A/N: I promise you guys this story really does start heating up and getting more intense! Please do love and review if you like it, and follow/ favorite. I love to hear what the people who take the time to read my story think of it, it would mean a lot to get feedback.

TOO MUCH REJECTION

The following day was a haze for Sarah. It had finally become full on winter- which had been long in coming and it continued to rain throughout the day. It was a Saturday and Sarah felt exhausted still. Her sleep had not been very fulfilling because of her frustrating dreams and from being woken up in the early hours of the morning. After she had read those last words from the book, she had barely slept. She had found herself tossing and turning- her mind desparately trying to seek a reason and explanation as to what had been written. The more she had thought about it however, the more she grew increasingly confused and worried. At last, she had decided not to take it seriously and to ignore what it said. She knew how she felt towards the Goblin King, and her feelings were not going to ever change- she trusted herself.

At 8am, Sarah had been disturbed from her restless sleep by the sound of Toby crying down the hallway in her parents bedroom. He was clearly hungry and wanted his breakfast. She had remained in bed, but shortly after, her father had arrived with a cup of hot chocolate for her.

"Sarah, are you awake? I've brought you some hot chocolate." her dad said, knocking on the door and opening it. She was still lying in her bed with her face under the covers, but she stirred when he walked in.

"Someone seems tired, was Toby a handful last night while we were out?" He asked, setting down the mug on her bedside table. "Not at all dad." Sarah said, managing a smile. If only he knew she thought. There was no point telling anyone about her ordeal, because there wasn't a soul that would believe her. Sarah always had been a dreamy child, living in her own little fantasies and fairy tales with 'her head in clouds' as her stepmother would always say, and they would think she had just had another rather exuberant and imaginative dream. If only it were a dream, she thought. But she knew it hadn't been. Everything had been far too real and alive to have been a dream. The Underground was a real place, her friends were real…and Jareth was very much real too.

"That's good. Well listen Sarah, how about tonight you do something for a change…why don't you go see a friend or something?" Her dad asked, sounding slightly concerned. "I think you deserve to do something fun- I'd like you to have fun at your age. You've looked after Toby a lot, and spend far too much time at home."

"It's fine, really dad. I like it here, I like staying at home in my room. And I don't mind looking after Toby, it's really not a problem." She replied.

Her father looked sceptical. This was not like Sarah, she usually hated being asked to look after Toby. Maybe she was growing up.

"Hmmm, ok sweety. Whatever makes you happy." He said, and turned to leave the room.

"Karen's making breakfast, I'll call you when it's ready". He left her to drink her hot chocolate and wonder about what she would do that day. The same old boring thing I do everyday she thought. Maybe he's right, maybe even Karen is right. Maybe I should just go out and see a friend or go on a date.

Throughout the day, as much as she tried to stop it, Sarah's thoughts kept wondering off back to the Labyrinth and back to all her ordeals and experiences. It had started at breakfast. She had felt very distracted- her mind was somewhere else- and twice her dad had asked her if she was feeling ok. She was quieter than usual, she barely spoke as she ate (not that she did much speaking to her parents in general anyways) and her eyes adopted a very glazed over, far away look. She found herself staring at nothing in particular and just thinking…thinking about the Underground.

Then she was walking Merlin, it happened again- her thoughts wandered off to the dreamy, elusive ballroom dance with Jareth and she found she couldn't focus or think about anything else except for that dreamy ball. The way she had danced in Jareth's arms, the way she had felt- so allured and mesmerized by him. She remembered the way he had looked at her- as though she were his world, like she meant so much to him, and she remembered the words he had sung to her. But I'll be there for you, as the world falls down. She had believed him in that moment, she had believed everything he sung to her because he was so convincing…He was so manipulative.

On several occasions Sarah forcefully snapped herself away from those thoughts. Those emotions were not real, what he had sung to her and how he had held and looked at her were not real, because it had all been a dream…a very real dream, but a dream all the same. The more Sarah kept telling herself this however, the more she kept on daydreaming and thinking back to everything. It was as though she was fighting a losing battle with herself and she was torn between two sides.

