Make Believe
Prologue
December 11, 1988. One more day until the rest of my life begins. One more day until I can pick out my college, something my father requested I not do until the day of my eighteenth birthday. One more day before I become a legal adult. I could buy cigarettes myself if I knew I'd actually had the guts to smoke them. I could legally buy drugs, if I so wished. I could vote, too, but I was never into politics. Only one thing excited me more than turning eighteen, and that was him.
"Jareth?" I called toward my mirror, heart full of happiness and hope. He always listened, no matter what he was doing, and he always came when I called. It was something I could always trust in, something I truly put faith in. He was someone I knew would never use my faith against me.
There was only one time when he didn't come immediately. One time that scared me to death, but he was busy with court that day and couldn't arrive until an hour after I had called. Apparently, time went differently in the Underground. One hour to me was around three hours to him. I've wanted to go, but Jareth said this is a dangerous time for humans in the fae realms. There is a war coming, but he won't let me know anything about it.
"Yes, Sarah?" I smiled from the spot on my bed that I was sitting on as his voice came from the side of me. I faced him, taking in his mess of blond hair, his poet's shirt and leggings. It was his eyes and the lift of his mouth that always brought a smile to my face. He always put a smile to my face. It was that eyebrow raise that he did when I left him waiting that always brought me back to when we first met and how much we had changed and grown since then. How much closer we had become. How much love I felt for him now, that love that he would never know of.
"I'm turning eighteen tomorrow, Jareth," I paused, waiting for that smile he always gave me when I mentioned my birthday. Once it came, I continued. "You know the rules."
"I do recall them," he smirked. "However, I thought you said you didn't want anything this year."
"I lied."
"Sarah—"
"No, no, I really do want something, but I want it to be from the heart. From your heart." I want you.
"I do not even understand that human term. From the heart."
"We've been over this, Jareth."
"Yes, but it will always be a wonder to me."
I laughed at that. He always tried to understand human tradition and sayings for me, but I could never tell if it was because he felt the same as me or if it was because he enjoyed our friendship.
Sighing loudly, Jareth conjured up a crystal. "Sarah, there is something I must tell you." He flipped the crystal between both hands in a way that reminded me of when we first met.
"Yes, Jareth?" I smiled at him, but behind the smile was intense worry and anxiety. Worry that I did something or, worse, worry he did. My anxiety was relentless, always trying to make me see the worst in every given situation. Alas, he was always the optimist of the two of us.
"I am more than a mere King of Goblins, you see," he paused, looking into my eyes with a fire I had never noticed before now. "I am also a Prince of Dreams."
"What—"
He held up one lone finger and I knew exactly what that meant. It meant he was gathering his thoughts. It meant I had no idea what he was about to say, but I needed to hear it. It meant he did something.
"When people call out to me in their dreams, I can sense it and enter their dreams."
"Oh," I blushed, the rose color gracing my face and neck in a way that I had never felt before. Then I was angry. "Oh." I turned a sharp glare in his direction, but he held up one hand.
"I have never entered your dreams, Sarah, but lately your mind has been calling out to me at night more than usual." He then smirked at me and the blush grew tenfold. "Have you been— No, no, you mustn't have."
"I—"
"Sarah, Sarah, Sarah… have you been dreaming of me?"
"N-no."
"Don't you dare lie to me," he glared for a moment before softening. "I can easily check for myself if you do." He flipped the crystal in his hand a few times, as if he was reminding me of his power.
I was stumped at that. I had always been terrible at apologies, but I never wanted him to see those dreams. The dreams where he enters my room at night. The dreams where he takes me on my first date. The dreams where he admits he cares for me far more than a King should care for someone like me. A human.
"Jareth, please." I surprised the both of us with how calm my voice was. "That isn't nice."
"Neither is lying." He seemed hurt but hid it almost immediately. "Friends don't—"
"Lie, I know." I tried to hide my own hurt whenever he used that word. Friend. "I-I'm sorry."
"It is of no consequence."
I still felt bad. I knew it bothered him just as much as it bothered me. I was always honest and forward with him, but today was different. I was turning eighteen tomorrow. A legal age in the human realm. Old enough to marry Jareth, should he have me.
Of course, he would have me… right?
"Sarah? Have I embarrassed you?" He asked, but, for the first time I don't know how to answer. "My apologies. Perhaps I should leave—"
"I want you to look at one of my dreams." I blurt out, surprising each of us for more than the first time this evening.
