Hi, it's Stella here again. Thank you for you reviews regarding to whether or not we should carry on with this story.

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Chapter 11

The next time Alex opened her eyes, she was no longer standing by the kitchen downstairs. She wasn't even on the floor anymore, which she faintly remembered, because of falling. She sat up, feeling a blanket slide from her down to her lap, and realised that she was on the sofa in the living room. She had no idea what had happened.

"Oh, God, you're alright."

Alex jumped, partly because she was started to hear Justin's voice, and partly because she had developed a pounding headache. She turned her head, to see Justin sitting on the other sofa at the other end of the room. He got up and sat on the edge of sofa next Alex's feet.

"Why the hell am I on the sofa?" she asked, still puzzled.

"You passed out," he answered. "And you just kinda… fell. I put you there, though."

"Oh."

Alex tried to remember passing out and falling. She couldn't; everything right then was blank. She looked down, and noticed the blanket that had fell to her lap as she sat up was the one from her bed. Her pillow was also placed on the sofa behind, which she realised she'd been resting her head on.

"Did you bring these for me?" she asked.

"No, you sleepwalked all the way up to your room and got them yourself." Justin replied sarcastically, smirking.

Alex laughed. "Thank you."

"Do you feel okay now?" Justin reached forward and put a hand to his sister's head. "You seem better than before. Your head was burning just after you passed out."

"Yeah, I'm fine." Alex pushed the blanket away and moved her legs off the sofa. The room span as she first stood up, but she soon returned back to normal.

Alex remembered something. She'd been dizzy, really dizzy, and seeing the world just dim around her was the last thing she had seen. Obviously, she'd passed out right after then.

"How long was I asleep?"

"About an hour." Justin flicked his wrist, to look at his watch. "Yeah, it's almost twelve."

Alex nodded, and then was still for a second. She'd realised something else too. "That means you were in my room!" she suddenly said, catching on to what Justin had said to her a few minutes before.

"Yeah," Justin replied, and Alex scowled back at him. Ever since she was ten, she had decided that she was "grown up", and no one, absolutely no one was allowed into her room, at least not without her permission. "I was there, but when I was getting your blanket and stuff, I found something."

Justin smiled at her, but Alex just blankly stared at him, at loss as to what he could have been referring to. She looked questioningly at him, before he grabbed her hand and led her up to his room.

…

He opened a drawer underneath his Science bench, and took out a small, black book. He rubbed his hand across the smooth cover before looking up at Alex. A book? What on earth would he have to do with that?

Then Alex realised. It wasn't just a book.

It was a notebook.

It was Alex's notebook.

Oh no. He must have found it underneath her pillow when he'd lifted up her Alex's pillow to bring it downstairs. She had loads of pictures in there that she didn't want Justin to see: amateur portraits of her Harper that she'd drawn for her, self portraits of herself that she'd sketch in front of a mirror, that drawing of herself and Justin.

That drawing of herself and Justin.

Alex had drawn that before she'd known Justin had liked her. It was a fantasy picture - it wasn't for real. Even though Justin indeed now did like her… It would be so embarrassing for her if he saw it. She already felt her palms grow sweaty, and he hadn't even opened the book in front of her yet.

"What are you doing, Justin?"

He opened the book, smiling, and flicked through the A5 pages, passing various pieces of artwork. "It's just this picture you drew."

Great. He'd obviously already seen it.

He stopped at a page, and sighed at it. "Yeah, this one," Alex couldn't see from where she was standing, so reluctantly shuffled next to her brother. Alex cringed, feeling her cheeks burn as it began to blush. Yep, there it was, the fantasy picture.

That picture, that showed Justin and Alex lying on a bamboo raft in the middle of the ocean. Both looking into each other's eyes, smiling. Fingers intertwined. Never in a million years had Alex ever expected Justin to see it.

If she could, she would have whipped out her wand and transported to the wizards world. But she was only in her socks. And she always kept her wand in her right boot. Nope, looked like she would have to stay there, and embrace the wonderfulwrath of embarrassment that was taking over her body.

"It's beautiful." Justin sighed, starting intently at the almost finished sketch.

