Fic: Bewitched, Bothered, And Bewildered (Wizards Of Waverly Place, Justin/Alex)

[amathela]

Title: Bewitched, Bothered, And Bewildered
Fandom: Wizards Of Waverly Place
Pairing(s): Justin/Alex
Word Count: 8884
Rating: PG-13

Summary: All Alex wanted was to get her parents back together. Nobody told her the spell she used would have consequences for her, too. (Okay, they did, but seriously, who reads the fine print?)

Notes: A few vague references to parts of season two, but no major spoilers.


"Okay," Justin says. "That was bad."

"Yeah," Alex says flatly, her eyes still fixed on the staircase. "No duh."

He gives her a level look, shifting uncomfortably on the couch. "I mean, really bad. I've never seen them fight like that before."

Neither has she. Sure, their parents fight sometimes, but this was bad. Like, family game night bad.

Well, almost.

"They'll work it out, right?" She hates how girly she sounds, like she needs her brother to comfort her. Of course their parents will work it out. They're their parents.

"Of course they'll work it out," he says, but he doesn't sound quite as sure as she'd like him to. But then, their dad just went downstairs to sleep on some dingy old tables in the restaurant, so. "It's mom and dad."

"Yeah," she says, but she can't stop checking the stairs. The last time their parents fought like this, they needed supernatural help to get them back together.

Which, come to think of it, gives her a great idea.

-

Okay, so maybe it's not a great idea. But, hey - worst case scenario, she messes up the spell, and her parents forget about their stupid fight and start being mad at her instead. It's win-win, right?

She isn't sure exactly what she's looking for, but she thinks she'll know it when she finds it. It turns out, there's a surprisingly large selection when it comes to love spells. Love potions, lust potions, emotion manipulation spells, online cupid services (not this time, thanks). But then she turns the page, and there it is.

The answer to her prayers. She hopes.

"Aphrodite's gift," she reads aloud. Some ancient Greek goddess, apparently. Had the power to make people fall in love.

Bingo.

"Be adored by all," she continues. Well. She's adored already, right? Maybe not by all, but at least by a few. "What could it hurt?"

(Yeah, she's pretty sure she just jinxed herself, but some things are inevitable.)

"Like the goddess," she recites, and this had really better work, "high and mighty, give me the gifts of Aphrodite."

Well, she doesn't feel any different. But that's not really the point, is it?

Anyway, the best way to find out is probably to test it. Which means she needs a test subject. Not her parents, she thinks; if the spell didn't go quite right, she doesn't want to risk doing even more damage. And if she tests it out on Justin, she risks screwing with the one person who might actually be able to help her fix her mistake, in the better-than-even chance she made one.

So ...

"Harper," she says, spotting her friend at the counter as she exits the lair. Harper waves vaguely at her, then turns around again, and it doesn't take a genius to guess what - or rather, who - has caught her attention.

Yeah, if anybody needs the help of this spell, it's Harper. Well, and her parents, obviously. But first things first.

"Say," she says, sidling up to the counter and glancing around the restaurant. Bald guy, old guy, guy on a date. No, no, and no.

Single guy sitting alone in the subway car. Definitely a possibility.

When she turns back around, Harper's staring at her.

"What?"

"You know you didn't finish that sentence, right?" Harper asks, and Alex shrugs. Right. Sentences. That might help.

"Oh," she says, and tries again. "Say, don't you think that guy over there is really cute?"

"Nobody's as cute as Justin," Harper says, and Alex sighs. So far, this isn't going so well.

"You didn't even look at him," she points out.

Harper turns around, as if under protest, but once her gaze settles on the guy in the back ... well, something changes. She sits up a little straighter, smooths her hair back nervously from her face, and Alex is pretty sure she's blushing a little.

"Um," Harper says. "I guess. Sure."

Well, that's something. The spell might be working, after all. "Why don't you go talk to him?"

Harper spares another glance at the guy, but this time, there's no self-conscious hair adjusting. "That's okay," she says. "He looks kind of busy, anyway, what with eating his food and all."

Okay, scratch that. Clearly, she has to step this up a notch.

"You know what?" she says. "You're right. He does look kind of busy. And thirsty. I'm just going to go take him this drink."

And she's talking about stuff that's happening again. She really has to stop doing that.

"I think he already has -" Harper starts, but Alex is already halfway across the restaurant, her sights set on Harper's Future Dating Potential Guy. He really is cute, she decides; she might even be doing a good thing here. Not that it's going to stop her or anything, but it does give her a moment's pause.

The guy looks up and smiles when he sees her, and she tries to school her face into her least appealing scowl. This guy is for Harper, not her; she's just going to have to try not to be very charming. Which shouldn't be hard, really. She slides the drink across the table, and the guy goes from looking interested to looking confused, which is much better.

"It's from that girl over there," she says. Harper isn't looking their way, but at least she's so busy not looking their way that she isn't staring at Justin, either. "She's pretty, don't you think? You should totally ask her out."

For a minute, he frowns, like he's going to ask her why he would ask out a girl he doesn't know and hasn't even seen up close. But then ... he doesn't, and he kind of smiles instead, and what he says is, "Yeah, I think I will."

And we have a winner.

