Chapter Three: The Day After

"Hoggle," Sarah called, "I need you."

"Sarah?" Hoggle's sleepy voice rasped through the mirror.

"You'll never guess who I saw last night!" Sarah replied, pressing her hand against the cool glass as her friend's crinkled face swam into view. His blue eyes blinked wearily a few times and he stifled a yawn behind his weathered hand.

"The Rat?"

"Well, yeah…" Turns out he could guess. She tapped her fingers against the dresser top impatiently. "He turned up at my parents' summer party. Apparently, he's been friends with my dad for like the past five years. Calls himself Jamie, but it was definitely him."

"Trying to trick your family into your good graces, no doubt," he muttered, scratching the back of his head as he blinked the sleep from his eyes.

"Well, apparently not. He claims that my magic protected me from him even knowing I was Robert's daughter. He'd made friends with him on his own with no ulterior motive."

"Bah! And you believe that?"

"I don't know what I believe anymore." Sarah usually found comfort talking to Hoggle or Sir Didymus, but today it was making her stomach feel greasy and unsettled. Was she hoping Hoggle would confirm the truth of Jareth's story instead of confirming her own bias?

"If you had magic, like him, you'd have beaten the Labyrinth a whole bunch easier." Then he sighed. "However, I do knows that the Rat has been lookin' for you off and on with no luck and he'd kinda given up."

Something flip-flopped inside her. Why did that unsettle her?

"He's spending an awful amounts of time Above and we all thought he was being a cheats considering he is courting Lord Icca." Hoggle rubbed his chin with his gnarly hands. "Buts if you say he's friends with your father—though that's hard to believe as the Rat has no friends—perhaps he's been spendin' time with your dad and not a lover like we alls thought."

"Icca?" Sarah queried. "Jareth mentioned that there is a fae who everyone thinks he is still—ahem—courting, but he actually isn't."

"He ain't?" Hoggle shrugged. "Well, I knows nothin' about whether he is or ain't, but that's what's everyone's been sayin'."

They lapsed into a more general conversation before Sarah signed off. She didn't really learn anything new and it only compounded her paranoia that he was somehow out to get her.

"Your father is a bit hungover, so I am just going to pop to the shops to get some things for him," Karen said, dangling her car keys off her finger. Sarah had already been there for an hour, tidying and cleaning. She hadn't seen either her father or Toby, which made her slightly resentful that it was being left to the women. "Put that in your father's pile over by the barbecue. He can sort it out when he has recovered."

"Sure." Sarah dragged the mass of fairy lights and dumped them by the dirty barbecue. She wondered how much she would be adding to this pile by the end of the day. All of it, with any luck, she thought bitterly.

"Would you like anything while I'm up the road?"

"Maybe some Subway?" Sarah had a craving for pickles.

Karen nodded. "I remember your order. See you soon."

Karen had been gone a while and Sarah was mopping the kitchen floor, listening to music that was quiet enough that it wouldn't wake her father, but loud enough that she wouldn't hear anyone sneaking up on her. She was feeling pretty energetic so her cleaning turned into dancing with the mop as she sang along to the songs on the radio.

"I was feeling complicated.

I was feeling low.

Now every time I think of you

I shiver to the bo-o-ne.

Oh, oh, oh, oh oh—"

She was spinning around the mop like she was pole dancing, faltering when she saw Jareth standing in the doorway holding a bunch of flowers.

"What the fuck?" The mop landed on the ground with a clatter as she clutched her heart.

"I knocked, but no one answered. The door was open and I could hear music," he replied, not at all bashful for having snuck inside uninvited. "Is Robert or Karen in?"

"Dad's asleep and Karen has just popped out. She will be back soon," Sarah replied automatically. Perhaps she should have lied instead of admitting she was all but alone in the house…not that her father would be much use against a fae with powerful magic.

"Ah." He shifted the flowers to his other arm. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Don't fae have to wait to be invited in?" Sarah asked, picking up the fallen mop and scrubbing the floor with more vigour.

