DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN WOWP OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS.
Chapter 1-It was never over
New York, 2013:
"…You're kidding me!"
"…ALEX!"
"What? Who asked you to sit across the table from me?"
"Really, Alex? Y-you spit your cereal all over my face and it's my fault?"
"Uh, yeah. Everything's your fault, Justin."
"…Oh, grow up, Alex."
For some unfathomable reason, those words cause a flicker of…something across her features. Before he can figure it out, however, her usual devil incarnate expression slips back into place and she's stuffing her face with Cocoa Puffs again.
"But seriously," He shoots her a disapproving look as she talks with food in her mouth, "You actually managed to get her to agree to spend the rest of her life with you?" She chortles at the thought and effectively sends a few more bits of cereal flying out of her mouth, and onto his face.
He glares at her as he wipes his face with a napkin (again) and opens his mouth to reprimand her. She grins at him cheekily, waiting for it, expecting it. Only, it doesn't come because there's something rather disconcerting about that grin, that just somehow seems so wrong and so out of place and so…not Alex, that the words die at his lips and he stares at her blankly, trying to get a hold of himself. She stares at him for a moment, impassively. If she's unnerved by his apparent departure from the script, she doesn't show it. Instead, she shrugs and continues to shovel mouthfuls of cereal into her mouth, almost as if she were trying to block the words from coming out.
Cue awkward silence.
It feels like an entire lifetime has passed when she finally lets her spoon fall down with a clatter into her now empty cereal bowl. She glances up at him, and her already dark brown eyes look about ten shades darker than they ought to be.
"So…" she draws the monosyllable out in a calculated drawl, keeping her tone carefully flat "You're getting married."
It's more of a statement than a question and either way, there's really no answer to that so…yeah.
"You do know you're gonna lose your powers, Justin."
"Of course I know that! I…" he sighs heavily and looks away, "I know."
"I see."
She's not looking him in the eye, and he can't figure out which is worse; that dull, dead, glassy look or the red hot coals that had been burned into the back of his eyelids a moment ago. The atmosphere is heavy with…something, and he's starting to feel a Justin-style panic attack coming on for no reason, so without thinking, he blurts out,
"I love her, Alex."
Her head snaps up at these words, and her dark hair almost whips him in the face. Unable to control himself, he adds,
"…With all my heart."
Her bottom lip quivers for a fraction of a second, and then she presses her lips together and blinks once, as though acknowledging what he has just said. She stands up abruptly then, and his gaze follows her movements tensely. In that moment, clothed only in a skimpy white nightgown, bathed in morning light from the tinted glass windows, she looks small, pale and fragile; languid, limp, and lifeless. She casts down her eyes at him and her face clouds over with…
"I'd expect nothing less from you…brother."
The silence she leaves in her wake echoes louder than any music she's ever blared on the stereo.
He's barely conveyed the news, before he's engulfed in a smothering hug from his mom, who's already started making elaborate wedding plans in elaborate Spanish. Jerry pulls him aside after his mom has extracted almost every last detail out of him.
"Justin, I'm sure you know what this means-" He begins seriously.
"Yes, dad," He cuts in tersely. A look passes between them. Jerry sighs and smiles at his son in an odd way, and claps a hand on his shoulder,
"Well. You're growing up, son. I'm proud of you."
"…Oh, grow up, Alex."
"…Thanks, dad."
Another stiff smile, that doesn't quite reach his eyes. Jerry nods and walks away. Something catches in Justin's throat and stays there, constricting him, suffocating him…
She's blonde and tall and smart and funny and…god, she's beautiful. He still wonders how the hell someone like him got lucky enough to have someone as amazing as her. She smiles and leans in to kiss him and he closes his eyes and lets her. She's amazing and wonderful in every way and she loves him, for him. When he looks into her cerulean blue eyes, words like Fate and Destiny float into his mind. He sometimes wondered if his dad ever regretted having to forgo his powers by marrying his mom, but now, with her hands in his hair and her taste on his tongue, he's (almost) able to convince himself that it's worth the sacrifice.
"I love her, Alex."
That's right. He's completely and irrevocably in love with Camelia Anton Rogers. And by some miracle, she loves him too. Nothing can ruin this. Nothing can tarnish this moment. Nothing can change this reality, his reality. He is going to marry the girl of his dreams, and nothing can stop him now. Nothing can-
"Justin!"
(Except maybe that.)
He pulls back, unsurprised and turns towards the source of the noise. She's got a hand on her hips and a bored expression plastered all over her face.
"Alex…" Cami smiles at her pleasantly, her fingers still tangled in his hair. Alex nods briefly in her direction and then turns around to lock her gaze with her brother's once more. Then there's a pause that's too long to be normal and too uncomfortable to be…sisterly. Cami looks back and forth between them in mild confusion and suspicion.
"Mom wants to talk to you guys about some wedding shit." She deadpans, in the end.
"Alex!" Justin glares at her in reflex, "…language."
"Sorry." She shrugs and turns to make an exit. "Whatever, just go. She's like, totally spazzing out right now."
"I'm on it." Says Cami reassuringly, ever the responsible, pouring oil on troubled waters, kind of person. (One of the many reasons he loves her so much.) She slips out of the room, giving Justin a quick kiss before she does, warning him to "be nice" to his baby sister.
Alex still has her back to him, but she hasn't left yet. He winces at the hostility in her demeanor and wonders if he should probably say something. Only, she beats him to it, like always.
"So, this is really happening, then."
"Alex-"
"Whatever. I don't even care anymore."
"Oh, yeah? Well, that would be more believable if your shoulders weren't shaking! Ooh, what's wrong, Alex? Are you actually having, oh what's the word…feelings?"
He doesn't mean to sound this mean or this spiteful but something in him snaps at the sight of her quivering frame and before he can stop himself, he's veering off script like a racecar flying off a cliff. She whips around to face him, enraged, raw fury in her eyes, which look like burning coals right now.
"You. Have. No. Right. Justin."
She comes one step closer to him with every word, looking more menacing and dangerous by the second. He involuntarily gulps and struggles to stand his ground. He's clearly crossed a line, scratch that, he's probably crossed them all. He sees the hurt behind her ire, and he wants to take it back, because damn it, she's still his little sister and this is just all so wrong but…he's pretty pissed off, too, considering one thing and another. So in a way, he's entitled to his anger. (Right?)
She takes another step toward him and their noses are almost touching (she's wearing those goddamn platform heels again.) He wants to yell at her, blame her, or beg her to make it go away. But then he looks into her eyes and suddenly he's drained. Exhausted.
('Cause now she's the one begging him.)
"Alex…you can't ke-"
"Don't." She whispers, her eyes sparkling with unshed tears, and before he can stop himself, he leans down and bridges the gap between them.
A/N: Hi guys! I decided to put author notes at the end of the story from now on, so that I don't bore you all right at the beginning.
So this is my first Jalex fic, and my first multichapter in a very long time. I should let you know, so that you don't get too confused, that I will be using some time jumps in the chapters to come, but I will mention the year at the top, so don't worry. Any questions you have plot-wise, will surely be answered as the story progresses.
I would like to mention that this story is an important endeavor to me, in the sense that I will be stepping outside my comfort zone, quite a lot. I've never really written incest before, and I don't usually ship it either, but I love Jalex.
Oh, another fun fact; the title of the fic is rather interesting because it has a literal and figurative meaning, in this context. Also, it's the name of a song by Andrew Belle, which I love so much, and if you haven't heard it, go listen to it now!
Anyway, I think that will be all, my good readers. Please drop a review while you're at it. Much appreciated.