I'm completely caught off guard.
"Jareth? What are you doing here?"
He smirks and crosses his arms. I notice that he still has whatever spell that makes him look human, and he's still wearing the clothes he wore last night, minus the leather jacket.
"I believe your lovely friend already explained that to you, Sarah." he says.
"Wait…you know each other?" Hannah asks. "Well, there you go! See? He's not a stranger after all."
I give her a warning look. While it's not exactly the same, this situation isn't much better than the serial killer scenario. Of all the people my stupid roommate could have brought home with her, why did it have to be Jareth? And it's not like I can explain things to her; 'Hannah, this is the king of the goblins. He's pissed at me and seeking revenge, because I solved his Labyrinth a few years ago after I accidentally wished my baby brother away.' Right. That would go over well. I glare at the man leaning nonchalantly against Hannah's door.
"Well you seem to be sober this morning, so why don't you and your girlfriend get out now."
"Sarah! Don't be rude. He's a guest." Hannah exclaims. Like bringing someone potentially dangerous into our home without consulting me wasn't rude. I hear a yawn from behind Jareth, and his date from last night appears beside him in the doorway.
"Good morning," She says softly. "Thank you so much for letting us stay the night. I hadn't intended to get quite as drunk as I did. It was very nice of you, Hannah." She suddenly notices me. "Oh, hello! You must be Hannah's roommate. I'm Brighid, and this is Jareth."
She looks incredibly well put-together for someone who's just been asleep, and I'm suddenly very aware of how disheveled I must look with my pajamas and bed head. I can feel my cheeks turning red. I have no problem being rude to Jareth, but this woman has honestly done nothing to me, and she seems perfectly nice. I fake a smile and introduce myself.
"It's nice to meet you, Brighid. I'm Sarah. Would you like some coffee?"
"Oh goodness, I don't want to impose any more than we already have," She answers. "We should probably be going."
"Don't be ridiculous, Brighid. She offered. I think it's only polite to accept, don't you?" Jareth asks. I mentally curse him. Of course it wouldn't be that easy to get rid of them.
Hanna pipes up. "Yeah, feel free. We've got some cereal too, if you want any."
"That would be lovely. Thank you," Brighid replies, as she follows Hannah into the small kitchen. I move to follow them, but my arm is suddenly caught by Jareth, and he spins me around.
"I told you I wanted to see you again," he says with a smile. "Don't be too hard on your dear friend, Sarah. She may have been influenced by a bit more than alcohol."
I frown and yank my arm out of his grasp.
"Why don't you just leave us alone? I don't know if any of what you offered me in the Labyrinth was real, but you've obviously moved on," I jerk my head in the direction of the kitchen where Brighid is. For a second he looks surprised, but his expression quickly changes to a mocking smirk.
"Oh Sarah, always taking things for granted. I thought you had learned that things aren't always what they seem," he drawls before leaving me behind to join the girls in the kitchen. What was that supposed to mean? I run my fingers through my hair and walk into the kitchen where Hannah and Brighid sit at the table eating cheerios and drinking coffee. Jareth leans against the counter, and I make my way to stand by the sink, as far away from him as I can get. Hannah looks up at me and bites her lip before turning her attention to Jareth. This won't be good.
"So Jareth, how do you and Sarah know each other?" she asks. Shit. I quickly sneak a glance at him, but he's staring right at me with a look of cool amusement.
Brighid looks from me to Jareth with surprise.
"You know each other?"
Jareth nods his head, the stupid smirk never leaving his face.
"Yes. I met her when she was but fifteen. I tutored her." His eyes sparkle as I choke on the coffee I've just taken a drink of.
"Sarah needed a tutor? This Sarah?" Hannah asks doubtfully.
"Oh yes. She had quite a bit to learn, though I'm not certain how much she's retained," he answers. I glare at him, but Hannah doesn't notice. Brighid on the other hand, sees the entire silent exchange. Her brow furrows, and then a look of comprehension comes over her features.
"Sarah…" she says under her breath. "Jareth, is she that Sarah?" I give her a look of surprise. Did he tell people about my time in the Labyrinth? Jareth nods.
"She is," he answers quietly. Hannah, always oblivious, laughs.
"You must have made a big impression, Sarah," she says.
"Oh, she certainly did," Jareth concedes. My face goes red, and I'd like nothing more than to disappear. I change the subject instead.
"Um, Brighid, what about you? How did you and Jareth meet?"
The sly smile on her face changes to thoughtfulness.
"Oh I've known him my entire life. My father was his teacher when he was younger. He's the older brother I never had, really." She smiles at him sweetly before turning back to her cereal and taking another bite. I admit, I feel like an idiot. I had assumed that their relationship was romantic, not platonic. I sigh, remembering that old saying; When you assume, you make an ass out of you and me. So that's what he'd meant when he said things aren't always what they seem. Well, it certainly seems like my cheeks are going to be a permanent shade of red whenever Jareth is around. I try to avoid his gaze, but I can't help stealing a glance and quickly looking away again. He looks just as smug as I thought he would.
He's infuriating. He had purposely made it sound like he was courting her, just to make me feel like an idiot when I found out the truth. I'm intrigued now though. I'm not sure I can picture him as a loving brotherly type of person. I try to imagine him playing peek-a-boo with a little girl version of Brighid, and the mental image brings a small smile to my face.
"Penny for your thoughts, Sarah." Jareth's voice brings me out of my daydream, and I blush again. He doesn't miss a thing.
"Um…what brought you to this town, if you don't mind me asking?" I address my question to Brighid, hoping she'll realize that I'm really asking why they came Aboveground.
"Oh, well, Jareth didn't really want to come, but I was having quite a bad day yesterday, and I convinced him to bring me. I've never been to…a nightclub before," She answers.
"I'm rather glad she did convince me," he says, looking at me. I spin around and pull a box of fruit loops out of the cabinet, anything to keep him from seeing my recurring blush. Why do I let him get to me like this? I'd rather he think he has no affect whatsoever on me. In fact, I'd rather he doesn't have an effect on me at all. I take a seat at the table beside Brighid and Hannah and poor a bowl of cereal just as Brighid is finishing hers.
"Well Sarah, Hannah, we really do appreciate you letting us stay the night, but I think we should be going," she proclaims. "I've got to be back home soon, and I'm sure Jareth has more important things to be doing than babysitting me." She smiles teasingly at Jareth as she stands.
"Yes, I suppose I have a few duties I need to attend to. If I'm gone too long, things start to get out of hand. My…coworkers can be such monsters at times." I can't hide the small grin his joke brings to my face.
"I bet they can," I reply.
I see them to the door, and after another goodbye, I watch them make their way down the hall, disappearing just as they reach the stairway. When I go back into the kitchen, Hannah gives me an 'I told you so' look.
"See? They were perfectly fine," she says.
I drop into my chair at the table and bury my head in my hands with a groan.