Chapter 2

Justin Finkle?

It just didn't have a ring to it.

Yet that was now his name, and all the way back to the sub station Harper and Justin were talking and laughing, having playful sibling banter and talking in some secret nerdy code language. It was like they really had been brother and sister all their lives. But then again, she guessed now they had.

'Why is he so nice to her?' Alex wondered, bitterly. 'He was never that nice to me when I was his sister.'

She wondered if maybe it was all her fault? Maybe it was the way she acted toward him that kept them from being that close?

'Nah, it's really because he's just super annoying. But hey, at least now that he and Harper are siblings, I don't have to hear her go on and on about how hot he is. That always creeped me out...'

When they entered the sub station she started rubbing her temples, pretending to have a headache.

"Oh, guys, I don't think I'm up for the beach today. I have this terrible headache," she said. "I think I'm gonna just hang around here and relax."

"Oh. I'm sorry Alex," Harper said. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Nah, don't worry about it. I'm sure I'll be fine if I just chill in front of the TV for awhile," she said. "Go. Go have fun with Zeke. You, too, Justin. Go hang out with our friends."

"Oh, that's okay. I'll stay here with you, Alex," Justin said, putting his arm around her. "Just to make sure you're okay."

Alex forced herself to smile at him and not scream in frustration. Her Justin vacation was just not happening, was it? She was spending more time with him now than ever.

"Oh I see," Harper said, and started edging toward the door. "You two want some 'alone time.' I get it!" she said, giving them two thumbs up.

"No! No! It's not like that!" Alex protested, but Harper just winked exaggeratedly and left.

Alex turned to look at Justin and noticed he was looking at her weird. Then she noticed that his face was getting closer. Was he going in for a kiss? Oh GOD.

"Justin! Let's talk for a minute," she said, grabbing his hand. She used it to drag him over to a table.

"So, what's up?" he asked.

He went to sit down next to her but she slipped away and sat across from him. Less chance of him trying to touch or kiss her that way.

"You know about magic, right?" she asked, quietly, glancing around to make sure no one was listening.

"Magic what?" he asked.

"You know, wands, wizards, brooms, spells?"

"You mean like in Harry Potter?" he asked, lost.

Oh God! Justin was no longer a wizard! She guessed it made sense, since his powers came from being a Russo and he no longer was one.

'What have I done? I can't tell him the truth because it would be exposing magic. Plus its pointless if he can't even help me! That means I will have to figure out how to reverse this on my own. And I have to break up with him, because honestly, even acting like his girlfriend would be way too weird...'

"Alex? What are you talking about? Is that what you wanted to talk to me about? Magic? You know it's not real, right?"

"No, no, I wanted to talk about something else," she said. She took a deep breath and prepared herself. "Well, I just...You know, we've been together for a long time, and I think it would be good for us to take a break."

Justin's face dropped and his whole body tensed.

"A...a break?" he asked, his voice cracking in the middle.

"Yeah. I mean, we should just take some time to ourselves, you know? To just be...on our own. Instead of being a couple."

Justin looked completely shocked. He ran a hand through his hair and exhaled. "I don't understand, Alex. What did I do wrong?" he asked.

Alex could see the pain in his eyes and she felt really guilty.

'Wow, he is taking this really badly. But then I'm not a sister right now, I'm a girlfriend. This sucks, but it has to be done. All I can do is try to soften the blow.'

"You didn't do anything wrong. It's me. I just need some time alone," she said. All of that was true.

"Why? What happened? We were so happy. Oh my God, why is this happening?!" he cried, starting to tug at his hair with both hands.

He was freaking out so badly she really didn't want to continue. But what could she do? She couldn't exactly be a girlfriend to him. That would involve touching and kissing and tons of other things she just couldn't do.

"But Justin, it's not that bad. We'll always be friends," she offered, trying to console him.

"I don't wanna be friends! I want us to be together, like always! Like we were meant to be! Alex...don't you love me anymore?" he asked, looking like his entire life was hanging on the answer to this one question.

