Chapter 5

She walked into his room in the middle of the night, sat down on his bed, and called his name. "Justin…. Justin wake up…"

He grumbled and groaned in sleep when he felt a hand shaking it and vaguely heard a voice, but realizing whose voice it was and what she was saying, he got up at once. "Alex, are you alright?"

She didn't answer. Instead, she stared straight into his eyes. "Who don't you love me, Justin?"

"W-what?" he stumbled on the unexpected question, sighed that this was coming in the middle of the night-Alex and her unpredictable whims- and looked back at her. "Alex, I'm your brother. I'm not supposed to love you."

"You are." She said firmly. "You have to love me back."

He shook his head at that, sinking back down into bed. "I think you should sleep now. We can talk in the morning if you want."

"Yeah, I don't think so, dude." She snapped instantly. A hint of smile lit his face, this was more of the "Real Alex", the person she had become these days wasn't her. "Why don't you love me? Am I not good enough for you?"

He gently took her hand in his. "You're too good for me actually… it's not you, Alex…. it's the situation."

"What will it take for me to change your mind about this situation?" she asked stubbornly.

He chuckled, trying to ease the tension and awkwardness in the room. "I don't know…. Use magic and make sure that I'm not your brother?"

"Great, I'll do it." She instantly stood up and grabbed his wand from the table. "What's the spell for that?"

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" he sat up instantly and snatched the wand out of her hands. "There is no such spell. And hypothetically, even if there was a spell, I think I like being Justin Russo."

She whined in exasperation, and paced across the room. "I don't get it! I don't know what to do to make you love me back!"

He looked at the clock, getting tired of all this. "Why are you acting so desperate today?"

"Because I want you to love me back!" she hissed angrily, glaring at him. It made him take a step back in fear and stumble on the bed. And that gave her an idea. A very, very, very bad idea.

"I think I know how to change your mind." She mumbled, walking up to him quickly and sitting down on his lap.

He pushed her off instantly and stood up. "Alex! What the hell are you doing?"

She walked up to him again, leaning close to his ears. "Take me."

He felt the urge to die that instant when he heard the words. He actually wondered if he was hearing things. Never in his life did he think Alex would stoop this low, and now he had no clue what to say or do. "Please get out of my room." he ordered sternly. He could see that a conflict was inevitable.

"Not till you love me back." She persisted, taking his hand in hers, "I'm yours, Justin." She moved his hand to the hem of her shirt. He stood still, shocked beyond belief, still not able to conceive believe that this was actually happening. When his hand touched her skin, he finally snapped out of his trance and pulled back from her. "Alex!" he yelled. "What the hell is going on? What are you doing? What is wrong with you? Are you drunk? Are you on drugs? Are you raving? Are you-"

"I am in love, that is what is wrong with me!" she cut him off impatiently, and hurled herself on him. "Please, Justin, stop this. Just take me."

And that's when he lost it. He brought his hand to her cheek in a stinging slap.

She gasped out at this unexpected reaction, eyes wide, cheek red. He stood staring at his open hand. Did he just slap a girl? Did he just slap his sister?

The tears in her eyes were welling up by then, but he knew he had to be strong. "Listen to me Alex", he said sternly, grabbing her arm and holding her tightly. "As your older brother, I am not going to tolerate this kind of unacceptable behavior from you. I didn't tell mom and dad because I care about you, but you're getting way out of lines. … Don't force me to do that Alex. You are going to behave from this instant. Is that understood?... answer me!"

She nodded her head feebly, the tears rolling out of her eyes, and fled from his room. He sank back down on the bed, holding his face in his hands. He hated himself.

"You've been quiet all morning." Harper observed. "Is something wrong, Alex?"

She shook her head, still not speaking. Her cheek wasn't stinging anymore, but her heart still was. Justin had slapped her. He had never slapped anyone in his life. Maybe she pissed him off real bad. She sighed, absent-mindedly tugging at the bed-sheet.

"What's that in your arm?" Harper suddenly noticed the writing of the marker. "So that's what's wrong!" she grabbed Alex by force, and washed away the ink. "Care to tell me who this boy is?"

She stood still, blinking. Events of the precious night came back to her like a movie playing in a loop. She couldn't believe she offered herself to Justin. He must hate her after that. heck, she'd be lucky if he ever looks at her again. She sank to the ground. "God what have I done!"

After avoiding each other for the whole day, they came face to face during dinner. They were seated right opposite each other, but they couldn't look each other in the eyes. He couldn't, out of the guilt of slapping her so hard. She couldn't, out of the shame of her cheap offer.

"Alex has a crush on a guy." Harper suddenly whispered into his ears. The hair on his neck stood up at the words. Did Harper find out? "She was using the magic marker to motivate herself to get him to like him."

And he finally understood what was wrong with her. She was under magic! Instead of finding that out and helping her, he scolded her and slapped her? He hated himself.

He walked over to her room as soon as dinner was over. He had no clue what to say, but he knew he had to apologize. "Alex…"

She stood with her back facing him. "No, Justin, please, go away, I can't face you right now." She shook her head, rubbing her neck right now, and let out a sad scoff. "You probably think I'm a slut."

He cringed at that word, but he made up his mind. He was going to use the big-brotherly tone. Again. "No." he said sternly. "I think you are a selfish, irresponsible, stupid teenage wizard who uses magic without thinking." He snapped, turning her around. "Harper told me."

"Oh." Was all she could say. "I can't believe I… I'm so sorry, Justin. You know I would have never done it if I was thinking properly!"

He brought his hand up, cupping her cheek tenderly. He looked at it carefully, observing if it was swollen or red or hurt in any manner. It was normal by then, but in his eyes, she appeared to be in pain. He stroked her cheek with all the love in the world, tears coming to his eyes. "I'm so, so, so, sorry for that Alex… you're my little sister. I shouldn't have…" the tears started flowing out of his eyes. "I just… lost it…. It's…" he kissed her cheek tenderly, repeatedly, like he was trying to heal her. "It's so hard for me to know I'm causing you so much pain… it's so hard for me to stay away from you" he confessed, burying his head in her hair, and hugging her tightly. This was his break down. "I…. I keep telling myself I'll… I'll get over you… you'll get over me… but we…. I love you too. Gosh, so much! I hate it!"