Summary: Harper would have never considered dating the other Russo, until that eventful May morning... Marper, slight mentions of past Jarper and Zarper. A subtle reference to Halex, but nothing serious
Author's Notes: I love Marper. I love them so much I'm writing something for this glorious couple. I used to love Zarper but now that it's canon, I dunno, Disney tends to mess up couples lately. First Cailey from Suite Life, Loliver from Hannah Montana and now Zarper? I dunno, maybe it's just me. Nonetheless, I'm writing this.
Harper Finkle was nineteen years old and was one of the first 'Russo' children home from college. Oh wait, who was she kidding? She was the first Russo child home. And yes, she did consider herself an honorary Russo now. Alex wouldn't be coming back until the next week and Justin was staying another month before he planned to come home. Honestly, she had never been alone in the Russo house without Alex, or even Justin for that matter. She usually had one of the siblings to hang out with, but now that she was back, she only had Max. She walked through the front door to see the sixteen year old on the couch, with a...book in his hands? There was no way. Granted, she didn't visit much since she wanted to focus on school and when she did visit, she was either doing homework or avoiding Max (which usually wasn't hard since he was barely around when she was anyways).But come on, Max actually reading a book? Either it wasn't a real book or he was day dreaming whilst pretending to read.
Shutting the door behind her, Max seemed to finally snap out of his trance and look in her direction. A smile grew on his lips as he tossed the book on the coffee table to get up and greet her. Harper was only stunned for a moment when the youngest Russo hugged her, but he had always been the huggy one in the family, so she hugged him back.
"Hey Max," she greeted the boy kindly. Max pulled away and Harper finally got a good look at him. He certainly had changed. His hair was short again, but he was taller, just a couple of inches taller than her now. He really had changed since she last saw him, which was during Christmas, and Harper was impressed. She briefly wondered if his personality had changed as well.
"Hey Harper, welcome back a la casa de Russo," Max said jokingly, his voice definitely just a little bit deeper than last year, and Harper blushed a little bit. At least he seemed to be the same old Max.
"Thanks! So, where are your parents? I noticed the sub shop is closed for today," she asked curiously as she wheeled her suitcase further into the Russo home, with Max grabbing one of her bags.
"Mom and Dad went to visit grandma for the weekend, so they won't be back until Tuesday or something. I think they forgot you were coming home a week before Alex," Max said helpfully as Harper looked around the loft. It looked exactly the same as they left it, which was nice because she knew that everyone had to have changed since last summer.
"And they trusted you to stay here on your own?" Harper joked lightly before noticing the slight wince that Max portrayed. He shrugged as he offered a faint smile. Harper was about to apologize for the cruel joke but Max seemed to shrug it off.
"Yeah, it took some convincing, Harper, but I think I've become more responsible. I'm not exactly the same as you remember me," Max answered warmly, as if he understood and she nodded slowly as Max helped carry her things down to her room. Once everything was downstairs, she turned to Max as she sat on her bed, feeling at home and relaxed.
"So, tell me about this new and improved Max. How much have you really changed?" Harper asked curiously as Max took a seat next to her.
"Well, sixteen year old Max can drive now, so I have my license! Don't worry; I'm not a burden on the road. I don't even drive in the city anyways, so dad takes me out to the more empty, country roads to practice. You never know when you have to drive somewhere," Max informed her, as Harper just looked impressed. She had her full license, and she knew both Mr and Mrs. Russo had theirs, but Justin and Alex, as far as she knew, hadn't tried for their license. Justin got his permit, but she was sure he hadn't gotten his full license yet, and Alex found it pointless at the moment since she lived in the city.
"Well, that is amazing. What else?" she asked eagerly. Max thought about it before standing up, pulling Harper to her feet before pulling her up the stairs. Harper just numbly followed as he led her back to the Russo loft, in fact, all the way up to his room. Harper winced; she knew Max didn't have a clean room at all. In fact, he didn't even have a dirty room. His room was just, well, forbidden if you wanted to save your life. Food, clothes, creatures and everything in between was scattered everywhere, so everyone tended to leave Max's room alone.
So it was completely shocking when Max opened his door and she found that it was, well, neat. Well, neat to Max's standards. There were clothes and other items scattered, but it wasn't potentially dangerous to anyone; no food, no strange creatures, nothing of the sort was spotted. She walked into his room as he let go of her hand and grabbed a video camera on his dresser.
