Chapter Four – A Sudden Unexpected Realization

Author's Notes: Thanks for the reviews, keep them coming please! They make me write faster. This chapter is shorter then the others, but I felt it was a good place to end it.

Alex snuck quietly out of Justin's room, and back downstairs.

"Oh Alex, how is he?" his mother Theresa said when she saw Alex come down the stairs. She did not wait for Alex's answer, however. Instead she started walking, "I'm going to go up there," she announced as she went. Alex watched her mom go up there. Alex noticed her dad was not saying anything, however. Probably still mad, Alex thought to herself. Her dad could hold grudges at times. She still remembered that time when her dad was trying to teach her how to fly the magic carpet.

He had only stopped yelling at her after her brother Justin had to intervene. The thought sent shivers down Alex's spine as she reflected on the memory. Justin had come at night into her room while she had been sleeping, and had taught up. She loved that memory of him.

Alex sat down next to her dad. "Dad," Alex said. "I'm really sorry," Alex said. "Please forgive me! I was just trying to help Justin! You know how much he loves Tears of Blood. And Kristie broke up with him." Jerry looked at his daughter.

"Ah ha!" Jerry said. He pointed his finger at Alex. "I know what you're trying to do Alex! And it's not going to work! You're trying to guilt trip me! But its not going to work! You guys have crossed the line one too many times. You're lucky that Professor Crumbs hasn't taken your powers away! Especially you, Alex, after you almost got them taken away once before."

"Dad, I'm not!" Alex insisted. "But I only did it to help Justin. And last time, he only did something wrong to help me." All very true. "So if he didn't take my powers away last time, he can't take away Justin's this time." This is what Alex was absolutely banking on. Secretly, though, she was crossing her fingers behind her back.

"You guys have gone too far this time," Jerry replied. "I don't know, I think one of you is going to lose their powers this time. And I mean that, though I hope I'm wrong." For Jerry did not want his kids to lose their powers. They had worked hard, especially Justin, to get as far as they had come. They both deserved a chance to be the family wizard, even though he hated how Alex often broke the rules.

Alex looked to be on the verge of tears. She did not say anything, just ran upstairs in a hurry, nearly colliding with her mom as she did so.

"Jerry?" Theresa said looking after her daughter. "What on earth did you say to her?" Jerry just threw his hands out.

"I don't know. I don't get it," Jerry replied. "I have no idea what she's so upset about. She knows what she did was wrong!" His voice was raised. He yelled at Alex all of the time. How was this any different? Jerry was at a loss.

Meanwhile, Alex ran straight into Justin's room. She immediately went near him, and was sobbing. In fact, Justin was woken up by hearing her sobbing. He was shocked to see Alex in such a state. What on earth had happened while he had been asleep?

"Alex?" he asked quietly. "What happened?" She just shook her head, and then unexpectedly grabbed onto him, hugging him hard. He held her there for a while, his heart hammering against his chest. He stroked her hair as he did so, wondering why he could not stop his heart rate. It was not because he was wheezing or anything. But, seeing Alex so vulnerable, had shaken something in him, had shaken something awake in him, in fact.

Finally, she answered him. "I don't want you to lose your powers," she said. "Its not fair, mine should have been taken away that other time." Justin didn't say anything. He could tell that it was not the only thing that was bothering his sister. He waited for her to speak though. He wasn't really up for doing much talking. Just the listening part.

"Dad is so mad," Alex went on. "What if he doesn't forgive us? Justin, I'm scared. Scared that we are going to lose our powers this time." Justin nodded.

"I'm scared too, Alex. But two of us are going to lose our powers eventually…" he trailed off, into a resounding, hacking cough, which alarmed Alex.

"Justin?" she interrupted. "You okay?" He nodded in between the coughs as he waited for them to subside. But he could tell that Alex wasn't exactly convinced. Justin found himself wanting to be vulnerable in front of her and it was strange. No, his thoughts were not going to go there. He had promised himself that they wouldn't. There had just been that one time when Alex had been into Riley that Justin had found himself jealous. And from then on he had buried it. Buried it so successfully that he had not even been jealous of Dean.

But Alex's obsession with Mark had annoyed him. Now, he realized that he was jealous. His head ached with the thoughts, and it scared him. She's your sister! His own brain was in conflict with his heart, and he couldn't synthesize the two together. "Yeah, I suppose," he replied. "Why do you care?" he demanded. Seriously, Alex was acting weird. A glimmer of hope flickered in him for a brief moment.

She wiped the tears away, before responding. "I'm scared, Justin," she repeated. "You're sick, and I'm scared." Justin looked at her, wondering what it meant. What was she trying to tell him?

"Don't be Alex, I will be fine." Justin thought this to be true. It was just the flu wasn't it? He had all of the classic symptoms, although when he coughed, it hurt his chest. Justin had not told his mother Theresa about it either, not wanting to worry his mother. She always worried too much when Justin was sick, because he was his mama's little boy. Always would be. Justin knew his mom favored him, just as their dad favored Alex even though she was always getting into trouble, much to Justin's annoyance.

"But I am!" Alex said. "You're my brother, and I love you."

For a moment, Justin's heart leapt into his throat, but then he realized she was only talking about it as n a sisterly love, and his heart sank back into its place. Of course. He should have realized. Disappointment etched across his pallid features but he knew Alex would just chalk it up to illness.

"I love you too Alex," Justin replied. There, that wasn't so hard. He could be normal around his sister. He would just have to bury his feelings forever. There was no way he and Alex could be together. Besides, Justin was sure Alex was not thinking the same way he was.

But Justin was wrong. Alex was crying because she realized that she loved Justin with something deeper then just a mere family love. And she knew that they could never be together. In fact she was mad at herself for even thinking such insane thoughts.

Both of them were looking away from each other, both not realizing they were thinking the exact same thoughts about each other.