"You've gotta be kidding me," Sarah said in response to her father's statement. "You didn't mention that Keith was coming before."
Robert just shrugged and took another sip of his drink. "Didn't think it mattered. You and Keith always got along, even after you broke up." He again turned towards Jareth, acting as though he truly cared about his opinion. "You don't mind, do you Jareth?"
Jareth smirked and he too, took a sip of his wine. "Not at all. What was the saying you cited earlier? The more the merrier?"
Robert gave a small 'hmph' when he didn't get the reaction from Jareth he wanted, and mentioned that he had to help check on the turkey quickly. He left the room, leaving Sarah and Jareth alone again.
She turned to him and sighed. "I'm so sorry, I had no idea. This is going to be so awkward. If you want to go, I understand…"
"Shh," Jareth interrupted. "Don't be silly. I'm not going to run away because a boy from your past will be here tonight."
"Are you sure?" she questioned hesitantly.
"Of course," he promised. "Why would it matter anyway?" He sipped his drink more, and crossed his arms. "You've been referring to me as 'friend' all evening long, as has your father."
Sarah felt herself go white as the blood left her face at Jareth's passive comment. He'd definitely picked up on the term she'd been using, but what the hell did he expect? And why did it bother him so much? "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked defensively.
"I just mean, since I'm only a friend in your eyes, having your ex-lover here is of no concern to me. Clearly you don't wish for us to be more than that."
Before Sarah could give a response and give him a piece of her mind, the doorbell rang. Her head turned towards the door and anxiety of a whole new kind built up in her.
"You ought to get that," Jareth stated. "Wouldn't want to keep Keith waiting."
Sarah scoffed at Jareth's newfound jealousy and walked to the door to greet the family of four that would be joining them tonight. Didn't they have family to see, she wondered. Why the hell were they coming here tonight, of all nights!
"Happy Thanksgiving!" Carl's wife, Sandra, yelled as soon as Sarah swung the door open.
Sarah forced a smile on her face, and looked to the Robinson's one by one before putting on her best cheery voice. "Hi, you guys! Wow, long time no see. Come on in."
Carl, Sandra, and their twenty year old daughter Alyssa walked in the door, with Keith following behind them. Sarah hadn't seen him in a couple of years and had forgotten what he'd looked like when they made eye contact. His blonde hair had grown out a little past his ears and was slicked back slightly, and his scruffy facial hair gave him the appearance of a somewhat matured man. His eyes, a warm blue which were enhanced due his blue sports coat, radiated when he saw Sarah and she could feel herself blush a bit at the way he was regarding her. Not because she enjoyed it; it made her uncomfortable knowing Jareth was nearby.
Keith had been her high school boyfriend throughout senior year of high school, and they dated for nearly five years. She called it quits between the two of them right before her twenty third birthday, allowing Lindsie's annual Halloween party to be a good time for Sarah to move on. She just simply didn't see a future with him, no matter how good looking and charming he was.
"Hi, Sarah," he greeted her softly. "How are you?"
"Hey, Keith." God saying his name out loud sounded so weird. "I'm good," she answered. "Really good. It's...it's been a while."
"Sure has been. You look great."
Sarah looked down at her outfit briefly and chuckled nervously. "Uh, thank you. Yeah, so do you. Can, I um. Can I get you a drink?"
"That would be awesome," he replied. "Just some wine, please."
Sarah nodded and went to grab him a drink.
"Place looks great," he added, looking around the house and hoping Sarah had heard him. That's when his eyes landed on Jareth who was in the same spot he had been before Sarah went to greet them. Keith protruded his chin out to acknowledge him, then walked towards him to introduce himself. "What's up man?" he asked, offering his hand. "I'm Keith."
"Ah, yes. The infamous Keith," Jareth responded cheekily. "I'm Jareth. Sarah's….friend." The term made him irritated, but he had no clue what else to say.
Keith tilted his head, trying to read into the underlying suggestion Jareth was trying to point out. "Nice to meet you. You've uh…you've known Sarah long?"
"You could say that," Jareth said. "Sarah and I go way back. Years, actually. We have much history together, you see."
Keith furrowed his eyebrows. "Really?" he inquired. "That's funny. She never mentioned you before."
