As The World Falls Down

Chapter 11

It lasted about two weeks.

And those two weeks were absolutely pleasant, of course. You ate your meals together, said good morning and good night, and the flirting never stopped, not really, just not as frequent or charged. You were actually enjoying getting to be friends with him, and you were very similar in terms of humor and behavior, so it wasn't hard to keep a conversation going.

You had taken to visiting different parts of the castle each day, lingering in a library full of books in strange tongues that you tried (and ultimately failed) to decode, or sitting with your legs kicking in a warm, sandy pool and open windows blowing in a cool breeze. A few times you had taken brief strolls around the Goblin City itself, but ultimately found the constant looks and remarks from the odd citizens uninviting, and decided against any further trips. It wasn't like the city had anywhere to go, or looked nice in the slightest, so it wasn't exactly a damper on your mood. You did, however, make note that any goblins who made rude comments towards you the first couple times you had gone out didn't seem to ever make an appearance again, so that was a plus.

No matter where you went, you never ran into Jareth, and assumed he had found ways to make himself scarce. You didn't ask, not wanting to cross any boundaries, but you always wondered what in the world he was getting up to. He didn't seem to show any signs of travel at meals, and he always slept in the castle at night, so it was a mystery to you.

You totally didn't care, though. Definitely didn't miss him.

Definitely didn't wish a little every day that you'd be woken up like you had that very first night and have him descend on you, desperate to make up for every day he hadn't touched you. And it certainly wasn't the sole thing on your mind every time you had a meal with him, making sure to close off your mind so he wouldn't be able to peer into your thoughts and see himself sweating and panting in HD at the forefront while you innocently chatted.

But once it had been a full two weeks, you couldn't take it anymore. You weren't typically the type to let down your guard first during any kind of standoff, but this was your last straw. You had spent your day wandering aimlessly around the fifth floor, never really spending more than half an hour in each room, and when you got back to your room you decided to spend a little bit more on your appearance for dinner to get his attention. When the first week had passed, you had been pleased to find a few gowns had been added to the closet that had grown out of the side of the western wall, blushing when you had found them to be crafted from spider silk. I see what you did there, you had thought to yourself.

You chose a sapphire gown with a slit down the side that shimmered and billowed when you walked, and pinned back your hair, save for a few pieces that framed your face. You knew you looked beautiful, and you were excited to see how Jareth would respond.

When you had sat down to dinner, you were shocked to find that he hadn't beaten you to the table as he always had. Somehow, that made your stomach clench anxiously, worried that something had happened during his mysterious daytime excursions, but you distracted yourself with the glass of fruit wine that thankfully hadn't kept you waiting.

You had downed about half of it before the dining hall doors opened and Jareth strode in, a bit out of breath with his hands dramatically thrown up by his shaking head.

"Y/N, I do apologize for the delay, I got caught up and lost track of the time and I-"

He turned to you and his smile fell as he stopped in his tracks right before he got to his chair, blinking as he took you in. You tried to ignore the heat in your cheeks as he raised his brows, eyes trailing down your body.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of formal wear?" he asked, taking a seat at the head of the table. You shrugged as you took a dainty sip of wine and stared him down, setting the glass down with a smile.