Just Like Sugar
I do not own Wizards of Waverly Place.
A/N: Hello loves! I've missed you dearly. It's been more than 24 hours now, has it not? I really wanted to thank Unknown, Inthis4kicks, Channilover, and () and iheartdisney128 FOR REVIEWING. I'M GLAD YOU LIKE IT! you're REVIEWS MADE MY DAY!
It took a bit to churn this out, I went through and read the story myself and I feel that I have a bit too much dialogue at times so I wanted to fill this one up. Therefore… it's a bit lengthy.
NOW… on with the story!
5
Zelda shuffled out of Alex's room quickly, her head down focused on the note pad she had in her hands as she traveled towards the stairs. It was dinnertime apparently, and Alex was to report to the dinner hall at her earliest convenience. Her accent was thick, and Russian, her hair was long and blonde, her eyes worn and tainted blue. She couldn't possibly be any older than thirty. She was too… pretty looking (this all in accordance to Alex).
"Miss Russo?" Zelda yelled allowed from down the hall.
Snapping out of her reverie, Alex glanced into her bathroom mirror to adjust her hair a bit, check her makeup. Alex scoffed at her reflection bemusedly. Who was she kidding? She didn't actually care.
"God," Alex huffed as she bounded down the spiral staircase, "they have got way too many stairs in this house," she paused, looking at the railing suspiciously, "you could get vertigo on this thing… what if I broke my leg? How would that work? It wouldn't," she muttered immaturely. Carefully, Alex hoisted herself up onto the railing and began her slippery descent. She rounded the last spire and came towards the railing's end in striking speed. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted a small figure, maybe two, dashing into a hideaway, giggling quietly. Her eyes furrowed together and before she could say a word, Alex was launched of the end of the railing and straight into someone else. Someone harmfully strong…
"What is this?" Alex asked looking up to her stoic colliding piece, Justin stood with his arms loosely around Alex, clearly amused by his younger sister's antics, "Suddenly you've got pecs of steel?"
"Hey," Justin defended lamely, "I've always had these," Alex could feel her brother slightly flex, it gave her a strange feeling, "You've just never been klutzy enough to find out," he smirked, acknowledging his sister's not so graceful fall.
Come to think of it, Alex wasn't at all clumsy. Sure, she didn't have the most coordination in the world and she couldn't participate in a sport without avoiding injury (whether it be herself… or an innocent bystander) but Alex wasn't what one would consider a klutz (maybe something that remotely rhymed better suited her).
"Well," Alex smiled, pulling herself away from her brother's grasp, "I think I may know what, or maybe… who, influenced my sudden loss of focus."
Huddled in the corner were two small girls blushing shyly up at Alex. They both shared the same dark hair, the same ruby kissed lips, and the same strikingly blue eyes. Alex had to fight the urge to cry (Alex Russo didn't cry) as she looked down at her older brother's children. They were breathtaking.
"Hi," Alex said encouragingly waving to the two. The smaller one hid behind her older sister chewing nervously on her lip. Alex chuckled, that was one of her bad habits. Guess it's hereditary, Alex thought to herself.
"Hello," the oldest spoke up, "My name is Princess Anna Maria and I am four-years-old," she smiled holding up three proud fingers causing Alex to laugh, "and this is Sir Poops A lot."
Alex laughed again, "Okay… this one is a riot but," wait just a moment, "I thought her name was Rose?"
"It is," Justin smiled waltzing over to grab his youngest, "she just has a playful imagination. And this," he kissed his daughter's cheek eliciting a gasp of joy from the small child.
"Your name is Lilly," Alex cooed poking at her niece's stomach.
The toddler attacked her face with her hands, snuggling against her father, "She's two."
"Seventy, Daddy! I told you, Sir Poops A lot is seventy!" Rose pulled at her father's pant leg pouting.
"I swear," Justin exhaled deeply, "it's like living with a mini-you."
"And that's a wonderful thing, consider yourself lucky."
