Disclaimer: I own Wizards of Waverly Place. SIKE! Kidding! I don't own shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitttt!

Author's Note: Hello! How is it so far? Not too controversial, right? I didn't want to start that until later. Anyhoo, I would like to thank everyone for supporting this fic again. Sorry it took a bit longer to upload the new chapter this time. The new school year is upon us and I've been busy preparing for it.

Speaking of which, I would also like to announce that after this chapter, the later chapter will definitely take longer than usual to upload. I go to a private art college and things get pretty hectic with my schedule. So please, please, PLEASE don't lose hope on this story as time goes by. Please be patient with me. I promise I won't abandon it.

And so, on with the story. Hope you enjoy!

A Familiar Pattern 6

By genielou

"He's looking, he's looking, he's not looking, he's looking again. Eyes getting wider, wider, wider- - oh, he has that look on his face. Yup, he's freaking out. Freaking out, freaking out, constipated- - no. Still freaking out," Max narrated as he kept his eyes on his older brother.

Harper frowned. "Alex, the counter is hurting my stomach."

"Just a bit longer, Harper," Alex urged. "Max, status."

"He looks constipated again. Constipated, constipated- - oh! He just dropped his tub of dishes. He's angry, upset, constipated? Again? Whatever. Oop, wait a minute. Is he- -? Yup, he is. He's pulling at his hair.

"Perfect!" Alex exclaimed. "Alright, Harper, face me."

Harper did as she was told.

"Yawn."

Harper frowned at her, but did it anyway. She opened her mouth wide and yawned loudly. Even Max raised an eyebrow at her.

"No, you goof! Yawn and stretch! Like you just got out of bed."

Harper yawned again, but this time with her arms outstretched. She arched her entire body and stretched to her fullest, causing her chest to stick out and her shirt to rise.

"How are we doing, Max?" Alex asked. Max turned his attention back to where Justin was cleaning his mess. When Justin's head popped back up in vision, his eyes quickly zeroed in on Harper again.

"He's staring again. Mouth open."

Crash.

"Oh. Oh no. Yeah, he dropped his tub again. That's embarrassing."

Justin disappeared again to clean his mess while Alex whooped and hollered.

"Awesome!" she said excitedly, slapping a hand on Harper's shoulder. "Alright, let's go."

"Wait. That's it for today?" Harper asked her, worry showing on her features. "He hasn't seen me all day, and now that I finally get here, I only stay for barely five minutes?"

Alex eyed her warily. "Oh, Harper," she started. "My dear, dear Harper. As the Spice Girls once lectured to the international vastness of the male ignorance, 'too much of something is bad enough.' Now, let's go wander about town and cause trouble while Justin spends the rest of his night thinking about you."

Max watched his older sister hook an arm onto Harper's and escort her to the door, all the while hearing her complain, "What's a Spice Girl?"

When Justin finally popped back up from his crouched position on the floor, the entrance doors had already swung shut, and the pair passed by the glass windows. His gaze followed them as they disappeared into the crowded street of Waverly Place. Max eyed him sympathetically as Justin made his way towards the kitchen.

Max leaned on the counter to get a better look at him. "Dude, what's up with you? Dropping plates? Making a mess?" he mocked. "I'm ashamed of you."

Justin sighed from the kitchen sink. "I need a jog or something. This place is throwing me off completely." He said over the loud swooshing of the faucet. He cupped his hands under the flow of water, gathering as much as he could, and splashed his face with it. "Max," he started, turning around to face his younger sibling. "Something is wrong with me."

"You need some stool softener? Or, if it's not that bad, a few Tums should do the trick."

Justin threw an irritated look at him. "It's Harper, Max," he scowled. "Whenever she's around, I get all weird. What the hell is wrong with me?"

Max sighed. "Justin, Justin, Justin," he repeated. "Brother, bro. I cannot believe how unaware you are at your own naivete."

"Huh," Justin raised an eyebrow at him. "You know what those words mean?"

"Of course I do, Justin. Please don't insult me." He scoffed. "It means that we have the same mother. Duh." Max followed Justin as he walked out of the kitchen and settled himself on the stool in front of the register. "Justin, I'm gonna help you out here, alright? Is that alright with you?"

Justin frowned at him. "All. Riiight." He said through gritted teeth.

"Okay, let's discuss Harper." Max started. "You, my brother, have not been around for a while. And the last time you saw Harper was almost a year ago. Am I correct?"

"Yes."

