Ch 19

Julie was so stunned to find herself suddenly back in her apartment that she momentarily forgot to be mad at Bayron.

"What the hell just happened?" she demanded, sitting down heavily on her couch; she felt slightly dizzy.

Bayron had been cursing himself since the moment he snapped his fingers. What the hell had he been thinking, using his magic like that? How was he supposed to explain this to Julie? It would be even harder now that she apparently hated him.

He cursed again under his breath. "Damn." He looked over at Julie. She was sitting there with a puzzled look on her face, waiting for an explanation. "Julie, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that, I promise I'll explain everything. Please, don't freak out, just let me explain.

With that, he grabbed Julie by the hand, and she allowed herself to be led down the hall to her room, still too stunned to stop him.

"Good luck, my friend," Jareth softly said to his friend's back. He grimaced as he thought of the mess he'd gotten himself, and his best friend, into. "Damn it, it wasn't supposed to be this way."

He sat on the sofa and laid his head on the back, staring up at the ceiling. He didn't have a clue how to fix this. He didn't even know if it could be fixed. How could he have let things get so far with Sarah without telling her about Merelinda?

Merelinda. He smiled as he thought of his other childhood friend. One who, unfortunately, he had failed to mention to Sarah. Yes, it was true that he and Merelinda were engaged. But he didn't love her. He had never loved her; she felt like a sister to him, and he knew she felt the same way. Their engagement was in name only. Merelinda didn't want to marry him any more than he wanted to marry her. But the rules of Merelinda's kingdom were strange. She was forbidden from taking the throne and becoming Queen of the Merfolk unless she was married, or engaged to be married. It was a requirement upon taking the throne, but once she was crowned Queen, it no longer mattered.

Jareth sighed. The Merfolk had many, many rules, some of which were easily bypassed, but not this one. The last thing Merelinda wanted was to be married, but she desperately wanted to be Queen, and she had pleaded with Jareth more than a century ago to agree to be her fiancé until she took the throne. Her father was passing along the throne to her after his required five hundred years of ruling were finished. She would be Queen in less than a month, and then her and Jareth's engagement could officially be called off.

"Damn the Merfolk and their screwed up rules," he cursed. Why had he ever agreed to the engagement? Because, he answered himself, a century ago you had no idea Sarah Williams would have stolen your heart. There was no way he could go back on his word to Merelinda now, not after over a hundred years of being her "fiancé." Especially not when their engagement was so close to being over.

How could he make Sarah believe he loved only her, that he had no intention of marrying Merelinda? He closed his eyes and despairingly thought about how hopeless it seemed.

He was snapped out of his reverie some time later by Julie. "Jareth," she said softly, not sure if he was sleeping or not.

"Yes?" he answered without opening his eyes. He was too drained to fight with anyone.

"Jareth, I just want to apologize for yelling at you," she said, sitting down on a loveseat across from him. "Bayron just explained everything to me, and I understand you weren't intentionally trying to hurt Sarah."

Jareth hadn't been expecting an apology, and he was thankful she wasn't angry. "Thank you," he said gratefully. He took a closer look at her face; she looked pale, and he could tell she had been crying. "Are you okay?" he asked with concern. He realized she had just recieived the shock of her life.

Julie gave him a wobbly smile. "Yeah, I'm fine. Bayron and I talked for a long time, and he told me, well, everything. What choice do I have but to believe it?" Part of her did have trouble believing her boyfriend was an immortal prince from a fantasy land call the Underground, but the tale he told her was too amazing to be made up. And there was that whole snap-your-fingers-and-poof-you're-gone deal. It was pretty hard to argue with something she had witnessed firsthand. All in all, she was actually pretty amazed at herself for taking it so well.

"Bayron's sleeping, I think this was harder on him than it was on me," she said with a grin.

"Are you still going to see him?" Jareth asked curiously.

Julie answered without hesitation. "Hell, yeah, he's the first man I've ever loved. I don't care what he is, or where he's from, I want to be with him." She was sure of her decision; she'd thought long and hard about it, and she knew she loved him no matter what. She was sure that when the time came for Bayron to go back home, she would be going with him.

Jareth was glad she took everything so well, and he was happy that everything seemed to be working out for his friend. At least one good thing was coming out of this whole mess.

"Bayron told me about Merelinda, Jareth, and I just want you to know that I understand. I think it's a wonderful thing to do for your friend, and it shows that you're loyal to those you care about."

Jareth was glad to have her support, and he asked her, "So how do I get Sarah to understand?" Somehow, he knew she wouldn't be willing to talk to him, and he was afraid he would have to go back to the Underground before getting another chance to talk to her.

Julie frowned. "Well, that's not gonna be so easy. You know Sarah, she can be as stubborn as a mule, and I don't think you can force her to talk to you."

Jareth wanted to ask Julie to talk to her for him, but he didn't. This was something he had to do himself. "I know she won't listen to me, and I feel so awful about hurting her, this was the last thing I wanted. I should have just told her the truth right away." He looked like he wanted to cry, and Julie's heart went out to him.

"I'm sorry Jareth, I wish there was something I could do," she said sympathetically. She was hurting for them. She knew that they loved each other, but she also knew that Sarah had had her heart broken too many times to count. She could only hope that Jareth would be able to make things right. If anyone deserved a happy ending, it was Sarah.

Jareth was deep in thought, and suddenly he had an idea. He hoped for his heart's sake and Sarah's that it would work.