Every moment without Juliet was agony.
The seconds ticked away and Justin Russo sat in the glass casing, waiting.
Waiting for the moment he would see her again.
The moment his heart wouldn't hurt.
The young wizards face crumpled.
His cold, bare arms wrapped around his frame.
Her smell was almost gone.
The smell of vanilla...and death.
A sob escaped his throat.
"You'll always be my vampire."
"And you'll always be my wizard."
Someone tapped on the glass.
Hope hit him so hard his head spun.
Justin's eyes looked back down.
It was Alex.
For now, his world was silent.
It was the place he lost the love of his life.
Her memory was still fresh on his mind.
A dimpled smile coupled with the most adorable little fangs on earth.
Her hair was soft as silk.
"Butterfly kisses!"
"What do your feelings tell you?"
"That we should do this again sometime."
"Justin!" Alex banged on the glass and pulled out her wand.
His eyes closed painfully.
The pain took his breath away.
It opened.
Juliet was gone and...it opened.
His sister was telling him something.
He just sat there.
Justin felt her crouch beside him.
"...Justin...where's Juliet?"
His throat felt too dry to speak.
He tried not to cry as he managed, "She's g-gone."
A heartbeat.
"The mummy got her."
"Well...you can save her. Right Justin?"
He gave no answer.
"I'll come get you if it's the last thing I do!"
"I love you Juliet."
"I love you Justin."
One last kiss.
"...I love her."
Alex took a deep breath, "Well...you know what they say: if you love somebody, set them free. And if they really love you...they'll come back."
That made Justin's entire resolve crumple.
He sobbed and held onto his sister.
She held him back and gently comforted him, rubbing his back.
Justin felt like his heart was breaking, over and over again.
It was like shards of glass pushed out puffs of air.
"Look it's pretty obvious I'm not going to make it. Lets...just be together while we can."
Her warm embrace.
"It's okay Justin...it's all going to be okay," Alex's voice was shaky but had strength.
The eighteen year old in her arms was not her brother.
Or...maybe this had been her brother all along.
One thing was for sure:
She wouldn't stop until he was happy again.
Tears clouded his vision, his whole body shuddering in ache after ache.
"Ssh, it's okay. We'll find her Justin. We'll find her. This mummy doesn't know who he's messing with."
She tried to make him laugh.
She just got more snot bubbles.
And for once she didn't care.
She just wanted to kick Juliet's vampire ass.
How dare she do this to her brother?
What that was exactly, she'd figure out later.
"Sure I fall in love fast. But do you wanna know what's different about this time? When I'm not with her...my heart hurts."
"We'll find her, don't worry."