Author's Note
Hello and welcome to my first ever Labyrinth fanfiction! I hope you enjoy it and if you have any questions or comments, then please do leave me a review and I will answer as soon as I can.
To clarify the setting, this story is set in 1986, Sarah is 24, Jareth is 27, and Toby is a baby because it's an AU and we all need that cuteness (he doesn't appear in this chapter, but he will pop up later on, I promise). It's not too obvious that the story is set in the 80s in this chapter, but I'll definitely be incorporating that into it later on.
I will also be mentioning in an Author's Note at the beginning of each chapter what songs I was thinking of when writing, because this story is, naturally, heavily inspired by music.
The soundtrack to this chapter is, of course, Let's Dance by David Bowie.
Chapter One: Let's Dance
"I think you're a fairy tale. I think you're magical, and brave, and exquisite. And I hope you'll let me be in your story."
― Laini Taylor, Strange the Dreamer
Sarah Williams was singing and dancing. It wasn't the best performance ever to grace the world, but it was only in her kitchen, and she was only singing along to the radio, and there wasn't any audience, except for the breakfast she was making, which wasn't an avid audience. One might say that the way she was waving the knife around was slightly reckless, but Sarah was by now something of a professional at dancing along to the radio, especially to this song which was a favourite of hers, and an accident was unlikely.
She chopped up a banana as her feet, clad in thick wool socks, moved to the beat, and as she placed the banana slices in a bowl of yoghurt and muesli she sang along with a particularly high note which she pulled off almost as well as the original singer.
Wearing quite short pyjama shorts and a pyjama shirt, her dark hair up in a messy bun, she of course looked very stylish as she danced over to the kettle and poured the water for her coffee (which was in her favourite mug on this particular morning, a large white one with the words "BABE WITH THE POWER" emblazoned across it in black).
As the song reached the final chorus, Sarah sang along even louder, completely immersed in the music, until she executed a rather excellent twirl and suddenly found herself facing her housemate Christine, along with a man she didn't know, standing on the staircase opposite her.
Sarah paused in her singing. "Christine, I didn't know you were back from Paris."
Christine, looking half amused, half embarrassed, replied "I didn't know you were back from your parents'."
"My dad's. And yeah, I got back yesterday afternoon, I was probably asleep when you," she cleared her throat awkwardly, "when you two came home."
A light blush appeared on Christine's cheeks as she glanced at the man next to her, "Yes, well, Sarah, this is Jean, a friend from Paris who got the same flight back as me yesterday, Jean, this is my house mate Sarah, who said she wouldn't be back until tomorrow." A little glare accompanied this last comment.
Sarah shrugged, "Dad had a meeting arranged for this morning at the last minute so I thought I'd get out of their hair earlier. Nice to meet you, Jean." She nodded at him and turned down the radio a little before taking her breakfast over to the kitchen table.
He nodded in return, and with a heavy French accent replied, "And you. You like this music, the song is by The Goblins, I think?"
Christine grinned as she walked into the kitchen to make breakfast for her and Jean. "Oh, Sarah doesn't just like them, she loves them. She's practically obsessed."
Sarah rolled her eyes, fiddling with the end of one of her sleeves, "I am not obsessed. I just appreciate the art that is their music."
Christine laughed, "So you don't think their lead singer is, what was it, "heavenly, beautifully, unbelievably handsome"?"
"Christine!"
Her housemate simply grinned at her.
Jean was leaning against the kitchen wall. "Me personally, I cannot help but find his music rather unsophisticated."
Christine whirled round to look at him in horror, shaking her head as if to warn him.
Sarah sat back in her chair, blinking. "What?"
Jean looked confused at Christine, but still went on, "Well, it is not the opera, is it? Perhaps it is, er, catchy, but there is no substance."
Sarah was almost speechless, almost. "That is, that is just..." She waved her spoon angrily at him. "His music makes me feel more than anything in any of your opera houses ever has! You're just a, a-"
"Alright!" Christine interjected, placing a hand on Jean's chest to stop him from making any retort. "Sarah, why don't you go eat your breakfast on the roof?"
Sarah would have objected, but Christine was giving her a Look which told her they would be having Words later, so instead she simply took her breakfast, strode past them to the stairs and up to the little roof garden, where she sat at a small picnic table, glaring off into the distance over the London rooftops.
Sarah had just finished her breakfast when Christine came out onto the roof and sat down opposite her.
"He just left." She said simply.
"Good." Sarah said, a little moodily. "Forever, I hope."
Christine rolled her eyes but smiled. "Probably. He was fun in the moment, but he has revealed himself to be rather a..."
"Snob?"
Christine sighed. "Yes, I am sorry about that. I knew he had certain opinions but I didn't realise he could be so... Sharp about them."
Sarah reached over and gently squeezed Christine's hand. "I'm sorry, I'm sure you'll be with someone one day who is really great, and who isn't strange, or a snob, or overly dramatic."
Christine laughed a little. "I don't think I can rid myself of my soft spot for the dramatic."
Sarah sat back and shook her head. "Well, each to their own but I don't think dramatic tendencies are very attractive, it always just comes off as immature. And you know the last time you were involved with someone dramatic it didn't end well." She added, pointing at Christine.
Christine pushed her hand away. "It is rude to point. And we weren't involved, exactly, it was..." She trailed off with a frown.
"Yeah, complicated, I know. Sorry I shouldn't have brought it up."
Christine shook her head, smiling again. "It's alright, but you know, I think you're wrong, I think you could fall for someone dramatic."