Alex felt so guilty she wanted to crawl under the table and hide. This was horrible! This was terrible! And it was also kind of mystifying, because it wasn't until that very moment that she realized how much she still cared about Justin's feelings. She'd always loved to pick on him, but this was so far beyond that. She was causing him actual pain, and she really hated the way it felt.

She started to realize that the situation before was not as drastic as she'd thought. They'd had an argument earlier and she'd gotten mad. That was all. She didn't hate him like she'd said. She still cared about the stupid dork. Not that she'd ever say that out loud.

When she didn't answer his question, Justin gasped in fear and horror. "You don't, do you?" he asked, tears welling up in his eyes.

"O-of course I do!" she blurted, cracking under the pressure. "I-I don't know what I was thinking! Of course I don't want to break up!"

"Oh thank God, I'm so glad you didn't mean it," Justin said, getting up and moving over to sit next to her. He threw his arms around her and held her close. "You scared me. Are you sure everything's okay?"

"Of course. It's fine. I don't know what I was thinking, of course we should be together," she said, glad that he couldn't see her rolling her eyes over his shoulder.

He pulled back and grinned at her happily. "Good, then let's seal it with a kiss," he said, and leaned in to kiss her.

She squealed and leaped out of the booth, running upstairs.

"Oooh, hide and seek! I love this game!" Justin cried, running after. "I'm coming after you, my love!"

#

Alex sat at the dinner table literally dozing off. She woke up just in time to prevent her face from falling right into remains of the seven layer enchilada on her plate.

"And that's the history of the word 'the,'" Justin said, concluding what was officially the most boring story Alex had heard ever.

Everyone at the Russo family dinner table ooh'd, aah'd, and nodded appreciatively.

"I always thought I invented the word 'the,'" Max said, nodding at Justin with respect. "I see now I was wrong."

"Justin is such a smart young man," Jerry commented to Teresa with pride.

Justin beamed with his usual smugness. Alex rolled her eyes.

"He is! The only thing I don't get is how after a year of dating it hasn't rubbed off on Alex," Teresa joked, nudging Jerry in the side.

"Mom!" Alex cried, but her mom just smiled innocently.

Family member or no, Justin still managed to get all the attention? Unbelievable!

"But I'm still the favorite, right?" Alex asked, putting on her cutest face.

Jerry scrunched his eyebrows together. "We don't play favorites in this family, Alex, we never have," he said. "You know that."

Without Justin there was no favoritism? Ultra unbelievable!

It kind of sucked to still not be the favorite, but she figured as long as Max wasn't the favorite either, she could live with it.

She looked over at Justin. She'd been trying to get rid of him for hours but apparently he usually had dinner at the Russo's several times a week, so her mom had just gone ahead and set an extra place for him at the table that night. By the time she noticed it was too late to say anything. She was just glad that dinner was finally over and she could get him out of the house so she could go to the lair and try to find a solution to this problem.

"Well, Justin really should be going," Alex announced, as Teresa stood and started clearing the table.

"Why? I thought you two were studying for the test tomorrow?"

"And you could use all the help you could get, young lady," Jerry added, shaking a finger at her.

What test?

"I have a test tomorrow?" she asked Justin.

"Yep. Biology. You asked me to tutor you for it. Don't you remember?"

"Oh, yeah, of course," she said.

Come to think of it she did remember that test. But she never remembered making plans to study with Justin. That must have happened in her alternate past.

"We should probably get started," Justin said.

"Right," she said, knowing there was no way out of it. Oh well. It might actually do her some good.

She went up to her room with Justin and took out her books. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw all the pictures of her and Justin that were now on her corkboard - pictures of them hugging and kissing. They'd gone to school dances together and spent Valentine's Day together. It was insane. Apparently her whole past had changed to include him in it as her boyfriend. She didn't have the memories, but she had the pictures. They were the very unsettling proof that she shared that past with him. Their history was real. Only reversing the spell would make it go away.

