DISCLAIMER: Sadly, I do not own Wizards of Waverly Place.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey, all! Sorry for the delay – I was playing hostess for a few days. Oh, the holiday season. Anyway, thanks so much for the reviews thus far… if you like what you read, keep them coming!
CLARIFICATION: It was brought to my attention via a reader that Alex and Harper seemed to be attracted to each other so quickly and inexplicably that magic was likely involved. While I did purposefully keep it ambiguous as to how and when they got together, I meant to suggest that they were newly together, but had at least been flirting with the idea for awhile. Sorry for any confusion!
Rule #3 - Always communicate with words, not anger or frustration.
Hmm. Looks like Alex needed to brush up on that rule, too.
Harper and Max's eyes met in identical desperation and bewilderment when they saw Alex, Justin's shirt collar clenched between her fingers, raise her other fist and follow through with a clean punch right into Justin's face.
Harper quickly looked to the spacious armchair as a safe spot for baby Cupid as she rushed to the ground and pulled Alex into an upright position as Max rushed to Justin's aid.
"Alex! Stop it!" Harper pleaded, "Come on, Baby, it's all right," Harper attempted at soothing Alex. She nervously looked around to see if anyone noticed, but luckily Max was too focused on Justin's bloody nose to have heard.
Harper pulled Alex close to her by her waist, not close enough for an embrace, but enough to lock eyes and try to talk Alex down non-verbally. Thankfully the two had been communicating through looks, glances, and touches for as long as they had been friends, and Harper was able to reassure Alex through signals that she needed to calm down.
"What was that for?!" Justin shouted from the floor. "You know I bruise easily! I'm like a peach!"
Max, who was still knelt down on the floor beside Justin, spoke up after pulling away his bloody shirt sleeve. "His nose won't stop bleeding! Mom and Dad are so going to kill you, Alex!"
Knowing that she needed to cover, Alex stepped toward her brothers. "Me? You're the one that shot Justin with Cupid's Arrow!"
"It was a mistake! What am I supposed to do?" Max countered back.
And then, one of her so-unbelievable-it-might-be-believable ideas hit Alex and she ran with it.
"Well, I was trying to fix the spell since… I heard… if you get the person who was hit with Cupid's Arrow in a bad enough emotional state, the spell will be broken," she fashioned. Harper looked at her incredulously, having a feeling she wasn't quite being honest, but played along.
"Well, did it work?" Harper asked.
As if on cue, the still love-struck Justin got to his feet and leaned in Harper's direction. "Care to nurse me back to health, mi amor?" Justin schmoozed foolishly.
Before Alex could get a word in, Max thankfully cut in. "Look, if Mom and Dad see Justin acting like this, they're going to know something's up. Harper, you get Justin out of here, Alex, you take Cupid and try to figure out how to break the spell, and I'll try to fix the arrow."
"No!" Alex cut in a little too quickly. "Harper and I will take Cupid and Justin can do the research. He's the smart one, anyway."
Justin, having no idea how much of a hole he was digging himself into in his mesmerized state, put his arm around Harper. "No one can separate me from my Juliet!"
"See?" Max pointed out, impressed that for once his plan was the best idea.
Alex clenched her fists tightly and let out a painstaking deep breath. "Fine, only you're doing the research and I'm fixing the arrow so that Cupid can shoot mom and then get out of here," she all but shouted to Max.
With a grandiose bow of sorts, Justin opened the door for Harper. "After you," he insisted.
Before leaving, Harper locked eyes with Alex and mouthed "Don't worry" to assure her that all would be fine.
But as the auburn-haired dynamo left the room with the eldest Russo, Alex felt deep inside that there was another rule coming along: the impulses of love – merged with the pangs of jealousy – can be a fateful combination.