"I was. Yesterday."

"So once you've been invited…"

"Then I am always invited, yes."

Sarah dunked the mop in the bucket and wrung it out. She mopped over where she had already cleaned just to avoid going near him. The radio was still blaring in the background and she nonchalantly hummed along, pretending his presence did not disturb her at all.

"The flowers are for your parents to thank them for their invite," he said after a few moments of silence.

"I thought fae believed thanking people meant owing a debt."

"No, that one isn't strictly true." He shifted the flowers again. "We just aren't very grateful creatures so we don't say words of gratitude very often; not unless we truly mean it and not just out of politeness."

"Can I get you a vase?" Sarah asked, annoyed that she had to be courteous to Jareth as she was the only one currently conscious in the house.

"That would be acceptable."

Sarah cautiously picked her way across the wet floor, grabbed a crystal vase from the cupboard and tiptoed to the sink. She passed Jareth the vase of water and resumed mopping. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched him arrange the flowers delicately and with such precision, it caught her off guard. It was paradoxical to see her villain, tenderly stroking delicate petals as he shuffled the stems around to his satisfaction.

"Some of my kin will refuse to say thank you, so that is probably where it originates from," Jareth said, as he inspected a cornflower. "They don't want the debt, as you rightly say."

"Well, you can thank me and I won't consider you in my debt," Sarah replied, scrubbing at a stubborn patch. "Ridiculous notion."

"You already owe me a debt," he said, without taking his eyes off the flowers.

"How the fuck—"

"You haven't forgotten the destruction to my city and my castle, have you?"

Sarah's hand slid down the mop and she nearly skidded over backwards. "I do not owe you for that. It was part of your twisted game and you set the Goblin Army on me. What did you expect me to do? Surrender?"

"Well… yes." Jareth finally looked at her. "I didn't expect you to win."

"And you expected that pathetic army to beat me?" Sarah laughed without humour. "Or did you expect them to kill me?"

"They would never have killed you, Sarah." He fiddled with one of the leaves. "The Labyrinth was too fond of you. It wanted to keep you, not kill you. Though it is worth mentioning, you were too old to change and too young to keep."

"Why on earth would it want to keep me?"

"Magic attracts magic and it clearly liked the taste of yours." Jareth was resting his hands in fists on the kitchen bench, seemingly having decided to stop fluffing around with the flowers. "If the Goblin Army harmed you, their lives would have been forfeit."

"But you still sent them after me," Sarah pointed out, propping up the mop against the bench and blowing the hair out of her face. "So technically, I acted in self-defence and it was not deliberate."

"And you still won," he said flatly. "Is this rehashing really necessary?"

"You're the one who claims I am in your debt." Her tone was reminiscent of a juvenile: 'You started it.'

"Yes, but I have yet to detail how you can clear that debt!"

"I'm not interested." Sarah took up the mop again and hummed along to the radio as she violently cleaned by his feet. Jareth was wearing boots, she noticed; he might have a mortal shirt and jeans on, but he clearly couldn't part with his boots. Even as a mortal he seemed to be quite the peacock. Though, she had to admit he cut a fine figure in his stylish mortal clothing. At least the jeans weren't so tight.

Realising she had been staring at his groin and mopping the same spot for some time, Sarah dunked the mop into the bucket a little harder than was strictly necessary, sloshing dirty water everywhere.

"Just a simple request."

"I think considering the cleaners, the peach, the battle and—not to mention—the fact you even took Toby in the first place, any debt against me is cleared, Jareth."

"You asked me—"

"To take the child, and to be frightening, blah blah blah." She rolled her eyes. "How generous!"

"Do you still not blame yourself?"

"Every fucking day," Sarah snarled. "Not a day goes by that I don't regret wishing him away. You probably don't know what regret even means."

"Actually, I am learning exactly what it means to regret," Jareth replied, massaging his temples lightly.

"I was enjoying this task without your presence," Sarah sniped.

