Sarah had once wondered what it would feel like to experience a heart attack. Not that she wanted to have one but she was a little curious. Tonight she felt she got frighteningly close.

She'd been sitting on the couch, huddled in a corner with a salad dinner. She'd just gotten back from a late day at work and had put on a movie to enjoy her easy meal with.

Then suddenly there was a loud crash right behind her.

It sounded somewhat like an explosion of glass but different. Choking on a piece of lettuce she scrambled up haphazardly, wielding a fork in defense. Another crash sounded followed by rather violent yelling. She presumed it to be cursing with the venomous tone used but didn't recognize the language. Across the room was a raging blonde, pacing back and forth in her living room like some sort of caged animal.

He pulled the crystal balls rapidly out of thin air. He hurled them left and right which caused Sarah to fear for her furniture. Though any time a crystal went flying it smashed with seemingly no impact. Even when it hit the fruit bowl on her dining table it simply burst.

Sarah was reluctant to lower her 'weapon'. During their friendship she'd never felt in danger. But then she had never seen him flying off the handle like this. It was frightening. His voice was so loud and intrusive that her ears were ringing. None of his anger seemed directed at her though. As a matter of fact she wasn't even sure he knew she was there. She wasn't sure if he knew where he was for that matter.

She was doubting if she should interfere. Sarah had no idea if she might set him off further somehow. This new side of him made him feel rather unpredictable.

Quietly she moved over to the kitchen and boiled some water as his tirade continued. She put the cup quietly on her coffee table. Jareth had stopped chucking glass orbs a minute ago so she felt more secure moving over to him. He was still violently pacing, gesturing with his hands and ranting in the same unfamiliar language.

Awkwardly Sarah leaned back against the couch, offering him a bit more time to let off steam.

Suddenly he turned to her and instinctively she shrunk a little bit, ducking her head. He walked over to her and he wrapped his arms around her. As he held her she could feel his quickened breath and smell his earthy scent. Sarah just stood there uncomfortably as he had her arms pinned to her sides. His hug grew more intense, becoming constricting enough that she had trouble breathing. They were so close she could feel his heart racing against his skin.

Quietly she whispered his name and lightly twisted her shoulders. His arms loosened, then fell limply to his sides. The Goblin King was muttering softly, this time seemingly in several questions. He remained close to her.

Sarah was starting to get seriously concerned about the things that were going on in his world.

Seeing him this emotionally unstable she wouldn't even recognize him as the same calm and collected man that had on many occasions joined her for dinner and movie nights. Right now he couldn't be further removed from the playful and rather flirtatious Jareth she knew. Silently Sarah touched his cheek. She almost recoiled as her fingers met with moisture.

Was he crying?

Leaning back and cupping his cheek she moved to look at him. His mismatched gaze rose up to meet hers, his eyes shimmering. Sarah gently brushed her fingers across his cheek as she saw him in distress. "Come here," she muttered quietly and hugged him close. Gently she cradled his head with one of her hands, her free arm wrapped around his shoulder. The man remained quiet and rather motionless for a long time. Despite the fact that he was a decent bit taller than her he rested his head on her shoulder. Her hand rubbed his back, his arms unmoving and draped downwards between them.

It could have been five minutes or five hours. Neither of them could tell. After the long silence Jareth was the one to break it.

"What if I made the wrong choice?" His voice was slightly hoarse and seemingly depleted of energy.

Sarah wasn't sure how to answer that. Instead, she patted his shoulder. "Come on big guy," she whispered. "Have some tea."

Jareth hollowly walked to the couch and sank down on it. Sarah sat down next to him and handed him the cup of tea. He cradled it in his hands, staring into nothingness. The woman rubbed his back comfortingly. Vaguely she noticed that it had started raining, causing the windows to shimmer with the small droplets. Further away in the distance she could see orange and red leaves being tugged back and forth on their branches by an approaching storm.

"Sarah," he spoke softly, causing her to look back, her hand coming to rest on his shoulder. "I do not wish to impose, but might I be so bold as to ask to stay the night?"

"Why?"

"I can't bear to be at home. Not tonight," Jareth said cryptically.

The woman felt her stomach contract. For many months now she had been determined to know what was happening in Jareth's life. Tonight that drive was waning. With his uncharacteristic outburst and his current aversion to his own home the woman suddenly didn't want to know anymore.

Something big was happening. Something distressing even the mighty and playful Goblin King. Something so upsetting that despite his status as monarch he no longer wanted to be there. Sarah didn't know what to think or what to do. She wanted to help but didn't know how. She wanted to know what was going on but at the same time she didn't. She felt scared.

"Well," Sarah sighed. "I hope you brought your toothbrush." They shared a long moment of eye contact before his eyes lowered. He took her hand, squeezing it softly.

Sarah had offered Jareth to take a nice warm shower or a bath after his tea. He'd taken her up on that offer, retreating to the bathroom while Sarah cleaned up the kitchen and put the night lock on her front door.