"Really?" she asks, and if she sounds surprised that's because, well, she is. Her spells never go right. Maybe she can risk messing with Justin, after all. "Okay. Just, um, give me a minute, and then you can go over there."

Harper's watching her in a way that's probably supposed to be casual as she walks back over to the counter, and Alex ignores the dirty look Justin gives her as she slides onto the stool next to Harper. The restaurant isn't that crowded, and anyway, there's plenty of time for her to work later. Right now, she's busy.

"Okay," she says. Quickly, because she doesn't have much time; the guy is already coming over to them, and seriously, does he not know the meaning of a minute? "That guy's coming over here to ask you out. And you're going to say yes."

"Okay," Harper says.

"Listen, just - wait. Did you say okay? Okay." Alex pauses for a minute, gives her brain a chance to catch up. "Wow. That was easy."

But Harper isn't listening, because she's already staring at the guy, and it's ... weird, to see Harper fixated on someone who's not Justin.

Man, she is good.

And when the guy actually asks Harper out, and Harper actually says yes, and they both actually look happy about it, Alex allows herself to think that this thing might actually work out.

(And the jinxes keep piling up.)

-

"What did you just do?" Justin asks, after Harper leaves.

Alex slides off the stool, and gives him her best innocent look. Which, to be fair, isn't all that good, but it seems to work on their dad. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about ..." He gestures towards the door. "That. Harper and that guy."

"You mean, that guy who just asked her out?"

"Yeah."

"What makes you think I did anything?"

He's still staring at her, and, okay, it's starting to make her a little uncomfortable. This whole innocence thing is a real pain to keep up.

"Maybe," he says, "because you were just over there talking to him."

"I was bringing him a drink," she says. "Or is it a crime to talk to customers now?"

"He's the only customer you've paid any attention to all afternoon."

"Well, pardon me for being a thorough hostess," she says. "Anyway, what are you, jealous?"

He boggles at her, and after a second, he says, "Over Harper?"

Okay, so no.

"So what do you care if she goes out with someone else?"

"I didn't say I cared," he says. "I just find it a little -"

"Just because you don't like her, it doesn't mean nobody else could."

If Justin's expression is anything to go by, she isn't far off the mark; for someone so geeky, her brother can be a real pig sometimes when it comes to girls. And, sure, Harper can be a little weird, especially when it comes to Justin, but it's not exactly like he's a huge catch, either. If she were him, Alex thinks, she'd be a little less judgemental.

But she's not him (thank god), so she feels free to be judgemental all she likes. Hey, at least she can talk to members of the opposite sex without sweating and bumbling her way through it.

"That's not what I meant," he says, but what she thinks he really means is that he's sorry.

"Yeah, well," she says, and if she can press the situation for an advantage, she's going to. "I had nothing to do with it. But if you want, I can tell Harper how interested you were in her love life."

"Um, no," he says, quickly backing away, and she knows she's got him. "That's okay. Please don't."

But he's still staring at her, so she stares back, her eyebrows raised.

"What?" she asks impatiently.

Justin glances away, and then back at her, and then away again, and he finally says, "Nothing."

Geez. What is wrong with people today?

-

Alex skips out on work early, and she waits for Justin to say something about it later. He doesn't, even though she knows he noticed, and that's a little weird, but it's not like she's going to question it.

The house seems emptier than usual, too quiet even as their mom is making dinner, but it's not until they're sitting down to dinner that it actually occurs to Alex what the problem is.

"Wait," she says, as she slides in next to their dad's empty seat. "Where's dad?"

She really should have noticed something earlier, she thinks. Does this make her a bad daughter?

"Your father is having dinner later," their mom says, as if it's no big deal.

Alex exchanges a look with Justin, who's still staring at her in that funny kind of way. "Why?"

"He's just ... busy," she says. "He's finishing up the accounts downstairs."

Uh huh. Their dad hates doing the accounts. And he loves their mom's ten cheese enchilada surprise. There's no way that missing out on this meal is his idea.

Which means their parents are still fighting. Well, the spell seems to be working okay so far; now comes the real test.

"Hey, mom," she says, trying to sound casual; there's no need to advertise the fact that she's been doing magic without permission. "Why don't you -"

"Ten cheese enchilada surprise!" Max says, and wow, does this kid have the worst timing ever, or what? "The surprise is -"

"We know what the surprise is," Alex says, and rolls her eyes. Sure, she loves eleven different cheeses as much as anyone else, but there are slightly more important things to worry about here. "But, mom -"

"Dig in," their mom says, and passes a plate to Alex.

And, okay, maybe a few bites couldn't hurt. She's got all night, right?

"This," Max says, not so much between mouthfuls as in the middle of about three of them, "is my favourite meal. Hands down. Well, and pizza. And pie. And sandwiches. But this is definitely my third favourite."

"Fourth," Justin says absently.

"Whatever. It's delicious."

"Yeah, it's great," Alex says unenthusiastically. "We get it."

Their mom looks a little hurt at that, and Alex backtracks. She's supposed to be playing nice, after all.

"I mean," she says, taking a bite, "it is delicious. So delicious, in fact, that we don't need you to tell us how delicious it is."

Okay, that was a little better.

"You know, I bet dad would think it's delicious, too," she says, and continues before their mom has a chance to say anything. "Mom, maybe you should bring him some."

She braces herself for an outburst, but their mom only shrugs. "Maybe."

