Chapter 3: just the way you are

Harper returned to the room, with her snicker-doodles in two plates, and two glasses of juice, "So tell me how you and Justin are-"

And the room was empty.

"Alex?" Harper asked in confusion, looking around in panic. "Alex?" (It wasn't the shape-shifting alien Zeke was talking about, right?) "Alex?" Harper called out again, almost on the verge of running away screaming in fear.

And that's when she noticed the note left on her table. Harper quickly grabbed it and began reading.

"Sorry Harper, something came up, and I had to leave. Love you, miss you, catch you some other time. - Alex."

Harper frowned. "You didn't even write down your new cell number!"

Alex landed in Japan with the IPP in hand, looking at the ground in guilt. She was feeling so bad about leaving like that. But what else would she do? Harper was going to ask her questions, and while she could like her butt off, she had been doing that too much lately, and it was making her feel horrible. ("Look at that! Alex has feelings!"). So she decided to opt for the next typical Alex move- run away, leaving behind a confused Harper. ("Feelings gone.")

Alex sighed, trying to turn the doorknob of their apart-

Wait a minute.

Alex gasped. "Oh no! No. No. No. No. No. No. Damn! No! I landed in the wrong place! Ugh! Stupid IPP." She slapped the machine twice, dialing and trying to teleport away. But nope, when does something you really need ever work? Ugh!

Alex looked around properly. In front of her were a sink and a mirror. Okay, so she's in someone's restroom? Great.

Gathering her courage, she left the restroom, to meet whoever was the owner of the house and explain how she got there, and maybe find out where she was so that she could find a way back.

And she found that she was in sort of café with teen-waitresses dressed as maids. (Okay, fine, her father didn't have the worst choice of costumes after all).

"Excuse me." Alex grabbed the nearest maid. "Can you tell me where I am, please?"

"Gomen ne. Watashi wa, go chūmon wa shite kudasai suru koto wa dekimasu ka?"The maid-slash-waitress asked in confusion.

"English? No. Of course not. Hold on." Alex grabbed her cell phone, quickly dialing Justin's number. (So long magic. So long floating captions. *sigh*) Maybe it wasn't the best idea (Angry Justin is still cute though), but it was definitely the safest. She'd have to call him eventually anyway. Why not do it before she landed up in more trouble?)

"Alex, where are you? Did you go shopping again? You do know that we're sort of absolutely bankrupt right now, right?" Justin asked anxiously from the other end.

Okay…So maybe she can actually get him to help without telling him what she did?

"I know, I know." She assured sweetly. "Which is why I came to this awesome café that sends home delivery at cheap rates. No, no, no, Justin, the food's great. I know you've been working too hard. We should take home delivery. Yeah. Okay. So maybe you can tell the waitress our address? You know how my Japanese is!" she laughed, praying he would believe her.

Justin sighed. "You got lost, didn't you?"

"What! I. Wha-" Alex sighed too. (Really? Is she that predictable?) "How do you know?"

She could almost see him raising the collar of his shirt. "You took the IPP."

"Yes. And when you come home from office the first thing you should do is check on the IPP. Pfft." She retorted.

He faked a laugh. "I'm not gonna lie to you, I had my suspicions on you all along."

She rolled her eyes. (Where did he get these super-lame dialogs from? And why did he have to use them all the time?) "Whatever. Just get me out of here, please." She whined. "I hate this place. It's too girly and… lame."

"Japanese cosplay is awesome." Justin protested. "Hand over the phone to the waitress."

"So where did you go?" Justin asked curiously on the drive back home.

"Shopping?" Alex answered, cursing herself when she sounded so unsure. (So long magic. So long do-over spell. *sigh*)

"Alex." he warned. "I just saved you. Again. The least you can do is tell me the truth."

Alex looked down at the ground. (Ugh Justin is contagious. Now she has a conscience.) "I don't think you'd like that."

Justin laughed. "Ah, come on! How bad can it be? You obviously did not go back home to-" Justin pulled on the brakes of the car, his eyes going wide. "YOU WENT TO HARPER'S HOUSE!"

Alex cringed at his yelling. "I did not!" she hissed weakly.

Justin huffed. "I can't believe you'd do something this reckless. After I specifically told you not to do anything without asking me!"

"Justin I'm sorry. I was just-"

"Zip it." He snapped, starting the car again- so angrily that Alex drifted as far away from him as possible in her seat.

The rest of the drive was silent, as she tried her best to talk but failed, noticing the pulse in Justin's throat pulsing at such a high rate. Heck, she'd be lucky if he didn't send her back home right away.

"Justin, I'm so sorry!" she pleaded; as soon as he threw open the door of their apartment. "I was just worried about Harper and Zeke."

"YOU CARE ABOUT THEM MORE THAN US?" He yelled.

"I was just-"

"ANSWER ME!"

"No." she answered, shaking her head for emphasis. (Why do people keep asking these 'pick who/what is more important' questions? Don't they know that everything/everyone has a special place in the heart?) "I left everything for you... for us."

"Do you regret it?" he asked seriously.

"No. no. no. Not a bit. I'm really happy. Well, except the I-don't-know-Japanese part." Before he could open his mouth, she attacked him with a hug. "Justin I'm sorry." She whispered, pretending to sniffle with tears to calm him down.

He sighed, hugging her back. (Finally!) "I don't wanna lose you."

"You won't." she promised.

They stood hugging for a while, before Justin spoke again. "So…. Wanna tell me what's going on with Harper and Zeke?"

She pulled back, crossing her arms in front of her chest, glaring at him. "You called Zeke today, didn't you?"

He rubbed his neck with his hand, grinning at her sheepishly. "Busted?"

"Justin?" she whispered, lying on the bed beside him.

"Huh?" he whispered back sleepily. (Which is unfair. He's not the only person in the world who has office the next morning!)

"I… I screw up all the time… I'm always being so... bitchy. I didn't mean it that way!" she smacked him, catching on to his thoughts. "No, seriously. I'm so rude and selfish all the time. How do you tolerate me? Don't you feel like you wanna smack me in the face?"

Justin chuckled at her words. He propped up on an elbow, turning around to face her, smiling. "I know you're always annoying me and everyone else, but it's kind of cute, you know? It wouldn't be Alex if it wasn't bitchy. And I love you. Just the way you are."

(A/N: I'm so sorry for not updating for this long. I'm lacking inspiration for this fic. Well, this chapter was jalex, so hopefully you'll review? And yes I know Japanese girls know English, but work with me people!)