"Whereas I, on the other hand, had been living under the same roof as her while you've been away. Am I right?"

"Is there a point to this?"

"Yes. Please stay tuned." Max paced his way to Justin's other side. "I watched Harper slave away on the threadmill, eat less than a plate of food a day, practice walking on very high heels, of which increased with every month or so, while you were, for lack of a better word, absent."

"I was at school."

"Excuses!" Max pointed a finger at him accusingly, then paced to his other side again. "The changes were there, oh yes. But I was with her the entire time that she did all of these things to herself. I was used to the way she looked. But you, my dear brother, was not. Am I correct?"

Justin didn't even dignify him with an answer.

"Tell me, Justin. What has changed about her?"

Justin thought to himself. "She's a lot thinner."

"She hasn't been eating."

"She's actually very fit."

"Exercise!"

Justin eyed him warily. "She doesn't dress as loud as she used to."

"The heels!"

Justin frowned at him. "She looks, uh, well, very nice."

"Don't hold yourself back! Be honest with yourself!"

The other occupants of the restaurant now looked at Max. "This does not concern you lot!" he yelled over them with his arms up high. "Please keep eating your overpriced sandwiches!"

"Max, knock it off!" Justin hissed at him.

"Sorry," Max told him. "Alright, I'm back. Whew. I got excited there." He turned to Justin. "Justin, man, be honest. She's not just nice. What is she?"

Justin hesitated. "I guess I should admit it," he cringed. "Harper is…"

"Say it."

"She's pretty hot."

"Hallelujah!"

A few customers picked up their sandwiches and headed towards the doors.

"I guess I just didn't want to actually voice it out, but Harper has changed a lot since the last time I saw her." Justin looked out into the slowly emptying restaurant, his eyed hazed over. "I'm still trying to accept it. Harper is actually very attractive."

"Bingo! And that is the reason why you act stupid around her."

His gaze turned back to Max. "You think I'm attracted to her?"

"Is the sky blue?"

"But that's not possible," Justin exclaimed. "This is Harper we're talking about. Harper. Alex's best friend, Harper. The Russo's almost second daughter, Harper. We grew up with her. It's just not possible."

Max shook his head. "Justin, come on. Sure, she's all that stuff, but you're forgetting, she's also a girl."

Justin hung his head. His brother's words, although irritating and mocking at best, made a lot of sense. Harper was now undeniably attractive and he was undeniably attracted to her. But it defied so many unspoken rules that he did not want to cross. Two of the most important ones were that she was his little sister's best friend, and that she was his former best friend's current girlfriend.

Oh my gosh, he thought. Zeke.

"She's Zeke's girlfriend," he told Max. "This is wrong."

"You haven't done anything. Technically, nothing is wrong."

Justin looked hopefully at his brother.

"Yet."

He groaned loudly, burying his face in his hands.

"The good news is that I have an idea," Max declared. "I know how you can get rid of this crush."

Justin lifted his head. "You know how I can get over her?"

"Oh yeah," Max beamed at him. He leaned closer and beckoned for Justin to do the same. When their heads were close together, he whispered. "Go out with her."

"What?"

"Go out with her."

"That's your great idea?" Justin flailed his arms at him. "She's my best friend's girlfriend!"

"He doesn't have to know."

"Oh, he doesn't have to know," Justin repeated. He jumped up and paced around the counter. "Max, please realize this because I don't think I have the patience to explain it to you. I would be. Going out. With my best. Friend's. Girlfriend!"

Max held his hands up. "Okay, okay, I see where this might not sit too well with you. But let's just say that you don't really go out with her. Let's say you just hang out with her. A lot. And while doing so, you try to find things that you don't like about her. Or find the things that used to irritate you about her. And when you do, you'll be naturally repulsed, and you'll get over her. Period. End of story. And then you'll be all packed up and back to your school without any thoughts that any of this ever happened."

Justin stopped his pacing and turned to him. "Hang out with her."

Max nodded. "Yes."

Justin took a step toward Max. "Not go out with her."

"Correct, sir."

"I don't have to flirt with her."

"But no one will judge you if you did because that can happen naturally."

Justin ignored that and took another step forward. "And when I find something I don't like about her, all of this," he flailed his arms around again, "will stop."

"Absolutely."

Justin stopped in front of the counter, his eyes full of hope. "I think that just might work."

