Tales from Waverly Place

A Wizards of Waverly Place Fanfiction

Chapter: Alex's Good Deed
Author: funvince
Genre: Family/Friendship
Summary: Alex couldn't believe Justin allowed himself to be swindled by a little girl.
Spoilers: after the Doll House episode
Notes:While what Justin did to help Alex get out of the dollhouse was sweet and funny, it didn't make much sense. So I'm tying up some loose ends.

"Are you still mad at me?" Alex asked

Justin didn't look at her but just forcefully turned the page in the latest issue of the Captain Jim-Bob Sherwood comic book.

Alex sighed. The two of them were currently in Harper's new room in the basement. Alex was still looking for her shrunken wand while Justin sat on the washing machine giving her the silent treatment. She had been amused at first and made quips about how peaceful and relaxing it was to not have to listen to Justin's grating voice, but she was now getting annoyed with her brother's passive-aggressive attitude.

She thought Justin had gotten over having to spend 400 dollars to save her, but after he learned that the money he gave to Olive ended up in Max's pocket he got sullen again. And he was taking it out on her, which was totally unfair. If this wasn't a case of misdirected anger then she didn't know what was.

Alex sighed. It had been a very long day. While she had been helping Harper convert the basement into a new bedroom, she had found an old doll house she used to play with as a kid. She shrunk herself down to use the house as her own art studio. Unfortunately, her parents thought the doll house was junk and gave it to the neighborhood kid Olive while Alex was still in it. This still wouldn't have been a problem at all if Alex hadn't dropped her wand in the commotion. She spent an agonizing day pretending to be a doll until Justin brought the doll house back with the money he got from selling some collectible toy of his.

Her scalp still ached from when Olive tried brushing her hair with an implement that resembled an instrument from the Spanish Inquisition more than it did a hairbrush. Her face hurt because of all the effort it took to wash off the clown makeup the kid put on her. Alex wasn't in the mood for Justin's moodiness.

"I don't see why you're holding a grudge," Alex said. "I don't see how it's my fault you got swindled by an elementary schooler. I thought you'd give her a twenty for the house. Why did you give her four hundred dollars?"

"Because when Olive asked me how much money I had on me, I kinda told her the truth," Justin replied sheepishly. Then his eyes widened. "I'm not talking to you!"

Alex slapped her forehead. She said, "It's so hard to believe I'm related to you sometimes."

"Hey! She may be a kid, but she's also a financial genius!" Justin said, jumping up off the washer and shaking a finger in her face. He was apparently giving up any pretense of ignoring her.

"She's the girl who gave Max all of the money you gave her for his trash on a plate!" Alex yelled, throwing up her hands. "You know how everyone always talks about how smart you are? Right now, I'm not seeing it!"

"I'll have you know that Max's trash on a plate was... was a sculpture!"

Alex raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "A sculpture?"

"You- you just don't understand modern art!" Justin said with a sniff as he angrily stomped toward the stairs.

Alex caught his arm and pulled him back. She said, "Wait, Justin. I didn't think this would upset you so much. I really did appreciate you saving me, and I know how hard you worked to sell that Captain Jim-Bob thing-a-ma-bob. I'm really sor- Ahem. There's a fault in my throat. I'm sorr- sorra-"

Justin rolled his eyes then he said, "Sorry?"

"What you said!"

Justin began to pace back and forth. He said, "I guess I'm just a little tired of being taken for granted."

"What? I don't take you for granted!"

"Yes, you do. You don't even intend to pay me back for today! But it's not about the money. Look, I don't mind helping you out with your problems. And, to be fair, it's not like you never help me out with mine either. It's just... I want you to recognize that I don't exist simply to make your life easier."

Alex felt a little hurt by Justin's words. He said it wasn't about the money, but that's what it sounded like this was about to her. After all, she had thanked him and hugged him for his trouble, and he knew she hated showing that she cared about him. What more did he want? And she had seriously tried to get herself out of the situation herself because she didn't want to always have to depend on Justin. He was graduating soon, and she knew that even if things between them didn't change right away they would eventually.

He had been there watching over her and being the annoying older brother for as long as she could remember. Yeah, sometimes when he was in a jerky mood, he would leave her to flail wildly like a drowning person but he almost always had her back when the chips were down. She may not have always thanked him for it, but she did appreciate what he did for her.

If Justin wanted proof of that then she'd show him proof.

Half an hour later, Alex marched into Justin's room and threw a wad of bills at his face.

"Ow! Alex! What are you doing?"

Alex crossed her arms in satisfaction. She replied, "I'm giving you your stupid money."

"You could seriously have damaged my retina," Justin grumbled, rubbing his eye. Then his eyes widened. "Where did you get this?"

"I told Max that if he didn't give me the money then all the pranks I was planning to do to you next week I was going to do to him instead."

Justin said slowly, "So your idea of showing me you appreciate me is to threaten our little brother?"

"Yep!" Alex replied with a grin. Then her face turned serious. She said, "I don't know where you got the stupid idea that I take you for granted, so I'm going to say this once. I don't know where I would be without you and I'm going to miss you when you go off to college you big, stupid dork."

Justin shook his head, but he was smiling. He said, "It means a lot to me that you tried, in your own twisted way, to do something nice for me. And I shouldn't have said what I did. I over-reacted. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too," Alex said, and she was proud that she didn't stutter this time. Suddenly feeling a little awkward, she turned to leave. She was stopped by the call of Justin's voice.

"Wait, you're not going to still play those pranks you told Max about on me, are you?"

Alex simply smiled at him and held out a hand.

Justin sighed and slapped down a fifty on her palm.

"Good doing business with you," Alex said with a smirk.

"Wait a minute," Justin said, looking at the bills he had fanned out in confusion. "Discounting the fifty I just gave you this still only comes out to three hundred dollars."

"Well, I had to take my collector's fee off first. Okay, gotta go. Bye!"

Alex was half-way down the stairs when she heard Justin yell, "Alex! Give me back my money!"

She smiled. Everything was back to normal.