"Funnily enough," Jareth countered, "you were never brought up until this evening either. I suppose in our recent time together, I've been keeping our dear Sarah a bit preoccupied."
Keith's mouth opened as though he were about to ask what the hell that meant, Sarah rejoined them and handed Keith some wine.
She looked back and forth between the two men, and could tell that something was amiss. "I see you two have met. Jareth, this is Keith. Keith, Jareth."
"Yeah, we met," Keith said, looking straight ahead at Jareth. "How did you two meet exactly?"
"Writer's club," Sarah answered immediately. The response was almost on autopilot now, and she for sure was not going to have Jareth answer the question. "Yeah, Jareth is a writer. Oh, and a part time musician."
"Interesting," Keith mumbled. "At first I thought you were one of Sarah's law professors, given your age."
"That's what I thought too!" a new voice in the room yelled.
The three adults looked to see Toby entering the room, carrying a dish of mashed potatoes.
"Sarah must like them older now," Toby added, placing the dish on the large dining table. "All the girls in my school say stuff about maturity levels all the time. Not sure what it means, but it seems to be a thing these days."
"Everyone ready to eat?" Karen asked, carrying an even larger dish that held a giant looking turkey.
"And you thought my turkey was too big," Jareth murmured to Sarah.
Everyone settled into the dining room several minutes later and sat at their respective seats. Sarah was of course seated next to her guest, Jareth, who sat next to Toby. Across from them was Keith and his family, while Robert and Karen sat the heads of the table. Food of all kind was spread out beautifully across the table, ranging from turkey, to mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, corn, bread, salad, heir cot vert, and yams to cranberry sauce.
Jareth had no idea what most of the items were, and regarded them all warily. He didn't know how fresh everything was, the turkey included. It smelled delicious and looked heavenly though, so he would give it a try, along with the other dishes. He didn't want to be rude, after all.
"Karen, this looks absolutely decadent. Job well done," he said handing the mashed potatoes to Sarah.
Karen put her hand on her heart, and smiled. "Ugh! Thank you, Jareth. That English charm of yours sure beats the heck out of these American boys'."
Robert pursed his lips and took a swig from his drink. "Speaking of which, Jareth. So you're from England, huh?"
"Yes, born and raised," he answered.
"Why'd ya come here?" Robert questioned.
"Why not? It's the land of opportunity, or so I've been told," Jareth politely answered.
"Do you like it?" Sandra then asked, taking a bite of her food.
Jareth pondered that question. He rather detested certain aspects of human life, as humans always had sticks up their asses. But he supposed it was nice enough, though he of course preferred the Underground. "It's lovely, but I do miss home. Sarah here makes it worthwhile, however."
Sarah turned to look at Jareth, who was giving her a genuine smile and she couldn't help but return it. What a sweet thing for him to say, she thought. That's when she remembered she'd have to discuss with him about the whole 'friend' mishap from earlier.
"How long have you two been seeing each other?" she next heard Carl ask. "I didn't realize Sarah had time in law school to have a boyfriend."
Looking away from Jareth to Carl now, Sarah noticed the smugness lingering on his face, indicating he was seemingly not favorable to her relationship with what might as well be a stranger to everyone here. Before she could answer the intrusive and somewhat rude question and statement, her dad spoke.
"They're not boyfriend and girlfriend," Robert felt the need to point out. "Just friends."
"Oh?" Sandra said genuinely surprised. "Could have fooled me," went on and winked at the two.
"I don't think Sarah would date someone who was more than half her age," Keith then mentioned haughtily and chuckled. "No offense, Jareth."
"None taken," he replied. "Though I'm just as sure she couldn't possibly be interested in some dimwitted fool who looked as though they were a part of a boy band and had the mental capacity of an adolescent. But what do I know? I'm much too old to understand."
Alyssa laughed while her brother scoffed.
"Hence why you're just friends," Keith reiterated and casually sipped his wine.
"They're paramours everyone," Toby then said. "Friends with paramount importance!"
"Paramours?" Robert repeated. "Excuse me?"
"Oh, lord," Karen mumbled, looking down at her plate.
"Is that the term you use to describe your relationship with my daughter?" Robert then questioned. "She's just an insignificant object for you to use?"
