Disclaimer: I do not own Wizards of Waverly Place. No profit is being made from releasing this fictional story.

Author's Note: Another chapter? Woot woot! Everyone has been so cool for keeping up with this story. I'm sorry it has taken this long to get this far though. I'm just being extra careful because I don't want to mess it up.

Anyhoo, I hope you all enjoy yet another installment to our oh-so-long story. Let's read on!

A Familiar Pattern 27

By genielou

Justin shuffled his feet as he stood awkwardly behind Harper. After walking with uneasy silence for an entire block, Harper and Justin finally reached their destination: a small outdoor bar hidden within what looked to be a very shady alley (no matter what Harper had assured him otherwise). He glanced over his shoulder and eyed a young couple making out by a far wall, seemingly right next to an old woman beggar. Really? On broad daylight?, thought Justin.

"Bonjour. Deux café, s'il vous plait." He heard Harper say to the man behind the counter. The way her tone would slightly deepen with her enunciations was like an exotic sound to his ears. He was so enamored by her speech that he found himself concentrating on every –eu and –ou that she made.

Oh yeah, bring on the French fantasies. Repressed much?, he scolded himself in his head.

"Merci beaucoup. Non, garder les pieces," Harper said as she was handed two cups of coffee.

Justin shook himself from his reverie to take the tall Styrofoam cup from her. He stared at it momentarily as she tended to her own, adding the appropriate amount of cream and sugar. "Listen, Harper," he started. "Maybe—I mean, you don't have to, you know… We don't have to do this. Alex got you stuck here, but I'd be more than happy to just flash you back home… or wherever…"

"You want to get rid of me already?" she quipped as she proceeded to choose a plastic stirrer for her coffee without looking to him. "Correction: you'd be more than happy to get rid of me?"

"Wha—no… that's not what I—"

"J, k, Justin. Joke. Loosen up, will you?" Harper smirked as she took a sip of her coffee, grimaced, then ripped open two packets of sugar. "We're already here. Might as well stay and try to enjoy ourselves. Besides… you've been wanting to talk to me for quite a while now, if those daily gifts are anything to go by. Now would be as good a time as any."

Justin winced at her tone; he couldn't quite determine what sort of mood she was in. Was she irritated? Was she agreeable with being there with him? He wasn't sure if she was being sharp or nonchalant about the whole situation. Either way, his ears caught the slight accusation in her choice of words. "Yeah, but I was hoping that when we do get to… uh… talk, we'd do it during dinner… maybe. And then take a walk somewhere nice. Maybe a park. Ice cream would be nice too, if we happen to run into some…"

Harper raised her eyebrows. "Like a date?"

Justin guffawed. "Ha—what? No! Not like a date! Wha—huh- what makes you think that?"

"Your description sounds an awful lot like a date."

"Pshh, well, um," he stuttered, at the same time wishing that he could hit himself. But the slight change in her demeanor made him stop from reprimanding himself. The corner of Harper's lips twitched to a slight smile, lifting the thick air around them. Justin couldn't help but smile in return.

She led him to a terrace area occupied by other locals, consisting mostly of people their age. Justin glared at one man in particular whose eyes lingered on Harper a bit too long.

Harper giggled. "Down, boy. I'm an engaged woman. They don't bother me."

Justin nodded as he sat down across from her, eyes automatically glancing at the diamond ring on her finger. It was an extremely large elephant of a subject and he didn't know how to approach it. Alex had warned him beforehand about Andy, and Justin had a fair share of questions that were still unanswered. Andy. Right! Isn't that a girl's name? Justin scoffed in his mind.

An uncomfortable silence ensued afterwards while Harper took small sips from her coffee, and Justin tried to look at anything but her. She could only smirk as she realized this.

"You're still the same," she said quietly. When Justin raised his eyebrows to indicate for her to repeat herself, she only shook her head in response. "I heard form Alex that you're a professor now," she substituted. "Physics, right? And something… Council-related?"

"Uh, yeah," he answered. "Chancellor of Magic and Mortal Affairs—"

"Quite a mouthful."