"No, it isn't," Alex whispered. "It isn't even finished yet." she smirked, in attempt to act casual, and hide the smile that was tugging at her lips. Wow. He actually liked the drawing. He wasn't scared, or freaked out, or amused by it. He actually liked it. In fat, he thought it was 'beautiful.' Alex felt her cheeks cool down, and bit her bottom lip, again an attempt to not smile.

"Can I have it?"

What? Was he serious? He actually wanted that silly little thing Alex had drawn in school? Well, it wasn't silly - Alex had actually been quite proud of it. She kinda loved it. And Justin obviously did too.

Alex took the notebook from her brother's hands and carefully ripped the page out, cautious as not to tear it. It was probably the first time that Alex had ripped out a page, other than because her teacher had said that her handwriting on it was too untidy, or because the sketches over her Math calculations made it look 'unkempt'.

She passed to sketch to Justin, and placed the notebook back on top of his Science bench. She tried to stop herself from smiling, but this time, she couldn't. She eventually turned and smiled at her brother, and he grinned back at her, causing her to blush once again. She looked down at the sketch.

"You probably hate it," Alex chuckled embarrassedly. "You're just saying all this."

"Of course I don't hate it! It's amazing!"

"No it isn't." Alex smiled shyly again, redness still on her cheeks. "I don't want you to have it anymore."

"Please, Alex? I love-"

Alex abruptly put a finger to her lips, cutting Justin off his sentence.

She'd remembered something. Something from… From before she'd passed out.

She silently stood there, racking her brains, while Justin just stood there, thinking, and hoping, that Alex would just quickly forget. She's barely been up half an hour, he thought, and has been asleep for an hour too. Her mind's still be fuzzy. She won't remember.

But nope.

He'd thought wrong.

…

"You!" she finally exclaimed. "Please, Alex, I love you! That's what you said to me before!"

"Yeah… Probably," Justin replied, cringing inside. She was slowly starting to remember.

Alex thought hard again, trying to piece her memory together. Little by little, thoughts of what had happened a couple before arranged in her brain.

"And… And… You kept on apologising to me."

"Yeah,' Justin whispered, looking away. The same sense of momentum that Justin guessed Alex would have felt when he'd explained everything to her gathered inside his chest.

"But I didn't accept it." Alex said, partly to herself. "Why, what did you-" Then something clicked. Alex finally remembered. She knew what had happened. It was why she had been so tired, why she'd slept for an hour; it was because she'd been crying. And she'd been crying because she was in shock, which is why she had passed out.

It was why Alex had said she hated him.

Slowly, she reached her arm out and stocked the still visible purplish-blue mark on his neck. Justin winced, not just from pain, but from what he knew he was about to hear.

"You told me you had sex with Juliet."

"Alex…" Justin sighed, ready for the previous couple of hour's emotional atmosphere to fill the room again.

"No," Alex said calmly. "Don't say anything. You wanted to explain something to me. Explain."

…

Justin was silent for a moment, feeling the knot in his chest untighten out of relief, before he started. "Okay. Well it all started from a few days ago. Before we were… Dating. Juliet and I were kissing in the hallway…"

Justin continued to explain to his sister what had happened. How, when they were kissing, Justin had suspected that something was up with his, now past, girlfriend, how she'd bit him while they were kissing, obviously to taste his blood, which she'd never done before. And how he'd been slightly worried, but managed to shake it of. The two of them had been late to first period, so had got a detention for the next day.

"I saw you guys kissing in the hallway again that day," Alex interrupted. "And you saw me, remember, you saw me, but then you just looked away again and went back to Juliet."

"I know," Justin said, sighing.

"Why, Justin?"

"You know what, Alex. That was the exact same thing I kept asking my self. And it wasn't until today I found out."

Justin continued with his story. They'd been kissing, kissing in the hallway before the detention, and then went to that for an hour. Juliet had then persuaded Justin to go over to her house after the detention. They'd gone to her house, and kissed, and-

"Justin!" Alex exclaimed, interrupting him yet again. "I seriously don't need, or want, to hear this…"

Justin sighed, blushing slightly, understanding how Alex was feeling. "I know. But it's relevant, seriously."

