DISCLAIMER: Sadly, I do not own Wizards of Waverly Place. If I did, it'd go a little something like this...
Rule # 5 -- Although decades old, Murphy's law ("anything that can go wrong will go wrong") is as relevant now as ever before.
When Harper left the lair and through the lobby of the closed sub station, she was cut off at the pass by Justin, who called his recently reconciled parents in to announce the news of his and Harper's "romance." Having no choice but to just go along with things, the already flustered girl forced a smile and nodded. Justin proceeded to announce that they should invite Harper to dinner the next night to commemorate their new relationship, and Harper had no option but to agree.
Theresa and Jerry were both a little surprised, but were caught up in their own rekindled love to be basically oblivious, and unknowingly paved the way for Harper and Alex to be even more miserable.
Alex felt an odd and painful combination of time moving far too quickly and far too slowly all at once. Typically the least desired moments arrive at unparalleled speed, as was the case for the dreaded dinner party, yet mere minutes in someone special's absence can pass like long, hard days. Each minute leading up to the unwelcome dinner painfully dragged as Alex contemplated her seemingly unfixable situation. She was trying to give Harper the space she needed, but the ambivalence was tearing her apart, and she was in desperate need for resolve.
On the way downstairs to the dinner table, Alex ran into Max, who dramatically lowered his voice and came in close. "I couldn't find any cure for the C-u-p-i-d s-p-e-l-l."
"Max... why are you spelling things out?" Alex asked, annoyed.
"Because Mom and Dad don't know what we did and it could ruin everything if they found out," he said, even more conspicuously.
"Well, it's a good thing they can't spell then," Alex remarked sarcastically, reaching the bottom of the stairs and making the painstaking trudge toward the table.
Suddenly, all attention turned to the front door of the apartment when Justin and Harper walked in together. Harper told her "boyfriend" more than once that she was plenty capable of coming over on her own, but Justin of course insisted he walk her. His sweatshirt was draped over her shoulders, regardless of the fact that she assured him she was too hot to wear it, and Alex had to refrain herself from smacking the stupid smile off his face.
Mr. and Mrs. Russo, having digested the news a little more, had started to think that Justin and Harper being a couple was more unusual than they had before, but they didn't jump to the conclusion that a spell had been used, thankfully for Alex and Max. More than ever, though, the tension between Harper and Alex was utterly palpable. They both felt hurt and betrayed by things the other did, and for the first time in their more-than-a-decade-long friendship, the two could barely maintain eye contact.
If one person could encompass the opposite of subtlety, it would have been Justin. Aside from pulling Harper's chair out for her to sit down, he served her, cut her food, and put her napkin on her lap. Alex's eyes would have burned a hole through her brother if possible, and it made it even worse that Harper didn't appear to be as disgusted as she was. She told herself that Harper was just acting, but she honestly couldn't be sure.
Curious to see where this impromptu relationship spurned from, Theresa asked, "So... how did this happen?"
Before Harper could come up with a believable story, Justin, of course, cut in. "I finally realized what a fool I have been for denying such a worthy goddess of my requited affections."
Justin's ostentatious answer made things only more uncomfortable, and Jerry responded the only way he knew how.
"Oh... that's... nice?" he remarked before the room fell to another awkward silence.
Alex could have sworn that Justin couldn't let a full two minutes pass at a time without doing something obnoxious to dote on Harper. He would ask how her food was or pay her some generic compliment, each time pushing Alex closer to her breaking point. But what really pushed the envelope was when Harper reached for her napkin to dab away a morsel of steak sauce that rested on the corner of her lip, for Justin to reach out his hand to stop her.
"Allow me," he creepily flirted, leaning in to "kiss away" the food remnants.
One way or another, Alex had to stop this, and she picked the route that she figured was the lesser of two evils. "Dad, you need to put a stop to this right now!"
Max nervously tried to cover, shooting Alex a look that urged her not to blow this now. "Uh, yeah, Dad, seriously, there should be no kissing allowed at the dinner table if we're expected to keep it down."
"Max, stop playing dumb," Alex chided him, willing to take whatever punishment would occur to put this to a stop. "Okay, look, I ordered Cupid to help you and mom get back together, but instead, Max accidentally shot Justin when Harper was in the room and we can't figure out a way to break the spell."
"Alex, don't be silly! I don't need a spell to be in love with your father -- he's already everything I've ever wanted!" Theresa swooned.
Damn, Alex cursed internally. The spell was stronger than she thought.
"You did - why - summoned - Cupid - ALEX!" Jerry yelled, flustered as usual. "I should have known you had something to do with all of this! There are certain things that shouldn't be meddled with, and matters of the heart are a perfect example!"
"Look, Dad, I realize now that I made a huge mistake and should have never tried to interfere with anyone's personal lives. So, please, help me find a way to reverse this and I promise I'll never do magic without asking you first ever again." Whoa. That's a big promise, Alex thought as soon as the words left her lips, but instead of taking it back, she stood her ground, knowing it was worth it to (hopefully) restore everything back to normal again.
Jerry paused, not seeming too impressed. "You know what? No," he stated firmly.
"What? What do you mean, "no"?" Alex interrogated.
"You used magic without considering any consequences, so now you have to ride them out until this spell wears off, no matter how uncomfortable it may be," Jerry answered.
To make matters infinitely worse, Justin leaned across the table to speak to Alex. "That's right, Alex," he said pretentiously, "and whatever childish plan you have to break up me and my one true love will not work!"
Alex had enough. She threw down her silverware, stood from her chair, and stood inches above Justin as she yelled in his direction. "This is just so unfair! You love Harper because you're under some stupid spell. I love her because I notice and appreciate all the little things that make her amazing. The look in her eyes when she invents something new and the way she sees things, how she can turn something everyone else sees as junk into something totally cool, and how she's the most gorgeous person alive when she smiles. You don't see any of those things, I can tell! So, why should you be the one who gets to be with her?"
The room fell to a complete stand still, but only momentarily, as Justin suddenly convulsed for a few seconds before blinking furiously, seemingly unaware of anything that just happened.
He jerked his chair away from the dinner table, not quite remembering how he got there, and rightfully aware of the fact that something unusual was taking place.
"What are we --" he paused, seeing Harper in close proximity beside him, "Is that my sweatshirt? How did you --? Why are we --? What is going on here?!"
"I was just about to ask the same thing," Theresa remarked, looking between Alex and Harper.
The young, female wizard sighed deeply. "Yeah, about that. Mom, Dad, we need to talk."
OoOoOoOoH... what happened?! Or better yet, what's GOING to happen? I guess you'll just have to keep reading and find out! Oh, and.. review? Please? It keeps me going after a long day of work to know that I have people to keep going for :-p