Justin chuckled to himself as he thought back on how he tricked Max earlier that night, about taking off the clown makeup. He shook his head at the boy's gullibility as he wiped the last of the said makeup off his own face. Justin then miserably sighed as he looked at himself in the mirror. Today did not go as planned however.

They had won tickets to the beast bowl and Justin couldn't have been any more excited. He always wanted to go to one. But then Chase I'm-a-beast-tamer-god-worship-me pops into the lair with all his suave moves and velvet words. He was flirting with Alex heavily, and even though Alex seemed a bit uncomfortable, Justin still caught that small flicker of attraction for the overconfident bastard.

That's when he started rambling on to Chase about being a monster hunter and that their jobs really weren't that different. But, in all seriousness, Justin's job is more dangerous, and it would be a lie if Justin wasn't hurt that neither Chase nor Alex thought the same.

The great almighty "beast tamer", tamed his beast in a little circle, force fielded in. Justin's monsters and beasts were not forced fielded in. Monster Hunting was a matter of life and death, not some entertainment show for all to watch. And the fact that Alex and Chase we're probably laughing behind his back at his antics, boiled his blood. He wanted to show them that he could be just as effective as a beast tamer, if not better.

Justin's shoulders tensed as he thought about that ugly beast coming for him, picking him up high above the ground. His jaw locked as he further thought about Alex being thrown over the damn beast's shoulders and he knew he was powerless to stop it.

He was a monster hunter. He was supposed to be able keep people safe. He was supposed to be able keep Alex safe.

"Dude, are you done in there yet?" Justin heard his younger brother whine from the other side of the door. Justin rolled his eyes. His brother didn't have the best bladder, which was quite problematic in certain situations.

He tiredly opened the door. "Yeah," Justin answered shortly, his voice quipped slightly with misery. He opened the door all the way so he could get through, as well as Max too.

Max turned towards his brother's retreating figure. "Don't sweat today. You'll get there."

Confused, Justin stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder at Max. He stared at the boy for a few moments, before finally realizing what he was talking about. "Ohhh, with the beast taming thing," Justin said, turning around to face his brother fully. "Nah, I was just having a bad day," Justin said waving and shrugging it off.

"Justin," Max said firmly. Justin dropped the cocky smile that he spread across his face at the tone of his brother's voice. "You don't have to pretend to be macho with me. I'm not the one you're trying to impress," Max said, ending the statement with a small laugh.

Justin kept staring at his brother. His mouth had gone agape as he tried to find the right words to say, if anything could be said at all. However, after a few moments of the brothers staring at each other wordlessly, Justin walked back to the bathroom door, standing only two feet away from Max.

"What are you talking about?" Justin asked lowly, his tone hushed and slightly panicked. "I'm not trying to impress anyone or anything…"

"Justin!" Max hollered. Justin looked at his brother in bewilderment. Max then lowered the level of his voice. "Stop lying to me. Listen: just like how I knew Chase was flirting with Alex, I know what your motives this whole day were. I'm your brother, I can see right through you. I know, but don't you see, I don't care."

Justin shook his head, his gaze falling to the floor because he couldn't look his little brother in the eye anymore.

"You want Alex for yourself. You hate when people come in-between you two, which is why you practically loath Mason. Today, you were trying to show Alex that you were braver and stronger and more skilled than Chase. You were hoping that at the end of the night she would see you as her main protector again because lately she hasn't been running to you for her problems and that's killing you." Max paused, taking in Justin's rigid stance. "You can tell me if I'm wrong…" Max then stated, but Justin didn't say a word.

A lone tear slipped down Justin's eye, but the older Russo wiped it quickly away. He sniffed back more tears from falling and looked Max in the eyes again. He then squinted at a thought. "Wait," Justin started hoarsely, "you said that I'll 'get there'…but if we're talking about Alex…?" Justin let his sentence derail since he couldn't make sense of his brother's logic, not that that was uncommon anyway.

Max smiled lightly. "We all have secrets, Justin," He spoke and shut the bathroom door.

Justin pounded on the door separating him from his brother. "What does that mean?"

"Dude, I'm trying to go to the bathroom here!" Justin faintly heard from the other side. Justin sighed then stepped back with a disgusted face. Max made it seem like Alex could possibly feel the same…

Frustrated with himself and Max, he turned around quickly, but consequently bumped right into Alex. Justin's eyes shot wide.

"Watch where you're going, Klutzilla," She teased.

"Sorry," Justin managed to meek out as he continued to stare at Alex widely. She couldn't have heard anything, right?

Alex looked at Justin suspiciously. He hadn't made a comeback and he looked like a deer caught in headlights. "Are you feeling alright? Did that beast knock you in the head too hard or something," She questioned, inspecting her older brother with her eyes.

"Fine," Justin said shortly and quietly. He turned on his heel to go to his room, but stopped mid-way. "Wait, Alex…" He turned back around and Alex was still standing where she was previously. She made a hand motion for Justin to continue. "I…I just wanted..." Justin couldn't go through with it though. She would think he was crazy or mental. Plus, there was no way that what Max was implying could be true. "…happy anniversary, you know, for you and Mason and all…" He bit back a grimace and forced a smile.

Alex raised her eyebrows at him, but eventually nodded to his statement. "Thanks…" They stood still for a few moments, letting each other's words hang in the air. "Justin, can you promise me something?" Alex suddenly asked, both making eye-contact with each other now. Alex slowly strode over to where her brother was standing.

"What?" Justin asked breathily as he watched her get closer and closer to him.

"Promise me you won't go around taming anymore beasts or monsters or anything like that again," She said quietly. "It's not exactly your thing," She continued, ending with a slight teasing tone.

Justin cracked a smile and laughed, which caused Alex to giggle. "Done and done," Justin answered, staring down into her now joyful face. She was so beautiful, especially when she smiled.

"Good," She said and then unexpectedly wrapped her arms around Justin's waist in a hug. "because you're no good to me dead," She mumbled into his shirt.

Justin wrapped his own arms around his sister's figure to return the hug, taking this precious time now to savor this moment, since they came less and less frequent lately. Then, out of the corner of his eye, Justin saw Max tip-toe to his room quietly. The young boy stood at his own bedroom doorway, looking fondly at the two of them in their embrace. Max nodded to Justin in a silent exchange of words and then entered his room quietly.

Justin hugged onto Alex a little tighter, and she seemed to do the same. Neither felt the inclination to let go just yet. And as the seconds ticked by and turned into minutes, Justin mused to himself that maybe, just maybe, they will eventually get there. That maybe they will eventually cross the already clean thin line they were walking on. But not now. It'd have to wait.

A/N: So, "Beast Tamer" was an alright episode, but of course I have to add as much Jalex behind it as possible. Lol. So how'd you all like the episode and this one-shot? PLEASE REVIEW with your thoughts on everything. I'd love to hear them. :)