"Are you certain?" He asks me, and I love him for it. Years ago, he would have done so without even asking. Hell, he would have no matter how I felt about it. Now, though, through our friendship, he's learned to ask. He's learned to be kind.
"Yes." I say with much more confidence. I'm ready.
"Sarah!" My stepmother calls.
I throw wide eyes at Jareth as he nods and disappears.
"Sarah?" My stepmother's voice is at my door now. "Can you come help with dinner?"
"Yes!" I call back in disappointment. I glanced at my clock and noticed that it was nearing five o'clock. Dinner was usually ready around six, which is close to when my dad will be home at five thirty.
I quickly make my way out of my bedroom, still decorated as it was when I was fifteen, and climb down the stairs towards the kitchen. "Hey, Karen," I tell my stepmother, her blond hair still in its curly mess from this morning. It's a Friday, which meant it was cleaning day for her. "When's Toby going to be back from the McGuire house?" I wondered at her, but I guess she hadn't heard me because she started reading the cans for cherry pie filling. "Karen?"
"Oh, Sarah! Sorry, I was trying to decide if I wanted to use these cherry pie fillings and make a pie with dinner tonight," she seemed a little stressed, but I didn't know why. "Can you run to the store and get me some things? I ran out of tomatoes, yellow squash and zucchini for the ratatouille and I needed some onions for the meatballs I'm making for dinner."
Fancy vegetarian option with a fancy meat option. Uh Oh. "They can't be." I said.
"But they are, and I really need this stuff. There's a list by my wallet. Please hurry." She paused. "Should I make the pies?"
"One cherry, one apple. He likes cherry, but she likes apple." I replied. The Thompsons. The reason my brother was spending one more night at the McGuire house. They're the owners of the company my father is restlessly trying to get a promotion at. If he gets this promotion, his work hours will lessen as his pay would increase. He could finally start working from home and homeschool Toby, like he wanted to homeschool me. "I'll be back as soon as possible!"
I quickly ran back up the stairs and grabbed my shoes, but Jareth's reflection in my mirror made my movements halt. "Jareth?" I asked, but when I blinked, he was gone.
"Can I join you?"
"Ah!" I jumped a bit.
"Sarah? You okay?" Karen called up.
"Just… dropped my shoe!" I lied. It had gotten so much easier to lie to them that it worried me sometimes.
"Be more careful, honey and please hurry to the store!"
"I will!" I yelled back but turned sharp eyes on Jareth. "No. You'll stand out and I need to hurry."
"Wait," he said as he caught my hand with his. I almost fell over at his bare touch. Electricity shocked between us. A sort of magical feeling I'd only felt when he touched me and, oh, I wished he'd touch me more. "I can change to anything or anyone. Could I come then?"
"Yes, okay, just hurry." I turned to face the door. "But don't complain that you're bored, okay? That'll just annoy me." I turned back to find his blond hair was much shorter. His ears no longer had a sharp point to them, and his teeth were also relatively normal. He wore jeans and a button-down shirt with some casual, black shoes. "Oh." I gasped at him. His mixed matched eyes were the only recognizable part of him. He was beautiful, but that was a constant with him. "I—I'll meet you downstairs, don't follow me."
I waited for his nod of agreement and made my way downstairs. "I'll be back, Karen!" I yelled before grabbing the money out of her wallet, the list and the keys, then making my way towards the car that I barely drove. I preferred to walk. It was much more satisfying in this small town in New York. The countryside of New York wasn't what made New York famous, but it's what made it home to me. Unlocking the door, I quickly started the car. As I turned to back out, I noticed Jareth in the passenger seat and jumped in surprise. "Ah!" I slammed on the brake hard, causing the car to immediately stop its reverse.
"Jareth! You can't scare me like that!"
"My apologies, should I have warned you?" His thick English accent surprised me when I knew it shouldn't have. He had a slight English accent before, but it was mixed with an accent that I didn't recognize. "Sarah?"
"What?" I asked, my mind wondering to his perfectly human lips and I found myself disappointed at the lack of a point to his teeth. "Oh, yes, warn me next time."
"Are you okay?" He asked moments later, as we neared the store. I was trying so hard not to tense us next to the human Jareth.
"Yes, sorry." I murmured, but I totally wasn't okay. Human Jareth was beautiful, but he wasn't my Jareth. He felt more distant. Less like a king and more like a commoner, more like me.
We made it to the store, and I pulled out the list and quickly went through the list, item by item. Jareth was constantly asking questions. He eventually saw sign for peaches and all color drained of his face. "What's wrong, Jareth?"