Sarah scoffed. "Oh yes, how could I resist someone who walks into the room like they're walking onto stage? Who demands the attention of everyone in the room? I don't want to play the love interest to someone else's protagonist, Christine."
Christine smiled, "I don't think you ever could, no, if you fall in love it could only be as someone's equal. They could never be more dramatic than you."
"I am not dramatic!"
"Sarah, do you not know yourself at all? You're one of the most dramatic people I know! And I work in theatre!" Christine laughed beautifully. She did everything beautifully. It really wasn't fair.
Sarah shook her head. "I have no idea what you're talking about, you're talking utter fantasy."
Later that day, Sarah was walking down the stairs to the kitchen singing another song by The Goblins, when she found Christine waiting at the bottom of the stairs, holding out the phone to her with a grin.
"Someone on the phone for you." She said cheerfully.
Please don't let them have heard me singing, Sarah thought, taking the phone from Christine with a glare.
"Hello, this is Sarah."
"Hello Sarah, this is Paul Jones, the agent, we met at the awards show after party the other night, I was networking, you were taking pictures? Very good pictures might I add, I saw some of them in Fame magazine the other day." He sounded amused, he'd definitely heard her singing. She tried not to sound too embarrassed.
"Oh, yes, I remember! Oh, thank you so much, I was really happy with how they turned out." She remembered Paul, he'd been friendly, she hadn't known too many people there, and had been taking pictures of the party for the magazine, having done photoshoots with them before that they had been very happy with. They'd chatted for a while and she'd ended up giving him her card, both for business and in the hopes of making a new friend.
"Glad to hear it! The pictures actually made me think, you'd be perfect for a photoshoot one of my clients has coming up that we've yet to hire anyone for. Your style has just the right mood we're looking for."
Sarah smiled, excited, "Really? That's brilliant, what would it be exactly?"
"Do you know The Goblins? They've got a new album they're just finishing up and we need to do the photoshoot for the album itself and promotional material, I've shown the band your pictures and they think you have the perfect style for it too."
Sarah's heart skipped a beat. The Goblins. They had heard of her. Seen her pictures. They wanted her to take pictures of them. For their album. That would be sold worldwide. Everyone would see her pictures. Everyone. Including The Goblins. Possibly the greatest musicians to ever exist. At least in her opinion. And as far as she was concerned she was right.
Christine, sitting on the kitchen counter watching her, raised her eyebrows. "Sarah?"
"Hello? Are you still there?" came the voice from the other end of the phone.
Sarah quickly snapped back to reality, "Oh, yes, I'm here. I-I... Yes, I'd love that, that would be incredible."
She could hear him grinning. "You're a fan, aren't you?"
She sighed, scratching her wrist absentmindedly, "Okay, yes, I'll admit, I love their music. This is a dream come true."
He laughed, "Excellent, we want someone who's excited by the idea. So, how about, hang on I'll just check the possible dates..." They went over the organisation details, decided on a date and time, and he told her the address of the photography studio, and then they were saying goodbye and hanging up and she was putting the phone down.
She looked over at Christine, who was now sipping a smoothie with a straw and flipping through a magazine.
Christine looked up at her. "You booked a photoshoot? I can't lie, I was hoping he'd called you up to ask you on a date."
"Goblins." was all Sarah could manage.
Christine raised a perfectly groomed eyebrow. "Your favourite band? What about-", her eyes went wide. "No. You did not. Really? You're going to photograph them, aren't you?"
Sarah nodded, basically in shock. "Yeah, I am, for their next album."
Christine put down her smoothie and gave a shriek of joy, jumping from the counter to engulf Sarah in a hug. "Sarah, that's amazing!"
Sarah hugged her back, a smile growing so wide on her face it hurt, "Christine, I'm going to photograph The Goblins!"
Christine laughed, "Oui, Sarah!" She suddenly gasped, pulling back and holding Sarah at arm's length. "But what will you wear?"
Sarah laughed and then stopped in horror. "Oh god, Christine, what will I wear?"
"Everything set up, Sarah?" It was Paul, walking over to where she stood with her camera on a stand, facing a large white wall in a photography studio buried in the heart of London.
She pulled her sleeves down over her wrists nervously and smiled at him. "Ready to rock."
"And roll?" he quipped, and she rolled her eyes in a good natured manner. Before either of them could say anything else Kring (she didn't know whether that was a first or last name, or even a nickname, that was just how he had been introduced), the band's manager who Sarah had briefly been introduced to earlier, walked out of a door on the other side of the room along with a few other people, and Sarah knew she was about to meet her favourite band. And that she had to remain completely professional.
Kring, a friendly looking middle-aged man, smiled at Sarah and brought the band over, and began introducing them one by one. As he did so, they each gave Sarah a grin and shook her hand. "Guys, this is Sarah, our photographer for today, Sarah, this is Bob, our drummer", a tall, muscled man with chestnut curls and a strangely comforting smile, "Samuel, who does piano, keyboard, synthesiser and whatever else we ask him to, usually," a smaller, quiet looking man with soft black hair and kind eyes, "Mike, our guitarist" another tall man, this time more lanky, with brown hair and a playful grin, "Tom, our bassist," a slightly shorter but not small man with dark blond hair and a simple smile, "and-" but here Kring stopped, looking at an empty spot at the end of the line up. "Lads, where's Jareth?"
Mike laughed, "Where do you think? Still having his hair done."
"It's a work of art and you know it," came a rich, self assured voice, and they all turned to see a tall man with a shock of platinum blond hair walking into the room, and Sarah suddenly found herself looking into the blue, mismatched eyes of Jareth, lead singer of The Goblins. And he was looking right back into hers.