Alex was silent for a moment. "Continue."

"What she did while we were in the hallway, she did it again. I don't know, when she bit me, it was just like…" Justin looked down, unable to carry on.

"Don't vampires only bite you to suck your blood, and turn you into a vampire too?"

"That's what I thought. But obviously not." Justin sighed, before lifting his head again, though still looking past Alex. "I still don't understand fully. But it looks like, when she bit me in the hallway, I don't know, she just put something inside me. Not venom, or maybe it was a type of venom, I don't know, but-"

"Justin?" Alex sighed. "You really need to work on telling stories without spending, like, twenty minutes getting the first piece of relevant information out."

"Alex?" Justin said too, mocking his sister's voice in an exaggerated high pitch. "You really need to work on listening to stories without interrupting, like, every twenty minutes, without even getting any relevant information out."

Alex playfully rolled her eyes, before turning her face straight again and looking at her brother. "Okay, until you've finished," she mock zipped her lips, "not commenting."

"Okay." Justin ran a hand through his hair. "I found this out from Wizoogle - Juliet, what she must have done was inject some sort of different venom into my bloodstream. I don't know what it was exactly, but what it was doing was, over the few days, making me like her more and more. I don't know whether she'd sensed that I wasn't into her anymore, but whatever she put into my blood made me see her. Only her."

"So when you saw me see you kissing her…" Alex said, forgetting about the promise she'd made on not commenting just a few minutes earlier.

"That's when she bit me again. I saw you, I was watching you, and then… I don't know; I can't even describe it, but… I forgot about you." Justin hung his head in shame, and was waiting, perhaps, another outbreak of Alex's emotions because of the last sentence he'd just said. But instead, he was replied to with silence, so carefully carried on.

"It was all Juliet, I wanted to be her, I wanted to kiss her - I just wanted her. The result of the venom in blood was probably why Juliet persuaded me so easily to go to her house."

"But if she put the venom in you before we started… Dating, then how come you could-"

"Fall in love with you? Yeah, yeah, I know. So I searched it up on Wizoogle too. Apparently, the whole thing can be very unpredictable. Especially with younger vampires, who are, ironically, the most popular of the age groups to use it. But basically, she did it again while we in the hallway. So, I was able to go home with her and… Yeah."

"So it worked that time?"

"Not quite." Justin drew in a breath, before bringing his hand up to touch the mark on his neck. Alex watched him wince as he gingerly stroked the area where Juliet's fangs must have pierced his skin. "She had to do it again. Harder, more reliably, obviously, as it was on my neck."

Alex reached her up, and moved Justin's hand so she could see the mark. "So, by biting your neck, I'm guessing there was a lot more venom in you."

"Yeah. Whatever was in it just… Completely took over my mind and body. She took over my mind and body. That's what made me…" Justin was silent, knowing that Alex would know what he was going to say at the end of his sentence.

She moved her hand away from Justin's neck, as did he. Well. She's heard his explanation now. Still silently letting everything sink in, she looked to the ground.

"Alex," Justin said, slightly nervously. "Are you, um… Alright?"

Alex then looked up, straight into his brother's eyes. "So you took that long just to tell me that Juliet basically, like, intoxicated you?"

And before Justin even had chance to smile, or retort, Alex moved closer to him and pressed his lips onto hers. She finally felt the familiar sensation of their lips moulding as one, A feeling that she had anticipated since three o' clock that day, when school had finished. Justin smiled into the kiss, in pure amazement and happiness, before pulling away from Alex's lips.

"So you forgive me?" he asked, though still slightly cautiously.

"Justin," she began. "If I'd known that all before, I would never have… 'Unforgiven' you in the first place."

Justin let out a sigh of relief, in fact it was a breath he hadn't even realised he'd been holding.

"So, do you, like, get how it wasn't really my fault that we…"

"Yeah. I get it, Justin," Alex said truthfully. "It was her… And whatever she did to you, it wasn't really… You."

Justin smiled, before putting the back of his hand to Alex's forehead again. "You feel a little hot" he stated, before moving his hand again. "Are you sure you're okay from before?"