"Sarah, have you ever had a craving for peaches so strong that you didn't think you could eat anything else?"
"No," I said. "Why?"
"Just curious." He smiled at me then and that smile made it all better. Everything I was feeling in that moment went away and was replaced with a giddy excitement. The kind of giddy excitement that only he could give me. "I'm constantly craving peaches, you know." His stare turned evil for split second before he calmed.
"Let's checkout, Jare—Jared." I coughed as I noticed a family friend not too far off staring at us. I had never been seen with a boy—ever. I waved and smiled, as a good girl should, and walked off from Jareth, but Jareth was completely oblivious to any onlookers. I suppose I was far too caught up in his eyes and smile, because I suddenly recognized everyone in the market. There was my old high school teacher in the cookie isle and my grade school principal with the produce and so on and so forth.
"Let's go," I said after we were checked out by my kindergarten sweetheart. I never realized how small of a town we lived in. I suppose it never bothered me until now. Now that I have him, I just wanted to run away and start over. At the same time, I wanted to shout at the rooftops that he was something he wasn't. Mine.
"What's wrong?" He asked me on the car ride back.
"Nothing, I just knew a lot of people back at the store." I said, but the realized how it sounded.
"Oh, so you're embarrassed of me?"
"No! Of course not!" I quickly said. "You're just complicated and not many people would understand, and I'd probably end up in an insane asylum." I giggled at the thought of being in a cell with him. Then my thoughts turned on me and I found the rosy color gracing my pale complexion.
"The insane asylum?"
He was always asking questions. Always so curious about the human world. Always so curious.
"Yes, a place where we put people who are not of standards in sanity."
"Where I'm from we would put people like that in an oubliette."
"Very similar to that, yes." I replied, thinking back to my trip in an oubliette on my first and last trip to the Underground. I will always fantasize about Jareth in that tunnel, with me pressed against the—
"Why are you biting you lip, Sarah?" He asked, almost like a child, but I could practically hear the amusement in his tone. Perhaps it was just me, hopelessly in love with the man, but I could have sworn I heard his voice deepen. Almost as if he liked it. Almost.
"Oh, just lost in thought." I smirked. I could easily find out if he liked me, but was I really that childish?
"Oh? Who of, might I ask?"
Perhaps it was the cockiness in his voice. Perhaps I wanted to bring him down. Or perhaps I really am that childish, but I suddenly found words leaving me without my mind checking them first. "Of Bryan." Oh, snap.
"Bryan?" The dissatisfaction of his voice made me both cringe and jump with excitement.
"No." I quickly said.
"Then why did you say it?"
"To get you to shut up." I snapped. I was suddenly done with his constant questions. I knew I was in trouble for lying again, but I didn't want to have to accept it.
We finally reached home. "Meet me in my room in about two hours, okay?" But when I glanced over, he was already gone. Perhaps I had pushed it too far. Perhaps I had pushed him too far. "I'm so stupid." I faceplanted into the steering wheel, making the horn go off for a split second. "Ugh!" I shouted at nothing in particular.
An hour later, we were all seated at the table in the first dining room. It was the really nice one and my stepmother had gone all out.
"So, Mr. Thompson, tell me a bit about what you do recreationally?" My stepmother asks. This is only the second dinner we've had with the Thompsons and the first didn't go very well. We found out too late that Mrs. Thompson was vegetarian, and Mr. Thompson was the biggest carnivore you'd ever see. They fought constantly about their viewpoints on food and the last dinner that my stepmother had worked so hard on was almost instantly spoiled. It was a large turkey with dressings and such, like it was Thanksgiving, which is my second favorite holiday.
"I love golf."
"Of course you do," I murmured under my breath. This was going to be a long night.
Another hour later and I finally found an excuse to leave, but right as I started to speak, my father took over. "It's Sarah's birthday tomorrow, Mr. Thompson."
"Graham. I told you to call me Graham."
"Graham," he murmured, not liking the sound of it. I could read it on his face.
"Oh, is that so, Sarah?" Mr. Thompson directed the entire table's attention on me.
"Yes, sir." I said politely, praying to any and all gods to get me away from this table.
"What's a hint to a birthday present?" he then asked.
Sarcastically, I said, "Entry to Cambridge University."
"Done." He said and whipped out his phone to type out a massive text.
My mouth dropped at that. Entry to Cambridge University? I should have asked for my father's promotion, realistically, but Cambridge was my dream. England was my dream. I wanted another Old English Sheepdog, one to represent my dog Merlin who had passed away a year after the Labyrinth trip. I wanted to learn the accent and ask for chips instead of fries and crisps instead of chips. I wanted the feel of London and the rolling hill country of Herefordshire. I wanted it all.
