"Justin!" Alex whispered urgently across the living room, as she grabbed his hand and pulled him away from Jerry to the other side of the room.

"What are you doing?" Justin whispered back impatiently.

He was trying to set up the family game night for his new girlfriend Daphne, who was coming over later to meet the parents.

Little did they know Justin actually wanted them to be their embarrassing selves tonight; he was trying to sabotage his relationship with Daphne.

She was nice enough, cute too, but he couldn't possibly love her when he loved...

He pushed the thought out of his head. He just didn't love her, that was all.

"I have two brains inside my head!" Alex said, pulling him sharply out of his reverie.

He frowned at her while she stared worriedly back at him.

"If you're trying to psych me out for sharades you're going to have to do better than that!" he said as he started walking away.

"No no no! I'm serious!" Alex insisted, pulling him back to her.

"I mixed up a bunch of spells and now I have Harper's brain inside my head!"

Justin looked sceptically at her.

"I- I can prove it!" Alex stammered- "Just- talk to Harper's brain."

Justin look incredulously at her.

"Ok," he said, humouring her.

"Let me see."

Justin put his hand on Alex's shoulder and said; "Hello... Harper's brain..."

Alex looked at Justin's hand on her body and beamed.

"You're looking at me with those eyes, I think I could faint!" She said, staring back and forth between each of his eyes lovingly.

Justin's heart skipped a beat. Then he realised Alex must be telling the truth.

"Definitely Harper's brain alright!" He said, somewhat bitterly, taking his hand off Alex's shoulder and moving past her.

She held onto his hand as he moved, taking herself with him as he moved closer to the door.

"Justin, please, I need your help." Alex said, with an unusually vulnerable look on her face.

Justin sighed, tearing his gaze away from her sparkling brown eyes.

" Ok!" he said, more sharply than he intended to, dropping her hand.

"I'll help you. Just like I always do!" he said with a scolding look.

She looked down, genuinely ashamed. He didn't want to make her feel bad, that was the last thing he wanted, so he let his face soften into a smile.

The doorbell rang, but Justin barely heard it.

He took Alex's hand again.

"I guess I don't mind helping my baby sister out once in a while." he whispered in her ear as Jerry moved across the room to answer the door.

She looked up at him with a smile, although Justin thought he could see the hint of a frown around her eyes.

It wasn't often Justin felt that Alex needed him.

Looking at her biting her lip and dropping her gaze, he dared to think all the things he could never say out loud.

At the same time, though, he knew that she only needed him because she had gotten herself into trouble yet again.

When, when was he going to stop helping her when he shouldn't?

When was he going to stop being putty in her beautiful hands?

And when would he stop loving her so much it hurt to look at her?

As he let go of her hand, ripping his gaze away from her to face Daphne and the rest of the evening, Justin feared he would never find his answer.