"Rage is a moment. Regret is forever."

-The Beautiful by Reneé Ahdieh

"I don't want to go!" Ben stomped his feet, throwing his jacket on the ground. "I want to watch a movie!"

Sarah pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to stay calm. She should definitely reduce the amount of screen time he was getting. "Ben, I can't leave you at home and we need to go grocery shopping or we won't have food the week."

"No!"

She considered just giving in, but was afraid that if she did, her son would understand that tantrums would lead to getting his way. This was the problem of parenting, not always knowing what was the best way to teach kids. "Benjamin Robert, don't yell at me like that."

At her firm tone and the use of his full name, Ben stopped being noisy, though he was still being petulant. He humphed at her and sat on the floor, angry.

"I know you want to watch a movie and stay home. I want to stay home too, but we need to have food and this is the only time I have to get it this week." She tried to hold his hand, but he yanked it away. She didn't push it, respecting his space. "You know, I was going to get some snacks too. If you're there with me, you can help pick the snacks you want."

His head perked up a little. Sarah relaxed, feeling proud of herself for coming up with a compromise.

Ben looked at her, frowned, then smacked his foot on the floor again. "No!"

She celebrated her victory prematurely. She looked down. "Ben-"

*Ding Dong*

"Perfect timing," she grumbled sarcastically. She wasn't expecting anyone, so she ignored it. Probably some salesperson. Sarah turned back to Ben. "Now, listen-"

"WHEEEEE!"

Sarah and Ben turned, seeing a goblin's face peering at the top of the door's window. Its large tongue left a disgusting, slimy goo on her window. "Tastes like glass."

Suddenly, the goblin screamed and was seemingly pulled down, a sound of kicking and more screams echoing.

"If you miscreants do this again," a muffled voice shouted. "I'll throw you all into the bog!"

"AAAAHHHH!"

Sarah went to the front door, opening it to find Jareth's back turned to her, right as the toe of his boot collided with another goblin. Her eyes fell to his backside, a subconscious thought coming to her that he had the best looking butt she had ever seen.

"Ah! Lady!"

She shook her head, horrified of the fact that the goblins saw her staring at the king's backside. Hopefully they were too thick for that. "What's going on?"

"One moment," Jareth said to her, turning back and glowering at his subjects. "What did I say about licking things?"

"But, shiny!" One goblin said.

"Go home!" He commanded, waving his hand so they disappeared.

"Aww." Ben came beside her, all signs of his tantrum gone. "Goblins are funny."

"You wouldn't think so after the umpteenth antic," Jareth laughed, putting a hand on Ben's shoulder in greeting. He turned to Sarah, holding a book in his hands. "I finished reading this book."

He held up Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, having borrowed it the last time he was here. "I enjoyed the story. It had a lot of humor and greatly amused me."

Sarah took it from him, glad that he enjoyed a book that she loved herself. "Happy to hear it." She stepped to the side. "You can come in, but I'm afraid Ben and I are about to leave to go grocery shopping."

"I don't want to go!" Ben pouted again.

At that moment, Sarah almost wished that she could have a large glass of wine while soaking in a bubble bath (almost because she knew the consequences of such wishes). Perhaps reading a book. Or watching TV installed in some fancy bathroom. Anything but this.

Jareth looked at her sympathetically. "I can come with you."

Sarah clicked her tongue playfully. "Grocery shopping isn't exactly super fun."

"That's because you've never been with me," he said, flashing a suggestive grin, but not too suggestive since Ben was staring right at them.

Sarah folded her arms, trying very hard to hide her smile. "Is that a challenge?"

"Most definitely."

And that was how Sarah found herself at the grocery store with her son and the Goblin King.

Ben was much better behaved when Jareth was there, and for that, Sarah was grateful for the reprieve. Perhaps this was just a one-off, nothing to really discipline him for. Besides, she also enjoyed having Jareth with them. She could honestly say that she never had fun grocery shopping before.

