Here's the first part of the three shot. I hope everyone likes it. :D

Alex was now just one step away from insanity. She had always been on the path to insanity, but she never thought she'd get this close.

Alex knew that her relationship with her older brother was complicated- it was one of those- love, hate (mostly hate) relationships. Ever since she was little, she found out ways to annoy her brother and make him "squeal." She loved drawing all over his dorky books and commenting on his "dolls." It satisfied her. Her parents didn't really think much of their behavior around each other. They thought that their kids were jealous of each other and would most likely grow out of this childish stage.

They were wrong.

You see, they never bought parenting guides until Max was a toddler. By then, Alex grew up, and so did Justin. Of course she still commented on his "dolls", but their relationship fell even further down the drain. They fought constantly, yet it still satisfied her. She loved making fun of his nerdy ways, mostly because she hated being compared to him. She felt like she was never good enough, even if she knew that her parents loved all of them equally. Naturally, her parents scolded her whenever she teased her older brother, but they didn't do more than "ground" her. They thought their parenting books were really helping them.

They were wrong. Again.

Their parents never knew what was in store for them next. Magic. Ah yes, magic. Justin found out about his powers, then Alex, and soon Max did too. They began their usual magic lessons every day after school and were amazed by the wizard world. Everything went alright at first- fooling around with spells and experiencing fun hands-on experiences connected with magic. But as you would expect, these fun and games became more- they became a competition. The day their dad told them of the family wizard competition, Alex swore things got serious- really serious. Justin became even a bigger nerd, always studying extra hard so he could surpass his siblings and beat them in the wizard competition. As Justin's dorkier ways increased, Alex slacked off more. She began hating her brother for giving her such a hard shadow to live in.

That's when she realized she was dropped off to insanity lane.

Months passed and Alex fulfilled all her needs by doing everything she could to irritate her older brother. But it wasn't just silly pranks anymore- Alex found out how powerful words could be. Instead of just putting salt (in place of sugar) in his tea, she demeaned him and ridiculed him every chance she got. It got to the point that her parents finally gave up on parenting. They finally accepted that their two eldest children would always want to slice each other's throats and that their youngest could care less. It was normal for them to hear yelling and seeing Max eating an old sandwich he found in his laundry hamper.

But guess what came with growing up? Maturity.

Although Alex hated that eight letter word, she knew Justin was becoming more mature about things. He knew his sister would always treat him this way- there was nothing much he could do about it now. All he could do was set a good example for her. Due to her rebellious demeanor, Alex often got into trouble- most of the time it had to do with magic. However, Justin was always there to pick up after her mistakes. He fixed every single one of Alex's mistakes. At first, Alex used this to her advantage, but then things got "weird." One time, Justin said that it made him an even better wizard by helping out his little sister. Over time, Alex began having more respect for her older brother, but still maintained her cold behavior towards him. She liked having Justin as her older brother. He was a good brother. He was such a good brother that she wanted him around always- she even made a duplicate of him and sent him off to college so that he would never leave her.

But what happened to make Alex realize he was more than just her brother?

Family vacation- that is what happened. Never in her life did Alex feel frightened and completely loss for words. But who was there to help her? Justin. However, this time was different. Justin didn't just fix the problem, he indirectly affected Alex more than he could ever imagine. She never realized that Justin thought so much of them as a "team"- she never knew he cared. The moment he disappeared out of her life briefly, she couldn't even begin to describe how she felt. Something was missing, and that something was a heck of an important part of her life. For the very first time in her life, she valued her brother.

The family vacation came and went, but things really changed. Alex couldn't help but feel the need to always be with her brother. She felt safe and comfortable with him. His dorkish comments made her so happy that all she wanted to do was smile. Every time their shoulders brushed or he pulled her aside to scold her, her insides tingled and melted into sheer bliss. She was sure this was so unhealthy and sickening, but how could something be so wrong, yet so right? She hated herself for even having these feelings, but she loved it even more.

Alex had now reached the halfway point to insanity.

She remained at this halfway point for quite awhile- until Justin's graduation day. That's when things began to fall apart for her- that's when she almost slipped…

"Hey! Stop it!...Ugh…do you want this lollipop or not?"

"Yes."

"Then sit down!"

"Okay."

Alex remembered how much she loved having control of "little" Justin. It felt good to be the oldest for once, but she knew it couldn't last forever.

