DISCLAIMER: Sadly, I do not own Wizards of Waverly Place. If I did, it would go a little something like this...
Rule # 6 -- Love conquers all. That is, unless other people do everything they can to stop it.
"Oh -- so that's what 'oppositional love' must mean!" Max exclaimed, shattering the silence and confusing everyone further.
For once, Max butting in with a clueless interjection served a purpose: it gave Alex more time to think of how exactly she was going to explain that she was dating her female best friend.
"Max, is this relevant?" Jerry asked impatiently.
"Well, yeah! When Alex had me do research on Cupid to see if we could break the spell, the only thing I found was something about oppositional love, if it was strong enough, being the only thing that could break the love spell, but I didn't know what that meant, so I just ignored it."
Alex's eyes slanted immediately and pointedly at Max. "You didn't think that was important enough to share?"
"Hey, I didn't volunteer to do the research, don't get mad at me!" the youngest Russo exclaimed, hands in the air.
"All right, enough of this," Theresa interrupted. "Alex, what is going on between you and Harper?"
Alex took the deepest breath she had possibly ever taken, straight from the soles of her feet. "We've been dating," she managed cautiously. "For about 3 months now."
"D - dating? Like - like boy/girl dating?" Jerry asked for far lack of better phrasing.
"Boy/girl dating, what is this, the 50's?" Alex asked, frustrated.
"Alex, you know what I meant, and watch your tone. You're the one who's been hiding things from us," Jerry replied.
Alex bit her tongue, trying her best to behave and make things as minimally difficult as possible. "I know, I'm sorry, but the way you guys are reacting now makes me feel like I was right in trying to keep it from you."
"Well, didn't you think it was important to discuss with us?" Theresa asked.
'No, what's there to discuss?' was the original thought that popped into Alex's mind, but by her mother's stern tone, she ventured that it wasn't the answer she wanted to hear. "I didn't think -" she began.
"I mean you two have been together unsupervised in the past 3 months plenty of times with your father and I none the wiser. That's not really fair to us," Theresa interrupted.
Alex's "good girl" resolve was wearing, and as much as she wanted to keep replying in her typical fashion, she knew that she was in no position to argue, especially if she wanted to salvage anything from these past few days. "We haven't been doing anything..." she paused and choked on the word a little, "inappropriate, I swear."
"But we have no way of knowing that, Alex," Theresa continued. "Any boys you've dated in the past, your father and I have wanted to meet them and set limitations. This is no different."
This time, Alex's teeth couldn't stop the response that was hot on the tip of her tongue. "You have met Harper, you've known her almost as long as you've known me and you said more than once that she's part of the family. And you've let me go off 'unsupervised' with Riley and Dean plenty of times, so yes, this is different, and I think I know why."
The resulting silence was flagrant, no one knowing what to say for several seconds that felt like much longer moments.
"I think it'd be best if you two spent some time apart until we can all discuss this and make a decision as a family," Jerry finally spoke up.
"I'm sorry, but that's not going to happen."
All eyes fell on Harper, who spoke up for the first time the entire conversation.
Trying not too get too hostile too quickly, Theresa fumbled over her words. "Uh, Harper, listen -"
"No, Mr. and Mrs. Russo, I'm sorry, but I'm not backing down on this one. You guys are always telling Alex that she needs to be more passionate, that she needs to be more caring and kind and observant. Everything she just said proves that she is all of those things -- even more than that, her passion and her kindness were strong enough to break a spell! And I can't believe how lucky I am to be one of those people she's passionate about and I can't let you take that away."
After the words left her lips, Harper glanced across the table to see the windows to Alex's soul misted over as she fought to conceal her tears of happiness before they gave themselves up.
Instead of taking the time to digest what had just been said, Jerry instead reacted in anger. "Alex is our daughter, and we are going to do what's best for her. You really need to leave now."
Harper dejectedly stood from the dinner table and walked around to the other side of the table where Alex sat, stopping there before making her way toward the door. "Thank you," she whispered, placing a soft kiss on Alex's lips despite her parents' clear contempt.
Before Harper could walk away completely, Alex grabbed her hand and held her in place. "Harper, wait. If you're going anywhere, I'm going with."
"Alex -" Jerry warned.
In reply, the young wizard fashioned one of the improv spells designed to get her out of a bind. "Mom and Dad don't want us near, so take us anywhere but here!"
With that, Alex and Harper were gone and Theresa and Jerry were a mix between furious and frantic.
Jerry had taught his daughter well.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yay, an update! Eternal thanks to anyone still reading for being so patient -- I've been working a lot of 10-hour days and by the time I get home, I barely have time and energy for the things I need to do let alone for anything leisurely. I hope you liked it though and that you stay tuned -- and review? That'd be awesome :)