Chapter 13: Suspicions raise their head

"This is Rachel. You know, the one I told you about." Alex announced, introducing the little child to him. "I baby-sit her."

He looked at her in disbelief. "You and Baby-sitting? Please! Since when do you baby-sit when you don't need money?"

She ignored him, getting busy with the kid. She did hate kids in the past, and she never liked babysitting, unless she was in desperate need of money and Justin's wallet was already empty. However, she wasn't a teenager anymore, and now, things were different. Now, this was the best possible diversion for a mother still in her mourning period.

"Meet me at 4. J."

Justin blinked. The note had fallen off Alex's coat pocket. He had intended to pick it up and return it to her. However, he had gotten curious when he noticed the neat handwriting. That couldn't be Alex. Glancing at the door to make sure she wasn't around and he wouldn't be caught trespassing, he read the note scribbled on the crumpled piece of paper.

And now he was confused. Why would someone send a note like this to Alex to ask her to meet him? Couldn't he just call or text or maybe email? And J. Was that the name of some place? Or was it some person? Who was this J? Jim? Jason? John? What did he want with Alex?

His mind was already buzzing with questions, when he heard Alex's footsteps. He quickly put the note back and placed the coat aside.

"Hey." Alex greeted, smiling at him.

"Hey", he smiled back nervously. "You're looking great today." He complimented, while she sizzled in a little black dress. He didn't ask her any questions, instead just waited to see her reaction, to see if she wanted to tell him something herself.

She titled her head to the side, studying him. "Sorry. But I need to go out now. Have a meeting at 4. Work is crazy these days." She apologized, sighing. She walked up to him, wrapping her arm around his neck, and placing a kiss on his lips that made him momentarily forget the current situation. "But I will see you tonight." She added, winking.

Once she was not pressed against him and he regained his breath, he was able to think properly again. Work? Was that note really from someone for her work? Why would that be an informal note like that then? And why would Alex wear a black dress to work?

Now he couldn't blame himself for being suspicious. Though Alex was a pretty smooth liar, he could always tell when Alex was lying, and now was one of those times.

He juggled the wand from hand to hand for five minutes, trying to decide what the right thing to do was. He never wanted to invade Alex's privacy. He trusted her enough to give her that much of personal space and independence. But there was some sort of fear in his heart, some instinct telling him that something wasn't alright, that something was going on, and he needed to know what it was. Maybe he needed to know it for Alex's safety as well? Maybe she was in danger and needed his help?

Or maybe he was just being paranoid? Maybe he was just over-thinking? Either way, he had to find out for certain today.

"Please please, tell me now, is there something I should know, Deranium, Deranius"

Alex walked up to the man standing near the gate of a gigantic mansion, leaning against the doorframe, her heels clicking against the marble as she walked fast. The man's back was to her, as he stood there, looking up at the sky, as if that was the most happening thing in the world. His hand was tucked inside the pocket of his pants, his other hand supported on the gate.

"Why did you call me here?" she demanded angrily.

"You're finally here." The man snorted, without turning around to face her. "You're late. What? You didn't want to be here? Something more interesting going on?"

"None of your business, jerk!" she spat at him.

"Ouch." The man said in a mocking tone. "That was harsh."

Alex sighed, shaking her head. "What do you want from me?" she asked in defeat.

"You know what I want from you." He replied dryly.

"I can't do this." Alex shook her head again. "I can't do this to Justin."

"Justin won't be hurt." He assured. "Trust me."

"I don't trust you." Alex countered, venom in her voice. "I don't even know who you are!"

"I'm a friend." The man returned. "I'm trying to help you. But I can't do that unless you do what I want you to do. It's been three years Alex. I'm been here for you whenever you needed me... How long do I have to wait? I'm supposed to be somewhere else right now. Yet, I'm stuck here because of you."

Her voice trembled, tears falling down her cheeks. "I can't do this." She sobbed.

The figure finally turned around, face covered finally in mask, just two narrow slits for eyes that were an artificial shade of blue, and those eyes shone with some strange sort of emotion. "Hey, hey, I'm sorry. Relax." He assured quickly, wrapping her in a hug. "I'm so sorry Alex. I didn't mean to push you too hard." He apologized, rubbing her back. "I'm sorry."

And she didn't push him away.

Justin watched, stunned beyond belief, and completely confused. What was going on? Who the heck was that guy? And what was up with that chilling mask? She didn't even know who he was? Whoever he was, he definitely seemed evil. From what he had seen, Justin didn't like J at all.

And what exactly did he want from Alex? Justin did have an idea about what he might want from Alex, and that just made his blood boil and his veins pump with fury. What bothered him even more was that Alex didn't shove that freak away. What was wrong with her?

Was she… she couldn't have been. She still loved him…. right?

"What a long day." Alex groaned, taking off her coat and her shoes. "No matter what Harper buys me, I'm not wearing heels again." she snarled, throwing her shoes far away. "I'm gonna go take a shower. And then…" She trailed off, grinning, and placed a small kiss on his cheek, heading for the bathroom.

Justin watched her quietly. She was acting completely normal. Like nothing happened, like a few hours back she wasn't crying in the arms of a stranger while he comforted her, like she didn't spend the last few hours just sitting aimlessly at the stairs of a building.

And now he just couldn't control himself. He had to know who this guy was.

Mind filled with guilt, pain, anxiety, and questions, he grabbed Alex's cell phone. There had to be some note somewhere. Alex was always extremely careless and over-confident.

However, he found no messages in her phone that sounded remotely suspicious. There were no calls from private numbers either. There were no pictures, or recordings, or-

Justin gasped. There was a number stored as "J"!

He glanced at the bathroom door again. The door was still closed, the shower running. He knew she would take another twenty minutes in there.

The big question was, did he really want to do this? Did he really want to act like a creepy, stalking boyfriend? Well, he had every right to be an over-protecting big brother.

So he dialed the number, holding his breath.

(A/N: dun dun dun. Evil cliff hanger XD I updated this after ages, sorry, I was just busy with life and other fics. But well, it's almost done now and I intend to finish this by 2010. Tell me what you think. Please review!)