Well, it's not great, but it's better than nothing. The rest of the meal is eaten in relative silence, and when their mom is putting away leftovers and Max is hunting down dessert, Alex turns to Justin, who still has that weird look on his face.

Damn. Maybe he noticed their mom not yelling at her for meddling. It was pretty conspicuous to her, too.

"Well," she says. "Out with it."

He sits up a little straighter, eyes widening like he's genuinely confused. "What?"

"You're staring at me."

"Am I?"

"Yes," she says. "Look, I know I shouldn't have used magic on mom -"

"You used magic on mom?"

Oh. Oops. "No?"

"Alex."

"Yes," she says, cringing, and waits for the lecture.

And waits. What is this, torture by silence?

"Justin," she says finally. If she didn't know better, she'd say he wasn't even paying attention any more. "Just say it, whatever it is you're going to say."

"You should be more careful," he says.

"I know," she says, "but please don't -"

Wait, what? That's it?

"That's it? I should be more careful?"

"Yeah," he says, and shrugs. "Are you done? I'll take your plate."

"Um," she says; she's really not sure what just happened here. "Yeah. Sure."

And that's the end of their conversation.

Weird.

-

Later, their mom takes some of the leftovers downstairs. She doesn't bother to heat them up, and she still comes back upstairs alone, but maybe it's a start.

At the very least, it's enough to get Alex's mind off whatever else is going on with her brother.

-

"I think I'm in love," Harper says, and Alex sighs as she slams her locker shut.

"Harper," she says. "I thought we'd been over this. Justin -"

"What?" Harper asks. "Justin? No, not him. Michael."

"Michael? Who's -" Oh. Wait. "You mean that guy from the sub station?"

Harper sighs longingly, and Alex guesses the answer is yes. "Michael. Isn't that just the best name? I could say it all day. Michael. Michael. Michael -"

"Okay," Alex interrupts her, because this could go on for a while. "I get it. His name is Michael."

Harper sighs again, and Alex really never knew that succeeding at something could be so annoying. "I think I'm in love with him."

"Harper," Alex says. "You can't be in love with him. You just met him."

"You don't get it," Harper says, and no, she really doesn't. "It was just one of those things, you know? Like love at first sight."

Great. Alex thinks there's a tiny possibility that she may have gone a little overboard with the spell.

"But don't worry," Harper says, grabbing Alex's arm. "I know he feels the same way. He told me."

"He told you he loves you?" Alex asks. "On your first date?"

"I know. Isn't it so romantic?"

Terrifying, more like it. "Harper, listen -"

"Don't worry," Harper says. "I'm not going to be one of those girls who forgets all about her best friend as soon as she gets a boyfriend. We'll totally still hang out. And I already have a great bridesmaid's dress in mind for you."

"Bridesmaid?" Oh, this is really, really bad. "Harper, you can't get married."

"Of course I'm not, silly."

Alex relaxes a little.

"At least not until after graduation."

And she's done relaxing.

"Harper," she says, and boy, this is hard. She hates confessing to stuff she's done wrong. "There's something I need to -"

"Oh, did you hear?" Harper asks, without waiting for Alex to finish. No? They're not talking about that? Well, okay, then. It can probably wait. "When Michael and I were on our date yesterday, we saw Josh and Erin having this huge fight, and now everybody's saying they broke up."

"Again?" Alex asks. "What is that, the third time this month?"

"At least," Harper says.

Alex rolls her eyes. "I really wish they'd just work it out already."

"Yeah," Harper says. "Me, too. It's so sad when couples fight."

"Yeah," Alex agrees quickly. "That's what I meant, sure."

Harper nods happily, and turns back to her locker.

"Plus, then we won't have to hear about it any more."

-

By lunch, Josh and Erin have made up, and the whole school is talking about that. Seriously, does it never end?

"Isn't it great?" Harper asks. "They must really love each other if they've made up already."

Yeah. Alex isn't so sure.

She isn't so sure it has nothing to do with the spell, either, when the lunch lady gives her an extra large scoop of mashed potatoes, or when a group of freshmen spontaneously decide to give up their table so Alex and Harper can sit. Or when Scott Masterson practically trips over himself as he's passing their table, sending Max sprawling over a nearby lunch tray.

Okay, so maybe not an accident, but it's pretty funny.

"Okay," Alex says, turning away from where her brother is still trying to pick himself up. "That was weird, right?"

Harper shrugs. "What was weird?"

"That," Alex says, gesturing around them. "Everybody ... looking at me."

Harper tilts her head, studying Alex. "Did you do something different to your hair?"

"No," Alex says, but she runs her fingers through it a little just in case. "Why?"

"No reason," Harper says. "It looks good."

Oh, great. Not Harper, too. This can't possibly -

No, wait. She is not going to think that.

If she's learned anything, it's that things can always possibly get worse.

-

Alex isn't sure how long the spell is supposed to last; judging by the chaos around her, it doesn't look like it's going to wear off any time soon, but she'd still rather not have to spend another meal in silence while her parents aren't even in the same room. Besides, if all of this is going to be worth anything, she really needs to finish what she started.

Luckily, her dad is already in the lair when she gets there, and she marches up to him, resolved.

