Part 1

A/N: I know, I know, I'm going against poll results. I was supposed to, via popular demand, write another Royal Pains epi next; but I recently discovered, fell in love with, and rotted my brain for days watching every last epi + movie of WOWP so I'd be caught up before season 3 aired. And now I'm writing a fic 'cause I hate waiting the full seven days between episodes to be reunited with the characters. *shrugs*

And this shall have no Jalex. No offense to those who are into it, but I like canon. Mostly. This story plays a little more into Justin's allergies. But the sibling relationships are just plain sibling relationships, here. Sorry!


Alex dramatically enters the living room from upstairs, reciting lines off a sheet of paper, "Oh, sweet Juliet, how I love the way the moonlight glimmers off your pearly white fangs."

Justin, who is sitting at the kitchen counter, jumps off his stool. "Alex, where did you get that?"

She ignores him and continues. "And the way the wind whistles beneath the grace of your perfect bat wings."

"Alex! That's private – give it to me!" He lunges towards the paper in her hand, but she easily evades him, rushing to the other side of the couch and laughing.

"This is sad, Justin, even for you."

"It's a work in progress," he says as he runs to her side of the couch, but she jumps over it and races to the patio door.

"Oh, no, I think it's fine the way it is. We should send it to her." She flings the door open and holds the paper out to the wind. Justin freezes.

"You wouldn't dare," he threatens, squinting his eyes at her.

"Oh, wouldn't I?" She looks at the poem and grins mischievously before starting to cast a spell. "Lame words of love on this paper; should be seen by-"

"NOOOOO!" Justin cries as he leaps towards Alex's hand. He grabs the poem as he sails past her, landing hard on his side out on the patio. He stumbles back to his feet, holding the paper up triumphantly with an, "Ah ha! I win!"

Alex shrugs. "Eh, I couldn't think of a word that rhymed with 'paper' anyway." She smiles at him and cocks her head to the side. "Besides, this is even better." She waves to him as she quickly shuts and locks the patio door.

Justin frowns, jiggling the door handle a few times. "This isn't funny, Alex!" he shouts through the glass.

"Really? 'Cause I'm laughing," and to make it more clear, she points and laughs at him.

He sets his jaw in anger and points a finger at her. "Alex, you better – owe!" He takes a step back, slapping at his right arm just below the shoulder. When he pulls back his hand, he looks down into his palm. His expression quickly changes from anger to confusion, then to alarm.

Alex stops laughing, furling her eyebrows. "Really? You think hitting yourself is gonna make me open the door?...Though it is pretty funny."

Justin looks back up at her. "No, Alex, a bee. I just got stung by a bee." He holds out his left hand so she can see the dead bee resting in his palm.

"Oh!," she exclaims, wrenching the door open and pulling him inside, leading him to the couch. "MOM! DAD!" she screams down the stairs, then races to the freezer to grab an ice pack.

Jerry and Theresa are up the stairs in seconds, looking concerned. "What happened? What's wrong?" Jerry asks.

"Justin got stung by a bee," Alex fills them in.

Theresa jumps into action, first. "Okay, Alex, call the doctor. Jerry, you pull out the stinger and put the icepack on his arm. I'll get the EpiPen."

Max comes racing down the stares. "Already got it," he says, holding up the pen.

"Good boy," Theresa says, taking the pen and running over to Justin's side. She is about to administer a shot when Jerry stops her.

"Hold on, I think it's a false alarm," he says, looking closely at Justin's arm.

Justin tries to twist his arm around so he can see. "False alarm?" he asks. "But, I felt it sting me."

"Yeah, and I saw the dead bee," Alex nods.

Jerry shakes his head. "There's no stinger, no swelling, not even a red mark. You're fine."

"Jerry, are you sure?" Theresa asks.

"Look for yourself," he says, moving out of the way so she can see.

After a few seconds of close inspection, she looks at Justin and shrugs. "There's nothing there, sweetie. I think your mind played a trick on you."

"Or…" Alex walks forward, shaking her finger at Justin thoughtfully, "you played a trick on me. You pretended to get stung so I'd let you back in the house. That's low, Justin, even for my standards….but impressive. You're learning."

"But I-" Justin argues.

Jerry crosses his arms over his chest. "Justin, your allergy is not something to be used to get back at your sister."

"But, Dad, I wouldn't-"

"And Alex," Jerry continues, "What have I told you about locking your brother out of the house?"

"Daddy, I couldn't help it. Call it a moment of weakness," she shrugs.

Max frowns. "You locked Justin out again? Man, I miss all the good stuff."

"You should have heard the poem," Alex giggles.

Theresa throws up her hands. "Okay, enough, all of you. Alex, Max, go to school. Now."

Grumbling, they grab their bags and Justin stands to join them. Theresa puts a hand out to stop him. "Oh no, young man, I'm not done with you yet."

"But, I'm going to be late for school," he whines.

"I don't care. We need to have a little talk about this."

Max turns to Alex as they're heading out the door. "Awe man, I've gotta do something really bad so Mom'll let me be late for school."

"It'll never work," Alex frowns. "Mom's only doing this because to a nerd like Justin, being late to school is a punishment."

"Ohhhhh," Max nods, shutting the door behind him.