Alex watched as her brother disappeared into the dining room with his two daughters. It was a peculiar sight, seeing Justin with children. He looked so much older and absolutely enamored with his daughters, they were undoubtedly his pride and joy, he was a father.
But still, there seemed to be something missing. That glimmer, that sparkle of pure joy, that had been in his eyes before she'd left all those years ago wasn't there. Alex smiled at the memory of it first appearing right before Juliet had popped back up on Waverly Place. Things had been perfect, everything was utterly content in the Russo family household. Preparations for the Wizard Competition were going along smoothly as were other things in the Russo home until-
"Alex! What are you wearing?"
The sound of Juliet's voice was bitter and uninviting. Alex couldn't figure out which part of it attracted her brother because to be completely honest, it seemed like it would be a turn off. Maybe it was her hair. The nicest thing about Juliet was always her hair. Then again, it was always perfect and nothing good ever came of perfect.
"Uh… these are what I call clothes, Juliet," Alex cracked spinning on her bare heels. Her feet were cool against the dark wooden chestnut floor.
"I asked you to dress appropriate," Juliet's eyes darted downward, clearly uncomfortable. Had Juliet always been this fidgety?
"You said comfortable," Alex reminded her, "I have very selective hearing."
With a shrug, Alex stuffed her hands into the pockets of her baggy grey sweatpants. They were warm and snuggly and Alex had a tendency to over wear them. They were definitely comfortable. And her tank top… there was nothing bad about it. Her boobs were away and her midriff was no big deal. I look fine, Alex frowned seeing nothing wrong with her get-up.
At that moment, Alex looked up and realized exactly why Juliet was caught off guard by what she was wearing. Juliet was in another one of those fancy girl dresses. The light blue empire waist knee-length wrap around gave Juliet that all too flattering matronly look.
"Oh," Alex giggled, "I didn't realize this was an occasion to dress up for. I thought it was dinner."
"It is, but I like for family to look presentable," Juliet snarled.
"Presentable for who?"
"In the event that we have guests, Alex," Juliet brushed away the invisible lint on the skirt of her dress.
"May I remind you that I am a guest?"
Juliet exhaled sharply allowing her eyes to meet with Alex's, "Mason is here."
"Mason is Mason."
Juliet rolled her eyes and stalked off into the dining room. Alex followed behind with a smile on her face, pleased with her small victory. She folded her arms over her chest as she neared the table, it was set elegantly with fine China and silverware. At each plate there were two cups, filled with dark red, likely expensive, wine and the other filled with ice water. There were gold napkins, folded and creased into unnecessary shapes that would likely make for complications as the time to eat etched closer.
Justin sat at the table between his two daughters, each in a booster seat clanking their cutlery against their plastic cartoon character based plates. Their voices were quiet as they sat captivated by themselves and their imaginations. Justin looked at ease around them. It was… different. Juliet made her way around the table to her husband, her hands meeting his shoulders caressingly. However, at the touch, Justin seemed to tense up. Alex soon realized that she wasn't the only one to notice because the second he became stoic, Juliet retreated and headed towards the head of the table.
"Alex?" The sound of a voice as familiar and curious as three years prior struck her ears. The owner of the voice didn't seem too confident in her question, as if the next moment was impossible to happen but inevitable nonetheless.
"Harper," a smile etched across Alex's face as she turned around to greet her long time (ago) best friend.
"Alex! Oh my-"
"I know, I know," Alex spoke cheerfully, happy that she'd finally have someone other than Justin to talk to.
"Why are you here?" Harper sounded harsh, brash even. So much so that it caused Alex to step back, literally.
"What do you mean? I've come home," Alex replied, suddenly uncomfortable, from the other side of the dining room, Alex could feel Juliet's eyes searing into her back.
"Why would you do that? You left three years ago, without a word or a trace, and now you're back?"
Alex could hardly believe what she was hearing. Harper knew exactly why Alex had left, and for a while after she'd gone, they'd kept in contact. How could Harper be so cruel without giving Alex the proper opportunity to even say hello.