Jareth looked around, amazed at the neat stacks of supplies and ready amounts of food available. "How do you choose?"

"First, you have a budget," Sarah told him, showing him a list she made. "Then, you think on ingredients and other supplies you'd need. We always get milk for Ben, for example. And coffee, can't live without coffee. And of course, healthy foods to go along with those sugary sweets I spoil those two with."

She inspected some vegetables, showing Jareth how to choose them. She knocked on a watermelon. "See?"

Jareth looked very unsure. "I have to admit, I've gone to markets before, but never to purchase food in this manner to cook with or for supplies. I have only bought street food."

"Never?" The idea was unfathomable to her.

He shook his head. "Never. I always have someone who does that for me."

Never had the contrast between them stand so clearly. Even though Sarah came from a well-off family, she still had to take care of her own basic needs and did it herself once she was an adult, right around the time she quit school to care for her mother.

Not that she held it against Jareth. On the contrary, it made sense. It was exhausting to constantly think about what to make for breakfast, lunch, and dinner each day for herself and her family. It was exhausting trying to clean her house and clean up after others. Jareth had the responsibility of a kingdom, something she could never fathom.

"I've never seen such big vegetables before," Jareth commented, taking Sarah out of her thoughts. He was holding a zucchini, inspecting it.

"That's giant!" Ben yelled, excited at seeing an adult be so fascinated by a grocery store.

Jareth turned to Sarah, lowering his face so that his lips were near her ear. "Mine's bigger."

She knew that he was delighted by the strong blush that grew on her cheeks. "Pervert."

"Am I truly?" He leaned against the shopping cart. "You were thinking the same thing, I'm sure."

"Oh, so now you're a mind reader?" She pushed the cart, going to the cereal isle and plunking a box in the cart, hoping that her blush was hidden from his face.

"Now Sarah dearest," he crooned. "You're deviating from the subject."

She turned to him, feigning outrage. "Deviating? Why, I never-"

"I want that one! It has a toy!" Ben pointed to a box. "See? T-O-Y. Tuh-oy. Toy!"

Sarah pursed her lips together. "I can't decide if I wan't to congratulate him on sounding out the word or be mad that he's able to read that word out," she said out of the corner of her mouth to Jareth. "Good job reading, honey! Let's see if we can find other cereal first though."

"I suppose the answer to your rhetorical question is both?" Jareth smirked.

"Of course," she turned, winking at him.

A young woman, possibly someone the same age as Toby or a little older, was clearly checking Jareth out. She looked up and down him, turned around and did the same.

Sarah tried to not look, but she couldn't help eyeing Jareth to see his reaction. He raised an eyebrow, not giving the woman attention but she could tell that it flattered him.

Her stomach twisted in seething jealousy, her knuckles white on the shopping cart. Instantly, she felt ashamed of her jealousy. There was no reason that he couldn't feel flattered, he was a gorgeous man after all. He wasn't hers, just a friend. She had no right to feel that way.

And still, that feeling persisted.

She put a couple cereals back, changing her mind on them and grabbing the one with the toy for Ben. Scanning the isle, she saw the one she actually wanted for herself on the top shelf. "Hey Jareth? Can you grab that one on the top shelf for me?"

Jareth came behind her, reaching up. She caught his peach and cinnamon scent, warmth radiating from his chest to her back. A pleasant tingle cascaded up her spine. If they had been alone, she might have leaned back into him.

Damn, it had been so long since she had been intimate with anyone, it was incredibly tempting. Especially when Jareth sparked her true sexual awakening as a young woman…

"This one?" He held it in front of her, still standing behind her. Sarah swallowed, taking the box from him, nodding in thanks.

They were so in their little world, that they didn't notice Ben making airplane noises or an elderly woman admiring them. "You are a beautiful family," she said, sighing in reminiscence. "You remind me of myself and my husband when we were young."

"I - We -" Sarah stammered, unsure of what to say next. He's not my husband? I'm not interested in him?

