No, I have not forgotten about this story or my wonderful readers and I hope you haven't forgotten about me. I'm sorry it has taken so long to get this chapter out, life has been getting in the way of my writing. I made it with lots of good bits and pieces. Enjoy!
Big thanks to my reviewers for Chapter 8: Seddielovergrl, GravityBlackBowler, Unknown, SusieAnna97, EvilEmmaEvans and LadyRose12. You guys are awesome!
*I don't own Wizards of Waverly Place, its characters, or NYU. Just the story, the extra characters and song are mine.*
~Also, I have never been to NYU so just ignore the inaccuracies in its description~
~Parmesana is a fictional restaurant so don't bother trying to find it~
Previously:
Leaning forward, Justin picks up his fork and looks at each of them. "Since everyone knows the big secret, I think I can do a little better than the light display at the park."
"What do you have in mind?" Alex smiles, her 'brother' problem forgotten once again.
Chapter 9: Up Close and Dazzling
Justin gives Alex a sly smile but doesn't say another word until everyone finishes eating. Standing, he motions them to follow him into the kitchen where they find Uncle Tony talking to one of the waiters with a plump and curvy redhead standing next to him. Seeing them, Tony sends the server out into the main room.
"So, you finally decided to come say hello?" The older woman crosses her arms and glares affectionately at Justin and Max, who immediately walk up to give her a hug and kiss on the cheek making her smile.
"Hi Aunt Mags." The boys say in unison. They introduce her to Alex and Harper and both girls get a big hug from her as well.
"Uncle Tony, I was wondering if we could use your portal?" Justin asks after making sure no one else is in the room.
"Do you mean the restrooms?" Tony looks at Justin sternly and nods almost imperceptibly towards the girls. "You know they're up by the main door."
"It's okay Uncle Tony." Patting the older man on the shoulder, Justin grins. "They already know all about magic. You don't need to hide anything."
"Ah, well then." Relieved, Tony leads them into the back where the large storage fridge is located. "You can let yourselves in as I have to get back to work." He gives each of them a bear hug before walking away. He winks over his shoulder. "I knew these girls were special."
Justin waves his wand and a quick flash of light outlines the door. Opening it, he swings it wide and lets the others walk in first. Alex swallows a thick lump in her throat as the dream memories assault her once more. She quickly steps through and into the large room that had magically appeared.
Thankfully, this lair is quite a bit different from the other. This one is painstakingly organized and brightly colored, whereas the other was comfortably cluttered and somewhat faded with a lot of antiques lying around. There are no memories of her brothers or the father she desperately misses here. Alex brushes away the emotions again and concentrates on the people around her.
Justin walks up to a large crystal door in the back of the room and opens it. The other side is obscured by a thick, swirling white cloud. He turns to face the others. "Ready?"
"Ready for what?" Max steps closer to Harper and laces his hand with hers. "Where exactly are we going?"
"It's a surprise." Smirking, Justin grabs Alex's hand and pulls her through the door. Max shrugs his shoulders and follows with Harper, not sure what his cousin is planning.
Mumbling something under his breath, Justin waves his wand and a large red carpet zooms down out of the sky and stops at their feet. Everyone steps up onto it and sits down. Alex looks at Justin, expecting him to hand out the safety helmets and steer, but he just sits next to her and smiles.
"Justin, shouldn't you be driving this thing?" Alex raises an eyebrow at him.
"Nope." Grinning, Justin wraps an arm around her shoulders as the carpet rises up. "This is a taxi carpet which drives itself and has a spell in place to keep anyone from falling off. All you have to do is tell it where to go, which I already did."
"Clever. So where are we going?" Leaning into his arm, Alex relaxes and enjoys the slight breeze from the carpet lazily making its way through the air.
"Here." Justin points up into the sky as the carpet stops in midair. Above is the blackness of the night sky and the twinkling of a billion stars. While the others are staring up, Justin stealthily waves his wand again and an array of decadent deserts appears in the middle of the carpet including chocolate covered strawberries and chocolate truffles, everything is bite-sized finger food.
"This is amazing." Harper's eyes widen in awe then close in appreciation when Max pops one of the truffles into her mouth.
"There is more yet to come." Smiling mischievously, Justin offers a small plate of goodies to Alex as he glances back up at the stars. "In fact, it's starting right now."
Above them a swift shaft of light streaks across the sky, followed by another and another until the whole sky seems ablaze. There's enough to cover every single wish each of them has ever had and then some. The lights dance before them in a dizzying display, dazzling their senses.
"I promised you a light show." Justin whispers into Alex's ear, his lips grazing her skin and sending shivers through her body. "What do you think?"
"Perfect." Distracted by the display above and the feel of him next to her, Alex manages to get out the single word in response.
"That's what I was going for." Pulling her in for a tight hug, Justin lays on his back with Alex tucked into his side as they watch the sky. On the other side of the blanket, Max is sitting leaning back on his arms as Harper rests with her back against his chest. Both couples are absorbed watching the meteor shower and nibbling on the goodies placed between them.
