Said I Wouldn't Call

Summary: songfic. After movie only. Music & feelings traverse the immeasurable distance between two pained hearts to show they aren't as distant as believed. Jareth/Sarah

Author's Note: songfics are far too easy to do. Once the image comes to my mind it's very easy to type. It helps when the muse is not only easily jump-started by listening to the song, but also is quite demanding any time of which said song is thought or heard. In this case… this one is due to RockBand and my in-laws listening to more country than I do. :winks: First time I sang along to this song on my own game the visual for this came to me and though I attempted to fight it with the other stories I'm trying to write and finish I just couldn't. That I fashioned a Jareth character for my band probably didn't help. :winks: Hopefully now that I've shared this it will cease to be a distraction. ^_^

For ease of reading and to not have unnecessary words break the flow of this story I have typed the female's part in italics, the male's part in bold, and parts where they sing together in BOTH italics and bold.

I own neither anything from Labyrinth nor Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now" (to which I suggest you listen while reading this songfic) and gain nothing from writing and sharing this fic but joy and hopefully some peace of mind. Thank you.

Said I Wouldn't Call

The sound of her name -his name - in the dedication had her dropping the stack of pictures in her hands. Just before she herself slipped to her knees amongst them, soft tears starting to tease the edges of her eyes as the first notes sounded. All other thoughts vanished to focus on the spread before her.

Picture perfect memories
Scattered all around the floor

'Scattered was right…' Mossy green eyes moist with unshed tears lingered over a particularly beautiful sketch, the image for all its lack of color still seeming as if it would emerge living straight from the paper upon which it was cast at any moment. In her mind's eye Sarah could see the differing darknesses in the eyes shift to color the lighter blue, see the wispy drawn strands of hair take on a shade of blonde almost magical in nature. The other pages all across her floor a mixture of variances of the male presented before her as well as magical landscapes, her friends (his subjects), and even some attempted self-portraits of their moments together.

Memories. Memories of what had been.

'Of what could be…?' But the thought caught in the beginnings of a sob and Sarah could not finish it, even as a strand of long, dark brown hair slid to partially obscure the portrait that most held her attention.

Reaching for the phone 'cause
I can't fight it anymore

Only she could not exactly call him on the phone, could she? But… could she 'call' him another way? As she did her friends, ever so regularly, to comfort her through the years? If she did… would he even care? Would he come?

And I wonder if I
Ever cross your mind

Was her new friend right? His image blurred on the paper before her, obscured by the water in her eyes only barely contained. It hurt. It hurt so much to think she was the only one to cling to something so barely hinted at, so long ago. The music and her friend's implications swirled in Sarah's head tugging at questions she had tried to hide. Did he think of her? Did he think of her even half as often as she thought of him, as he crossed her mind?

For me it happens all the time

Silently a few harbored tears leaked past the dam of her eyelashes to trail down her cheeks. Could he have been thinking of her as she was of him all this time? Everything brought him to mind, made her almost wish. Almost call his name.

It's a quarter after one

The chime of the grandfather clock of the quarter hour jarred Sarah even as it fit perfectly into the song and for a brief second of time the woman marveled at the coincidence she was certain was not.

I'm all alone
And I need you now
Said I wouldn't call

Sarah near choked at the double meaning paired with the too-new memory of her friend playfully and lightly singing an entirely different, older song flashed in her mind. Call… she could call. Like she called her Labyrinth friends. Call his name. But dare she?

But I've lost all control

She shook, fingers gripping the paper within causing his portrait to waiver. Sarah was really losing it.

And I need you now

Miss. Want. Need. Was there really any difference?

And I don't know how

How much longer could she hold out? Did she even really want to anymore?

I can do without

Was it worth her pride… the fear of rejection if he did not want her as Sarah had come to realize she… she…

I just need you now

Alone for once in the silent stone tomb that was his throne room a tired and drawn but still regal male lounged upon a throne of bones. The boneless way his long, lithe body draped over the unyielding seat gave lie to the inner turmoil of the monarch. Pained mismatched eyes stared off into nothing as a mysterious melody filtered through the veil to fill the empty space with its otherworldly tune. Otherworldly in its mortal vein within this place. Drawn here by the sound of his name, heard so near her. Enough to call his attention. Enough to hold him. Enough to enthrall.

Another shot of whiskey
Can't stop looking at the door

Amber liquid stirred within the glass bowl confines cupped elegantly in his hand as stunned eyes tiredly watched the movement. Brandy, rather than the whiskey in the lyrics but the emotion was the same. In Jareth's mind the room shifted until he was in a mortally dizzying room of doors and stairways, eyes pulling to the place where she had first stepped through to their final confrontation. He could see her, shoulders squared with fearful determination, within the aching haze of his memory.

Wishing you'd come sweeping
In the way you did before

'So beautiful… so strong… my Precious Thing.' The Goblin King's thoughts sighed both in pride of her and longing; knowing his heart's wish of seeing her in his doorway again was slim to none. Still the ethereal being tied to respond to others' wishes could not help his heart's own from beating like a painful lifeline within him.

And I wonder if I
Ever cross your mind

Did his Champion ever think about him? Certainly she must… if only a little. The Goblin King had neither denied her companions nor others of his subjects from heeding her calls –no matter how trifle. Certainly HE would not be forgotten when even the least of his underlings was in her presence. But… did his lovely Sarah ever think about HIM for him? Ah… that was the real question. Did the girl -woman now- ever think about Jareth, the Goblin King? Did she know now what he had asked of her? Did she care?

