Learned Rules

Justin peacefully slept on his couch without much care. His face was surprisingly serene compared to the first months since his family died. He no longer seemed to be haunted in his dreams. The disturbances rarely came now a days. He looked more like a guy his age should, especially when his bangs almost reached his eyes now. That's what the figure standing a few feet away thought. The figure stopped observing him and then grinned. It's always good to be silent before striking. The next few seconds came with water splashing all over Justin's face.

He instantly sat up.

"Life jackets!" He said as he quickly looked every direction. He stopped when he spotted Alex barely containing her laughter and holding a mostly empty glass of water.

Justin covered his wet face with his hands. "Oh, god what time is it?"

"Early?" She said, smiling as Justin wiped his face with his hands. When he was done he looked at the time and groaned.

"Alex, I wasn't suppose to wake up for another hour! What's wrong with you? Why did you wake me up?" Justin's voice was exhausted and irritated.

"To practice?"

Justin glared, his eyes fixed on her face. "We don't practice in the morning!"

"Oh, my bad." She said, smirking without any guilt. He groaned again and closed his eyes. He rested his head on his hand with his elbow on the couch arm.

"Hey, Justin?" She called. Justin opened his eyes and looked back at her. What did she do? She splashed the rest of the water on his face. This time she didn't try to hold back and laughed. Justin stared at her with an annoyed look. The way she was laughing at him and the mischief her eyes held. Oh, yeah, the old Alex had definitely returned. She had not only come back, but there was also a small new part of her that time had brought a bit prematurely, maturity…Okay, well, Alex's version of maturity. It wasn't much, but he'll take what he can get as long as it was still Alex. However, back to the current situation. If he was going to be wet than so was she.

Justin grabbed her by her waist with both hands and pulled her closed to him with only an inch of space between his face and her stomach. One hand let go of her and grabbed the hem of her shirt. Alex saw what he was going to do.

"Justin, don't!" She tried to pull his hand from her waist. Before she could step out of reach, he lifted her shirt and used as a towel for his face.

"Justin!" She snatched her shirt back and lifted it up to look at the damage. "Look at what you did. Now I have to change." She whined. Justin smiled up at her in victory and then his eyes dropped in front of him to her exposed skin. He stared for a few unnecessary seconds before standing up and lightly smacking her shirtless stomach with the back of his hand as he went to find a towel.

"Then go."

While Alex went to get a change of shirts, Justin made himself some cereal. If you could have seen him in the past and now, you would have notice he no longer looked tired all the time and stressed out. That probably had to do with his 'second job'. It's been a while since he'd joined his group and over time he has saved quite some money. Of course he didn't use any of it. All that money he was saving was going to be for Alex's future. Another reason why he didn't use it was because how could he explain to Alex where all the money came all of a sudden. Besides, college wasn't too far away for Alex and she would be out of this tiny place. He would just tell her he got a loan or something. Finance was not her strong suit.

When Alex came out she shook her shoulder length hair from the few tangles she got from changing shirts. While Justin let his hair grow a little, she went and got hers cut. She got her things and they left to their usual walk to school/work.

"You finished your paper for your English class yesterday right?" Justin asked as they walked.

Alex rolled her eyes. "Yes, dad. I went to the library before going to work to print it." Alex shuttered at the word 'library'. It was even worse remembering that she actually went inside one.

"Hey, I just want you to get a good grade like your last paper."

"Ooh ooh, can I get ice cream when you see how good I did?" She said like a five year old to annoy him. She grabbed his arm and started tugging it as she jumped a little for affect.

Justin ignored her, but had the strong urge to roll his eyes.

She dropped his arm after a bit.

"Dork."

Even though she let go of him their arms would occasionally brush against each other without being aware of it. When they neared her school the kids were already gathered around the front.

"Alright, I'll see you later." Justin looked at the students talking and then at Alex as she turned around to leave. "And don't use magic."

"Yeah, yeah." She said, rolling her eyes as she started to walk. He lightly slapped her behind as she walked away for that retort. Alex continued to walk as if nothing happened. The strange thing here was that if any other guy had done that, Alex would have made sure they had ended up with a bloody nose.

Nothing much had changed at the antique store. The place was still a bit messy and still felt comfortable. Justin still read all the books he could in his spare time and they all weren't normal books. When Ralph wasn't around, or too busy, he read some magic books he had or found. After all, who else was going to teach Alex magic. She couldn't learn by just reading like he could. She needed a bit of guidance when doing a spell or she would screw it up. However, that was becoming less common little by little.