"That feeling," Alex said through slightly gritted teeth, "is hate. Hatred towards that desperate slut of a vampire. When I see Juliet… Well, I won't be able to explain about anything, but when I see her…"

"Oh," Justin chuckled. "How I love you, Alex."

"Oh yeah," she said, before clearing her throat. "I know, before, I um… Said I hated you and stuff…"

"Alex, it's-"

"No, it's not okay," she quickly said, unintentionally raising her voice to him. "It's not okay, Justin; don't tell me it's okay." He looked at her in surprise, before she realised her tone and lowered her voice again. "I mean… I know it wasn't right." She looked up at her brother, with utter sorrow in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Justin. I was just… In shock. I was hurt, I was angry, I just wasn't really thinking. But even when I said it then, I wasn't telling truth. I don't hate you - I could never hate you, Justin. I love you."

Justin smiled at his sister, half for pure happiness that her and himself were on good terms again, and half in awe that she had showed regret for something, and apologized - yet again!

"I love you too," he replied.

"Well, um, actually, I just said 'I love you' in reply to your 'I love you' a few minutes ago." She giggled at her brother's confused face. "You basically said 'I love you' twice. In fact, you literally said 'I love you' twice."

"Does that mean I love you twice as much more than if I had only said it once?"

Alex grinned. "I guess so."

"Well then," Justin said, smirking. "I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you." And with each phrase, he moved closer and closer to Alex, until his face was practically a millimetre from hers. "I love you," he whispered, before leaning in and capturing her lips with his own.

…

After a few minutes, Justin pulled away from Alex and gave her a playful smile.

"So how come you're not… 'Attracted' to Juliet anymore?" she asked, realising that Justin still hadn't explained it.

"Oh yeah, I didn't say. Well, I Wizoogled it for ages, then I found a spell to drain the venom from your blood."

"So you're seriously… 'Over' her now?"

"Absolutely."

Alex smiled, before noticing the look on his brother's face indicating that he hadn't finished.

"When I next see her though… So tomorrow, basically," he started. "I'm gonna have lie…"

"What?' Alex asked, confused.

"If she realises that her venom isn't inside me anymore, she'll bite me again. And if she bites me again, she be becoming more and more addicted to my blood. And if she becomes addicted to my blood, she becomes addicted to me. And if she becomes addicted to me…"

"She'll want you forever, so will turn you into a vampire so you two can live as one. Yeah, yeah, I get it."

"You okay?" Justin then asked, before seeing Alex nod and look to toe ground. "Because I could always try-"

"No," Alex said seriously. "Don't try anything. I'd rather have a… 'Boyfriend' who had to pretend to be in love with someone else, than see a boy I was in love with being bound to a vampire, as a vampire, for life."

Alex smiled, but although she was telling the complete truth, Justin could see the slight sadness in her eyes. He suddenly gripped her hand.

"Though, you know what, Alex?" he asked, a glint in his eyes.

"Tell me what, Justin."

"When Juliet and I were… 'Doing our thing'…" A wide grin spread across his face. "I was thinking of you the whole time."

Alex blushed, before pushing Justin away from her. "Pervert!" she shouted, making him laugh and her blush even more than she had done before.

Alex closed her eyes, and bit the side of her bottom lip. Did he really just say that? she thought, feeling her heart skip a beat. Not only was it really wrong, but… It was so sweet.

Though, before she'd even had a chance to expand on her reply, Alex felt the familiar pair lips on top of hers. She smiled into the kiss, wrapping her arms around Justin's neck, and feeling him rest his hands on her waist.

She silently thanked God that both their eyes were closed, so he wouldn't have been able to see the -yet another- reddening on Alex's cheeks, as she thought about what he'd just said.

I was thinking of you the whole time.

Alex felt an excited shiver run down her spine.

Wow.

She suddenly liked Justin a whole lot more.

Alex wrapped her arms around Justin's neck kissing him, loving feeling that she had experienced, though now missed, from just a few minutes before. Justin's hands instinctively circled around her waist, and he pulled her closer to his body. She closed her eyes, feeling Justin's steady heart beat against her own chest.