"Retrievum Cerebrum!"

Thanks goodness Alex knew that spell.

"Lollipop? I only allow myself one of these on Halloween. This is NOT Halloween!"

"Welcome back…"

Yup, he was definitely back- what a nerd. But Alex loved this nerd dearly.

"Justin, I'm so sorry. I should have never created that duplicate in the first place. I guess I was just scared that I wouldn't have anybody to fight with when you went off to college."

Alex truly saved herself that time. In her head, she was thinking, "I was scared of you leaving me- leaving me without you knowing how I truly feel about you." Her heart began to beat faster. Did Justin buy that?

"We've had a lot of pretty good fights, huh? I think we still got a few good ones left in us. What do you think?"

Of course, being Justin, he couldn't tell that Alex was bluffing. Alex was relieved, but still unsatisfied.

"I hope so."

I hope so? Alex mentally hit herself- what kind of comeback was that? It was more like "I love you", not "I hope so." Grr.

"You guys are hilarious…just say you love each other!"

Alex hated when their parents ruined these moments between them.

"No we DON'T!"

Alex was not prepared for that. It seemed like they shared the mutual hate between each other, but in reality, Justin immediately responded with a harsh "No"…Alex followed instantly when she heard him say that. It sounded like they said it at the same time though- no one would suspect a thing. Alex remembered this moment like it just happened. She remember how close they were sitting before...then she noticed how Justin scooted to the other side of the couch-whereas she moved, eh, maybe an inch? Alex was officially heart-broken. Her brother really didn't love her- the way she loved him. But what could she do? The moment had to continue….

"Sorry I interfered with your college plans."

Once again, nice save, Alex.

"It's all good. When I had the college brain in my head, I realized I knew all that stuff anyway. Now it's time to get on with the real learning. Medical School, here I come!"

And that was that.

Alex never got the chance to tell Justin how she felt and soon, he was gone. That moment had been killing her for over the past year. Justin ended up leaving for Medical School and she just thanked her lucky stars for making her a good liar. Although she couldn't make her feelings go away, she could suppress them enough so that her family couldn't tell there was anything wrong with her. Alex sat in her room, thinking about all these different situations and how it all lead up to her reaching the one step before insanity. She loved her brother and no one could change how she felt. She knew some day and somehow, she would have to confess. But she would have lots of time to come up with something- Justin wasn't coming back until the next summer. He wouldn't be coming back this year because he had to finish up some "sophomore" things at his school.

Knocking was heard downstairs in the substation and Jerry yelled, "We're not open!"

The knocking continued, "I said we're not open!"

Soon, the knocking turned into banging- even Alex could hear it from her room. She heard her mother yell, "Jerry! Just open the door!"

"No, Teresa! We're closed!" Jerry fought back.

Meanwhile, Max lazily walked up to the door and casually opened it. His expression grew with shock as he stuttered quietly, "Ju…Justin?"

"Surprise."

Both Teresa and Jerry's heads shot towards the opening to their sandwich shop. Teresa yelled, "Mijo! You're home!"

Alex sat up straight in her room. Hold up…who's home? She listened carefully.

"I can't believe you're here! You weren't supposed to come back for almost another year." Jerry commented in disbelief.

Max's mouth was still hanging wide open. He stuttered again, "Ju…Justin? Is it really you?"

Whoa. Alex could've sworn she heard his name, but she wasn't sure, so she ran downstairs. She stopped halfway on the stairs as she made eye-to-eye contact with the person that had been on her mind for years now.

He was still the same- exactly the way she remembered him. He was wearing one of his plaid shirts with a nice pair of jeans that shaped his fully body nicely. His hair was attempted to be combed nicely, but still ruffled to give him that rough look. His complexion was the same and his sharp, green eyes stared straight through her.

He smiled, "Hi, Alex."

Endless thoughts raced through Alex's mind. He was here…now. She thought she would've had at least a couple more months to deal with herself, but he was here- standing right in front of her. Alex knew her head was spinning with fearful thoughts, but she was one hundred percent sure on one thing.

Insanity. Yup, Alex Russo finally reached insanity.

So, what did you guys think? I think this story has a very emotional feel to it, but I hope you enjoyed my writing! Please leave your comments in a review! I appreciate it greatly!