"Oh, yes," he said with a chuckle. "You were singing quite beautifully about a thorn in your side and running away from them. If I didn't know better, I could have sworn you were singing about me."

Sarah laughed despite herself. "How much did you see?"

"Nearly all of it. It was fascinating seeing you in a moment of candid joy, rather than the stilted persona you wear like armour to protect yourself from me."

Sarah tilted her head. It was true that she was always on her guard around him for good reason. But then again, she was sure she had never seen his true self either.

"Sarah, I'm back," Karen called. "Oh, hello Jamie." She gave Jareth a wide grin at the sight of him standing in her kitchen talking to Sarah. "We weren't expecting you."

"I just popped round to give you these flowers as a thank you for last night," he said, gesturing to the vase.

"I hope Sarah hasn't been too rude to you."

Sarah narrowed her eyes but Jareth merely laughed and said, "She has been the perfect host. Fret not, Karen. I enjoy every second in her company."

Karen waggled her eyebrows at Sarah knowingly. It was all she could do not to groan out loud. She took her lunch from Karen's outstretched hand and pulled herself up onto a barstool.

"I didn't get you any lunch as I didn't know you'd be here," Karen apologised.

"No need. I was just about to leave."

"Oh, I can pop a quiche into the oven if you'd like to stay."

Jareth accepted—much to Sarah's chagrin—and sat on the barstool next to her. Karen smiled like her plot was coming together. Sarah wanted to scream at her to stop meddling. She ate her sub in silence as Karen and Jareth chatted.

"Oh, Sarah, don't let me forget that box I keep meaning to give to you," Karen said as Sarah popped the last bite into her mouth.

"What box?"

"The one that is labelled"—she cast a shifty gaze to Jareth—"Teenage Angsty Shit."

Sarah nearly choked as she recalled the box. Hearing Karen swear was the least of her troubles.

"It has your music box and that strange ornament of that Fairy King you used to like from that maze book," she continued. "Along with the book itself, and a few other toys and costumes."

Sarah wanted the earth to swallow her whole.

"Goblin King," Jareth corrected in clipped tones. "Not Fairy King."

"Oh, you know it?" Karen asked, raising a blonde brow in scepticism.

"I am very familiar with the book, yes," Jareth replied, deadpan. "I wasn't aware your daughter was so fascinated with the character of the Goblin King, however."

"Oh, yes she was positively in love with him. Constantly playing pretend as the object of his affection. He did cut a rather romantic figure, from what I gathered."

"But then I grew up and started having less toxic ideals," Sarah snapped, ready for this conversation to be finished with. "Teenage fantasies are just that—fantasies."

"Hmm, yes," Karen said thoughtfully. "I had a whirlwind introduction to fantasy by becoming your stepmother. It was interesting to say the least, even if I didn't fully understand it at the time."

"It's a good thing I left those days behind me then," Sarah muttered, licking the ranch sauce off her fingers.

"I always admired the character of the Goblin King," Jareth said, accepting a glass of water from Karen. "Aside from being handsome and intelligent—"

"And humble," Sarah interjected.

"—And a fantastic singer, he also has the amazing ability to see the potential in others and wouldn't have challenged the girl in the story if he didn't think she was worthy."

Sarah stared at him.

"He also wrote all the songs in the book himself. I particularly like the line from the very first page of the book," he went on. "'Down in the Underground, you'll find someone true.'"

Sarah turned away and sipped her own water.

"'It's only forever, it's not long at all,' is another favourite," he added.

Karen was positively beaming. "You two have so much in common."

"Burn the entire box, Karen," Sarah retorted. "I don't care about any of it."

"No, don't!" Jareth suddenly exclaimed, forcing both women to stare at him expectantly. "If Sarah doesn't want any of it, then I will take it. The book and the figure are so rare to find these days."

"Is that okay, Sarah?" Karen asked tentatively.

Sarah shrugged. "If he wants them, he can have them."

"Are you not even going to check the box for something you may want?"

"No." She knew every item in the box like the back of her hand. "Jamie can have it all and I hope he enjoys wearing my dresses."