"I'm planning to go into directing. I've been filming stuff nonstop. I'm actually really good. I also found out I'm an awesome writer," Max explained as he got out a few notebooks which seemed to be filled with stories and poems. She quickly skimmed one poem, feeling impressed. She was impressed that Max found some kind of calling. A year ago, Max wouldn't even think of studying or writing or anything. He would choose to do Max-type activities. But now? He seemed to be turning his life around and was actually pursuing activities that weren't weird or connected to magic. It took Alex years (she was still working on it) to find a career right for her, and Justin was pursuing his dream of becoming a doctor as he planned in senior year, so Harper was proud that Max had a couple of plans of his own.
"Wow Max, this is amazing. You seem to be a great writer and I'm sure becoming a director or even a writer would work well for you," Harper told him. Max seemed to beam at that statement as he put his notebook away and sat on his desk chair.
"Thanks Harper. I mean, Mom and Dad don't believe that I'm actually trying, but now that Alex and Justin are gone to college, I don't have to compete for anyone's attention anymore. I can actually try without blending into the background of Alex and Justin. I can be myself," Max admitted honestly. Harper frowned as she stepped closer to Max, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"What do you mean? That you've been faking being lazy, dumb and, well, random because of your siblings?" Harper asked curiously. Max thought about the answer before shrugging.
"I'm not a smart guy; I only am starting to get average grades. And yes, I can be lazy at times, well, for things that I'm not passionate about. But I am quirky and I've finally discovered what I'm good at without my siblings taking all of the attention or telling me that I won't amount to anything," Max said slowly and carefully, inwardly wincing at the last part, remembering that part of Alex's speech around the time of finding out that they had an aunt. Harper nodded in agreement, not confused at all. She knew how Alex and Justin could be like. Justin's intelligence and need to be perfect could definitely make any person feel dumb and worthless. And, well, Alex's need for attention and devious and manipulations could get her into trouble, which definitely put the spotlight on her all the time. She knew Max could feel neglected and forgotten, but she understood why he acted so, well, idiotic.
"You wanted your parents to notice you by acting like you needed serious help. You know, not in the mental, psychiatric help, but in the other, less violent type of help? I'm not explaining myself properly, am I?" Harper tried, mentally smacking herself but Max grinned as he nodded.
"I completely understand Harper. And yeah, I guess the only way to get their attention away from Alex and Justin for a little while was to act stupid so they paid attention to me more. Too bad it backfired. But at least I can at least try a little bit harder this year with their attention off of Alex and Justin," Max told her comfortingly. Harper smiled as she sat beside him. She knew his, well, logic wasn't thought out, but at least he was full of surprises.
"Well, that's good. At least you're finding a career outside of magic. Alex still believes she will be the one that keeps her wizard powers," Harper told him lightly. Max shot a lopsided grin at Harper.
"Yeah, I think a monkey would be a better candidate for the wizard's competition than Alex," Max joked lightly and for some reason, Harper laughed. She thought it was freaking hilarious, and she wasn't sure why. As the afternoon grew on, and as the evening approached, the two moved to the balcony as they just...talked. Mostly about school (Harper was in the fashion program at Rhode Island School of Design, Max was getting B's and C's and was on the newspaper), and about love interests (Harper broke up with Zeke when he moved to the West Coast and she moved farther East and she only briefly dated around, Max had only one girlfriend that year and her name was Sarah but they broke up). Their conversation started moving toward hopes and dreams and Harper found herself liking this new and improved Max. He wasn't totally smart, but he was maturing and at least trying. He had good hopes and dreams, and ones that were achievable.
He was grown up, and for once, he was acting his age and she was really impressed. Now that Justin and Alex weren't here to hold him down, she found him actually sort of funny, as well as charming and, well, opinionated. He didn't have to fight for the attention anymore because he got it. He seemed more relax and now he was more quirky and random than annoying and idiotic. She found that all the flaws that she saw in him a year ago were more like quirks. Her entire perspective of Max was changing, and she found that she liked these changes.
Even after they had dinner together at a pizza shop a few blocks down and then they both watched movies (a comedy and a horror) all night long until 3 in the morning, she still was feeling some sort of connection with Max. They hadn't been completely close when she had still been in high school. Sure, she hung out with Max occasionally, and she participated in a couple of his 'brilliant' schemes, but now that both of them were older and more mature, the connection that she thought they might have had was sparked up again. There was a new light shining down on Max and she really liked this light.
