Everyone knew. Everyone knew, even before Justin and Alex could confess to themselves or to each other. Everyone knew. They just found out at different times.
…
M A X
Max felt as if he was born knowing the special connection that his older brother and sister shared.
His earliest memory was of them all playing family. Max had to be about three-years-old at the time, making Alex around five and Justin about six. Of course, Alex was the mother and Justin was the father, and little Max was their son.
Alex was "making" breakfast for them with the new kitchen set their parents had given her for her birthday. (Today the thought would be a laughable one.) She poured Justin his coffee (apple juice) and gave Max a plastic slice of bread, which he remembers trying to actually eat.
Justin then proclaimed he had to leave for work, like he heard his parents and the people on TV say. He got up and exited Alex's room, but Alex called out to him. He ran back in and she complained that he had to say goodbye to her. He said goodbye, but Alex pouted further and stomped her foot down to the ground, claiming that husbands kiss their wives goodbye when they leave for work.
Without any hesitation, Justin swept down and placed a small peck onto Alex's lips.
Max remembered, even then, Alex and Justin beamed at the gesture. Sure they didn't know what they were doing was wrong -they were just playing- but Max looked back at that memory now and knows that they always felt this way about each other.
Max always knew.
People say he's in his own world so he doesn't notice anything, which sometimes is true, but with Justin and Alex, it's always been there. He didn't have to go searching for the answer when he saw it from the beginning.
…
H A R P E R
Alex's brain was very bossy, even though it was very easy to control because of her small attention span, it could easily take that control back. But Alex's brain was also a very dark place, like she told Alex. Numerous plots and schemes seemed to be filed away in all the sections of her brain; Justin being the target of many of these.
Harper had access to Alex's thoughts just like she had access to hers, and since Alex was her best friend she knew a lot of what was going in Alex's mind anyway. Alex even laughed off Harper's comment about Alex's brain being a dark place, but there was one secret Harper found out that Alex didn't have a clue about.
Harper made sure she didn't think about it until the spell was reversed, but it's a thought that made Harper worried for her friend's mental stability. Harper found that as much as Alex thought about scheming against Justin, she thought twice as much about him in other ways.
Now Harper will be the first to admit that she was the one that was going gaga over Justin in Alex's body, but Alex's thoughts seemed to show that she wanted to do the same. Like she also wanted to faint when Justin looked at her, and that she was also really jealous of Daphne and wanted to cause her bodily harm as well.
Harper kept thinking maybe she was reading her own thoughts, mistaking her own for Alex's. It was hard telling each other's thoughts apart sometimes, but Harper felt she could feel double the anger, double the jealousy, and double the fondness.
She felt as if she could tap into memories of Justin that weren't hers and could feel deep feelings radiating from them. Nothing but pure love for the older wizard.
From then on, Harper couldn't help but watch Alex a little more closely. At first she saw nothing more than she normally did. Pranks followed by taunts, and more schemes; she almost felt silly for ever thinking her best friend could like Justin like that.
Then it seemed when she wasn't supposed to be paying attention, she would catch Alex sneaking glances at Justin. Harper noticed how Alex couldn't seem to be near Justin without touching a part of his body, and how it seemed that she smiled wider and brighter around him. She laughed louder and more heartily than she ever did with anyone else she knew.
And if those weren't indications that something was going on, her eyes couldn't lie. They were like magnets to him. Wherever he was in sight, her eyes seemed to follow him inconspicuously, or so she thought. They sparkled in excitement and fondness when he was around.
Harper wondered how this could have been overlooked before; how could she not have seen this when it was so obvious.
Crazy thing though, was that it seemed Justin felt the same. To say it didn't break Harper's heart would be an understatement, but as she watched Alex watch Justin, Harper found herself watching Justin more often too.
Alex would glance at Justin, and quickly looked away, but then Harper would find Justin gazing at Alex in the same manner Alex gave him shortly before. He looked at her longingly, eyes pained, but love shining through for the brunette.
Harper was mad at first, heartbroken actually, when she saw her best friend liked Justin, who Harper had liked since they were young, and especially since it was illegal, but as she watched them steal glances at each other, and hug so much longer than normal siblings should, she actually wished they could be together.
…
M A S O N
Mason was watching a romantic-comedy movie in the Russo living room with Alex. A big bowl of popcorn was placed in his lap for both their hungry hands to snatch at throughout the movie. Alex sat next to him, her side pressed directly alongside his, trying to snuggle deeper against him. It felt so nice to be alone with her, doing normal couple things, considering they weren't very normal to begin with; a werewolf and a wizard.
"What are you watching?" He hears someone whisper and as he turns around, he sees Justin hunched over the back of the couch, his head close to Alex's ear. She tells him the title, but to be quite honest, Mason doesn't remember what they were watching that day.
He hears Justin's footsteps walk away and he internally is relieved. Justin wasn't a bad guy, but Mason always felt hostility from him. However, a moment later the couch dipped down on the other side of Alex. Mason looked over and saw none other than Justin. He held back a frustrated groan.
"I thought you might want some of these," Justin whispers to her. His hand held the pickle jar. Alex moved away from Mason, leaving the side of his body she once occupied, cold. She reaches for the green food item with delight, never moving back to her previous position.
"How'd you know I was just craving these right now?" She whispers elatedly, then plops one into her mouth.
He turns to her, a grin forming easily on his face. "You always have your popcorn with pickles," He merely states. Alex beams lightly at her brother with a look of gratitude and love. Mason can't help but feel envy. She never looks at him like that.
He locks his jaw, and turns his head to the screen, trying to focus on the movie instead of Alex and Justin. However, the deed is better said than done, since all Mason can hear is them whispering to each other and them laughing over whatever they are whispering about.