"—and Wiztech Headmaster."

She raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Three jobs? Do you even sleep anymore?"

"You're not the first person to say that to me," he chuckled lightly. "I could ask the same of you. Your own clothing line? An international series of boutiques? Alex told me that she often has to make an appointment just to see you."

"I don't know why she says that. It's only when she's behaving generously. She mostly just flashes in and out of wherever I am at. Kind of irritating, really," she said, causing both of them to laugh. The awkwardness between them dissipated, and they looked at each other like the old friends that they were. "It seems that what we know of each other's recent lives came from Alex. I wonder how accurate her information is."

Justin grinned. "Maybe... we should test it?"

Harper's smile grew as she leaned her elbows on the table. "Alright, let's play true or false. Me first. You hate being a Physics professor."

Justin scoffed. "False! I love Physics. Can't get enough of it. Alex is the one who hates anything science." Harper giggled. "Okay, my turn. You… don't drink watermelon slushies anymore. True or false?"

"True, I traded it for coffee," she confirmed with a nod as she gestured to her cup. They continued in this manner: asking harmless questions and reconfirming habits, likes, and dislikes. The atmosphere seemed to lighten even more until Harper's expression suddenly turned stern. "You've been investigating me. True or false?"

Justin nearly choked on his drink. "What—How did you—"

"Alex. Remember? Our third-party snoop?" she said with a knowing smirk.

"Right, right," he nodded as he made a mental note to strangle his sister when he sees her next. He cleared his throat before answering. "Uhm, well, true, I suppose. I wasn't investigating you, per se… just your business. Your clothes looked too similar—no, actually, they looked accurately similar to what Wizards and Magical creatures wear… which, now that I think about it, makes a whole lot of sense. Nonetheless, it was suspicious. My department had to look into it. But, that was before I knew that you were behind it…"

Harper watched with amusement as Justin rubbed the back of his neck nervously, which was an action that she was well acquainted with. She shook her head lightly. "That is actually the reason why I stayed away from the media. I didn't want to attract the wrong kind of attention." She took a sip from her cup before continuing. "So… what now? Are you going to turn me in? Lock me up in magical jail or something?"

There was no condescension in her tone; but more of sincere curiosity as to what her fate would be. There was even a hint of apprehension. Justin just smiled. "Well, in light of some new information that I have gathered recently… it is conclusive that the clothes produced by Finkie was not released with any sort of direct intent to attack or offend the Wizarding Community. So… you're safe."

Harper sighed, but hid it with a nod. "Has my identity been provided to the Council?"

Justin shook his head. This seemed enough for Harper as she responded with a curt nod.

"Is it my turn now?" Justin asked. Harper took a deep breath as she anticipated his next question. "Who are you engaged to?"

Harper raised an eyebrow. "That's not a true or false question."

"Yeah, well, I thought I'd spice things up a bit," Justin countered with shrug, suddenly finding the courage to initiate what he had been waiting so long to discuss with her. "Alex has graciously informed me that you are dating someone of… magical… origins?"

The corners of Harper's lips lifted. "Yes. Andy. An Atlantean."

"Huh, a fish man," said Justin, to which Harper scowled. "Now, correction me if I'm wrong, and I hope that this doesn't come off as spiteful as it does in my head, but… didn't you leave me because I'm a Wizard? Because of my Wizards responsibilities? My magical Wizards responsibilities?"

Harper's scowl did not lift. If anything, it was turning into a full-on glare. She knew where this was going and she was not happy about it.

Justin just smirked in return. It was like a damn had opened within himself. The mention of Finkie and his long investigation regarding the company immediately reminded him of how stupid he had felt when he found out who was behind it all, and how oblivious he had been to all of the clues that was right in front of his eyes. The agitation and stress he was put under when he started the investigation, the climactic conclusion, and the additional revelations that came with it. He tried to make peace with it all, but one thing… one damning, confusing thing just kept laughing at his face, and he couldn't help but bring it up now.

"And now-" Justin continued, "- you're engaged to a fish man—"

"Atlantean."

"- A magical fish man," Justin finished without even blinking at her correction.