"Really?" I squeaked, unbecomingly I might add.
"I'll definitely put your foot in the door, at the very least." He said and I could have hugged him right then, had the table not been in the way.
"Thank you, Graham." I said, a huge smile on my face.
We bid them farewell about thirty minutes after that and I raced up to my room to see Jareth and tell him the good news.
"Jareth?" I called at my mirror, but he didn't come immediately. "Jareth?" I called again, but he wasn't there.
"Yes, Sarah?" I jumped when his voice suddenly appeared from behind me. He sounded upset, angry almost. He was back in his usual wear, poet's shirt with leggings and boots. He was beautiful.
"Where were you?" My tone grew angry, too. He had no right to leave the way he did and blame me for it. I know I hadn't behaving the way I should today, but it's only because I had been planning something for tomorrow. Something huge.
I was finally going to tell him.
"I don't believe that's any of your concern," his voice became deadly. He was pissed. "Why should it matter to you, anyway?"
"Jareth," I sighed. "Please. We need to—"
"Talk? I do believe we should. What should I mention first? The lies? Or the way you snapped at me today?"
"Jareth—"
"The lies it is. You have lied to me numerous times today for the first time in our friendship," I cringed at the word friend and this time he noticed. "Not to mention the way you have snapped at me. It's bad enough the danger I'm in coming to see a human at this time of year in the faelands, but even worse when that human, who is supposed to be my friend—why do you keep—?"
"Because I don't want to be your friend anymore Jareth." I said loudly. My body shook with an anger, one I channeled in for determination. One final move I prayed would work. I took a step towards him, towards that terrifyingly broken look on his face. "Because—"
"Because of what? Because I'm fae?" He jumped towards that conclusion so fast it gave me whiplash. I took another step. "Because I'm a King?" One more step until I was finally in front of him.
"No," I stood on the tip of my toes so that I was right in his face. "Because I love you." At that moment, I grabbed his poet's shirt and pulled him down to kiss me.
The kiss was soft at first, but I think he realized what was happening because I felt his hands on my hips and my feet lift from the ground. Because I felt the way he moaned lightly against my mouth and added slightly more pressure to the kiss. Because he growled when I tried to pull away for air and pulled me right back into the kiss. Then I was crying because I knew. I knew he felt the same way. I knew it because he didn't try to hide it anymore. I felt my feet touch the ground the second the tear it my cheek and I felt his hand reach up to wipe the tear away.
"I've been waiting for you to admit it for a while now." His breath was so close to my ear that is sent shivers down my spine. "I've known for a few months and, gods, Sarah, it's been killing me."
"How did you find out?" I asked, feeling the crazy laughter coming.
"When you stopped calling me your friend," he said. "When you looked at me liked I was the only person in the room. When you started dreaming of me. When your dreams became more frequent. When—"
"I get it, I get it. I'm obvious to everyone but myself."
"No," he replied. "Just me." Then he kissed me.
It was moments after that, just moments, when he felt a child being wished away for the first time in months. I was more than disappointed when he told me he couldn't be late for this one, but he would be back as soon as he could.
"Wait!" I called before he could leave. "I love you." Say it back.
He just smiled at me like I'd given him the whole world. "I know." Then he was gone.
It was late that night. Later than it should have been, that I finally gave up and went to sleep. Perhaps it was because the person Jareth went to see decided to run the Labyrinth and he wouldn't be back until tomorrow. Perhaps it wouldn't be but a couple of days so the new baby would find a new home.
Jareth has told me how the process really works. If you are in the Underground for longer than fifteen hours, you become a fae or a fae-like creature. So, the babies that are given away must stay in the Underground through adoption. The babies that are not adopted are either turned into goblins or kept by the King himself. It's definitely an interesting change of pace from the human realm.
I then heard a shift close to my bed. I jumped up to look around. "Jareth?" I called, but no one was there. I looked to see a raven in my window, beating up against it until the window finally opened and a man appeared.
"Sarah, Sarah, Sarah…" His voice was taunting, cold. It brought a chill down my spine.
"Do I know you?" I demanded, sitting straight up.
"No, but you will." He then stretched out his hand and touched my forehead. That was the last thing I remembered.
Hello! It's so very nice to meet all of my Labyrinth fans out there. This is my first attempt at a Labyrinth fanfiction and I hope you like it. Please let me know in the comments!
-ShaiLovesBooks