Disclaimer: I do not own WOWP but if I did I doubt they would allow it on Disney channel.
Chapter Two: A Day in the Life of Justin Denalli
Professor Crumbs did a reversal spell the best that he could. The truth was that nine years had passed since Justin had become a part of the Russo family and Professor Crumbs wasn't sure if the spell could even be reversed. The statue of limitations on spell reversals usually only lasted three to five years. Justin being a young untrained wizard at the time he cast it, had made some serious mistakes and the magic twisted itself around the request however it had seen fit.
He should start getting memories back though. Maybe not all of them but some. Others who had been affected by the spell might or might not get back their memories though. They just had to wait and she how the reversal spell worked out. Justin had been the center of the storm. He had cast the spell so he had the closest link to the magic and was more likely to regain his memories then every one else.
Professor Crumbs lectured him about his irresponsible use of magic. Told him that he could have torn the world apart because he had not known what he was doing. Said he was very lucky there had not been any negative repercussions because if there had been he would have been in serious trouble. It all went in one ear and out the other.
Who was he really? Could he even call himself Justin Russo anymore? Justin Denalli just sounded so wrong to him. He almost wished that he hadn't been the first one to touch that ball of magic. Maybe then he would still think he was a Russo and his life wouldn't be in irreparable shatters. But then he would have realized he still had magic when he should not and it all would have come out eventually. Still he would give anything to unlearn what he had leaned today.
Professor Crumbs left the room to speak to his family about what had transpired today. Justin begged him not to mention the part about him being in love with Alex. If he could keep it a secret forever he would but if they had to find out he preferred later to sooner. Guilt built up like a blockage in his chest making it hard for him to breathe. The brotherly love and affection that he could remember feeling his whole life swirled together with reawakening romantic love and lust leaving a sour feeling in his stomach. He was so confused. How could he even look at her again? He was afraid she would see it in his eyes and be disgusted. After all as far as she was concerned he was her 'annoying' older brother and she was his 'not so sweet' baby sister. Him wanting her for anything more was completely unacceptable.
Professor Crumbs opened the door again after being gone for about twenty five minutes. His family waited for him on the other side of the door. His fake family. His mock family… He didn't even know what to call them anymore! Justin with slumped shoulders and eyes downcast exited the room he had been waiting in.
Alex immediately flew to him wrapping her arms around his neck and whispering emotionally into his ear. "I don't care what anyone says, Justin! You'll always be my brother. No matter what!" she said in a raspy voice strained from tears.
Justin shrugged her off avoiding looking at her and began walking away. Crumbs stopped him with a magical hand gesture that seemed to have his feet glued to the floor. "It would be best if Justin were to rest for a few days. This ordeal has been particularly draining on him and his memories should start returning which could cause slight illness in him as they arrive. That's just part of the punishment for doing a spell you are not authorized or powerful enough to do. I will be in touch. The wizard council will most likely go easy on Justin since he was such a young child and had little guidance in his magic but there is always a chance they will demand harsher punishments. I will drop you all at home. It has been a difficult enough day as it is for you all." Crumbs finished off waving his hands.
In an instant they were all home and he found himself in the middle of a group hug. Tears tried to build up in his eyes for a second time that day but he blinked them back. He didn't want their comfort. He just wanted to be alone. At least that's what he told himself but an equally large part of him wanted to fall into their arms like a hurt child and have them soothe all his pain away.
"You'll always be a Russo, Justin, and you'll always be my son." his father said in a horse voice. Not his father. Not really. He replaced the word father in his head with Jerry. This was too much for him right now. Shoving his way out of the arms of the people he had once thought of as his family he ran up the stairs and into his bedroom. Slamming, locking, and magically sealing the door he paced the floor confusing thoughts swirling in his head. At first he thought the pounding was in his head but then he realized it was coming from the door.
"Justin! Are you okay? Let me in, please!" His ex-sister, ex-girlfriend, ex-whatever pleaded to him.
Ripping his hands through his hair in frustration he stopped his pacing and turned towards the door. Didn't she know that she was the last person he wanted to see? Probably not and he wasn't going to tell her either. "Go away, Alex I just want to be alone right now!" she was no longer pounding on the door but the pounding in his head continued. A headache joined it along with nausea and the room was swaying clumsily. Before he knew it he couldn't keep his balance any longer and his body thudded onto the floor loudly. He heard her screaming on the other side of the door for him to tell her he was okay but he couldn't answer. His eyes slowly drifted closed and then memories flooded him.
