Chapter Eight

Teresa began to suspect something had happened to her two eldest children. Directly after Alex's sixteenth birthday, there were rarely any fights within the Russo Household. She distinctively remembers the day after she saw them in the lair they had been acting completely awkward around each other. Then Justin went on a date with Miranda and that only seemed to worsen it. Teresa thought it was quite cruel, perhaps, to like the idea of Miranda coming between the two's strange relationship. She knew however, that the idea of Miranda being around would only make the jealousy more obvious. She actually heard Alex crying the other day.

And then, one day, it all seemed to stop.

Alex and Justin came down for breakfast together the day after her birthday. Alex was smiling. Justin's face was more solemn. Teresa watched them carefully. Alex's face was more radiant, if not more flushed. It had that strange tinted glow as if someone had just told her she one a million dollars. Justin, even at the tender age of 16 about to turn 17, looked slightly starry-eyed. Alex touched Justin's arm to ask for the blueberry jam. He didn't think twice to hand it to her. She thanked him quietly. They started talking. She started laughing at his jokes, you know, the ones that aren't always particularly funny.

Jerry then, very innocently, asked how his children slept that night.

Alex went silent.

Justin choked on his slice of toast, refusing to look at Alex, and she noticed how tense their shoulders went, almost as if they were hunching them away from each other.

And Teresa's heart sank. She knew it. She didn't want to believe it.

Alex was playing with Justin's hand underneath the table. She enjoyed doing that. She would open the palm of his hand, facing upwards, and make light circles traced against his skin. Justin would smile or shudder. Maybe even both. They would hide their smiles. They didn't realise that Teresa knew, so they acted like it was harmless. She genuinely wondered whether they thought what they were doing was wrong. Teresa believed that love, the emotion, the conception and mortality of 'love' could go two ways – either open your eyes or blind them.

She liked to believe that they were blinded by the actuality of hormones and physical attractiveness but even that in itself was wrong – they were siblings! She believed that Justin's protectiveness of Alex over the last few years developed into something skin deep – something inevitable. Alex's strange desire to always catch Justin's attention or have him save the day made her confide in him.

And so it turned into something completely messed up.

So Justin Russo could've said that he didn't enjoy kissing his sister, or sleeping with her, but he knew, and you know, that this statement would be a damned lie. Going to school was different. For one, Alex sat next to Justin on the subway instead of standing or sitting with Harper, who seemed to notice something…strange about them both. She noticed that Alex would touch Justin's arm every few seconds or so, to poke him, or to kick his leg.

Justin was as equally as strange. He would look at Alex as he spoke, which he never used to do much because his head was always buried in the local newspaper or a book. Harper observed them carefully. He was actually paying attention to her as she spoke about 'car crash every five minutes'.

Harper narrowed her eyes as they got off the subway to head to the Tribeca area. They were walking alongside each other, completely forgetting about Harper or Max. As they entered the corridor and separated to their lockers, Alex caught sight of Miranda approaching Justin. She looked upset. She asked Justin why he didn't call her back the other day. Justin's eyes flitted towards Alex, before looking back at Miranda to make up an excuse. Harper looked at Alex's face and watched as it fell, suddenly saddened.

"Alex, what's going on with you and Justin?"

Alex slammed her locker door shut and turned to Harper. "What?"

"You and Justin. You're not fighting anymore." Said Harper.

"Oh. We're not?" Said Alex absent-mindedly. "Didn't realise."

Harper looked over her shoulder at Justin and Miranda. Miranda was going on about something Harper couldn't hear; but she could obviously tell that Justin was bored of whatever she was talking about. He looked over Miranda's shoulder and sent Alex a small, reassuring smile. Harper saw from the corner of her eye Alex smiling back at him, before grabbing her books and stalking off to class without any actual recollection of Harper being with her.

Harper frowned as they entered History class. There was definitely something up with Alex and Justin, but she couldn't tell what. As she sat down at her desk and stared out of the window, she couldn't help but think that the way Alex was acting was if…well...was if she was in love or something stupid like that.

Miranda came by the sub station the next day. Alex and Max were working their shifts, so Justin had the evening off and sat by one of the tables going over his alien language league work. Alex came out of the kitchen to serve two plates of sandwiches when she froze – Miranda was sitting beside Justin and talking to him.

She watched her carefully. She was leaning to the side, her hip outwards, her hands rested on them. She had lighter makeup on – meaning she made the effort to be slightly more natural in front of Justin. Teresa and Jerry walked out of the kitchen to see what was going on. Jerry greeted Mirada and Teresa observed from behind the till.