While she was looking at the pictures, Justin walked up behind her. When she turned around he was standing right in front her, and she yelped.

"What are you doing?" she asked, taking a step back.

He took a step forward. Then he ran his hands down her arms in a way that was definitely not brotherly.

"Well, since we had a fight today or whatever, doesn't that mean I get makeup sex?" he asked, cocking one eyebrow in an attempt to look sexy.

Her mouth fell open and her sanity crumbled.

'My past self has been having sex with Justin?!'

In an effort to preserve what was left of her mind, she attempted to rationalize it. Well, technically they weren't brother and sister so it was okay for them. Except that her past self was still her current self and even though he wasn't his past self, he still was in a way. Right? Wait, no...Yes! Yes, he was! Or was it the opposite? Oh crap it was just too hard to figure out! She grabbed her head.

"What's the matter?" Justin asked, his face taking on a look of worry. "Headache again?"

She was going to protest but she still couldn't speak, and actually the whole headache lie was swiftly becoming the truth. Her head was pounding. She and Justin had done it? It was hard to conceive of any reality where that could happen, but obviously it had. And more than once, too, because he said it happened every time they fought and made up. She was speechless, and it took a lot to render Alex speechless.

She let Justin guide her over to her bed and help her lie down. She noted how gently he handled her. Like he was afraid she would break. No, like he was handling something that he really treasured.

'Is he like this when we do it? If so, that must be nice...' she thought. Then she mentally kicked herself for even thinking about it. She grabbed her head again.

"Oh sweetie, it must hurt really bad, huh?" he asked. "Don't worry, I'll go get you some Tylenol."

He ran off and returned a moment later with some Tylenol and a glass of water. She swallowed the pills and he took the glass from her, setting it aside. Then he lay down beside her.

"Just relax and it will go away faster. Come here," he said, pulling her into his arms.

She was going to pull away but she decided to just let it go. Maybe if she participated in this cuddling it would keep him from getting suspicious about her never wanting to kiss him. Cuddling she could handle, kissing she could not.

"Close your eyes," he said. She did. He started to stroke her hair and run his fingers through it. It felt really nice. She smiled a little to herself, greedily soaking up the affection.

'If he had been like this with me before we would never have fought,' she thought. 'Why couldn't he be? I mean, I know this is not the usual brother/sister stuff, but we are still the same people. How can he love me so much now but he couldn't before?'

"Why do you love me?" she asked.

"Because you're awesome, Alex. Sure you get into trouble a lot but your heart is in the right place. You always do the right thing when it really counts. And you're a great girlfriend. You always listen to me, and you always help me with things even if I don't ask. You make me feel important because you tell me things that I know you don't tell other people, even Harper. And, I dunno, I just feel like you make me a better person."

Alex's heart swelled in her chest. "Wow," she said.

"And it doesn't hurt that you're super gorgeous," he said, with a laugh. "Why do you love me?"

'Oh crap! I've created a problem! I should have known he'd ask me that, too! What do I say?'

"Um...well...um..."

"You can't think of anything?" he asked, sounding disappointed.

"No! It's just that it'll sound lame and cheesy and..." she began, looking up at him. He poked his lip out and it was impossible to resist. "Ugh, okay! I love you because...Well, because you're smart and loyal and you care about doing the right thing. And it's kinda cool how you geek out over things. And you take care of me. Kinda like you're doing right now."

"I will always take care of you, Alex," he said, softly, caressing her face. "I promise."

She looked at him and suddenly she saw him in a new light. She started to think that maybe it was possible for them to be friends. The way they described each other showed that they were complete opposites, but right now they were respecting each other for their differences, not ragging on each other for them. It felt nice.

"How's your head?" he asked.

"It still hurts a little."

"Do you want me to sing to you? I know how much you like that."

'Since when? But okay whatever.'

"Sure," she said, laying her head back down on his shoulder and closing her eyes.