Justin looked at the time and it was almost time for his shift to be over. He was just closing the book he was currently reading as Ralph came and it looked like he was panting a little.

"Justin, there is a box up in the attic full of books you like to read. They been here for years and I thought you should have them if you like." Ralph said.

Justin became excited hearing that. "Really? I you sure?"

Ralph chuckled. "Yeah, they've just been collecting dust up there."

"Thanks!" Justin said, running up to the attic.

Ralph wanted to say something, but he had already ran of. He smiled and shook his head. That box filled with books was very heavy from firsthand experience a few moments ago. He was going to have to take a few books at a time. What did he think he's going to do? Did he think he is going to-?

"There really are a lot of books in here." Ralph's mouth slightly hanged opened as he watched Justin carry the heavy box down the stairs.

"Isn't it a little heavy?" He asked. When he first met the boy he sure had a nice physic, but now it seemed he gained a little more muscle.

"Yeah, it's a little heavy, but I can manage. I'll see you tomorrow." Justin said as he left through the door.

Alex, Cat, and Jane were at their usual spot waiting to get picked up. Like usual they were talking, but the topic of conversation was heading somewhere Alex didn't like.

"Jane will you calm down. I'm sure you'll hear soon from the many universities you applied to." Cat said.

"But it has been taking a while now. What if something happened? What if-?" Alex cut Jane from her soon to be rant.

"Jane, you're a smart girl. They would be crazy not to let you in." She tried to reassure her. While Jane finally started to calm down Cat looked at Alex.

"What about you?" She asked.

"What about me?" Alex asked with her eyes dropped a little, not having any interest in the subject.

"You're a smart girl. Why haven't you applied to any universities yet?" Cat asked.

Alex stared at her for a few seconds with a blank expression before she turned to look at the other kids hanging around the school. "Who says I'm trying to get into one?"

A small frown appeared on Cat's face. "You mean you're not going to a university?"

Alex looked back at them like there was nothing wrong. "No."

Jane also began to frown. "But why? Is it because of money problems? Alex with your grades-" Alex cut Jane from finishing.

"It's not that!" She raised her voiced without meaning to. Alex looked at their startled faces and looked away. They didn't say anything for a moment before Alex looked back at them with the same expressionless face she had before. "It's not that." She repeated a little quieter. She was partially lying. The financial part held some truth, but that wasn't her main reason.

They didn't bring the subject up again, and even if they wanted to they would have been interrupted.

"Hello ladies…and Alex." A voice came from behind them. They turned around to see Justin carrying what looked like a heavy box in front of him. Cat and Jane greeted him as Alex looked at the box.

"What's with the box?" She asked.

"It's a gift from Ralph." He said.

Alex looked closely and leaned on Justin's arm, nearly making him drop the box. Justin made a gasping noise from the sudden extra weight and glared at her. She peered inside through a small opening. "Oh, jeez the dorkness inside you has come back with a vengeance."

"There is nothing wrong with a little reading." Justin said, defensively. They apparently had fallen back into their old rhythm. It wasn't just Alex who was starting to act like her old self.

"Little? When it comes to books your definition of little is the size of the sky." Alex finally stopped leaning on Justin's tormented arm. Cat and Jane just let things run their natural course. They were already used to this. The more time they spent with Alex and Justin together the more they learned how things worked between them. When Jane and Cat left after saying their goodbyes, Justin and Alex got ready to leave. Alex looked down at the box Justin had put down during their argument and then at her nails.

"How did you carry it all the way here anyway? Don't tell me a weakling like you actually carried it with your bare hands." Alex stopped looking at her nails and saw as Justin lifted the box onto his shoulder this time.

"I'm not as weak as you think." Alex stared at him for a few seconds and then started to walk. As they walked she took a subtle side glance at Justin. Her gaze went to his arm as it flexed from holding the heavy box in place. She stared for a few seconds before looking back in front of her. Justin didn't want to admit it, but the box was kind of heavy. He didn't know why, but he didn't want her to notice that.

After leaving Alex, Justin headed where he usually went at this time. He was on his way there when he received a text message. He looked at it before walking again, but going on a different direction. The Sun Point location was the place he preferred over the usual hangout. It had a nice view of the city and a good place to see the sunset. It was not a place he would forget, specially because that's the place he'd first met the guys. The stairs to the roof were sure a killer though. When he opened the door he noticed everyone was already there.

