A/N: Hey guys, I know you must be tired of waiting for me to update. Sorry :[[ As a reward for being so loyal though, how about some Justin/Alex fluff?!? (Again, only as brother/sister) Well get going and READ!!! And please review, for they are like oreos and milk to me! =D
Disclaimer: Check it, I don't have dibs on WOWPizzle. Fasho. ;]
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Alex let out a breath of relief and felt a huge weight from her shoulders lift as she and Justin appeared back at the warehouse. She barely caught a glimpse at her mother holding Max on the couch, smoothing his hair, and her father pacing the floor before they all jumped up and tackled both her and Justin. Excited gasps and joyous laughter filled the air as the Russo family fell over each other, hugging anybody they could get to.
Alex beamed at her family as the chuckles died out and they all sat upright. She had expected her father to round on her and scream at her for being so stupid to give up the necklace. But he was wearing a smile that stretched from ear to ear with watery eyes. Theresa had been sobbing uncontrollably the second Justin and Alex popped back into the warehouse. Now she was trying to catch her breath and had her arm latched around Max's neck. He was grinning goofily and for once didn't mind the affection that his mother was giving him.
"I never thought I'd say this Alex, but I'm so happy to see you," he cried out.
Alex ruffled his hair in the annoying way she knew he hated, but he just wouldn't stop smiling. Jerry climbed to his feet tiredly and offered a hand to his wife. Theresa relinquished her hold on Max and took it, lifting herself from the ground. Max, Justin, and Alex all stood as well, brushing themselves off and smoothing their clothing. Jerry strode over to Alex and held onto her shoulders, "I love you. And I'm so happy that we're all together again; but you shouldn't have given him the pendant." He smiled a little sadly at his statement.
Alex let her mouth twitch into a smirk as she retorted victoriously, "I didn't. Ghost only has the copy of the necklace that I made."
Jerry's eyes bugged in disbelief, but then wrapped his daughter in their own hug.
Max interjected the warm and comfortable silence with the question that had been lingering on the Russo children's minds. "So, what happened to you guys?"
Theresa shoved all three of them towards the couch as she went to the kitchen to make some tea and hot cocoa for everyone. Jerry sat in one of the armchairs facing his children. He told them how Ghost and his goons had found them and captured them only seconds after the three of them had left. They had been knocked unconscious after they refused to tell him where the necklace was. When they had woken up, they had no idea where they were. It was like a medieval dungeon, as Jerry described. Then he told the kids that he and Theresa waited while they were held there, not knowing anything about what was going on. Jerry ended the story with what had happened today, materializing in front of their children.
Justin suspected that Jerry was limiting his description of what happened in the dungeon for Alex and Max's sake. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to know. Jerry saw the shocked expressions on his children's faces and quickly changed the subject.
"So, the last time I came here to set everything up, it was just a warehouse…" Jerry eyed Alex suspiciously.
She threw her hands up in the air, "Oh so just because everything is fancy now, it's my fault?" she screeched.
Jerry chuckled and replied, "Well, isn't it?"
Alex folded her arms over her chest and tried to shrink herself back into the cushions of the couch as she mumbled, "Maybe."
Theresa came back with the drinks and shooed Justin out of the spot next to Alex so she could sit down. She draped an arm over Alex's shoulders, squeezing her close. "I think it's fabulous. I told your father if we had to live here that I wouldn't last long on a couple drops of water for showers and the pieces of cloth he called beds would be bad for his back," she whispered. Alex giggled and snuggled in closer to her mom. Max leaned on Alex's shoulder and wrapped his arm around Alex's torso as Theresa told Alex how brave she was and how proud of her she was. Jerry motioned silently for Justin to go to the kitchen with him. Justin tore his eyes away from the rare show of affection in their family and followed his father.
Jerry looked back and smiled before turning to his son. He clasped a hand on his shoulder and said quietly, "Thank you, for taking care of them. I knew you would. It's really comforting to know that if anything ever did happen to us, you'll be there for your family. You make me so proud, son." Before Justin could reply nonchalantly, like it was no big deal, Jerry had pulled him in for a quick man-hug. With two short pats on the back he released Justin, who kept his head bowed.
"Dad, I- I was really scared, though," Justin whispered back, letting himself be vulnerable for once. "I didn't know how much longer I could handle it, keep my head, you know?"
"That's okay, Justin. It's okay to be scared. I was terrified! But the point is, you love your family enough to try. And that means everything," he offered Justin a smile, which Justin returned. With one more clap on the shoulder, they exited the kitchen to rejoin their family.
In the two minutes they were in the kitchen, both Max and Alex had fallen asleep, both leaning on their mother who was stroking Alex's hair. Jerry chuckled slightly and went to shake Max's shoulder. Justin realized that he too was exhausted. A glance at his watch told him it was only 1:32. They had left that morning at 10:00ish, he guessed. But the emotions from the day; fear, worry, anger, hatred, they all started to settle in and were wearing him out.
Jerry was guiding Max's dragging feet to his bedroom. Theresa whispered to Alex, making her stir. Alex, still groggy, awoke and planted a quick kiss on Theresa's cheek before shuffling off to her room. Theresa stifled a yawn as she started to clean up the mugs, but Justin stopped her.