Even in the short time of being home, Harper started noticing things changing between her and Max. On Sunday, when they went on a walk together, she found herself looping her arm with Max as they strolled down the street. She made him lunch when they got back, and Max took her out to a museum. On the Monday, and the last day they would spend alone before his parents got back, he took her to a film festival and afterwards, they made some little videos of them just fooling around. They spend all night working on a script for a movie that Max planned to make that summer, and the plot that Max thought of was just genius. And on Tuesday, when Max and Harper went to surprise his parents at the airport, he held her hand the whole way.
It was Friday afternoon, exactly a week since Harper arrived back in New York, and the two were sitting on the couch, waiting for Mr and Mrs Russo to come back with Alex from the airport, and Harper was feeling nervous. She hadn't seen her friend since Spring Break. Alex had gone to some college in California so it was difficult to catch up with her best friend.
Harper sighed as she laid across the couch, her head on Max's lap as they watched some show on TV that neither remotely even cared about. Max subconsciously was running his hand through Harper's hair and she wasn't even aware of it. It wasn't until the show ended when Harper looked up at Max.
"Can I ask you a question?" she asked suddenly. Frowning, the sixteen year old nodded as Harper sat up. She adjusted her position so she was facing Max.
"What is it Harper?" he asked curiously. She took a deep breath as she tried to form the right words.
"I was just wondering what you think of me," she admitted shyly. Perplexed, Max stared at her for a moment before frowning as Harper hurriedly explained. "I just- Alex always wanted me to change my fashion style and I can tell she's not always proud of my creations, and Justin thinks I'm cool, when I wasn't all creepy stalker Harper of course, but I don't know what you've thought of me all of these years."
Max seemed to be lost in thought and he was silent for so long, Harper was about to tell him to forget about it before Max finally spoke.
"You've always been a friend to me Harper. I mean, even when I was, like four and you were seven, you were still awesome. Your outfits and your designs are quirky and it just goes to show how talented you are and how much creativity and imagination that you have. You've always been kind to everyone, so kind and so nice and at times, I feel like you're the only one that understands me. For a while when I was a kid, I had a crush on you," Max added before blushing furiously as he looked down on the ground. Harper looked surprised at the boy that just confessed previous feelings. He did, really? On her?
"Do you? You know, still have a crush on me?" she asked before mentally smacking herself. Why did she just ask that? It was way too blunt. He seemed to be speechless for words when finally, he nodded slowly. He stood up from the couch pretty quickly and started to move toward the stairs but she stood up, hurrying so she stood in front of him. She grabbed his shoulders lightly as Max stared at her, surprised.
"You don't have to say anything Harper. I mean, I'm sure you still see me as some little kid. I know you've always liked Justin and I wouldn't-"Max started before Harper cut him off with her lips. She was even surprised at her bluntness. First, asking about him having a crush on her and now, kissing him? But weirdly enough, neither pulled away. Well, not until both ran out of breath. Pulling away, it took a full minute for Harper to get her breath back.
"I haven't crushed on Justin since two months after he left for college," she admitted which made Max look surprised. But the smile on her face made Max relax as he processed what just happened. They kissed, that was it. But it was a fantastic kiss, and both parties knew it. Harper knew it was way better than the first kiss she shared with Zeke, and Max never had his first kiss before, but Harper at least knew what that meant.
"What happens now?" Max asked as Harper leaned back into the couch. She smirked inwardly as she looked mischievously at him.
"You know what happens now," she told him seriously. Max, though, looked thoroughly confused as he shook his head.
"Uh, no I don't," he admitted. Harper rolled her eyes as she took one of his hands, squeezing it lightly and watching the youngest Russo blush. She subconsciously licked her lips as she rubbed the top of his hand gracefully.
"Well, I guess we're going to be in a relationship, unless you have any objections," Harper said plainly as he shook his head wildly, as if it were on fire.
"No, no, I mean, yeah! A relationship sounds great, I mean, yeah!" Max stuttered and she couldn't help but laugh. It would be a new experience to actually date a Russo. Yeah, it wasn't the Russo she ever pictured dating (heck, she even expected to date Alex before Max) but maybe this was her soul mate. They were friends; they knew each other for years, so it wasn't as if it were out of the blue.
"Great," she said as she covered her lips on his once more. She didn't care what anyone thought anymore, because Max made her feel good and happy, and even if Alex was freaked out, or Justin was supportive or anything, the only thing that mattered was Max.
Horrible ending, I know. I could never end stories at all. Reviews are lovely. If you want me to write more oneshots of any couple, I'd be happy to. Unfortunately, I'm not the fondest of Jalex, but I will write Jalex if you want me to. So, send me your pairing requests (I pretty much ship anything) and anything you want me to write for the oneshot (requirements) and I'll certainly try.