Justin began to sing and she smiled a little to herself, actually enjoying it. After a moment she was truly relaxed and she started to drift off. She was dozing peacefully when she felt Justin move her onto her pillow and cover her up. Then she felt something soft and warm against her lips. She realized he'd just kissed her.

'Gross! I wish I could rewind time so I can erase that, but he doesn't know I'm a wizard. Ugh. Sick!'

"I'll check on you in a bit," he whispered and turned out her light.

She had drifted off again before he closed the door.

The next morning Alex bounded down the stairs ready for school and ready to take on her Biology test. She'd studied with Justin the night before after her nap and had managed to learn a lot, despite having to spend the whole time constantly removing his hands from her body. He seemed a little put off about it, but she passed it off as still not feeling well. How would she get through today and keep him at a distance? They'd obviously had a very physical relationship before.

She groaned and opened the fridge, looking for some juice. As she was pouring it, the doorbell rang. She went to the door and opened it to see...Justin.

"Hey! I'm here to walk you to school, my lady," he grinned, walking inside.

"Don't we see a little too much of each other?" she asked.

"You're funny," he said, ducking his head in and trying to place a kiss on her lips. What was with him and the ninja kissing action?!

"Geez, Justin, stop!" she said, pulling back. "You can't just kiss people without their permission!"

"Alex, what's the matter?" he asked. Then his face suddenly lit up. "Oh, I get it! I love it when you play hard to get. Come here, baby!"

"Justin no!" she said, running around the sofa.

"Yes yes yes!" he sang, nearly catching her.

"No no no no!" she squealed and leaped over the sofa. He ran around the side of it and caught her.

"Kiss me, Alex?" he pleaded, goofily. "You knoooow you want to!"

She couldn't help but giggle at the stupid look on his face.

"Kiss?" he asked, puckering up.

"No...stop it," she protested, trying to twist out of his arms. She couldn't get free so she tried darting in the other direction, but Justin anticipated that.

"What the - " was all she got out before his mouth captured hers and he slipped his arms around her.

His lips moved against hers in a sweet and innocent kind of way that made her arms actually move up to return the embrace. That was when she came back to her senses. This was her brother. It was okay for him to act like this, he didn't know they were really siblings. But she knew. She had no excuse. And what was worse, she'd liked the kiss.

She pulled away and glared at him.

"Stop it! I said no!" she yelled.

"Why are you acting like this?" he asked, looking hurt. "It's almost like you don't want to be near me."

"You just figured that out? I thought you were supposed to be the smart one," she mocked, in the way she normally would before, back when they were brother and sister.

Back then he would have laughed or ignored her, but now he got this wounded look in his eyes that made her stomach tighten. She hated that look and she hated this feeling. Why couldn't he just go away so she could have just a little time to herself and somehow figure out how to fix things?!

"You're always all over me all the time!" she cried, frustrated. "I think we should break up after all."

"What?" he asked, shocked. "This again? You don't mean it."

"Yes, I do! I lied yesterday, because I didn't want to hurt you. But I do want to break up. I don't love you. I never loved you."

He looked at her with complete confusion and disbelief.

"You're just too needy and I want you to leave me alone," she said, looking down like she felt guilty for saying it. And she did. She knew she was being too harsh, but this was the only way he'd believe her.

"Okay," he said quietly, sounding completely defeated. "I'm sorry, Alex. I...I'll leave you alone."

He dropped his head then turned around and left. When the door shut she felt a tear run down her face. Then another. She wiped them away quickly and stared at her wet fingers in horror.

'What am I doing? Alex Russo doesn't cry. Especially not over Justin. I am not sad or anything, I'm just frustrated. This whole situation is crazy! I'll fix it though. Justin will be fine. I'll find a way to reverse the spell soon, and then he won't even remember this. It will be like it never happened.'

Theresa came downstairs and headed into the kitchen. "Honey, you haven't left for school yet?" she asked.

"I'm leaving now, mom," she said. She waited until her mom's back was turned and used magic to get her jacket, then she left for school.