Justin opened the door to his sister's room, stepped in, then closed the door carefully, turning the doorknob to avoid making any sound. He knew she wouldn't be awake yet - not at ten on a Sunday morning - and he shouldn't be in here.
Where he should have been was downstairs working in the Sub Station, as he'd agreed to take the morning shift so he could take Alex out that afternoon. Instead, however, he'd slipped up here, ostensibly going to the bathroom, but really….
She looks so innocent when she's asleep. Alex was turned on her side, facing toward the door, one arm out from under the covers, stretched forward with her fingers dangling over the edge. She slept on her right side, like she always had, and she had one of her pillows behind her back, supporting her. Justin brought a hand up, put the tips of his fingers under a strand of hair that had fallen across Alex's face. Carefully, he lifted it and pushed it back where it wouldn't fall again.
I can't believe I'm leaving in three months. It won't be far, but…. Justin stopped his thoughts there, swallowing and shaking his head a little. Even as he tried not to think about what it would be like not to see Alex every day, not to fight with her over the TV remote, not to have her wheedling him into making her popcorn, or getting her a soda. Not to have her lay up against him on the couch, her head on his shoulder - no. I'm not thinking about this.
Justin realized then that he'd crouched down beside Alex's bed, moving to where he had a better view of his little sister's face. He could see that her eyes were moving back and forth under her eyelids, and he smiled a little. REM sleep. Knowing she'd be hard to wake up in that stage, Justin let himself put his hand on top of Alex's, glancing at her clock as he did.
Two minutes. Then I'll head back downstairs, before anybody comes looking for me. Without realizing he was doing it, Justin smiled a little, looking at Alex's beautiful face, wondering what she was dreaming.
The carnival was a blur of motion, color, and light. Alex was laughing, one arm trailing behind her as she quickly weaved through the crowd, holding on to Dean's hand. Then they were on the tilt-a-whirl, Alex crying out joyously as she put her arms up into the air. Dean put one arm around her waist, helping keep her in place.
And then they were on the Ferris wheel, looking out over the carnival. Dean was pointing at something, talking about how high the reverse bungee was doing, saying they needed to do that next.
"Aren't you going to kiss me?" Alex asked, and Dean looked at her, then shook his head.
"No, Russo," he said, then gestured to the other side of her. "That's what he's here for."
"What?" Alex blinked at Dean in disbelief, then turned around. A moment ago, the seat had only been big enough for the two of them, but now it was big enough for three, and there on the other side of her was Justin, smiling at her and holding a single red rose.
He put it into her hand, his other arm sliding around her, and Alex stared up into her brother's grey-green eyes. She'd seen them many times before, of course, but she couldn't remember the last time she'd seen them so close, looked into them for so long, and she found herself swallowing. "You're going to -" she started, but Justin interrupted.
"I love you," he said, and Alex tried to swallow again, but her mouth was dry, and - and then Justin moved closer, and his lips were on hers, and Alex gasped, her whole body suddenly tingling -
Alex found herself blinking at her clock. It was blaring out "Bad Romance," and Alex reached and hit the button automatically, then lay back down. Stupid thing. I need a clock that knows when it's the weekend.
She closed her eyes, then opened them again as the dream came back to her. That was - that was weird. Why would I be…. Alex sat up again then. Oh, right. Justin's taking me out today. That must be it - I was dreaming about Dean, then my brain remember the thing with Justin, and it just got everything mixed up. Yeah.
And that was why she'd set the alarm, she realized as well - she wanted to be ready, and -
The door opened, and their mother came in, carrying a basket of laundry. "Oh, you're up already. Good." Theresa shot Alex a smile as she set the basket atop her daughter's dresser. Taking a stack out of it, she set it there. "You know, it's a very nice thing your brother is doing for you. He spent a lot of money for those tickets."
Alex slid out of the bed, came over and started looking through the stack. Her mother said, "It's funny, the two of you going out together for Valentine's Day."
"A -" Shaking her head quickly, Alex, said, "No. No, Mom, it's not -"
With a teasing grin, Theresa winked at her daughter, said, "Oh, you don't have to lie to your mother. I know how excited you are about this."
"I'm not excited," Alex said quickly. "Why would I be excited? I mean, sure, it's nice of Justin to do this, but it's not like it's a… a date or something!"
"Mija…." Theresa moved to her daughter, gave her a tight hug. "It's all right. I understand what you're feeling." Theresa added a squeeze to the hug, let go and stepped back, then smiled wistfully. "I remember my first date with your father. We -"
Alex looked at her mother, wide-eyed. She is not seriously comparing Justin and me to Dad and her. Because… no. Just no.
But Theresa was still speaking, saying, "Oh, that reminds me. Mija, I know where this kind of thing can lead, and I want you to take this." She reached into a pocket, said, "And don't mention this to your father, all right?" as she pulled out a condom and held it out to Alex.
"Mom!" Alex jumped back, staring in disbelief… and then found herself sitting up suddenly, looking at her blaring alarm clock.
Oh thank God, that was just a dream. Alex put her hands up and let her head drop down, resting on them. That was like when she didn't know Justin was my brother and said he'd be a good catch. Times twenty.
Throwing back the covers, Alex turned off the alarm as she stood up, then froze as her mother opened the door. "Oh, you're already up. Good." Alex stared in horrified fascination as her mother carried the laundry basket to the dresser, set it down to take out a stack of Alex's clothes. "You need to be nice to your brother today," she said. "I know you love to tease him, but he's spent a lot of money on those tickets. There aren't a lot of brothers who are that considerate."
"I'll be nice," Alex said, picking out a top from the stack as Theresa picked up the basket and started back out. She waited until the door had closed completely, then said, "But there's no way I'm kissing him." And I'm definitely not - no, no, no. Don't even think that. You don't have that much brain bleach handy.
Downstairs, Justin was pacing. Okay, calm down. Mom said she was awake, you heard the shower running. She'll be down any minute. And it's not like the tickets are for a particular time. There's no reason to be getting impatient.
And he had to be impatient. That had to be it, because he couldn't possibly be nervous about a day out with Alex. It wasn't like it was a date. Right?
Justin chuckled then, shaking his head a little and cracking a smile. Of course not. Besides, Alex would probably treat the whole thing as a joke anyway, teasing him all day, making him buy her stuff, making -
He looked up as he heard footsteps on the metal of the stairs. Alex was coming down, wearing a knee-length purple skirt over heavy black leggings and a long-sleeved black shirt with a purple peace-sign tank-top over it. Her hair bounced a bit as she took each step, and she shot Justin a smile, looked him up and down.
"Wow," she said then. "I see you've managed to make it where I won't be embarrassed to be seen with you. Good job."
Justin rolled his eyes a little, but smiled, happy that Alex seemed happy. "Well, I thought about wearing my Captain Jim-Bob shirt, but I decided I'd spare you that."
"Well, thanks for that." Alex stopped at the bottom of the stairs, in front of Justin, then held up the envelope with the tickets. "So…." she started, then stopped as Justin took the envelope from her hand, put it in his jacket pocket - and then took her hand in his. For a moment, she simply stared down at his hand, holding hers.
She looked away quickly then, feeling a bit of a blush rising. Stop that! Whatever you might have been dreaming, it's just Justin!
"All ready?" he asked, and Alex turned back to him, nodded. "Okay. Here we go, then," he said, and they flashed out.