Changing into her pajamas Sarah wondered if she should ask him what was going on. Directly this time. After he stormed into her apartment there was a case to be made that the least he could do is tell her. What made her hesitant was the fact that he seemed comfortable here. He seemed to feel safe. She didn't want to betray that trust.

"Sarah?"

"Bedroom," she called out. As she heard him approaching she turned on the nightstand lamps. As he walked in he was wearing simple but pretty and flattering deep blue satin pajamas.

"Nice pajamas, very luxurious." She held out her hand to the other side of the bed. "Get comfortable, I just need to brush my teeth and I'll be right back."

"I don't think it is appropriate for me to share a bed with you, Sarah." She'd expected him to be playful with her. Flirtatious, or at the very least suggestive. Instead, he just seemed uncomfortable.

"Well, I'm not going to let royalty crash on my couch. It's a queen sized bed, there's plenty of room."

"Are you quite sure, Sarah?" He asked reluctantly.

The woman chuckled. "So long as you keep your hands to yourself I see no reason why I wouldn't be. But we are keeping things family friendly, is that understood?"

The Goblin King couldn't help but crack a smile at her playfully stern tone. "Crystal."

With a snort she walked past him. "Now get comfortable, I'll be right back."

Jareth silently crawled under the blankets, propping the pillow up against the headboard. He briefly hesitated before peeling off his gloves and putting them on the nightstand, wringing his hands together uncomfortably. With a slow and deliberate exhale he touched his pendant. The relaxing spell on it was weak and this time did nothing to comfort him. His mind was still going a million miles an hour. No matter how much he tried to wrestle in some distance from his hauntings they sprang back in a matter of moments every time.

As Sarah walked back in he lowered his hands to his lap. The woman put a glass of water on his side of the night stand, bringing one to her own as well. She closed the door behind her and turned off the main light. As she sat down on the bed, under the covers, there was an awkward silence. Quietly the rain trickled against the windows.

"I am very sorry for the unhinged way in which I entered your home tonight, Sarah. I wasn't thinking clearly. I hope that my sudden entrance does not jeopardize the sense of safety in your home."

The woman looked at him. His gaze was directed outside, his thumb rubbing the back of his hand in discomfort. "Don't worry about it. You scared the shit out of me when you dropped in screaming, but I'm good." She settled back against the headboard as well. "I hope you know that…" Sarah paused briefly. "I hope you know that you are always welcome here. I might only be an insignificant little mortal girl. But whatever I can do to help… Just let me know."

As her eyes stayed solely focused on her lap he gently took her hand. "You were never insignificant, Sarah." The Goblin King insisted. "You have been many things but never insignificant. Immature, yes. A brat, absolutely." Her eyes started to narrow at him and he grinned wider. "But you have always been kind, loving, imaginative, headstrong and full of wonder. And I admire you for it."

She looked away, very much aware of his bare hand resting on hers. "Wow, what a suck-up."

"I mean it," Jareth insisted. "Admittedly, some of those to a fault. The brat, mostly."

Sarah looked over at him, unamused. "Well, at least I have my old Jareth back." He ruffled her hair playfully and she blew her hair out of her face and swatted at his hands. "Quit doing that!" Surrendering, he held up his hands before laying them back on the sheets. "All joking aside though," she started. "I do worry about you. Should I expect you to drop in during a rampage more often?" He opened his mouth to respond but held up her hand. "Because don't get me wrong, you are welcome here in good times and bad, but I would just like to know."

Jareth looked into her eyes. A few moments later he looked away. "No. Never again."

"You don't have to be so absolute about it. If you ever get upset you are welcome to vent here. I would just appreciate a quick heads up or at least a calmer entrance."

"No," the man insisted. "I am a grown man. A monarch to many and a powerful magical being. Throwing a fit the way I did was unacceptable."

Sarah looked at him, observing how his eyes kept flicking to his gloves on her nightstand and noting his rigid posture. The woman had never seen him this stressed. "Well," she suddenly said, startling him slightly. "Regardless of what caused you to be so upset, let's make the most of what we have right now. How about I tell you about Toby's school play in which he performed as a bratty king a week or two ago?"

"That would be lovely." Jareth said with an amused smile. As she started telling the story he looked at her. The way she lit up talking about the little tyke made him long for a normal life. She gestured wildly, illustrating her story with hand movements and fine detail. As she was telling her story her face reflected so many different emotions. Her hazel eyes flicked back and forth, following her own movements as she swayed her arms and moved her hands. The woman was likely oblivious to the way her voice was slowly but surely rising but he didn't have the heart to interrupt her for it. Once she had finished the description of the play she effortlessly continued to tell how Karen made the costume for him from a design Sarah had created and the ways Sarah had happily helped Toby rehearse his lines for hours on end.