Alex hated jealousy. The feeling killed her. She served the table and went back to take off her apron as her shift was over.

"Alex, are you alright?" Teresa asked her daughter , touching her arm to catch her waning attention from Justin.

"What – oh, sorry mom." Alex mumbled. "I'm just…tired, that's all."

"Oh."

"Yeah. I'm going to go upstairs to bed." Alex said, quietly folded her apron neatly and putting it away, she turned towards the spiral staircase leading to their living room – but she paused and turned back, looking over her shoulder at Justin and Miranda. Slyly but confidently, she approached them both, setting her hands flat out on the table, startling them.

"Justin." Alex said.

He looked at her curiously. "Yeah, Alex?"

"I need your help with my sociology homework. The presentation is due tomorrow and I need to borrow your copy." She lied.

"But Alex, you don't take soci –" Justin began.

"I really need your help. Come on, loser." Alex pleaded, not sparing Miranda a second glance. "Please."

Justin looked at Miranda, who shrugged and pretended like she didn't care. "It's alright Justin. I need to go now, anyway."

"Oh, alright. I'll – uh – see you later, then." Said Justin, "Hang on, I'll walk you to the door." He got up with Miranda and they walked away. Alex groaned and narrowed her eyes. She coul;dnt help but feel the slightest possessive of Justin because…well…

Regardless, Teresa watched as Justin approached Alex. She whispered in her brother's ear, and he went pink in the face, before nodding yes, and continued to follow her upstairs.

Teresa didn't know what to think.

And then, they were fighting again.

Jerry and Teresa could hear it all the way from the kitchen. They watched as their two eldest ran downstairs – it seemed that Justin was chasing Alex. They had been screaming at each other all afternoon and no one knew why. Although, Teresa had an idea:

Miranda.

Alex was in tears as she reached the living room. She grabbed the remote from the coffee table and flung it straight at Justin's face – thankfully, it missed – but knocked the lampshade of the counter.

"I HATE YOU!" Alex screamed at him. "I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU, JUSTIN!"

"Alex – stop it!" Justin yelled at her, trying to get to her, but as he did she forcefully pushed him away.

The way she reacted – pushing him away from her – had the same reaction as if she had slapped him in the face. Justin stepped back, and Teresa could swear she saw tears prickling in his eyes. His face was flushing pink, meaning he was upset.

Alex and Justin stared at each other. The next thing he did was unexpected – he reached for his jacket by the front door, put it on and left, slamming the door behind him. The slam seemed to echo in the room. Alex began to choke on her own tears, and ran towards the door, opening it, she ran down the stairs and called for Justin who didn't reply back. He was gone.

Hours passed. It started to rain. Jerry called Zeke to see if he was with him, but he wasn't. Teresa hoped he wasn't with Miranda, because that would just be adding fuel to the fire. Teresa called Harper and asked if she had seen Justin at all in the last few hours – she said no, but she did ask why Justin and Alex were acting weird. Teresa lied and said that they were both getting the flu.

Alex curled up into a ball on the couch, cocooning herself from everyone else; it was torture to see her cry herself to sleep. She slept for an hour, woke up the next, and started crying again. Justin hadn't called. 1am came, and Jerry told Max to help Alex into the bath and make sure she got to bed. As Alex got up to leave, the front door opened.

They all stood there and watched as he walked through, soaking wet, showing that he had been outside the entire time.

He simply stared at Alex.

She stared right back.

Max opened his mouth to speak; but Jerry silenced him. Justin hadn't seemed to acknowledge that anyone else was there – apart from Alex. He walked towards her, and she was ready to turn away – ready to run upstairs. They watch as she wipes the last of her tears away, and slowly approaches him.

Justin opens his mouth to speak, but Alex whispers something barely audible to him and turns towards the staircase. Justin watches her as Alex takes the first step up on the stair, and turns back to face him, forgetting, or ignoring, that everyone else is there.

She blinks at Justin, nods, and goes upstairs silently without another word.

Justin's eyes are glued to his sister. He follows her and they're both gone.

Jerry turns to Teresa and asks what's going on. Teresa of course, lies to her husband, because she knows how they'll reconciliation. How they'll make up.

Sometimes, she wished that she could see what everyone else saw. She wish she couldn't see that Justin and Alex were in love. And as every day that would go by, it would rot Teresa on the inside because one day they'd have to admit it to their family. It would drive them mad if they didn't.