Slowly, Alex could feel the sting of tears in her eyes. Fuck, Alex thought to herself. No tears, not again. She had already almost cried today and that alone exceeded the limit she allowed herself.
"I-I thought that you'd at least be happy to see me," Alex stuttered out. She put all her focus to not crying. Quite frankly, she wouldn't permit herself to simply breakdown in front of anyone after what had happened with Justin earlier in the day.
"Well… I'm not," Harper said flatly, "you're going back soon, right?"
Alex dug her fingernails into the flesh of her forearms. Around her, she could feel everyone staring. Even the little ones. The unknown ones. The bitch ones ( hi Juliet). And of course… the Mason ones. It was time to make for an early exit for the night.
"I hope everyone has a lovely dinner," Alex choked out, "I'm sorry to have to leave so unexpectedly. Goodnight."
Quickly, ignoring the voices calling her name in the background, Alex hurried out of the dining room and darted towards the stairs. She ran into her room, slamming the door shut behind her, and collapse onto her bed, deflated. Quiet time was exactly what she needed right now, not dinner.
A moment or two later, there was a soft knock on her door, the sound of her name being called, but Alex ignored it. She couldn't face Justin or anyone else without breaking down. All she wanted to do was lay down in the entirely too plush bed and wrap herself up into a cocoon via the thick white comforter and with any luck… sleep would find her.
Finally, the knocking stopped and Alex sighed deeply, relieved to be alone. She crawled beneath the covers, gripping them about her body tightly. Instead of sleep, her thoughts seemed to take control of her. A constant noise, a consistent clicking ringing in her head. It bounced off the walls and into her eardrums as she attempted to block away her racing mind. Alex found that this was almost like one of those silly little therapeutic noise machines she'd always she in those overpriced spa stores. Eventually the sound carried her away, alone and without the smallest worry, into much needed sleep.
She'd face the rest of the world later.
"Alex?" The sound of the knob turning and the lock unlocking startled her a bit. She rolled over to look at the all white clock with the all white numbers adjusting her eyes to read the time. It was 10:45 pm and to her dismay, it seemed that the dinner guests were still around.
The door was pushed open and Alex sat up groggily in bed. She could make out Mason standing in her doorway holding a plate of food in his hands unsurely. It brought a smile to her face and she gestured for him to come in.
"Would you like for me to turn the light on?" Mason asked curiously bringing the food over to her bedside.
"No," she replied shaking her head vigorously, "I'd rather not reveal what I look like right now," she said fiddling with the fork Mason put in her hands.
"I'm sure you look fine," he said earnestly as he opened up the curtains on her windows allowing moonlight to flood in.
"Mason," she began dryly before taking a bite of her food, "not even the Little Mermaid could come through my mess of hair right now."
Mason chuckled into the silence and for a while they sat quietly as Alex ate her food. She wasn't exactly sure what she was eating, but whatever it was, it was certainly delicious.
"Zelda is an amazing cook," Mason offered as he watched Alex examine her plate carefully.
"I see," Alex nodded, "but what is it?"
"Steamed Salmon or something," Mason said before continuing, "Alex, what happened down there, earlier, with Harper… it was wrong of her, completely."
"I don't wanna talk about it," Alex muttered, stabbing her fork into the salmon.
"But it clearly upset you," Mason urged.
"It didn't upset me and I don't care that Harper doesn't want me back," Alex huffed, "I'm staying with or without her approval."
"I don't know what got into her," Mason rubbed his hands together, "she doesn't usually act that way."
Alex looked up and searched for his eyes, "What would you know?"
Mason sighed quietly and looked away for a moment. This whole silence before answering questions thing was starting to get old. Alex was aware that she'd been gone for a long time, so now that she was back, didn't they owe her the decency to answer questions as they were asked. Surely they knew that she would have just as many questions as they did.
