Disclaimer…. As if I could EVER own anything as awesome as 'Labyrinth'. The song is by Jamie Grace and Toby Mac. Seriously, I make no profit. *le sad sigh*

I Love the Way You Hold Me

Chapter 1

(I love, I love, I love the way you hold me.)

It was a dream. She knew it was. It was the same one that had been plaguing her for the past twelve years. It didn't truly matter though. She absolutely LOVED the feeling of being in his arms.

He was powerful and altogether frightening. Yet, there was no place in her world or his that she felt safer.

There were others around them, dancing in their finest clothes to the tinkling of a beautiful tune. The room was decorated in gold and silver and crystal. All of this, she did not take in, as she was transfixed in the gaze of a set of mismatched eyes.

She wondered briefly, if her dream self-had actually managed to dress properly this time. Too many times she found herself dancing in his arms in her pajamas. Not that he ever seemed to care, but just once, she felt that she would like to wear a beautiful gown for HER king. (Not that she would EVER call him that to his face. His ego was already too big.)

Looking down at herself she realized that, yes, she was in her most comfortable pair of sweatpants and her favorite cotton camisole. 'Oh well,' she sighed to herself. She was to content to do anything about it. With another sigh, this one a rather breathy and happy sound, she laid her head on his chest, and continued to dance the night away.

The instant ringing of her alarm woke her up abruptly, pulling her from her sweetest fantasies. Shaking her head of all the cotton in it, she got up to start her day, never noticing the white barn owl flying away from her window.

...

(I've had a long day, I just wanna relax

Don't have time for my friends, no time for chit-chat

Problems at my job, wonderin' what to do)

Sarah loved her job. She just didn't care for the people she had to work with. As one of the assistant editors for a rather large publishing company, her job was to read manuscripts and deem if they were worthy of actually getting published. Then she would pass the work onto her boss, one – Mr. Elliott.

Mr. Elliott was a rather rotund man, in his late forties with a receding hair line, and a wandering eye, that had decidedly landed on Sarah. She avoided him as much as possible and dreamed of the day when she could either move to a different position or get a promotion of some sort.

Today she sat in her small office going over one of the many manuscripts that had piled up on her desk, not really taking in what she was reading. Her mind kept wandering to her latest encounter with her boss, and just what exactly she was going to do about it, if there was anything she could actually do.

She could always complain about the man to those in a higher position, but she wasn't sure if anything would actually get done. Mr. Elliott had been with the company a lot longer than Sarah had, and he was a valued employee. Plus, it wasn't as if he had actually done anything to her. Just crowded her personal space a bit, and spoke in sexual innuendos and double meaning.

She snorted slightly at that and smirked a bit. It's not like she didn't have any experience with that sort of thing. (It was just slightly more welcome when HE did it and not the bumbling fool of her boss.)

'And here we go, bringing HIM into our mind again,' she added to her thoughts.

Distractedly, she pulled her long dark hair up into a messy bun and stuffed a pen into it to hold it, and looked up from the manuscript she was perusing. Her eyes landed randomly on the picture sitting on the corner of her desk. Her little brother grinned back at her, blue eyes alight with mischief and daring.

Toby was her closest companion and confidante. However, as close as they were, there were some secrets that she wouldn't even share with him.

She recalled the last conversation she had with him. It was about a week before on his birthday. He had just turned 14 and was excited to be going out with a group of his friends to the movies. Or at least, he was excited until his mother found out that there were going to be a couple of girls going along with the group.

Apparently Karen took it into her head at that point, that it was to be a date, and Toby's exasperation was shining through in the conversation he was having with his sister.

"I mean REALLY Sarah! How can she even THINK it's a date of any kind? It's just a bunch of kids going to the movies to have a good time. GAH!" She could tell, even through the phone, that he was running his hand through his hair in frustration.

As she opened her mouth to say something soothing to him, he continued on. "You know, I don't think it's very fair, (Sarah cringed at the use of this particular word), that she gives me so much crap about getting a girlfriend, when you have yet to settle down with anyone yourself. Think about it Sar, your years older than me."

The brunette snorted at that. It was kind of funny listening to her little brother whine about the unfairness of it all. 'Oh, the irony of it all' she mused quietly. She could not however, in all good conscious, allow her younger brother to make such disparaging comments about her age.