But… was that even true? For a moment, an image popped into her head of herself, Jareth, and Ben as a little family. It was sweet and not as weird as she thought it would be. Of course, it was just a fantasy, but it surprised her to think that the image was actually comforting.

By the time her brain stopped freezing, the woman was gone. Sarah rubbed her forehead, wondering when did she get so easily tongue-tied. She wasn't even like this when she and Jareth met when she was a teenager.

She felt another headache coming on.

Jareth approached her carefully, putting a gentle hand to steady her. "Sarah?" He came to stand in front of her, and she could hear Ben call for her behind in concern. "Sarah, what's wrong?"

She found that she was clutching her head. "I'm okay, I promise. I just get these headaches sometimes. At least it's not a migraine."

"Do you need water?" He asked, taking his hands off once he was sure she could move on her own but was close enough to catch her just in case.

Her heart beat faster. "I think I do, actually. I haven't had as much water as I should."

He immediately got her water from her backpack, and she drank, feeling much better. "That did the trick. Thank you."

"Anytime," he said quietly, pushing the cart to the check-out line.

When they got home, Jareth helped her to put groceries away. If someone had told her twenty years ago that the Goblin King would be helping her get her son ready for a nap and put groceries away, she wouldn't have believed them.

Jareth settled on the couch, picking up some sort of pamphlet that Toby had gotten from his classes on free therapy. Once Sarah was done putting Ben for a nap, she came to join him.

He looked up at her, interested. "What's this?"

Sarah took it from him. "Oh, just free therapy."

Jareth's expression was blank.

"You know," she said, trying to prompt him. "Where you visit some professional who helps you to dissect your mind and heal emotionally. It can help you cope with certain things or organize your life in a healthy way. To heal relationships and stuff like that too."

"Ah," Jareth said, some understanding in his eyes, but not that much. "It is a foreign concept in my world."

"Still is here, really." She placed her feet on the footrest, happy to stretch after a long day of waking up early and wrestling with Ben to go to the store. "I think it's great that the university is offering it, tuition is so costly that they really should offer more than a few free sessions of it."

Jareth hummed in thought. "Have you seen a… therapy doctor?"

"Therapist," she informed him. "Yeah, I have. Actually still am."

He was the first person she told besides Toby. There was a sort of comfort in telling Jareth this. She forced herself to appear calm, nervous about his reaction.

"Does it help?" He asked, looking very interested. He didn't look judgmental, but it was hard to tell when he was donning his ice mask, hiding behind an almost emotionless expression.

"It does, yeah," she answered, smiling a little. "My therapist is a wonderful person. I think everyone should get therapy at least once in their lives."

*CRASH!*

Sarah jumped. Jareth sprinted up, going to the kitchen. "For bog's sake!"

She came behind him, seeing Pickle the goblin standing on a chair, knocking one of her mason jars that Karen had packed from canning fruit. "Uh, oops?" The little goblin said, trying to laugh, then suddenly stopped when she looked at Jareth.

"What did I say about coming here and breaking things?" Jareth towered over the tiny goblin.

Pickle curled into herself, fearful of her king. She was so stunned, she didn't even know what to say.

"You know better than this." He clicked his tongue at her. "I am most disappointed in you!"

She started to cry. Jareth was taken aback, but he kept on going. "Look at the mess you made! You shouldn't be the one who's crying!"

Pickle cried softly, heartbroken.

Sarah couldn't handle it anymore, unable to witness him continuously berate the goblin. "Jareth, that's enough."

Jareth, still fuming, turned towards her. The eye markings made his scowl look even more terrifying than usual. He seemed taller, larger, more overwhelming.

Even while running the Labyrinth, Sarah hadn't ever seen him look this upset at her.

Pickle the goblin took the opportunity to vanish.

Jareth took a step towards Sarah, and it took all of her to not take a step backwards. "I have been king for a long, long time. Do not undermine my authority again."

"I'm not trying to undermine anything." She spoke quieter, with less confidence than she wanted. "I just find it not fa - I find it imbalanced, in your punishment when Pickle was far from the only goblin to cause this mess. They're like little children!"