"Alex," he says, turning around, sounding more than a little a little confused. She doesn't blame him; if she didn't know why she was here, she'd be wondering why she's early for their wizard training, too.

"Dad," she says, before he can question it. Evade and distract. It's always worked for her in the past. "Listen. I think you and mom should make up."

"Alex," he says again. "You know I love your mother -"

"Yes," she says. "You do. You really, really love her."

"Yes," he agrees. "I really, really love her. But it's complicated."

"No, it's not," she says. "You guys are going to make up. I know it."

"Yeah," he says, and he's actually smiling. Whatever weirdness might be going on with Harper and everybody else aside, Alex thinks maybe using the spell wasn't such a bad idea after all. "I know it, too."

"So shouldn't you go tell her that?"

He pauses for a second, and then he nods, already heading for the door. "You know what? I think I will go tell her. Thanks, Alex."

"Just doing my job," she says to the empty room, and settles down on the bench. Her parents are getting back together, and she's pretty sure she just got them all out of their lesson. This is, like, the best day ever.

"Or maybe not," she says, as Justin walks in. He looks at her with pretty much the same expression their dad had earlier, and seriously, is it impossible to believe she might just want to be early for their lessons?

Okay, yeah, it totally is.

"What's that?" he asks, and she shakes her head.

"I didn't say anything."

"Okay," he says. "Where's dad?"

"Oh," she says, in her best casual tone. "He was here before, but he left."

"He left?"

"Uh huh."

"Just ... left?"

"Yeah. I think he was going to see mom."

"Wow," he says. "That's amazing."

He sits down beside Alex, leaning back, crossing and uncrossing his legs like he's waiting for something. After a minute, he drapes his arm along the bench, brushing the back of her ponytail, but before she can freak out about him pulling her hair or whatever else he's about to do, he jumps up again.

"Wait a minute!" he says, staring down at her. "You used magic."

"What?" she asks, trying for shocked, or at least indignant. "What are you talking about? I would never ... oh, okay, who am I kidding, I totally did."

"Alex!"

"Justin," she says, in what she thinks is a pretty fair imitation of his tone.

"Alex."

"What?" she asks. "Like you're really surprised. I already told you about it last night."

"You told me you used magic on mom," he says. "But you used magic on dad, too. You used magic on mom and dad."

"Actually -" she starts, and then thinks better of it. "Yes. I used magic on mom and dad. No-one else."

"Wait -"

He's interrupted by Max, stumbling into the lair, and Alex takes it back; this kid has the best timing ever.

But not the best hygiene, apparently.

"Max," Justin says, turning around, and Alex is almost thankful for anything that takes his focus away from her. "What is that smell?"

"Oh, this?" Max asks. "I got today's lunch special all over me. Some guy just fell and pushed me over."

"That smell is lunch?"

"Well, yeah. But then we had gym, and I forgot my gym clothes, so I just wore these. And then I was late, so I didn't have a chance to shower, and then I had to run home so I wasn't late for wizard training."

"What about that ..." Alex gestures at his sleeve. "Hole?"

"Oh." Max glances down. "That. I think that was always there."

"Right."

"Why don't you go ... throw that out, or something?" Justin asks, and Max nods.

Great. Just when she was off the hook. But -

Well, it's not like she really knows exactly what the limits to the spell are. And it can't hurt to test them, can it?

"But Max," she says. "You love that shirt."

"Yeah," Max says slowly, running his hands down the side of the fabric. "I do love this shirt."

"But it's disgusting," Justin says.

"Hey!" Max protests. "You take that back. This is my favourite shirt."

"Since when?"

"Since ... just now, I think."

"But -"

"Ah!" Max says, holding out a hand. "No trash talking the shirt. Me and it, we're inseparable."

"Well," Justin says, "could you please go and be inseparable somewhere else?"

"Wait, Max -"

But Max shrugs, and says, "Okay," and then he's gone again, leaving Alex and Justin alone.

Well, Alex thinks, so much for that distraction.

"That was weird," Justin says, when he's gone.

"Yeah, well," Alex says. "You know Max. He's a weird kid."

"Yeah, but that was weirder then usual." He looks at Alex, as if he's trying to get her to crack, and it's making her more than a little uncomfortable. "What's going on here?"

"Look, Justin," she says, taking a step forward and laying a hand on his arm. Justin looks down at it, and then he reaches for her, too, his free hand settling just above her hip.

And now they're standing way too close. Which is ... okay, not the weirdest thing that's happened to her today, but it's still making her skin prickle uncomfortably, like the temperature in the lair has just gone up a few thousand degrees.

She takes a tentative step back, and that seems to break the mood; Justin drops his hand, and tilts his head to the side, his mouth falling open.

"Okay," she says. "What was that?"

Justin's mouth works wordlessly, and eventually he seems to get a grip on himself. "Why don't you tell me?"

"Me?" she asks. "Why would I know what's going on?"

He glares at her, and it's amazing how he can go from guy mode to brother mode in a heartbeat. Um. Not that she wants him to be in guy mode, or anything. Or that that's even what that was.

"Alex," he says, and she can't help noticing that his hands are clenching by his side, as if he wants to reach out for her and is trying not to. Or as if he wants to strangle her and is trying not to. "Mom and dad? Max and that stupid shirt? Harper and that guy yesterday? There's something going on here, and I'm pretty sure you know what it is."

