Disclaimer: I do not own wowp.

Acknowledgment: Plot/theme by Baku Babe, title also by her. Thanks buddy :)

A/N: I'm getting into full jalex right from chapter 1, the prologue establishes the story background.

These facts of life

Prologue

Year 1980

Megan Russo yanked her wand out of the evil witch's hand, as her brothers stared at the two of them.

"Be careful, Megan." Jerry warned. "She's way more powerful than you!"

Megan scoffed. "Thanks for sharing your high opinion about me, Jerry!" she turned around, facing him, hands on her hips, glaring at him.

And the evil witch was ready to strike from behind, her hands raised, wand ready.

"Megan, watch out!" Jerry yelled, quickly lifting his wand up in the air and muttering a spell that split the evil witch's wand in half.

The evil witch shrieked out in fury. "How dare you defy me? Why did you dare to pick a fight with me? Do you wish to die in the most painful way?"

Jerry shrugged, grabbing Megan by the arm and tugging her behind so that she couldn't attack. His throat was dry in fear, but he knew he had to do this. "I did it for my sister."

The evil witch glared at them, eyes shining with anger and hatred. "You destroyed my wand for your sister? Now you will face my wrath. Your future will be shrouded in extreme misery. Your son will destroy everything for his sister! Your son is going to fall for your daughter!"

"NO!" Jerry cried out loudly, but by that time, the curse was placed and the witch was gone.

Year 1992

"It's a girl." Jerry sighed, staring at his new-born daughter, still wrapped in blankets. The house was buzzing with music and laughter as his older son listened to nursery rhymes, totally ignoring the presence of another child in the house.

Theresa sighed too. "Jerry, are you still worried about that stupid curse?"

"That curse was very powerful." Jerry snapped, staring at his little girl protectively. "I do have a son and a daughter, so how do you know it won't come true? I don't want Justin to fall for Alex... look at her; she's sleeping so peacefully…"

Theresa ran a hand over her little girl's head, clutching her closer to her chest. "I don't want anything to happen to them either… Isn't there something we can do?"

Jerry thought for a moment. "Well, I'm not a wizard anymore, so, we'll need to consult someone from the wizard world I guess."

"It may be too late." Professor Crumbs declared sadly. "The curse was placed years ago. It has become permanent by now."

"Isn't there anything you could do?" Theresa asked anxiously, almost pleading, desperate. "Anything?"

Professor Crumbs stroked his beard. "Well… I can place another curse to prevent the prediction of the first curse from coming true… but it may be dangerous." He warned. "The second curse will serve its purpose, but it may have consequences. It can hurt your children too."

"Do it." Jerry decided immediately, without a doubt or a second thought. Anything to stop incest.

So the curse was placed- "If Justin and Alex ever start having non-platonic feelings for each other, if Justin ever decides to destroy everything for Alex, something must hold him back every time he wants to try to be with her."

It was decided that Justin and Alex would not be informed about this, just so they can have a normal life…and so they grew up, completely unaware of the two curses placed on them. If only they knew these facts of life before they fell in love…

2025

"Come on, Em, get off the phone!" Alex hissed, pointing at the watch on her wrist, tapping her foot on the floor impatiently. She had been on the phone for 2 hours- 2 freaking hours- and yet she was showing no signs of ending the call. "You are cute. You're so funny. You're adorable" was still going on. "Emmy!" she hissed again, finally yanking the phone out of her daughter's hand and throwing it away.

"Hey! I was talking to my boyfriend!" Amelia yelled at her mother, almost stumbling from the stool as she tried to snatch the phone back. Black eyes, black curly locks, and snarky comments ready on her lips- she was a fifteen year old replica of her mother. "I don't wanna live alone like you, you know?"

Alex spun around, leaning forward dangerously, and pointed a finger at her daughter distastefully. Her eyes narrowed, eyebrows knitting together. "Sorry I decided to be a single mother and raise you properly."

Amelia winced. "Mom…" her voice was regretful. "I didn't mean it like that…."

Alex closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath, counting to five. "I know what you meant. Finish packing."

Amelia shrugged off the stool she was sitting on, skipping to her mother, grabbing her hand, and dragging her to her room. "I'm so excited to see Grandma and Grandpa again."

"I am not." Alex chuckled, faking a shudder. "They are going to start lecturing me about marriage again. Ew."

Amelia shrugged. "Maybe they won't. I mean, Uncle Justin is going to be there this time… man I can't wait to meet him! Is he really as uptight as he seems on the phone?"

Alex laughed. "Of course not! He's way more uptight in person." And then she stiffened, as she realized, once again, that she was going to meet Justin after 12 years, 12 years since…

"Yawnathan is coming too, right mom?" Amelia asked excitedly, clapping her hands together like a little girl. She sat down on her bed, taking out her journal from under her pillow and slipping it into her back-pack.

"Jonathan." Alex corrected, raising an eyebrow at her skeptically. "You are actually excited to meet your cousin?"

Amelia grinned evilly, "Hey, I bet it'd be more fun to mess with him in person than on the internet."

"Amelia." Alex warned, putting on a serious expression on her face forcefully. "I don't think Justin would take that lightly. And trust me; you don't want to annoy Justin."

"Oh yeah." Amelia laughed, shaking her head. "I forgot about his attitude problems."

"It's not like that!" Alex protested, coming off a bit defensive. Realizing that, she tried to laugh it off casually. "I mean, Justin wasn't always like this. Raising a child on your own is very difficult, Em. It can change you."

Amelia stared at her mother, looking straight into her eyes. "Is that everything mom?"

Alex scoffed, looking away uncomfortably. "What do you mean?"

Amelia sighed, staring blankly at the ground. "You talk to Uncle Max every day. You and Uncle Justin… it's like you maintain some kind of barrier between yourselves. I feel like I don't know the whole story."

"There is no story." Alex waved her hand dismissively, walking out of the room. "I'm too tired to deal with you right now. Just use magic and finish packing! And go to bed early, Em. The flight's tomorrow morning."

"…You and Uncle Justin… it's like you maintain some kind of barrier between yourselves. I feel like I don't know the whole story."

Alex sighed, taking out the old photo hidden inside her pillow. The picture showed her, standing next to Justin, leaning her head on his shoulder. Amelia was tucked under his arm, while Jonathan was in hers. She ran her hand over the photo, a smile on her lips, tears in her eyes, as she revisited the memory in her mind. This was the one of the rare happy moments she had with her full family.

Taking one last look at the photograph, she took out the other photo hidden in her pillow, the photo of her and little Jonathan. She ran her fingers over his face, his eyes, his little fingers that gripped her hand. Tears slipped from her eyes and spilled over the photo, bathing it in her pain.

It was so hard to stay away from her little son. It was so hard to accept the fact that her daughter would never know who her father is, his son wouldn't know his mother, and the two siblings would know they were cousins. It was the best way, the best possible life for their children. Even if it meant she and Justin had to live away from each other and sacrifice their love…. It was almost like their fate was keeping them apart!

She sighed, lying down on her bed, head buried in her pillow as she held the pillow with the photographs close to her heart. These facts of life were so twisted! Sometimes they scared her, it scared her to acknowledge the fact that she and Justin couldn't be together. If only they had known these facts before they fell in love!

She closed her eyes, taking in a mouthful of air. She was going to have to face Justin the next day again….

A/N: what did you think? Please don't be ticked off by the OCs, every chapter will have enough jalex. This is my last jalex chapter-fic, I'll make it special. Please review and send me feedback!