DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN WOWP OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS.

Chapter 3-Stealthy Revelations

June, 2012:

Justin is a perfectionist.

And like all perfectionists, he suffers from the fear of achieving anything less than what's just right. (He's a sort of modern day Goldilocks.) This kind of Justin-mentality inevitably leads to over thinking and overdoing and obsessing over every teeny tiny little detail. The situation is worsened by the additional pressure of this being a first date, which means that he has to make it perfect, even if it means moving heaven and earth to do so. He is currently facing a wardrobe issue (didn't he have more tasteful looking shirts?) and has worked himself up into a state. And of course, as the universe would have it, it is especially in such a desperate hour that the bane of his existence won't leave him in peace for even a moment.

Clunk!

"Gotcha!" She grins impishly, having successfully launched a spitball at his head.

"ALEX! Quit doing that! And for the last time, get out of my room!"

She plops down onto his bed and sticks her tongue out at him, a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

"You're such a buzz kill, Justin. I mean," She rolls over onto her back. "What's the big deal, anyway? You've gone on dates before, and I don't remember you spazzing out this bad, ever."

She's obviously teasing him and deriving inexplicable joy out of his misery, but there's also a hint of genuine curiosity in her words. He considers her for a moment, a slight frown playing on his features, and then he drops the (fifteenth) tie he'd been trying on, and joins her on the bed with a huge sigh. She gazes up at him, actually looking like she's paying attention, for once. His shoulders droop slightly, and he bites his lip before beginning;

"I-I don't know, Alex. Honestly? I know this sounds clichéd, but I've never met anyone like her before. And I know I'm a responsible, mature adult now, capable of handling relationships better now than I ever have before, but when I look into her eyes…I feel like a ten year old again, with a schoolboy crush. I can't think straight, and even when I can, I can't think of anybody or anything else but her. I feel like I've stumbled upon something special, that I never even realized I was looking for. I don't know if by some miracle she feels the same, but for some reason, she's given me a chance. When I asked her out, she said yes! And it's like I've got one shot to make an impression, to do this right, and to not screw things up. Sure, I've sometimes been a tad bit neurotic about all the things that could possibly go wrong, but for once, I feel justified in my fear. If I let her go, I don't think I could ever meet someone as…perfect as her, ever again. And this sounds crazy but, I guess what I'm trying to say is…I-I'm in love with her, Alex."

There's a note of wonderment almost bordering on awe in his last words. As weird as it is to be pouring his heart out to his trouble-making, apathetic, useless excuse of a sibling, he feels glad to have let it all out in the open; he feels ten times lighter now, even with the weight of realization hanging over him. His eyes glaze over and his lips turn upward in a tiny, almost shy smile. He sits there, just savoring the moment, as the impact of his own words washes over him. He's nearly forgotten who he's talking to when he hears a strange, almost inaudible choked up noise. He turns around in faint surprise to find his sister's face contorted up with an indecipherable expression. She blinks and blushes as soon as their eyes meet, then hurriedly clambers off the bed ungracefully. She stares at him for a second, wearing an uncharacteristic deer-caught-in-the-headlights expression.

"…You watch too many movies, Justin." She throws over her shoulder before basically bolting out of his room. He stares after her retreating form- still feeling rather dazed from his earlier revelation-a little confused. Then he realizes with a grin that he's finally managed to get her out of his room (something he's been unsuccessfully attempting to do all morning) and out of his hair, so to speak. He stands up, leans down, picks up the discarded tie with a smile, and mutters to himself,

"I gotta remember how I did that!"

"Well hey, she called you back, so there's really no reason for you to be so upse-"

"Shut the hell up!"

"…"

She involuntarily takes a step back, her face blanching. His back is to her, but she can tell he's blisteringly, uncontrollably furious. This time she's gone too far. She's managed to achieve what she's always been trying to: breaking Justin. Only, it's a hollow, joyless victory and she's starting to feel her throat go dry, which is definitely a first, and she feels her heart clogging up with an intense, blood-chilling fear.

She glances down warily at his clenched fists, and sees that they're so tight that his knuckles are white. Remorse is starting to kick in, despite being a rare-and relatively new-emotion for her. She's regretting her stupid prank more and more by the second when it starts to look like Justin's actually fuming with rage. This is probably her cue to quit while she's ahead and leave the scene before it gets messy. Unfortunately however, she's pathologically incapable of keeping quiet during moments like this, and so;

"Justin, look. I jus-"

"…Get out."