There's a tense moment, and then she cracks. Okay, she's weak. But Justin is right - something is definitely going wrong with the spell, and he's probably the only person who can help her fix it.

"Fine," she says. "But before I tell you, know that I was only trying to help."

"Trying to help what?" he asks.

"I was trying to get mom and dad back together," she says, and takes a deep breath. "So I used magic."

"Alex," he says. "Don't you remember what happened last time we tried that?"

"Yes," she says. "Which is why I didn't order another Cupid."

"What did you do?"

"I used Aphrodite's gift," she says, and she could swear that all the colour drains from Justin's face in an instant. So, that's probably not good. "Is that bad?"

"Aphrodite," he says, as if he can't quite believe she would do something so stupid. Which, to be fair, is how he sounds most of the time, so she's not entirely sure if it has anything to do with the spell. "The Greek goddess of love, desire, and ..."

He doesn't say it, but he doesn't have to. Sex.

Okay, so maybe she could have done a little more research before she used the spell.

"So, bad," she says. "How do we fix it?"

"Where did you find the spell?"

Alex hands him the book silently, and he flips through it, scanning the pages until he finds the right one. She doesn't think it's possible for him to get any paler, but his lips tighten into a thin line, and she's guessing that's not a good sign, either.

"Tell me there's good news."

"Not so much," he says, and he isn't quite looking at her. "The spell can't be reversed."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Oh. It says here we have to wait for it to wear off."

"And how long will that take?" Maybe it isn't the smartest thing to be asking questions right now, but Justin isn't exactly being forthcoming.

"It doesn't say."

"Oh," she says again. She steps forward, and lays her hand on his; he looks up at her, and there's something in his eyes that would be unreadable if she didn't know exactly what it was.

She doesn't notice him move forward, but a second later they're definitely standing a little closer together, and she can't quite bring herself to look away.

"Alex," Justin says, and his voice is a little strained, like he's trying to hold back.

"What?" she asks, and okay, maybe she's a little breathless. It's really hot in here.

"The spell," he says, and she looks at him quizzically, and then it hits her - oh, the spell. That. This.

"Right," she says, and draws back hurriedly; Justin does the same, and she leaves the lair ahead of him, wondering why she suddenly feels the need to take a cold shower.

(Okay, but maybe not wondering very hard.)

-

Alex can't even bring herself to complain that night when dinner is vegetable something or other. It's bland and tasteless, and it doesn't help that the only thing she can really smell is Max, but their parents aren't fighting any more - in fact, it's almost like they were never fighting at all, and she can see them giving each other looks across the table that would be sickening if she hadn't missed this so much.

Justin is sitting next to her, which really shouldn't be noteworthy at all, except that apparently she's become hyper-aware of his presence ever since this afternoon in the lair. His elbow bumps hers three times as she's trying to cut up her broccoli into easily camouflaged pieces, and she'd move away, but any further would bring her closer to Max, and that really isn't an option.

"Max," their dad says, after what seems like an eternity of everyone at the table trying to eat and hold their breath at the same time. "Why don't you go change, or take a shower, or something?"

"But I haven't finished my vegetables," Max says, and Alex turns to look at him. Vegetables, really? She isn't even responsible for that one.

"Um," their dad says. "That's okay, really. You can go change, and when you get back, we'll have dessert."

Max pauses a minute, as if he's considering it. "Nah," he says finally. "I'm good."

"We're not," Alex mutters, and their mom shoots her a chastising look. It's kind of weak compared with the ones she's used to getting, and she wonders if it has anything to do with the whole being adored thing.

She glances over at Justin for support, but he's studiously not looking at her, and she eats a piece of cauliflower just to take her mind off it. It doesn't really work, but hey, maybe she's healthier now.

"Okay," their mom says finally. "Whatever makes you happy, sweetheart." But Alex hears her when she leans over to their dad and whispers, "We'll take it off him while he's asleep."

Justin does look at Alex then, accusingly, and okay, technically this is all her fault. But sooner or later either the spell is going to wear off, or Max's shirt is going to disintegrate, and she thinks it might be kind of fun to see which comes first.

She leans closer to tell him so, and he twitches a little when her hair brushes his shoulder, sucking in a breath that she thinks must be audible halfway across the city. The words stick in her throat, and she pushes away her plate, feigning nausea brought on by proximity to Max in order to get out of eating the rest of her dinner.

"I'm sorry we missed wizard training this afternoon," their dad says, and Justin, whose knee has been resting lightly against Alex's, practically jumps out of his seat.

"Um," he says. "That's okay. Really. We'll catch up next week."

"Extra long session," their dad says, as if that's exactly what Justin suggested. "Excellent plan. I'd offer to do it tomorrow, but your mom and I are going out on a date."

Alex's first impulse is to share a disgusted look with Justin, but she curbs it just in time. Their knees are already touching again.

"Sounds good," Justin says, and apparently she's the only one who can hear how weirdly choked up he sounds. He stands up, pulling away from her, and when she goes to help him move their plates, their hands connect, just for a second.

Justin freezes, and Alex does the same, looking down at her offending limb. Before she can act like it's no big deal (and it really, really isn't; maybe if she keeps thinking that enough, it'll be true), he's already halfway to the stairs.