Justin deepened the kiss, and Alex felt his tongue against her lips. She opened her mouth slightly, but as soon as she did, their tongues began to battle for dominance. The kiss was far more passionate than the kisses that she and Justin had shared before, in fact, than Alex had shared with anyone before.

Alex had learnt what a tongue kiss was when she was about nine. At the time, she'd imagined them to be totally disgusting, and she still hadn't been keen on the idea up until a few minutes before.

But this kiss with Justin was the exact opposite. The feeling of his tongue inside her mouth was somehow relaxing, and comfortable, and it tasted like… Him.

Alex pulled away and tilted her head back. She closed her eyes again, and felt Justin leave a trail of kisses across her jaw. It was so light, and slow, and gentle, that it made her legs feel a little weak. Then, Justin, with his lips still against Alex's lips, slowly pushed her backwards until she was leant against the wall.

Justin brought his head up and stared into Alex's eyes. He studied them, and the rest of her face trying to read her emotion. Happy, in love, nervous, excited – there were so many that he found it almost impossible tot ell what she was feeling inside. After a short while, Alex began to feel embarrassed being under his gaze for so long. She turned away, and her cheeks flashing scarlet.

"What," he whispered, still looking at her.

"Nothing," she replied, still turned away. "It's just… I feel shy when you look at me."

Justin gently stroked his thumb against Alex's cheek. "You're so beautiful, Alex."

She giggled, and turned to face Justin, though with her eyes still closed. She was elated. It was amazing how he had such an effect over her. Everything he said, everything he did… Made her want to be with him even more than she already was.

Every sound, every thought, everything seemed to vanish from around her. Her head became free of thoughts. Thoughts about school, thoughts about Chase, thoughts about Juliet – gone. Disappeared. There wasn't any pain, or any sadness left inside her mind. There was no-one, nothing, on her mind, except for Justin.

After a few moments, Alex opened her eyes again, seeing Justin's dark, clouded eyes still staring back at her. He reached his hand forward slightly, and twirled his index finger round her beautifully soft hair. Alex sighed, before bringing her hands to her face. A silent tear slipped down her cheek.

"Alex?" Justin asked worriedly. "What's the matter?"

"Justin," she started, sighing again. "I don't know what to feel."

Justin looked at her, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," she said, wiping her face, "well, us, like this, close and stuff… I love it."

"So do I…" Justin replied, still slightly confused. "So what's wrong?"

"It's just… Everything about it! Everything about us! In fact, what you should be saying is what's right about all of this. About how we feel. About us! How we just kiss and stuff, it's…" Alex was silent for a second, trying to think of the right words to say. "I'm your little sister, Justin. I still am. And I always will be. We'll never be able to change that."

"I know," Justin replied, sighing and running a hand through his hair. "I know, I know but…"

Alex looked up at her brother expectantly. But his face was straight.
"You know what?" he said. "I don't have anything to say back. I'm… I'm just as lost in all of this as you are." Justin watched his sister as what appeared to be sorrow appeared on her face. "I'm sorry, Alex, I'm-"

The smile on her face stopped him mid sentence, and she reached out her hand to hold onto his.

"Justin, don't say sorry," she said, rubbing her thumb against the back of his hand. "I didn't say I don't like it, I said I don't know what to feel. I still don't, but… I don't notlike it. I do like it. I love it; I love us, Justin."

He leaned forwards and hugged his sister, then kissed away the drying tear on her cheek. "I love you, Alex."

"I love you too," she replied, sighing. And even though she'd heard it probably a thousand times, both from 'dating' and as brother and sister, she still melted a little inside.

So technically, it wasn't actually Justin's fault! So Jalex is still okay. Yay!

Thanks to Minigirl2428, LiLManGAlOvER , Tragicending1091, Tia, Chante Aqyanonymous and Stunna21. Thank you guys, what you said was really supportive and encouraging. Hope you liked our longish chapter. We wrote it because of you.

We have the day off school on Monday, but we might not get chance to update. But yeah, REVIEW please. I love you guys.

- S t e l l a . x x