143 Hurts and Dream 1

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~ELVEN FOREST~

After about two hours of walking and running, Astrid and her little team finally took some time off to catch their breaths. 

It was already dark and they hadn't had much rest since they began their journey at the early hours of the morning, coupled with the continuous battle they faced with the wild birds and beasts.

Out of everyone, Astrid and White-Fire were the most tired of the group, and as Jareth addressed them, the two curved up next to each other to rest.

Up till now, Jareth and Astrid didn't utter a word to each other. While she stole side glances at him, he on the other hand completely ignored her.

"Rest for a while, we leave in thirty minutes. I would keep guard." He finally spoke, but not to her directly.

Unfortunately, he didn't get any response, but rather was met with the deep breathing of Astrid and White-Fire. He turned to the corner where they rested; he wanted to say something but just kept shut.

"How can they sleep just like that?" He said after a minute of watching them.

The little white tiger moved close to him and purred at him with charming eyes.

"Oh little one, don't tell me you feel lonely and want someone to pet you?"

The little beast blinked at him at the mention of pet, its eyes brimming with joy. It was happy that he was going to get some rub since Astrid went off to sleep without it. Little did it know that Jareth was not his playful self anymore.

"Sorry buddy, not this time." He gently rubbed the head of the beast and walked away, making Little White-Fire pout at him. 

Ignoring the elf, the little beast rushed off to where Astrid and its mother laid and squeezed itself between them, in no time, its little eyes dropped to a close as it went off to sleep.

"Urhh!" He lightly groaned.

He was tired as well, but with the elf Princess on their tail, how could he rest? All he wanted was to get as far away as possible, but it would be wicked of him if he ignored their tiredness and pushed them further.

That way, if they faced any attack, they'd be too weak for a serious battle.

His eyes darted to the side where they slept and his gaze wandered to where she was. She looked so peaceful and damn beautiful when she slept. He couldn't help it, he just allowed his gaze linger on her charming face.

His mind threw him back to what happened a couple of hours back. Well it had clouded his thoughts all through their journey, which was why he didn't talk to her.

Honestly, no matter how hard he tried to deny it, he felt hurt by what happened. He had been so scared of losing her or letting her get hurt that he threw caution to the wind and let his feeling lose into the world and instead of her happy side that he expected, he got her angry deadly side.

Little did he know that he was the one that was used to test her. He so much wanted to know what happened in the test that turned her that way and ready to kill him. What did he do wrong? Obviously she had tried to kill him before, but somehow he escaped, getting her angry.

He felt the need to want to protect her even more and to hold her, but whenever he recalled the angry look in her eyes, he felt a sharp pain in his heart. It was as though a knife was plunged down deep, tearing his heart to pieces.

"I bet if you were to see me now, you would be in a fit of laughter. I shouldn't be having these feelings, not for her at least, it changes everything, it changes me and I don't want things to change."

He continued to murmur to himself, talking to no one in particular. 

"But whenever I look at her, it brings out the part of me that shouldn't be. I really need your advice right now, what should I do?"

His eyes dropped to her lips which was a terrible mistake on his part. Even in her dreams, she still bit down on her lower lip. He felt drawn to those lips again. He was getting mad, if he can feel funny with just a simple action from her.

"If it was someone else, perhaps I would consider, but why her?" He sighed, his fate was a complicated one. 

He could bet the heavens just laughed as they watched him struggle with his feelings. 

"What's she so nervous about in her sleep? Or has it turned into a habit?" He blurted out when he noticed she still bit down on her lips.

Her brows furrowed, her once peaceful face became troubled, her eye lid fluttered by the second like she was trying to wake up or something, tossing and turning in her sleep, disturbing the little white tiger in the middle.

It was obvious she was having a bad dream; he panicked and rushed to where she slept.

He didn't know when his feet betrayed him and brought him to her side. Gently, he rubbed her forehead, hoping to ease worry and nightmare and help her sleep better.

After some minutes, she stopped tossing and turning in general, his gently caress seemed to have healed the crease on her forehead and put her back into a dreamful sleep.

He moved his fingers from her forehead to brush her loose hair stands away from her face. His fingers seemed to have a mind of their own; he was about pulling away when he lightly slid down her face.

The feel of her smooth soft skin on the back of his fingers made him not want to stop and so he continued his ministrations on her face.

Not up to five minutes later, her brows furrowed again, she turned her head from side to side, Jareth quickly removed his hands from her face and held her shoulders when she turned. Everything happened again and fast.

Before Jareth could calm her down, she lifted her hands.

That was when he noticed her hand glowed with a bright blue light of her magic.

"Oh no, no, no! Astrid wake up, wake up. Don't do that, please. Wake up!!"

BOOM!