Sometime nine or so years ago…..
Today was his mother's birthday. Every year he made a special trip across town to a specialty florist who sold the biggest prettiest sunflowers in the city because they were her favorite. Truthfully it was a strain on his meager income to ride all the way across town, get the flowers and then ride in a completely opposite direction to deliver them then go almost all the way back to his starting point for school but he didn't mind so much. His father told him he was an idiot for bothering and that his mother didn't even deserve a crappy bundle of weeds but he ignored him.
When he arrived at the shop he immediately caught the sales woman's attention pointing to the sunflower's in the glass case. He didn't have time to waste. "Could I have a dozen please?" he asked while pulling out his wallet.
The woman smiled at him making small talk. "Getting a present for your girlfriend?" she asked teasingly. "That will be thirty-eight dollars!" she added perkily.
Justin pulled out the money and handed it to her before reaching for the flowers she bundled up in colored paper and clear plastic. "No actually they are for my mom. It's her birthday." He told her waiting for her to give back his change.
The lady smiled at him sweetly. "Well isn't that nice! I should have known you were too young to have a girlfriend." She said as she slowly counted out his money. She seemed to be having a problem with the bills sticking together.
Justin patiently waited his foot tapping slightly. He really didn't have much time. He needed to get back so he could catch his next subway train. "Actually I do have a girlfriend." he said unable to stop himself from cracking a smile. "She's the most beautiful girl in school." he bragged with pride.
The flower lady seemingly finally got a handle on his money and put it in the register pulling out his change. "You know I almost forgot. Today we're having a special. Buy any dozen get a single rose free. Maybe you could give it to your girlfriend." she told him pulling a purple rose out of the glass case and slipping it into a tiny plastic vase for holding single flowers. "You know I believe the purple rose stands for beauty and love at first sight" she said smiling as she handed it to him.
Justin looked at the rose for a moment thinking of Alex. "Well, then, that's definitely the flower for her." he said smiling softly. Looking back up at the shop lady he widened his smile to a grin and thanked her running out the door. He could still make it to his train. He would just have to hurry and he did sliding through the doors just as they were closing.
It didn't take too long before he was stepping back out of the train, and up the subway stairs, down the street, and straight into a building that smelled of antiseptic and disinfectant. He took the elevator straight up to the seventh floor then walked towards her room pausing only briefly to acknowledge the nurses and orderlies that recognized him as a frequent visitor. When he finally made it to her room he went straight to a set of cabinets where he knew there was a vase left from one of the many other times he had brought her flowers. Adding water and the flower fresh packet to the vase he moved it to the stand next to her bed and arranged the flowers so they caught the light off the window.
"Hi mom." he said quietly pulling a chair up next to her bed. He purposely positioned himself in her line of sight. "It's your birthday. I got your favorite, sunflowers. I went all the way across town to get them because I remembered how you said it meant more to you when I took the effort to get them the normal way." he spoke softly to her.
She merely turned her head in the opposite direction and stared off at the wall. She had been like this for quite a while. He didn't really remember much of her before she became this way. Just that she had been nice and caring but not very attentive and that she had become increasingly upset as his magic began to develop. He remembered her sad blue eyes turning frantic every time something magically happened that was caused by him, but he had little control over. Then one day he had come home from playing with Alex after school and no one had been there. The door was locked and he spent the entire night sitting out on the stoop waiting for someone to come home. He fell asleep out in the cold and at some point his father came stumbling home high or drunk or whatever and told him his mom had an accident and was never coming home.
She was in a coma for a while and then when she came out of it she was like this. This weird catatonic state that didn't seem to respond to treatment at all. His dad said he was wasting his time visiting the retard. That Lisa had never really been worth the time before she turned into a living dummy. Justin just ignored him. His father never had anything good to say about anyone.
He stayed there talking about his life a little. He didn't know if she was listening or even capable of listening but he liked to pretend that she was. That she secretly enjoyed him talking to her and that she would miss him if he stopped coming. He stayed as long as he possibly could before he had to go again. He couldn't be late for school because he wanted to catch Alex before class started and give her the rose. It had wilted a bit but he perked it back up with magic so it looked fresher than fresh.