"Justin! Thank god you're here! Please take over the barbeque. I cannot take anymore burnt food!" Gabriel said as he stood next to the barbeque where an annoyed Zack was.

"It's not burnt! You just can't take well cooked meat!" Zack exclaimed.

Justin sighed and made his way over to them. He noticed everyone was here except for Ray. Joseph and Lacey were on the small, old couch talking and Chase was reading a book on the other couch with Kate trying to talk to him. It was very hard to ignorer Kate, even for Chase. She was a nice girl, but she had way too much energy.

Nothing out of the ordinary.

Justin couldn't help, but smile a little. The word 'friends' was the last thing he wanted to use to describe these guys because of his beliefs for the law. As he looked around he remembered what he realized some time ago. No matter how much he thought of the wrong things they did, they were still good inside. At times likes these those thoughts made themselves known and it made it easier for him to admit the truth.

He had forgotten how nice it felt to have friends again.

"Let me see what I can do." He said as he took over the grill.

The dying, orange sunset signaled the end of the day. After eating and doing other regular things friends did, everyone sat around the barrel they used as a fireplace ready to end the day. Joseph stared at the fire before looking up at everyone.

"Well guys it's the end of the day and I guess it's time I told you the news." Everyone gave him all their attention.

"It's about Ray." Lacey said more than asked. Joseph nodded.

"What about Ray? Where is he anyway?" Kate asked.

Joseph looked around at everyone before setting his eyes back on the fire.

"Ray won't be joining us anymore." Shock was apparent on everyone's face, except for Lacey's as she put the pieces together earlier.

"He left?" Chase asked.

"That's what he decided." Joseph responded.

Zack snorted. "Well, so much for that guy."

Joseph slightly glared. "You guys know the rules. Anyone is free to leave anytime time they want as long as they don't rat on the group or anyone in it. Everyone joined because they needed something. We don't ask the reasons for it, but we do ask for trust. That's the most important thing."

Justin looked down at the fire. He knew of the rules. They told him he could leave anytime he wanted. If he needed something, they would get it if he asked, and in return he would do the same. The first thing Joseph told him when he officially joined was that all he wanted was trust.

"Ray decided he no longer needed to do this and we should respect his decision." Joseph said.

Everyone stayed silent.

Zack crossed his arms. "Still, he could have at least said goodbye." He said.

Gabriel smiled. "You know that guy doesn't do well with goodbyes."

"That's true." Zack responded.

"Aw, I'm going to miss him." Kate said.

"Yeah, he was a nice guy." Chase said.

"Well," Joseph stood up and headed for the door. "the world must go on. I'll see you guys tomorrow." Everyone started to leave until Justin was the only one left. He stared at the fire before putting it out and left. Nothing lasts forever, he knew that. He also knew he was going to miss Ray. What he didn't know was how long this was going to last…

…and wondered when would it be his turn.

"Magic is powerful energy that makes a wizard a wizard. However, just having magic is not good enough. To be a good wizard you have to have control over your own magic. Such power as magic should be difficult when releasing huge amounts of it and that's why wizards created wands. Wands are to control magic when released and to not use wands is very difficult. That's why if you are not going to use wands you need concentration to have control…control…Alex control!"

Justin barely ended his speech in time to duck as plate came straight at him and smashed against the wall. Justin uncovered his head and looked behind him at the broken plate. He glared at Alex an stood back up. "What part of concentration and control didn't you understand?" Justin's voice held to an exasperated tone.

Alex rolled her eyes and looked at him with disinterest. "Maybe if you stopped babbling on I might be able to concentrate." She said using air quotes.

Justin sighed and looked down at the shattered plate. "If this keeps up we're going to run out of plates." Alex looked at the plate too.

"Yeah, we probably will." She thought for a moment and got an idea. "Let's us try something else for the levitating spell." He didn't like the look she had and he knew he was going to regret this later. "And use what?"

Alex walked over to the small kitchen pot they had used to make some sauce for dinner earlier, which there was still some there. She looked at him with a smile/smirk. "We have done solid things for a while. Let's switch it up a little."

He knew he shouldn't have asked.

"No, no, and no." Alex rolled her eyes. Yeah, like she was going to listen to him. She extended her hand to the pot and murmured the spell.

