As The World Falls Down

Chapter 16

"How about this one?"

You were starting to think you were never going to leave the store Jareth had dragged you into. He was infuriatingly insistent on buying you something, even after your constant assurance that you really didn't need anything, and even if you did he could just conjure it up himself. He kept holding dresses up with the arm that he hadn't draped in an array of jewel toned velvet and satin overcoats for himself, asking you for your opinion. In that moment, he had selected a very glittery scarlet gown, turning it every which way so the sparkles were practically blinding you.

"Jareth, can you please just let this go? I don't need a dress, I already have a million I don't wear," you whined, shifting your feet impatiently. "My feet are killing me."

"What's the fun in taking you out if I can't spoil you?" Jareth asked, dropping the dress in defeat. "You're impossible, Y/N."

"Tell you what, how about you just pick one for me?" you proposed and he raised an eyebrow before nodding slowly, wheels clearly turning in his head.

"Alright," he agreed, turning away from you to thumb through the rack he had been tearing apart this whole time, immediately plucking out a silk, plum colored floor length gown that he had shown you near the beginning of his pleading. "This one, then."

"I thought purple was reserved for royalty," you joked and he smiled, shrugging a little as he delicately draped it over his other arm. "Or maybe you just want to see me in your favorite color."

"That sounds more like it," he mumbled, bringing everything up to the front, and you felt your stomach drop a little in disappointment. You knew it was stupid to assume a purple dress meant he was going to make you his queen or anything, especially on a first date, but it was fun to pretend a little.

You strolled around a bit more, popping into shops every once in a while for Jareth to buy baubles he insisted he needed, but as twilight crept over the horizon, you were ready to head back to the Goblin City. It was a crazy thought that you could miss the big, empty castle that had been boring you to tears for so many weeks, but it was your home now, as much you couldn't wrap your head around the fact. The prospect of falling down into bed with Jareth was far more appealing than absentmindedly looking around while he chattered on about crystals and stitches to you.

"Are you ready to head back?" he eventually asked you and you nodded enthusiastically, which made him frown as he shifted the shopping bags on his arms. "Don't tell me I've bored you."

"No, no, I had a nice day, I just wanna go home now," you replied and he blinked, holding back a smirk. "What?"

"Nothing, I just...home?" he asked playfully. "Getting comfortable, hm?"

"You're the one begging to buy me dresses," you shot back, putting a defiant hand on your hip. "And the one who didn't even give me a say in whether or not I was staying there in the first place."

"You're very cute when you get defensive, you know that?" he laughed, putting a hand on your back and pushing you to keep walking, back towards where he had dropped you both off. "And, for the record, I never said I was against you calling my castle your home. It might as well be."

In an empty spot on the street, he turned you towards him and took a moment to brush something off your face and tuck a loose wave of hair behind your ear.

"Ready?" he asked and when you nodded, he grabbed you by the back of your head and kissed you like it had been years and not only a handful of hours since the last time. The fierceness of it had your body react in a way that made the shifting space around you weaken in comparison, and even if it weren't necessary to the travel process, you knew you would've clung to him the way you did in that moment. Something had come over him lately and even though it was driving you crazy trying to figure out what was going on with him, you sure as hell didn't mind these passionate outbursts that were peppered between the newfound abundance of sweet names and the overarching arrogance he had displayed since you met him.