Jareth chuckled. Sarah scrunched up her rubbish and hopped off her chair to throw it in the bin. She thanked Karen and continued to potter around tidying up. She felt like she had single-handedly completed all the tasks when she reentered the kitchen to see Jareth loading the dishwasher. Karen had disappeared.

"You're helping?"

"So it seems." He straightened to watch her. "It is bad manners to sit and watch as others clean and tidy."

"You're a king."

"Not here, I'm not." He reached for another plate. "Can you tell me if I have done this correctly? Modern technology isn't something I am altogether familiar with."

Sarah sighed, taking a look in the dishwasher and shuffling around a few items. "You've done well. You've managed to work out where most of it goes."

"It's like a puzzle," he said gently. "But one that involves getting my hands dirty."

"You must be so far out of your comfort zone." She didn't intend her words to sound so sarcastic.

"I am used to being waited on hand and foot and failing that, I have my magic." He placed a glass in the top rack. "But I am not lazy."

"You keep telling yourself that." Sarah smirked and started helping him for reasons she couldn't justify. "I could never be waited on hand and foot. I value my independence and enjoy the feeling of accomplishing things myself."

"You didn't always feel that way."

"As a naive teenager?" Sarah placed the last item in and swung the spray arm around to make sure it was obstacle-free before placing the cleaning tablet in the cutlery basket. Closing the door, she peered up at him. "I haven't felt the need to be a princess since the day I had my priorities set straight."

Jareth watched her as she pressed a few buttons and the machine roared into life.

"However, I do wis—I would like someone to clean my house every once in a while and I'd love a dishwasher." She scratched her arm self consciously. "I earn enough money to buy one but I'm too busy to actually get it plumbed in and so on."

"What is it that you do for a living?"

Sarah sighed. "I am a junior architect for a big firm. I'd like to start my own company one day." She paused wondering if she should elaborate. "I actually have been inspired by the Labyrinth in some of my designs."

He raised a brow. "Indeed?"

Sarah nodded, not meeting his eyes. "Unfortunately because I am only a junior, they were credited to a senior and they're not in my name. Well, you can see my name if you squint but if it wins any awards, I won't be getting any recognition for it."

She tried to keep it light, but Sarah's anger at the situation was boiling up.

"I think I know how you could pay off your debt to me."

Sarah rolled her eyes. "There is no debt."

"Just show me the building inspired by the Labyrinth, and then we are even."

They were interrupted by her father almost crashing through the door, holding his head and groaning.

"Isn't it about time science invented a cure for hangovers?" he groused.

"I believe that is called not drinking as much the night before," Sarah replied, scoping the vicinity for something else to vindictively add to her father's pile. "Also, Karen has left a pile outside for you to sort out."

"Good morning to you too, Sarah," he grumped as he flicked the kettle on.

"It's the afternoon, dad."

Robert just grunted and then clapped Jareth on the back. "She isn't normally so caustic, Jamie; please ignore her."

"Yes, please do," Sarah replied with thinly veiled sarcasm, carrying a load of linen to the laundry room. She heard her father ask Jareth what he was doing here as she disappeared to put yet another load of washing in the machine.

She came out with a basket on her hip to find the kitchen deserted. She headed outside to the washing line and saw both males were sipping their hot drinks as they stared at the massive pile of work Sarah had dumped in a pile for them. Sarah smiled with grim satisfaction as she placed the basket on the ground and started hanging up the washing.

Sarah had mostly avoided Jareth for the remainder of his time there. He didn't seem to want to leave and nothing Sarah could mutter under her breath deterred him. He remained to help her father with his jobs, which irked her no end. Especially as she had been working alone for most of the day without the luxury of a sleep-in.

The late afternoon sun was warming her back by the time she hung up the final load of washing and Jareth finally managed to catch her alone.

"So will you show me the building you have designed based on my kingdom?" he asked in a soft murmur from behind her.

"And if I don't?"

