Author's Note: Sorry for the short chapter, but after I went back to re-cut my excessively long chapters, I couldn't find anywhere else to fit in this bit. Attaching it to either the last or next chapter would have made either too long. The next one will be posted soon. Also, I think I may have written Jareth a little out of character in this chapter. Let me know what you think.

As she inserted the key to open the door to the apartment, Sarah heard the phone inside start ringing. "Damn," she muttered as she tried to hurry. As the door swung open, she sprang forward into the living room and picked up the phone, hoping whoever it was hadn't hung up. "Hello?" she answered.

"Oh, thank God, hun!" came the sound of Evelyn's very relieved voice on the receiver. "I was getting ready to call the police. I've been trying to reach you for hours. Where have you been?"

"Oh, we went out for breakfast, and I guess we just lost track of time," Sarah replied. "We're actually just walking in the door right now."

"Well, that's a relief. After last night, I was afraid something might have happened. I didn't realize until this morning that we never even asked ole blue eyes what his name was," Evelyn continued. "So he got you home okay? No funny business?"

"Well," Sarah began hesitantly looking at Jareth as he walked in and closed the door behind him, "Yeah, he got me home okay."

"That's good. Did you at least get his name and number?"

By now, Jareth had turned his attention to Sarah, smirking at her as she fumbled through some way to explain their situation.

"Um, yeah, I got his name."

"Good girl! I'm sure Kimmie is going to think we're bad influences on you, but please tell her that we did try to screen him for you. We would never deliberately let you go home with a potential psychopath."

Sarah smiled at her friend's obvious concern for her. "I'll be sure and tell her that when she comes home later," Sarah replied.

There was a long pause before Evelyn spoke again. "What do you mean 'when she comes home'? Hold on! If Kimmie isn't with you, then who is 'we?' Oh my God, Sarah! He's still with you, isn't he?" Evelyn was trying hard to keep her voice down, but her enthusiasm at the thought of someone finally breaking through Sarah's defenses was a little too much for her. "Oh, hun, never mind! You can tell me all about it Monday. You just get back to whatever you were doing before I interrupted." She abruptly hung up before Sarah could proclaim her innocence, leaving her holding the dead receiver for a few seconds before she also hung up. Why did everyone keep insisting she be alone with Jareth?

After putting the phone down, Sarah turned to Jareth, remembering that she had promised they'd talk when they returned home. Suddenly realizing that she was quite alone with the Goblin King, Sarah became very aware of the effect he had on her. Ignoring her racing heart and hoping the flush she was feeling was not reflected on her complexion, she began. "Well, I suppose now is as good a time as any for our 'talk.'" She motioned toward the couch and sat, tucking one leg under her so she could face Jareth. Jareth approached the couch as well, sat a little more tentatively at the edge, and turned to look at her.

They regarded each other for a few seconds before Sarah decided if she didn't start now, she would lose her nerve. "Why are you here? And don't give me the 'you summoned me' line. I want the truth."

Jareth took a deep breath and looked down, unsure how to begin. This was it; every hope, desire, wish, fantasy he had ever had with regard to his future, no their future, hinged on this moment. Despite the fact that he had yet to taste success with regard to Sarah, he absolutely knew he had to succeed this time. He had so far failed, repeatedly, and he could not afford to fail again. Failure would mean desolation and heartbreak, and for a being such as himself, it would be very nearly an eternity before he recovered from the loss, if indeed he ever did.

He took another breath and began, "Sarah, how much of the story do you remember?"

He then proceeded to explain the purpose of the little red book. It was created by the Labyrinth, and it was one of only a handful that were ever produced. The Labyrinth had enchanted them find their way into the possession of the most deserving humans. The Labyrinth's definition of most deserving was those individuals whose will, imagination and belief in magic were equally strong. The intention was to find these individuals and bring them to the Underground where they would be tested by the Labyrinth. In the hundreds of years that Jareth had reigned as Goblin King, Sarah was only the third such human to ever find her way Underground, and the only one ever to succeed in solving the Labyrinth.