"After you left Alex, everyone seemed to get c-cl-closer… we had to, we wanted answers, we wanted to know where you'd gone off to," Mason replied.
As he finished a sickening feeling entered her stomach and she wasn't hungry anymore. It was obvious what he meant by "closer" and it almost brought Alex to tears as the words left his mouth.
"I wanted to find you, Alex, I really did," Mason sounded desperate now, "and Harper offered to help…"
"How long?" Alex said, her voice barely above a whisper.
"What?" He didn't hear her. Alex didn't want to repeat what she'd just said. She didn't want what was coming to be true. She wanted to push it all away again. She wanted to sleep.
"How long after I left!" This time, Alex could hear the bitter hiss in her voice. She didn't mean for it to sound that way, but it did.
"A month or two?"
Alex cringed and shifted around in the bed uncomfortably. They only waited a month to hook up after she'd gone. Even Juliet was more lenient with her time constraints.
And to think that Harper and Alex were still in contact then! That was quite a bit of information that Harper had left out in her letters.
"M-Mason," Alex began waiting for him to look up at her, "Harper knew where I was. The entire time, she knew and she wrote letters to me, every week."
Alex got out of bed and began her way over to her bathroom, a new plan already churning about in her head.
"What? No, that's not possible," Mason stood to his feet, "the Wizard's Council forbade us from searching."
Alex laughed, hadn't anyone thought anything through? "Not Harper, she's not a magical creature, she's out of their jurisdiction," she spoke carefully as she reached for her toothbrush, "they stopped you guys from looking for me, not her."
A small light bulb seemed to go off in Mason's head, "So… you two wrote each other the entire you were away?"
Alex brushed at her teeth vigorously, the minty taste overtaking her senses. Slowly she shook her head, turned the water down a bit and headed over to the suitcase she'd been unpacking earlier. Biting down on her toothbrush to keep it from falling, Alex reached for a small blue shoebox. Out of it came a letter written in neat, bubbly cursive.
"Read this," she muffled, tossing it into Mason's hands before resuming brushing her teeth.
There was silence once more between the two. The only sound came from Alex rinsing her mouth in the bathroom before she shut the water off and flicked at the light switch, enveloping them in complete darkness once again.
"She never told you did she? About us?" Mason asked curiously, allowing the letter to fall to his side.
Alex walked past him and plopped down into the computer chair, feeling the air escape from beneath her, "No, she didn't. She told me that she'd moved on, that-"
"Everyone had moved on," Mason finished crossing over to her, "Alex, that isn't true. After you left, nothing ever really resumed. There was still always that empty seat at the dinner table. The missing smile in all of our photos. Your laugh," Mason chuckled at the thought, "no one ever moved on after you left, we couldn't," Mason said, and his voice was low with emotion and feeling.
He slipped his hand under her head in one swift motion and raised her slowly, until her lips met his.
They kissed for what might have been minutes or maybe hours. Alex felt his lips on her own, on her throat, the back of her neck, making the very hairs on her head tingle with excitement and pleasure. It'd been so long since she'd last kissed a boy. Slowly, the two backed over to the bed and they lay down, ever so carefully, lips attached. With his fingers he stroked her cheeks, brushed his hands over her shoulder, sometimes he simply touched her lips, as if he couldn't believe they were real.
Alex and Mason seemed to bathe in the moonlight from the window, quiet and content, willingly letting go of their worries.
"Stay with me tonight?" Alex knew she may have been asking for morning trouble, but at this moment in particular, she didn't care.
Mason nodded and kissed once more. He held her close in his arms until they couldn't kiss anymore, till they fell asleep, reveling in one another's warmth.
Okay… it's done! WOOHOO, Chapter 5, mission completion! So… did anyone see that coming? I feel as if it may have been expected. I dunno, but you can let me know by reviewing! *insert thumbs up and cheesy commercial smile here*
Gosh.. 8 pages, it's been a long time since something that long has been chalked out from my fingertips.
Please review and alert!
:)(: till next time,
Mikki