She could tell that he knew she was about to say "not fair."

His eyes flashed angrily. "Do not presume that you know my goblins better than me."

"I never did!" She raised her voice, standing taller and took a step towards him. "I just think it was a bit overboard! Children-"

"I do not want to hear it!" He exclaimed. "Especially from one like yourself who wished her own brother away. You are not in a position to act like an expert on children."

Sarah froze. Time stopped at that moment, and had those words been directed to someone else, perhaps Sarah would have seen the way Jareth's eyes widen at his own words. How even as he stood there, stubborn, there was regret in his whole being.

She bit back the urge to cry. She looked to the side, closing her eyes. "Get out of my house."

Jareth opened his mouth, then closed it, unsure of what to say. He was conflicted between standing his ground and apologizing, though Sarah didn't see that. "Now."

He bowed his head, waving a hand over his body, disappearing in a shower of glitter.

Sarah tried to not let her obvious anger and sadness show to Ben when she was making him dinner and talking to him as he babbled on about the goblins and Jareth.

His words cut her to the bone. In just once sentence, he managed to take back the words he had said about seeing her now, as an adult years later. How he respected her. How he saw her growth and their conversation about her experience changing her for the better. How he thought that she was a good mother with empathy. How he thought she had aged like fine wine or whatever it was.

She already felt like shit, questioning if she was a good mother even without him. Something about Jareth saying it hurt more than if someone else had said it.

Toby came home in a good mood, having spent the day with his friends. She didn't want to rain on his parade, just smiled and said she was going to bed early. He asked her if Jareth showed up today and Sarah made a face, ignoring his question.

Jareth looked at himself in the mirror.

With most people, even if he knew he was wrong and felt like shit, he didn't do much self-reflecting. Why would he? He was thrust into this role, and no one had the right to criticize him. Though he was much influenced by humans, he was still very fae. If someone made him angry, he would use their insecurities and be cruel. Even if he didn't truly see them in that light. He wouldn't care about what they thought, if it ruined his relationships with them unless it was something political that would hurt his subjects. Even then, he would craft his insults very carefully in hurtful ways.

For the first time, he no longer wanted to be that way. For the first time, he didn't want his pride to get in the way. For the first time, he wanted to make things right.

He hadn't been truly honest with Sarah when he told her that he fell out of a good relationship with his siblings because they had become very spoiled and arrogant. It was also because he was closed off. Barbaric. Cold.

He didn't actually meant what he said, which, of course, was extremely hypocritical especially when Sarah had said she didn't mean it when she wished Toby away.

He put his head in his hands and let out a very loud groan. Bog damn it, how was he going to fix things this time? Sarah was not the normal kind of woman (or man) that he would spend his time with. With them, a slow seduction or gifts would make them continue their superficial relationship with him. Sarah would demand more than that.

With this in mind, he wrote a list of things to say.

"No, that doesn't sound right." He tossed it to the wastebasket.

Over and over he tried to write. The pile of drafts turned into two, and the evening sun was replaced with the moon. Which was then replaced with the morning sun.

He didn't think it was perfect, but this would have to do. He went to the cook and took a loaf of cinnamon bread. He went to his gardens and found some flowers, placing them in a vase.

Transporting Aboveground, he braced himself as he knocked on the front door, feeling ridiculous. He was about to just leave his things on the doorstep when Toby opened the door.

The young man didn't look very happy. "Oh. It's you."

Jareth pushed down the reactionary anger that threatened to rise up in his throat. If he wanted to be better, to get back into Sarah's good graces, he had to be accountable. "Yes. Is Sarah home? Might I speak to her?"

Toby hesitated, less cold up at the sight of the flowers and bread, but still looked very upset Jareth. "I don't know what you did, but she's not very happy right now. I came home yesterday and she went straight to bed."

Jareth nodded. "Then if you could give these to her, I would appreciate it."