"You know," he says, "I'm actually really tired. And I have a lot of homework. And a math quiz tomorrow. That I haven't studied for. So I think I'm just going to go to my room. And study."

There's silence for a minute, broken only by the sound of Max stroking the front of his shirt.

"That was strange," their dad says, and Alex stays perfectly still, as if she could disappear altogether.

"I know," their mom says. "Justin always studies for his math quizzes."

-

All Harper talks about at school on Friday is Michael (and Michael, and Michael, and Michael, and great, now even Alex is thinking about him). Alex smiles as politely as she can manage and nods and tries to keep from strangling Harper, because Harper is her best friend, but mostly because this might be just a tiny bit her fault. Or a lot her fault. Whatever, enough with the guilt already.

She's never been all that careful about watching what she says, but after she whispers to Harper (who's doodling 'Mrs Harper Baum' on her textbook, and she's just guessing, but she thinks Michael's full name might be Michael Baum) that Mr Laritate is so in love with his pop quizzes, he should go marry - and stops herself just in time, she starts watching herself a lot more closely. Either the spell is a lot more powerful than she first thought, or she seriously messed something up, because he can't even hear her, but neither could Josh and Erin, and okay, that might have been a really freaky coincidence, but she doesn't think so.

Mr Laritate keeps her back late for talking in class, and she has to try really, really hard not to make him fall in love with his bolo tie or something. Although she thinks there's a distinct possibility that he already is, and maybe in that case the spell wouldn't have any effect, anyway.

Still. She probably doesn't need her parents hearing about how a high school teacher from New York tried to marry his tie, so she keeps quiet.

-

Her parents are already gone by the time she gets home (and this time, she doesn't mind if it's because of the spell that Mr Laritate doesn't give her a week's detention), and she smiles a little when she thinks that they're out on whatever date they're on at least partly because of her. But then she sees Justin, and her smile doesn't so much fade as it freezes, crystallising until it's almost painful.

"Justin," she says, and she hopes she doesn't sound weird, because really, this is not weird. This is just her and her brother, at home, the same way it's always been. "Where's Max?"

"Out," he says, and she probably should have guessed that, because she can't smell him. "He wouldn't take that disgusting shirt off, so I made him go outside."

That's fine with her, Alex thinks. Let strangers deal with it.

Only, maybe it's not fine, because it means she and Justin are alone.

He shifts in his seat on the couch, and she guesses that he's probably thinking the same thing, and, okay. She is not going to let this be weird. Because it's her and Justin, and he's her brother, and she's not going to let some stupid spell ruin things.

"Move over," she says, squeezing onto the couch beside him, and he slides over until he's sitting at the far end, about as far away from her as he can get without standing up and making things really, really obvious. She snatches the remote up from where he dropped it, and starts flicking through the television, ignoring Justin's halfhearted sound of protest.

"Hey," he says, when she finally settles on a rerun of some old movie from a couple of years ago. "I was watching that."

"What, the volcano channel?"

"Science channel," he says, like there's a difference. "It's about the mating cycle of -"

She tunes him out after that, so it takes her a while to notice that he's stopped talking. And then she realises what he said. Mating cycle. Right.

"Boring," she says, more to break the awkward silence than because it really needs to be said. "Just let me watch the end of this, then you can go back to your stupid animal show."

"Alex," he says, and when he's saying her name like that, all frustrated and annoyed, it's the most normal he's sounded in days. She likes it. "Give it back."

"No," she says, and clutches the remote to her chest. She's just about to let her grip on it loosen when Justin lunges for her, and she holds it tighter, pulling it away from him. There's a brief tug of war, and then she realises where they are and what they're doing, but it's already too late because Justin is kissing her.

And, okay, it's weird, and bad, and wrong, but she kisses him back. Just for a little bit. She could tell herself she's surprised, just caught off guard or whatever and not reacting properly, but really, she kind of likes the way he feels when he's pressed up against her, and she likes kissing (him, okay, she likes kissing him), and so she gets caught up in it a little bit. And this is the part where, really, she expects Justin to act all disgusted and pull away, but instead, he's pulling her closer, and she can see now that she's going to have to be the one to stop it.

She pulls away (not reluctantly, at all), and now Justin looks like he's starting to catch up, because his expression goes from dazed to confused to horrified in about a second flat. And it really shouldn't be possibly to make her feel worse about any of this, but that kind of does.

"I'm sorry," she says, before he can apologise first (because he's going to, of course he's going to, this is something that needs at least one of them to apologise for it), and god, she is not crying over this, maybe she's just caught Justin's allergies. She blinks back the not-tears, and when Justin moves away from her, she jumps up off the couch. He still looks like he's going to say something, and she really, really does not want that, so she runs away instead, fleeing upstairs and slamming the door to her room before he has the chance to follow her.

(She really just wants all of this to go away, and why does her impulsive, unsupervised use of magic never work out well for her?)

-

She spends the weekend avoiding Justin. Actually, she spends the weekend avoiding everyone, locked up in her room so she can't cause any more trouble than she already has. It's really boring, but maybe it's a form of self-inflicted punishment. She knows she's supposed to be working, but her dad never comes to yell at her to get down to the restaurant, and there's no way she's about to volunteer.

Because, seriously, her being around people right now? Not such a good idea.