Max grinned at him and held out his hand. Justin shook it eagerly, his mind going through a thousand scenarios on how he could find things about Harper that would repel him. With another wide grin as his final declaration of encouragement, he grabbed a rag off of the counter and turned towards the restaurant, eager to get back to work. He stopped when his eyes skimmed through the entire room.

"Where did everybody go?"

Harper awoke very early the next morning to the loud grumbling of her own stomach. Drinking five large cups of iced water with not even a single cracker for solid food had been a very bad idea of a dinner, but she did it anyway. Getting her body to look the way it did had been a long and hard road, but she did it, and she thought it stupid to jeopardize that for anything; especially now that the reason for going through all of that was now sleeping and residing in the same building as her. She needed to make sure that she stayed thin, if even for just these next few weeks.

She pushed herself off of her bed and made her way towards her closet. Quickly picking out her clothes for the day and a towel, she climbed up the stairs to her basement room door with heavy footsteps. The trek towards the spiral staircase that led to the Russo apartment was even slower, with her feet shuffling each step forward.

There were so many things in her mind, mostly concerning the boy that she had pined for since kindergarten. Keeping her composure for the past week had been so tiring. She constantly had to act like she was fine, which, and this fact is only obviously evident to her and her best friend, she was definitely not. She thought she was over him. She thought she was over it. Sure, she did a lot of things to better herself, but she didn't really think that she was doing it for him. She didn't think that she did it to get his attention. She had a boyfriend, for goodness's sake, and Zeke had been more than wonderful to her. So why is she doing this now? Is it payback? Was she still holding a grudge against those hurtful words that he aimed at her a year ago, albeit not the way that he had probably intended but nonetheless made a direct hit? And now she wanted revenge for it?

That can't be it. Harper had never been known to hold a grudge. She had Alex for a best friend, and that's proof enough that she was not one to do such a thing.

So why did she do it? It was tiring her so much, so why is she doing it?

She doesn't still… like him. Does she?

Finally reaching the bathroom that she always used, the one right next to kitchen, she trudged inside and shut the door as softly as she could. It was too early in the morning and the rest of the Russo family was most likely still in bed. This had been her habit since she started at her new school. Wake up way before the sun rises, take a shower, try not to wake anyone up, especially Mr. and Mrs. Russo, and set out for school. It was exhausting, but such a great opportunity to be offered into the summer's program was not something that befalls on just anyone's lap. It was a well-worth sacrifice.

The cold shower cooled her body from the night's heat and she sighed appreciatively. She quickly scrubbed herself clean and dried herself off. Her eyes momentarily lingered on her reflection on the full-scale mirror as she got out of the shower. She posed every which way, checking the shape of her body as she did so.

Wow, she thought. I barely recognize myself if I don't look at my face.

She dressed and wrapped a towel on her wet hair, creating a turban on top of her head. She gathered her dirty clothes, opened the door, and quickly walked out. She gasped loudly as she collided into a hard, but strangely soft surface. Her mind registered when she glanced down at her clothes scattered on a pair of bare feet.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Russo."

She frantically grabbed at her clothes as another pair of hands tried to help her.

"Thank you, sir," she said as he held her shirt out to her. "I'm sorry, I didn't think you'd be up so ear… ly…"

Her eyes widened.

"No worries," Justin told her. "I've been up for awhile."

They both slowly got up. She couldn't help but stare at him with her mouth slightly open.

Justin blushed. "Uh, here."

Her eyes widened when she realized what he was holding out to her. Her cheeks reddened as she grabbed the bra from his hand. Justin blushed even more, but smiled regardless, as Harper's reaction gave him a sense of familiarity.

"Uhm," she started, her eyes averted from looking at him. "It's really early."

"Yeah, I know," Justin smiled at her sheepishly. "I wanted to see if maybe I could walk you to the subway station."

Harper lifted her head, and she gaped at him. "Walk me? To the subway station?"

Justin placed his hands in his pajamas' pockets, and stared at his feet. "Yeah," he said. "I've been thinking, you leave so early and come so late. It can get pretty dangerous out there." He looked up at her. "So, would you mind if I walk with you?"

There was a long pause before Harper regained herself. She took a deep breath, and answered. "You don't have to."

He smiled at her again, and this time, his dimples showed. "I'd really prefer to walk you.

Harper's mind was going crazy. Here was the guy she had been working so hard for, right in front of her, asking to accompany her early in the morning to make sure she was safe.

"Uhm, uh, sure," she stuttered. "I would, uh, like that. Yeah. I'd like that."