"Alex." Justin warned.

Really? He should know better by now.

At first nothing happened, but Alex had a look of pure concentration. Now this was a rare sight to anyone that knew her in the past, but if the Alex had to concentrate…at all, than you knew wandless magic was very hard. She slowly raised her extended arm and amazingly the sauce inside the pot rose as well. Justin slowly made his way to her, keeping his eyes on the flying sauce. Alex carefully walked away from the stove as she levitated the sauce a little over her head. She smiled with triumph and looked over at Justin. "See? What I tell ya?" Justin kept looking at the sauce with his hands up as if trying to calm her. "Okay, you did it. Can you put it back into the pot now?"

Alex smirked at the expression he had. "What, you afraid it's going to bite you?"

"No, but can you carefully go put it back." He said, nervously as he saw the sauce squirm for a second. "Dude, you need to calm down." She said, not noticing anything.

The sauce started squirming more and for longer periods of time.

"Alex."

"What?" It started squirming more out of control.

"Put it back!"

"There is no need to yell. Why are you so hyped-up?" It was getting very of out control, but she didn't notice because she was looking at him.

"Because I'm afraid it's going to-!"

As if a bomb went off inside it, the sauce went flying everywhere. For such a small pot it sure had a lot of sauce in it. The sauce was splattered a little on the living room, but it mostly was on the siblings. Alex wiped her eyes and took a look around. "Well that could have gone better."

Justin wiped his face with his hand and looked at her. "You think?" He walked over to the kitchen and got a dish towel to clean himself. Alex followed and got her own.

"This is why I like to stick with solid objects when it comes to levitation." He said as he cleaned himself. Alex furrowed her eyebrows as she also cleaned herself. "Oh, don't give me that."

"I bet the other spell wouldn't give me this much trouble." She murmured as she wiped her arms. Justin sighed. "You're still going on about that? I told you that spell is useless if you know the levitation spell."

Alex turned to look at him. "Have you tried it?"

"I don't need to." He said, looking at her. He spotted a stain she missed near the back of her neck. "You missed some." He pointed at his own neck to show her. She wiped her neck where she thought it was, but she still didn't get it. "Here." He gently wiped the remaining sauce on her neck. Seeing there was more he used his other hand to go around her head to lift her hair a little. As he cleaned her, he couldn't help, but stare at her smooth skin. There was this weird feeling that suddenly came, but he ignored it. Alex noticed his stare on her exposed skin and saw his eyes were a bit unfocused. It made her feel…something. His movements slowed down a bit. She stared at him for a few seconds, studying his face, before slowly tilting her head to give him more access. The movement made him snap out of his little daze and began cleaning at normal speed again. His eyes flicker to hers, but they were looking somewhere else. After he was done he slowly brought his hand down. Alex brought her head back, but kept looking somewhere else.

Justin stood where he was and Alex walked over to the sink. Strangely things got quiet. She looked at the dirty towel, absorbed in her own thoughts, and then dropped it on the sink. Since when was she so much into thinking anyway?

"Justin." Alex said with her back still turned to him. Justin stood still, not quite sure what to say. She turned around and walk to the small hall. "I'm going to take a shower first."

A lot of things were trying to sort themselves out in his head, like what was that all about earlier and-wait. He quickly turned around towards the hall. She was going to take all the hot water!

"Alex!"

Alex smiled in satisfaction, hearing her brother's shout.

I feel like it's been awhile since the last time I updated...which it's true. What can I say? It's summer and that brings my laziest moments. On the other hand I was going to post this chapter two weeks ago, but I had no internet that entire time. That really sucks though. I was finally going to update and my internet goes away. Talk about timing. I am really sorry for the wait though, but not everything is bad news. During this time I have found myself a beta. His name is WyldCard4 and he has written a few stories himself. He read both my stories and since he liked them he was kind enough to become my beta. I'm always up for trying new things so I'm going to give this a try. This is my first chapter with him and so far we're doing good. It has been awhile though. I had to re-read my story to get back into the story's mood for this chapter. Same thing I do when reading someone else's story and haven't updated in a while...Not that I'm telling you to do that. I mean if you want to you could to get back into the story, but...um...now I feel like I'm making you guys do that...I'm going to stop talking now...yeah. It's late, I'm tired, I'm going to bed.

If I still have people reading this, well then I really like you guys. haha.