Ch 17

Jareth had no idea what Sarah wanted, and he was expecting the worst when he heard her say, "It depends on whether or not I get a real proposal." She was smiling at how worried he looked.

He sighed in relief. "Is that all? Yes, I'm sure you'll get a real proposal. Do you think I haven't been planning how I was going to propose to you for the last ten years?"

She grinned, "So I take it I can expect something special?"

Jareth hugged her. "Sarah, by now you'd think you know better than to simply expect anything!" He kissed her to let her know he was teasing. "But yes, expect something special. I won't talk about it anymore because I want it to be somewhat of a surprise."

"Well, make it soon, because until it happens, I'm not officially your fiancée!" Sarah almost wanted to say, to hell with a proposal. She wanted to marry Jareth more than anything, but for some reason part of her needed to hear Jareth propose. Everything so far was happening so fast, and was so unreal. But a proposal was normal, and it was romantic; it would make all of this somehow seem more real.

She smiled at him. "I love you."

He couldn't resist kissing her again before answering. "I have always loved you."

They sat back down on the couch. Sarah lay down with her head in Jareth's lap, and he slowly stroked her face. They were each happily lost in their own thoughts when they were startled by loud pounding on the front door.

"Good lord, it never stops," Sarah grumbled as she reluctantly got up to answer the door.

"Who's there?" she called as she walked to the door. "It's me and Bayron!" Sarah was surprised to hear Julie's voice. She pulled open the door. "What are you doing knocking? I don't think that's ever happened before!"

Julie laughed. "Well, some of Bayron's good manners might be rubbing off on me. When we left earlier Bayron lectured me about how rude it is to barge into someone's apartment." While she talked, she looked at Bayron adoringly. "Anyway, is Toby still here? I would have called before coming but my cell phone's dead."

"Nope, Toby left awhile ago," Sarah replied as they headed into the living room.

Julie was surprised to see Sarah sit down right next to Jareth on the couch and snuggle up to him. She was even more surprised when he gave her a kiss, and she didn't push him away.

"Okay, what the hell's going on here? Sarah, are you really sitting there making out with a guy you met at a bar last night?" Julie couldn't keep the disbelief out of her voice.

"Hmmm" Sarah replied, "Let's see, who's the pot calling the kettle black?" Julie laughed and agreed. "Yeah, I know, look at me, that's happened more times than I care to admit! But, it's just so unlike you…I wouldn't believe it if I didn't see it."

"Yeah, well, you don't know the half of it." Sarah debated how much to tell Julie. Finally she decided on the truth-or at least, some of the truth. "Come into my room for a little bit, Jules, so we can talk." She kissed Jareth and stood up, leading Julie down the hall.

"Wow, this must be good!" Julie grinned as she sat down on Sarah's bed. "So come on, spill everything."

Oh, I wish I could, Sarah thought. Out loud, she said, "Well, the truth is, I met Jareth once before, a long time ago, when I was fifteen, and at first I hated him. We only spent a short time together back then, but by the time I had to leave him, my feelings had changed. And over the years, I guess he's always been in the back of my mind, stopping me from loving any other guy."

Julie cut her of. "Wait, so you're saying you love this guy?" Her eyes were wide.

Sarah paused for a second, then blurted out, "Yes, I do, I love him so much, and he loves me, and we're going to get married!"

Julie shrieked, "Oh my God, did you just say what I thought you said? Holy shit Sar, you're gonna marry this guy?" Sarah looked at her friend and saw only joy in her face. Sarah smiled gratefully; Julie was the queen of rash decisions, and she should have known Julie wouldn't lecture her.

Sarah couldn't contain her excitement. "Yes, yes, we're going to get married. Well, it's not technically official yet. I mean, we talked about it and he wants me to marry him and I told him I want to get married, but he hasn't officially proposed yet. But he will, and I'll say yes, and I love him so much!"

Julie felt tears unexpectedly spring to her eyes. "Damn it Sarah, you're making me cry. I'm so happy for you! I can't believe this, it's so exciting." She reached over and gave her friend a big hug.

Sarah hugged her back, feeling horribly guilty that she was holding so much back from Julie. But she just couldn't tell her the truth about Jareth, and Bayron, not yet.

The women pulled apart, and Julie immediately started chattering on about wedding gowns and hairstyles and flowers, and Sarah let herself be caught up in the excitement, deciding to forget for the moment that this was not by any means going to be an ordinary wedding.

In the living room, Jareth and Bayron were deep in conversation. Bayron had decided to tell Julie the truth tonight, and he was scared to death.

"It's not that I'm afraid she won't believe me, because you know I can show her proof. But, what if she gets so freaked out that she never wants to see me again? I don't think I would handle that very well." Bayron looked at his friend with sadness in his eyes.

Jareth sighed. "Well, my friend, you just need to have faith in her. If she is as wonderful as you've told me, and if she loves you as much as you suspect she does, then perhaps it will all work out." He felt badly for Bayron; he knew the fear of rejection all too well.

"I know," Bayron said with a small smile. "I'm sure that she loves me, and hopefully that will be enough to pull us through this." He didn't want to think about it anymore at the moment, and he turned his attention to Jareth.

"You're very lucky that you didn't meet Sarah under false pretenses. She knows exactly who and what you are, and she still loves you. I actually envy you," Bayron told him.

Jareth frowned, thinking of what he hadn't yet told Sarah. "I don't know if you should envy my situation. Sarah wants to marry me-I admit I'm extremely lucky she loves me. However, I haven't told her the whole story yet…" his voice trailed off meaningfully, and Bayron's eyes widened in shock.

"You didn't tell her about Merelinda?" Bayron asked in disbelief.

At that moment, Sarah was heading back towards the living room. She reached the doorway just in time to hear Bayron exclaim, "You mean she doesn't know that you're already engaged to another woman?"