"Mom, I got it. Go ahead and get some sleep," he said softly. Theresa smiled gratefully and patted Justin's arm. Then wordlessly, she went to find her husband.
Justin swiftly gathered up the cups, all of them still half-full with tea and hot chocolate, and brought them into the kitchen. He emptied the contents and rinsed the dishes out, lining them up in the dishwasher. He kicked the door shut and looked around. The place was now comfortably quiet and seemed like any other house. He felt so tired, but thought he should check on Alex first.
He tiptoed over to the door that Alex had already personalized with pink frilly things, glad to see that it was cracked open. He pushed it forward with his fingertips and observed Alex's sleeping form rising and falling on her bed. She hadn't bothered to dress in her pajamas, or even to turn down the bed. She slept on her stomach, and her feet were dangling over the edge of the bed. Justin chuckled at the realization that she must have collapsed onto the bed and instantly fallen asleep. He was about to leave when he heard a noise come from Alex that was somewhat like a whimper. Frowning, Justin strained his ears. Alex groaned a little in her sleep. Is she having a nightmare? he wondered to himself.
He walked silently over and removed her sneakers, and her wand that was hidden near the hem of her jeans. Then as gently as possible, Justin lifted her legs fully onto the bed. He grabbed a blanket that was draped over the foot of her bed and laid it out over his sister. Justin looked back once more at Alex's face, which would screw up into an emotion he couldn't figure out, then smoothing out again. He rested his hand on her head for a couple of seconds before turning to leave.
"Justin?" Alex rasped quietly. Justin winced and turned back to her, sitting on the edge of her bed.
"Sorry I woke you up," he whispered back.
Alex shook her head and pulled herself up in a sitting position. The blanket fell from her shoulders and she looked down at it. "Did you give me this?" she gestured at the fleecy material.
"Yeah, now go back to sleep!" he whispered.
Alex looked like she was about to lay her head back down when her phone buzzed from the nightstand. She reached for it and opened it up, reading the text that just came for her. Justin was about to launch into a speech, reprimanding Alex for talking to people from back home, telling her it's dangerous and could be a means for the evil wizards to find them and whatnot. His words caught in his throat though, when Alex furrowed her eyebrows and let her eyes droop in sadness. She snapped the phone shut and tossed it on the nightstand, hugging her knees close to her body.
"Alex, wha-?" Justin started.
"That was Harper. She's left me forty-seven text messages and thirteen voicemails since we came here," Alex said, staring at her knees blankly. Justin just stared at her with wide eyes.
"But it's whatever you know? Harper will get over it. I know I will," Alex scoffed. She finally looked up at Justin, who now had skepticism written all over his face.
"Alex, you don't have to do that, you know," he told her softly.
"Oh? And what am I supposed to do? Cry and whine for my best friend? Tell Mom and Dad how the big bad man scared me? That's not what I do, okay? That's what little girls do… and you."
Justin shot her a quick glare before answering her, "You still are a little girl, Alex. But if you want to pretend like everything's fine then go ahead. Just remember that I know you so much better than that. And if you want to talk about how not talking to Harper and not being able to explain to her everything that's going on is killing you inside, I'm right here."
"You are way too smart for your own good. No wonder you can't hold down a girlfriend; they must get so annoyed when you tell them exactly what they're thinking," Alex teased lightly. Justin chuckled a little bit at the compliment/insult. "But, thank you," she whispered.
"No problem." Justin started to stand, but Alex caught his wrist.
"And… not just for the Harper thing," she exhaled sharply, "Thank you for taking care of us; Max and me. You really kept your cool, you know? Even if it was just for a couple of days," she winked at him.
Justin scoffed in an amazing resemblance to Alex as he stared off at one of her walls. "Pfft. That was no big deal."
Alex gave Justin's wrist a squeeze, which brought his attention back to her. "If you want to pretend like everything was fine, go ahead. Just remember that I know you so much better than that. And if you want to talk about how scared you were that Mom and Dad were gone, and how you didn't know whether you could keep up your responsibly image for much longer, I'm right here," she grinned at Justin, mimicking his earlier speech.
Justin's eyes brightened and he returned the smile, laughing a little at his sister. He gave her a one-armed hug and whispered, "Thanks" in her ear. "Now get some sleep, you must be exhausted." Alex nodded hurriedly and wriggled underneath her covers.
Justin strode over to the door and was about to pull it shut when a thought struck him. "Oh, and Alex?"
She looked up from arranging herself in the queen-sized bed and waited for him to go on.
"Don't ever do that again," Justin said sternly.
Alex frowned and tilted her head in confusion. "What?" she asked in puzzlement.
"Make me leave you," he replied simply.
He closed her door softly, and Alex smiled ; she knew that she wouldn't be having any nightmares tonight.
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A/N take 2: So I know I switched point of view a little bit here. Sorry if that's annoying for anyone! For the people who hate author notes, you can stop reading right here! For those of you who don't mind, read on to discover my thoughts on the brother/sister relationship of Alex and Justin!
So I was thinking to myself the other day, "Why am I so fascinated with brother/sister relationships?" Well it's because I sadly do not have any brothers and I really really really really wish I did! I guess I just love how protective they are, in that extremely annoying way =D Alas, I shall never have a brother. Oh well! I'll shall write out my frustrations through this story… Stay tuned for another chapter coming soon!