As the last of the lights fade away, Justin leans down and whispers something towards the carpet which causes it to move forward again. They fly higher up into the sky until they come to a particularly bright set of stars and the carpet stops. Standing up, Justin motions for Max to follow him to the edge of the carpet where he tells him something the girls can't hear. Grinning, Max nods his head and they pull out their wands. With a grand flourish, the boys mumble an incantation.
At first, nothing seems to have happened then suddenly two of the stars start to twinkle a little brighter and look to be coming closer. Justin and Max both hold out a hand and a star lands in each of them. Another wave of their wands and a thin silver chain appears and attaches to the star. Walking back to Alex and Harper, they hold out the newly made necklaces with the crystal stars dangling from them. Alex looks up into the sky and finds the original stars have returned to their places.
"It's just a small piece of their beauty, something to remember tonight by." Opening the clasp, Justin places the necklace around Alex's neck when she stands up.
Alex's heart leaps at the sight of the gleaming white star and she leans over without hesitation to kiss him, mere words not enough to thank him. Justin's hands snake around her waist and rest on her lower back, pulling her closer to him. Wrapping her arms around his neck, Alex threads her fingers through the thick soft hair at the nape of his neck. When Justin tilts his head and runs the tip of his tongue across her lower lip, Alex gasps at the tingling sensation that runs all the way to her toes. Justin takes advantage of her open lips to deepen the kiss causing them both to lose all thoughts in their heads. In this moment, at this time, nothing else matters and nothing else exists but the two of them.
Eventually, they part as Harper's nervous giggle and Max's clearing of his throat finally register in their clouded brains. Alex looks over through heavy lidded eyes at her blushing best friend and realizes what just happened. Shocked at her own behavior, Alex hides her reddened cheeks in Justin's chest. Laughing at her display of shyness, Justin kisses her on the forehead affectionately. Alex smacks him on the arm and playfully glares at him making him laugh harder and the others to join in. "Oh shut up!" Alex steps back and crosses her arms, irritated at her show of girliness.
They sit down after Justin magically clears away the remains of the food and the carpet flies them back to Tony's portal. By the time they get into the restaurant, Alex's peevishness is gone and her good humor returns, which may have had something to do with Justin's warm glances and his arm wrapped around her waist.
On the sidewalk outside, Alex is distractedly talking with Harper behind her when she is jerked to a stop by Justin's hand. Turning towards him, she sees that he's accidentally bumped into someone and is apologizing. Looking closer, Alex finds the girl's long blonde curls rather familiar and is disturbed by the way the blonde is smelling Justin as if he is a glass of fine wine.
"Juliet?" Alex gasps out the name and the girl swiftly looks over, a light glinting off her gleaming fangs.
Seeing the agelessly perfect face, Alex pushes her way between Juliet and Justin. "Back off Vampire Barbie." Alex glares at the girl.
"He just smells so delicious." Juliet shakes her head to clear it and stares at Alex. "Wait, how do you know my name?"
"Alex, do you know her?" Justin lays a hand on Alex's shoulder and watches Juliet carefully as what Alex said registers fully. "Did you say 'vampire'?" He pulls Alex behind him protectively.
"It's not me she's interested in." Rolling her eyes, Alex steps around Justin. "You're the one she says smells tasty." Facing Juliet, Alex glances around quickly at the mostly empty sidewalk before pulling out her wand. "One fang closer and I'll blast you back to Transylvania. Now, why don't you go find a nice, furry werewolf to cuddle up to?"
"I'm very confused." Juliet looks at Alex curiously. "How do you know me, wizard? Are you talking about Mason? I'm actually on my way to meet him now."
"That's good." Alex says sincerely, still holding her wand aloft. "Don't let us keep you." Pulling Justin past Juliet, she waves at the girl over her shoulder and puts her wand away. "Have fun."
"What was that all about?" Justin looks at Alex curiously once Juliet is out of sight.
"I'll tell you about it one day." Alex continues walking, lost in the memories from her dream life. They drove to her house in silence, the only noise coming from Max and Harper talking in the back seat. Pulling up outside her home, Max walks Harper to the door as Justin and Alex say goodbye near the car.
"Tonight was a lot of fun." Justin scuffs the toe of his shoe on the ground.
"Yeah." Alex stares down at her hands clasped in front of her.
"Can I call you tomorrow? Maybe we can go out again tomorrow night?" Taking a step closer, Justin wraps a hand over hers, trying to get her to look up.
"Um sure." Alex refuses to look at him.
"Well, goodnight." Justin leans down to kiss her gently but Alex turns her face at the last moment so he gets her cheek instead. Sighing in disappoint, Justin walks her to her door as Max climbs into the car.
Alex opens the door to go inside after Justin walks away. Hearing him sigh sadly again snaps her out of her funk and she turns to look at him. "Justin." He turns hopefully at the sound of her voice. Running up to him, Alex wraps her arms around his waist and hugs him tightly. "Goodnight." She mumbles into his chest then kisses him softly on the lips before running inside and closing her front door.
"Yes!" Justin pumps his fist into the air and happily anticipates the next day.
I hope everyone enjoyed the rest of the date. Next chapter is going to be dealing with her dream stuff. Please review and let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!