She sneaks down to the lair late on Saturday evening, and spends the night reading up about Aphrodite. Too little, too late, and all that, but she hasn't given up on hoping she might still be able to find a way out of this mess. She doesn't find anything she thinks could help, but she does learn that the Greeks were seriously messed up; just glancing at their family tree is enough to give her a headache.

Considering what she spent yesterday afternoon doing, she thinks, she probably isn't in any position to judge.

She switches off her phone after seven missed calls from Harper; either she's calling to tell Alex all about Michael, or to invite her out to do something, and either way, Alex doesn't want to hear it. She'll feel bad about that later, maybe, but right now she has so many things to worry about that it barely even registers.

Her mom knocks on her door twice a day to leave a tray of food outside, and she's guessing Justin told them she's sick - really sick, like, can't have any contact with anyone sick, which she totally is - because she doesn't get a lecture about what a nice day it is outside or how it's rude not to come out and eat with them, or even her mom popping her head in the door to see how she's doing. She should be thankful to him for that, but she's too busy being weirded out by even the thought of Justin to feel much of anything else.

On Sunday night, she thinks about just flopping face down on her bed and crying until she feels better, but that's never really been her thing, and mostly she just doesn't see the point in it. After listening to her favourite CD on repeat for, like, the eleventh time, she finally gives in and opens up her homework, and that's how she can tell things are really bad.

She's in the middle of her history paper (and she's really not sure how she's going to explain this one if she ends up getting a good grade; most likely her parents will assume she used magic to cheat and ground her for a month, and maybe she deserves it, but that seems like a really roundabout way of doing things) when there's another knock on her door. She doesn't think it's her mom, because she already ate dinner - all of it, and if she's supposed to lose her appetite over stuff like this, well, she's never really done things the conventional way - and when she opens the door, there's no-one there.

Maybe it was just one of those things, not even on purpose, but she sleeps better that night than she has in nearly a week.

-

Her self-imposed exile ends when school starts again on Monday. Not because she's exactly dying to go out and face the real world, but because if her parents are going to let her miss school, they're at least going to want to know what's wrong, and there's nothing wrong with her, really. Justin's already gone by the time she gets ready and goes downstairs (so is Max, and that's a blessing for an entirely different reason), and so she takes a deep breath, tells herself to suck it up, and steps outside.

Nobody randomly accosts her in the street, or stops to tell her how pretty she looks or how shiny her hair is or anything (although her hair is pretty shiny today, she's just saying). So. That's good, right?

Mr Laritate catches her trying to sneak in after the bell, because of course she can't just catch a break. At first she just smiles and flips her hair a little, because combined with the spell, that's got to be impossible to combat, but she stops when she sees his expression.

"Alex Russo," he says, in a way that's clearly supposed to imply he's not surprised by her tardiness at all. "Late again? I'll see you in detention this weekend."

Weekend detention? She didn't even know that was a thing. This really, really blows.

Wait a minute. This really, really blows. She was punished. For something she did wrong.

This is awesome.

(Okay, so it's not awesome that she has to come to school on the weekend and listen to Mr Laritate lecture her about stuff using cowboy metaphors, but the part where he didn't act like he was in love with her at all, or like he adored her, or like there's anything even remotely out of the ordinary here? That part is awesome.)

She's trying not to get her hopes up, because that way usually lies disappointment, but she can't help smiling when she hears that Josh and Erin have broken up again, and Harper lectures her about that for a few minutes before talking about how she made her outfit from egg cartons and those little twist tie things, and how she thinks mangoes might the the way to go this summer. Alex stops listening after a while, but if Harper brings up Michael at all, it's not in the first ten minutes.

She gets a solid 'B' on her history homework, and normally that would make her a little suspicious, but this time, she's pretty sure she actually earned it. (Ugh. Never again.)

She even asks Harper, as they're walking home, if Harper thinks she looks especially pretty today, and Harper just shrugs and says, "Not really."

It's a great day to be Alex.

-

"Alex," Justin says, and she should have known he'd be in the lair. He's probably doing some extra credit work to make up for missing wizard training on Thursday, even though their dad already said they're going to have a makeup session tomorrow.

"Justin," she says, a little warily, because she's pretty sure the spell has worn off, but it can't hurt to be careful. And because, spell or no spell, there are probably some things that they're going to have to talk about later.

But he's looking at her like he has good news or something, so she forces herself to smile, and she says, "What's up?"

"Max took off his shirt," he says.

It takes a minute for the importance of that to sink in.

"The shirt?" she asks, because it can't hurt to be too careful. (Okay, so she learned that the hard way.) "The really disgusting shirt? The one that he wouldn't take off even when mom and dad threatened to ground him for a year?"

"That's the one," Justin says, and Alex smiles, this time for real.

"And," he says, "he even let them throw it out."

Wow. That is huge.

"I think it's over," she says - cautiously, because she's still aware of the danger of jinxing herself, but she really does think it's true. "Harper didn't even say one word about that guy from the sub shop."

"Alex, that's -"

"I think."

"You think?"

"Well," she says, taking a few steps further into the room now that she's pretty sure the immediate danger is gone, "Harper talks a lot, and I usually tune most of it out. But I listened to at least half of what she said, and there was no mention of that guy at all."

Justin grins, like he's the one who fixed this. Which is so totally not true, but considering that she didn't actually fix it either, she's not going to call him on it.