The expression on Harper's face hardened. "You should really stop while you're ahead because your foot is so deep in your mouth, you might start choking any time soon."

Her warning dripped with disdain, and yet, Justin still didn't back down. "The whole point of talking is so that we can resolve things. To talk it out. So… let's talk it out. Right now." Justin crossed his arms over his chest, almost as a challenge to her. "Oh, and congratulations, by the way. Glad to know that you found someone more worthy of yourself than me. Me and my magical self."

Her face reddened with rage and without another word, Harper stood from her seat so quickly that she jostled the table and knocked their coffee cups over. She turned and strode away as fast as she could, desperate to find a way to escape from him.

"Wow, this feels like de ja vu. You're walking away from me again. Classic!" he yelled as he immediately followed suit. "Do you know how long I searched for you? How long I drove myself nuts looking for you? The least you could do now is actually tell me why. Heaven forbid that you do that—"

"You know damn well why I left!" She screamed as she suddenly turned to him. Curious eyes swarmed in their direction and Harper had to bite her lip to control herself. "This is what I get for trying to act civil with you? I didn't have to stay, you know. I could've just gone home. I could've just kept ignoring those stupid flowers and coffees and—and—chocolates that you keep sending!"

Justin scoffed. "You live well outside the city. You had no choice but to stay here. Were you gonna walk? Good luck! It would've taken you a week!"

Harper gritted her teeth as she surrendered to his earlier questions. "What good would it have done either of us if I had stayed with you? You're a Wizard. I'm a mortal. According to your people's primitive—"

"Primitive?!"

"Yes! Primitive! According to your primitive rules, I'm not even supposed to stand anywhere near you—"

"We could have found a way around tha—"

"Did you?" she screamed again. Despite the language difference, bystanders still chose to stare at them, curious as to what they were arguing about. "How long has it been, Justin? Five years? Give or take, maybe six… seven years, even? Assuming that you searched for me for the first two years, what exactly did you plan on doing once you found me?"

Justin was taken aback. He remained silent as he thought back to that time, when he was desperate to find her again. He couldn't quite answer her question.

"Was there a solution to our dilemma? Did you think of one? Were you going to propose it to me when you found me? Huh? Was that going to be your selling point?" she spat, her lower lip quivering all the while.

"That's beyond the point," he tried to counter. "If you had just stayed, I would've figured something out."

"No, you wouldn't have. You wouldn't have figured anything out. There was no solution short of either you giving up your powers or eloping with me, which would most likely have been useless anyway, given the fact that our bounty hunters would have a magical advantage! There was no way around it!"

Justin's expression fell as he took in how upset she was. Harper's face had turned pink and her eyes were glistening. It was clear that all of his pent-up emotions were reciprocated in her own ways.

She bit her lip in an attempt to control herself. "The way you're acting right now is a complete opposite to your recent gestures… Why even send those, huh? Were you trying to catch me off guard or something? Make a girl feel like she's on top of the world, and then, when she least expects it, suddenly push her off the ledge?"

Justin's eyebrows furrowed as his eyes followed the single tear that finally escaped from the corner of her eye. It left a soft trail along her cheeks, and quickly disappeared underneath her jaw. He sighed heavily as he looked at her, trying to convey his frustration. "Don't—don't do… that… please stop crying," he said quietly. She rids herself of the slight tears by harshly swiping a hand across her eyes. "Let's… let's start over…"

He waits for her to calm herself, then continues only when her chest stopped rising from her rapid breathing. "I guess," he started with a small voice, "I guess… when I sent those, uh, flowers and coffees and… chocolates… I was envisioning the Harper that I used to know. The sweet, shy Harper who drank watermelon slushies almost every day." He shook his head lightly as he remembered his past with amusement. "That Harper… my Harper… I miss her. I still miss her."

He risked a step towards her. Surprisingly, she didn't move. She just stared at him with eyes slightly widened, as if a revelation had just hit her. "I'm sorry," he continued. "I didn't mean to… It's just that… when it comes to you… I really do try to make sense of everything. And when I can't, I get really, really… annoyed?"