Jareth regarded Sarah's father carefully before replying. "Sir, I can assure you, Sarah is…"
"Sarah is what!" he interjected without letting Jareth finish his sentence.
"Robert, calm down," his wife cautioned from across the table.
"Dad, stop," Sarah warned. "You have no idea what you're talking about."
"Toby must have gotten the words mixed up," Karen rationalized. "They're just friends, Robert."
That about did it. No longer caring what everyone thought, Jareth included, Sarah decided to go out on a whim here and take matters into her own hands regarding her relationship status with Jareth.
"Actually, the correct term to use is boyfriend," she answered outspokenly. "Jareth is my boyfriend." God that felt good to say. "We've known each other for a while and reconnected recently, and he's been remarkable to me and you've been nothing but a jerk to him since he got here, dad." Then she turned to face Keith. "And actually, I would much rather be with someone who is mature and experienced over someone who really does look like they belong in a boy band and has the mental capacity of someone like my eleven year old brother. So stop pissing on some invisible territory, Keith."
The room got suddenly very quiet and Sarah huffed before taking a large gulp of her wine and stood up to leave the table. She'd had enough drama for now. Halloween was less scary than this.
When she reached the kitchen, she took deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. She needed pie, she realized. Opening the refrigerator, she scanned the insides and was relieved when she saw an apple pie lingering on the third shelf.
Taking it out, she wasted no time in digging into the beloved dessert. She grabbed a fork and stabbed the pastry, not caring that she was ruining it. She always ran to sweets as a means to help ease her worries. As she was stuffing her face, she noticed Jareth enter who was looking at her with curiosity.
He tried stopping the smile that was forming on his face but couldn't. He grinned and furrowed his eyebrows, leaning against a wall nearby. "Boyfriend?"
"Yes," she answered confidently, even though food was smashed in her mouth. She swallowed and turned a shade red. "I mean…if you want."
"You're full of surprises, precious."
She eyed him carefully, yet playfully. "Is that a yes?"
He stalked towards her slowly yet assertively. The way he came towards her reminded her of the peach dream she'd had in the Labyrinth right before they began dancing together. God, he was sexy when he was confident.
His hands were placed on her waist and he smiled again. "I've been wanting to ask you if I could court you since the first night we got reacquainted. I just didn't want to frighten you with the notion so soon."
She raised her eyebrows. "You did? Why the hell haven't you said anything since then?"
He sighed. "Because I hadn't a clue as to what you wanted out of this. You were very clear on Hallows eve that you merely wanted to engage in sex. And the way you kept referring to me as your friend tonight earlier only made me more precarious. I didn't want to push you away, we've only just met." He chuckled. "Again, that is."
"Well shit," she murmured. "This whole time I was worried about what you wanted. I didn't think you'd want to be more than…"
"Paramours?" he teased.
"Exactly."
He pushed back a strand of her hair behind her ear and caressed her face. "I wish to be much more than that, precious."
She blushed and grinned nervously, almost forgetting that her family and their friends were sitting in the other room, more than likely wondering what the two were talking about. Now that she thought about it, she was one hundred percent sure that her father was trying to check on her, but that Karen had advised him not to.
"We should probably go back out there," she reminded him.
"As friends?"
She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. "No," she answered, her lips inches from his. "More than that."
"And for that…I am thankful," Jareth said. "I hope your Turkey is moist and your stuffing is fluffy, because when we're done here, you'll be nice and stuffy."
She raised her eyebrows and shook her head. "Jareth…that was a bad one."
"Then about how this…I've got something for you to gobble later."
Sarah laughed. "Mmm. Happy Thanksgiving to me, then."
AN: So. Quick ending to this story. I primarily wanted the Thanksgiving dinner to seem like Sarah was being ridiculed because honestly...it happens in reality haha. Family members always asking you stupid questions and trying to pry in your life. It's so annoying. Tomorrow will be interesting with my own family. Hopefully my boyfriend doesn't go through something like this.
Well, now that S+J have their relationship status figured out, whatever shall Christmas bring about? Guess we'll see soon!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING MY FELLOW AMERICANS! And to anyone else who may celebrate the holiday :)