Ch. 15

Toby decided to ignore what he knew Sarah and Jareth were about to do. He didn't understand grown-ups; kissing was gross! "I'm hungry!" he said, "what's for lunch?"

Sarah and Jareth had reluctantly pulled apart, but not before Jareth whispered in her ear, "This will definitely be continued tonight." Sarah felt a shiver of anticipation. She loved her brother, but suddenly she found herself counting the hours until her parents picked him up.

"We're having sandwiches, Tobe, sit down and it'll be ready in a sec," she told her brother as she turned her attention back to making lunch. She picked up a slice of bread and wasn't surprised to see her hand shaking. Jareth had a major effect on her; she already wanted his arms around her again. God, if it was this bad already, how would she feel when they finally kissed? Or more?

She blushed a little bit at her thoughts, remembering all the fantasies she'd had about Jareth. It was strange, and very exciting, to realize that they could now come true.

Sarah quickly finished making lunch, and she set a plate of sandwiches on the table, along with a pitcher of Kool-Aid. Toby dove in hungrily, but Sarah and Jareth seemed to have lost their appetites.

Toby swallowed a big bite of sandwich. He didn't understand why Sarah and Jareth just kept looking at each other like that. Grown ups were so weird sometimes!

"So did you talk about me visiting the Labyrinth?" he asked, trying to contain his excitement. He knew that, for some reason, this was a touchy subject, and he didn't want Sarah getting mad at him.

Jareth glanced at Sarah, unsure how she felt about this. At least, now he was unsure; earlier she'd made her feelings perfectly clear. But now that she'd said she loved him, he didn't know how she would respond to her brother.

She barely hesitated. "Well Tobes, I can't promise anything, so don't get your hopes up too high. But…I think there's a very good chance you'll get to visit."

Jareth was too stunned to hear Toby's cries of excitement. Had Sarah just agreed to marry him? No, not exactly….but pretty damn close. He felt a rush of happiness so great, it made him want to dance around and yell with Toby. He looked at Sarah, to see her smiling at him, her heart in her eyes. He smiled back, hoping she could see the love in his eyes. He felt a flutter of nervousness in the pit of his stomach.

There's still so much she doesn't know, he thought. I don't want to hurt her, I hope she'll understand.

Sarah saw the change in Jareth's expression. She frowned and asked, "What's the matter? Should I not have said anything?" She looked worried, and Jareth rushed to reassure her. "No, my love, it's not that. There's just so much we still need to talk about, that's all."

Sarah could tell he was holding something back, but she let it go for the moment. "You're right, we do need to talk. I have so many questions, I think we'll be up all night."

If we're up all night, it won't be to talk, he thought to himself, and he was immediately smacked on the arm.

"Jareth, don't say things like that in front of Toby," Sarah hissed at him. Jareth was slightly embarrassed; he hadn't realized he'd spoken the thought out loud. Luckily Toby didn't seem to have heard. His lunch finished, he was busy listing everything he wanted to do in the Labyrinth, too excited to care no one was really listening.

"Sorry, my love," Jareth whispered to Sarah. She smiled at him; it made her feel good that Jareth wanted her, and it seemed like he wanted her as much as she wanted him.

All three of them were startled when the doorbell rang. "I don't know who that could be," Sarah said as she went to answer the door. She was surprised to see her parents standing in front of her. "Dad, Karen, what are you doing back so early? Is everything okay?" she asked, letting them in the door.

Her father gave her a kiss on the cheek, and replied, "Yes, everything's fine, it's just that we had a late lunch planned with another couple and they cancelled at the last minute. Karen and I have been so busy lately, we haven't spent a lot of time with Toby, so we just came back here early to see if he wanted to go see a movie with us." He smiled at his son as Toby ran into the room.

"How about it Tobes, you feel like spending a little quality time with your folks?" he asked Toby.

They all watched as Toby scrunched up his face. As much as he wanted to hang out with Jareth today, he did miss his parents, so he agreed to leave early and go to a movie.

"But only," he said seriously to Sarah and Jareth, "only if you guys promise that I can come over another time." Sarah smiled at her brother, saying "Of course you can come back, and I promise Jareth will be here the next time you come, okay?"

"Okay." Toby grinned at his sister, then gave her a big hug. "And decide soon about…well, you know…" he tried to be discreet in front of their parents.

"Don't worry, Tobes, I'll let you know very soon," Sarah said as she hugged her brother back.

"Thanks again Sarah," Karen told her as they stepped out the door. "And Jareth," she said to him, "you and Sarah will have to stop by for dinner sometime." Karen was smiling. Jareth had not been introduced as Sarah's boyfriend, but it was obvious from the way they looked at each other that they were in love.

"Thank you, Mrs. Williams, I appreciate it. We'll do that." Jareth said, looking at Sarah. She nodded. "Just let us know when, and we'll stop by," she told her parents.

They said their goodbyes, and Sarah received one more hug from Toby, and then they were gone. Sarah shut the door and turned around, only to see Jareth inches away from her. Finally, they were alone.