Just as Toby was about to take the flowers and loaf of bread, Sarah came out. The bags under her eyes had deepened and Jareth mentally kicked himself for being the cause of it. "It's okay, Tobes. I'll speak with him myself."

Toby slowly backed away. Sarah closed the door behind her, the two of them standing in the cold. She tightened her bathrobe, eyes falling to the things he had brought. "What's going on?"

Her voice was so bland and flat, so devoid of life. Jareth cleared his throat, carefully trying to open the script with his magic so that she didn't see it. "I wanted to… to apologize."

His emotions overwhelmed him, making him stop speaking.

Sarah didn't look moved. "You think that flowers and baked goods are enough to fix what you said?"

Jareth shook his head, answering with a soft "no."

She closed her eyes and turned her head to the side. "In one fell swoop, you've managed to make me feel like an irresponsible child and undo the encouraging words you said of me being someone to respect. Of how you saw my growth now. How you see me as a person, as a mother, as an older sister."

Jareth looked at the draft of words. "I know. And it was wrong of me to. I of all people know the power of words and how you should say what you mean. It was hypocritical of me."

Sarah's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Are you reading from a script?"

He blushed, pushing the anger at her sharp words down his throat so that he didn't lash out. "I don't want to forget the words I want to say."

She softened, motioning for him to continue.

"Sarah, I say this not to provide excuses, but so you understand. I am used to saying hurtful things to others. To Runners and nobility alike. It's a common tactic among the fae nobility, to make others weak by pointing out said weakness. It's important to not show any weaknesses, especially as a descendant of the High King. My mother and father, thank the gods, were not like this, at least by the time I was born. But I was, especially when I became king. It was a way to win. And it's wrong."

He handed her the script, no longer needing to look at it. "I have been king for a long time. Forced into this role with little help and guidance. To have someone tell me what to do makes me bitter. But you were just being kind. I know that now. I - I am not used to apologizing. Not used to repairing my wrongdoings. But I want to with you." He held out the vase and bread. "But if not, I want you to know that you truly are spectacular. You are a Champion, and you've earned that title. I am lucky to know you. I can honestly promise that I will never do that again."

They stood that way in silence. Sarah was usually very easy to read, but at the moment, he couldn't decipher anything. It wouldn't surprise him one bit if she forgave him or decided to never see him again.

Sarah had tossed and turned all night. She felt utterly betrayed by his words, self-doubt creeping in again and ensnaring her like a fly in a spider's web. She had trusted Jareth, opening up about herself only for him to tear her down.

She looked back into his eyes. She so desperately wanted to say yes. "Promise?"

He smiled sadly at her. "I swear this to you, my Champion. I will make mistakes, many of them. But I'm trying to be a better man. I will not use your insecurities or your past that you have atoned for to cause you pain again."

A weight lifted from Sarah's heart. He meant so much to her, and all she wanted was to feel the same happiness she felt with him when he spent time with them. She took the flowers and the loaf of bread, deciding that she wanted to try again. "I believe you."

Jareth's smile grew wider. Not a victorious smile, but one of relief and happiness. Could she make him happy as he had made her happy? "Do you want to come inside? We can have some of this for breakfast."

He gladly nodded. "I would like that."

"And," she said, turning her head a little. "I have the next book in the Discworld series for you. You forgot to take it with you yesterday."

"I would be delighted, Sarah."

This chapter was actually a last-minute addition to the story. I found that Jareth is a bit too agreeable so far, and wanted to show his less nice side. All of us have said things that were hurtful to the ones we love. It's not okay, but you don't have to beat yourself up. Just try to do your best and the people who know and love you will understand :) He's a good person, just needs a bit of nudging in the right direction. I always felt that Labyrinth was a film about Sarah's redemption (so did Jim Henson) and felt that Jareth needed a redemption arc in my stories if their interactions in the labyrinth was real.

I apologize for taking a few days to post this, chapters will still come regularly but maybe not daily depending on how much time I have coming back from work lol. I appreciate all of your kind comments so far!