A/N: Mentions of underage sex and possible rape. A reminder to my readers that this story will be fairly dark and will also explore the complexities of non-human interpretations of love and consent and sexuality, since Jareth is NOT HUMAN. I should have put this note in the first chapter, but here it is now. All chapters will be clearly labeled as to possible triggers.

One Week Later

There was no boyfriend. Sarah claimed not to remember what had happened to her, how she'd gotten pregnant or who by, and refused to speak to a therapist about it. Flat out refused; when Henry, exasperated and out of patience, threatened to drag her to a session kicking and screaming if he had to, Karen was forced to step in before things escalated further. Forcing a traumatized teenager to undergo therapy wasn't going to do any of them any good. Sooner or later, she counseled her angry, confused and heart-sick husband, Sarah would realize she needed someone to talk to, to help her through this, and until that time came, the best thing they could do would be to offer her all their love and support.

But that was something for the unknown future; in the meantime, there were definitely things that needed to be discussed. Decisions to be made. So Karen smoothed things over as best she could between her husband and step-daughter, and took Henry aside to discuss those options while Sarah, sullen and uncommunicative, remained in her bedroom. She'd barely left it all week, only going as far as the bathroom when necessity forced it on her, the trays of food Karen brought her remaining mostly uneaten.

"Options?" Henry stared at his wife blankly, looking so lost and forlorn after his latest blaze of temper at his daughter that Karen felt her heart aching all over again.

She held out her hand and he clasped it in his as she led him to their bed, sitting next to him and facing him. "We both know it's too late for an abortion," she said quietly, keeping her voice as calm and soothing as she knew how. Henry was being emotional enough for both of them, and his ex-wife certainly hadn't been any better when he'd called to break the news to her. She was in England and couldn't possibly leave in the middle of her show, she had commitments, surely there was nothing she could do to help, blah, blah, blah. All the excuses Karen had heard before, too many times to count.

The idea of abortion had been brought up by her in that first conversation; even after a horrified Henry reminded her that Sarah was already five months along, she'd said something flippant about clinics being available in Europe, discreet clinics that wouldn't ask questions and would make sure their daughter's problem was "taken care of" quickly and safely with a minimum of fuss. Sarah was already traumatized by a rape she claimed not to remember; how on Earth would she deal with a late-term abortion urged on her by her irresponsible mother?

Karen found herself grinding her teeth at the memory of her husband's shell-shocked face when he related the gist of his ex-wife's message to his current wife. Still, that was over and done with. The bitch wouldn't be there to hold Sarah's hand no matter how this played out, so Karen knew she would have to be the one to convince Henry and his daughter that her plan was the best one.

The best for all of them, the baby included. "Henry, I think we should consider adoption."

He stared at his wife, brow knitted in confusion. "You want to adopt Sarah's baby?"

She'd never even considered such a thing, but didn't tell him that, merely shook her head and replied: "No, honey. I think we should contact a lawyer and find a good family to take Sarah's baby as soon as it's born. It would be the best thing for both of them, don't you think? Her baby will get a good home and Sarah can try to put her life back together again. She won't tell us who the father is, and if she was raped, then surely she won't want a permanent reminder of what happened to her in her life," she continued, spelling things out as clearly and succinctly as possible.

Ultimately it would be Sarah's decision, of course, but Karen hoped this was the one she would make. It would give her baby a loving home and give Sarah the chance to try and rebuild her life; to finish her education and go to college and find someone to fall in love with and marry, some day. All things Karen knew Sarah wanted for herself, and things both she and her father wanted for the girl as well.

There was a long moment of silence before Henry spoke. "Yeah," he agreed, his voice barely a whisper. "You're right. We should probably go...talk to her about it."

Karen kissed him. "Yeah. And we shouldn't put it off, all right? We'll talk to her after we put Toby to sleep?"

Henry nodded wordlessly, and Karen left him to prepare dinner. All she wanted to do was hold him and tell him everything was going to be all right, but they both knew that would be nothing but a lie at this point. Everything wasn't going to be all right, not for a long time.

For Sarah, possibly not ever.

oOo

"Sweetie, it really is the best option, we hope you know that."

Sarah shook her head as she stared at Karen, wide-eyed and disbelieving. "You want me to give my baby up? You want me to let someone adopt him?"

She'd decided the baby was a boy; the Goblin King, after all, would never bother fathering a mere girl. No, he'd knocked her up and left her carrying his son and now Karen and her Dad and even her Mom wanted her to give the baby up. Her Mom, in fact, much to Sarah's horror, wanted her to fly to Europe or Mexico and have an abortion. She'd said so the one time Sarah had called her. She'd needed to hear her mother's voice, but the words she'd spoken had been horrifying even if the tone was meant to be soothing. Her Mom actually thought that would be the best solution, even though Sarah was just over five months pregnant at this point.

She hadn't spoken to her mother since then; had, in fact, hung up the phone before desperately seeking out Karen and sobbing her fear and upset into the other woman's shoulder. It was strange, how her feelings toward her "wicked" step-mother had taken such a radical turn, how Karen had somehow turned into her rock...until now.

Karen was the one who'd come up with the idea of Sarah giving up her baby for adoption. It didn't feel like a betrayal, not the way her own mother's advice had, but Sarah still felt conflicted. How could she do that? How could she just let this baby go, even if she was terrified at the thought of motherhood? She was still in high school, after all, had two years left before college…God, she couldn't go to college if she had a baby, couldn't start that acting career she'd been determined on for as long as she could remember…

None of those reasons, however, were what really mattered. What if there was something…different…about her child, something the adoptive parents noticed and accused her of hiding from them? Would her baby have Jareth's fey eyes, his elvishly pointed ears, his blonde mane of hair…

But then, what if she kept the baby and her own parents saw those same differences? What if this destroyed the tentative understanding she and Karen had come to? If the baby were adopted by others, then any problems that might arise would be theirs to deal with.

She felt cowardly and miserable even thinking such thoughts, but as Karen and her father continued to press her, she finally gave into their pleas and agreed. "OK, but make sure he goes to a really good home," she whispered. Her father hugged her and kissed her on the forehead and told her she was making the right decision; her mother called later that evening and told her the same (which didn't make Sarah feel any better), and Karen just stood silently by and kept her mouth shut, which to Sarah was infinitely easier to bear.

And through it all, Toby behaved like a perfect little angel, crawling to Sarah at every opportunity and smiling his sweet smile as if to let her know that everything was going to be all right.

If only that had been true.