"Oh! And Mr Laritate gave me detention."

"That's ..." He frowns. "Good?"

"On the weekend."

"So it's really over," he says.

She nods, and she can't remember feeling this relieved since ... well, ever. Over. Four of the best letters ever, if you ask her.

But, okay, one of them has to bring it up sooner or later. So now comes the real test.

"So," she says, and she takes a few steps closer, because she needs to be sure. "You're ... I mean, since this is fixed, you're ... the spell's worn off on everyone, right? Max, and Harper, and mom and dad, and you, and Josh and Erin and Mr Laritate and Scott Masterson and the lunch lady and that weird guy from the corner?"

If it wouldn't totally ruin the moment, she'd point out what she just did there. Slipping his name in, just casually, like it's no big deal? Totally smooth.

"Everybody," Justin says, looking at her meaningfully, and okay, so maybe it wasn't that smooth.

"Okay," she says, and she should feel even more relieved, but instead there's this weird kind of nervous energy buzzing around her, like things are supposed to be fixed but they aren't really. Which is ridiculous. The spell has worn off on everyone. That's the way it's supposed to work. And Justin would know if he were still feeling its effects.

"You're sure?" she asks, and it's a little redundant, but the buzzing in her head just will not go away.

"I'm sure," he says, and they're doing that thing again, where they gravitate towards one another, but she thinks it's natural this time. "I'm really, really sure."

"So," she says, and there's a part of her that says she shouldn't be pushing this so hard, that she should just leave it alone, but there's an even bigger part of her that just really, really needs to know. "You don't, like, want to kiss me or anything?"

"No," he says, and for a minute it's almost all right, but -

But his voice got kind of squeaky there for a second, and he's sweating a little, his hands running nervously down his sides like he doesn't know how to act around her. Like she's a girl.

"Of course not."

And it's not the spell, it can't be, because magic just doesn't work that way. Normally, she'd have no idea, but she knows, now, she spent half a day just staring at this spell waiting for inspiration to come to her. So -

So that's something else entirely.

"Because you kind of look like you still want to kiss me."

"Do I?" he asks, and his voice cracks on the last word.

Yeah, he totally does.

He's still moving forward, until finally he's right in front of her, and she doesn't know if he reaches for her or she reaches for him or what, but one of them reaches, because these things never just happen on their own, and then his lips are on hers. It's not exactly like the last time they kissed; it's a little more awkward, and a lot less perfect, and she thinks at least some of that must have been the spell last time. Which now he's no longer under, so all she's really left with is the realisation that, hey, kissing your brother? Kind of awkward.

That, and the realisation that she doesn't want to stop, no matter how much it's weird and wrong and not supposed to happen.

"This is," she says, breaking the kiss so she can ask, because she needs to do this, too, "okay, right?"

"Okay?" Justin asks, and she comforts herself that at least he sounds every bit as breathless as she does.

"Yeah," she says. "Like, not magical, or spell-related in any way, and you didn't accidentally drink a love potion, and it's just ... us?"

"Yeah," he says, and he's starting to look like he wants to leave (she never should have pushed), but his hands are still on her waist, and he doesn't draw back, or start making the sign of the cross, or anything. And then he shuffles in a little closer, which she didn't really think was possible, and kind of leans into her with his whole body. Which is nice. "It's just us."

"Okay," she says, and this time she knows that she's the one who kisses him first, but the next time it's him, and after that, she loses track again.

-

They're a little late for dinner, and Alex feels like she's probably got some kind of flashing neon sign on the front of her shirt or something, but their mom and dad don't seem to notice anything.

Mostly because they're too busy staring into each other's eyes from across the table, and, well. Maybe she didn't do that. She thinks she likes it better that way.

"Check it out," Max says when they walk in. Alex jumps a little, and she can feel Justin tense beside her; for a second, she almost reaches out to take his hand, but she doesn't, because she's not that stupid. Mostly, she feels like she's gotten away with far too much in the past few days for things to keep going the way they are, but she certainly isn't going to help fate (or karma, or whatever) along. "Rock!"

"Rock?" she asks, and she's really confused until she sees Max holding up ... well, a rock. She really should have seen that coming.

"Isn't it awesome?" he asks.

She really doesn't know what to say to that, so she says, "Yeah, awesome."

She sounds about as excited about it as she feels about the prospect of weekend detention, but Max seems happy with it.

And maybe the whole shirt thing isn't going to be what tips her over the edge, because Max, it turns out, really is just that weird.

"What are you guys doing over there?" their mom asks. "Come and have dinner."

So they sit down, and their elbows bump occasionally, and Justin's foot keeps brushing up against hers (she's not sure if it's an accident or not, but she doesn't really care, either way). And when her hair flicks across his shoulder, he barely jumps at all, and he teases her about eating her weight in manicotti, and she teases him right back about his clothes and his hair and his friends and school, and then she bumps his knee with hers. Because she still means all that stuff, but maybe not in a mean way.

And it's not quite perfect, but it's her family - and yeah, it's a little (maybe a lot) more screwed up than other people's, but it's hers, and it's kind of really, really awesome.

(And when their parents corner her, later, about a phone call from Mr Laritate and something about weekend detention and being late for school, she almost doesn't care at all.)