She's staring at him now, angrily, and he doesn't know if she'll ever forgive him for this one, or if he'll ever be able to help her again because god knows that Alex Russo won't accept help from someone she really hates.
"..." There are no words, there never were words, so why does this silence make them both feel melancholic?
Oh, that's right. Because she's not making fun of him or yelling. She's giving him the silent treatment, but she doesn't mean to. She wants to talk, but what can she say?
"Why are you leaving?" she asks and she knows he'll go for the obvious answer and tell her it's for his education, but that's now what she wants, she wants him to tell her what she wants to hear, even if it's a lie.
"Becuase there were no good college's in the area, and getting into Harvard is a once in a life time chance, no way am I wasting it!" he tells her. She doesn't care though, it wasn't what she wanted even if she did see it coming.
"... That's not what I meant..." she mumbled and he gives her a look of confusion, he has no idea what she means now, but then, she doesn't know either, she never has.
"Then what did you mean?" he asks her, she shakes her head and gets up.
"I don't know" she mutters, because she hasn't got the courage to just speak anymore, it has to be drowned out because she's afraid she'll start to cry.
"Justin... Who's gonna get me out of trouble now?" she asks him again, and he looks down, she knows it's because he has no answer and because he's starting to feel quilty for leaving her.
"Maybe... You'll just have to stay out of trouble?" he suggests and she scoffs, they both laugh because they know it'll never happen.
"Who's gonna tell me useless stuff that actually comes in handy when I do get into trouble?" she asks him again. He gives a look of deep thought and she can't help but smile.
"Maybe you could pay attention in class?" he suggests again, but this time she doesn't scoff or laugh and it worries him, because it was obviously meant as a joke.
"... What am I going to do with my life?" she asks him and now he becomes scared.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm hopeless, Justin, I'm only good at art and I'm still not the best, I have no special talents that will get me into college and... I'm scared about the future... I can't hold it off forever" she murmurs. He hugs her, and they both enjoy it a little too much.
"You'll be fine Alex, in a worst case scenario you can live with me, okay?" he tells her happily, but it makes her heart hurt, it makes her bleed on the inside because it makes her feel weak, and Alex Russo does not do weak.
She pulls away and sits back on his bed. She stares up at him again.
"... You know... Even if you are the world's most annoying brother, I still love you, right?" she explains and he nods, of course he knows, maybe she's reluctant to admit it, but she says it a lot and even if she didn't her actions make it obvious.
"I'll still help if you if you or Max really mess up, I promise" he tells her and she smiles, but she feels a bit upset that he mentions Max and brings him into this "sibling" moment, even though they both know it's more than that.
…

…

The silence is deafening, but there are no more words to say.
Eventually Justin tells Alex to go to bed, she fights him for a bit but gives in eventually.

While she's standing outside his door she swallows hard. She should go to her room, but her big brother is leaving tommorow, and she knows it was all hopeless anyway.
She knows how she wanted it to go, she knows what she wanted to hear.
"Alex... I'll stay with you, because I love you and I don't want you to get hurt" he says in her mind.
She wanted to yell at him for not saying it.
But she didn't and she never could.
Alex Russo may be selfish at times, but she would never ask the man she loves to throw away their life for her.

No matter how much they both wish she would.

My first story, so please be gentle.