As The World Falls Down

Chapter 13

You found him, of course, on the seventh floor. You tried the library first but found the fireplace cold, so you tried the previously dark and empty storage room to its left and found it had been given new life with him in it. Peeking in, you saw a smoking room, fit with leather couches, cherrywood paneling, sprawling maroon carpeting and, in its center, a pool table. Jareth was bent over it, playing a one sided game along with, to your surprise, a long cigarette hanging out of the corner of his mouth, immediately recognizing the delicious yet pungent herbal smell. As much as you were upset with him, you couldn't help but admire how undeniably sexy he looked with the smoke clouding his bowed, lithe silhouette. You knocked once on the wall and his eyes flitted up to acknowledge you but said nothing, instead breaking the silence by jerking the glossy cue angrily and sending two of the crystal billiard balls clattering into and away from each other into opposite pockets.

"Thousands of years old and you're still being such a child," you berated him, yet he still said nothing, instead taking a long drag on his cigarette and tilting his head to blow it into the fan overhead, spinning in into the haze already ghosting the air. You held steadfast to the steely energy you were directing towards him, but you felt a blush tinting your cheeks. Luckily for you, he kept his gaze at the ceiling, breathing in for a long moment and then exhaling dramatically.

"What have I told you about trespassing on my private floor?" he asked in a monotone, no hint of a threat in his voice, just complete exhaustion. "Can't you see I'm having some time by myself?"

"Don't you think it would help to talk about what you're feeling?" you retorted, and he smirked as if that was the stupidest thing you had said so far.

"That's not really my...style," he replied quietly, tipping his head forward to survey the pool table, walking around it to make his next move. "There is no royal therapist, if you couldn't tell."

"Well, I'm not exactly looking to take that job, but I think it would be helpful if we talked about Sarah leaving," you insisted, leaning against the closed door. "You took it kind of hard."

"It's not within my control," he muttered blankly, focused on angling his cue against the rim of the pool table. "Her life is moving on, it's as simple as that. I knew it would happen and now it has. Feelings, there, are you happy?"

"Did you think it would happen later?" you asked, to no response.

"Okay, maybe you were hoping it would happen later so you wouldn't have to deal with what you'd have to do when she left," you tried again, and he took his shot, balls crashing together louder than before. Bingo, you thought as he took another long drag on his cigarette and silently circled to the head of the pool table, the farthest side from you.

"You know, just because she's leaving doesn't mean your time together means any less to her," you prodded again, and he let the cue fall to the floor through his fist with an irritated thump and looked at you intensely.

"Y/N, I came here to have a moment of peace and yet here you are, chastising me," he said heatedly. "Is there any way I can convince you to leave me be?"

"Oh, I can leave right now," you answered, pointing behind you with your thumb. "But I think you'll be a lot more miserable with me gone."

He didn't deny it, instead leaning forward over the table again, staring at you thoughtfully while he smoked quietly. When he had smoked the cigarette to its very end, he flicked it away and nodded, clearly having made up his mind about something.

"Alright, how about we strike another deal?" he proposed, then smiled cheekily. "And actually keep it this time around."

"Go on," you replied, biting back a goofy smile, keeping a disinterested expression on your face as he straightened and turned behind him, grabbing another pool cue with his free hand. He held it out to you and you laughed, taking it with an arched brow.