He caught her at her class door right as the tardy bell rang and detained her, pulling her behind a stand of lockers so they wouldn't be seen loitering. "Hey beautiful!" he said charmingly pulling her into his arms.
"Justin!" she shoved him away. "You made me late again!" she said exasperatedly.
Justin only smirked. "Yes… but I had a good excuse!" he said floating the perfect rose out from behind his back to under her nose so the soft petals tickled her skin.
A smile shot onto her face as she reached out grabbing her present. "My my. Justin Denalli getting a girl flowers. This will definitely ruin you bad reputation. I'm telling every one. Who knows Harper might even stop being scared of you and calling you evil in the flesh." she said teasingly.
Justin frowned despite her joking tone. "Ugh don't remind me! You can tell her the feeling is mutual!" he said with annoyance.
Alex looked down at her rose and frowned. "Purple? What does purple mean anyway?" she asked her brows creasing. She would be pretty pissed if she found out it meant something bad. Didn't dark roses mean the end of a relationship?
"It means love at first sight. That's why it's a perfect gift from me to you." he said smiling.
Alex laughed. "Justin! We met when we were five and you wouldn't even speak to me. You just stared at me like I was the strangest thing you had ever seen and when I tried to talk to you, you ran away!"
He stepped in closer to her and pressed his forehead into hers. "Well, love makes you do weird things." he whispered skimming his lips over hers.
She pressed herself against him and before she realized what she had done they were leaning heavily against the lockers making out.
They didn't get much time before they were discovered and pulled apart. Alex was warned by the teacher that she needed to choose the people she spent time with more wisely and Justin was admonished for dragging poor Alex down with him. They were each issued a detention slip and then sent on to class.
As Alex walked away he heard her murmuring unhappily. "My father is not going to be happy about this."
Justin frowned to himself. He bet he knew exactly who Alex's father would be blaming for his daughter's detention. It definitely wouldn't be his perfect little princess, but then he guessed Jerry would be right in assuming it was Justin's fault. It usually was but he didn't need this. Jerry Russo didn't like him which was really inconvenient considering two facts. One, He was in love with the man's daughter and two, Since his father was incredibly unreliable and had no desire to teach his son magic the wizard council had tasked Jerry with that job.
Justin spent the rest of the day dreading the moment when both he and Alex would show up for magic lessons late and Jerry would look at him with that accusatory and disapproving look. It kind of stabbed at his gut because deep down he really wanted them to like him.
When he was five someone from the wizard council had picked him up and taken him over to the Russo's restaurant. Apparently his powers were coming in early and they needed someone to teach him to use his magic. He had assumed it would be another wizard but it turned out just to be an ex-wizard like his own father except this man didn't spend all his time out drinking and using drugs He didn't come home smelling strange and telling his wife and kid that he hated them because they were the reason he had lost his magic. He was happy and he was always telling his family that he loved them.
At first Justin had tried his best to impress the man but it never really worked. Jerry Russo always looked at him with suspicion. A few times he had even heard him uttering his last name with disgust. "Denalli!" he would say it like it left a bad taste in his mouth.
As Justin and Alex approached the sandwich shop at the end of the day they held hands but as soon as he saw Jerry stepping out of the shop to glare at him disapprovingly for their lateness he snatched his hand away from hers. There was no way Jerry would ever approve of Justin dating his little princess.
When he had still been really young he used to dream he was a part of their family instead of his own. Alex would be his sister, Max his baby brother, and Jerry and Theresa would love him just as much their two children. But as he got older that dream changed because Alex grew more beautiful all the time and soon he was picturing himself as the father and her as the mother. He would have that perfect life someday, he was sure of it.
Author Note: For whatever reason I really wanted to get this next chapter out. So here it is. Justin and Alex are out of character. I thought since Alex wouldn't have to compete for attention from her parents with Justin she would be less rebellious and since they don't have Justin to be their perfect child they would put more pressure on Alex to fill that role. Justin not having loving caring parents would feel less pressure to be the good child or try to impress anyone. So I'm going to be going back in forth from present to random flash backs to the past before Justin cast the spell. Thanks for reading and have a great day! Oh and YCMM will be updated next. i have about half of the chapter written already so hopefully i can finish it sometime tomorrow.