He can't take it anymore and he needs to leave, or else he will turn into a full wolf and that is never a pretty sight. He looks at his watch and feigns being surprised. He jumps up from the couch and over to the door.
"I have to leave, forgot I have to help my mum with something," Mason lies as he retrieves his coat and puts it on. He turns to her, but she is too wrapped into the movie, or maybe too wrapped into her brother, to notice him. She has her arms wrapped around Justin's bicep, her head resting on his shoulder.
Mason should have been livid. He should have felt his skin tingling in suspense to his body changing into a werewolf, but he didn't. He can't.
He sees Justin absentmindedly wrap his arm around her shoulders and rest his head on Alex's. He then notices how the gesture makes Alex's lips curl into a small victorious smile. And even though Alex says she loves Mason, he now knows why it always feels half-hearted to his ears. Alex loves Mason, but she'll always love Justin more.
Mason's heart rips at the realization, but decides to keep this realization to himself. He's heartbroken, yes, but he doesn't want Alex to feel heartbroken either, even though he is jealous as hell of Justin.
Mason turns away from duo with a sad smile and quietly leaves the apartment to not disturb them anymore.
…
J E R R Y
Justin and Alex were always close. Where there was Alex, Justin was right behind her and vice versa. And even though both their lives starting going into different directions-Justin becoming the model child and Alex becoming the not-so model child- they both seemed to find a way back to each other. As if they were a rubber-band. They would stretch and stretch far away from each other, but in the end they snapped back to the start. Back to each other.
No fight or drama could separate the two, which relieved Jerry as he recalled his own sister and how he never spoke to her. He wanted all his children to be close and avoid how his family had crumbled, so he never once went to question Justin and Alex's relationship, even though he knew it was a lot different than the kind he had with Kelbo and Megan.
He pushed away the fact that Alex proclaimed any seat next to Justin as always hers. Whether that be the seat in the wizard class, the kitchen table, or in the car. It was hers. And he ignored the mere fact that Justin wasn't the most affectionate person, but his arms always found reasons to embrace Alex, and what people found bizarre, especially Jerry himself, was that she let him.
He pushed the small instances like those away to the corner of his brain.
However, as Jerry watched his son turn Professor Crumbs into a guinea pig, he was flabbergasted. He heard his son tell his daughter that she made him a better wizard and Jerry suddenly felt like he was imposing on something so much more private between them than originally intended.
His son, his perfect, responsible, rule following son, turned one of the most influential wizards into a guinea pig to keep Alex from losing her powers. And from the look in Justin's eyes, Jerry could tell that he did not regret it for one second and would do it again in a heartbeat. He was so willing to give up his own powers for his sister.
Wizards only give up their powers in the act of true love. Jerry immediately flashed back to when he gave up his powers for Theresa.
So, if that moment didn't already raise Jerry's suspicions, the hug they later shared, after they both were able to keep their powers, hit the spot. The way they clung to each other and the smiles on each of their faces told the whole tale.
And oddly, he was rooting for them.
…
T H E R E S A
Just like her husband, Theresa was well aware that Justin and Alex were always close from the start.
When they were still young, Justin and Alex would walk hand and hand, claiming they were engaged or married. People would eat it up and coo at them, saying just how cute they were. People would call them adorable and be amazed at how close they were, asking Theresa how she managed the seemingly impossible feat.
Of course, as they got older, Theresa had told them that they couldn't get married. They learned of the word incest and how people viewed it. They learned how if they tried holding hands now, people would glare at them in disgust. Naturally, Theresa realized they chose to deal with their hidden, secret feelings in different ways. Justin buried himself with school, while Alex buried herself with schemes and pranks.
At the time, Theresa saw how they've grown up and started fighting as the inevitable. How many siblings really do get along, as well as they once had, for long? But it always felt different from the normal sibling banter they had with Max. The tone and feeling of their words when they fought was different. As much as they fought, they were still somehow close.
And occasionally, she would catch one of them watching the other with a look she could never quite place, but now knew it was a look of longing.
Maybe she didn't know for so long because she didn't want to know. She didn't want to think that her children could possess these sinful thoughts. She didn't want to think that maybe she let them spend too much time together when they were young. She didn't want to think about the bad that came from such a situation. She just didn't want to think about it at all.
It wasn't until the night of Justin's graduation, did everything finally hit home. Where she finally realized just how in-love they were with each other, and how it was so painfully obvious in hindsight.
She just heard her daughter confess her fears about losing Justin to college, and the way they were looking at each other now should have thrown her into a fit of despair, but instead, swelled her heart in hopefulness. This had to be the moment. The moment where they would finally tell each other. She looked at Jerry, who was standing beside her silently, looking like he was thinking the exact same as her, but nothing was happening.
She finally had enough.
"You guys are hilarious! Just say you love each other!"
They might have denied it, and flew to the opposite sides of the couch to be away from each other, but Theresa saw the fear flash in their eyes for a moment. She knew their hearts were racing and their cheeks were flushed because of said fear that was coursing through both their veins.
Theresa sadly sighed, but understood that they both must be so scared. This wasn't something that everyone had to deal with. She wanted to grab them and tell them it was alright, and that all she wanted for them was happiness. But it looks like she would have to wait.
…
They just weren't ready yet to admit it to themselves or each other. Everyone just had to wait for that moment. Just wait. Wait for the last two people in the equation to finally realize what everyone already knew.
A/N: This was something I started awhile ago and finally had the inspiration to finish. Hope you guys like it. PLEASE REVIEW! Reviewing would make this terrible week a lot better for me. :)
**And special thanks to tilante for pointing out some of the stupid mistakes I made. Everyone should definitely check out their stories! They're amazing! :)
