Disclaimer: Don't own it.

Mrs. Potts: Cheer up child. It'll turn out alright in the end.

Beauty and the Beast

Chapter Nine: You and Me Could Write a Bad Romance

In March, Juliet and her family moved away, with that, her phone calls stopped and so did all of the meaningless threats that she had been sending to Alex.

Alex showed Justin the first one when it arrived on Valentine's Day. He rolled his eyes at it and told her to brush it off. Juliet didn't have any proof that anything inappropriate was going on between the siblings. They had always been close anyways (even if Alex never willingly admitted it). So they moved on.

They still fought, they still teased, but things between them were good. (Okay, so Alex is a perv and by good she most definitely means that her brother is very willing to let her straddle his lap and make out in the lair. Or make out on his bed, or her bed, or sometimes he sits her on the kitchen cou—you get it).

And yeah, that may make them seem like horny kids that are only going out because they want to mack, but there is way more to their relationship than that. Their relationship is so much more open now, not tense (okay, bad tense) or awkward. There are no secrets between them anymore. And Alex tells him everything now. She has someone to talk to again. Someone that's not going to judge her, someone that will help her out, and someone that loves her no matter what.

And he does. He told her once (alright, he told her so many times that she's lost count). It was the first time a boy had told her that he loved her. Their parents were gone (it's really convenient having a responsible, older brother, parents seem to leave more often because of it) and they were on the couch in the living room, he was studying for an upcoming Calc test and she was busy staring at his profile, her feet in his lap. He let out a frustrated sigh, letting his book fall out of his lap and leaned back against the couch.

She stopped what she was doing (which wasn't hard because her task would involve touching him, which, honestly, was ten times better than just looking at him) and crawled toward him, settling next to his side. She placed her head on his shoulder, grabbed his left hand and interlaced their fingers. He relaxed immediately and she smiled, pleased with his reaction (she really was getting better at being nice to people, okay, being nice to Justin) and brought his hand to her mouth and gently kissed his knuckles.

His lips pulled upward into a grin of his own and he glanced down at her, "I love you," he said matter-of-factly. She blushed prettily and looked down at their hands.

He laughed at her shy expression (one that was rarely seen and mostly by him) and pulled her into his lap, kissing her flushed cheeks and then pecking the corner of her mouth. "Come on, say it," he said teasingly, "I know you want, too. Don't be shy. It's easy. Three little syllables…"

She giggled and leaned forward, kissing him softly, "I love you, too. And just so you know, that was four."

He chuckled and pulled away, his own cheeks red and a huge grin plastered on his face, "That's my girl."

*****

It was surprisingly easy to keep a secret in the Russo household, well, that's what Justin said. She turned away to roll her eyes, well, duh, it was easy, she had known this for years, but she didn't say that to him. They may be dating or whatever, but he was still Justin and she was still his rebellious little sister and he was still prone to tattle on her (although it was becoming a much rarer occurrence, as it was becoming increasingly easier for her to get him to do what she wanted).

*****

May was hard. It was getting closer and closer to Justin's high school graduation and she wasn't quite sure what was going to happen to them when he left for college.

Would he still want her? Was she one last fling before high school ended? She shook her head at the thought and tried to focus on the English assignment that rest on her lap (ugh, homework in late May, what the hell were her teachers smoking?) Justin wasn't like that. He didn't date girls just to date them. He dated them because he genuinely cared about them. And he was constantly showing and saying that he loved her. So, she shouldn't doubt him, right? The whole situation was just hard.

She hated the idea of being alone again. She spent those months in the fall by herself, with no one to really talk to; she was always confused and scared. And she really hadn't missed those feelings and now with Justin's impending departure they were hitting her full force once again.

There was a knock on her door then, one she recognized and sure enough, seconds later, Justin was walking into her room. "Hey," he said happily, a smile on his face (he was so content now, much more free, apparently she wasn't the only one that had been holding everything in).

She tried to return it and smiled weakly at him as he settled on the bed next to her. She glanced at the watch on his wrist, slightly surprised to see that it was well after eleven. "Hey," she responded quietly.

He picked up the book resting in her lap, eyes quickly scanning the title, "The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm," he read, he grinned, "is this homework or for fun?"

She gave him a look, one eyebrow cocked in disbelief, "Me reading for fun?"

He chuckled, "Touché. But in all fairness, you loved this when you were kid. I used to read it to you all the time."

She furrowed her eyebrows, trying to remember, "Really?" She shook her head sadly, "I don't remember that."

"Well, I did, and you loved it. So, you are studying fairy tales?"

She rolled her eyes and snorted, "Yeah, not sure why though." She sighed, "It's all ridiculous anyways. Lord knows fairy tales aren't real. I mean, look at us." She laughed mockingly, "If fairy tales were real we certainly wouldn't be siblings. You wouldn't be my 'prince charming'."

He grimaced, his countenance turning somber, "What's wrong, Alex?"

She shrugged and moved away from his body, "Nothing."

His face fell, "Yes, there is. Tell me." He moved closer to her, wrapping his arm around her waist and bringing her to his body.

She sniffled and refused to look at him, because goddamn, now she was crying and this isn't her at all. She wasn't the girl to get all whiny and annoying because her boyfriend was leaving in the fall. "I just, I'm really going to miss you. I'm going to miss being with you. Wow, never thought I would say that."

He chuckled softly, pushed her hair behind her ear and kissed her jaw softly, "Alex," he whispered, "I'm going to miss you, too. But I'm only going to NYU, you can talk to me every day, come see me every weekend," he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and she giggled despite herself. "Everything will work out," he reassured her.

"Promise?" She asked, hating how her voice was anxious and sounded so small.

He nodded and kissed her gently on the lips, "I promise."

And that would have to work for now.

A/N: Happy Halloween! Thank you so much for your amazing reviews! Seriously, you don't know how excited I am when my phone goes off and I find a review from you. Seriously, makes my day. Just wanted to let you know that just the epilogue is left. No, I'm not cutting this short for NaNoWriMo. This was always going to be short. This was my attempt to be light and fluffy, lol, not sure if that worked. And because I love you (and it's quite possible that I'm insane) I've started a new Jalex fic that I will start posting in the next couple of days. Let me know what you think! And have a safe holiday!