For me it happens all the time

Groaning Jareth covered his face with the splayed gloved fingers and palm of his free hand as he leaned his head back to the solidity of his throne, black leather fingertips a sharp contrast as they separated pearlescent skin from pale fly-away bangs. Again… thoughts of her. Always thoughts of her.

It's a quarter after one
I'm a little drunk
And I need you now

He half snorted into his hand. 'How appropriate.' It did not matter the time: all times were nearly the same anymore. More times than Jareth would like to admit he was drunk, too. Not that it did more than slightly numb the ache. That empty feeling of missing half of one's soul. The knowledge that should she ever stop believing in his existence he really would die –whether by magical geis or simply that he would have no will to live hardly mattered anymore. Even if he could term this miserable existence alone 'living.' He could barely live within her. Without her. Jareth knew his need for the woman who held his heart was too great.

Said I wouldn't call

Call? Call? The words hit him like a lead brick dropped into his gut. Tossing back the last of the brandy Jareth growled and tossed the now empty sniffer at a wall where it shattered. Scowling at the sparkling pieces of glass in the magical light of his Labyrinth he sighed heavily before following that toss with an easier lob of a crystal; removing all dangerous shards in a scattering of glitter before they could cut his goblins' feet. She would not like if they were hurt.

But I've lost all control
And I need you now

Both hands cradled his fallen head over his knees as he shook, barely in control of himself much less anything else.

Jareth had no control though. Not of her… not over she who had taken any power he had over her from him. Not to see her, not to call her… not to stand as a viable male in her presence until she called…

Gods… he needed her.

And I don't know how
I can do without

How? How? He was not. Not well in any meaning of the word. Every moment away… every minute closer to her mortal end… he was dying inside. Soon, for all his immeasurable and unending immortal years he would be a literal shell of the king he was before. No… he could not do without her. This was what had become of him when they were merely apart. What would happen when Sarah was forever gone?

Jareth's soul clenched.

I just need you now

Now. Always. Forever.

Would it ever stop? When mortality claimed her life… would there be anything left at all to continue? Would it matter… if he was forever separated from her?

Whoa, whoa
Guess I'd rather hurt
Than feel nothing at all

He stood from his throne, gripping the top of his scepter until the claws holding the crystal bit into his flesh and his blood like tears wept down the sides for him.

Her hands slid along the paper and she felt the bite, the tiny sting that indicated a cut, but did not flinch. It felt… fitting.

Was it not better… this pain, that pain… showing that they still had capacity to feel? The pain… that lingered on the hope that there was hope? Because as long as they felt… there was a chance for the hurt to be healed?

It's a quarter after one

Clock hands had barely moved.

I'm all alone

Alone, always alone –even when surrounded by goblins and noise. Who were they to whom to speak one's heart?

And I need you now

The ache, the need… the unbearable emptiness of loneliness paired with the feeling of failure where it really counted.

And I said I wouldn't call

Sarah almost sobbed. She did! She said she would not! Promised herself! But… but… she had not realized then what it was she would feel... was it breaking her word when the reason was wrong?

By his throne Jareth frowned. She would not –he knew she would not. And he could not –no matter how tempting.

But I'm a little drunk

And I need you now

Jareth faintly snorted, feeling the brandy's slightly blurring, slightly numbing effect. Yes… yes he was. But it was not enough. It was never enough. Not more than to take a bit of the edge off –dim the agony to blunt the sharp edges.

Dammit… he needed her –he would always need her. More than she could ever know; more than he could ever explain.

Sarah sniffed, knowing there would never be anyone else in her heart –for no one could live up to the expectations he had so callously, so seemingly effortlessly filled. They set standards no one else could meet. She needed him… even if he would never know.

And I don't know how
I can do without

He couldn't.

She couldn't.

I just need you now
I just need you now

She was keeping him out; was it really up to her?

"Jareth…" She sniffled softly, fingers brushing over the high cheekbones of his profile sketch as the aching whisper slipped from her lips. "I need you now."

Oh baby, I need you now

A slight breeze ruffled the papers on the floor around her; a subtle sign where once there would have been a flashy entrance.

"Sarah."

At the intensity of feeling in that singular murmur of her name she broke her own breathlessness to look up at him, mossy green eyes meeting mismatched blue and black. Her gaze caught, unable and unwilling to look away. In his eyes it was as if all her own feelings reflected themselves… but with his take on them. All the anguish, the sadness, the longing, the hope… and the love.

"You came." Her eyes flicked beseechingly, sad fear growing as the visage of the Goblin King framed by her window did not move.

"You called." The unspoken 'finally' hung in the air between them, somehow bearing a near-tangibility that was almost suffocating. Instead Sarah choked on a sob, the remainder of her withheld tears overflowing the dam she had built over the years to trickle down her cheeks. Slowly, shaking but sure, she lifted her arms to him.

With a keen like that of his avian form Jareth dropped to his knees beside her to take Sarah into his arms as hers wrapped just as needy around him, the scattered memories in her art fluttering from his movements out of their way.

As the final piano notes faded away and the radio none had turned on fell to silence Jareth murmured into the dark chocolate locks finally beneath his cheek. "What took so long, Precious?"

Burrowing her face sheepishly into the sublimely soft leather of his jacket Sarah mumbled, "…said I wouldn't call…"

At once the mood lightened and Sarah smiled feeling the warm laugh of her Goblin King vibrate from beneath her cheek and fill the once lonely room.