"Then I will just have to find another way for you to pay off your debt."

She spun around at his words so she could glare at him. "I am not in your debt."

"Maybe not by the rules of your world, but certainly in mine." He bent down and picked up the basket full of clothes fresh off the line.

"Stop pretending to be helpful." She went to grab the basket from him, but he angled it away from her.

"I am not pretending. You met me once a long time ago when we were playing the Game and you think you have my entire character down pat? You are quite judgmental, Miss Williams."

Sarah huffed as she spun on her heel and headed back to the house.

"Wait," he called. He was faster than her even carrying the heavy basket and was soon in front of her, barricading her entry into the house. "Show me your house…please."

"Or what?" Sarah was deathly curious about the alternative.

"Or you will have to put that knowledge and expertise to good use by designing new goblin homes and then making them, brick by brick." He smirked rather maliciously. "And that would involve you having to stay in the Labyrinth until completion."

Sarah scoffed and then gave a bark of laughter for good measure. "One is very much not like the other when it comes to those two options."

"Then it should be easy."

"It is." Sarah pressed her hands against his arm holding the basket. "I choose neither." Pressing her advantage—he was quite surprised to find her touching him—she pushed a bit harder until he stepped back for balance and she cleared the space between them.

"Sarah…" He followed her inside, depositing the basket on the kitchen floor.

"No, Jar—Jamie or whatever your name is today," she said with a deep frown. "I won. It's over. I owe you nothing."

He let out a deep sigh. "Fine."

"Fine?" She turned to face him with incredulity.

"Fine!" he emphasised.

"You're giving up just like that?"

"I am going to ask you to show me the house design, not as a debt owed but because I am interested and would like to see it." He sighed dramatically. "Please."

"Did that hurt?"

"Did what hurt?"

"Asking nicely?"

"Yes it did," Jareth replied somewhat coldly, suddenly finding a small mark on the kitchen counter infinitely more interesting than the conversation.

"Oh, you two!" Karen exclaimed jovially as she entered the kitchen. "I think we are all finished now, so you can both come and have some iced tea and scones to wrap up a hard day's work."

"I think I am going to go home," Sarah replied, grabbing her handbag from the side cabinet.

"Me too, Mrs Williams." Jareth picked up his jacket from the back of one of the barstools.

Sarah rooted around in her bag for her keys and her fingers brushed against one of her business cards. She nibbled her lip as she contemplated whether or not she should give it to Jareth. Pocketing it, she quickly kissed Karen on the cheek and called out her goodbyes to her father before heading out the front door. Jareth had caught up to her by the time she reached her car. Sarah pulled out the card and wordlessly handed it to him.

"Thank you," he said, reading the card before he placed it in his shirt pocket and patted it a few times. "I appreciate it."

"Don't make me regret it, Jareth." She opened her passenger door and threw her bag into the car.

"I won't."

"Tell me why though: why this keen interest?"

Jareth shook his shaggy hair out of his eyes as he pondered his next words carefully. "Obviously, I have never been beaten before, so you are a point of intrigue and that makes something inspired by my home infinitesimally all that more interesting."

"You've never been beaten before?"

"Never." Then he chuckled, much to her surprise. "You would be surprised at the number of people who try. Those with magic—and who know how to use it, mostly— and even they fail to get the gate open, or even find it to begin with."

Sarah pondered this. "But you said last night that I had magic."

"Yes, but you don't know how to use it."

Jareth looked like he was on the verge of saying something else, something that looked like it was going to be momentous by the glint in his eyes, but it dissolved the moment they were interrupted.

"Oi, Sarah!" Both of them turned to see who was calling her.

It was Gavin, walking hastily down the path towards her.

Sarah grimaced. "I have got to go."

She raced around to her driver's side and waved frantically at Gavin while mouthing, "I am sorry: in a hurry—bye."

She threw one last glance at Jareth who was watching the unfolding events with mild interest before she slammed her car door and accelerated away from them both.

A/N: The song I have used here is Thorn in My Side by Eurythmics.