Sarah sat up and blinked at him. She was terribly confused. Hadn't he said 'You're baby brother will become one of us forever'? Was that not suppose to mean that she would never see him again and that he would be turned into a goblin? But, Jareth wasn't a goblin. He was, apparently, fae. "But," she said, a look of confusion still plastering her face. "You said..."

Jareth sighed and nodded. "Yes, he would become Fae if you lost, and either I or another loving family would take care of him." Jareth watched her face. "However you had won, and I would have returned him if you had stayed with me, or if you had left." His face fell slightly. "Which you did."

Sarah felt a pit in her stomach, fearful that his hair would turn that awful color again and cupped his face in her hands. "Hey." she said softly, gently stroking his cheeks with her thumbs. "Even if felt that way about you, I would have to come back at some point. It's not like I can just leave my family and not let them know I'm alive."

He blinked. "You...you would have come back?" He blinked again and chuckled. "I thought, when you left, that..." He looked out the window because looking directly at her face was making him uncomfortable talking about this. "I thought that when you left that was it. I would have to nurse my broken heart alone."

Sarah stayed silent for a few moments, trying to think of the correct way to say what was on her mind. A million different options raced through her mind all at once, not one seeming suitable enough. Finally deciding to just speak and let the words come to her, Sarah sighed. "Did you not see the way that I looked at you?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

He blinked and turned back to look at her. "The way you...?" He narrowed his eyes in thought, wracking his brain of every single time Sarah had looked at him, and then it came to him. The ball. "That ball doesn't count. I was trying to make you forget your brother. It was my last attempt at not losing horribly."

Sarah shook her head, the ball being the furthest thing from her mind at the moment. "No," she said, ringing her hands in her lap. "I-I meant in the room with all the stairs and on the cliff before I...." she trailed off, knowing very well that the only possible end of that sentence would only result in him, or possibly both of them, entering yet another depressive state.

He thought back to the escher room and his eyes widened. Until Toby had caught her attention she had been looking at him in an unusual way. "I hadn't noticed at the time no. You had been looking at me, and then Toby caught your attention and I felt my heart break."

Sarah continued ringing her hands, terrified of actually voicing her view of him in the labyrinth. She had never really been good with words to begin with when it came to boys, but speaking to someone that actually had interest in her was proving to be exceedingly more difficult. "I-I..." she stammered, almost not wanting to speak but knowing that if she didn't it would only result in her blurting it out at some point anyway. It was better to get it out now. "I thought you were....sexy." He face flushed with a deep red on both cheeks almost immediately.

He blinked. "You..." A slight flush came across his face and travelled up to his hair. "You thought I was sexy?" He smirked and placed another kiss into her hair. "Thank you precious." He nuzzled his head against hers. "That means a lot."

Sarah blushed harder, her cheeks burning along with the color upon them. "I...I still think your sexy." she said, drawing small circles on his chest. "I just didn't know how to tell you. I was afraid and worried about Toby. I've never been able to tell anyone that I like them." She hung her head down, slightly embarrassed by her next omission. "I thought about staying with you when you asked."

Jareth smiled widely and brushed a hand against her cheek. "You did?" His hand trailed down her neck and over her shoulder. "I realize that you were frightened for your brother, but why did you not choose to stay with me?" He watched her carefully. "You can tell me the truth, I will not be upset."

Sarah looked down again, no longer frightened of speaking but of what his reaction might be to her words. She knew that she had to tell him, but she also knew that she never wanted to see that horrid color in his hair ever again. "I.." she paused, biting nervously at her lip. "I m-meant to."

She paused only slightly, then began speaking rapidly, her voice slightly trembling. "I had decided to stay but I just had to remember that line. I just had to. And when I did and I said it everything happened so quickly and then you were gone and I was here again. I convinced myself it had all been some sort of dream. That nothing had happened and that you weren't real and I would see again when I went to sleep. Then, when you showed up I was confused and frightened and said awful things to you and I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She was crying now, harder than she had expected and louder than she had wanted. Her face was buried in her hands and she was against his chest, sobbing into the fabric of his shirt.

Jareth watched her very carefully. He could tell that she was struggling for words at the beginning but then a steady stream of words poured from her lips and Jareth listened silently. His mouth opened wide when she said that she was just trying to remember a line from that damned red book, but she had decided to stay.

"Oh precious thing." He held her close and smoothed his hands over her back while he placed a gentle kiss to her hair. "You didn't know that those words would send you back home. It is alright." Honestly he didn't know either. He remembered pain, and a whirling vortex, and then suddenly he was an owl in her living room. "It's alright, I have long forgiven you, even for the hurtful things you said most recently. It is alright. I promise."

Sarah had heard his words, yet continued to sob, no longer in control of the tears she had wanted to cry but had convinced herself were not warranted. She sobbed harder, clenching at the fabric of Jareth's shirt and crawling desperately into his lap. "I didn't mean to." she said between sobs, every emotion she had held inside bursting out of her eyes and creating a pool of soaked cloth beneath her face.