"Yeah, I'm so ancient, Tobes." She said derisively, though Toby could hear the smile in her voice. "Sometimes, my dear brother," she continued airily, "LIFE, just isn't fair."

"Yeah, yeah, I know that," he said with a long suffering and slightly put upon sigh. "It doesn't mean I have to like it!"

Sarah understood what he meant though. Where most boys Toby's age had started discovering girls didn't really have cooties, and began playing the dating game, Toby was quite content to live in his own little world. He had his little circle of friends, which is more than Sarah could have said for herself at that age, but he was just as happy to be alone, as he was to be with other people.

Karen, who had already despaired of Sarah ever getting involved with anyone, decided to set her sights on her one and only son. Her biggest fear being that he would turn out like Sarah, and not ever date.

It wasn't that Sarah didn't want to date, it was just that HE had gone and ruined all men for her. Not that her step-mother knew anything about that, Sarah reminded herself. It's not like Karen would have believed her anyway.

'We are NOT going to think of HIM,' she told herself forcefully.

Sarah's bright green eyes glanced up from the paper that she had been looking at for the past fifteen minutes, when the phone on the opposite corner of her desk rang.

"This is Sarah, how can I help you?" she answered absent mindedly, head still lost in her thoughts.

"SARAH!" Her step mother's shrill voice caused her to cringe from the sheer strength of it. Sarah figured that if it were anyone else screeching like that over the phone, she would probably be on instant edge.

It was as if they had switched roles in life, Karen becoming more dramatic with each year and Sarah becoming calmer. 'Think of the devil, and she will call,' Sarah grinned, slightly amused at her thoughts. Karen wasn't that bad of a person, and they had developed at sort of strange friendship over the years, it was just that Karen was such a superficial person. At least that was how she started to come across to Sarah.

Karen had always been a social butterfly, and it was her life's mission, ever since she met the poor girl anyway, to make her socially acceptable.

Steeling her nerves for a conversation with the woman, Sarah said, "Hello Karen, what's up?"

Sarah's soft voice had the same airily dreamy quality it always had. It put Karen's nerves on edge.

What is up, Sarah, is that tonight is the Clamsdon's masquerade ball," Karen said. She could have sworn that she heard Sarah groan. "You were supposed to be here an hour ago to start getting ready. You didn't forget did you?"

Sarah could hear Karen gritting her teeth through the phone. It would have amused her greatly in different circumstances. In all honesty she had actually forgotten about the stinkin' thing. She wanted nothing to do with it. It might have been different if it were a fund raiser of some sort, but it wasn't. 'Hmmm, how to let her down gently?' she wondered. 'Nothing for it.'

Out loud, she said very succinctly, "I'm not going to the ball."

A smirk very reminiscent of HIM, came across her face at Karen's intake of breath.

"How do you expect to meet anyone if you don't get out and MEET people, Sarah?" Karen asked in a rather strained voice. Apparently she hadn't despaired as much as Sarah had hoped.

Sarah sighed. She was tired, she was frustrated, and she did not want to deal with Karen on top of everything else. So instead of arguing with the woman, the brunette found herself giving into her step mother's demands.

She stacked up the manuscripts that she was attempting to read neatly on her desk, and left from work early. She didn't even bother to tell Mr. Elliott that she was leaving. It's not like she was getting anything done anyway. Even if Karen hadn't called, Sarah knew that she would have just ended up spending all her time thinking about him.

'I should be grateful for the distraction.'

As she was leaving her office, her green eyes landed on the figurine of a faerie creature in the middle of her book shelf. He was a tall regal looking being with skin as pearlescent as the stars, and hair that was the color of moonbeams. He stood on the backdrop of a hill, holding out a small crystal in offering.

"I wish…" she whispered wistfully. 'It always comes back to that' she thought ruefully.

…..

A/N: I know I should be working on my other story, (I PROMISE I haven't given up on it) I just could not get this song out of my head. I absolutely LOVE it, and it constantly makes me think of Jareth and Sarah. So, I figured, what the hey! I shall make it into a story. (Hopefully a rather short and endearing story.)

Let me know what you think. Reviews are love.

CHEERS!
~Jeni