"No, wait! You have to listen to m-"

"Get out right now, Alex. Or I swear to God…"

She may be immature but she sure as hell isn't stupid; she takes the hint and makes a run for it.

(He stands there like a stone gargoyle, without budging an inch for another two whole hours.)

Justin Russo is no stranger to the antics of his crazy sibling.

In fact, her first prank as a toddler was pushing a bowl of oatmeal off the table and onto his head. Needless to say, she's significantly improved in the trouble-making business since then. Once she started getting a little better at magic, all it did was aid her in her wicked deeds (as opposed to training her for the Wizard Competition.) He often grew irritated, got exasperated, and continually reprimanded her, to no avail. However, he used to secretly reason with himself that after all, it was Alex; that was the way she was made. And as long as she wasn't causing major disruption to mankind, he could kinda sorta live with it. (Also, if he's being completely honest with himself, on the rare occasion that he isn't the target of her disastrous schemes, he's come to actually find her reckless behavior endearing.)

But this? This is beyond the fucking limit.

For the first time in his life, he's ashamed to admit, he simply saw red. In hindsight, 'creating a scene' in a fancy restaurant in response to a juvenile trick played by his kid sister isn't really the kind of thing he would like to add to his repertoire, but the startling realization that she had sabotaged everything he had worked so hard to plan out with the single intention of hurting him pretty much threw all logic and reason out the proverbial window. The worst part is, with all that's been said and done, the mind-boggling fact of the matter is, for the life of him…he just can't figure out-

"…Why?"

"Justin…"

"Why would you do that, Alex?" He whips around to face her, eyes blazing with hatred, anger, and…something else. "Why in the world would you do that to me?"

"…"

"Alex."

"…"

He crosses the space between them in two long strides, then grabs her shoulders and starts shaking her,

"Answer me, damn it!"

Her eyes are wide, petrified, and her mouth is open in a small 'O'. She gulps, and drops her head down, voice cracking as she speaks,

"You're hurting me, Justin."

He lessens his iron grip on her slightly, but doesn't completely release it. His voice is deathly calm now, eyes shining eerily in the faint light from his bedroom window,

"I'm not letting go until you tell me what the hell is going on in that messed up head of yours."

She looks up at him, and in that moment, she looks so fucking vulnerable; he's almost afraid she'll fall to pieces right there, in his arms. For a split second, he's appalled at himself for manhandling her this way, and then the part of his mind that's still bitter quickly reminds him why she deserves to be treated this way. There's a moment of pregnant silence, wherein she seems to be taking her own sweet time, presumably choosing her words carefully. Then, enunciating every single word so that he can't possibly misunderstand, she says;

"I don't want you to be with her."

"…What?!"

"That's right." Her voice is gaining strength now, there's even a slight hint of cockiness in her tone. "I don't want her to have you."

"W-wh- what? I mean, well, why?" He's absolutely flabbergasted now and doesn't know what to think as his mind seems to have drawn a total blank at her unexpected declaration. He doesn't even notice that his hands have slackened on her shoulders. He stares down at her in disbelief, unable to take in what she's insinuating.

She takes the opportunity to lean in and then her voice drops down to a hushed whisper,

"Why? Well, I don't know, Justin. Maybe I'm selfish that way. Maybe…" She shoots him a look completely and utterly devoid of innocence,

"…Maybe I just want you all to myself."

(And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the moment when all hell breaks loose.)

A/N: And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the moment when the Jalex begins! xD

So, this update was pretty quick, huh? Hope you all enjoyed it. I mean, we've finally covered how this train wreck started, if you know what I mean. Honestly? This was sort of a whirlwind chapter 'cause I suddenly got this wave of inspiration that just hit me today and I had to pen it down before I lost it. I wrote a lot in a really short time, so for that, I give myself a pat on the back. Haha. Jokes aside, however, unfortunately I can't guarantee that the next chapter will be put up as quickly as this one was, because I'm going to start college in 2 weeks, so I've got lots of work to do. But I'll do my best, guys! Please be patient with me. We'll get there, one way or another. I promise.

Once again, huge thanks to my awesomely awesome beta, Sapphire93! This chapter was edited so fast! You're the best!

Thanks to my amazing reviewers too! I love you all, and I love that you're digging the story so far! I'm also honored that so many people are following it, but if you guys could also drop me a review while you're at it, I'd be so very happy.

Well, that's it for now. Until next time, fellow Jalex-ers! Ciao!