But even though his heart swelled when seeing her excitement he was starting to feel himself slip into exhaustion. Luckily, the woman seemed oblivious to it and continued for a while longer. When she eventually looked over to him her cheeks turned a rather fetching shade of pink. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I have been droning on." She looked at her alarm clock.

"Nonsense," Jareth insisted. "You could read a five hundred page manual and you'd find a way to make it captivating." But his body betrayed him, his hand clasping over his mouth as he failed to suppress a yawn.

Sarah chuckled and tugged her pillow from the headboard down to the mattress. "Well, your highness, you might not look like you need it but let's get you your beauty sleep. My stories can wait. Next time I will bring some nice reading material. Like a phone book."

The Goblin King laid down as she settled down on the mattress. He turned to his side and leaned on one arm with his chin in his hand. "Sarah, may I ask you a question?"

"Sure," she muttered, covering her mouth as she let out a yawn of her own. "Shoot."

"Do you ever regret wishing away your brother?"

She looked at him, his face unreadable. "I did, once. When you took the Labyrinth novel away from me. At that time, I wished… I would have preferred," she corrected, causing him to grin. "That it hadn't happened at all."

"That was really the only time?"

"Yep," the woman insisted. "That was the only time. Every other second, including when I was running the Labyrinth I wouldn't have traded it for the world." Looking at him she had expected to find one of several emotions. The strange sort of despair reflecting in his eyes wasn't one of them. "Why? What's up?"

He laid down, staring up at the ceiling as one of his hands twisted a strand of his hair between his fingers. "To be perfectly honest, I don't know if I believe that." He shook his head. "No. I do believe it, it's just that… Remember what I said when I took the book from you? That you were too connected to it? To my world?" As he looked at her she wordlessly nodded her head. "I can't help but feel that your lack of regret is simply a form of obsession with all of it. Some unhealthy addiction that is clouding your judgment."

Sarah was a little surprised at the feeling of defensiveness that rose from his musings. "Look, Jareth… I'm not saying my adventure was moonlight and roses. You live in that world, day by day. For hundreds of years by now. To you it's nothing special but to me the things that happened there were for lack of a better word, magical. In my world we don't have fairies or talking worms or goblins.

I didn't particularly enjoy getting chased down by the cleaners. Or nearly having my head ripped off by those red fluffy bastards. I didn't really fancy having an army sent after me or getting groped by a hole full of hands. And let's be honest - that was rather inappropriate for a girl my age." Sarah still felt defensive but couldn't help chuckling awkwardly at that. Jareth looked rather uncomfortably amused as well. "But I got to know the beautiful side of it too. I saw openings in walls appear out of thin air. That room with the stairs and archways - I'm pretty sure that was the first and only time I'll ever walk on every possible angle a room could have. Not to mention I went to this extremely extravagant ball where I even got to dance with a certain king." By the end of her speech she was grinning. As she looked at him he had one of the softest and gentlest smiles on his lips she'd ever seen. His eyes were still glued to the ceiling but she could see the remembrance in his eyes. "You can't scare me away simply by insisting that there is nothing to like. But don't take that as an invitation to drug me again, because I will kill you."

"Nevertheless," he mused. "I can't help but have this nagging feeling that you are seeing your adventure more positively than you should. I'm unsure if perhaps, at least a part of it, could be an escapism of sorts for the life you have here. That you insist on wanting that part of my world in your life because it makes dealing with this world somehow easier. Almost as if you can't live fully within your own world."

"Jareth?" He looked at her. "Could you summon a crystal for me?"

The Goblin King frowned, studying her face for a second. Reluctantly he raised one hand and summoned a crystal that gently floated up and down above his fingertips.

"There," she said pointedly, gesturing at the floating orb he made appear. "How freaking cool is that? And you just did it like it was nothing. What's not to love?"

The man tried to repress a smile. He flicked his hand in her direction and the orb followed, drifting slowly towards her. An almost puppy-like excitement filled her eyes and she ever so carefully tried to stop the orb before it could float past her. The crystal touched her fingertips as she tried to cradle it as she looked up at it.

And then it popped. Soundlessly with a puff containing an obscene amount of glitter.

Sarah sputtered and rubbed her face as the glitter cascaded down on her, squeezing her eyes closed. Much like freshly fallen snow all glitters disappeared on contact and Sarah growled. "Jareth! You… You!" Words escaped her so in wordless rage she grabbed her pillow. Sitting up she slammed it over his head, heedless of the possible consequences of assaulting a king.

Jareth laughed as he shielded his face from a repeated assault. After a few seconds Sarah slammed her pillow back down on the mattress and plopped down on it again with an aggravated huff. Turning away from him she turned off the nightlight.

"Despite speaking a wide array of languages, I don't think I could find the words to describe what you mean to me." His voice was soft, genuine. Mirth still seeped through in his tone.

Sarah blushed deeply, not knowing how to even begin to respond to that. "Good night, suck-up."

"Good night, Sarah." He said quietly. "My little drama queen." Just out of his sight as he turned off the nightlight, she smiled.