| She woke up screaming and crying, and continued screaming for a while, as Jareth fell into the room in a great hurry. �Michelle.� She looked at him and stopped screaming, but didn�t stop crying, and she was breathing raggedly. �What�s the matter, darling?� She couldn�t speak. He put his arms around her shoulders, and she let him embrace her, and sobbed into his chest. He was so warm, so kind, so not Jaden. She wasn�t sure who�s idea it was, or how he knew she needed it, but he spent the night in her bed. They slept with their arms around each other, but nothing more happened, and Michelle needed to know that Jaden couldn�t reach her. He couldn�t while she was in Jareth�s arms. Dominic ran around the maze like a mad person. This is a pretty normal thing for a little boy to do. What is less normal is Jareth running behind him. Michelle ran and hid behind a bush, laughing ecstatically, while Dominic dodged around a stone fountain. Jareth remembered her, and quietly put his fingers to his lips, telling Dominic to be quiet. Michelle had stopped laughing and was now getting her breath back behind the bush. Jareth crept up slowly, while Dominic tried his hardest not to giggle. Jareth reached the hedge and stood for a moment, and then jumped behind. Michelle jumped, as Jareth tapped her arm. He grinned at her, hard, and then ran back shouting �Run Dom, run, Mummy�s it!� They ran together, through a different opening in the bush, and Michelle came back round the hedge in pursuit. They played all day, tagging any goblins that got in the way, and everyone cheating outrageously. They danced about the hedgerows, hiding and running. Michelle couldn�t remember the last time she had had this much fun. She found a low stone wall and hid behind it to get her breath back. She sat down, leaning on it and counted to ten. Then she got to her knees, and peered over it. She saw a goblin chasing Dominic, the boy being much the faster, and laughed as the little creature rambled on hopelessly. She heard a deep masculine voice behind her laugh to. She turned to see Jareth. �Well, at least I know your not it,� she said. �May I share your hiding place, fair maiden, only I appear to be out of breath?� he said with a small bow. �I suppose there�s room for one more,� she said, and moved over to let him sit. He sat next to her, and breathed, and she let her head fall onto his shoulder. Jareth put his arm around her and kissed her fore head. �Don�t get too relaxed,� he said. �We might get caught.� She laughed and lifted her head. Then she met her eyes, those strange but beautiful eyes, and for a moment she couldn�t look away, or didn�t want to. And he kissed her, properly, on the lips, and for a moment she didn�t stop him, as her hands raised to his hair. Then her fingers clenched to a fist, then hesitated, then pushed him. �No Jareth,� she said. Visions of past kisses invaded her mind and she felt quite sick. Jareth looked genuinely hurt, and she looked at the floor. �Found you, found you. Now you�re it.� They turned to find Dominic jumping up and down behind them. �I thought the goblin was it,� said Michelle. �I thought it was getting silly, so I let him catch me,� he said. �Now Daddy�s it!� Michelle jumped to her feet. �Come on Dom,� she said, and ran away. They ran further and further away from the castle, through the labyrinth, not worrying about finding their way back again, because Jareth was not far behind them. Soon they were outside the gates, and they wondered separately. Michelle walked one way, looking around. She had never been this far out. She heard Jareth cry �got you!� and turned to see Dominic running back through the gates followed by Jareth. She smiled. He was a good father, or seemed to be, and so long as he never found out her secret then everything would be fine, she knew it. She started to walk back to the gates herself, but was grabbed by strong hands. �I knew you�d come,� said a voice she dreaded. �You just needed a little reminder.� Jaden kissed her on the lips first, and then started kissing her neck and shoulders, holding her around the waste so she was close to him. �Jaden!� was all she could say. �Michelle,� he said in between kisses. �Get off me!� she said eventually, and pushed him, but he was expecting it this time, and instead of moving away caught her wrists. She was against the walls of the labyrinth and couldn�t escape. �We�re not thinking of going back on our agreement now are we?� he said in an almost teasing voice. She didn�t know what to say. She hadn�t planned on anything like this. She up looked at him in fear and saw the fangs, the fangs that had felt so real in her neck last night, and she was as scared as she had been then. She didn�t know what else to say. �Of course not.� She swallowed, and continued more confidently, �the bastards gonna pay.� �That�s my girl,� said Jaden, and kissed her again, and she was crying. She cursed herself. She was meant to be twenty-three and here she was having nightmares and crying. She hated herself. �Michelle?� called Jareth. �Mummy?� shouted Dominic. Jaden stopped kissing her and smirked. �Not scared are we, precious?� He ran somewhere as Jareth strolled back through the gates. �There you are,� he said, �we�ve been worried.� She didn�t look at him, and let her hair fall over her face for a second, as she wiped her eyes and sniffed. He lowered his head, trying to look round the hair. �What�s the matter, my darling?� �Nothing!� said Michelle quickly and brightly. She grinned at him. �You�re not it are you?� He laughed. �It�s dinner time Michelle.� �Already?� �Time flies when you�re having fun.� Michelle smiled at him. �Well lead the way, kind sir,� she said with a half curtsy. He bowed and she quickly looked to see if she could find Jaden. She couldn�t. He held out his arm, and Michelle, smiled again and took it, allowing him to lead her in. |