"Don't mind him." Another low voice came from behind Sarah, and she turned quickly. It was him, her window musician, hands in his pockets, barely making eye contact with her. His presence gave off an aura that was cool and mysterious. He leaned against a nearby tree and surveyed the scene through lowered eyelids. Toby and Angela had begun to whisper to each other, holding something between the two of them, out of sight of the two adults. Sarah eyed them suspiciously, then turned her gaze back to her musician.

"Why did he say that he knows my name?" she asked. He gave a noncommittal shrug.

"Sarah Williams, right? We've lived next door to each other for a while now." He extended a hand. "Nathan Gowry." Sarah smiled. Nathan.

"Sarah, can we make macaroni?" Toby's pleading voice filtered through the haze that was gathering in Sarah's brain at the realization that she was finally meeting her 'window musician.' She blinked.

"Oh– sure, Toby. Where's Angela?"

"I'm here, Sarah." The girl poked her head out from behind a tree.

"Alright. Nathan, it was great to meet you. Toby, Angela, inside. And if I ever catch you running out into the street again, I'll kill ya."

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After ushering the kids into the house, Sarah closed the door, leaned against it, and closed her eyes. She had finally met the guy from next door; the one who had haunted her for so many months. Grinning, she couldn't help humming to the tune that floated from a small radio on a shelf in her kitchen.

Sarah turned up the radio. The Moody Blues floated from the speakers, and she sang selective lines of the famous poem at the end of 'Knights in White Satin.'

Coldhearted orb that rules the night

Removes the colors from our sight…

Red is gray and yellow white,

But we decide which is right

And which is an illusion…

She had tied her hair up into a ponytail. Toby and Angela had been fed and were, for once, quietly watching Dexter's Laboratory on TV. This was a godsend; Sarah had been trying to get a minute to herself with no success. Exhausted, she sank into the couch in her living room. Unconsciously, her eyes drifted toward the red book lying on the coffee table. Suddenly remembering that she had not yet looked at it, Sarah picked it up and traced a finger over the binding.

'Labyrinth,' she read, her brain stirring. The name was so intriguing. She opened the book and began to read.

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Kate stumbled along the sidewalk leading to her friend's apartment. After all, it was a cardinal rule not to let a strange (albeit hot) boy know where you live after meeting him at a club. Not if you could help it, at least. Giving him directions to Sarah's house was a much better plan. He was grinning now, however.

"You don't live here," he laughed. Kate tried to force her alcohol affected brain to focus.

"What do you mean? Of course I live here," she babbled. "I think I know where I live, thank you very much." His eyes looked so cute when he smirked like that.

"I know you don't live here, because I live next door," he told her, eyes twinkling. Kate gaped at him. Usually, she would have a quick answer, something about recently moving in, or something along those lines. Tonight, however, she had consumed one drink too many, and was just giddy enough to notice how clever this guy was to have figured out that she didn't live there. She grinned at him.

"Well that's… perfect," she slurred, and decided to keep him guessing. She gathered her purse from the floor of the car and reached for the door handle.

"Night, sweetheart," he grinned, still chuckling quietly. Kate exited the car, and walked to the back door. She gave him a little wave, then knocked on the door. Sarah only looked half aggravated when she answered; Kate knew she'd never be angry with her for long. She also noticed that, despite living next door, her new guy didn't drive off until she was safely stowed inside the apartment. Kate sighed. She couldn't wait to see him again.

"Who the hell was that?" Sarah ranted, whispering. Kate took this as an indication that Toby and Angela were sleeping. Sure enough, as she followed her friend to her bedroom, she saw the kids encased in sleeping bags in the living room, surrounded by open movie cases.

"Just the love of my life," Kate answered. Sarah rolled her eyes, but grinned at her friend.

"Well he better be worth it, I have to clear about 30 tons of stuff off of the couch, you know." Kate grinned. She certainly hoped he would be.

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"I'm going to Planet Q to see James' band play, wanna go with?" Kate was obviously obsessed with this new guy; he was all she had talked about for the last week. James is in an alternative rock band, James likes drunken hot dogs, James called her twice to make sure she was going to his show. And the fact that he lived next door to Sarah meant that she was visiting her friend way more than usual, lurking by the window that Sarah had frequented not long ago.

Not that Sarah minded; she generally kept to herself otherwise, and it was nice to have someone around to talk to. Toby was off at camp, and so she had the whole week free. She considered Kate's offer. On one hand, she was always reluctant to go to clubs; she felt that she never really fit in. On the other hand, this new guy was the roomie of the musician she'd had her eye on. And odds were that if this guy had a band, Nathan was in it as well. Could she refuse a chance to talk with her window musician again? Not really.

"Alright," Sarah answered. "Just let me change quickly, and we can go." Kate squealed and jumped around in a circle, clasping her hands together. "Geez, a little boy crazy are we?" but Sarah was grinning.

An hour later, Sarah and Kate walked up to the front doors of Planet Q. Sarah had changed into well-worn dark jeans and a black and green sheer top that made her eyes seem to glow in the right light. Kate wore her signature short skirt and long black jacket ("Just like the Cake song," she had explained once, "Gives me ultimate power over the boys.").

A middle-aged woman at the door glanced quickly at their IDs and then waved them along. Loud music was already filling the space around them, intermixed with chatter from the gathered fans. A tower of sound equipment blocked the band and stage from view. Sarah craned her neck around to see if she could catch a glimpse, but Kate was dragging her toward the bar.

"Two gin & tonics," she shouted to the spiky-haired bartender. He nodded, mixed the drinks, and passed them over. Kate put money up on the bar. "My treat," she said, when Sarah tried to argue. After they had finished enough of the drink so as not to spill it on their travels across the room, the two girls wove through the crowd toward the stage.

There were four band members on stage. Sarah was surprised to see that she recognized two of them. Nathan was in the back, strong fingers manipulating an electric guitar. The other person she recognized was the main singer, who was caressing the microphone as he voiced lyrics that dripped with emotion. It was him, the guy who had almost run over Toby and Angela, the blonde haired guy who had walked out of the club so many weeks ago.

Kate was grinning up at the bassist, a dark-haired guy who looked like he would have women hanging on him everywhere he went. Muscled arms, torn jeans, this guy was h-o-t-t. And to Sarah's surprise, he was staring right down at Kate, and winked at her. So this was the mysterious James. Kate was grinning, and danced around to the music, holding her arms up in the air and spinning around. The fourth member of the group had long, dirty-blonde hair that was tied up. He was sitting behind a drum stand, drumming for all he was worth, seemingly oblivious of anything going on beyond the stage. The band name, 3JN, was scrawled across the largest drum.

Sarah turned her attention back to Nathan. He was really good; she could feel the music filling her soul, loosening her resolve to stay within the lines. She imagined dating him, imagined knowing that the music he was making was intended just for her, inspired by her. She imagined him coming home after a show, taking her in his arms, and…

"Sarah, hello Sarah, snap out of it," Kate was waving her hand in front of Sarah's face. Sarah blinked, and focused on her friend. "I'm going to wait for James backstage, why don't you come with me and I'll introduce you to everyone." Sarah nodded and followed. She drained her gin and tonic and placed the empty glass on a nearby table. This could be an interesting night.