Harper's brows lifted. "Asshole-y?'

Justin smiled slyly. "Ridiculous?"

Harper nodded, the stress on her forehead already starting to loosen. "How about 'condescending'?"

"Harsh, but alright," Justin winced. "Daring?"

"Yeah, no," Harper chuckled at their exchange of banters. "Illogical."

"Okay, you win. I think illogical hits it right on the money," he grinned. And just like that, they were back to being their old selves again.

Justin and Harper, the childhood friends.

Justin and Harper, the best of friends.

Justin and Harper, the lovers…

They both laughed good-naturedly. The people staring at them just looked on as if they were witnessing two crazy people in a theater play. Soon, and before Justin could control himself, he instinctively lifted a hand to Harper's face. His thumb gently ran across her lower lip.

Harper stiffened momentarily at the gesture, but a small part of her relaxed at the familiarity of his touch. Her breathing hitched as a blush threatened to show on her cheeks.

"You know how people say that we eventually get over certain things?" he offered quietly. "I'm pretty sure that I'm not over it yet. Not entirely."

Harper frowned as she listened.

"Everything has changed. I'm willing to accept that much…" he said, his hand now ghosting the outline of her ear. "Actually, I've been slowly trying to accept the whole engagement thing since I found out about it."

He ran his hand through her hair before finally retreating it to his side. Harper had a hard time ignoring the growing coldness that replaced it.

"I don't know if I'll ever be okay with seeing you be with someone else, but I can promise you that I'll try. I'll try very hard," he declared, already feeling himself getting miserable as he carried on with the speech that he practiced for almost a week, in the hopes that he would be able to tell it to her in person. "The thing is that, even if you don't want to be with me anymore, and I completely understand that… I still feel like, throwing away over two decades of friendship, and then more, would be too tragic of a waste. So… Harper Finkle… I have a proposition for you."

Harper suddenly perked up in attention as she anticipated what Justin had to say. Her eyes twinkled a little at his choice of words, which she concluded as his attempt at teasing her for her earlier muses.

"Friends. That's all I'm asking of you. Let's pick up where we left off before things became complicated between us," he offered. "I'll be me, Justin Russo, your best friend's older brother that you've known since you were three years old; and you'll be you, Harper Finkle, my sister's best friend who I've known since I was four. I'll support you in whatever you do. Being a workaholic, not drinking watermelon slushie, being engaged to… him…"

Silence followed as Justin let his words hang in the air. Harper could only look at him in stillness as she tried to contemplate what he was asking of her. It seemed too good to be true: for him to re-enter her life with the promise of non-complications.

"You'll be okay with my getting married? To Andy?" she asked quietly, hopefully.

A few seconds passed before Justin shook his head slowly. "I don't know. I don't think so," he answered. "But… I've already spent so many years being miserable because you weren't around. And ever since you showed up again… it feels like my days suddenly have purpose. Cheesy, I know, but it's true!" he exclaimed as he noticed the tiny smile tugging at her lips. "I shave now. I mean everyday, not just once a week like before… I actually cleaned my apartment, which is a feat, considering how dirty it's been since, like, two years ago… And I actually cooked. I cooked! Last night, I boiled water and treated myself to some instant noodles!"

Harper couldn't stop herself from laughing out loud. Soon, Justin had joined her as well. The tension lifted from their shoulders and they smiled sincerely at each other.

"I would rather that you are in my life… as a friend… than not have you at all," he said slowly, being careful not to reveal too much of his true feelings.

She maintained her smile as she nodded. Disregarding the faint hint of sadness in Justin's eyes, she offered her hand to him as a friendly gesture. He shook it eagerly.

Their friendship restarted from there and continued strongly for the oncoming months. Justin had thought that the situation would be worse for him, being the man of unrequited emotions; but he took what he could get in happy strides. Harper, with her renewed relationship to Justin, started to show it in how she approached her days. She became more upbeat, more optimistic, and less of the crazy businesswoman that she was before.

Andy was not completely oblivious to it. Soon, he slowly became more curious. And more suspicious…