He was familiar with the actual story contained in the little book, but he had always thought most of it was just filler to go along with the important parts which show the reader how to find their way Underground and how to defeat him. However, since her victory, he had had his doubts. Specifically, he referred to was the line about the king of the goblins falling in love with the girl and giving her certain powers. At best, he had thought it a throw away line, at worst, it was the Labyrinth trying to enslave him. He had consciously tried not to think about that passage, because no good had ever come from his obsessing over it. He would invariably end up thinking that if a champion were ever found, the Labyrinth would try to bend him to its will by forcing him to feel love. However, since Sarah's victory, he had serious doubts that this was the case. Jareth had actually fallen in love with her before she won, so perhaps by that act he had given her the power to defeat him. In any event, she had won, and by doing so had been marked by the Labyrinth as a citizen of the Underground and when she left, she unknowingly left with his heart.

He had never expected that Sarah's words would be so binding on him, and as a result, he had been forced to rely on her friends to communicate with her. Unfortunately, his attempts to be nice to that trio in order to use them to get back in her good graces were misinterpreted as harassment by all concerned, and when Sarah seemingly terminated her friendship with them, Jareth had been left with no means of communicating with her. He became despondent of ever gaining her confidence enough to begin a proper courtship.

He watched her occasionally through his crystals, something he should not have been able to do seeing as how she was human and no longer present in his realm, but because she was considered a part of the Underground, Jareth was able to scry on her the same as he would any of the other residents of the Labyrinth. However, the frequency with which he indulged in this lessened over time, because it only reminded him of what he could not have. Eventually, he became angry with the Labyrinth. What was the point in having it choose Sarah for him to fall in love with if he couldn't have her? A couple of weeks ago, his anger had reached a boiling point and he actually tried abdicating to be free of the Labyrinth's influence. It was, he realized in retrospect, an unwinable battle of wills. The Labyrinth was both angered and amused by the attempt. In the end, the Labyrinth had suggested that he take up watching her again to either find or force an opportunity for him to reenter her life. Whether the Labyrinth knew how events would unfold, or whether the Labyrinth caused things to happen as they did, or whether it had all just been serendipitous, Jareth would never know. All he knew is that he was here now, and he awaited Sarah's response.

When he finished, Sarah sat mute for a few minutes while she digested everything she had just been told. Before she had a chance to form a response, the silence was broken by the sound of the phone ringing. It was Kimmie. "Hi, mom. Sorry I didn't call sooner, but Katie and I got a little carried away and we lost track of time. Katie and her family are going out for dinner, so I'll be home in about 15 minutes. Is that okay?"

Sarah gasped as she realized how late it was. "Oh, sure, sweetie. That's fine. We haven't eaten yet, either." Apparently Kimmie was not the only one who had lost track of time. As Sarah hung up the phone, she looked at Jareth. "Kimmie is on her way home to have dinner," she said guiltily.

"Now that you mention it, I am rather hungry," Jareth replied.

"Unfortunately, it's too late to start working on dinner. It'll be nearly bedtime by the time it's done, and I don't think we want to wait that long." Sarah decided ordering in would probably be most convenient, so she went to search for the flyers to see where she could get the best deal. "If I order now," she said comparing two offers, "we should be able to get some pizza delivered not too long after Kimmie gets home. Here we go – two medium pizzas, unlimited toppings." After placing the order, she looked at Jareth and realized they were nowhere near to a resolution to their problem. But with Kimmie on her way home and dinner being delivered shortly, there was nothing more that could be done about it now.

Sarah had Jareth help her set the table, and like clockwork, Kimmie arrived together with the pizza delivery boy approximately fifteen minutes later. Kimmie was visibly upset at realizing she was having pizza for dinner. She was hungry and had been really looking forward to a home cooked meal. Somewhat hesitantly she approached her mother, and in a rather embarrassed whisper said, "You know, when I told you earlier you and Jareth had all day to. . . you know . . . I didn't really mean it. I mean, I didn't think you would . . . ." She stopped, not really knowing what she wanted to say, much less how to say it.

Fortunately, Sarah knew exactly what Kimmie was trying to say and because of the serious nature of the discussion she'd just had with Jareth, she was able to respond to her daughter's concerns without feeling flustered. "Kimmie, we didn't do anything. Now that our relationship is out in the open . . . " Sarah thought very carefully about what to say that wouldn't involve another flat-out lie to her daughter. "Well, I just wanted to make sure his expectations were compatible with our life. So we had a long talk, that's all. I'm your mom first and foremost, and I'll never let anything get in the way of that."

Kimmie looked at Sarah and smiled, reassured that she wasn't going to take a backseat to her mother's new boyfriend.

In the meantime, Jareth had finished preparing the table, so everyone sat down and happily munched away on the pizza, far too hungry to allow conversation to get in the way of eating.