. The nightstand clock glowed 4 a.m.
'
Now I'm seeing the Goblin King in my dreams, hallucinating him...' he rubbed his temples trying to dispel his raging migraine, the recurring hand tremors making it difficult,
'whatever Sarah told me has run away with my subconscious, making me think all sorts of barmy things.' Staring at the shadowy ceiling, Gerard considered his predicament. He couldn't very well go on like this; even successfully hiding his symptoms from Sarah and others did nothing for his own peace of mind. The tremors in his hands worsened as he worried, forcing him to give up massaging his head. That decided him...once they returned to New York he would call Cassie and accept her help locating an appropriate physician. The thought of a hospital terrified him, but the loss of his sanity...more so.
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A/N: Wow...so we've finally seen a glimpse of Jareth. Are ya'll shocked? And what does this all mean? I know, I know...'but you want answers Jinx!' There will be, there are; chapter 16 is tense and chapter 17 should be the start of major reveals. I don't want to pack them all in together but I'm afraid that's how it's working out. Chapter 16 will be long (yeah for you) and I'm hoping to keep 17 long but it depends on the pacing.
Thank you Lioness for the awesome review! It's always a boost to here from readers! This story has become so much more than I originally thought it might and I love it. It's rapidly becoming one of my faves as well. :o)