Sarah was growing worried by the amount of time she had spent that day thinking of the Labyrinth, and by the time it was sunset she felt as though it was starting to overcome her thoughts and her control. She was back in her room and she decided to call upon her friends for help. She went over to her vanity and sat on the chair with a worrisome sigh. "Hoggle, Sir Didymus, Ludo, I need you" she called quietly into the mirror, looking at her reflection. A long moment went by where nothing happened and she started to wonder if none of it had been real at was about to lose all hope and admit she had dreamt the whole thing up, when Hoggle appeared on the reflection of her bed in the mirror. "Sarah, were you calling?" He asked, sounding faint. "Hoggle, you're here!" Sarah exclaimed excitedly, whirling around. Ludo and Sir Didymus had appeared beside him and she smiled at her friends, overjoyed that they had come. "If my lady doth call, then we shall appear at her summons!" Sir Didymus said, with a noble dip of his head. Sarah couldn't help but let her smile widen and she gave a little giggle. "Oh Sir Didymus, you will always be there for me won't you? You're such a noble knight." she said, giving the little fox terrier a hug. Hoggle just snorted in disagreement and looked away gruffly. "Why of course my lady, anything for thee!" Didymus said proudly. "And my brother- Sir Ludo has been missing thee too!"

"Ludo miss Sawah." the gentle beast said sadly. "Sawah come back."

"I can't Ludo, I live here. If I went back he would never let me leave again and this is my home." Sarah said, smiling gently at him. They all knew who 'he' was and knew of the unspoken consequences, should she decide to return to the Labyrinth. Suddenly she was reminded of why she had called them in the first place.

"I called you because I really don't know what to do…I keep on daydreaming about the Labyrinth…about the Underground, and the more I try to stop and think about something else, the more my thoughts just keep wondering back to it!" She said desparately. "What am I supposed to do?! I just want to forget about it all and just put it all behind me." She saw the crestfallen looks on their faces and how Ludo's eyes widened and realised what she had said. "Except for you, you're the only good thing that happened to me in that Labyrinth…without your help I would never have been able to save Toby." She said to them.

"Sarah, I don't know what to say…the Labyrinth sure affects people in different ways…maybe tomorrow you won't think of it so much?" Hoggle suggested. "It was an ordeal for you, maybe you're just still in shock."

"I agree, tomorrow you should feel a lot better, mi lady." Didymus said, nodding his head, the feather on his hat flittering in the breeze he caused.

"Oh, I don't know, I hope so! I feel like it's taking over me!" Sarah exclaimed.

Hoggle suddenly looked down, hiding his expression from Sarah. "Sarah…"He said timidly, fingering the bracelet around his wrist that she had given him.

"What is it Hoggle?"Sarah asked cautiously. She knew what it meant when Hoggle started acting like this.

"Uhm, when you left…the Labyrinth…Jareth was very upset. He said he would not let you forget him or his Labyrinth…ever." Hoggle said reluctantly, rushing the last part. Sarah looked taken aback. "What?"

"Ohh, I shouldn't have said anything, I wasn't supposed to tell no one, 'specially not you." He looked crestfallen. "Damn you Jareth" He muttered under his breathe.

"It's not fair!" She cried, fuming. How could he do this to her? He really was a good for nothing rat. She had defeated him and he wouldn't even accept it the way it should be- for both of them to just forget about each other forever. That's what should've happened.

Didymus looked worried, he hated seeing the lady Sarah looking so upset. "My lady, just be calm and all will be alright." He started, but Sarah cut him off.

"I just can't believe how he can do this! It's not fair!" She moaned once more. "Ugh!"

She got up and paced over to the window, still fuming. "No, this can't be. I'm not thinking about him for the rest of my life. I can't."

Deep inside Sarah knew that if she kept on thinking about him, she would eventually not be able to control her innermost feelings for him. Feelings that grew rapidly stronger the more she thought of the Goblin King. The feelings that were her most secretive, that she kept on trying to deny, but that she knew she might not be able to deny for much longer.